Chapter 10
The weekend had passed fast, faster than Melissa would have liked. She had not been in a hurry to return to school, had not been looking forward to seeing Kevin, John and Chris roaming the halls of Harbingers High School once again. It had begun on Friday afternoon with an unexpected and unpleasant visit from Officer Miller. That visit, combined with the anticipation leading up to a party at a classmate’s house, had thoroughly unnerved her and set an unfortunate tone for the remaining two days before a new school week began.
Friday night had been spent with Alexandra and Daniella at Greg’s party avoiding any form of interaction with Kevin, John and Chris. Eric had rejoined them as soon as they’d arrived. Just as Kevin’s many other followers aligned with him, Eric, also resumed his role as the fourth in their nasty quartet.
She noticed how their arrival at Greg’s house generated a commotion similar to a famous boy band arriving on a red carpet. Everyone seemed intent upon making some form of contact with them. Wide-eyed and adoring, her classmates approached Kevin and his crew with awe and admiration that was as unnerving as it was nauseating. She watched as the foursome set about chatting and socializing with their adoring peers.
Kevin and his group had immediately established their presence, confirmed their authority. They worked the party, doing nothing short of signing autographs; they shook hands, fist-pounded and high-fived their way through the crowds. To avoid contact with them, Melissa would shepherd Daniella and Alexandra to another room just as Kevin, John, Chris and Eric moved into a room with their followers in tow. Each time she glanced in their direction to signal it was time to leave, Eric’s eyes had met hers.
He’d stared at her with intensity she had found truly disconcerting. She did not bother to tell her friends, make them aware of her discomfort and desire to leave. She didn’t want to ruin their evening. She simply continued to find excuses to leave every room they entered.
As a result, the evening unfolded like an elaborate game of hide-and-seek, only she experienced no form enjoyment in playing as she assumed the role of the player who was continually pursued. In fact, she recalled that hunted felt like a far more appropriate word for what had occurred.
Each moment she had spent narrowly escaping a confrontation with Kevin and his friends had crept at a cruel and sluggish pace. Petty and pigheaded, time had refused to comply with her fevered need to leave.
When finally the moment did arrive and Melissa had left the party, she’d felt as though she’d been liberated from imprisonment. She nearly danced out of the front door smiling, until she caught a glimpse of a familiar set of eyes boring through the void in her direction. As she met Eric’s gaze, she sensed something more than whatever concentrated emotion he sought to psychically direct toward her. There was genuine urgency in his stare, desperation even.
Melissa could only speculate about what encouraged such intensity, especially since Eric had all but vanished after Kevin, Chris and John’s disappearance, once his friends were no longer staples of everyday life at Harbinger High School. He had vanished, more completely than even she had, into the backdrop of the student population. He hadn’t spoken to her or so much as looked her way in quite some time.
After months of silence, Eric seemed to reappear as if resurrected from the bottomless depths of obscurity he’d concealed himself in. Melissa found it curious how he appeared from the oblivion reenergized, readied, and oddly intent upon her. He immediately fell in step with Kevin, Chris and John as if he, too, returned from the dead.
For five months, she had enjoyed his absence. It had made her life slightly more tolerable in the wake of all that had happened. But with his return, unrest resumed.
On Friday night, he stepped out from the shadows he’d hidden in and made plain his latent feelings toward her. He had glowered so intensely, unsettlingly, Melissa felt the need to avoid him altogether. She couldn’t quite place the look he wore on his face, was reluctant to name it, though she’d had a fair guess at what likely fueled it. At the party, she’d wondered whether it was an inherent need to complete unfinished business between them, and whether Kevin, Chis and John’s return prompted Eric’s newfound boldness. After all, without the support of his friends, he hadn’t had the protection and motivation necessary to seek retribution.
As Melissa stood in the hallway of Harbingers High School and briefly relived the lowlights of her weekend, Eric’s eyes continued to haunt her. Many questions arose in her mind. Was he sorry for what he had done? She highly doubted he was. Was it pure malevolence she saw in his eyes? She deemed that far more plausible. She guessed his focus on her was born of anger, of hatred, and that he intended to complete whatever torturous payback he felt she deserved. She would likely bypass social purgatory altogether and be cast into social hell instead, unless he was planning something far worse.
A shiver slithered down the length of Melissa’s spine before she opened her locker and began collecting her textbooks. As she fumbled with her belongings, she heard footsteps approach. They advanced quickly, with purpose. She immediately worried that whoever advanced was doing so hurriedly, to surprise her and catch her off-guard.
Her heart began to race and a familiar sense of dread filled her. She quickly stuffed her books in her backpack and slammed her locker shut. She turned, fully prepared to square off with the hasty individual who was within her reach. She looked up, dizzied by anxiety with vision partly blurred by eyes moistened from concern only to see Alexandra standing before her.
“Ugh, I have trapped gas,” Alexandra complained as she patted her chest and screwed up her exquisite features. “That’s the last time I’m getting a breakfast burrito.”
Relief washed over Melissa like rain on a hot summer day. She relaxed, found herself smiling and shaking her head.
“You said that last time,” Melissa reminded. “And the time before that. And the time before that one as well.”
“All right, all right! I get it. Save the lecture! I’m in pain here. Who cares if I get another one ever again?”
“Um, you should. But that’s just a guess,” Melissa said jokingly.
Alexandra belched loudly.
“Ah, finally,” she said, relief lacing her words. “Whoa. I feel so much better now.”
“Okay. Glad to hear it. By the way, where’s Daniella?” she asked.
“Daniella said she’d catch up with us later,” Alexandra replied.
Before Melissa was able to ask another question, Eric rushed toward her, his face etched in stone. With his jaw set, his brow furrowed and his lips pressed to a line that bordered on frowning, Melissa braced for hostile words. The closer he loomed, the more terrified she became.
“What the hell is his problem?” Alexandra asked, not realizing he was looking directly at Melissa.
“I’m not sure, but I think it has something to do with me.”
“The fuck it does! You’re not going through this shit anymore,” Alexandra said heatedly.
Eric was upon them, his posture tense, threatening.
“Melissa, I need to talk to you,” he said tersely.
“Get the hell out of here, Eric,” Alexandra spat.
He did not turn to look at Alexandra, did not even respond. He behaved as though he did not hear her.
“Please Melissa, I need to speak with you; alone.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Eric,” Melissa heard herself say as her legs threatened to give way beneath her.
“You don’t understand. It’s not like that,” Eric stressed.
“Not like what, Eric? Not like you’re gonna tackle her in the woods? Or slap her?” Alexandra hissed.
Melissa opened her mouth to speak, but the words were lost on her lips when she looked up to see Kevin rounding the corner, with Chris and John flanking him, headed straight toward her.
Suddenly, her heart thundered in her ears, racing dangerously. Her stomach churned violent
ly, her breakfast in danger of expulsion. Shaking and nauseated, Melissa stepped back and began to turn from Kevin.
“Where are you going in such a hurry, Melissa?” Kevin taunted and smiled revealing the singular indent in his right cheek.
“I would hate to think you’re leaving because of me,” he continued.
“Let’s get out of here,” Alexandra urged tugging at Melissa.
“She’s a big girl, Alex. Let her fight her own battles,” Kevin ordered.
Melissa leaned back and whispered to Alexandra, “Go get Arlene. Hurry.”
Arlene Cardwell, a retired corrections officer and current hall monitor, was a no-nonsense enforcer of the rules. And she was not a fan of Kevin Anderson, living or dead.
“I’ll be back with help,” Alexandra promised. “This bullshit is not starting again.”
Melissa pushed forward.
“I’d love to stay and chat Kevin, but I have to get to class,” she attempted.
“Not so fast, bitch,” he spat. “We’re not finished here. In fact, we haven’t even begun.”
“And what exactly does that mean?” she asked, though she feared she already knew the answer.
“It means now that we’re back, things are going to be bad for you; unimaginably bad.”
“What?” she asked incredulously as she felt the world spin on its axis.
“And soon, your little pretty boy will be back to save you and we’re gonna finish him off.”
“No, no, no,” she heard herself say.
“Oh yes. And when we’re finished with him, we’ll have plenty of time to entertain ourselves with you,” he said and licked his lips. And then he leaned toward her and whispered with his lips nearly touching her ear, “When the three us finish having our fun with you, were finally going to fucking kill you.”
Melissa did not remember fainting. She did not remember dropping her bag or hitting the cold, hard floor. She recalled seeing Kevin Anderson’s face haloed by the florescent overhead lighting, his sandy blond hair, expertly styled as usual, his deep brown eyes generously fringed with dark blond lashes and his gleaming white teeth. She recounted how contradictory it seemed, how incongruous it was, that he should retain such an innocent, angelic appearance while he spewed such venomous words. His full lips stretched across his bleached teeth seemed out of place, as inappropriate as a Ken doll manufactured as Jack the Ripper. His exterior was not representative of his interior. That was the last coherent thought she had before the world took on a nightmarish quality, eddying and swirling in a dizzying whirl of sounds and colors; And then, darkness.