A Vision of Green (Florence Vaine #2) (6 page)

“
We're going now,” Frank announces suddenly.

“
What the hell was that? Some kind of ghost horse? You all saw that right?” Josh demands.

“
Yes we all saw it, but we also need to get out of here before we stumble upon anything stranger than a ghost horse.” Frank's voice is hard when he speaks now, like he knows something we don't.

Caroline and I link arms as we follow Frank, who leads the way back out of the forest. Alex brings up the rear, keeping an eye out for anything that might come upon us from behind. As we hurry quickly out of the woods, I begin to wonder just what is going on. Has the Chesterport forest always been so...spooky? Or is this a new phenomenon? All I know is that after seeing that strange, luminous white horse, with its deep black eyes and dirty hooves jumping into the swamp I'm sure there's something not quite normal afoot. Perhaps that face made of leaves wasn't a figment of my imagination after all.

We finally break free of the trees, which were beginning to seem endless there for a minute in the dark which has now fully descended. I gasp when my eyes lock on three tall figures standing just shy of Frank's back garden.

I can't make out who they are this far away, but as we get closer Josh suddenly asks, “Is that the school Guidance Counsellor?”

Now I can see that it's Sam, Carol and Nathan. The Nephilim. What are they doing standing there all in a line like that?

“
Yeah, that's Sam and his friends, they know our foster dad John,” Alex explains.

“
They're giving me a creepy vibe,” Josh murmurs under his breath. I don't think anyone else has heard him.

Sam steps forward and asks, “What were you all doing in the woods?” Even though he says “you all” he seems to be talking directly to Frank. Probably because he's older than the rest of us.

“
We wanted to have some fun scaring the girls,” says Frank, but he doesn't explain the fact that there was a distinct reason for us to be scared, those dead rabbits that Alex swears he saw last night but are now strangely missing.

“
It's a bad idea to go into the forest when it's dark,” says Nathan, his voice sort of foreboding.

“
You're telling me,” Caroline whispers into my ear.

“
Go on inside now,” Sam instructs. “And the next time you decide to bring your friends into the woods, check with John first, understood Frank?” I don't like his superior tone, but Frank simply nods and salutes the Nephilim before leading us back into the house.

Upon entering the living room, now softly lit by two lampshades, Ingrid begins to quickly stuff the notes Caroline handed out earlier into her bag.

“
That's it, I don't care if we haven't gotten any work done, I'm leaving. There's a whole lot of negative energy in that forest, I'm getting as far away as I possibly can.”

Caroline and I both drop down onto a couch, the others do the same. “It's definitely haunted,” says Caroline. “But I'm not certain it would cause a person harm.”

“
Have you forgotten all about the dead rabbits?” Ingrid hisses, getting entirely too worked up. Or perhaps I'm just used to weird things happening to me. After all, only a short time ago I'd been stalked by an invisible witch.

“
I never saw any rabbits,” says Caroline. “Look, I'm not trying to say that the ghost horse episode didn't happen. I've always believed in spirits and that things might exist that most people can't see. But the forest is very old, I'm thinking the horse was one of those imprints from a time gone by, you know like those ghosts you see in movies that just keep replaying themselves over and over.”

“
If that's true then why did it jump into the swamp?” Alex asks. “No normal horse would do that. Jump into a lake for a swim maybe, but not a swamp, unless it was a suicidal horse.”

Josh snickers at the mention of a suicidal horse.

“
It doesn't matter whether or not it was a ghost,” says Frank. “You all heard Sam, the safest bet is to stay out of the forest.”

“
Whatever, I'm going home,” says Josh, motioning for Ingrid to follow him. Neither of them bother being polite enough to say goodbye. I relax a little more once they're gone. I don't think I'll ever be entirely comfortable with either of them, even if I do want to get my hands on Josh's aura.

“
By the way,” says Alex, slouched across one of the armchairs. “I wasn't lying about the rabbits, you can ask Benji if you don't believe me. He saw them too.”

Nobody says anything for a minute, then I reply, “I believe you, Alex.”

“
Thank you Flo,” he answers with a wink.

“
I don't know,” says Caroline, folding her arms across her chest. “I'm still making my mind up. I wouldn't put it past you to try mess with all of our heads.”

Alex leers at her. “Can I mess with your underpants instead?”

“
Ugh, and you say my mind's in the gutter,” Caroline replies with disdain, before glancing down at her watch. “Well this meeting was a bit of a waste. Let's just hope we can get more work done at the next one. Everybody should try to put some ideas together for next week and then we can brainstorm.” At this she rises from the couch and packs up her bag.

“
Flo do you need a lift home?” she asks.

Before I can answer, Frank intervenes. “I'll take her,” then he looks at me. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Caroline gives him a knowing look and a grin. “Hmm, talk, sure you do.” I actually think Frank blushes ever so slightly.

Alex gets up to walk Caroline to the front door. “Well at least we know someone's getting their underpants messed with tonight,” he sighs dramatically, smirking at Frank, leaving us both feeling a little bit awkward alone in the living room. At least I know I do.

Frank comes over and sits down beside me. “Sorry about Alex,” he says, “you know he's always got something to say, and a problem with keeping it to himself.”

“
Yeah, I think I g-got that,” I smile and Frank pulls my hand into his. He takes a deep breath, like he's smelling me, but I try to ignore that idea.

His eyes are focused on my upturned palm when he begins, “So I was wondering if you'd like to stay the night? Here I mean. John and Hayley are out, they have this thing about going on dates every couple of weeks to get some time away from the house. That means they'll both be gone until late. John already said it's fine for you to stay in the guest room whenever you want.” He stops talking and looks up at me. “I told him about your dad being back, he wants you to know that you're welcome to come and live here, if that would make you feel safer.”

“
John knows about my dad, about what he's like?” I ask nervously.

“
I didn't tell him,” Frank assures me. “He just, well, John knows these things. Sort of the same way I knew it without you having to tell me. Over time you get used to recognising the signs.”

I swallow hard. “If I stayed tonight, would I be staying in the guest room?”

A ghost of a smile touches Frank's lips. “I'd prefer if you didn't, but if that's what you want then..” he trails off.

“
N-no it's okay, I – I'd like to stay in your room. I don't have any clothes with me though.”

I didn't think I would accept Frank's invitation at first, but the thought of going home to Gran's house and spending another evening with Dad and Sal and whatever new torture he might think up for me, I just don't think I could bear that right now.

“
You left some of your things from the last time you stayed. I put them in my room, I had meant to bring them to you today at school, but I forgot.” He seems a little sheepish, like he had no intention of actually bringing my stuff to school. The idea that Frank finds some kind of comfort in having my things near to him warms me.

“
I suppose that's convenient,” I grin and he tugs me up by the hand, leading the way upstairs to his room. I drop my bag at the end of his bed, shrug out of my cardigan and slip off my shoes. When I look up, Frank's eyes are literally consuming each fraction of my skin. I look away and mumble something about getting my homework done, grab my books from my bag and sit down on his bed.

“
I'll be back in a minute,” says Frank. “I'm just going to mess up the sheets in the guest room so that when Hayley checks in the morning it'll look like you slept there.”

A small laugh escapes me. “S-sounds like you've put a lot of thought into all this.”

Frank's blue eyes find me and his look tells me that yes he did put thought into it, but no he is not embarrassed in the slightest. He leaves for a minute and then returns, plopping down onto the bed beside me and making a show of dusting his hands.

“
All done,” he grins.

I look at him and then back at the homework I have laid out on my lap. I lift my pen and continue the work I just started. Frank traces a finger down my neck and then brushes all of my hair over to one shoulder to bare the skin. I've noticed he does this quite a bit.

I don't look at him, because I know that if I do I won't be able to resist. “Don't y-you have homework to be doing?” I ask.

“
Not really, I got most of it done in my free English class today.”

“
Well, I have to do this,” I tell him firmly.

“
Flo.”

The seriousness of Frank's tone drags my attention away from the German book on my lap.

“
Yeah?”

“
Can I ask you something?”

“
Of c-c-course.”

He lets out a long breath. “When you look at your own aura, can you see where your stammer originates?”

I drop my pen onto the bed and turn to face him fully. “Y-yes, it's in the anxiety spots. Why do you ask?”

“
I just have this theory,” he replies, stretching his hands up over his head. “I thought that maybe if you used your ability to manipulate those spots, then you could overcome your stammer, rather than going to a speech therapist which would be a whole long ordeal and might not even work out in the end.”

I'm touched that Frank has taken the time to try and come up with a solution to a problem that I've always seen as my own burden to bear. And actually, I can't believe I didn't think of this myself. Then again, I have always avoided self-analysis, too afraid of what I might find.

I repress so many feelings, it's like a second nature to me; anger at my dad, fear of interaction, affection for Frank. Even now, with him sitting right next to me I want to reach out and run my fingers through his brown hair. But I'm too scared to do it, too frightened he might suddenly turn around and tell me not to. It's completely irrational.

With an unexpected burst of courage, perhaps to prove to myself that I'm not entirely ruled by my own strange fears, I jump up from the bed and say, “Shall I try it now then?”

Frank looks surprised, but then he smiles and gestures with his hand towards the mirror on the wall on the other side of the room. “Be my guest,” he says.

Hesitantly, I step over to the mirror and peer at my own reflection, which stares back at me passively, like an alternate version of myself from another reality. I momentarily wonder if I made an expression, would this imaginary version simply continue to stare? Perhaps the other Flo doesn't stammer at all.

I let my eyes wander over the odd fractured tone of my aura, like silvery shattered glass framed by violet. Right over my chest, almost in the shape of two lungs and running all the way up to my throat is a stream of grey anxiety. It clutches around my neck like a vice with the sole purpose of muddling up my words.

Sometimes it feels like I have so much to say, yet none of the ability to actually articulate it. So I remain silent, a quiet observer of human life as it orbits around me, so bright and fascinating. It catches right in my lungs, this need to express myself, and burns like a river of fire up to my vocal chords, stunting everything that's inside, struggling to break out.

I glance at Frank through the mirror, stretched out on his bed, watching me with rapt attention. I didn't realise I was doing anything quite so interesting, so I throw him a questioning look.

“
You have no idea,” he breathes, “but sometimes your every thought passes over your face. It's like a silent, one sided conversation.”

I grimace. “That's weird, isn't it?”

“
What is “weird” anyway?” Frank asks thoughtfully. “Other than things bland people try to label to make themselves feel superior. I'd rather be considered weird over ordinary any day of the week Flo.”