Dark Days (The Childe Series, #2) (2 page)

Cat opened the window and stepped out onto the balcony. In the rain, her bright red curly hair quickly lost its volume. It became plastered to her pale face and framed her eyes, one sky blue and one amber. She began to cry and her tears melded with the rain that was streaming down her cheeks. Cat let out a heavy sigh and firmly grasped the railing of the balcony with both hands. She wanted to scream, yell, anything. Cat raised her eyes to look across the street at her best friend Julie’s house. She saw Julie peering through the curtains, looking at her. Julie began to wave, but Cat shied away, and then slouched down onto the wrought-iron bench that sat just outside her window.

As the rain intensified, Cat hurried back into her room. She dripped all the way to the bathroom and left watery footprints across her old wooden floor. After slowly peeling off her clothes, she proceeded to ring them out in the shower, and then draped them over her laundry hamper. She stood in front of her bathroom mirror in just her bra and underwear, looking at her reflection critically. “Who am I?” she asked out loud. “Stupid question, Cat, you know you don’t have the answer.” Pressing her head against the mirror and letting out a sigh, she thought back to the beginning of her freshman year at Astoria High School.
If I had known that all of this crazy stuff would’ve happened because of me switching schools, I wouldn’t have begged my parentals to let me. I know for a fact that Linda wouldn’t be missing now if Julie and I would’ve walked home with her from Madison Prep like we used to after swim practice
.

Backing away from the mirror, a sparkle in her reflection caught her eye. It was the ring she was wearing on a chain around her neck. A gift from her boyfriend. Cat smiled, clutching the ring in her hand.
I guess something good did come out of this, but at what cost? By giving me this ring, Ryan has driven a wedge between himself and his friends. And even though he acts like it doesn’t bother him, maybe it does. So many complications
.
 
 

Even after she was showered and dressed in warm comfy pajamas, Cat didn’t feel any better. She had taken some comfort in, knowing she took her pill for her blood disorder that morning ensuring there were going to be no signs of fainting spells, hearing voices in her head, or strange visions in her near future.

The aroma of the freshly-made breakfast her mom had placed in front of her door four hours prior had dissipated. Cat’s stomach grumbled, reminding her that she was depriving it of sustenance, but she ignored it.

The stairs creaked as Rachel climbed up to Cat’s attic bedroom door to see if Cat had eaten the food she’d left. A frown marred her beautiful face as she saw Cat hadn’t. Picking up the plate, she returned to the kitchen. After scraping the food into the trash can, Rachel sat at the kitchen table with her head in her hands. She couldn’t wait for Sam to get home from his last day of teaching until summer school. She hoped he would know what to do. All Rachel wanted was to hug her daughter, but Cat had locked herself in her room, shutting everyone out. She had made it quite clear that she wanted to be left alone when both Rachel and Sam tried approaching her earlier that morning.

Across the street, Julie was in the middle of a phone conversation with Amanda.

“Hey Julie, have you talked to Cat today? I’ve been trying to get a hold of her because we’re supposed to go help my mom at Squaresville. I just called the home phone, and her mom said she wasn’t feeling well. Did she seem sick to you yesterday at school?” Before Julie could answer, there was a beep on Amanda’s line, signaling a call waiting. “Hey, hold on a sec, Matt’s on the other line. Be right back, okay?” Amanda said while rolling her eyes.

“I’ll be here,” Julie replied with a laugh.

“Hey Matt, what’s up?”

“So I just called Cat’s house, because her cell just goes to voicemail, and her mom said she’s sick. Aren’t we supposed to watch a movie at her place tonight?” he asked.

“I know, right? And she hasn’t told any of us, not even Julie, who lives right across the street from her. Hold on, Matt, Elle’s on Skype,” Amanda replied with a huff. She set her cell phone on the bed and adjusted her computer’s camera.
Why am I always the central hub for communication,
she thought as Elle’s face appeared on her computer screen. “I know, I know, Cat isn’t answering her phone,” Amanda said dryly with a scowl on her face.

With a confused look, Elle replied, “What? No, look!” Elle smiled really wide, pulled her lips back, and put her mouth close to the camera to show she no longer had iron-clad teeth. Her braces were gone. “Just got them off this morning! I’m so excited and…wait, what do you mean Cat isn’t answering her phone? Is she okay? Cat always answers her phone.” Amanda could hear that Elle, the constant worrier of their group, had immediately gone into worry mode.

“Her mom says she’s sick. Hey Elle, could you hold on for a sec? I’ve got Matt and Julie on hold, and we’re discussing tonight’s plans, sans Cat,” she stated. Picking up her cell from the bed, “Hey Matt, I’m back.”

“Is Elle worried?”

“Not until I said something, but she called because she got her braces off.”

“Amanda! I wanted it to be a surprise,” Elle whined.

“Oh, sorry Elle,” she apologized, looking at her on the computer. “Alright Matt, act surprised when you see Elle without her braces,” she ordered. A knock at Amanda’s bedroom door startled her. “Mom, I’m busy right now. I know we need to leave for the store soon!”

“It’s me, Julie. Can I come in?”

“Julie? Sure, come in,” Amanda replied with slight aggravation present in her voice.
Having four best friends can be such a trial sometimes
, she thought as the door opened, revealing Julie. Her long blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she looked a little disheveled. Amanda felt a twinge of sympathy at how Julie’s appearance had changed since Linda, a longtime private school friend of Julie’s and Cat’s, went missing a couple weeks prior. Julie had always been the sensible one of the group. In the past, she would’ve never left her room, especially her house, looking the way she did now. Though Julie’s perfection used to drive Amanda nuts, she desperately wished the old Julie would return.

“I’m sorry. I know I had you on hold for a while, but Matt called, then Elle came up on Skype to show me she got her braces off…oh crap, sorry again, Elle.”

“Amanda!” Elle reprimanded.

“Julie, go over and tell Elle she looks wonderful without her braces, I have to talk to Matt,” Amanda said in an annoyed tone. Putting the phone back to her ear, “Okay, I’m back, Matt.” Hearing no answer, she looked at the phone’s screen and saw he had hung up. “Great! Patience is definitely not one of his virtues.” Another bang came at Amanda’s bedroom door. “Mom, I’m coming. Just a few more minutes, please!”

Without even asking to come in, Matt, the token male of their group, burst through the door. Looking more unkempt than Julie, Matt stood there with two different colored socks on, a wrinkled blue T-shirt, and a pair of tan cargo shorts. Though his hair was wet, she could tell he was definitely suffering from bedhead as his dirty blond hair was pushed all to one side.

“Matt, do you even own a mirror? And what have I told you about barging into a girl’s room! There are very private things in here,” Amanda yelled, tossing a pillow in his direction.

“You’ve got nothing here I haven’t already seen. Don’t forget, I have a sister and a mother.”

Suddenly Amanda’s mom, Aurora, appeared in the doorway. “Honey, are you almost ready to go?” Aurora asked and then looked at Amanda’s computer screen. “Oh Elle, you got your braces off. You look absolutely lovely, hun.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Stevens. Got them off this morning,” Elle replied sheepishly, pushing her long brown hair from in front of her face.

“Wow, Mrs. Stevens, cool tie-dye dress,” Matt commented, admiring the colorful garment.

Amanda rolled her eyes, “Don’t encourage her, Matt. She’ll only want to dress like that more often.”

“Oh, you hush Amanda Lynn Stevens. Be ready in ten minutes, we have to get going. And thank you, Matt, always a joy having you around,” Aurora said with a smile before leaving the room.

“Suck up!” Amanda muttered under her breath.

“What do you mean?” Matt asked with an impish grin. “Hey Elle, look at you,” he said as he jumped in front of Amanda’s computer screen, hogging up the camera. “No more metal mouth! You look great, that must’ve been some record, huh? You only had those babies in about a year!”

“Yeah, the dentist said my teeth corrected quickly. Good thing too, I was worried I’d be stuck with them my whole life.”

“Alright, I hate to break up this party, but I’ve got to get ready. So we’ll continue this convo,
on the phone
, later,” Amanda stated, looking pointedly around to everyone, clearly annoyed they were in her room.

“Five minutes, Amanda,” Aurora called up from downstairs.

“Alright, Mom!” Noticing no one was paying attention to her, and still chatting with Elle, Amanda rolled her eyes and proceeded to throw on her tennis shoes. “Oh, just forget it, guys,” she said and then laughed to herself as she continued getting ready.
This is what I get for having my friends live so close to me I guess
.