Dark Mind (The Dark Mind Trilogy Book 1) (11 page)

After Amy left, he stayed awake all night, staring through the window, viewing the encounter on the street in his head over and over. There were too many unanswerable questions. This kid clearly had some internal connection to him but what did it mean? He wished he had listened better to the voices in his head instead of focusing all his energy on his rage. He was sure there was an answer in there that would explain everything.

He thought back further to the amusement park. The boy seemed to have interest in Cole before Cole ever noticed him. Did he know who Cole was before the amusement park? How long had he been stalking him? How much did he know about him? The thought terrified him, knowing that there was someone out there with malicious intent and the help of an adult who might know everything about him. It left him feeling helpless, at the mercy of whatever this kid wanted to do. What did he want and, more importantly, what was he waiting for?

12

As the first rays of sunlight broke the horizon, Cole drifted off into a troubled sleep, awakened in the morning by Beth’s gruff voice. At lunch, Cole kept expecting Amy to bring up the night before, but she apparently thought it was only fair not to mention it so she kept the topics trivial. She discovered to her dismay that he had seen hardly any movies, and she spent most of the period describing her favorites and compiling a list of ones that they needed to watch together.

The end of the day rolled around and, to Cole’s delight, Meredith was outside waiting for him.

“Mom! You’re better again!” Cole sprinted towards her and threw his arms around her.

“Yeah. Those damn doctors kept me there longer than I needed to be.”

“I’ll do everything for you, Mom. You have to take it easy. Please.”

Meredith rubbed his hair. “You’re so sweet.”

For the first time, Cole looked beyond Meredith into the car and took a step back. Beth was sitting in the passenger seat, staring straight ahead, arms folded.

“What is she doing here?” Cole said.

“Oh, well she’s been so great taking care of you lately that I felt I needed to pay her back. We’re all going out to eat a late lunch. Hope you're not too full.”

Just then Amy appeared next to Cole. “Hi Cole’s mom! Glad to see you’re okay.” She took a quick glance at the scene of Meredith, Cole, and Beth in the car. “I’ll see you tomorrow Cole. Bye!” She waved and hurried away.

Cole smiled as she ran away and then grudgingly sat in the backseat, jealous that Amy was able to avoid this awkward dinner.

“Everyone ready?” Meredith said as she got into the driver’s seat.

“Uh-huh,” Cole said.

Beth grunted.

“All right then,” Meredith said, trying to maintain her enthusiasm.

As they drove away, thoughts of the boy, temporarily forgotten during the reunion with his mother, popped back into Cole’s head. His eyes swept up and down the street and, sure enough, there was the car, idling on the corner in the direction they were heading. As they passed it, Cole’s eyes met the boy’s briefly. He sat in silence the rest of the ride, his mind in turmoil, a lump blocking his throat.

Meredith was attempting to make conversation with Beth but Beth's one-word answers were making it difficult. Cole did not catch a word of the conversation and was glad nothing was asked of him, since he was in no state to respond. When he climbed out of the backseat at the restaurant, his head started to clear and he tuned in to the adults' conversation.

“Well I don’t know about you but that’s what I heard about Uncle Al,” Meredith was saying.

“Yeah,” Beth said.

“You heard that too?” Meredith said, holding the door open for Beth, who pushed her way through the second set of doors.

They were inside a fancy Chinese restaurant by the name of
Peking Taste
. Large chandeliers lined the ceiling, casting a warm glow on all the well-dressed customers talking quietly over their small portions of expensive food.

“Three?” the hostess asked them, while registering their cheap clothing with a wary glance.

“Yes, please,” Meredith said.

“Can we get a booth?” Beth said.

“I’ll, uh, see what I can do,” the hostess said, trying her best to stay polite as she took out a seating chart.

Meredith gave Beth’s back a dirty look, plastered a smile on her face, and followed the hostess to a booth against the back wall.

“A booth, just like you requested,” the hostess said cheerily, laying menus on the table as they slid into their seats.

Beth grunted.

There was a long silence as the three of them perused the menu far more times than was necessary. When the waiter came to take their drinks, they all ordered water and Cole thought he caught the waiter almost imperceptibly shake his head.

“So Beth, I’d like to formally thank you in front of Cole,” Meredith said. “You have no idea how much what you did means to me. I don’t know what I would have done with Cole if you had not agreed to care for him. Twice. And don’t say you didn’t have a choice. You did and it was very kind of you.”

Beth nodded. “He’s not a bad kid. Could've been worse.”

Cole smiled inwardly at the apparent pain it took Beth to admit that.
Guess I’m growing on her.

Meredith looked shocked that Beth had nearly given her son a compliment and could say no more, leaving the table in silence until the waiter returned.

“Are you ready to order?” he said as he pulled out a notepad and pen.

“Aren't you supposed to be able to remember these things?” Beth said, smirking.

“I'm, uh, new ma'am. Still working on it.” He forced a fake laugh.

“Just kiddin' ya. I'll take the General Tso's chicken and hot and sour soup.”

The waiter stopped writing. “Oh, sorry, we're actually out of the hot and sour soup.”

“Figures,” Beth murmured. “Okay, then get me egg drop. And don't mess up my order.”

“Don't worry ma'am, I've got it.”

Cole cringed and slouched in his seat, wishing he could disappear.
Wouldn't want to change too much, would she? That would just be unreasonable.

After they ordered their food, Meredith turned the conversation back to family, the only topic they had in common but in which Beth had no interest. After they finished their meal, Meredith drove Beth back to her house.

“Thanks again for everything,” Meredith said as Beth got out of the car. “If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I won’t,” Beth said, closing the door. “Bye.”

“Bye!” Meredith said through the open window. “Thanksgiving is coming up soon so I guess we’ll see you then.”

“Yep, guess I’ll be seeing you then.”

Meredith shot Cole a look, forcing him out of the car. “Thanks, Aunt Beth,” he said.

Beth nodded and headed into the house while Cole clambered into the front seat.

“That was only slightly painful,” Meredith said, smiling. “She hates to admit it but she has a good heart. She's just not the most social person. So, how
was
your second stay with her?”

“Not too bad,” Cole said. “A lot better than the first. I think she’s softening up to me.”

Meredith smiled and tousled Cole’s hair. “How could she not?”

That night, as they were enjoying a small dinner that Cole had helped prepare so that his mother would take it easy, the doorbell rang. Meredith paused, her fork halfway to her mouth, and looked at the clock in confusion.

“Who in the world could that be?” she said as she wiped her mouth and pushed in her chair. “And especially during dinnertime.”

Cole waited at the table while his mother went to answer the door.

“Hello? Can I help you?” he heard her ask from the other room.

“Hi. I’m Cole’s friend from school.”

Cole's stomach seized as a cold sweat crept over him. He had only heard that voice once but there could be no doubt who it was. He snuck a peek around the corner and his eyes locked with the boy's for a second before he retreated, shaking, into the kitchen.

“We made plans the other day,” the boy said.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Cole didn’t mention anything about this.”

“Ooooh, I hope I didn’t mix up the days. I couldn’t remember and I guess I got it wrong.”

Cole was leaning his head back against the wall, praying.
What the hell is he doing here? Send him away. Please, just send him away.

“Not a problem,” Meredith said. “You can come in. We’re not busy tonight.”

“Thanks so much.”

The door slam felt like a sledgehammer pounding his heart. Cole squeezed the table and tried to steady his breathing but the icy grip of fear was too strong. He at least hoped his trembling was not visible as Meredith and the boy came into the kitchen.

“Hey Cole!” the boy said, giving a wave and a smile.

“Hey.”

The boy turned to Meredith. “Sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Travis. Cole and I have been talking a lot at school.”

“Oh really?” Meredith said, throwing a questioning glance at Cole.

Cole cleared his throat. “Yeah, we just started talking recently and this whole plan kind of came out of nowhere.”

“Well, we were just finishing up dinner,” Meredith said. “Are you hungry? We happen to have some extra.”

“No thank you,” Travis said.

Meredith pulled a chair out from the table. “Have a seat. We’ll be done in a few minutes.”

“Thank you very much.”

Cole sat at the table shoveling food into his mouth, keeping his eyes averted from Travis, but every once in a while casting a glance over at him. Every time Travis caught Cole looking at him, he smiled.

“So, how did you guys start talking?” Meredith said.

Travis leaned forward, eyes shining. “It was in the schoolyard during
gym. I was playing a game with some friends and Cole comes right up to us and asks if he can play. I say ‘sure’ and he tries it once and beat us all. It was awesome.”

Meredith was beaming. “Wow, Cole, have you ever played it before?”

“Nope,” Cole said.

“Wow, what kind of game was it?”

“It was just something me and my friends made up,” Travis said. “We call it ‘Ring Round’ and it involves a circle on the ground and some quarters. I can show it to you sometime, lotta fun. Anyway, after that we started talking and I starting sitting with him at lunch with his friend Amy.”

Travis smirked at Cole who felt a cold chill and shoveled down another mouthful.

“She’s such a cutie,” Meredith cut in.

“Cole here was good at everything,” Travis continued. “I showed him some games at lunch and he picked them right up. He’s got some smarts.”

“Yes he does,” Meredith said. “I always told him that.”

Cole stood up, almost knocking his chair to the floor. “I’m done. Come on,
Travis
, let’s go.”

“Sure,” Travis said. “You wanna play Risk? I know how much you like it.”

Cole swallowed hard and walked away, hiding his clenched fists in front of him so his mother wouldn't notice.

“Have fun,” he heard her call out behind him. He could hear Travis’ footsteps following him but he ignored them until they were in his room. He shut the door behind him and leaned up against it.

“All right you little shit,” he said through gritted teeth. “What the hell are you doing here? And how do you know about Amy and Risk? Start talking.” He took a menacing step forward.

Travis put his hands up in front of him. “Whoa, whoa, calm down. I just came here to talk. I realize we may have started off on the wrong foot so I want to give you a chance.
I should get to know you better before judging you. I see you’re already in the middle of a Risk game. Perfect, now we can pretend this is our game.” He sat down on one side of the board.

“Don’t touch a single piece on that board. You'd better start explaining yourself.” Cole picked up an unused wooden bat from the corner of the room that he had received as a gift for his last birthday.

“Seriously, I'm not here to fight you,” Travis said, backing away from Risk. “Can't we just talk? I think you'll be interested in what I have to say.”

“Yeah,
I might. But you'd better have a damn good reason why you've been stalking me.”

“I do. Really. You see -”

Travis was cut off by a knock at the window above the bed. Cole and Travis froze, their heads turned towards the sound. A little fist raised above the windowsill, knocked again at the glass, then lowered back down. This was followed by a small head poking up to look inside.

Cole stumbled onto his bed, dropped the bat on the blanket, and fumbled furiously with the old wooden window locks. When at last he had the window open, a hand reached up. Cole grabbed it and leaned back, pulling a body through the window on top of him.

“Um, hey.”

“Amy, what are you doing here?” Cole said, scrambling out from under her to stand back on his feet.

Amy sat up, bringing her knees to her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs, her eyes flitting back and forth between Cole and Travis. “I, uh, snuck out. Is that…? What is he doing here?”

“I came here to talk to Cole,” Travis said. “Trying to undo the bad blood I started.”

“Forget about him for a second,” Cole said. “What do you mean you snuck out? How? Aren’t your parents gonna be pissed?”

Amy shifted, her eyes finding a focus spot on the carpet. “After I went to bed they started fighting really loud. I couldn’t take it and my window is on the first floor. They won’t find out. They never come in my room after I go to sleep and I left something under my covers just in case.”

“But how did you find your way here?” Cole said.

“I paid attention last time my mom drove me back. Just in case.”

“You’re crazy climbing up the side of my house.” He lifted the bat off the bed. “And you shouldn’t be here. This is a really bad time.”