Duality: Vol 1, Melancholia (A New Adult Paranormal Romance) (25 page)

I snuck over to stand behind a half-wall of manicured bushes that sat at the edge of the party-house yard, trying to see what was going on at the front of the house.  The sedan was parked just behind me on the street.

Rae was standing on the front porch, her form illuminated by the lights that glowed brightly from lamps above her head and behind her on the front of the house.  She had her hand on the arm of a police officer and he was nodding, looking at her intently.  His other arm hung limply at his side.  I’ve never seen a law enforcement person look less alert, like he was ready to take a nap standing up.  Even his head was drooping down lazily.

Mr. Holder was walking across the grass, having just left his horrible, piece-of-crap car.  I could see him aiming right for Rae with the single-minded determination of a frigging molester or something. 
No fucking way is that happening. 
I had no idea what he was doing there or what his intentions were, but I couldn’t see anything good coming of him being involved.

I came out from behind the bushes, no plan in mind, ready to go nuts with my darkness and bring everyone down in tears if I had to.  I didn’t even know if I could make that happen, but I sure as hell was going to try.

Rae looked to her left when Holder was halfway across the lawn and her jaw dropped open.  She shifted to move behind the police officer, who was still acting like he was in a stand-up coma.

I ran, full out, taking in all the details of the situation as I drew near. 
Holder.  One cop near Rae.  Two more inside probably.  End of the porch is open, drop not too far.  Good escape spot.
  I arrived at the bottom step as my next thought burst out of me with as much force as I could manage, while trying to breathe through my panic: 
Bring on the darkness.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Rae

EVERYTHING WAS GOING PERFECTLY UNTIL Malcolm decided to go all knight in shining armor on me.  One second I had the cop convinced that this was all just a silly misunderstanding and that he should let me go for a walk by myself, and the next, Mr. Holder is walking up with a seriously creepy look on his face and Malcolm’s there, standing at the bottom step, ready to do battle.

“Stay back!” he yelled at Mr. Holder, his back to me and the officer.  Apparently he was as weirded out by the teacher being here as I was.

The cop snapped out of the happy trance I’d put him in.  “Hey.  What’s … what are you doing?”  He looked at me like he’d just realized I was standing there in front of him.  “What’s going on?”

I smiled, reaching out to touch his arm again.  “What’s going on is you’re letting me go.”

He yanked his arm away.  “Like hell I am.  You’re a minor and you’re drunk.  We’re going to call your parents first, and if you give me any trouble we’ll go down to the station, too.”

I jerked my hand back, shocked that he was being so rude to me.    “What happened to you?” I asked, before I could stop myself.  I knew I sounded like a spoiled Hollywood starlet pulled over for drunk driving, but I couldn’t help it.  People never talked to me like this.

He rested his fingers on the handcuffs at his belt as he back-stepped towards the door.  He yelled over his shoulder without taking his eyes off me.  “Banks!  Get out here on the front porch!”

Mr. Holder moved closer to Malcolm, pulling my attention away from the police officer.  “Step aside, son,” the teacher said, “I need to speak to Rae.”

“Like hell.  I’m not going anywhere.  You stay away from her.”  Malcolm took a step up to the next stair closer to me, gaining a few inches on the teacher.  He clenched his fists in front of him like he was going to fight.

“Malcolm what are you doing?” I asked, panicked he was going to get arrested for assault or something.  I’d given him the perfect chance to get away.  Why was he here screwing it all up?  I could have gotten away on my own if he hadn’t interfered and distracted the police officer.

Not only was I cranky that he’d gotten both of us in trouble, but I was also confused about how he’d actually done it so thoroughly.  Usually people stayed in Rainbowland no matter what happened around them, so long as I stayed close and turned on the charm.  But the cop had snapped out of it like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on his head.  I had no time to figure it out now, though.  Mr. Holder was in too much of a hurry to come rescue me, apparently.

Mr. Holder waved a finger in my direction, like he was drawing squiggly lines in the air.  “Officer, I’m taking charge of that minor up there.  She’s in my care.”  His comb-over chose that moment to flop off the side of his head.  It waved around like a palm frond in a storm before settling into a limp position over his ear.  All I could think about was grabbing a pair of scissors and hacking it off.  He seriously needed to be de-comb-overed.

“And who are you?” asked the officer, detaching his handcuffs from his belt.

I swallowed hard, no longer worrying about Mr. Holder’s terrible hairdo, but wondering if the restraints were for me or Malcolm.  I looked around as casually as possible, trying to find a way out of this mess, now that my plan to entrance my captor wasn’t going to work out.  My eyes locked on the other end of the house.

There was only one choice - through the officer who stood between me and the far end of the porch.

“I’m Edward Holder, and these are my students.”  Mr. Holder tried to come up the stairs, but Malcolm moved to block him, forcing him back down onto the sidewalk just by getting in the way.

“You’re not going near her,” Malcolm said.  He turned his head to explain to the cop.  “This guy tried to kidnap her earlier.”

“Kidnap?  What are you … are you
crazy?!”

Mr. Holder was acting all offended, but to me it sounded like someone protesting a little bit too much, especially because what Malcolm was saying was kind of true.  Maybe.  I hadn’t considered it kidnapping before, but now I wasn’t sure what to think.

“I would never … have never … that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.  You need to go home, Malcolm McNamara, before you get yourself into some serious trouble not only with the law but with
me
.  I could sue you for defamation!”

“Go ahead.  And I’ll tell anyone who will listen that you tried to drive away with her when she was trying to get out of your car.”

“I never …”

“Hey!  That’s enough!” yelled the cop.  He moved towards the stairs.  “Malcolm, is that your name?”

“Yes.”

“Come up here on the porch.  Mr. Holder, you stay where you are until we sort this out.”

I breathed out a sigh of relief as Malcolm quickly joined me by the front door.  He stood next to me and took my clammy hand in his, squeezing it gently several times in a row.  He was probably trying to signal me about something, but I had no idea what.  I hoped it was his plan to escape, because if my parents found out what I was doing right now, they’d move us to another state tomorrow.  No way would they let this event slide by as just a little blip on the radar.  Busted by the police at a party, drinking beer with a guy, sneaking out … this would be a cataclysmic event in my world, but only if my parents found out.

Mr. Holder scowled, speaking to the officer like he was barely restraining his anger.  “I told you,
officer
, I’m taking charge of Rae.  She’s coming with
me
.”  He took a step closer to the porch again.

My earlier ideas of Mr. Holder being kind of strange amplified about ten times.  He was like a Rainbow, only angry at the same time.  Desperate.  Determined.  Needy, but in a twisted kind of way.  I hadn’t even gotten close to the guy, and he wanted to take me with him in his nasty stink mobile for I don’t know what.  When he put a foot on the first step, goosebumps broke out on my skin - the bad kind - and my hair stood up on the back of my neck.  He was going to ignore the police officer’s order to stay away.

The officer bristled.  “Sir, I’m going to tell you
one
more time to stay back.  Do
not
come up those stairs.”  He kept his eyes on Mr. Holder as he yelled for his buddies.  “Banks!  Chuck!  Get out here!”  His hand moved to a taser in a holster at his back.

Malcolm squeezed my hand hard, and I looked up at him, wondering what he was trying to say.  He lifted his chin towards the end of the porch, the place I’d already decided would be my jumping off point if I decided to run, and then he stared at me pointedly, nodding slightly.

Before I could agree on his plan, the front door opened and another police officer came out partway.  “We have a little problem inside.  Found a girl upstairs in a bedroom.  She’s been drugged and possibly other things.  Ambulance is on the way.”

“Leave that to Charlie for now and call for backup.  We have a situation out here.”  The first officer looked pointedly at Mr. Holder as the second officer drew up next to him, walking past us with barely a glance in our direction.

The second officer spoke to Mr. Holder.  “What’s the problem, sir?”

“As I’ve already explained … I am taking charge of that young woman there.”  He pointed at me.  “I’m her teacher and responsible for her.”

“No, he’s not,” I said, sick over the idea of this guy making claims on me that he had no right to.  No Rainbow in my past had ever been this obsessed this quickly.  Normally it took months of constant nearness for them to lose their grip so thoroughly, and I’d never even touched him, not once.  I’d remember that.  “He’s not my teacher, and he’s definitely not taking charge of me or anything else.  Keep him away from me.”

Mr. Holder took another step, now with both feet on the bottom stair.

“Sir, move one more inch towards the girl and I’m going to arrest you.  Back.  Up!”

The posture of both officers went rigid with preparedness.  They were so ready to take Mr. Holder down, it was scary to witness.  They were planning to use tasers, but their big heavy-looking guns were enough threat just sitting there at their sides for any sane person to just back the hell off.  Mr. Holder was obviously insane.

Unfortunately, Mr. Holder was so over the edge, he either didn’t notice they were ready to kick butt or he didn’t care that they both had tasers out and plenty of other weapons at their disposal.  He was giving them every signal in the book that he didn’t give a flying hoot about being electrified.  He stared at me, narrowing his eyes.  “Tell them to let you come with me, Rae.”  He lifted a foot to go up to the next stair.

I frowned at him.  The guy was totally bonkers, and his fixation couldn’t be explained by normal Rainbow problems.  “No, I don’t want to go with you.  Stay away from me.”

He lunged up the stairs with zero warning or sign that he was going to do it, taking the officers by surprise.  They rushed to block him from getting through.  I heard a heavy clatter and watched a taser fall down the stairs and into the grass near the front walk.

As the officers converged on Mr. Holder, wrestling around to get him under control, Malcolm yanked me closer to his side and then forward.  We took off running down the porch, towards the open end where there was no railing.

I heard the cops yell.  I turned, poised to leap off the porch, staring at the nightmare behind me.  Somehow Mr. Holder, the skinny geeky chemistry teacher with his hair still flopping around, had managed to break through their wall of uniforms and weapons and was coming our way.

“Jump!” yelled Malcolm, springing from the porch while still holding my hand.

I screamed as I was jerked along with him, flying towards the ground completely out of control.  I landed on top of Malcolm, taking him down in a crazy tackle, both of us rolling into the bushes and flowers nearby.

Mr. Holder stood on the edge of the porch above us, looking down.  “Rae!” he yelled, “you’re coming with me!”  And then he arched backwards, a shocked expression coming over his face and staying there, like he was frozen.  Then his body convulsed over and over, and I heard a clicking sound coming from behind him.

Taser!
I wanted to cheer with joy but I stayed silent and yelled in my head instead. 
You got tazed, you crazy Rainbow bastard!

“Come on!” yelled Malcolm, scrambling to his feet.  “We have to go!”

I joined him, finally untangled from his legs and the stupid shrub that had wrapped itself around my shoelaces.  We ran across the side yard and then into the neighbor’s front yard.  Two people were standing by their door, staring at us as we sprinted by.  I ignored them, too focused on running as fast as I possibly could to worry about witnesses or anything else.  My family was too new in town for anyone to know me or my parents anyway.

“Come on,” said Malcolm through his heavy breathing, “let’s get as far away as we can before we stop.”

I didn’t bother answering.  I had to conserve my oxygen for the running.  I was so not in shape for escape on foot.

Our shoes pounded on the concrete sidewalk and over the deep lawns that slowed me down way more than I liked.  My thighs burned, and I got a stitch in my side after four blocks.  The beer sloshed around in my stomach, reminding me of my stupid decision to try and drink some bravery into my system.

We rounded the end of the street and took several turns onto other side roads before Malcolm took a sharp left across someone’s lawn to go in between two dark houses.  I followed a few feet behind, no longer able to keep up.  He turned when he realized I wasn’t there and waited for me to catch up.  Taking me by the hand, he drew me up to the side of a house where we would be sheltered from the view of anyone on the street behind a large, oval-shaped and very dense bush.

He pulled something out of his back pocket, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.  When the thing in his hand lit up, I realized it was his phone.

“Who are you calling?  The police?”  I had no idea why he’d want to do that since we’d just spent so much time trying to run away from three of them.