Free Falling (24 page)

After a refreshing shower, I pulled my wet hair up into a
ponytail and slipped on some fresh sweatpants and a tank top. I sat next to the
box and picked it up curiously. There was no return label on it. It was light
in weight, and something rolled inside as I moved it and set it on my lap,
grabbed the tab and tore it open.

As I opened it and lifted the lid I recoiled at the
contents. Inside was a stuffed brown bear, but someone had hacked off its head
so that the white fluffy stuffing was all over the bottom of the box. The head
rolled around as I jerked in shock. The disembodied object rolled over to me
and I cringed when I saw that the eyes were missing so more stuffing leaked out
of the holes making it look menacing. “What the hell?” I hissed, dropping the
box on my bed, not wanting to touch it anymore. I could see two other objects
in the box too, a white lily that was withered, the petals were crinkled and
browning at the edges. The other item in there I wasn’t even sure I wanted to
see. It was a red envelope with the letter M written on it in big black pen.

I gulped. My heart was starting to beat too fast in my chest
as my fingers hesitantly reached out for it. Being careful not to touch any of
the stuffing that lined the inside of the box, I picked up the note. I slowly lifted
the flap on the envelope and pulled out the folded up sheet of red paper. I
winced because there was that old fashioned typewriter writing again inside it
again. Different words this time though:

You’re next

My eyes flicked back to the box again, seeing the mutilated
bear.
Next? What the heck does that mean?
My eyes widened as my hand
flew up to cover my mouth as the penny dropped. Before I knew what I was doing
I was on my feet and across the other side of the room as my pulse quickened
and fear gripped my stomach.
You’re next…

Whoever had sent this knew where I lived. My mouth went dry
as my chest tightened. I suddenly became aware of every single sound outside my
window as my imagination started to run away with me. The creak of branches of
the old tree in our front yard made me jump a mile into the air. Why would
someone start this hate campaign against me? Why would someone send me this?
Did someone seriously want to hurt me? First my locker, then notebook, then the
flowers, and the note with the petal that was pushed into my locker, and now
they were sending me a decapitated stuffed bear? The only person I could think
of was Sandy, but she wasn’t this unhinged, surely. And if it wasn’t her, then
who did send it? I had no idea.

Suddenly the door to my room creaked open and I literally
screamed like a three year old girl, clutching above my heart as my eyes
widened in horror, expecting to see some knife wielding maniac come to pull my
eyes out.
You’re next…
The words of the old fashioned typed writing swam
before my eyes as I just stood there, frozen against the wall, easy pickens for
whatever psycho wanted to hurt me.

But it wasn’t a psycho that strutted into my room. Chester,
my dog, froze when I screamed, looking up at me with wide eyes as he stepped
through the door. I blew out a big breath, not even realising that I was
holding it in. I closed my eyes as he came over, licking my clenched fist in
greeting.

“Oh God, get a grip of yourself, Maisie,” I scolded, shaking
my head at myself. But I couldn’t calm my breathing as my eyes settled on the
package on the bed. Someone was trying to scare me, that was all. No one was
really going to hurt me. It was just Sandy or someone that found it amusing to
frighten me to death. I was being stupid, I knew that, but at the same time I
couldn’t shake the fear that nestled in the pit of my stomach. All I kept
thinking was that I was alone in the house. I needed to rectify that situation
quickly.

I took a couple of hesitant steps towards the box again and
grabbed my cell phone from the bed where I’d tossed it before going into the
shower. Hitting speed dial one, I put it to my ear and waited.

“Hey, baby,” Luke greeted, sounding ridiculously eager to
hear from me.

At the sound of his voice, my fear loosened marginally. His
voice wrapped around me like silk, covering me and seeming to take away some of
the anguish I felt inside. “Hi. Luke, please can you come round and hang out?”
I asked, noticing that my voice shook as I spoke.

“Come round? Is everything okay?”

I nodded, not wanting to tell him about the parcel or the
hate campaign that someone seemed intent on keeping up. I didn’t want to talk
about it with him, he would go crazy and get all mad because someone was
upsetting me, but the thing is I had no clue who was sending it. My only
suspect was Sandy, but I wasn’t convinced she had the gall to go as far as
sending me something like that in the mail. Whoever was doing it was trying to
get a huge reaction, to frighten me and make me upset. Well, I wasn’t giving
anyone the satisfaction of seeing me upset. I’d talk to Charlotte and Beth
about it tomorrow, but Luke would just wade in with his temper and make
everything worse in the long run, so I decided to keep it from him for now. If
something else came then I’d tell him and just let him go all protective
caveman on me, but for now I wanted to put that off as long as possible.

“Everything’s fine,” I lied. “I just want to hang out,
that’s all. Maybe watch a movie?”

I could already hear him moving around in the background,
probably getting ready to come over. “Movie sounds great. I’ll be there in
five.”

I smiled weakly, closing my eyes because I knew I would feel
better with Luke in the house. He always made me feel better and took care of
me. “See you then.” I disconnected the call and looked down at the box on my
bed, knowing I needed to hide it from Luke. I couldn’t just throw it away
though like I did with the flowers, Charlotte would probably want to see it once
I told her about it. So I’d have to hide it somewhere for now.

Not wanting to touch it again, I used my cell phone and
carefully closed the lid of the box with it before lifting it distastefully and
heading over to my closet and pushing it onto the shelf at the top. Once it was
in I slammed the closet door and leant against it, feeling my eyes prickle with
tears.

Just what had I done to make someone do that? I was a nice
person, I was kind to everyone, I never bitched about anyone behind their backs
or anything like that. So just what had made someone send me a murdered teddy
bear with a note saying I was next?

A knocking on the door downstairs made me practically jump
out of my skin as I whimpered and held my breath. I didn’t move. They knocked
again, and I chewed on my lip. How long had I been standing there musing over
why someone would send me something? Would that be Luke, or was it the person
who sent it to me in the first place? My cell phone suddenly started vibrating
in my hand. I gasped in shock and looked down to see Luke’s smiling face on my
screen with his number glowing underneath.

I answered it quickly, not moving from the spot. “Hi.”

“Hey, you gonna answer your door or what?” he asked,
laughing quietly.

I felt the tension leave my body because he was here. I must
have been thinking about it longer than I thought and time had passed by
without me realising it. I practically ran to the door, throwing it open to see
him standing there, smiling the beautiful smile that I loved so much.

“Were you in the shower or something? What took you so-”
Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, I threw myself at him, wrapping
my arms around him tightly as I pressed my face into the side of his neck,
breathing him in. His body stiffened as he wrapped his arms around me in
return. “Maisie, what the?” he asked breathlessly.

I sighed contentedly and stepped impossibly closer.
Everything about Luke was comforting, from the way his arms fitted around me,
to his warmth, right down to his familiar scent that filled my lungs. It felt
so nice just being held by him that I didn’t ever want to move. There was no
denying the fact that I just needed Luke right now, what with everything going
on he felt like some sort of safety blanket. My feelings for Luke hadn’t
diminished at all I realised.

I fought back tears as I pressed myself even closer to him,
squeezing him and letting his smell surround me. “I just missed you, that’s
all,” I whispered. That was only half of the truth, I
had
missed him,
but the relief that he was here was what made me lose my composure and hug him
like he was the only thing keeping me on this earth.

His lips pressed to my temple. “I missed you too. I’m not
used to not seeing you at the weekend.” He grinned that dazzling smile,
flashing me a row of perfectly white straight teeth. His hand moved up to the
back of my neck, stroking at my hairline lightly with his thumb. My skin
prickled as I unconsciously whimpered because I’d always loved it when he did
that. Luke just fitted me so perfectly; everything he did made me melt inside,
even just the way his arms wrapped around me made my whole body sag in
contentment. I needed him whether I wanted to admit it or not.

I reluctantly pulled back, looking up at him gratefully
because he made everything better. All the panic and fear that I’d felt moments
before were gone as soon as I looked into his big brown eyes. He smiled down at
me, his expression hopeful and purely happy. I felt a smile pull at the corners
of my mouth too just because I always had to return his smiles, it was just
something in me that reacted without my permission. Even after what he’d done
with Sandy, I still had to smile at the boy, it was crazy really. They say that
you never really fall out of love. Looking at Luke I knew that saying was true,
I would always love him.

“Thanks for coming over,” I muttered, not pulling out of his
embrace yet because I was enjoying his closeness too much.

He bent his head, his nose tracing up the side of mine,
making my breathing falter at the intimacy of the move. But he didn’t kiss me
like I was expecting; instead he pulled his head away and smiled at me
tenderly. “Of course I’d come over. I just hope you’re not gonna make me watch
some crappy chick flick,” he replied, laughing quietly. I laughed too, letting
the last of the tension leave my body as my hand slipped into his before giving
him a little tug towards the lounge, just eager to cuddle up against him on the
sofa like we always used to on a Saturday afternoon. Hopefully he’d stay until
Alex got home from hanging out with his newest bed buddy, and then I wouldn’t
have to be on my own in the house with that box.

Chapter 16

On Sunday morning I decided to call Charlotte and Beth and
see if they wanted to come over. I needed to tell someone about the package I
was sent. I couldn’t keep bottling it up inside, it would fester and eventually
drive me crazy. I couldn’t tell my parents, brother, or Luke because I knew
they would go mad, insist on calling the police, and would make such a huge
deal out of it that Sandy would end up winning. No, instead I was going to pretend
like nothing had happened, hold my head up high and smile as if she wasn’t
important enough to me to bother me. I figured that would have more of an
effect than anything else, she obviously wanted a reaction, and there was no
way I was giving her another one.

They both arrived together just after eleven, giggling about
something as they let themselves into my house as usual. Luckily for Charlotte,
my brother wasn’t awake yet because usually as soon as she stepped foot in the
house he’d be showing off and trying to get into her pants. It was sickening
really.

Charlotte grinned, flopping onto the sofa next to me as we
exchanged greetings.

I stood up and nodded towards the door. “Let’s go to my room
and listen to some music or something.”

They both instantly stood and followed me out and up the
stairs. With each step that I took I felt my apprehension build. I was a little
nervous telling them about the box. What if they thought it was more than a
joke too? That would kind of make it more real for me. When we got to my room I
stepped to the side and let them both pass me as I chewed on my lip wondering
if I should just keep it to myself and pretend that it never even got sent in
the first place.

They both flopped down on my bed; Beth immediately grabbed my
book from the nightstand, flicking through it absentmindedly. I took a deep
breath and decided to get it out there and see what they thought about it.

“Um, so there’s actually a reason I called you both to come
over,” I started, wincing as I looked at my closed closet door, not really
wanting to touch the box again but knowing I was going to have to. That caught
their attention immediately.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes at me. “Please tell me you’re
not getting back with Luke.”

I smiled weakly. Clearly they had no idea what I was about
to say. “It’s not about Luke, well, actually it kind of is, but it isn’t,” I
mumbled.

Beth’s forehead creased with a frown. “You’re making even
less sense than usual.”

I laughed humourlessly and closed the door, leaning against
it and closing my eyes. “I know. It’s a long story.” They both sat there
watching me intently as I spoke and told them all about the deep breathing
phone calls, the note that I found in my locker, the scribbling on my notebook,
and the flowers. Charlotte’s body was tensing up like a snake ready to pounce
on its victim. Beth’s mouth was wide, as were her eyes. I swallowed the lump
that was forming in my throat as I knew it was time to tell them about the last
thing, the weirdest thing, the box that I’d been sent yesterday.

“And then I got this sent to me yesterday,” I muttered,
pulling open the closet and grabbing the box that I’d stored there. I plopped
it on the bed between the two girls, chewing on my lip, waiting for them to
open it and look.