Make Willing the Prey (Dreams by Streetlight) (5 page)

T
he phone
rang at 4:00am. 

Jina’s tired voice crackled on
the line.  “Sandy?  I’m so sorry to call you this late, but can you come pick
me up?”

“Jina?  Where are you?”

“At the Seven-Eleven on 12th
Street.  Stan and I—”

“Don’t worry Jina, I’ll be right
there.”  She hung up the phone and threw on a pair of jeans.  She knew that
Jina would call her, but she hadn’t planned on it being this soon.  She drove
off to rescue her friend.

When Jina slid into the passenger’s
side of Sandy’s car, her face shimmered with tears.  “I-I’m sorry.  I—”

“Don’t worry about it.  We can
talk when we get to my place.”

At Sandy’s, they curled up on her
couch with blankets and two cups of hot chocolate.

“Ok, Jina.  Tell all.”

“There’s not much to tell.  We
had sex, and that was enough for me.  I fell asleep, but Stan got pushy and
woke me up after about an hour.  He wanted to go at it again, but I wanted him
to take me home.  He just started yelling at me.  We fought for hours, and I
told him that I wouldn’t let him back in the band.  He seemed more hurt by that
than by anything else.  Before he could get mad again, I left.  I didn’t want
him to lose it and hit me.”

“I’m glad you left when you did, Jina.”

“I think I learned my lesson. 
Stan is a jerk, and always will be a jerk.”

“That’s what you said last time.”

“Yes, I know, but I was drunk.  I
should have let you hold me down and keep me from going with him.”

“You know I’m not going to do
that.”

“I know.  But sometimes I wish
you would.”

Sandy reached over to give Jina a
hug, and jumped back, startled.

“What’s the matter?  Sandy?”

She shook it off.  “Sorry.  I’ve
been a little jumpy lately.  The blanket tickled my arm.  I’m ok.”

Jina gave her a questioning look.

“There have been a few weird...
things… happen the past few days.  Actually, the past week.  Ever since I
started getting those flowers.”

“Oh?”

“Each note has a mention of a
game, and something silly to do.  Like burn a rose, and spin around, things
like that.  After I do the thing, something creepy happens.  The first time,
there was this hideous spider on my reading glasses.  The second time, a lizard
crawled out from under the empty box of chocolates, you know, the ones you
wanted me to share with you?  Then, tonight outside Neverland, the wall next to
my car was covered with ants.  It was the same wall that I had drawn some roses
on as part of the game.  I’ve been a little jumpy since the spider, but more-so
now, since the ants.  There were
so
many ants.”

“Sandy.  I had no idea.”

“Well, I didn’t make the
connection between S.A. and the creepy stuff until tonight.  Before they were
just coincidences.”

“Maybe S.A. is an occultist. 
Like, black magic?”

“You know I don’t believe in that
stuff, Jina.”

“Ok, then.  Something more
logical.  Didn’t you eat S.A.’s gifts just before seeing spiders or
creepy-crawlies?”

“Hmm...  Yes, now that you mention
it.”

“And did anyone else see what you
saw?”

“Not that I know of.  I was alone
each time.”

“There you have it.  Drugs. 
Hallucinatory drugs.”

“That’s a possibility.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t eat
anything from that guy again.  And, just in case it
is
black magic…” 
Sandy gave her a sharp look.  “Well, it’s possible, even if you don’t believe
in it.  Anyhow, just stop playing the game.  Don’t do the little things he asks
you to do anymore.”

“You have a good point, I
suppose.”

“One more thing.  Does he know
where you live?”

“I don’t think so.  None of the
roses have been delivered here.  The first rose
could
have been from
him, but it didn’t match his pattern.  It wasn’t even delivered by the same
flower shop.”

“Even so, I think you should call
the police, and let them know you might have a stalker.  He could always follow
you home from school, and it wouldn’t hurt to have the extra look-out from the
cops in case he decides to sneak in some night.”

Sandy shuddered.  “That’s a
horrible thought.  I’ll think about calling the police.  We’ll see.”

“And if you’d like, I can stay
here for the next few nights.  That will help me avoid Stan, too.”

“Yes, you can stay here.”  They
smiled and fell asleep on the couch.

S
andy
spent a dreadful day at school.  Each hour, she braced against the coming of
the roses, but none came.  To her relief, she was without a delivery when she
met Jina that afternoon.

Jina wanted to be dropped off at
her apartment to get a few things, and told Sandy she would hitch a ride to
Sandy’s place within a few hours.  Sandy drove home alone.

She arrived, and sat down to
quietly grade mid-term tests. 

A knock came at the door.

She shook off any thoughts about
the possibility it was S.A.  What silliness.  It was late afternoon, after all,
and what kind of dramatic stalker would show up at any other hour other than
midnight?

A safe feeling came over her as
she convinced herself that there could be no danger.  S.A. was more than likely
a student with a little spare time, and would have no way of finding out where
she lived.

“So this is where you live, huh?” 
It was the Gregorelli delivery boy.  He handed her a vase full of red roses and
a single small box.

Stunned, she accepted the
delivery and closed the door. 

So he does know where I live.
 

There were a smaller number of
roses this time: it looked to be only dozen. 

Maybe he’s running out of money
, she
thought as she began counting. 

Thirteen roses.  Unlucky.

“I’m not playing your game
anymore,” she whispered at the flowers.  She felt a sudden pang of fear, and
realized that deep down, she really did believe in the supernatural.  To dispel
the fear, she said it again, louder, with more confidence, and she felt better.

“This time,” she said aloud as
she opened gold foil box, “I am not going to eat any more of your goodies.”

But instead of chocolates, the
box held an incredible gold necklace.  The pendant held a large ruby that
sparkled in the light.  Forgetting the horror of the night before, Sandy almost
melted.  It was exquisite.  It had to be worth more than she could imagine. 
She felt the smooth red stone, and couldn’t help but put the necklace around
her neck.

As the clasp snapped shut, a
small white card fell from the box to the soft white carpet.  She could read
the elegant script without picking it up.

My Lovely Sandy:

Isn’t this fun?

Want to play more?

There’s no backing out,

Await what’s in store!

S.A.

She jumped when another knock
sounded.  She breathed slowly to try to calm herself, and slowly approached the
door.  The knock came again.  Sandy held her face close to the wood and
whispered, “Who— who is it?”

“It’s me, Jina.  Open up, Sand.”

Sandy sighed, and felt silly as
she unlatched the door.  “Jina, I’m sure glad to see you.”

“What’s with the costume jewelry?”

“It’s not costume jewelry.  Get
in here.”  She pulled Jina in and quickly closed the door.  “Read this.”  She
shoved the little card into Jina’s face.  “There were thirteen roses this
time. 
Thirteen
.”

“Whoa, Sandy.  Pretty freaky. 
Did anything happen?”

“No.  There was no candy this
time.  No caviar.  Nothing to eat at all.”

“I think it’s just a loser
screwball who is running out of ideas.  He doesn’t seem like the type that
would actually do anything.  I think you’re safe, especially with me here.”

“Yes, but he knows where I live.” 

“Like I said, that’s why I’m
here.  We can wait it out for a few days, and if anything else happens, we can
leave and call the police.  Ok?”

“All right.  I do feel a little
better with you around.”

“Good.  Now I can tell you about
Stan.”  Jina unzipped her purple gym bag.  “I think he
really
wants back
into the band, because when I got home, he had dropped this off.”  Jina pulled
out a bag of chocolate covered strawberries.  “My roommate said she found it in
front of the door.  Stan wants me to think he’s sorry and that he really wants
me back, but really, I think he’s just trying to bribe me.  And that’s never
going to happen, because Brandon is a
much
better guitarist than Stan
is.  Plus he isn’t such a jerk.”

“Are you going to eat the
strawberries anyway?”

“Of course.  I can enjoy this
stuff and spite him all at the same time.  And if he wants to bring me more
stuff, all the better.  He’s not going to win me back, nor will he convince me
he’s sorry.  Because he’s incapable of being sorry.”

The clear cellophane bag crinkled
as she untwisted the tie.  “Oooo...  These look marvelous.  Even if they are
the cheap kind.”

The strawberries were half brown
with chocolate and half juicy red.  They still had the little green tops,
crystallized with sugar.

“Can I have one?”

“No.  Not after hoarding your
chocolates.”  Jina bit into a confection.  “Oh my holy god, this is tragically
delicious.”

“Come on, you are torturing me. 
Give me at least a little bite.”

“All right.  Because, unlike you,
I share with my friends.”  Jina smiled.  “Come on, let’s sit down and eat the
whole bag together.”

“I’m sorry for not sharing,” she
said as they sat down at the glass dining room table.  “But there
were
only four chocolates, and besides, I told you what happened after I ate them.”

Sandy took a small bite out of a
strawberry.  It was luscious.  She had had entirely too many sweets lately, but
decided Jina’s idea of porking out was a fantastic idea.

Three strawberries later, Jina
screamed.

“What’s wrong?” Sandy looked
where Jina was staring and saw a cricket running across the table.  It ran
until it reached the side, and fell off.  Sandy swallowed her mouthful of
strawberry, and said, “It’s only a cricket, Jina.  Though, I don’t know what it’s
doing in here.  You didn’t used to be so scared of bugs.  What’s up?”

“You—You don’t understand.”  Jina
pointed to her partially eaten strawberry laying on the table where she had
dropped it.

“Uh, no Jina, I don’t.  What
gives?”  Sandy put the rest of her strawberry to her mouth, and felt a light
pressure on her lip.  She pulled away, but the something hooked her skin.  She
pulled back sharply, it unhooked, and she found herself staring at a cricket,
crawling out of her half-eaten strawberry.

Her reaction was the same as Jina’s:
scream and throw the strawberry.

She forced herself to be calm.

“Jina, hand me the bag.”

She took the bag and dumped the
remaining strawberries onto the table.  “No more crickets in here.  But look.” 
There was a small gray card glued with chocolate to one of the strawberries. 
Sandy peeled it off the strawberry and read it aloud:

Jina, now you are part of this
plot.

You’ll join the game, if you like
it or not.

Sandy, who’s reading this note, I
expect,

Will keep on playing, she cannot
reject.

S.A.