“This stonewalling thing is stupid, you know. You can’t pretend I don’t exist when I’m the lead of the play.” I am so burned out from Joe, the party, trying to process Tobin’s revelation, and my encounter with his cranky mother that I’m ready to just lay into Lexie and tell her what I really think of her and her elitist little mafia. Do they really think they’re so much better than everyone else?
Lexie reels around, nearly toppling over in her shoes. “You think you’re so much better than me, don’t you?”
“What?”
“You think you’re so great because your dad is some middle-aged rock star.” She points a finger at me. “You think you can come waltzing in here with your long neck and your long legs and steal the part that should be mine. I’ve been working on Mr. Morgan for the last two years to get to be the star, and now it’s like he’s lost his mind. I mean, you’re a contralto or whatever you are. Contraltos never get the lead. And you’d look ridiculous onstage with Tobin. Look at you, you’re like a … like a … giraffe or an albatross or something.”
“Ostrich,” I say.
“Huh?”
“You called me an albatross, but I think you meant ostrich. An albatross is like a seagull. Ostriches are the birds with long necks. If you’re going to insult me, at least get it right.”
“What, now you’re a freaking brain, too?” She puts her hands on her hips. “But all you really are is a pathetic little brownnoser, or whatever you call someone who uses her daddy to get whatever she wants.”
“I barely even know him. I had no idea this play was the reason he wanted to bring me here, so don’t blame me, okay?” I reach for her arm. “Let’s just get you home.”
Lexie pulls away from me. “I don’t need your help. I can get myself home.” She takes a couple of unsteady steps down the path to the right of the fork that make it clear she does need help.
“Isn’t your house the other direction?” I call after her.
She responds with her middle finger. I stand at the fork in the path and watch her disappear around the bend of the tree-lined trail. Most of me wants to just let her go. She deserves to get lost in her drunken state for being such a brat. But then I realize that the path she took leads to the bridge to the grove, and I remember what happened the last time I let someone head in that direction when I should have stopped her.
“Lexie?” I call after her.
She doesn’t respond and I can’t see her anymore, so I start after her. I’ve only taken about six steps when I hear a noise that sounds like something falling over, followed by a muffled swearword from Lexie. I smile, guessing she tripped in her shoes.
But then a horrible noise fills the air. At first, it starts as a low hiss and then grows higher pitched and grating. It reminds me of the screeching squeal of bad car brakes—only higher and much louder. It reverberates around me, making me shiver. When the noise dies away, Lexie’s frantic scream replaces it.
Without thinking, I run in the direction of her scream. I think I hear footsteps following me, but it’s probably just the pounding of my heart in my ears. I don’t dare look back. I round a corner in the path and stumble over something. I fall hard on my knees and see, lying on its side like a lifeless corpse, one of Lexie’s gold shoes on the ground in front of me.
At first, I can’t find Lexie. The path in front of me seems empty. I look deeper into the woods that line the path, and see her. She’s on the ground, backed up against a large tree about ten feet away from me. She holds her hands up defensively and shouts for help. That’s when I realize there’s someone—or something—else in the trees with her. At least I think I detect movement in the shadows beside her. It’s so dark, all I can see is the outline of a large black form standing over her. Or maybe it’s just the shifting shadows of tree branches. Then the shadow seems to swoop down toward Lexie.
“Get away from her,” I shout, and grab the closest thing that resembles a weapon. Lexie’s very pointy shoe. I push myself up from the asphalt path and lob the shoe at the shadowed outline. It passes right through it.
I am sure it’s just a shadow now, except it seems to turn in my direction.
That terrible screeching noise fills the air again. It seems to echo off the trees and slice into my ears. I can’t tell if it comes from the shadow or from somewhere behind me. I swallow hard and launch myself at Lexie. I wrap my arms around her protectively as the shadow engulfs us. Lexie buries her face against my shoulder, her curly hair blocking my view of the shadow.
I do the only thing that I can think of next. I scream.
My voice echoes around me, almost as loud as the screeching squeal, matching it in pitch. I feel the shudder of the shadow against my skin, but I don’t dare look at it. A second later, a burst of lightning explodes just over our heads. I scream again. Lexie flails. The light illuminates the terror on her face before I clamp my eyes shut to protect them from the brightness. My lids are down only for half a second, but when I open my eyes, she and I are alone beside the path. The shadow is gone.
But, no. I am wrong. We’re not completely alone. Electricity tingles in the air around me as I push myself up to get a better look at the boy who stands on the opposite side of the path.