Chapter 14
Lily arrived home Friday afternoon to an empty house. Jackson and Ruthie were both at a friend’s house, and her aunt would be working late that night. She loved her family dearly, but sometimes she just liked to be alone. Most girls her age would have been bored or lonely, but Lily enjoyed being by herself. She liked the peaceful quiet that surrounded her. She decided the first thing she needed to do was complete any homework that needed done, and study for an upcoming history test. She hobbled along to the kitchen to grab a quick snack, and then to the living room to begin the dreaded algebra homework. Halfway through she was wishing she had Landon’s help. One equation was particularly tough, and she considered calling him, but decided against it. She didn’t really want to encourage his friendship, and asking for his help would do exactly that. Instead, she put the algebra aside for her next tutoring appointment with Robert. Despite her large stack of homework, she completed the rest of it and also studied for the test by dinnertime. She was searching the refrigerator for something to eat when she heard the buzzing.
“I don’t hear a thing. I know I got the wiring right. I won’t have another chance to go in and fix it anytime soon even if I did.”
Lily didn’t think much of it and continued on her search. She decided on a ham sandwich with ginger snap cookies for desert. She opened a recent magazine from her room and read while she ate. Her aunt hated it when she read at the table, but Lily didn’t see the problem with it, so she didn’t pay much attention to that rule when her aunt wasn’t home. It was boring to eat alone. She had finished her sandwich and started on her cookies when she heard the male voice again.
“She must be home alone.”
She nearly choked on her partially chewed cookie. She didn’t know her neighbors very well, but she knew them enough to know that no one else but herself was in that situation. She silently listened for the man’s voice. Lily crept around the perimeter of the inside of the house peeking through the dusty mini blinds. Whoever it was couldn’t be far off.
“She must be naturally quiet. That will be a good thing for what we want her for, I think. She doesn’t seem the type to protest.”
Lily’s heart was beating nearly out of her chest. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to slow down her breathing. There was a man out there, and he wanted her for something, but what? Would he try to come inside the house? He was trying to hear her, so that meant he had a way of hearing inside the house. He must have installed something somewhere inside, but where? Her mind was reeling with past detective movies. What would Sherlock have done? He certainly wouldn’t have panicked. He was always as cool as a cucumber. Lily took a few deep breaths.
“If he wanted to hurt me, he probably already would have, because he knows I’m alone and he must know that I still need crutches to get around,” she thought trying to be logical. “He said he wanted me for something. What would a grown man want with a seventeen year old girl? Why would he bother bugging the house? I can hear his thoughts so that means he is either a bad guy, or he is usually a good guy but planning on doing something bad to someone. Most likely me,” she thought. Lily knew whatever evil she was witnessing, was focused at her. That was what she was afraid of most. She had gone full circle and inspected the streets through the windows, but she hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. He had to be far enough away to not be noticed from the house.
“Usually in movies the bad guys are parked in a black van or car not far away,” she mused as the fear that was building inside her grew. Lily went back to the kitchen table not knowing what to do. She wanted desperately to call Malaya, but she wasn’t sure the phones were safe. Everything she said would probably be overheard. She couldn’t risk it. She could try walking, but she wouldn’t be able to go very fast or vary far, and somehow she would have to avoid a vehicle with a man inside who may as well be the boogey man for all she knew. Malaya’s house was really too far a walk for her anyway. She didn’t feel comfortable going to a neighbor’s house, but she might resort to it if she had to. She didn’t know who else to turn to. The apple shaped clock on the kitchen wall ticked quietly as Lily racked her brain for ideas. She glanced up at it wishing she had been given some super powers to fight evil bad guys along with her mind reading gift. It sure would have come in handy right about now. Her aunt wouldn’t be home for another couple of hours, and there was no way she was spending a moment longer in the house alone with that creep out there. She decided for sure that she didn’t want Malaya to come over, because then they would both be scared out of their minds. They tended to feed off of each other’s emotions, so that wouldn’t be a good situation, and she was pretty sure that a grown man could take on a couple of teenage girls. Malaya really wouldn’t be much help to her. So that ruled Malaya out of the situation entirely. Lily had someone in the back of her mind that kept pushing his way to the surface of her memory, but she kept shoving it back down as far as it would go. She did not want to ask for his help.
“If she doesn’t say something, anything soon, I’m going to have to approach this differently. Sitting in this car isn’t accomplishing much of anything. I’m running out of time.” The man’s voice pierced through her brain to her very soul. This man was coming for her. She had to get out of this house now. She was going to have to make the phone call she had been dreading.
***
Landon slipped the last of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and closed the door. He was fiddling with the dishwasher settings when his mom walked in with a black cordless phone in her hand.
“Landon, there’s a girl of the phone and she sounds a little upset dear. Is there something you want to tell me?” Her eyebrows nearly reached her hairline and her gaze pierced through Landon like a samurai sword.
“What? No, mom I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said defensively. She looked at him suspiciously before handing him the phone.
“You better not be the one who caused whatever her problem is,” his mother said sternly. Landon raised an eyebrow curiously as he took the phone from her hand.
“Hello?”
“Landon?”
“Yeah,” Landon said still not knowing who was on the other end of the phone. The girl’s voice sounded so familiar, but he just couldn’t place it.
“This is Lily.” Lily! How could he not have recognized her voice? “Landon, I know I haven’t been particularly nice to you lately, but I really need your help.” He realized he hadn’t known it was her because her voice wasn’t the same somehow. Her tone had changed. It was laced with something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
“Sure, whatever you need. What can I do?”
“Well, I’m really struggling with my algebra, so if you have the time, would you be able to help me with it?” He could hear it now. It was fear. She was terrified of something. “I need you to give me your email address. So I can send you my schedule of when I’m available.”
“Um, okay.” After he had given his current email address to her he glanced sideways at his mother, her arms were crossed and she was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. He knew she wasn’t really reading even thought her eyes were glued to it.
“Go check your email,” said Lily anxiously after a few moments of silence. Landon ran up the stairway to his room and opened the laptop sitting on his bed.
“It’s going to take a moment for my laptop to warm up.”
“Okay, but hurry because, um, I need to get off the phone soon.” Landon knew there had to be some other reason for her call than homework. Whatever it was, he knew he would do whatever he could to help her.
“Alright, I’m about to open up my email.” He clicked on the email icon linked directly to his email account. He had only one new email, so he quickly clicked on it.
Landon, I don’t really need help with my homework, well I do, but that doesn’t matter at all right now. There’s a man parked outside my house. I’m at home alone and I’m really scared of what he might do. I need you to come and get me and take me away from my house. Please hurry.
Lily
There was some creep stalking Lily. Whoever that guy parked in front of her house was, Landon would make sure he didn’t lay a finger on Lily. Landon’s fingers flew as he typed a quick reply.
I’ll be there in ten minutes.
Landon flew down the stairs calling to his mom on his way out the door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes mom.” He could hear her calling after him, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t. If there was someone about to hurt Lily, he had to get to her as fast as possible.
***
Lily felt a surge of relief as soon as she received Landon’s email. He was coming to get her. She went to her room to get her backpack. If she was going to be stuck with Landon for the rest of the night she might as well have some help with her algebra homework. She tore out a sheet of paper from a notebook and scribbled a note for her aunt. Lily planned on getting back around the same time as her aunt anyway, but she thought it would be best just in case she was late. She slung her backpack on her shoulders and went back to the kitchen and placed the note on the refrigerator where her aunt would see it. Aunt Jenny always liked a bowl of ice cream after a long day at work, so she would be sure to see it there. Lily headed towards the living room to watch for Landon. She couldn’t remember what type of car he drove, but she was sure she would recognize it when he pulled up. She was pretty sure it was black or maybe dark blue. She racked her brain trying to remember. Keeping her mind focused on something other than that man outside helped ward off the jitters she was feeling in the pit of her stomach.
***
“She better not be planning anything stupid. That whole phone call was fishy,” the agent thought to himself. He was still sitting in the car, observing from a distance. He really didn’t have the evidence he needed, but she seemed to be aware that something was wrong. It was the tone of her voice that had given it away. She was scared. There wasn’t any way she could even know he existed, unless she heard his thoughts. He was sure he was far enough away that she wouldn’t be able to hear him, but apparently he had been wrong. She was even more powerful that he had thought. Surely this would be enough to prove her usefulness to them. If she knew he was there, he needed to act fast, and without thinking about what he was doing. Was that even possible? He would have to try.
***
A black car pulled in front of her house, but the door didn’t open. Lily had hoped he would come in to escort her, but he probably didn’t think there was any real danger. She waited another moment before opening the front door and wobbling her way across the uneven lawn. Lily was halfway to the sidewalk when car the door opened and a muscular man in black appeared out of the driver’s seat. Lily froze in terror. She didn’t need to hear his thoughts to know that this was the man she had feared so much. He was the one who had been watching her, thinking about her. He was here, standing just yards away from her, and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She was trapped. Lily’s breath quickened. It seemed as though time stood still. Everyone and everything around them was frozen in time and they were all alone. She was alone. It hadn’t been Landon’s car that pulled in front of her house. The man was talking to her, but she could barely keep herself from fainting. Her knees were buckling and her head was spinning. She was having a difficult time breathing. She tried to push the air out of her lungs, but it was caught in her throat, and it refused to move. Lily tried to pull herself together. She quickly tried to make sense of the situation, but it was so hard when her heart felt like it could burst out of her chest at any moment. She took a deep breath and did her best to think logically. If he had wanted her dead, he would have done it by now. She had seen enough murder mysteries to know that. He wasn’t even carrying a weapon. She felt a little better knowing he probably wasn’t an ax murderer.
He had caught her so off guard. She should have heard his thoughts when he drove up to her house. Either he had somehow masked his thoughts, or he really didn’t want to harm her. If he concealed his thoughts, that meant he knew about her gift. How could he possibly know? The only person Lily had told was Malaya, and she knew Malaya would never in a million years betray her. If the man didn’t want to hurt her, then why could she hear him before? Even if he didn’t want to hurt her, why would he spend so much time and energy stalking her? What could he possibly want? He had bugged her house, so he must have been trying to learn something about her. What could a teenage girl possibly know or have that this man would want? Her thoughts were interrupted by a deep voice from the other side of the lawn.
“Hello, Lily,” he said. His words flowed out in a primal purr. He was the lion and he had just caught his prey. Lily shivered knowing in her heart that if she had full use of her legs, her instinct would have been to run. The man’s thoughts were clear now that he wasn’t trying to mask them. “You can’t get away from me. I’ve got you exactly where I want you.” Lily tried to conceal the fact that she knew what was in his head, but it wasn’t easy. The logical Lily was gone, and the fear had returned full force.
***
When Landon rounded the corner to Lily’s house, she was already outside on the lawn. He found this strange for her to be out in the open considering that she had been terrified when he last spoke to her. A black sedan was already parked in front of her house. That had to be the car she was talking about. Why was she outside when her monster was parked right in front of her house? Landon pulled to a stop a couple houses away. He cut the engine, opened his door, and slid out as quietly as he could. The shiny door of the black car began to open and he stopped in his tracks. He watched silently as a man emerged from the opening. The man looked familiar, but Landon knew he had never seen him before in his life.
“Hello, Lily,” This was the man Lily was so afraid of. He had been too late. The man had beaten him to her, and now he couldn’t protect her. If he had been just seconds sooner, he might have been able to take her away and keep her safe. He had failed her. The mystery man took a couple steps toward Lily.
“You don’t know me, but I’ve been watching you, and I am quite impressed with your special abilities.”
“Who are you, and what do you want,” Lily’s voice trembled.
“It doesn’t really matter who I am, and what I want is to help you. I can do so much for you Lily,” the man slithered.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said trying to conceal the truth.
“Oh, I think you do. I know what you can do, Lily. In fact, your little talent made it difficult to get anywhere near you.”
“What talent?”
“You know what it is.”
“No, I don’t think I do,” Lily replied her voice wavering.
“You can hear people’s thoughts,” the man said deliberately. That was the last straw. Landon had hoped to avoid the impending fight, but this guy was truly a nut case. Landon silently made his way around to the black parked car to position himself at the rear left hand side of the madman. He came out from his hiding place, ran with all the strength and power he could gather, and plowed right into the unassuming man. He hadn’t really planned out what to do after the first contact, but he assumed his attack would result in a fist fight. He picked himself up from the thick grass he had landed on, and stepped in front of Lily. He formed his furious hands into hardened fists and awaited the inevitable battle. Landon watched on guard as the muscular man stood and looked at him with surprise.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m getting rid of the likes of you, that’s what. If you go away peacefully, and never bother Lily again, I won’t call the cops on you.” The man grinned and he chuckled under his breath.
“Oh, please,” the man taunted.
“I already have a nice snapshot of your license plate,” Landon warned holding up the cell phone he had stashed in his pants pocket. The man’s face fell momentarily, but quickly regained its evil sneer.
“We’ll be long gone by then,” he said shooting a grisly smile in Lily’s direction. “I don’t care who you are, you’re not going to keep me from her. Go home kid, before I bash your pretty face in.” Landon had hoped talking would work, but wasn’t too surprised that it didn’t. The man took a step forward with his arms outstretched. “Look kid, this is going to happen one way or another. If it’s not today, it will be another day when you aren’t around to protect her. It’s inevitable.”
“You’re crazy. Why are you even here? What do want with her anyway,” Landon demanded.
“Oh, so she hasn’t told you. Interesting, I would have thought that she would have at least told her knight in shining armor.”
“It doesn’t really matter. Besides, I don’t think you should waste your breath because I’ve already called the police. They’ll be here any minute, so I suggest you get out of here,” Landon said forcefully.
“You’re bluffing,” the man said eyeing him suspiciously.
“Do you really want to take that chance?” Landon glared at the man determined to win. “Perfect timing,” Landon quipped as blaring sirens could be heard nearby. The man backed towards his sedan giving up.
“You will see me again very soon, Lily,” he said with a crooked smile. “And as for you,” he said glaring at Landon. “You better not be anywhere near her when that time comes. If you are, you’ll regret it.” The man ducked into his car and sped away leaving only a faint trail of exhaust as proof that he ever existed.
“Are you okay,” Landon turned and asked Lily once he was gone.
“I don’t know.” Her entire body felt numb. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to scream or bury everything that had happened deep inside her where no one could find ever it. Lily was still in shock when the police caravan pulled in front of her house. Once the police were done questioning Landon they sent him home. They stayed with Lily until her Aunt was home, and filled her in on everything. Lily was glad, because she didn’t want to do it. All she wanted to do was go to her bedroom, curl up in her bed, and never come out again.