Angel Kiss (13 page)

‘Get off me!’ I could hear myself saying.

‘What?’ said Nick.

‘Stop. Stop it!’

Nick backed away.

‘OK, OK, just calm dow–’

I could hear Nick’s confusion, but I couldn’t calm down – I was in pure panic.

‘Get
off
me!’

‘Jacki, I’m not on you! Will you stop shouting?’

I could hear him speak but I couldn’t answer. I felt as if I was no longer lying on the bed in the master bedroom. I was lying on a damp carpet of twigs and leaves out under a black sky, with a brutal, heavy body pushing down on me, and a sweaty hand groping the inside of my legs. I tried to push him away but he was much too strong. The body pushed down on me, harder and harder.

‘Is everything OK in there?’ shouted Colin from the other side of the door.

‘Yes.’ Nick’s voice was shaking. ‘Yes, every–’

‘Get off me! Get off! No, stop it,
stop it
!’

‘Jacki? Is that you?’ said Colin.

‘Get off me!’

‘Jacki, I’m not near you!’ said Nick. ‘Please stop. You’re scaring me. Please just calm –’

‘Get off me!’

The door rattled on its hinges as Colin slammed against it.

‘Nick, open this door
now
,’ he shouted.

‘Wait, just wait.’ Nick scurried off the bed.

There was a loud bang on the door.

The door rattled again. But it didn’t budge.

‘Jacki … listen to me,’ said Nick. ‘What the
hell
is wrong with you?’ He ran over to the door and tried to open the lock, but the key went tumbling to the floor.

‘For God’s sake,’ he mumbled.

There was another loud bang. The door swung open, hitting Nick hard in the face. He let out a howl of pain.

‘Jacki!’ Colin could see me jerking about on the bed, desperately trying to wrestle with the invisible attacker. ‘What did you do to her?’

I could still hear everything that Colin and Nick were saying. They couldn’t see my attacker, and I could only feel him.

‘I did NOTHING. I didn’t touch her!’ shouted Nick. Colin gave him a questioning look.

‘OK, we were just … well … you know … She wanted to! And then she just totally freaked!’

By this time a group of partiers were huddled at the door, all staring at me. Colin slammed it shut, abruptly blocking their view. Then he sat down on the bed and leaned over me.

“Get off me!’ I shouted.

‘Jacki,’ he said. Colin grabbed my wrist and this suddenly brought me back. I was back in reality, shivering uncontrollably.

‘I have to go,’ I said, sitting up. ‘I … I have to go now.’ I threw the coats off the bed until I found my bag, then ran from the room towards the stairs.

‘Jacki, where are you going?’ shouted Nick.

‘Home. I’m sorry. I have to get out of here now.’ I didn’t understand what had just happened, but I knew I needed to get away.

I rushed down the stairs and out the front door. Colin came running after me.

‘Jacki, wait. You can’t go by yourself. Wait there, I’ll get your jacket.’ Colin hurried back into the house.

I stared at my reflection in the passenger window of a car in the driveway. I was horribly pale. A burning sensation ripped
through my skull. Things were getting out of hand. What had happened in that room was far worse than any headache or nightmare or vision. I knew what I needed to do. I needed to visit the healer as soon as possible. I might have refused to believe in that sort of stuff, but now I was desperate. I couldn’t deny it: something supernatural was happening.

That night I lay in my bed, trying to fight back the tears. My chances with Nick had been completely ruined. I’d been so close to him. We could have kissed more … and then he might have asked me on a date. But I’d ruined it. I’d ruined everything. Or rather
something
had ruined everything. Was it really something supernatural, whatever that might mean? I wished it was morning so I could ring Ger Rapple’s number.

When you die you are dead – that’s it. You rot into nothing and you are never coming back … Right?

I woke up late for the second day in a row and noticed a big purple bruise on my elbow. I reckoned I must have whacked it off the bedpost at David’s, but then again the bruise did look like it was a few days old. Maybe it had been there for a while and I just hadn’t seen it. The headache was back, worse than ever. I had dozed off around 6 a.m. and despite being exhausted I had started to dream. I didn’t dream about the drunk man and the angry driver and the brown leather bag. I dreamed about lying on a damp carpet of twigs with a heavy body pressing down on me and hands groping me. It was like what I’d felt at David’s. But this dream was even more terrifying than the other one. In this dream I wasn’t just an observer; I was a participant. An unwilling one. I don’t scare easily, but I couldn’t help feeling frightened now. The dream was so real I felt like I had actually been attacked. Even after
I’d woken up I couldn’t shake off the terror I felt inside. And when I’d been on the bed I
had
been awake. Flashbacks from last night kept coming into my mind, the most heart-wrenching one being the look of confusion on Nick’s face. I couldn’t think about him now though. I had to get going.

I got out of bed, went into our tiny bathroom and turned
on the shower. As I took off my pyjamas my heart started to beat faster and faster. There was another bruise, and another and another. My body was covered in them. Big black dirty bruises, all along my shoulders and chest and thighs. The one on my neck was so dark I couldn’t see my heart-shaped freckle. I was about to scream but stopped myself. Mum didn’t need to know about this. She would freak out and drag me straight to the doctor. I was so frightened, but I desperately tried to calm down. I had a quick shower, shivering even though the water was scorching hot. My mind raced, trying to find a logical explanation for these marks on my skin. They hadn’t been there when I was getting ready for bed. Surely if I’d been thrashing around in my sleep Mum would have woken up and stopped me? Maybe they weren’t bruises … they didn’t hurt
at all … maybe they were just stains of some sort. I scrubbed at one on my shoulder but it didn’t budge. What the hell was happening to me? I was on the verge of tears but I held it together. I needed to get to the healer’s house.

I dressed quickly, throwing on anything I could find. Mum wasn’t anywhere near the house so I left her a note saying I’d be back in a couple of hours. Then I ran up towards the mines until I could get enough coverage, my blue Doc Martens splashing in last night’s puddles, spattering rainwater on to my denims. I took the card from my pocket and dialled the number.

‘Hello?’ A woman’s voice answered.

‘Hello,’ I said. ‘Um, I was given Ger Rapple’s number and I need to see him urgently. Today.’

‘I’m sorry, dear, but he’s fully booked today. And I’m afraid he’s busy for the next two weeks. But I can make you an appointment for then.’

My heart sank and tears sprang into my eyes. I couldn’t help it. ‘Please,’ I said, my voice shaking. ‘This is an emergency. Dr Cahill said this might be the answer to some … headaches I’ve been having. They’re getting worse and I can’t sleep. Please help me,’ I begged, no longer caring if I sounded desperate.

‘OK, dear, just calm down. Do you think you can get here in the next ten minutes? He’s just had a cancellation. If you can, then I’ll ask if he can see you.

‘Yes, that’s fine. I’ll be there.’

‘OK, now, can you give me some details.’

I gave her my name, address and date of birth, then rooted around in my bag for a piece of paper and scribbled the directions on the back of my Cupcake Café receipt.

Ger Rapple’s house was on the side of a mountain, about a twenty-minute walk from the mines. To make it I’d have to run the whole way there. I didn’t hesitate. It was uphill all the way, but I kept running. My stomach churned and my head thumped with every heavy step, but I had to keep on going, I had no choice. The sun blasted down on the road and I squinted, searching for Ger Rapple’s house in the distance. I wasn’t familiar with this part of Avarna; the scenery was all new to me. To my right was a narrow field covered with overgrown grass and chunks of rotting bark and on the far side of this field stood a forest of tall conifers, their tips piercing the pale blue sky. To my left the view was breathtaking. A huge green expanse led down to a vast lake, its surface glittering in the sunlight. On the lake’s shore stood the majestic ruins of a castle, its outer walls still intact and dotted with glassless arched
windows. This part of Avarna was incredibly beautiful. I could see the healer’s house not too far away, so I picked up my pace and kept going.

I tried not to think about Nick. But I just couldn’t stop myself picturing him. Last night had been so perfect and I had completely messed it up. I wanted to rewind to yesterday. When it comes to love sometimes I think the lead-up is the best part. Yes, it’s erratic and uncertain, but at least there is nothing to lose. Once you finally get the person you want, then comes the horrible possibility of losing them. I had won Nick and lost him all in one night. I really couldn’t dwell on that now though. Besides the fact that it made me ache inside, I had something much more urgent to worry about.

The two-storey stone house had a red front door and a balcony that looked out on the magnificent view. To the right, beyond a colourful garden, stood a wooden log cabin, a wind chime on its porch tinkling in the light breeze. For a split second I thought about turning round. I thought about running back down the mountain and going back into the caravan, and getting back into bed, and forgetting any of this had ever happened. Part of me was tempted to do this. But another part of me knew that if I kept on ignoring whatever this was … something even worse might happen. And I didn’t want to imagine what could be worse than last night. So I knocked on the door of the house and a man whom I assumed was Ger Rapple opened it. He was not at all as I’d expected. I had imagined he might look a bit strange, a touch wacky, but he was really normal. He wore a blue striped shirt and beige cords. He had broad shoulders, tanned skin and a
short grey beard. I guessed he was about fifty, and he had a warm smile that was very welcoming. I instantly felt calmer.

‘You must be Jacki,’ he said. ‘Nice to meet you.’

‘Hi,’ I said as I shook his hand. He had a calm air about him, completely relaxed and untroubled. I was starting to think that maybe everything was going to be OK after all. Ger would figure out what was wrong and my life would go back to the way it used to be.

‘Is there anyone here with you?’ he asked, looking down the driveway. ‘When people are under eighteen I prefer that they have somebody with them.’

‘No, there isn’t … but I really need to see you. Today,’ I insisted as politely as possible. I couldn’t miss out on this, the possibility to switch my life back. There was no way I could explain this to Mum. I needed Ger to see me. I looked at him pleadingly.

He hesitated, but to my relief, said ‘OK then, this way,’ and I followed him over to the log cabin. It was really bright inside, the sunlight beaming in through the back window. A soothing violin concerto played on the stereo in the corner. ‘OK, Jacki,’ he said. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘Something very weird is happening to me,’ I said. ‘I need to know what’s going on.’

The details came gushing out of me all at once. The nightmares, the visions, the headaches, the bruises and the mysterious attack. I told him about the girl I’d seen in the forest and in the café and about the dream I’d had last night. I didn’t care if he thought I was crazy, I just needed to tell someone the whole story.

He didn’t seem shocked by any of it. He simply looked at me for a few moments, as if deciding the best way to explain.

‘OK,’ he said. ‘It seems to me that someone is trying to contact you.’

I had an idea what he was hinting at. But I needed to find out more.

‘Who …?’ I said.

‘When I say “someone”… I mean … someone from the other side.’

That’s what I’d been afraid of.

‘Like a … a ghost?’ When I said it out loud I realized how utterly ridiculous it sounded.

‘Yes, a spirit, perhaps. The headaches you described are a common side-effect of spirit contact.’

This was getting too much for me. After being so eager for answers, I wasn’t prepared for it. I had to get out.

‘I’d better go,’ I said. ‘I don’t feel comfortable with all this.’ I wasn’t ready to hear it. I had let fear get the better of me. I’d been so frightened that I’d allowed myself to go beyond desperate. I should never have come here.
There’s no such thing as ghosts
, I told myself. I had to get out of there. Ger did not stir, even as I made my way to the cabin door.

‘I’m sorry,’ I mumbled as I pushed the door open.

‘Jacki?’ he said.

I just wanted to leave. ‘Yes?’ I replied without looking back.

‘Can I ask you a question?’

I hesitated, but turned round and nodded anyway, preparing to take off as soon as I had answered. Ger spoke quietly, so that I had to listen really closely to hear him. ‘Your dad wants to know … why are you wearing his socks?’

I was suddenly aware of the feel of the thick grey cotton socks on my feet. They were my lucky socks. The ones that I wore when I had to do something I was nervous about. The ones I had taken from one of the plastic bin bags at the foot of
Mum’s bed before she gave them away. That morning I’d put them on to try to make myself feel a bit better. Nobody knew I had them. Not even Mum. And there was absolutely no way Ger could have known or even guessed. I was wearing Doc Martens: my socks couldn’t be seen. Besides, I hadn’t even told him that my father was dead. I stood stuck to that spot for several moments.

‘How did you … how did you know …?’ My voice trailed off into nothing.

‘Are you OK?’ asked Ger.

‘Yes. Yes, I’m fine.’ I was desperately trying to hold back my tears, but failing miserably.

‘Why don’t you sit down.’

I walked back across the room and sat on one of the chairs. I felt like I was in a sort of trance. I couldn’t feel my feet move; I was completely in shock.