Returned (5 page)
Authors: Keeley Smith
Dumb and dumber who were stood behind him cackled, their shiny, bright red faces staring at her.
“Leave me alone.” The whisper of her voice annoyed her. She sounded like she was going to cry.
His lips were pulled into an arrogant smirk, it grew wider as she looked at him. Something portrayed on her face clearly amused him. She needed to get a grip on her stupid emotions. She could stand here and face him. Her pulse quickened, the anger turning a mountain of sick around in her stomach. Two deep dimples formed in both his cheeks as he continued to grin at her. She gasped. Had she seen that smile before? Why did she feel like she knew him? The wind picked up in speed. Seriously, they couldn't hear this laughter? She was pretty sure her old neighbours in London could.
Pain stabbed deep in her stomach. She clenched her hands into fists not caring if she punched him wrong. It was a broken hand versus inflicting pain on someone you hate with every fibre of your being.
No contest.
She stood her ground, rather shakily, but she was still stood as he studied her.
“Oooooooo... harsh words witch, I’m really scared,” he mocked her, his eyes dancing with glee.
Before she could think of a reply he closed the gap between them in three huge strides. His hair was cut short at the sides, blending with the jagged and wispy layer of mahogany brown hair that moved erratically in the wind, a wind that seem to pulse from within her. Anger flashed in his eyes. She heaved in a breath. She couldn’t remember feeling this afraid and this pissed off in equal measure. There was a build up of pressure in her head, like a balloon that was ready to pop. Her stomach rolled, the muscles in her throat forcing the bile up into her mouth. Panicking, she over swallowed to compensate. It wasn’t working, gasping, she tried to suck in air. Heaving in another cold breath she felt something click, like something literally snapped inside her and it hurt like hell.
This click, she knew, was not the kind of click you get when a light bulb magically appears above your head. Unfortunately she didn’t have those moments. Something physically snapped inside. Shooting pains through her body caused each bone to cave under the weight of her flesh. What was happening to her? He closed the gap between them and then pushed her, hard. She stumbled back, her arms snapping out in an attempt to keep upright, this made them laugh. The agony she felt only intensified. She tried to swallow but her mouth was so dry and the effort to keep her mouth shut was hurting. It felt like trying to hold your mouth closed whilst stifling a yawn, impossible.
Squaring her shoulders the best she could whilst whimpering in pain, she forced her legs to pick themselves up and move.
“Get out of my way!!” she spat the words at him. Her voice sounded strong but her body shook.
A deep throaty bark made her jolt in shock. Her eyes bulged in anger when she realised the sound had come from him. She felt his breath brush hot against her skin. She ground her teeth together to stop herself from clawing at his face, she just wanted to pummel him with anything and everything she had.
He stopped lau
ghing, his eyes narrowing as he
glared at her. “What will you do if I don’t get out of your face?”
She felt little flickers of spit land on her cheeks. She wiped the spit, her finger tip nearly grazed his face. She took a step back to gather perspective. She needed to get out of this situation. Her long brown hair was suddenly flicked back as the wind’s cool hands pulled her bobble free. She felt them caress her cheek and blow air around her clammy neck. Stepping closer to him, she entered unknown and dangerous territory. He dragged his hand through his hair styling it to sweep to one side. His eyes portrayed confidence. A muscle ticked under his eye as his jaw popped. Stood toe to toe, they continued to glare at one another as if they were about to go to battle to save the world.
Without warning, her hands were pushed up and locked in position near the centre of his chest. She couldn’t move them. She pushed and pulled with all the strength she could muster but they wouldn't move. Her skin tingled increasing in temperature until it burned. She bit down on her lip, instantly tasting warm copper pennies. The pain grew, the intensity of it ripping the breath right out of her lungs. Then as suddenly as it had started, the wind stopped and the pain vanished.
Her hand remained between them steady and strong. She could hear nothing but their breathing, her short gasps, his steady breaths. His eyes, caramel infused with chocolate, sparkled. His smile, slow and so self assured returned.
Something blasted from deep within her.
Screaming erupted.
Confusion blocked her senses as she focused on the scene in front of her. She couldn’t understand this. The boy who had been stood at her toes only seconds earlier, now lay crumpled on the floor some distance away from her. Before she was able to process any of this, her body decided it was going to have a meltdown. It shook uncontrollably as her teeth smashed together. Was he dead?
“Jack, are you all right? Jack!” the boy screamed.
She shook her head trying to clear away some of the cobwebs. She blinked rapidly trying to push the tears away. Huge dew drops plopped down her cheeks and slid over her lips leaving a salty trail. Dazed but able to think about her own safety, she willed her legs to move but they remained tree trunks cemented in the road. She felt the need to run far away from here and never come back. Her left leg moved, then her right.
God, what had she done?
She choked on a sob as she ran, the wind appeared to gently wipe away the drops that were rolling down her cheeks.
She stumbled in to the house not caring if the door handle put a great big hole in the wall. She couldn't breathe. Her lungs jerked grasping at oxygen, her legs fell from underneath her forcing a desperate cry out of her mouth as she hit the floor with a heavy thump. She dragged her dead body to the kitchen.
She made it to the fridge and leaned against it for support, any movement made her head somersault as new waves of dizziness hit her. Taking a deep breath, though the lump in her throat was restrictive and her lungs were on fire, she stood. Her legs felt like jelly, the bones no more useful than water. Pulling the door open required strength she didn’t have but she managed it only falling to the floor once the door was open. She grabbed the nearest thing to her outstretched hand and unscrewed the cap, guzzling long drags. Sighing as the bubbles popped in her mouth, she took a few longer drags to make sure her tongue had unlatched itself from the roof of her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she shut the fridge door and crawled towards the table.
As soon as her hands reached the flat solid wood she pulled herself up and immediately regretted it. Bending her head to try and stop the onslaught of sick, she inhaled much needed air. Moving as quickly as her body would allow, she pushed her head over the kitchen sink.
She was going to die.
She was seventeen years old, she didn't want to die now and especially not like this. She tasted acid a second before sick burst uncontrollably out of her mouth, slamming her closer to the sink. The dark shadows rushed in.
CONFUSION
Cora was stood and rather bizarrely she was surrounded by white fog. The thick heavy mass was suspended around her, draining any warmth she may have had as it clung to her body. She couldn't see, yet instinctively she knew someone was following her. It was one of those minuscule hairs on the back of your neck moments. She felt the first flutters of panic begin in her chest and then decided this was the right moment to ask herself where she was.
Her heart started thumping harder making her breathing accelerate. She strained her eyes to see through the thick fog. Stumbling back and nearly falling over her own feet, she gasped as a figure darted towards her.
The fog vanished, she tried not think about how weird that was but failed. As the figure approached her she told her body not to shut down, not to be a coward. The thing was draped in robes similar to the ones Tabitha wore. Cora looked down and squealed in shock. The figure didn't touch the ground.
She started to step back, to force some distance between the thing and her. She blinked and the figure was gone. She looked around waiting for something else. Before she could make sense of everything her world once again turned black. A whisper of a voice reached her.
It’s i
n your blood…
Ask Tabitha.
She jolted back hitting her head on something hard sending pain soaring across her temple. Groaning, she assessed her injuries. Her hand felt like a dead weight at the end of her arm. Her legs were heavy and cold and her entire body was battling against pins and needles as she lay on the cold kitchen floor.
Opening her eyes
, she found that
she was sat in darkness. Inch by inch she turned her head to the side and gasped as an explosion gripped her head like a vice. Closing her eyes, she held her breath waiting for the worst of it to abate. Like holding her breath was going to get rid of the pain? Pain was pain, holding your breath didn't get rid of it. She still did it anyway.
Once the pain had subsided, she attempted to move again and shifted her body to put all her weight on her knees. She grabbed the worktop and hoisted herself up to a standing position. Leaning over the sink, she sucked in deep breaths trying to ward off the fresh bout of sickness that was sloshing around high in her chest. The odour from her last sick episode rose up from the sink sending her stomach into disgusted spasms. Her throat closed trying to stop the onslaught. She moved away from the sink and counted slowly to ten concentrating on the function of her lungs moving in and out. Once the new wave of sickness had abated, she opened her eyes and looked at the time, 7:30pm. She couldn't say how long she'd been out cold.
As elegant as a new born baby on roller blades, she moved to the living room and noted that everything remained untouched from this morning
.
She held her hands tight against her raw stomach as she made her way to the hall. The house groaned as torrential wind smashed against it. The silence confirmed that she was definitely home alone.
Shuffling to the living room she slumped down hard onto the sofa and instantly regretted it, her resulting hiss made her head protest. She slowly moved back and nestled into the pillows. Images of the day flashed through her mind, her heart thudded harder. The image of his body slumped on the ground, the horrible scream of his friend, Tabitha, the weird shop, the disappearance of her mother.
Exhaustion washed over her making her yawn. Her eyelids were forced down. Suffocated by the need to sleep, she sank under.
*
Movement shimmered, light and dark flickered across her face. The light caressing her with much needed warmth. She groaned coming to her senses and was instantly aware of a presence nearby.
“Cora, darling, are you awake?”
She opened her eyes, her mum’s concerned face filled her vision, her hazel eyes rimmed by a distinct redness and her soft nutmeg hair hung limp around her face. She held her breath as pain shot through her body. She focused on trying not to scream, she didn't want to frighten her mother. As Cora focused on moving her damaged body little by little, her mother had walked over to the window. Squinting against the light that seemed to peel a layer off her eyes, she attempted to look at her mother’s face. Her mother strategically moved so she couldn't see her.
“Mum, are you all right?”
The effort to talk was exhausting
.
“Oh, yes,” she murmured.
Cora didn’t believe her. Her mother continued to move around the room.
“Where have you been?” She swallowed the very little spit her mouth could make. She needed a cold drink to wash away the sand pit that had taken up residence in her mouth.
Her mother was stood bolt upright. From where she was sat Cora knew her mother’s eyebrows were drawn together deep in thought, the straightness of her shoulders gave that away, her lips would be forced into a thin line, the crossed arms signalled that. This was her mother's signature look. However, she'd been crying. She hurriedly made a mental list of people they knew in case someone was hurt. There wasn't anyone. It was just the two of them.
Maybe it was the boy, Jack, but he’d just been lying on the floor. She didn’t know how injured he was but something had upset her mother. She would have to face the consequences, whatever they were. Looking back on the whole thing at this moment made it seem entirely ridiculous. How was she meant to explain that to the judge?
With a sigh, her mother turned and looked at her. The smile on her face was forced, never quite reaching her eyes. Her lips quivered before she could control it. Cora watched in stunned silence as her mother left the room. The last twenty four hours had been the worst of her small life, of what she could remember. She’d nearly died, no, she wasn't being melodramatic, and her mother had gone AWOL and then turned up without any sort of explanation. Where were her answers?