The Mind Readers (3 page)

“What do you mean you don’t
believe me?” Trevor demanded, his voice rising with anger and panic.

I rolled my eyes. They’d had the
same fight at least once a week for the past three months. I seriously didn’t
understand why some people dated and honestly I didn’t think they really
understood either. Afraid to be alone. I didn’t blame them. I’d been alone much
of my life and frankly it sucked. I wanted that normalcy of living in the same
town for more than two years. Of having life-long friendships, an actual
boyfriend.

“Of course I don’t….” She paused
for one long moment. “What’s that?” Emily was looking toward the shore where a
piece of drift wood lay upon the gritty sand.
 

“Just driftwood,” I said.
 

She moved toward the steps, only
to hesitate. “No, there’s something else…”

I narrowed my eyes and leaned
over the railing, trying to get a better view. She was right, there was
something there just behind the drift wood. I stepped closer to her. Near the
shore lay a bundle. Something…I couldn’t quite see in the fading light. I moved
off the steps, Emily following.

“Em,” Trevor whined, he wasn’t
used to people just walking away from him.

I resisted the urge to tell him
to shut up. It was most likely garbage, but I’d do anything to get out of
listening to their fight. If Emily thought it was something great, like buried
treasure, I’d follow along.
 

“Oh my God, Cameron, what is
it?” Her fingers bit into my upper arm.

I shrugged off her tight grip.
Emily was way too dramatic. Usually it was amusing but right now annoying.
“It’s nothing. Probably…”

What was it? Something pale and
narrow. The closer we got, the more our footsteps slowed. An odd sense of
foreboding tingled through my body, yet I couldn’t seem to stop moving. Closer…
closer.
Turn back!
My instincts
screamed, but I couldn’t stop my feet from crunching through the sand. Something
was sticking out of a bundle…something pale, narrow…
a leg
.

The fine hairs on my arms stood
on end. My heart denied what my mind knew was true.

A gray leg covered in dirt with
brown seaweed wrapped around the calf.
 
Sickening dread sank into the pit of my belly. I knew what it was, I
knew what lay there, what horrors life was capable of.

Numb, I barely felt my body as I
moved around the driftwood; was barely aware of Emily clutching my arm once
again. It was like I wasn’t even there, but watching a television show. A green
woolen blanket covered the body. But from that blanket her head was visible;
long blonde hair matted with seaweed and sand. I froze, Emily pausing beside
me. My body started trembling… shocking, violent trembles I couldn’t control.

Her pale eyes were wide open,
staring unblinkingly at me. A familiar face. Now a ghastly face that would give
me nightmares for the rest of my life.
 

I was aware of Emily screaming,
but the high-pitched noise barely registered.

Savannah.

A girl who had moved to our town
only a month ago. A sweet, southern girl, although I didn’t know her well. Now,
a dead girl.

I staggered back into Emily’s
warm, living body. My stomach roiled, the scenery before me going blurry. The
scent of ocean and fish was too much. Acid rose to my throat and I knew I was
going to be sick.

I was vaguely aware of people
rushing from the diner, the panic of their jumbled thoughts mixed and clambered
around in my head. Too much, too many thoughts. My brain ached; my skull felt
as if it would burst open. I pressed my hands to my temples and stumbled back.

“What is it?” Trevor asked.

Someone pushed me aside and I
spun around. A blur of people rushed by, blocking Savannah from view. Still, I
merely stood there, jostled back and forth by curious students. I couldn’t
think. I could barely remember to breathe.

“Oh my God,” I heard Emily cry,
“is she dead?”

I killed her.

The foreign voice whispered
through my head. A voice I didn’t recognize. I jerked my gaze upright. No one
was looking at me… ten, fifteen faces pale in horror, focused on that body. But
someone had said the words. I hadn’t imagined them, had I?

I killed her.

My heart jumped into my throat,
my hands growing clammy. With a muffled cry, I spun around, studying the faces
behind me. No one was smiling with accomplishment. No one looked guilty. More
people were spilling from the diner, at least five kids were on their cell
phones talking desperately to the police.

“Excuse me.” I pushed my way
between the horrified group of gawking people.

I killed her.

I froze in the middle of the
crush, a shiver- hot and cold- skimming my body. A male voice. Who? I turned,
jerking my head this way and that. I had to find him. I must! I knew them all,
some better than others, but this voice was unfamiliar. Who, here, would be
capable of murder? The girl in front of me shifted, trying to get a better
look. Behind her, near the parking lot, stood a stranger.

For one moment the entire world
stilled. Nothing existed but that guy.

My heart thumped madly, almost
painfully, against my rib cage. Dark hair, but I couldn’t see his eye color.
Tall, average build, around my age. Dressed in jeans and a black jacket. As if
sensing my attention, he turned his head ever so slightly and his gaze met
mine.

I sucked in a sharp breath and
stepped behind Trevor like the coward I was. The world came roaring back into
focus. Had the stranger killed Savannah? Had he thought the vile words? My
breath came out in rapid pants and fear was bitter on my tongue. Unable to resist,
I peeked around Trevor.

The boy was gone.

Chapter 3

“You don’t have to go in.”

Grandma’s voice was barely
audible over the antique she called a car. I’d been on the faux leather seat
for five minutes, waiting for the courage to go into school. I knew, when I
entered that brick building, everything would be overwhelming. The emotions,
the thoughts, my own and from others, would kill me. Savannah wouldn’t be
there. There would probably be some stupid memorial around her locker, placed
there by students who hadn’t even talked to her while she’d been alive.

“Cameron, you don’t have to go
today.”

So tempting to head back home. I
turned toward her, preparing to agree, but then I saw her gaze. Sure, her face
looked passive, full of grandmotherly concern. But in her eyes I saw the truth.
The same look she got right before we moved. How many times had I come home
from school to see our bags packed, no explanation other than it was time to
leave? Panic flared through me.

“No!” I yelled, louder than I’d
intended.

She frowned. “Fine, go to
school. Most kids would love a day off.”

I shook my head. She was trying
to twist the truth like she always did. “No, that’s not it. I know what you’re
thinking and we’re not moving.”

She looked out the window toward
the kids streaming reluctantly into the school. Almost every two years now we’d
moved. I was exhausted with it. I’d finally started to settle, I’d finally made
friends. Less than six months and I’d graduate.

“I wasn’t saying that,” she
finally said.
 

My fingers clenched the door
handle. I wanted to escape, at the same time I needed to make sure she
understood. “You were, and I’m not leaving, not when I have less than a year
left.” The thought sickened me. I would not start over in another school, not
senior year. “I want to graduate with people I actually know.”
 

Her sigh annoyed me, as if I was
being some irrational kid. “Cameron, you can’t deny something odd is happening
here. The violence, first at the café and now the murder, isn’t exactly normal
for this area.”

The first bell rang, the yard
out front clearing of students, but I didn’t dare leave now. “That’s not true!
The news broadcast said it was totally normal to see a surge in violence with a
bad economy, and that it would usually leave as soon as it arrived.”

“And if it doesn’t? If it is
something more?”

I shrugged, pretending an ease I
didn’t feel. “Like what? Like something to do with us and what we can do?”

“Who knows. Maybe they’ve found
us.”

“
They
.” I released a wry laugh. I didn’t believe her for a second.
If they had found us, they’d come after us, not Savannah. This was just another
excuse. “And who is
they
? The
government? The cops? Who?”

She frowned, her fingers growing
white as her grip tightened on the steering wheel. I should have known something
was wrong when she’d offered to drive me to school. Usually she went to work
early and made me walk.

I swallowed my anger and tried
to speak rationally. “I can’t protect myself unless I know who I’m protecting
myself from.”

“We’ve been over this, Cameron—”

“Right, you’ll protect me. Do
you realize how ridiculous that sounds? You can’t protect me forever!”

“If you would homeschool—”

“And have no friends?” Exactly
what she wanted.

I could leave her. Believe me,
I’d thought about running away plenty of times.

“And where would you go?” she
asked softly, reading my mind. “Who would you stay with? You have no money.”

She was right. I had no true friends.
She’d made sure of that.

She was silent for a moment, the
rumble of the car the only noise. Her face had grown tight and I knew she was
fighting to regain control. “I’ve lost everyone, I will not lose you too.”

She’d said the words before and
they sank into my body like a weight, anchoring me to her side. Tears stung my
eyes. She was afraid. I got that. But I was so tired of being scared. So tired
of living a lie. So tired of having the life only she deemed appropriate.

I sniffed, biting my lower lip
to keep the tears from actually falling. I wouldn’t go into school with
red-rimmed eyes.

She released a breath of air,
her shoulder sinking. “I’m doing this for you and for your father because I
promised him before he died that I would take care of you no matter what.”

Yeah, but dad probably had no
idea how obsessive she’d become. My skin felt itchy, I felt trapped, like I
couldn’t breathe at times. She knew this. She knew it all, but she still didn’t
back off. “Dad wasn’t killed by some nefarious group out to get us, it was an
accident.” She didn’t respond. She was oddly quiet as she stared out the
window. My suspicion flared. “It was an accident, right?”

“Of course it was.”

I swallowed my relief. At the
same time, I realized her reaction made no sense. Why was she so paranoid about
being caught? “I’m going to college,” I warned her.

She was quiet for one long moment.
I wondered what she was thinking, but didn’t dare look her in the eyes.

Finally, she glanced at me.
“You’ll be late, go on.”

Without another word, I grabbed
my backpack and pushed open the car door. The air was chill, bitterly cold as
it sliced through my sweatshirt and jeans. I didn’t even nod a greeting to the
few people who remained on the front lawn, daring to be late.

Her body was so gross...

Dead...

Wonder who the murderer is…

As I’d figured, Savannah’s death
was on everyone’s mind, their thoughts bombarding me the moment I stepped from
Grandma’s car. I was more interested in the sound of the old Toyota rumbling
away. I’d rather be here, now, with a thousand thoughts hitting me, than with
Grandma. Don’t get me wrong, I felt bad for her. Truly I did. I had no idea
what had happened to her parents or her husband, but I knew all were dead. My
dad’s death had apparently pushed her over the edge of sanity.

I knew she cared about me, but
there were times when I wondered if she didn’t want to so much protect me, as
win this war she’d had waging to keep me safe from these unknown foes. When I
asked her who was responsible for the death of our kind, she merely said
anyone. As if even now, my math teacher, Mrs. Williams could be out to get me
as she rushed by, mumbling something about being late.

Maybe Grandma was insane. Maybe
there really weren’t any enemies after us. Sadly, I wouldn’t be surprised. I
weaved my way through the crowded halls as announcements were being read over
the intercom. The football team had won last week’s game. Who cared? Apparently
the football team as they cheered and did chest bumps in the hall. I rolled my
eyes and turned the corner, heading to my locker. Emily stood there chatting
with a small group of cheerleaders. She barely even nodded an acknowledgement
as I opened my locker door. She had an audience already, this early.
 

“It was horrifying,” Emily said,
her lower lip quivering for extra emphasis. I didn’t understand why she made
fun of the drama club when she could out act them all. Really, the girl could
be in movies. “I actually found her body.”

“Totally disgusting,” Sarah
whispered, resting her arm around Emily’s shoulder in a show of compassion…for
the wrong person. “I can’t imagine how you must have felt.”

I couldn’t believe I had to
stand there and listen to this. I let Emily get away with a lot because deep
down, I knew she was insecure and like most people, she felt unloved. But this
was too much. I’d had too little sleep and too many odd things happening lately
to take her crap.

Annoyed, I slammed my locker
door shut, but they barely noticed, Emily too intent on being the center of
attention. As if she didn’t have enough already, she had to take it from a dead
girl. This was too far. Someone had died. Been murdered. How dare she use
Savannah’s death for her own gain. Without waiting for her like I usually did,
I started down the hall.