After meeting the jerk next door, I made my way inside the house for dinner with my aunt. We spent the rest of the afternoon together sketching and talking. I hadn't picked up a sketch pad and pencil since the accident, somehow it felt like I was finally saying goodbye to the family I once had. My mom never had other interests besides writing her books, and her children. My aunt loved art and many other things. I spent the afternoon getting to know my aunt and working on opening up to her. I had many questions and she provided me with the answers I needed. There was only one question that caused her to hesitate as she made an attempt to brush the question off. I noticed her reaction to the question I posed, and it only made me want an answer that much more. She wouldn't tell me why my mother completely kicked her out of her life.
For once in six months, I slept through the night peacefully.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next morning I woke up feeling more refreshed than I have in a long time. The idea of starting a new school tomorrow was somehow less horrific than usual. I had made my first friend, Abigail, that I've had in a long time. An aunt who accepted me and wanted me around made me want to stay even more. The only problem I had to deal with is my affinity to attract the weird. The doctors said I was dead for 7 minutes when the paramedics arrived. They couldn't figure out how I got out of the car, and ended up 5 feet away from the crumpled sedan. I remember nothing from those 7 minutes, it's as if it had never happened. All I remembered was waking up in the hospital to the chilling voices.
"Wake up, Wake up"..One cold, raspy voice pleaded.
"Corinne. We've been waiting for you." ..Another harsh voice whispered in my ear.
"Waiting so long"..A voice said, piercing through me like needles.
"Time to wake up Corinne" ..Another voice whispered in my ear.
Eventually the voices became agitated, overlapping whispers in my ear. I couldn't make out what they were saying anymore. All I could feel was the cold they had brought into the room, chilling me to the bone.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I made my way down stairs to find myself alone. A note in the kitchen read "Corinne, in case you're up and about, I'm at the market, be home soon!". Walking around the living room, I looked at all of the paintings and drawings my aunt has done over the years. Beautiful landscapes, haunting portraits, and colorful abstract paintings stacked neatly in each corner. I grabbed one of her old sketch books and took a seat on her leather sectional. With no particular image in my mind, I began to draw. All I could think about was the jerk next door, as I began calling him, and why he made me feel the way I do. The fluttering in my chest, feeling self conscious, and above all feeling angry. Something about the guy ticked me off. Somehow my mind drifted to the accident, and what could have possibly happened in those 7 minutes. What could I have seen? What if there was nothing to see?
I couldn't allow myself to believe there was nothing out there. My family was somewhere, and they had to be happy. Thinking that felt right, deep in my core I knew my family was somewhere. I never looked up from the sketch pad once. Not until I heard the front door open and slam close, and a familiar voice call out.
"Corinne, you up?" My aunt yelled as she set her bags on the kitchen table, startling me out of my trance.
I finally looked at what I drew, I mean truly looked at it and I couldn't believe what I saw. It was me. Laying flat on my back, with a crumpled sedan in the background. What frightened me the most were the shadows surrounding my body. One shadow was different from the rest. While all of the shadows were dark, shaded in hues of grey and black, this shadow was white. The white shadow seemed to have a glow surrounding it. The white shadow was pushing the black ones aside, as it made it's way to my body.
"Corinne, you here?" I heard my aunt yell again as she made her way into the living room. The sound of her coming into the living room startled me and I slammed the sketch book shut. In a hurry, I placed it back on the shelf.
"Corinne, didn't you hear me?" My aunt laughed when she saw my startled face.
"Oh uh no, my bad. I zoned out." I shrugged sheepishly.
"Zone back in and help me put these groceries away." My aunt laughed leading me into the kitchen.
While me and my aunt began to put groceries away, she talked about her friends around the town, and the teens my age I may get along with. I appreciated her giving me a little insight into the people around town. I had only met two people in town so far, and I only liked one of them.
"Oh right, I forgot to ask you. I made a friend yesterday and I invited her to lunch with us. Her names Abigail." I said giving my aunt a smile.
"Oh Robert and Mary's daughter, sure she can tag along. Shes a nice girl!" My aunt said with a smile.
"Great thanks! She's going to meet us here soon." I said with a smile, actually looking forward to lunch.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I ran up to my room to change my clothes for lunch. My aunt said there's only one diner in town and all of the townspeople go there. I didn't want to make any bad impressions before I even start school. I combed my long blonde hair until it laid down flat and smooth. I threw on a white tank top, a long purple cardigan, some blue jeans and a cute pair of black sandals. I've never been into wearing make up, since my mom didn't care for it. I swiped on some light pink lip gloss and looked myself over. Before the accident I used to be in the popular crowd. I was never one of those 'bully everyone and force them to worship you' types, but I had loads of friends and loved going to school every day. Now, when I think about making friends, my stomach twists itself into knots. Being popular at this school is the least of my worries, surviving and not going through it alone is my priority.
"Abigail's here Corinne, you ready to go?" I hear my aunt yell from downstairs.
"You can send her up, i'm almost ready!" I yell.
After a few lightly placed thumps on the stairs I see Abigail peak her head into my room.
"Hey Abi!" I say with a smile.
"Hey Corinne, you mind if I come in?" She asked sheepishly.
"Sure!" I smile back as I dig through my jewelry box looking for a specific necklace.
"Wow, your room looks awesome." I heard Abi say, as she admired my bed and the white canopy that adorned it.
"Thanks," I laughed "My aunt set everything up for me, shes the designer!"
"Well she did an amazing job!" Abi laughed, checking out the rest of my room.
"Why thank you!" My aunt's voice chimed in, as she peeked her head around the corner.
"You girls ready?" My aunt asked, again.
Finally finding the necklace I was looking for, a simple slim silver chain with a rose hanging on it, I clipped it around my neck and followed Abi out the door.
The ride to the diner consisted of Abi and my Aunt pointing out different places around the town that they love. The old antique store that sold crystal chandeliers and decorated tea pots, to the book store with it's old leather bound books. "J's Diner", as everyone called it, was the only place in town to get a hot meal. If you wanted anything else, you'd have to travel to the next town.
We made our way into the old fashioned diner and found a booth by the window to sit in. After looking over the menu I decided on a turkey, bacon and ranch sandwich with some french fries. Being at the diner reminded me of the time I had tried to be a vegetarian with my old best friend Miranda. While Miranda stayed a vegetarian, I lasted about a week until my will was destroyed by a plate of bacon.
"So, are you liking town so far?" Abi asks as she picks at her fries.
"So far it's the first place that feels like home to me." I reply, my response causing my to smile at me.
"Well we're going to make it work no matter what!" My aunt said smiling as she bit down on a fork full of salad.
My aunt's positive outlook on the situation gave me hope, and strengthened my decision to make this work. I began to eat my food when some commotion outside caused me to look, and I instantly regretted it. The boy with the jet black hair was outside, sporting his usual black t-shirt and dark jeans. This time he had a pair of rugged combat boots on, your typical wanna-be bad boy. Only this time he wasn't alone. He had a brunette clinging to his arm, the loud squealing of her laugh is what drew my attention. She had on a pair of shorts that could have passed for underwear, and a low cut white tank top. Standing next to the brunette was another girl. She had short cropped platinum blonde hair, wearing something similar to her friend. I could hear the boys laugh and it sent shivers down my spine. It was a different shiver from the way the entities made me feel, but I liked it even less.
"What is with him?" I mumbled, taking another bite of my sandwich.
"Yeah, you wanna stay away from him." Abi said, nearly choking on her fries when she saw who I was referring to.
"Who is he? I met him yesterday and he didn't seem very nice." I shrugged, trying to feign indifference.
"Jason Cain. The brunette stuck to his arm is Chelsea, and the blonde is Katie." Abi said taking a bite of her burger, purposefully looking away. I could tell those girls would be a problem as well. Abi was most likely the butt of their jokes. Great, not one but two bullies to look forward to.
"He lives right next to us." My aunt chimed in, finally noticing who we were talking about.
"Seems like an ass." I mutter, causing Abi to choke on her soda and giggle.
"Definitely an ass." My aunt confirms, "You'll want to steer clear of him".
"Why do I want to avoid him?" I ask confused at my aunt and Abi's agreement on the subject.
"Just take it this way, he's not a good person to be hanging around." My aunt answered with finality. I haven't lived with my aunt very long, but I've never seen her talk this way before. Typically shes very easygoing and positive.
Determined to forget Jason and avoid him at all costs, I focused on eating my food and getting to know Abi. As I was eating, my eyes couldn't help but be drawn to Jason. My mind kept going back to the fluttering I felt when I first talked to him. I finally looked back up at him, and to my surprise, he was looking at me. It was when our eyes met that I finally noticed it.
The dark shadow that clung to him, closer than the brunette that stuck to his arm.
And from all the way inside the diner, I could feel the chill the shadow brought with it.
I could almost hear the whispering from the shadow that clung to Jason Cain.