My eyes widened when I saw that everyone was in the same spot that I left them. Perfectly still. Perfectly silent. “Help me!” I whispered to the masses, feeling what energy I had left slowly leave my body, causing overwhelming dizziness to overtake me.
They snapped back into action like someone pushed the play button. The closest group quickly surrounded me, many hands reaching across and around to take Jenni's limp body from my arms. I sat there, tears streaming down my face, body and soul exhausted as they took Jenni's form from my sight.
I looked down into my lap and saw the perfect wet outline of Jenni's body where it rested in my arms. I felt something deep inside of me break.
“Star, look at me babe.” Rose said gently, kneeling down next to me.
I forced my face up and looked into Rose's eyes. Whatever she saw made her flinch. Her eyes began to well with tears.
She reached under my arms and began to rise steadily, supporting me all the while. “C'mon. We're taking you home, little Star.” She looked over her shoulder at a frantic Brandon. “Are you just going to pace all night or are you going to help me?”
He rushed forward, taking most of my weight. “What the hell just happened?” He asked quietly.
“That was an incident.”
“Is this the type of thing you guys meant when talking about her having them?” He whisper shouted, not able to wrap his brain around the idea. “This isn't possible, Rose! People can't make stuff like that happen!”
She shook her head and looked at me. “You're right. People can't.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I huddled on the corner of the couch, shivering even though I was wrapped in a blanket. My mind raced, replaying over and over again the images from the day. When I tried to close my eyes, pictures of Jenni and Rebecca flashed through my mind. One right after the other, over and over again. Taunting me, blaming me, and condemning me.
I felt fragile, like the slightest breeze would shatter whatever was left of me. What I was trying so hard to keep together. My tears quit falling hours ago, leaving me feeling completely spent and empty. Still, the pictures flashed, like a mantra in my mind about all the evil residing inside of me. I had never hated myself more than I did at that moment.
“Star.” Rose called gently, reaching out to me only to retract her hand as I flinched away from her touch. She sighed and looked down at her lap.
“C'mon buttercup. You can't keep going on like this.” Brandon said as he knelt down in front of me.
“Yeah, I don't feel like being on suicide watch right now.” Rose cut in. I didn't react. I didn't do anything. I was consumed with the horror show playing in my mind
“Don't mind Rose, you know how she gets when she's scared.”
“I'm not scared, you idiot!”
“See what I mean?” he tried to laugh but the sound fell short.
Still, I remained silent. A knock on the downstairs door drew away Brandon’s attention. He looked at Rose for her to get it, but sighed in resignation when she looked at him like he was stupid. “Fine, I'll go get it. But be nice.”
“Yeah, yeah, I will be.” She watched him leave then leaned closer to me. “Look, I know you're freaked. I am too. But you need to snap out of this shit right now! Do you hear me? Things like this just don't happen. There has to be an explanation.”
I focused my gaze on her. She had my attention now. “Don't you think I've already tried to figure this out? I've been living with this crap for over a year. You've been around it for not even five months.”
“Yeah, and it's been a barrel of laughs.”
“I don't have to explain it to you. Shit, I wouldn't even know where to start!”
“That's my point!” she hissed, narrowing her eyes at me. “You haven't even been looking, just trying to come up with explanations! Don't you think that there would be other people in your family that have had these little 'incidents'? Hmm? It's not like crap like this just pops up out of nowhere.”
I shook my head and burrowed deeper into the blanket. “Yeah, because people just love to write about family freakishness. I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem to just go up into the attic and find the documents needed within all the artifacts.”
“You've seriously have things from your family up there?”
I shrugged and looked away, wanting to quit the conversation and just hide somewhere. “Yeah, my families a hoarder when it comes to ancestry stuff. We have clothes and pictures dating back generations.”
“Clothes? What clothes?” We both glared over the couch at Brandon. “Geez, sorry.”
“Whatever. Stars family hoards shit, so there’s a ton of old clothes in the attic.”
He leaned forward eagerly, resting his forearms on the back of the couch. “Seriously? This is awesome! Do you think your mom would let us go look? I'm sure we could find something great to use for the Halloween dance!” he grimaced and looked over at me. “That is, if you are willing to go.”
“Of course she's going with us. She needs to have something normal happen.”
I tried to cover my head with the blanket, but apparently Rose was done with my freaking out and ripped it away.
“C'mon sunshine. Let’s go look. Lead the way Captain Fashionista!” Brandon raced off with an almost girlish squeal. Rose rolled her eyes and held her hand out to me.
“Do we have to do this now? I just want to be alone.”
She grabbed my hand and jerked me upright. “Nope, you're not doing that. At least not until I know you won't go to the bathroom to slice your wrists.”
“Look, I'm not going to kill myself, okay?”
“Oh, yeah, that was believable. C'mon toots, were burning daylight!”
I followed her slowly, hoping that by giving in I'd be rid of them faster.
I could hear Brandon chatting excitedly away in the kitchen with my mother. I walked in and saw them leaning lazily against the isle, while Rose stood stiff against the counter, sending sporadic glares between them. Everyone froze when they saw me, seeming to wait for what I would do or say before they proceeded to talk.
I crossed my arms. “Hey, Mom? Would it be alright if we went up to the attic? We want to look for some clothes that could be used for a Halloween costume.” I hoped it would be a negative answer.
She paused a moment to look me over. “Sure, honey. Just make sure that you put everything back where you got it. You know how I am about messes.”
My shoulders slumped as I ran my fingers through my hair. “Yeah, sure thing Mom. C'mon guys, let’s get this over with.” Without another word, I turned on my heels and walked toward the stairs. I didn't look behind me to see if Rose and Brandon would follow.
I stood staring at the trapdoor that held the stairs to the attic in the middle of the hallway. I gestured to the ceiling as Rose and Brandon make their way over. “All right. Brandon, you're going to have to pull that string there to get the door to swing open. The ladder should unfold.”
He looked up and reached for the string. “Should? What do you mean should?”
“Well, I assume it works properly. Mom and Dad got everything up there, so I guess they didn't have any problems with it.” He pulled sharply and the door snapped open with an audible pop. The jerking motion causing the ladder to unfold quickly, almost knocking into me. I jumped back and glared at Brandon.
He smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. I rolled my eyes. Soft streams of sunlight filtered down from the opening with dust motes dancing merrily in the light. I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants as I looked up into the opening. “Okay, so who's going to go first?”