“I understand you were with Julia on monday night?”

I looked at his overgrown moustache that had way too many white hairs in it for the man’s age. His mouth seemed to move underneath it but I couldn’t register the words he was saying, his uneven bottom teeth distracted me from concentrating on any other words.

“Violet!” came the harsh voice of my mother and I felt sharp claws grip my shoulders. “So sorry, could you please repeat the question? My daughter is a very distracted child you see.”

“Yes, I can understand. Like I said, you were with Julia Anderson on monday tonight, is that right?” asked the man again, and this time I had to pull away my eyes from the black circles underneath his eyes.

“Yes,” I said, my voice clearer than ever, the bells ringing in them with an exceptional long echo.

“Do you have any idea where she is right now?” he asked, but it was more like an accusation.

“No. She said bye and started walking home just like I did.” I said plainly.

No matter how dull and curt my answers were, he kept on questioning. After another tedious thirty minutes he finally stood up from the kitchen table – I mentally gave him another killing hit as I was once again reminded how he had sat in my seat – and left through the front door with a final “I shall be back once we get all the details on the… case.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened now?”             

I met my mother’s icy eyes with no curiosity and simply said

“No.”

“Violet, you have got to stop with that secrecy. This isn’t about boys and sex anymore, this is about a person.  Juliet’s gone missing and you were the last one to be seen with her, do you know what that means?”

“What.” I said, my eyes boring into hers, waiting for the expected answer.

“You’re the only suspect. God knows what happened to that poor girl. You’re the only one that could help yet here you are being the most unhelpful person in this town!”

“Okay mum.”

“What are you doing?” she asked as I put my chair underneath the table.

“I’m going to my room to sleep.”

“Did you hear what I just said?! This is not over young lady, I expect an explanation tomorrow!”

“Yeah, yeah.” I muttered as I entered the room, drowning out her quiet shouts.

I payed little to any attention to the clothes scattered on my floor and quickly pulled my top over my head, kicking my trousers off the meanwhile. I turned the lights off and crawled into my bed record time, hiding under the covers and wriggling about before finding a comfortable position to lie in.

I wondered if my mother had been right. Maybe it was time to stop with the secrets. But then again she didn’t know a thing about me. Or about Juliet. No one knew anything about Juliet. Not even her own mother.

Hugging a pillow to myself I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. The same words crept into my head over and over again.

“I’ll look over you tonight. And tomorrow. Be good, Violet, or I’ll have to come back.” whispered Juliet’s sweet voice, and I drifted to sleep while trembling in the hot room.

* * *

“Julie, what do you mean?” I asked curiously, slightly turning my head to the right where Juliet had whispered the words into my ear.

“You’ll soon understand,” she smiled, and brushed my hair back from my face.

“I want to know now.” I said, hesitant not to get into one of her games again.

“Not yet.” she said, and got up from the barrier we had sat on on so many previous nights.

“Whatever,” I replied after a short silence, hopping up as well and starting to walk ahead.

“N’aww, Vi, you know I don’t mean to do it,” she said, jogging next to me.

“But you still do it.” I said, unwilling to look her in the face.

“I’m sorry, it’ll be over soon, I promise,” she said, grabbing hold of my arm and making me stop.

“Yeah… but will it really? Julie, I’m tired of these games of yours. They never end up good. What’s the point in telling me something and then refusing to give away any sort of explanation of it?”

“You’ll find out soon, I promise.” she said, and true sorrow showed in her eyes.

“I’m going home Julie. See you tomorrow,” I said, and waved bye before turning around and slowly making my way down the deserted streets to my house.

* * *

I sat up in shock, greatly aware of my pulse beating fast behind my ears. I struggled to breathe in the cold night air, but it was important to calm myself down.

I squinted at the dark, but there was nothing unusual in my room. I then suddenly tensed up as I noticed my window open. So that was why the air was so chilly.

I walked over to it and lent out, but no supernatural movement was visible.

“Julie, is that you?” I asked, sudden hope awakening in me. But it was almost immediately overpowered by disappointment. “I’ve been good. There’s no reason for you to come back.”

And with that, I closed my window and climbed back into my bed, hinting a last look at my clock before falling asleep again. It was one thirty in the morning. No chance that she had been here.

* * *

I watched the window with expert eyes, crouching behind the old willow.

“I’ve been good. There’s no reason for you to come back.” she said and closed her window with a harsh thud.

I looked down in disappointment and started running through the dark streets, no one was likely to see me at this time. So she didn’t want me there… that was alright. I wouldn’t come back.

But as the pain made my heart ache more than ever, I knew it was a lousy lie and admitted to myself, that I’d be back. Every day I’d be back.

Súgó Még nincs hozzászólás.

Új hozzászólás Frissítés