Page 4 of Don't Look Back
Without any thought, I go on autopilot and tuck my doll and the letter into my bag and hop out of my window. There’s a makeshift ladder I added long ago to make sneaking out easier. It has come in handy more than once.
4
ALLIE
Iwatch her from behind the tree line. She has no idea I’m here. Avery’s sitting right on the edge of where the rocks and dirt meet the lake; knees bent and toes wiggling in the calm waters. The look of deep concentration on her face makes me pause my initial plan of approaching her. On the one hand, she may need a friend, but on the other, she may prefer to deal with whatever internal war she's having on her own.
So now I’m standing here like some weird creeper just watching her. And… fuck, I kind of like it. The sunset is a perfect background to the scene before me. The setting sun reflecting off the water gives Avery's blonde hair an ethereal glow, which is perfectly at odds with the deeply pensive frown gracing her face. I watch as she closes her eyes and sighs as she leans her head up toward the sky. It is a beautiful sight. Her looking up like that. So gracefully and seemingly at peace. I watch as she simplybreathes for a moment. Both of us are stuck in this tranquil moment, frozen in time. It is quiet as I take in the sounds of nature coming alive with nightfall.
“I know you’re back there. May as well come out already.” Well…. Shit. Here I was thinking I was being all sneaky and incognito. Guess not.
Taking a slight step back, a branch snaps beneath my feet. Damn it. Now I’m definitely caught. The jig is up. I hunch my shoulders and go to take a seat in a position mirroring hers. Instinctively, I scan her from head to toe, checking body language to get a read on how to approach things. It’s become second nature to me. Fewer surprises that way. My eyes darken when I notice the large bruise developing on her temple. Suddenly, all pretense of a gentle approach goes out the proverbial fucking window. As gently as possible, I grasp her chin and tilt her face side to side, examining the marks. Ugly bruises mar the side of her beautiful face and make my blood boil. Someone hurt her. Someone is going to die.
“What. Happened?” I ask, my tone a bit sharper than I intended. Thankfully, the stunning vixen lending me her company either doesn't notice or just ignores my unintentional slip.
Avery simply shakes her head. “Oh, you know, just another exciting conversation with my father.” Nothing out of the ordinary, unfortunately.
Well, he's a dead man. Simple as that. No one messes with my friend and gets away with it. He would die painfully and slowly. Very, very slowly if I had my way.
“Then there's this.” She hands over an old-looking envelope with her name written on the front. “It’s from my mother.”
Oh. “Are you two close?”
“We were… She died when I was little.” The finality of her words has me knowing not to push the subject. Whatever had happened was obviously painful for her. “I can't…. I can't read it,” she says, handing me the letter. When I don’t immediately take it from her outstretched hand, a quiet and defeated, “Please,” leaves her lips, and that’s my undoing. The woman beside me is the definition of calculated. Some would even say cold or detached. She should never beg for anything, especially from me.
Nodding solemnly, I take the envelope out and scan the words written in a beautiful, almost calligraphy-style script. My stomach clenches and drops the further I read. Holy fuck. Moving to sit facing Avery, I notice a doll sitting in the rocky dirt beside her. That must be Edith. Looking into the doll's eyes, I say the most honest words I’ve ever spoken. “Whatever you need, you have my full support. Count me in.” I must be finally losing the last of my marbles because I swear Edith nods in approval.
Possessed dolls…. Awesome. My favorite.
“Avery…. I… You really need to read this yourself. It’s pretty personal. And… Complicated.” Without saying anything, she reaches her hand out, and I gently place the letter into her palm.
A humorless laugh slips from her lips. “Happy fucking birthday to me.”
“Is it your birthday?! I’m so sorry, I had no idea! We need to celebrate. Do something special.”
“Trust me, this is special compared to what my father had planned.”
Hearing that makes my blood run cold. What the hell had her father tried to do to her?
Silence floats around us for a while, but it’s oddly comfortable. After a few minutes, I scoot closer and lean my shoulder into hers. “So partner, what are we going to do for our writing assignment?”
5
ALLIE
Avery’s missing. That’s the only theory that’s been tumbling around my brain for the last two days. It’s been two whole days since we sat together on the lakeside. Since I met Edith and read the note. Two days of missed classes and not having watchful eyes on my every move. I even checked the lake with no luck. Something is very, very wrong.
Our classmates may spread rumors about Avery being some sociopath or something, and hell, she may even believe it…. but not me. I see something in her. There's a spark of something there just waiting to be ignited. I don’t think the issue is that she can't feel anything… I think her problem is that she feels everything, and it’s just too much.
Deciding to skip my last class of the day, I drive over to where Avery lives. In this town, everyone knows where everyoneelse lives. It’s like some weird, unspoken rule for rich people or something. Thankfully, my car is easy to spot in the parking lot. Unfortunately, it’s also easy to spot….. Well, pretty much everywhere. My white panel van is the epitome of the stereotypical ‘free candy’ vans that everyone's parents tell them to avoid at a young age. Guess that’s why some of the local fucknuggets decided to spray just that on one side of my poor old van. Joke's on you, you unfortunate little sex souvenir. I have dildos in my van… and that is way better than candy. Big ones, small ones, alien and monster ones with that cool knot at the base, even a big double-ended one that's rainbow and sparkly.
For clarification, the dildos are for me, not the annoying people who sprayed my van. I don’t share those. Well…. Maybe I will with Avery… But I’ll have to find her first. Besides the necessities previously mentioned, my van also has a mattress, clothes, toiletries, my tattoo supplies, snacks, some Tupperware, and even a small camp stove. I spend far more days and nights in this van than I do at home, attempting to become nearly self-sufficient.
My parents died when I was younger in a car accident. Custody then went to my uncle. He’s a decent person when he’s around. However, the trauma of losing everyone I loved caused me to act out. I was lashing out, starting fights, getting involved with substances, and people whom I honestly had no business being involved with. In an attempt to bond, my uncle took me to the tattoo shop he owned one day. It was love at first sight. The mahogany wood accents mixed with the modern industrial design, and art drawn by all the artists lining the walls. It was breathtaking. He began teaching me how to operate the various types of machines while I expanded my drawing skills. Then, after a while, I started practicing on myself. The steady yet rhythmic pain helped calm the chaos that was constantlyswirling inside of me. Slowly, it became a beautiful way to cope, and I started to return to the person I used to be. Even if that meant being the only high school senior to be covered in tattoos.
Pulling up to Avery's house, I’m relieved to see the driveway empty. Hopefully, that means her dad isn’t home. That man always gives me the creeps, though I can never put my finger on what exactly it was about him. Something about the energy he gives off is just….wrong.
An image of Avery's bruised face came to the forefront of my mind. I’ve always been protective of my friends, but Avery’s different. I want more with her than friendship. More than I’ve wanted with any girl ever, really. The soft curve of her lips that I want to run my finger over. The sharp glint in her eyes when you can tell she’s holding something back….or plotting her next move. There’s something primal, instinctive, almost about the connection I feel with her. It's like being at the top of a roller coaster right before it plunges into oblivion. Yeah, sure, the initial moment is terrifying, but damn, it’ll feel good later. That’s how I imagine kissing Avery will feel.
