“I thought you were interested in Communication dear?”
Allison looked down. She looked embarrassed.
“Oh, don’t be shy sweetheart.” Evelyn addressed the table: “She wants to be a journalist.” Allison looked up again, her eyes shining as she smiled at Evelyn. Her mother beamed back at her.
“She has written a few articles for her school paper, I have copies upstairs. She’s a really good writer! Oh I’m so proud of you sweetheart.”
Evelyn looked lovingly at her daughter.
Allison seemed embarrassed again, but this time, there was a happy quality to it.
Evelyn finally looked away from her daughter and turned to Eliza Hansford.
“So how are your girls doing?” she asked, inviting her to boast about her own children.
Eliza first looked at the beauty with the brown hair on the verge of red. “Well, Amber’s into politics, heaven knows where she got that from.” Eliza smiled at her own joke. Then her hand gestured in the blonde’s direction. “Lily’s pre-med,” she said. “She wants to be an anesthesiologist.” Eliza smiled at her girls, an encouraging smile, as if she wanted them to say something.
Lily piped up first:
“Actually, I haven’t decided between anesthesiologist and OB/GYN yet.” Her brown eyes sparkled. “But I
have
decided I’d like to go to Yale’s School of Medicine to find out.”
She smiled, then took a drink of water as she nudged Amber.
“As for me,” Amber said, “I’m interested in politics but I’m actually majoring in Psychology. I like to find out what makes people tick.”
Nicholas felt like she was looking at him despite her eyes remaining on Evelyn.
Lily laughed.
The dinner ended with the Hansfords inviting his family over to their house sometime in the near future. Nicholas watched Lily slip Edward her number, leaving him vulnerable to Amber.
She snuck up on him, challenging him to a tennis match.
“I heard you’re quite the player,” she said.
Nicholas agreed without really planning to take her up on it.
The Hansfords left, appearing quite satisfied with the evening’s events.
As Nicholas and Eddie headed upstairs, Nicholas contemplated voicing what was on his mind. He didn’t want to say it, but he needed to know he was not alone. By the time Nicholas reached his room and Eddie was about to go past him to his own, Nicholas found the words.
“Don’t you hate how she’s always gushing about Allison?” he said. “You’d swear we’re like, her nephews or stepchildren something.” He tried to say it in a way that didn’t betray the degree to which it bothered him. “And she kind of gushed about you too,” he couldn’t stop himself from adding.
Eddie scoffed. “Barely. And only because of my accomplishments and kick-ass potential. But yeah, no matter what Allison had decided to do, she probably would have been all about it.” He put on a high falsetto voice: “’Mom, I want to be a prostitute!’” He lowered his falsetto a little: “’Well dear, you’re going to be the best darnedest prostitute out there! I’ll get you the best physical trainer, get you nice and flexible, and oh! I’ll contact this old slut friend of mine to give you some tips...’”
Nicholas laughed.
“Yeah, exactly. Doesn’t that bug you a little? I mean, they’re girls and everything, but it just sucks sometimes to be invisible to her, right?”
Eddie was silent for a few seconds, and for a moment, Nicholas felt he would give in.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Eddie said. “I’m cool with it though. See ya.”
Eddie entered his room quickly.
CHAPTER NINE
The knock pierced Nicholas’s consciousness and he groggily looked in the direction of his clock.
9:47 a.m. glared at him in large, red digits.
“Yeah,” Nicholas tried to shout through his drowsiness.
“Phone for you!” came Eddie’s muffled reply.
Nicholas cursed softly.
“Okay,” he said, reaching over and grabbing the handset.
“Hello?”
A perky voice greeted him.
“Hi Nicholas! Hope I didn’t wake you.”
Nicholas felt himself waking up. The voice was lively, yet unfamiliar.
“Hold a sec—I’m waiting for everyone to hang up,” he said, sitting up.
The sound of two disconnections followed. Nicholas tested the phone.
“Okay we’re good. Who is this?”
“Amber, silly! Remember I said I’d call today? See when you want to play a game of tennis?”
Nicholas didn’t really remember what she had told him or vice versa.
“Oh yeah!” he said. “Um, maybe we can do it...”
“Today? Yeah I think today would work. What time will you be up for it? Is three okay?”
Nicholas tried to hide his groan. It didn’t seem he had a choice.
“Yeah, sure. Come over for three.”
“Fantastic! See you then!”
Nicholas rolled himself out of bed, cursing his morning weakness, then washed his face and went down for breakfast.
***
Amber showed up at two forty-five, dressed in a short white skirt and white sports top that showed off her slim, shapely, yet athletic frame. Her top showed off her flat stomach, abdominal muscles and all, as well as her perky breasts, while her skirt showed off her sculpted legs. Her body was evenly tanned, her smile ready for a Colgate commercial, her cat eyes sparkling with excitement. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she had a gym bag on her shoulder.
It took Nicholas a moment to realize he was staring at her.
“Hi Nicholas!” She waved at him as he came down the stairs. “Ready for a beat down?”
It turned out she wasn’t kidding. Amber won the match easily.
As Nicholas stood by, catching his breath then gulping down his bottle of water, Amber patted him on the back.
“Great game! I’m going to get freshened up in one of your guest bathrooms.”
She pointed to her bag. “I brought a change of clothes so I can shower before we eat. So, are we eating here or are you going to take me out? Yeah, I guess out would be better.”
She skipped off.
Nicholas shook his head, amused.
Once she had showered and dressed, Amber met him in the family room watching television. He had also showered and changed in preparation for their lunch date.
When he saw her, he turned the television off and grabbed his keys.
He had decided on an Italian restaurant since, surprisingly, she did not give any input on where they should go.
Once they had arrived at the restaurant and got their orders, Nicholas sat absent-mindedly poking at his linguini while Amber eagerly chatted away, having finished her Antipasto salad. She was mainly talking about herself, and once in a while asked a question about him which he answered briefly, not really interested in sharing.
Listening to her was somewhat entertaining, but his mind kept drifting back to Sydney.
He was at a crossroads.
He knew Amber was putty in his hands and even though she seemed like she would play hard to get for a while, he knew she could be in his bed in no time. She clearly had no intention of just jumping his bones though, she was on a mission—she wanted to be Mrs. Amber Dhalton.
Why shouldn’t he take advantage of it? She was beautiful and his for the taking. Besides, maybe they could actually go somewhere, be a good couple. Who knew? Perhaps this was where he was supposed to go—perhaps she was ‘the one’ after all.
Nicholas laughed to himself and luckily for him, it was an appropriate response to whatever Amber had just said. He looked directly at her, newly interested. She looked delighted by his increased interest, but all he was thinking about was going along for the ride.
He already thought staying away from Sydney was best; he might as well take up a distraction.
When they were done with lunch, he made another date with her for the next day.
She kissed him on the cheek before taking off.
Nicholas went to bed that night, happy he would be moving on with his life, that he had a way to get Sydney off his mind and possibly, keep her out of his world—a world lacking in the warmth and love she deserved.
He drifted off to sleep.
A few hours later, Nicholas was tossing and turning as his dream held him in a vice-like grip.
“No, no, no,” Nicholas mumbled in his sleep. “Leave her alone. No...Sydney!” he called out in distress.
***
Nod didn’t realize until the moment he saw his two friends pull the girl from the backseat of the car, bound, gagged, and blindfolded, that this was no joke. He stood dumbfounded at the cabin door, holding it open as they came toward him with the girl between them, protests muffled. He stood there even after they stumbled past him and laid her on the Persian rug sprawled in front of the crimson leather couch.
Then panic shot through him, making him tear his eyes from the trio to scan the woods for witnesses. He caught only shards of red and orange filtering through the surrounding trees as the sun commenced its descent. He blocked out the fading light by closing the door and locking it, while trying to ignore the feeling that he was locking himself in a cage of hungry tigers.
When he turned back toward the trio, he saw that Blynken was kneeling next to the girl, one hand holding her bound hands against her abdomen, the other stroking the uncovered parts of her face. Wynken got up and moved to a chair, draping his leg over its shiny arm. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
Nod looked at the girl.
“You sure she can’t see right?” he asked, staring warily at the blindfold, terrified she would be able to identify him, but even more terrified of his promise.
“Just get on with it man, you’re the last to go,” Blynken said,
dismissing his hesitancy,
his eyes not moving from the girl’s face as he knelt by her side. His voice sounded almost weary.
“I just don’t know about this,” Nod said. “What if...”
“Stop stalling!” Blynken bellowed suddenly, turning toward him with flashing green eyes.
Then Blynken rose and got in Nod’s face, even though Nod had at least half a foot on him.
Nod saw a wildness in his eyes he wished never to see again.
“Wynken and I have already done it man, it’s your turn!” Blynken said, punctuating his last words by poking Nod’s chest.
“Yeah, don’t go second guessing now,” Wynken added from the chair where he sat, smoking. “It’s too late for that.” He smiled a lazy smile, glancing over at Blynken before taking a another drag of his cigarette.
Still in Nod’s space, Blynken returned part of Wynken’s smile, but his own seemed different, not as natural.
His energy had dropped, giving Nod the impression that he had exited his body.
Nod watched Blynken head
back to the girl, returning to his kneeling position beside her. He continued to stroke her face, and even wiped away her tears. Nod was struck by the juxtaposition of tenderness and brutality.
Nod’s eyes went from one friend to the other.
He didn’t know what disturbed him more—Blynken’s Jekyll-and-Hyde emotions or Wynken’s lazy calm.
Then his eyes returned to the caramel beauty. He was surprised at how subdued she seemed, as if she preferred negotiating than fighting, even if no words could escape. Her protests had died down, reduced to quiet sobbing; tears escaping the confines of the blindfold and running down her face toward her ears. Her chest heaved every now and then.
As she began to seem calmer, Nod found his own emotions calming down and with this newfound sense of control, thought once more about how he could reach his friends and find a way out of the deal. Yes, Wynken was right, they had done some terrible things before, but never anything like this, nothing that
crossed the line from misdemeanor fun to calculated evil.
“Nod,” Wynken’s gentle timbre pulled Nod out of his thoughts. “I got Sarah already, Blynken got Mary; it’s your turn to take her. This is our last project together as a family—let’s go out with a bang!” He laughed at his own joke.
Nod was amazed at how simply Wynken said the words, as if they weren’t terrorizing innocent girls; as if the assignment was to read her a story instead of make her a potential news story.
Nod looked at the girl again, torn. He wanted to just walk away but knew he couldn’t. He was almost sure that if he left the scene, his friends would do the deed for him and she would be terrorized even more.
He shook himself out of his thoughts and focused on calming his pounding heart. He had to save this girl, and there was only one way he could think of doing it.
He mustered up as controlled a voice as possible: “Okay you guys, just...just get out of here. I don’t want you watching me...work.”
“Well all right man,” Blynken responded with what would have been a huge grin had he managed to make his mouth cooperate, as he turned away from the girl. “I was worried about you for a second there—thought you’d chicken out.”
Blynken finally managed a grin, but Wynken was watching him with a suspicious look.
“Nod, you’re not planning to just pretend you did it are you?” Wynken asked.
Nod tried to look as if that thought hadn’t crossed his mind. He swallowed.
“Come on man, who are you talking to again?”
He hoped he was pulling off the cavalier attitude he was going for.
“I don’t know,” said Wynken, shaking his head slowly, “you never hesitated in any of our tasks before. What’s so different about this one?”
You’ve got to be kidding me
, Nod thought.
“Look, I said I’m in, I’m in. So get the hell out of here freaks. Let me do my thing.” Nod attempted to muster up his usual grin of camaraderie.
Wynken gave him a long, steady look. Then his face broke into a smile. “We’ll be waiting outside,” he said. “So how long do you think it’ll be? About two minutes?” He chuckled, looking over to Blynken again who was now playing with the girl’s hair, in his own world once again.
Wynken put his cigarette out and got up.
“Don’t forget to cover up; no evidence.”
Blynken stopped playing with the girl’s hair and stood. He gave Nod one last inscrutable glance before following Wynken out of the cabin.
Nod watched them leave, then looked at the girl again. He went right up to her, then sat down next to her, watching her for a few more moments, unsure what to do next.
He hadn’t realized how sadistic his friends were—particularly Wynken—until five minutes ago when they walked her toward him.
She’s so beautiful
, he thought, remembering what she looked like without her restraints.
He would have loved to have had the chance to earn the right to do what his friends wanted to make him do, simultaneously ironic—trying to force him to force himself on someone.
He looked down at the beauty again.
He almost would have thought she had gone asleep if he wasn’t so sure she was thinking about him at that moment, waiting for his next move.
He knew what he had to do.
Nod’s nerves felt like mini-boa constrictors, choking his entire body, leaving him gasping for air as he came to his decision. He looked up at the painting above the cocktail table for comfort, consolation, but the figure from Munch’s “The Scream” just looked at him in horror.
He looked back down at the girl.
This is the only way I can save you
, he thought, unzipping his pants.
The sound seemed to bring her to life again and she started wiggling around, making noises.
Even though she was struggling more, she still didn’t try to kick him as he expected, even though her legs were free.
Perhaps she thought if she struggled too much, they would kill her—she had no reason to think she wasn’t amongst murderers after all.
Nod reached over and touched her face gently.
It was time.
***
A few minutes later, Nicholas had stopped moving about.
“I’m sorry Sydney,” he whispered, “I’m sorry...”
***
In the morning, Nicholas burst into the kitchen, finding Eddie as he was pouring himself a glass of orange juice. Eddie watched him uneasily, looking concerned.
“Eddie help me out here...I’m going mad—I’m really losing my mind here...”
“Hey, bro—easy. Is it Sydney again?”
Nicholas ran his hand through his hair.
“Yeah man, but not just her.”
“Then what else?”
Nicholas sat on a stool behind the
kitchen island.
“I...” he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “I had a dream last night...in fact, I’ve had several for a while now but they were only bits and pieces. This last one really shook me up though it felt so real...Jesus Christ.”
He felt agitated again.
“Hey Nicholas, calm down. You want some tea or water or something? Yeah let’s get you something to drink. Marla!”
The servant appeared, duster in hand.
“Make my brother some tea—something soothing.”
Eddie turned to him.
“I don’t want to hear it until you’ve calmed down a bit,” Eddie said.
The tea itself didn’t calm Nicholas down, but the act of drinking it did since he had to slow down to prevent burning himself with it.
A half-cup of chamomile tea later, he was still shaken.
“So what’s this about bad dreams?” Eddie asked. “Had to be pretty bad to have you up this early.”
Nicholas took a deep breath.
“You’re the first person I’m telling about this Eddie...”
“Naturally,” Eddie replied, looking at him patiently.
Nicholas continued:
“A while back, I started having these dreams. They were always just figments though, but they always involved Sydney. And they were always bad—she was in danger. But like I said, they were always just figments, figments of...terror. I swear, it was like some thriller or horror movie. I didn’t really know what was going to happen or what was happening to her or who was doing it but last night Eddie...god, last night...”