“You just need to stay away from him. Never, ever, let him get you alone. Do you understand me?” The last bit came out as a whisper. Letitia looked haunted. I felt dread in my soul, just looking at her.
“What has he done?”
Letitia looked down at her hands, twisting her fingers around and around. “You need to know that he is more dark than light. He seeks to dull the light, and you are one of the brightest.”
“Brightest? I consider myself fairly intelligent, but that’s not the kind of bright you’re referring to. I’m not sunshine and roses. What’s he doing with Flick if he wants light? I’d say she’s pretty dark.” Letitia stared, her poker face in place, waiting for me to clue in.
Oh. I remembered the single glass on the bench. The sticky margarita mix. The drawer full of pills. So many things about Flick made sense, now. It was so true what they said about bullies. How they’re most likely being bullied themselves. I had grossly misjudged her.
You are one of the brightest. She was referring to my ‘gift’. If I ever needed proof that it was a curse, this was it. My ‘light’ had attracted the worst kind of attention.
“Does Flicker have extra senses, too?”
“She’s an unfortunate pawn in a sick power game.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not something you need to get involved with at the moment.”
Normally, I couldn’t agree with her more. “Is it something that will involve me in the future?”
“It’s undecided.” She shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal, but her face told me another story.
Our eyes were locked. My palms were sweating. My heart was vibrating rather than beating. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was going to faint. White spots danced in front of my eyes and joined together to block out my vision. The ringing in my ears smothered her words. I forgot how to breathe.
I sank to the floor, only vaguely registering that I was in a public bathroom. Water sprayed from the sink above my head. Its heavenly, cool relief, kept me from becoming lost. I couldn’t be more grateful.
My hearing returned first. I heard Letitia calling my name. Realising I had closed my eyes, I opened them to see her concerned face. She was so young and innocent. Life was so unfair.
Had I been unfair to Flick? I didn’t even know the woman I’d been living with. I thought she was a pretentious, coffee-loving, shopaholic, control freak. Maybe she’d endured harassment by Lindstrom, or worse. I was so glad I’d gotten out of there, but what had I left behind?
I had to get out. I felt like the walls were closing in on me. My reflection in the mirror showed a petrified, soggy mess. I just wanted to run home. Towards Brad, and the way he made me feel. There are much scarier and more sinister things than love. Things that could damage you in irreparable ways.
Returning to the main street, I looked across to where I’d seen Lindstrom emerge. It was a federation style building, no number marked its address. Tilting my head up to the top floor, the blood drained from my face, and my legs threatened to collapse again. The lady in the floral dress stared at me from a window. What was she doing here? The feeling of her icy fingers as they tugged at my toes gripped my mind in its hold. Oh, fuck. I think I’m in deep shit.
Brad
She was avoiding me. She’d moved in over a week ago, and I hadn’t seen her since the morning after our dinner with Ben and Andrea. Every morning, she was up before the sun and didn’t come home until I’d gone to bed. The only evidence that she had been here at all was some washing hanging under the house. She hadn’t eaten anything from here, either. Damn, that pissed me off. Not sleeping, not eating, it was going to stop, right now.
Her Granny was coming to dinner tonight, unless the plans had changed. My gut clenched at the thought. I wanted to meet the woman who had shaped Veronica into the amazing woman that she was today, and who had gained her love and respect. I needed more insight into my new ‘friend’.
From the back deck, I could see the very edges of the sun’s halo of light chasing away the night. A colony of bats winged their way home as I sat and waited, wondering what I could cook for our special guest. The cool breeze stirred the smell of frangipanis and moisture from last night’s rain. I could taste it in the air. When the sun’s warmth hit the damp earth, Brisbane would turn into a sauna.
Dressed in my running gear, I was ready to catch my Gazelle before she escaped me again. The pocket of cold to my left kept me company, as it did almost constantly, whether I was outside or in. There was no explanation that I could think of without feeling like a fruit loop. The truth was, I was comforted by it. Bloody handy to have built-in air-conditioning. Wouldn’t be so great in winter, but whatever.
The noise of the toilet flushing put me back on alert. She was up. I leaned back a bit so I had a view down the hallway. The bathroom door opened revealing Veronica in a purple tank top and … were those shorts or knickers? Her mass of dark curls moved free and wild. She rubbed her eyes as she walked towards me, heading for the kitchen. Those legs, that hair. Those legs.
