I turned to her. “Gee was sent to the hospital?” I wanted to hear it from a nurse.
“I’m afraid so. She isn’t safe here. She needs a tighter leash than what we can offer in this setting.” I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat and walked beside her down the hall. My mom was waiting to greet me. She stood in the Great Room watching us as we approached. I peered over my shoulder at Nurse Karen before we were close enough for my mother to hear.
“What hospital is she at?” I wanted to see her.
Nurse Karen smiled at me. “Mercy Medical.” The hospital where I had signed on to volunteer. However, now that I had a record of mental issues they wouldn’t let me work at the hospital anymore. I was pretty sure I could still visit.
“Pagan, you look as if you have lost ten pounds,” Mom said as soon as I was close enough to hear her. She walked toward me and wrapped her arms around me, holding on tightly. “I’m so happy you’re coming home. We’ll put some weight back on you in no time.”
I smiled and enjoyed the comfort of her arms. “I’m sure the pizza and Chinese will be limitless,” I teased, and she laughed, pulling back from me.
“Never said I would cook the food that puts the weight back on you.” Her eyes were watery but I knew it wasn’t sad tears this time.
Chapter Eighteen
I stood staring at the kitchen table covered with empty soda cans, two empty pizza boxes, and half of a chocolate cake which had read: “Welcome Home, Pagan,” in white icing on top. Leif, Miranda, and Wyatt had surprised me this evening. I’d opened the door four hours ago to find the three of them holding pizza, sodas, and a bakery box. Being with the three of them, eating food with real taste, and entertaining them with stories from my time at the mental house had made it really feel like I was home. Their smiling faces and familiar laughter had warmed me from the coldness always penetrating me. Leif had held me as we sat in the living room, catching up on everything I’d missed.
Kendra had fallen off the pyramid during cheerleading practice and had a cast on her right leg. Miranda appeared much too pleased about the girl’s predicament. College scouts had come to the playoff game to watch Leif and he now had scholarship offers from two different colleges.
Life had gone on without me. Knowing Leif would be okay when I was no longer a part of his life eased some of the guilt inside me. I couldn’t keep him. Not when I ached for Dank so badly. Even if I couldn’t find Dank, I knew he cared.
He would come back eventually. He had known I needed him and he’d come to me. Even if I couldn’t see him, I knew he was near. I glanced up the stairs knowing he wouldn’t come tonight. My room was a safe place for me now. If I could just see him and tell him I love him and I will go wherever I have to in order to be with him… But he wouldn’t allow me to even know or understand.
I threw the empty soda cans into the recycling bin at the back door and headed upstairs to go to bed. Today had been exhausting and I would be returning to school tomorrow.
The empty desk where Dank had once sat in English Literature flashed in my mind and the hole in my chest ached.
* * * *
The music was playing. It took me a moment as I opened my eyes to realize Dank was playing my lullaby. I sat straight up in bed and looked to the chair to find it empty, yet the music was playing. It took me a moment to realize through my sleepy haze that the music wasn’t in my room or even in the house. The music drifted through the open window from outside. I jumped and ran to see where it was coming from. Was Dank out there? The back yard was dark and foggy. The music drifted up to me from somewhere in the night. I reached for my jacket, slipped on my shoes, and then headed downstairs and out the back door, closing it gently behind me so as not to wake my mom. If she caught me wandering around in the dark she may pack me back up and return me to the mental house.
The music sounded as if it was coming from the woods. I went over to the garden shed to find a flashlight. I knew mom kept one on the shelf over the potting table. Once I found it and checked to see if the batteries were good, I headed back into the dark yard.
Why would Dank be out here in the dark playing my lullaby? I stepped onto the path my mom had made so she could take nature walks from our back yard to the community pond through the woods. The leaves crackled around me and I bit back a squeal. I needed to find Dank before some strange critter found me. The music drew me deeper into the woods. My flashlight only helped marginally.
The thick fog made visibility almost zero. I kept chanting in my head that Dank was out here somewhere. He wanted me to find him. Why else would he play his music so I could hear it, if not to draw me out here?
A light glimmered in the darkness, peeking through the fog. I walked toward it, knowing the music was coming from that spot. The closer I got, the brighter the light grew. I broke through the fog and into a small clearing. A glowing ball floated inside the circle of trees surrounding the clearing. I tucked the flashlight into the pocket of my jacket before taking a cautious step toward the orb of light. Dank’s music was coming from the light.
Confused, I quickly scanned the clearing for Dank. It remained empty, but for me and the musical light. Why was it playing Dank’s music? Fear slowly began to trickle through me. Dank wasn’t here. He would never draw me out into the dark woods alone. Someone else would. Someone who wanted me to leave my bed and wander out away from the protection of my home.
“Thump thump, thump thump, that heart of yours sure is racing, isn’t it, Peggy Ann?” I spun around at the sound of Gee’s voice. She stood in the far corner of the clearing, watching me. She didn’t look like the Gee in the mental house. Her short blond hair was flying around in the night breeze loosely and her red lips now seemed to shimmer like silver glitter in the moonlight. I took a step back, wanting to put distance between us.
“What are you doing, Gee?” I asked, attempting to keep the panic out of my voice. She puckered her shimmering lips and tilted her head from side to side.
“Hmmm. Little Miss. Smarty Pants isn’t so smart after all. The only sane girl in the house, HA! You were the only one stupid enough to be my friend.” I searched frantically around me trying to think of a way to escape.
“Jess was your friend,” I replied, wanting to stall her while I tried to think of how I could get away from her.
Gee began to cackle. “Jess is a lunatic whose mind I easily controlled. You, however, came near me without any help from me. You did it all on your own. You trusted me.” She stopped talking and began drawing closer to me, laughing maniacally. “I’d been sent to right the wrong. I was there because of you. The first night I was going to take you. It was meant to be,” she snarled. “But he was there already. I hadn’t even killed you yet and he was there. Protecting you. Foolish human that you are. The simple soul living inside of you. He protects it.”
She began pacing back and forth in front of me as if she were a large cat stalking her prey. I took another step back and she laughed wickedly as if my attempting to leave was as insane as she was. “It’s his JOB! I was sent to fix his wrong!
He broke a rule with you. He can’t break the rules. If he doesn’t right this wrong then he’ll pay. It must be corrected.” She began tilting her head back and forth again, studying me as if I were an unknown specimen. I realized her eyes no longer looked insane but more like those of a cat. Her features had all taken on a glow. She wasn’t human. She wasn’t a mental patient. She was…something else.
“What are you Gee?” I asked.