split second, I envisioned Jenna walking to that same door and into the night. I won't miss you, her voice echoed in my head. I shook the completely inappropriate memory away.
I stood still for a moment, then decided it was ridiculous to keep playing this cat and mouse game with my own fear. I stomped over to the door, throwing the lock and sliding it open. If someone waited to ambush me, I might as well get it over with.
Stepping outside into the cold night, I looked from side to side. But I didn't see a soul. The sky lacked a moon, and the world slept peacefully beneath it, quiet and calm. Only the occasional rumble of a car on the street broke the silence. But the creepy feeling remained, as strong as ever.
My bare feet were beginning to freeze on the cement slab porch. I faced the strange girl's house, but she wasn't around, either. Of course she wouldn't be in the middle of the night. Normal people were sleeping in their ordinary beds, not chasing phantoms. I shivered, looking up at the windows of the house anyway. No sign of movement.
I shut the door, ready to go back to my room. Out of nowhere, the air against my skin turned to ice. My fear peaked, my heart racing as though I were in a race. As if I were face to face with something terrifying that I couldn't see, but my instincts knew endangered me. And then, as fast as it had swept upon me, the feeling disappeared.
I was left gasping for breath. I sunk down to my hands and knees, waiting for my heart to return to normal. When I could finally breathe, I stood, locking the door. A second of indecisiveness kept me still, and then I raced back to my bedroom.
"What the hell just happened?" I asked the empty air. But no answers came back to me.
I shut my door tightly, and jumped into bed. I tugged the blanket up around my chin, but it was a long time before I fully got back to sleep. Even though I now felt utterly alone.
Chapter 6
By the morning, I'd convinced myself that I had imagined the whole thing. My lifelong love of horror movies could have easily contributed. My parents always told me I had an overactive imagination. They were right. I had enjoyed the company of imaginary friends until I met Jenna to replace them. The one thing that I couldn't reconcile was the fact that normally I didn't scare too easily. And last night I had been terrified.
Hugh joined me for breakfast.
"I had a talk with Claire last night," he said.
"About what?" I asked, completely forgetting our chat during the car ride home the day before. Unforgiveable, considering how important the ability to come and go on my own was to me.
"You know what," he said. "Your suggestion that you walk to school. I tried every bargaining technique I know." He buttered his toast with a steak knife. I almost told him it was an inappropriate use, but I let it drop considering he held my fate in his hands. "Believe me; I put up the good fight."
"And let me guess, she said no way in this lifetime," I said, sighing as I finished my soggy cereal. I swirled the little Os around with my spoon.
"Actually, she agreed to it. After intense deliberation. The only stipulation is that you have to send me a text message when you get to school and when you leave to come home."
I raised my eyebrows. "No joke?" I couldn't believe it.
"No joke."
I got up and gave him a hug around his neck. Hugh laughed softly.
"Thank you!" I said. "You don't know how much I appreciate that!"
"This is on a conditional basis, though," he warned, as I gathered up my books and shoved them in my backpack. "Don't get too excited. You have to follow the rules every time, or I reserve the right to personally revoke it."
"I will," I promised.
After cleaning out my bowl, I went downstairs to finish getting ready. I dressed quickly in my favorite shirt, dark violet with lace-trimmed sleeves, and rushed upstairs. Grabbing my backpack, I slipped outside and started off on my first walk.
Fog hung low to the ground, obscuring the landscape. The sky a flat, dull gray, preceding dawn. Despite the early morning chill, I felt happy to be breathing in the fresh air. I sucked in a lungful, until I couldn't inhale