A Strange Fire (Florence Vaine) (9 page)

 “How do you know?” asks Caroline, not even hurt by Josh’s horrible
comment. “I’m sure there’s a man out there with a fetish for plus size red heads.”

 Josh ignores her now, and tries to get my attention. “You look
positively tempting laying there Flo, I’m wondering how you’ll react if I mount
you.”

 I sit up then and threaten, “Try it and see,” but I regret it when he
takes a step toward me, and then another, before kneeling down in front of me.
“You wouldn’t dare,” I say in a quiet but harsh voice.

 “Oh I most certainly would.”

 “Touch her and die Carter,” says a hard voice that I recognise as
Frank’s. Carter must be Josh’s surname.

 “Mind your own business delinquent,” Josh retorts.

 “You’ve got ten seconds, and then I’m coming for you.”

 “Yeah, and me,” says Alex, jogging up beside Frank.

 “It’s fine, no f-fighting,
please
,” I say in an effort to
dissolve the tension building up between the two boys.

 Frank’s gaze meets mine. “Are you sure?” he seems almost offended that I
don’t want him to give Josh a kicking. Timidity may be one of my defining
characteristics, but they can eff right off if they think I’m going to play the
damsel in distress.

 “I don’t want you getting in trouble,” I say, only to Frank, our eyes
still connected.

 “Oh whatever, I’m going,” groans Josh, pretending to be bored by the
situation and leaving to re-join his friends who are kicking a ball about on
the other side of the court.

 Caroline shifts over to sit closer to me, then whispers in my ear,
“Well, aren’t we getting all the attention from the boys today, I’m almost
jealous,” she smiles and nudges me with her elbow.

 “Maybe it’s what they do to new girls,” I whisper back.

 “Yeah sure,” she replies, in a tone that says she doesn’t believe me for
one second.

 “Mind if we join you?” Frank asks, even though Alex is already sitting
down. He playfully takes the ball from Caroline, she doesn’t protest, and then
throws it up high in the air before catching it again.

 “Of c-course not,” I tell him, and then he sits down on the other side
of me.

 “It’s such a nice day,” I say, not being able to think of any other
subject to discuss but the weather.

 Frank looks me directly in the eye when he replies, “Yeah it is,” then
he leans back on his elbows.

 I scan the court to see that Ross and Layla are playing basketball with
Steven, Marley and Christian, as well as two other boys I don’t know. Most of
the other students are conducting a game of soccer over on the other side of
the court, Ingrid and three other girls are sitting and watching from the side
lines.

 “So what’s Carter’s problem with you?” Alex asks. “That’s the second
time we’ve had to scare him away now.”

 “The second time?” asks Caroline, puzzled.

 “Yeah he was bothering me in the h-hallway the other day, I forgot to
tell you. B-but don’t worry about it he’s just trying to intimidate me.”

 “Sounded more like he was flirting with you,” says Caroline with a
cocked eyebrow.

 When she says this Frank shifts a little in discomfort. Does it bother
him that Josh may have been flirting with me? Probably not. Perhaps his patch
of grass is a little bit damp.

 “Nah I think the sex pest act is just his thing, he’s too aggressive to
be flirting.”

 I notice Frank send Alex a meaningful look, Caroline must have noticed
as well because she asks, “Um, what was that?” glancing between the two of
them. Bless her, she has no inhibitions about saying what’s on her mind. It’s a
help because that way I’m not left wondering either.

 “What was what?” says Frank, faking that he doesn’t get her question.

 “You two, looking at each other as if you’re having a silent
conversation.”

 Alex laughs. “Nah, we were both just wondering if we should catch up
with Josh outside of school grounds, right Franklin?”

 “Right,” says Frank.

 I let out a sigh of happiness, despite the whole unpleasantness with
Josh, the sun warms me, shining down like heaven. I lie back again to enjoy it.

 Frank leans over me, his eyes on my body. “Are you coming to the gig
tonight?”

 “Oh, after the cinema you mean?” I ask, placing my hand on my forehead
to shade my eyes as I peer up at him.

 “What’s this now?” says Caroline, butting in.

 “F-Frank wants to know if we’re going to that gig tonight after we’re
finished at the movies, what do you think?” I know that he didn’t say anything
about Caroline coming, but to hell if he thinks I’m going to go alone.

 “Hmm, maybe,” Caroline answers thoughtfully. “But how will we get there,
it’s in Remington right?”

 “We can pick you up in the van and take you with us,” says Frank.

 “Okay, well the movie will be over at nine, can you pick us up then,
outside the Cineplex?” I smile as Caroline makes all the arrangements.

 “Sure,” replies Frank, then he turns back to me. “That okay with you?”

 “Perfect, so long as I’m home before twelve. I don’t want to keep Gran
waiting up for me too late.”

 “I’ll get you back on time,” he promises, his eyes linger on my lips
when I bite them out of nervousness. I glance away and then back to him.
Caroline and Alex are standing up now, throwing the ball back and forth to each
other, which makes things feel more intimate with me and Frank. He’s still
staring at me.

 “What?” I ask, exasperated by his gaze.

 “Nothing,” he smiles.

 “Then w-why are you s-staring at m-me?” Great, my stammer’s back after a
too short reprieve.

 “Just thinking about stuff.”

 “Stuff?”

 “Yeah, stuff,” his words are loaded, and my eyes wander to his aura
where a blast of red heat shoots out of the flames.

 “Well stop it okay.”

 “Stop what? Thinking?”

 “Yes,” I answer, with perhaps a little too much fervour.

 He grins. “All right then.”

 “Good.” I say, not knowing why. I scratch my nose and sit up just in
time to look across the court and see Josh stood on the grass staring directly
at me. When he sees he’s caught my eye he gives me the finger. What a schizo.
Then he begins laughing and re-joins the football match.

 “That boy has some problems,” I whisper to myself.

 “What did you say?” asks Frank.

 “Nothing, j-just trying to figure out why Josh has been giving me
trouble.”

 “Want me to torture him ‘til he tells?”

 “No thanks,” I say, noticing in Frank’s aura that he means what he says.
That unsettles me slightly.

 We sit there for the rest of the class, while Caroline and Alex buzz off
of each other. I wonder if they’ve ever spoken to each other up until now.
Seemingly Caroline’s prejudice about Frank and his brothers being foster home
kids kept her from becoming friends with Alex. I give myself an imaginary pat on
the back for having been the catalyst for their blossoming friendship.

 Frank and I sit in silence, and a palpable one for that matter. I’m
still laying down, soaking up the nourishing rays, but I can almost
feel
his eyes on me. I try to pretend I don’t notice. The teacher, Mr Procter,
doesn’t end up showing at all, which is a relief. All of my PE teachers in the
past have turned out to be highly strung fascists, and I don’t think the
pattern is going to change any time soon.

 When the final bell of the day rings I take one last stretch as I lie on
the ground. Frank stands and offers me his hand. I take it and spring up, he’s
stronger than I thought. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he pulled me up
fast like that so I’d bump into him the way I do. My face crashes into his
chest, lean and muscled, and he holds me there for a fraction of a second.

 “S-sorry,” I say as I pull away from him. Frank doesn’t respond, just
looks at me with, what is that? Longing? I should be so lucky.

 “So I’ll definitely see you tonight then?” he asks, his voice what could
be described as husky.

 “Yeah, definitely.” I tell him. “See you then,” and I make my way back
inside the school building to the changing rooms.

On the walk home from school I get
the distinct feeling I’m being followed by an invisible presence. I determine
on the invisibility because of the fact that every time I turn around there’s
nobody there, yet the feeling remains. You know that feeling you get when a
person is watching you, and you can tell that they are even though you haven’t
looked yet?

 That’s the exact feeling I’m
getting, yet I
am
looking and I cannot see a soul. The way to my Gran’s
estate, once you get past the town centre, is fairly isolated. It’s in a part
of Chesterport where mostly only the elderly live, and they don’t go out much.

 Whoever they are, they’re close
now. I continue to walk, but slow my pace by a fraction. It’s strange how
easily I accept the fact that some invisible person or thing is following me,
but then again, I’ve lived with the strange all my life. After all, if I can
see auras then surely there are other unexplainable phenomenon out there. I
focus all of my concentration on listening, and sure enough I can hear the
faintest tap tap tapping of footsteps. I stop, continue to listen and almost
jump out of my own skin when a lazy, tepid breath slithers over my bare neck.

 “I know you’re there,” I whisper
to the nothingness that has just breathed on me. The breathing ceases but the
presence remains.

 I laugh, a flippant contrived
sound, in an effort to remain calm and not run screaming down the pathway.

 “You can’t fool me that easily,”
I say, a notch louder than my whisper before. This time there is nothing, no
breathing on the back of my neck.

 “Why are you following me?” I
demand, and feel foolish when a man walking a dog on the other side of the road
glances in my direction and gives me that look people give to crazies who talk
to themselves. He quickens his pace, and soon enough I am again alone on the
street, the daylight fading ever so slightly.

 I let out a sigh. “Are you so
chicken that you have to hide yourself?” I ask, in a low voice just in case
anyone else happens to be walking down the street. At this my heart jumps,
because now I can feel cold, damp fingers clasp my neck as if to choke me.

 “Get off me!” I scream, ripping
the fingers from their death grip on me and running away, faster than I ever
have before, until I get to Gran’s. I unlock the door and slam it shut behind
me. I take a deep breath, and feel the place out, thankfully the presence is
gone.

 What’s scary about it is that I
don’t, not for a second, question my sanity on what has just happened to me.
Right in this moment I know my own mind and I know what I felt, and there was
definitely
something
following me. All the way from outside the
butcher’s in the centre of Chesterport to that lonely residential street where
I finally stopped and confronted whatever it was.

 A ghost maybe? I’ve certainly met
a lot of people who’ve died, it might very well be the ghost of any one of
them. Perhaps my own supernatural ability has attracted them to me. But ghosts
can’t touch you right? They are no longer alive, and therefore don’t need to
breathe, so why in all that is sacred did I feel that horrible breath on the
back of my neck? Those cold, tangible fingers grip me?

 Gran must be gone out somewhere,
because I can’t hear her pottering about as I usually do. Sure enough, in the
kitchen I find a note written on the back of an envelope,
Gone next door to
visit Mary, will be back before six
.
Gran. x
. Her handwriting is
jittery and the line isn’t straight, but that’s just the way she writes, her
hands, like her eyes, aren’t what they used to be.

 I don’t feel comfortable being
alone in the house after what just happened, but at least Gran isn’t far. If
anything happens I can run next door and get her. Not that a half blind seventy
two year old woman is going to be much of a defence against whatever entity is
haunting me. Following me. Stalking me. Whatever it is that they are doing and
whatever it is that they are.

 But company is always preferable
to being alone when you’re frightened. I mean, both of you might be scared, but
at least you get to share the emotion so it’s not half as overwhelming. I go
upstairs to take a shower; the urge to wash away the touch of those unseen
fingers is strong in me. When I get out I take my time to brush out my hair and
then tie it in plaits so that it will dry wavy. It’s a trick I picked up since
I’ve never had the luxury of a curling iron.

 I rifle through my clothes,
trying to find something suitable to wear. What does one wear to a rock gig?
Who knows. I’m sure it would be something along the lines of what Layla
normally wears, but I don’t own anything even halfway there. I find a calf
length lavender coloured skirt that could be passable, in fact I don’t think
I’ve ever worn it but I do remember picking it up in a charity shop about a
year ago, along with a pair of old black leather boots.

 Thinking of the boots, I sift
them out of the bottom of the wardrobe. For my top I decide on a loose black
cardigan with a black string top underneath. That wasn’t as painful as I
thought it might be.

 I’m downstairs having a quick
bowl of soup to make up for skipping dinner when Gran gets back. She’s carrying
a big cling film covered dish containing home-made shepherd’s pie made by our
next door neighbour Mary. Sounds delicious. If I had more time I’d be tempted
to have a portion, but I’ve got to meet Caroline outside the Cineplex in fifteen
minutes.

 Gran insists I give her a kiss on
the cheek and a hug before I go, and I’m awkward about it because I’d never had
that kind of affectionate, loving relationship with Dad. In fact not with
anybody. I’ve only been living with Gran for a week now, but I swear I’ve never
felt more appreciated, or more loved, in my entire life. How my dad turned out
the way he did having been raised by this woman I cannot fathom. Maybe she
spoiled him too much.

 Up close Gran smells like soap
and lemons, her skin is soft and wrinkly, but in a good way. She tells me to be
sure to have a great time as I leave, closing the front door gently as I do.
All the gang have already assembled outside the Cineplex by the time I get
there. Caroline, Christian, Lia, Marley and Steven.

 “Come on, come on, come on, the
show starts in ten minutes and we haven’t even gotten our tickets yet,” urges
Christian as I approach them.

 “S-sorry,” I apologise, I don’t
even know what we’re going to see yet.

 Turns out we’re watching some new
action flick, Caroline sits in beside me.

 She whispers in my ear, “I
haven’t told the others about us going to the gig after, they’ll only think
badly of it.”

 “Why would they think badly of
it? Isn’t Christian friends with Alex?” I reply over the straw of my Coke.

 “Yeah, but only at school, he
wouldn’t approve of us going to this place in Remington and he definitely
wouldn’t be pleased that we’re hanging out with Frank and Alex to begin with.”

 “I don’t understand,” I say, brow
furrowing as I take a sip of my drink.

 “Oh it’s just because you’re new
to this town, those boys have a bad reputation. Everybody knows they’re trouble
with a capital T. I don’t even know why I’m going. My better judgement seems to
fail me when it comes to Alex, he’s just so, I don’t know,
gorgeous.
I
can’t help myself.”

 I do my best to hide my laughter
at her use of the phrase “trouble with a capital T”. She sounds like a stern
mother giving a lecture about steering clear of the local hooligans.

 “I’m sure they’re not as bad as
everyone makes out.” I’ve met a lot of bad people in my time, and Frank and
Alex are definitely not
that
. I’d have seen it in their auras if they
were.

 “Yeah, maybe not. But that
doesn’t change the fact that my mum would absolutely
kill
me if she knew
where I was going tonight. I told her I was going over to yours for some girl
time. That’s what I told the others as well, gets us out of going to Pizza Hut
after the film.”

 “But what about Lia?” I ask.
“Won’t she f-feel left out that we’re supposedly having “girl time” without
her?”

 Caroline makes a sound something
like, “Pssh,” before continuing, “She’ll be glad to be the centre of attention
with the boys all to herself, don’t you worry about her.”

 A second later the trailers start
and Caroline quits her whispering. I sit back and enjoy the film, it’s been a
long time since I’ve been to see one. By the time it ends I’m already really
tired since I didn’t sleep last night after I had that freaky dream/reality.
Whatever it was. The darkness of the cinema doesn’t help to keep me awake
either. I almost drift off a couple of times.

 I go to the toilets and splash
some water on my face to wake myself up before leaving. When I get out to the
front of the building the others have already left and Caroline is standing by the
glass doors waiting for me.

 She glances down at her watch.
“It’s nine and they aren’t here yet, do you think they decided not to come?”

 “I’m sure they’ll turn up, just
g-give them a few minutes,” I say to console her, she looks devastated already.
I didn’t realise she was looking forward to this as much as I am. Thankfully,
the minivan pulls up to the side of the road a few short minutes later. Only
Frank and Alex are inside, Frank is driving and Alex is in the passenger seat.
Caroline and I sit in the back.

 “We dropped the others off at the
gig earlier,” says Frank before Caroline can ask where everybody else is.

 “I didn’t know you could drive,”
I say to Frank a couple minutes into the journey.

 “There’s a lot you don’t know
about me Florence.”

 “I told you to s-stop calling
t-that.”

 “Tough, I’m calling you Florence
so get used to it,” he grins.

 “I’ve always thought it a pretty
name,” Caroline interjects.

 I just shrug and stay quiet after
that for the rest of the fifteen minute trip. I’d expected this “battle of the
bands” gig to be held in a town hall or something, but when Frank makes a left
turn off the beaten track and down a gravelly dirt road I begin to wonder where
exactly it is he’s taking us. Caroline sends me an ominous glance, one which I
return.

 Soon lights appear up ahead and
then I can hear music and the noise of people, talking, laughing, shouting.
Drunk people noises. A minute later our destination is revealed, it’s some kind
of big abandoned barn house at the side of what appears to be a lake.

 “Here we are,” grins Alex,
rubbing his palms together mischievously.

 Caroline scoots closer to me. “I
don’t know about this,” she says in low voice so the others can’t hear.

 “Me n-neither,” I reply
truthfully.

 “Um, I hope this is legal,” Caroline
speaks up, and I can’t help but to cringe, she sounds like a fifty year old.

 Frank and Alex just look at each
other and laugh, but it isn’t an evil “
we’ve kidnapped you but
there’s
nothing you can do about it now
” laugh, just more of a laid back, casual
laugh. An indication that they attend these kinds of things all the time

 As we get out of the car Caroline
links her arm through mine, I can tell that she’s tense and still extremely
wary of the situation. We follow a couple of paces behind Frank and Alex, and
when we enter the barn there’s an old school punk band playing a cover of
New
Rose
by The Damned.

 The place is crowded with
Metallers, Goths and Punks. A wide variety all here in one place, it’s strange
because if I know anything about rock n’ roll subcultures it’s that the Punks
hate the Metallers, and the Metallers hate the Punks, while the Goths consider
themselves above the other two. But I suppose when you live in a small town
you’ve got to bunch together if you want to have any kind of a decent sized
party. And a party this certainly is.

 I feel a little sorry for
Caroline because she stands out like a sore thumb amid this crowd. Her short
hair is tied up in pig tails and she’s got a white t-shirt on with little
cherry patterns on it underneath a red cardigan. At least my dark hair, and
black top and boots blend in that little bit more. I’m hoping the lavender
skirt will be seen as an ironic statement.

 “Do you two want a drink?” Frank
asks, and I can see him struggle to hide his grin at the sight of us clutching
onto each other for dear life. I realise how we must look so I loosen my hold
on her arm.

 “Relax,” he continues. “Nobody’s
going to bite your heads off.”

 “That’s easy for you to say,”
Caroline replies, peering about wearily. I spot Layla and the other boys over
near a table with a bunch of cans of beer on it. Alex has joined them and is
currently taking part in a “chugging” match with Ross.

 Frank looks at me and shakes his
head, as though he assumes that I get that Caroline’s completely overreacting,
and I nod, despite the fact that I’m just as wary of this situation as she is.

 “So drinks?” he urges, raising an
eyebrow.

 “No thanks, I don’t drink
alcohol,” says Caroline snootily.

 “Do you have any like, juice or
something?” I ask. Frank smiles, and I’m glad he isn’t the peer pressuring
type.

 “Of course,” he replies warmly.

 There aren’t any chairs available
so I hitch myself up onto the table to sit. Caroline just stands by me with her
arms folded. An indication that she isn’t going to allow herself to get
comfortable any time soon. The building smells faintly of farm animals, or in
other words, manure. Not to mention the heavy aroma of teenage sweat from those
on the dance floor.

 Frank comes and sits beside me on
the table, handing me a glass of Coke, it even has a little straw in it. Then
he hands another of the same to Caroline, which she takes reluctantly. I wonder
if she’s pissed merely because of the location or if it’s because Alex is too
busy joking about with Ross and Layla and not paying her any attention.