My Soul to Take
Page 24
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Yes, but she needed a natural sleep, not the virtual coma induced by those stupid sedatives. Not that either of them would have listened to me, even if Id offered my opinion on the subject of chemical oblivion.
For a moment, I envied my cousin her innocence, even as I watched it die. Id learned about death early in life, and as inconsolable as Sophie was at the moment, shed had fifteen years to prance around in her plastic-wrapped, padded, gaily colored, armor-plated existence, where darkness dared not tread. No matter what happened next, no one could take away her happy childhood.
Aunt Val watched Sophie swallow a single, tiny white pill, then walked her daughter down the hall into her room, where the bedsprings soon creaked beneath her slight weight. Ten minutes later, she was snoring obnoxiously enough to leave no doubt in my mind that my cousin had inherited just as much from her father as from her mother.
While my aunt put Sophie to bed, I grabbed a second Coke from Uncle Brendons shelf in the fridgethe one realm Aunt Vals sugar-free, nonfat, tasteless regime had yet to conquerand took it into the living room, where I checked the local TV station. But there was no news on at two-thirty in the afternoon. Id have to wait for the five oclock broadcast.
I turned off the TV, and my thoughts wandered to the Coles, whom Id only met once, at a dance-team competition the year before. My eyes watered as I imagined Merediths mother trying to explain to her young son that his big sister wouldnt be coming home from school. Ever.
Glass clinked in the kitchen, momentarily pulling me from the mire of guilt and grief I was sinking into, and I twisted on the couch to see my aunt pouring hot tea into a huge latte mug. My brows furrowed in confusion for a momentmaybe Aunt Val needed a sedative too?until she stood on her toes to open the top cabinet. Where she and Uncle Brendon kept the alcohol.
My aunt pulled down a bottle of brandy and unscrewed the lid. Then she dumped a generous shot into her mug. And left the bottle on the countertop, clearly planning on a second helping.
She took a sip of her tea, then turned toward the living room, remote control in hand. The moment her gaze met mine, she froze, and her cheeks flushed.
It hasnt hit the news yet, I said, and couldnt help noticing how tired and heavy her steps looked as she crossed the tiles into the living room. Aunt Val and Mrs. Cole had been gym buddies for years. Maybe Merediths death had hit her harder than Id realized. Or maybe she was unnerved by how upset Sophie was. Or maybe shed connected Merediths death to Heidi Andersonsto my knowledge, she hadnt yet heard about Alyson Bakerand had started to suspect something was wrong. As I had.
Either way, her skin was pale and her hands were shaking. She looked so fragile I hesitated to add to her troubles. But the premonitions had gone toofar. I needed help, or advice, orsomething.
What I really needed was for someone to tell me what good premonitions of death were if they didnt help me warn people. What was the point of knowing someone was going to die, if I couldnt stop it from happening?
Aunt Val wouldnt know any of that, but neither would anyone else. And in the absence of my own parents, I had no one else to talk to.
My fingers tangled around one another in my lap as she sank wearily onto the other end of the couch, her knees together, ankles crossed primly. The frown lines around her mouth and the tremor in her hand said she was not as composed as she clearly wanted to appear.
That, and the not-tea scent wafting from her mug.
The last time Id tried to tell her I knew someone was going to die, she and Uncle Brendon had driven me straight to the hospital and left me there. Of course, at the time, Id been screaming hysterically in the middle of the mall and lashing out at anyone who tried to touch me.
Presumably, theyd had no choice.
Surely it would go better this time, because I was calm and rational, and not currently in the grip of an irrepressible screaming fit. And because she was already one shot into a bottle of brandy.
My nerves pinged out of control, and I reached absently for the scent diffuser on the end table to my left, stirring the vanilla-scented oil with a thin wooden reed. Aunt Val?
She jumped, sloshing tea onto her lap. Sorry, hon. She set her mug on a coaster on the end table, then rushed into the kitchen to blot at her pants with a clean, wet rag. This thing with Meredith has me on edge.
I knew exactly how she felt.
I exhaled smoothly, then took a deep breath as my aunt returned to the living room, the wet spot on her slacks now covering half of one slim thigh. Yeah, it was prettyscary.
Oh? She stopped several feet from her chair, eyes narrowed at me in concern laced withsuspicion? Were you there? Had she already guessed what I was going to say?
Maybe Nash was right. Maybe I should keep my secret a little longer.
I shook my head slowly, and my gaze flicked back to the sticks protruding from the tiny oil bottle. No, I didnt actually see it she exhaled in relief, and I almost hated to ruin it with the rest of what I had to say butYou know the girl who died at Taboo the other day?
Of course. How sad! She returned to her chair and took a slow sip from her tea, eyes closed, as if she were thinking. Or maybe praying. Then she took a much longer drink and lowered her mug, eyes wide and wary. Kaylee, that girl had nothing to do with what happened today. According to the news, she was drunk, and may have been on something stronger than alcohol.
For a moment, I envied my cousin her innocence, even as I watched it die. Id learned about death early in life, and as inconsolable as Sophie was at the moment, shed had fifteen years to prance around in her plastic-wrapped, padded, gaily colored, armor-plated existence, where darkness dared not tread. No matter what happened next, no one could take away her happy childhood.
Aunt Val watched Sophie swallow a single, tiny white pill, then walked her daughter down the hall into her room, where the bedsprings soon creaked beneath her slight weight. Ten minutes later, she was snoring obnoxiously enough to leave no doubt in my mind that my cousin had inherited just as much from her father as from her mother.
While my aunt put Sophie to bed, I grabbed a second Coke from Uncle Brendons shelf in the fridgethe one realm Aunt Vals sugar-free, nonfat, tasteless regime had yet to conquerand took it into the living room, where I checked the local TV station. But there was no news on at two-thirty in the afternoon. Id have to wait for the five oclock broadcast.
I turned off the TV, and my thoughts wandered to the Coles, whom Id only met once, at a dance-team competition the year before. My eyes watered as I imagined Merediths mother trying to explain to her young son that his big sister wouldnt be coming home from school. Ever.
Glass clinked in the kitchen, momentarily pulling me from the mire of guilt and grief I was sinking into, and I twisted on the couch to see my aunt pouring hot tea into a huge latte mug. My brows furrowed in confusion for a momentmaybe Aunt Val needed a sedative too?until she stood on her toes to open the top cabinet. Where she and Uncle Brendon kept the alcohol.
My aunt pulled down a bottle of brandy and unscrewed the lid. Then she dumped a generous shot into her mug. And left the bottle on the countertop, clearly planning on a second helping.
She took a sip of her tea, then turned toward the living room, remote control in hand. The moment her gaze met mine, she froze, and her cheeks flushed.
It hasnt hit the news yet, I said, and couldnt help noticing how tired and heavy her steps looked as she crossed the tiles into the living room. Aunt Val and Mrs. Cole had been gym buddies for years. Maybe Merediths death had hit her harder than Id realized. Or maybe she was unnerved by how upset Sophie was. Or maybe shed connected Merediths death to Heidi Andersonsto my knowledge, she hadnt yet heard about Alyson Bakerand had started to suspect something was wrong. As I had.
Either way, her skin was pale and her hands were shaking. She looked so fragile I hesitated to add to her troubles. But the premonitions had gone toofar. I needed help, or advice, orsomething.
What I really needed was for someone to tell me what good premonitions of death were if they didnt help me warn people. What was the point of knowing someone was going to die, if I couldnt stop it from happening?
Aunt Val wouldnt know any of that, but neither would anyone else. And in the absence of my own parents, I had no one else to talk to.
My fingers tangled around one another in my lap as she sank wearily onto the other end of the couch, her knees together, ankles crossed primly. The frown lines around her mouth and the tremor in her hand said she was not as composed as she clearly wanted to appear.
That, and the not-tea scent wafting from her mug.
The last time Id tried to tell her I knew someone was going to die, she and Uncle Brendon had driven me straight to the hospital and left me there. Of course, at the time, Id been screaming hysterically in the middle of the mall and lashing out at anyone who tried to touch me.
Presumably, theyd had no choice.
Surely it would go better this time, because I was calm and rational, and not currently in the grip of an irrepressible screaming fit. And because she was already one shot into a bottle of brandy.
My nerves pinged out of control, and I reached absently for the scent diffuser on the end table to my left, stirring the vanilla-scented oil with a thin wooden reed. Aunt Val?
She jumped, sloshing tea onto her lap. Sorry, hon. She set her mug on a coaster on the end table, then rushed into the kitchen to blot at her pants with a clean, wet rag. This thing with Meredith has me on edge.
I knew exactly how she felt.
I exhaled smoothly, then took a deep breath as my aunt returned to the living room, the wet spot on her slacks now covering half of one slim thigh. Yeah, it was prettyscary.
Oh? She stopped several feet from her chair, eyes narrowed at me in concern laced withsuspicion? Were you there? Had she already guessed what I was going to say?
Maybe Nash was right. Maybe I should keep my secret a little longer.
I shook my head slowly, and my gaze flicked back to the sticks protruding from the tiny oil bottle. No, I didnt actually see it she exhaled in relief, and I almost hated to ruin it with the rest of what I had to say butYou know the girl who died at Taboo the other day?
Of course. How sad! She returned to her chair and took a slow sip from her tea, eyes closed, as if she were thinking. Or maybe praying. Then she took a much longer drink and lowered her mug, eyes wide and wary. Kaylee, that girl had nothing to do with what happened today. According to the news, she was drunk, and may have been on something stronger than alcohol.
