Stalked by Death tod-2 Page 10

  Sometimes, I wondered what my life would have been like if I hadn’t come into my powers. If I’d stayed human. I’d probably be in the cafeteria with Matt and Melodie complaining about how boring life was. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for a little boring in my life now.

  I completely lost track of time, and before I knew it I was out of the woods and on a road. I had no idea how far I’d walked or how long I’d been out here. I reached for the cell in my back pocket. 1:10. I’d walked for over an hour. Everyone was probably wondering where I was. I saw I had a missed call from Alex. I forgot I’d silenced my phone. I dialed him back as a car came down the road. A car I’d know anywhere. Melodie’s car!

  Without even thinking, I waved my arms in the air. The car went past me, but the brake lights came on and it slowed to a stop.

  I heard a faint voice and remembered I’d called Alex. I put the phone up to my ear. “Jodi? Are you there? Where are you?”

  “I have to call you back.” I ended the call as Melodie stepped out of the car. I smiled. Seeing her was like seeing a room full of presents on Christmas morning. I wanted to rush up to her and give her the biggest hug, but I felt the wetness on my cheeks and stopped.

  “Oh, my God! Jodi! It is you!” Melodie’s shrieky voice sounded amazing. Like home. She rushed over to me, but I backed away. I couldn’t let her touch me, not while I was crying.

  “Stay back, Mel. Please.” I held my hands in front of me to stop her.

  “What? Why? Jodi, what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Where have you been? Your mom’s been worried sick. We all have.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “You just left. You didn’t say a word to anyone. Your mom said you emailed her, but when she tried to email you back, she got a message saying the account had been deleted.”

  I nodded and continued to back up. Melodie wouldn’t stop coming toward me. “Please, Mel. You have to stay away from me. Don’t come any closer, okay? Please. If anything happened to you, I’d—”

  “What are you talking about? You’re acting crazy.”

  “Look, can we go somewhere and talk? Your car, maybe?”

  “Do you need a ride home?”

  Home. There was nowhere I’d rather go, but I couldn’t. If I went back, I wouldn’t be able to leave again.

  “No. I want to park somewhere and talk. Can we do that?”

  Melodie laughed, breaking the tension. “I don’t usually park with girls, but hey, why not?”

  I laughed. Good old Melodie. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed her. We walked to the car, and I got in the back passenger seat, as far from Melodie as possible.

  “What do I look like, a cab driver? Get in the front.”

  “No, I can’t. Mel, trust me, okay?”

  “Trust you? You haven’t explained a single thing to me, and you’re asking me to trust you?”

  “I know, but you’re my best friend.”

  “Am I? ‘Cause last time I checked, you skipped town without telling me, your best friend.”

  I didn’t have a response to that. I wasn’t even sure why I was in the car with her or why I’d flagged her down. This was all so stupid of me.

  Melodie drove down the road and turned into a park. I looked out the window and did a double take. “This is Emory Park.”

  “Yeah.” Melodie cut the engine and turned to look at me. She wrinkled her forehead. “What’s with you? You’re acting like you don’t know where you are.”

  I thought I didn’t. When Alex had taken me to the school, we’d driven for hours. He’d encouraged me to take a nap because the drive was going to take so long and it was late. Yet here I was, only a little over an hour’s walk from the school, and I was in my hometown. How was this possible?

  “He lied to me.” I got out of the car and looked around.

  Melodie got out and walked over to me. “Jodi, what’s going on? Please, talk to me. Or at least let me take you home.”

  “No. I can’t go home.”

  “Why not? Where have you been, anyway?”

  I shook my head. This was all so unbelievable. Alex had lied. He’d tricked me. I could understand not telling me in the beginning, when it was the hardest to be away from home and before he really got to know me. But why hadn’t he told me the truth after we got together?

  “I can’t believe he did this to me!” I was angry. Really angry. I’d been feeling so bad about the whole Chase situation, which I didn’t really have much control over. Now that I knew Alex had lied to me, that he was still lying to me, I was furious.

  “Who?” Melodie’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God! You ran away with him, didn’t you?” She grabbed my arm, but I yanked it away. “The strange guy from school? The one who was stalking you?”

  I shook my head. I couldn’t let her know the truth, or anything close to it. It was too dangerous. Especially now that I knew the school was so close to home. “No.” I wracked my brain for a believable excuse. “It’s my dad. I found my dad.” Technically it wasn’t a lie.

  “Your dad? I didn’t even think you knew who your dad was.”

  “I didn’t, but I found him. It was something I had to do. I’m staying with him.” The lies rolled off my tongue a little too easily. I hated this. I hated not being able to tell my best friend the truth about who I really was.

  “I don’t get it. Why would you just leave your mom?”

  “Believe me, I didn’t want to. I miss her so much. It’s killing me that I’m not with her.” My eyes burned with the threat of more tears. I had to keep them in. I breathed deeply and squeezed my eyes shut until I felt the tears subside.

  “Do you know Mr. Quimby went to see her?” Melodie sat down on a bench. “He told her you were mentally unstable. I heard him. I went to your house and saw his car in the driveway. Your mom and Mr. Quimby were talking in the kitchen. I heard your name and had to know what they were saying, so I listened in through the back window.”

  “What else did he say?” I sat down at a wooden table, no longer able to stand.

  “He said he’d been teaching for a while and had seen this sort of thing before. Kids taking off because they weren’t thinking clearly. He said that’s what probably happened with you.”

  “I’m not crazy. Please, tell my mom I’m not crazy.” I reached for her hand but stopped myself. Physical contact was too risky.

  “Tell her yourself. She’s really hurting right now. Let her know you found your dad. Even if you want to live with him—though I don’t know why you’d do that—you have to at least tell her. She deserves that.”

  “I can’t. I can’t see her. It’s too hard. Please, Mel, just tell her I’m staying with my dad because I need to get to know him. Tell her I’m okay and that I love her.” I stood up. I couldn’t stay any longer. This had been a mistake. A huge mistake. I ran.

  “Jodi!” Melodie’s footsteps pounded the ground behind me.

  She wasn’t going to let me go, and I’d never outrun her if she got in her car. I made a split-second decision. I ran around the car and got in the driver’s seat, locking the doors so she couldn’t jump in. I turned the key, which was still in the ignition, and floored the gas. The tires screeched as I pulled a U-turn in the middle of the road. Melodie ran after me, screaming my name. I rolled down the window just enough to yell out, “I’m sorry, Mel!”

  I sped away, unable to believe what I’d done. I stole my best friend’s car. I left her stranded. Her cell and purse were lying on the passenger seat. Crap! She couldn’t even call someone to pick her up. She was going to have to walk home. Some best friend I was. Now she was definitely going to think I’d lost my mind. Like it wasn’t bad enough I’d killed the one guy she had feelings for. Sure, Matt had been my almost boyfriend, but Melodie was the one in love with him. I’d broken her heart and stolen her car. Yeah, I was best friend of the year.

  I thought about turning around and throwing her purse and cell out the window. It was the least I could do for her now, but at this poin
t did it really matter? She was going to hate me either way, and I deserved it. No, I couldn’t turn back. Seeing Mel had been a mistake, and I wasn’t going to make that mistake twice. I kept driving.

  I didn’t really know the way back to the school. I’d walked through the woods, not taken the roads. I did my best to keep heading in the direction I thought the school was in. Turns out none of the roads actually led to the school. That was when I remembered the road to the school wasn’t really a road. It was a beat-up old driveway that looked more like an overgrown trail. I slowed down and scanned the woods for any clearings big enough to fit a car through. Nothing. Why was this place so difficult to find? Maybe because all the residents were deadly to humans? That was a pretty good reason.

  I spotted an area barely big enough for a car and pulled off the road. The car bounced and jostled more than a car should. I felt like I was rocketing off the ground every few feet. This couldn’t be right. The road Alex had taken was bumpy, but it wasn’t this bad. I didn’t have my seatbelt on. I’d been in too much of a hurry to get out of there before Melodie could stop me, and now I was being thrown around the front seat like a bag of groceries. I tried to hit the brakes, but with all the bouncing around, I wound up slamming on the accelerator instead. I turned the steering wheel hard to the left, trying to follow what I thought was a path, but a huge tree blocked my way. I slammed on the brakes, making the tires skid on the dirt and grass. I screamed as the car slammed into the tree. I lurched forward, and the last thing I felt was my forehead smack against the steering wheel.

  Chapter 12

  The sound of a voice made my eyelids flutter opened. My head rested on the steering wheel. I raised it slightly, afraid to move too much before I knew how badly I was hurt. Blood was smeared across the steering wheel and dashboard. My blood. I wasn’t dead, but I was definitely banged up.

  “Are you all right?”

  I looked to my left. A man, a hiker judging by his clothes and walking stick, was leaning in the broken window. He reached for me.

  “Stay back!” I yelled. He was human, and my poisonous Gorgon blood was everywhere.

  “I’m here to help you. Try to relax. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  That wasn’t what I was afraid of. He had no idea how dangerous I was to him.

  “Please.” I held a bloody hand up to keep him back. I quickly lowered it before I came in contact with him. “You don’t understand. You can’t touch me. It isn’t safe.”

  “I know you’re not supposed to move an unconscious person in case they injured their neck or spine, but you seem like you’re moving okay, so why don’t you let me help you out of the car?” He pointed to the front end. “I don’t like the way the hood is smoking. I don’t know much about cars, but I’m not willing to risk this thing catching fire with you inside it.”

  My eyes shot to the smoke pouring out of the hood. It didn’t look good. I had to move. Fast. Still, I couldn’t let this guy touch me.

  “Okay, I’m going to get out, but you have to back up. I mean it. Don’t touch me. No matter what.” I stared him in the eyes, keeping my face serious. He had to listen to me.

  “Whatever you say, but I promise I won’t hurt you. I only want to help.”

  I believed him. He seemed nice enough, and I wasn’t really scared for my safety. If he turned out to be a serial killer on the run, I’d just bleed on him. I waited for him to step away from the car, and I reached for the door. I pulled on the handle, but it was jammed.

  “It won’t open.” I tugged harder.

  “Here, let me try.” I backed up in the seat as he reached for the door. “It’s locked. I have to reach in and open it from the inside.”

  “No!” I leaned farther toward the passenger seat as his arm came into the car. “Stop! Please, stop!”

  “Listen, I’m only opening the door. I won’t touch you.” He fumbled with the door handle. “Is there a trick to this? Has it ever gotten stuck like this before?”

  How would I know? I’d been in the car numerous times, but that was months ago. Melodie could’ve been having problems with it.

  I shook my head. A sizzling sound came from the hood of the car and a puff of smoke burst into the air. “Ah!” I couldn’t help screaming. The car was going to go up in flames, and I was locked inside it.

  “Try the passenger door.” His voice was steady, but the terror in his eyes showed his true feelings.

  I reached over and opened the door—right into a tree. “There’s not enough room to squeeze out.”

  “Then, you’re going to have to come out through the window. I’ll help you.”

  “No! I mean, I can do it myself.”

  “Do you have any idea how banged up you are? You might get dizzy the second you lean out this window, and you’re running out of time.”

  Something crackled under the hood. He was right. I couldn’t stay here any longer.

  “Back up again. I’m doing this on my own.”

  He started to protest, but I cut him off. “Look, if you don’t back up, this car is going to explode with me inside it. Do you really want that on your conscience?”

  He backed up.

  I twisted, bringing my legs up onto the seat. I pulled my sleeves down over my hands to protect myself from the jagged glass that was still attached to the bottom of the window. I went out headfirst. It was a dumb idea since it meant I was definitely going to fall on the ground, but the thought of keeping my head inside a car that was about to go up in flames was too much to handle. The crackling got louder. I leaned forward, committing to face-planting, but my jeans got caught on the broken window.

  “Ah!” I yelled as the glass tore into my skin.

  The guy rushed forward and lifted my torso. I felt the glass come out of my leg and the warm blood pour onto his hands.

  “No!” I cried.

  His eyes rolled back in his head as my blood poisoned him. Choking, he fell to the ground. I went with him, landing half on top of his lifeless body.

  “Jodi!” Alex’s voice shot through the air. He ran to me as I lifted myself off the hiker’s body. “Oh, my God, Jodi!” Alex took one look at the car and scooped me into his arms. “We have to get out of here.” He went as fast as he could, carrying my weight, but we were barely twenty feet away when the car burst into flames. We dropped to the ground, and Alex shielded me from the car parts that flew through the air.

  I peeked around his arms and found the hiker on the ground. His clothes were on fire. I turned away, as bile rose up from my stomach. He’d only wanted to help me, and now he was dead. Dead because of me and my blood. I’d poisoned him, and the fire from the car I’d stolen and crashed into a tree was burning his body so I couldn’t even raise him. I couldn’t fight it. I threw up until my stomach and chest ached. Alex held my hair and rubbed my back. When I was finished, I sat up and wiped my mouth on my sleeve. There was a time when I would’ve worried about looking unladylike, but I wasn’t a lady. I was a monster. A poisonous monster who had killed again.

  Alex stood up. “Someone’s going to see the smoke and call the cops. We have to get out of here.”

  Cops. Maybe I needed to be locked up. I was a killer. I should’ve been put away where I couldn’t hurt anyone. It’s not like I was helping the Ophi anymore either, so what good was I to anybody?

  “Let them come. Let them take me away.”

  Alex grabbed both of my arms and yanked me to my feet. I winced from all the cuts and bruises I’d gotten in the accident. “Great idea. Let the cops touch you while you’re covered in your own blood. How many more do you want to die?”

  He was the other Alex again. The one who could turn off his emotions and act stone cold. The one that reminded me so much of his parents. Still, what he said was true. I’d kill every human who came near me right now. I couldn’t stay. I had to go back to the school.

  “Let’s go.” I shook his hands from my arms and walked off in the direction Alex had come from.

  “It’s this
way.” He pointed to the right. “I’ve been out here for hours searching for you. I wasn’t coming from the school when I found you.”

  I walked past him, glaring at the face I thought I knew so well. “Funny thing about the school,” I said. “It’s not far from my home.”

  “The school is your home.”

  He was avoiding the real issue here.

  “You lied to me. You completely took me for a fool. You drove me around for hours, in the dark, when I was too tired to stay awake and see where we really were. You encouraged me to go to sleep.” I stopped walking and turned around to face him. “How far did you drive in the wrong direction just to throw me off?”

  “I did what I had to do.”

  “No. You did what you were told to do.”

  He stepped past me, continuing to walk back to the school. “You’re right. I did what I was told to do. For your own good. I had to get you here. To convince you to give up your old life.” He stopped when he realized I wasn’t following him. He stormed back over to me. “How hard would it have been for you to stay away from your mom if you knew she wasn’t far away?” His face was bright red, and his voice was shaking with anger. “It took killing her to get you to come with me. Tell me you wouldn’t have checked on her. Tell me you wouldn’t have made contact with her. Spied on her. Something! Until you did something stupid again and killed her for the second time!”

  “You don’t get to be angry!” I shouted back at him. “You don’t get to decide what’s best for me. You lied to me. Even after everything we’ve been through together, you kept this from me. What does that say about us, Alex?”

  “It says that I’m willing to do anything to protect you.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to that. I believed he thought that was true and that made it okay in his mind, but it wasn’t okay with me. I couldn’t be okay with this. With him. Not right now.

  “Take me back to the school. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I don’t want think about what happened today.”