Missing

Erica stared into the dressing table mirror as she brushed Rachel’s long, copper-colored hair. Outside Rachel’s bedroom window, the gray clouds were lowering in the late-afternoon sky.

The radiator against the wall hissed noisily, the only sound other than the soft whoosh of the hairbrush through Rachel’s long hair.

Erica, wearing faded jeans and an oversize gray sweatshirt, studied her sister’s face in the mirror. She’s so pretty, Erica thought. I wonder if she’ll always be this pretty. I wonder if her face will stay as young as her mind.

Lowering her eyes, she noticed that Rachel was hugging something tightly in her hands. “What is that?” she asked her sister, breaking the tranquil silence. “What are you holding?”

Rachel held up the small brown teddy bear. Erica recognized it at once. It was the teddy bear Luke had given Rachel more than a year ago.

Erica sighed, painful memories flooding back. Glancing at the small calendar on the wall beside Rachel’s dressing table, Erica realized it was almost Valentine’s Day.

She sighed again and started to brush harder, starting at the crown and pulling the brush down, down through the thick, straight red hair.

“It’s just the two of us now, Rachel,” Erica blurted out, thinking aloud.

“What?” Rachel asked, her voice surprisingly cold. “What did you say?” She sounded almost angry.

“Never mind,” Erica muttered.

“Is Luke coming?” Rachel asked.

The question startled Erica momentarily. Rachel hadn’t asked for Luke in weeks.

“Is Luke coming?” Rachel repeated impatiently.

“No,” Erica told her softly. “Luke isn’t coming anymore, remember? Luke is with Melissa now.”

“I hate Melissa!” Rachel cried, violently pushing the hairbrush away. It flew out of Erica’s hand and clattered across the floor.

“Rachel, calm down,” Erica said, going to retrieve the brush.

“I hate Melissa! I hate Melissa! I hate Melissa!” Rachel chanted angrily, screaming more loudly each time.

“Rachel, please!” Erica pleaded. “Don’t get worked up. I didn’t mean for you to—”

“I hate Melissa! I hate Melissa!”

Erica cried out as she watched Rachel tear open the teddy bear in a rage. “I hate Melissa!” Rachel screamed, pulling handfuls of gray stuffing out of the opening she had ripped in the bear’s stomach.

“Stop!” Erica lurched forward and grabbed the teddy bear out of Rachel’s hand. There were clumps of stuffing in Rachel’s lap. Rachel stopped chanting, but her features remained twisted in rage.

“Let’s calm down, okay?” Erica pleaded, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Let me brush your hair, okay, Rachel? Nice and slow. The way you like it?”

“I hate Melissa, and I hate Luke,” Rachel said a little calmer. She stared thoughtfully at her angry reflection in the mirror.

“No, Rachel. It isn’t right to hate people,” Erica said softly. “You’ve got to—”

The phone rang, interrupting her.

She started to the bedroom door. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to answer that,” she told her sister.

Rachel didn’t reply. She continued to study herself in the mirror, seeming to be fascinated by her own reflection.

Erica hurried down the hallway to the nearest phone, which was in her bedroom. Even though it was a year later, she was still surprised by the thick, new carpeting in the hall. The old carpet, stained with Erica’s blood, had been replaced before she had returned from the hospital.

She felt a stab of pain in her side. It happened every time she walked down the hallway. A reminder. A painful reminder.

“Hello?” She picked up the phone, out of breath.

“Hi, Erica. It’s me, Steve.”

Erica gasped in surprise.

Steve Barron? Calling her?

Why on earth was Steve calling? Erica had barely spoken to him since Josie’s death.

“Guess you’re surprised to hear from me,” Steve said, reading Erica’s thoughts.

“Yeah. Uh—how are you?” she asked awkwardly.

“Okay. Good,” he told her. “I’ve—well—I’ve been thinking about you. I saw you at school the other day. In the lunch room. And I—well...”

Why does he sound so nervous? Erica wondered, listening to him stammer. He always seemed to know the right thing to say around Josie.

“There’s an ice-skating party on Fear Lake on the night of Valentine’s Day,” Steve said, speaking rapidly without taking a breath. “I thought maybe you might like to—uh—come with me.”

Erica was stunned.

She felt her heart skip a beat.

How weird! she thought.

Steve Barron asking me out! He’s a senior, and I’m only a sophomore. Besides, he never looked at me twice when Josie was alive.

“Yes, great,” she replied breathlessly.

“Good,” Steve said, sounding relieved. “The lake is almost completely frozen, so—”

“Oh, wait,” Erica interrupted. She groaned unhappily. “I can’t, Steve.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a Sunday, right? I can’t go out that Sunday night. My mom has to go somewhere, and my dad will be away on a business trip. I promised I’d stay home to take care of Rachel.”

There was a long silence at the other end.

“Oh, wow,” Steve said finally. When he continued, he spoke with genuine concern. “You know, you have to have a life, too, Erica.”

“Tell me about it,” Erica said bitterly.

“No, really,” Steve insisted. “You can’t just spend your whole life...” His voice trailed off.

“I know, but what can I do?”

“It’s going to be a nice party,” Steve continued as if she hadn’t said no. “Do you like to skate?”

“Yeah, I haven’t done it for a while,” Erica said wistfully.

“Well, maybe you could get someone else to stay with Rachel and—”

“I don’t think so,” Erica said, and then added, “Sorry.”

She couldn’t tell if Steve was hurt or angry. “Maybe some other time?” Erica asked hopefully.

“Yeah. Okay,” Steve said brusquely. “Take care, okay?” He hung up before she could reply.

How strange, Erica thought, holding on to the receiver.

I never thought Steve even knew I was alive. I was just Josie’s kid sister. The pest.

She replaced the receiver, feeling a wave of sadness wash over her. High school was supposed to be such an exciting time, she thought, uttering a loud sigh. But I spend all my time in this creepy, old house, locked up with Rachel. I’ve lost all my friends. I have no dates. I can’t go out or do anything. I just stay here night after night, brushing Rachel’s hair.

Remembering that she had left Rachel alone, Erica turned and stepped out into the hallway. She felt another stab of pain in her side, where the letter opener had injured her.

Ignoring it, she made her way to Rachel’s room and hurried inside. “Rachel?”

No reply.

Erica stopped short when she saw that the chair in front of the dressing table was empty.

“Rachel?”

Silence.

Outside the window, the clouds had darkened to an eerie green-charcoal color. The bare trees shivered and shook.

Erica glanced quickly around the bedroom. “Rachel?”

No Rachel.

“Hey! Where’d you go?” The tremble in Erica’s voice revealed her fear. “Rachel? Where’d you go? You weren’t supposed to move!”

Feeling the beginnings of panic, Erica ran out of the room and down to the landing.

Wrapping one hand around the banister railing, she stared down the stairs to the front hall.

“Rachel?”

No reply.

Then to her horror Erica saw that the front door was wide open.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20