later that evening, i sat in my room on a purple mushroom chair, reading. i was at a good part.
'katie had a bad feeling about this. the dark alley looked like an ideal place for an ambush. "come on, girl," she thought, "you're a detective. pull yourself together.
she took a deep breath, brought her gun outof its holster, and steeled herself.
katie looked around. it was awfully quiet for a friday night in new york city. even the crikets that had made their way down into the subways and other such crevices were silent. she began to sweat.
"it's now or never," she said to herself, and she entered the ally.
it was a long passage way. when it got too dark to see, katie turned on her flashlight. at every dumpster, she went all the way around it to make sure no one was there. she started to relax when she never found anything.
when at long last katie reached the solid brick wall that ended the alley, she almost laughed at her fears. almost; but a sudden sound, like the crunch of someone stepping on a candy wrapper made her jump. she whirled around, back against the wall, gun ready to fire. all thoughts of security and relxation were replaced with horrible memories of the mystierious happenings of the past few weeks. with a trembling hand, katie scanned the place with her flashlight. there was nothing there.
foolishly thinking it was herself who'd made the noise, katie lowered her pistol.
instantly, strong fingers gripped her shoulders. katie stood rooted to the spot with fear. the thing in front of her was like something from a nightmare. the eyes; or rather, eye, was rolled back in it's socket; only the white showed. the smell of rotting flesh of some long dead thing filled katie's nostrils. it had come out of nowhere.
she tried to scream, but the sound stuck in her throat. the creature opned it's mouth and.....
BRRRIIINNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!
the phone rang.
i looked at my clock. it was ten-thirty. who the heck would call at this hour?
i picked up my orange phone and said, "hello?"
"finally!!! i've been trying to get a hold of you all day!!!!!" it was my friend, samantha.
"why?"
"waddaya mean 'why'? hellooooo!!!!! it is SATURDAY!!! don't i usually call you on saturdays?!?!?
"i've been gone most of the day; first to mom's interview, then we went shopping, THEN we had to go see tony."
"oh yeah! i'd forgotten about barb's possible job! so, how'd it go?"
"she got the job."
i winced and held the phone away from my ear. from the earpiece of the handheld, unearthly sounds that could only be screaming were heard.
when she was through, i didn't say anything for a while. sami noticed.
"ummm...alli? you still there?"
"i'm a little deafer, but i'm here."
"oh, come on, it wasn't that bad!"
"hm."
"so, gloomy guts, whatchya doin'?"
"i'm reading the book that mr. thompson gave us."
"you're actually reading that stupid book?!?"
"hey, it's a book. what can i say?"
"how is it?"
"predictable, but slightly bone chilling nonetheless. i'm almost done."
"really? i can't get past the second chapter."
"then you better start reading. bye."
i hung up the phone and returned to my seat. i picked up the book and read until i couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.
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"allicia!"
i floated through an inky blackness when the voice split the silence like a flash of light in a dark room. it was a loud voice that i thought i recognized. but, whose was it? where was it coming from? and, more importantly (i thought), where was i?
"allicia! allicia, get up!"
get up? what?!?!
"allicia ryan jones! get your lazy backside out of bed, or i'll pull you out!" angry poundings and fading footfalls rudely pushed themselves into my ears.
i opened my eyes. it was too dark to see much, but i could vaguely make out the foot board of my bed.i turned my head and reached out my hand. i kept reaching, stretching, until i found my bedside table. after fumbling around and finding my clock, i pushed a button that lit up the numbers. the bright digits said that it was 4:28.
deciding that i'd dreamt my mother's voice, for by now i'd realized that that was my mom, i rolled over and ws alomst asleep when i was blinded by a sudden shock of brilliance.
my warm navy-blue blanket was flung away, and a pair of hands grabbed my shoulders and started to shake me. it was so violent that i thought my teeth would fall out.
"alright, alright, i'm awake! get off me!"
"alli, i have a job interview on the other side of town in two hours! if you do not get up now, we'll be late!"
"ah, yes, your interview. joy. what job are you trying to obtain again? and why is it this early?"
"it's a secretary position, and it's this early because the company is very busy, so this was the only time they could get me in. now, hurry up! oh, and alli," she said, standing by the door, "please wear something decent for a change. no chains like last time. i want to make a good impression today."
i smiled fondly at the memory of 'last time'.
as i stretched and made my bed, i thought, "ok, mom, no chains this time." i couldn't promise anything about wearing black, though. it was practically the only color i owned.
opening my closet door, i pulled out a collared, button up shirt. i put on dark jeans and black, fingerless gloves. i completed the outfit with a pair of black-and-white canvas high tops.
turning out the light, i went to the bathroom and ran a brush through my jet colored hair. looking into the full body mirror that hung on the door, i thought my clothes seemed appropriate enough.
clonking down the stairs, i heard the cat, matilda, meowing. i looked to see what the problem was.
"you little priss-pot," i said, "you're whining because your mummy hasn't fed you yet."
matilda stared at me with eyes that almost looked human. the amber beauties seemed to say, "i'm a cat, of course i'm prissy. now, i believe you were saying something about food?"
once her majesty was smugly munching on her Fish and Chips, i sat down to a quick breakfast of cocoa pebbles.good grief, matilda wan't even my cat. yet i was the one who always took care of her without a word of thanks from mom, who was the cat's owner by rights.
mom came down a few minutes later. she looked ready for anything as she checked me out. but she relaxed a tiny, tiny, tiny bit when she saw what i was wearing.
she didn't look that bad herself. her long, auburn hair was put back in a bun so it wouldn't hide the neckline of her blue-green shirt. her jeans and horribly high heels made her look professional.
"we don't have time to eat, alli! get upstairs and brush your teeth, double time!"
i slowly and purposfully swallowed the food in my mouth. then, with all the speed of a turtle, i went back to the second floor.
"allicia! if we're late, it'll be your fault! so help me i'll..." she began to spew obscenities at me. i moved faster.
mom had the car started up when i got out to the garage. the brisk air of a freah spring morning had found its way into the vibe. mom had turned the heater to the hottest setting it had.
i dropped the bag i'd brought from my room uncerimoniously at my feet.
"what's that?" mom demanded
"it's a black bag from wal-mart," i replied.
"what's in it?"
"things for me, if you must know."
"such as?"
i raised an eyebrow. "what do you mean, 'such as?' "
"you know what i mean, missy."
yes, i did, but i wasn't about to tell her what was in my bag. so i kept quiet.
mother, still keenly intent on knowing what i needed my pouch for and what was in it, said in a strained voice, "why did you bring it?"
"well, you see, there are people out there who take pictures of freaks like me who have shoulder bags with them, so i thought i'd give them another oppurtunity for a picture," i said sarcastically.
mom closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, fingers drumming away on the wheel. i mentally kept score, "alli: one point for one battle; mom: zero points."
she asked a question that i hadn't expected. "why are you so determined not to answer my simple inquiries, allicia. all i want to know is...."
"....whether or not to contents of my bag are, in any way shape or form, going to harm your chances of getting a job? rest assured, mother, i have no intentions of pulling any pranks or acting immature."
she still looked rather dubious, so i showed her what was in my pack. a book, my iPod, and an sketch pad.
"observe. now, pray tell, how the heck am i supposed to ruin you with these things?"
mom dropped the subject, and not a word more passed between us the whole way there. i eventually fell asleep, sitting in the passenger side with my head on the seatbelt.