Cursed (18 page)

Alise wore a bright purple party dress, she out
shone me in the red dress of that there was no doubt. I tried not
to think about the fact as I put a smug look on my face as she
rounded the room to where I was standing.

“Nice dress little sister.” Her perfectly
manicured right eyebrow lifted. Her lips glistened with a berry
colored lipstick under an inch of gloss.

“You’re going to age prematurely if you don’t
stop wearing so much make-up.” I continued to examine her.

She looked unfazed by this fact and looked down
at the dress again, “I WAS taking it back but since you like it so
much you can keep it.”

I gulped trying not to let her get to me as her
face lit up, “Ahhh and here comes another one of my leftovers you
seem to like. Hello Shane.”

I felt the warmth of him come up behind me,
“Hello Satan. You know without the horns its deceiving, maybe you
should wear them year round instead of just on Halloween.”

I smiled at her response but she bounced back
taking a deep breath in and smiling softly, “You can keep him Aimee
and the dress. Thank me later.” She batted her long false lashes at
us and grabbed Blake by the belt buckle and dragged him through the
crowd of people.

“Can we go now?” Shane asked watching her walk
away and be swallowed up by the crowd.

I nodded taking my water and drinking it
quickly.

I looked over at Jaime, my sister’s friend. She
held a glass in her hand leaning against the wall in the dining
room. She was staring off into space and seemed to be swaying like
she was on a boat and it wasn’t even ten o’clock yet.

I felt my chest tighten as I recognized the look
in her eyes, it was what I’d seen in the mirror after I’d been
revived. She was either crazy drunk or she had been drugged. I
looked at Shane who was talking with a guy named Murray. I tapped
him lightly to interrupt and whispered, “I think the date rapist
had struck again, does Jaime look like I did?”

Shane looked around the room scanning for her,
“Where is she?”

I pointed to where she had been, “The dining
room.”

I didn’t see her anymore but I knew she couldn’t
have gone very far.

I walked though the foyer into the dining room
and looked around. There were people everywhere, someone must have
seen her leave.

I asked a girl leaning against the wall Jaime
had been leaning on, “Have you seen where Jaime went?” Her face
grew perplexed as she looked around, “Was she in here?”

“Yeah,” I sighed and walked back to Shane.

He looked concerned, ‘is she okay?”

I shrugged, “I couldn’t see her, I want to look
around and see if she went out to the deck to throw up or
something.” I walked away before he could talk me out of it. I held
my breath as I entered the kitchen scowling at the idiots smoking
on the deck as I peaked through the open doors. Jaime was nowhere
to be found.

I walked back to the dining room and went down
the hallway I looked in each bedroom and bathroom but there wasn’t
anyone around. I slipped down the stairs in the hallway to the
basement almost literally as the stupid shoes caught on the carpet,
which led to the garage and guest bathroom and bedroom.

The hall was dark and the loud music made it
impossible to hear anyone so I didn’t bother yelling for her.

I peaked into the bathroom but it was empty,
“Probably peeing outside, the dirty savages.” I muttered to
myself.

I opened the guest bedroom door to see
struggling on the bed, I panicked flicking on the lights, “Get off
her!” I shouted.

Michelle Mitchell, the hostess and her boyfriend
scowled at me, “Turn out the lights pervert.”

I nodded flicking them off and locking the door
from the inside before closing it.

I took a deep breath as I stared at the closed
wooden door, I would always be the girl who walked in on them. I
nodded to myself and continued down the dark hallway. I felt like
Nancy Drew but maybe a little sleazier looking in my red dress. I
opened the door to the garage and reached my hand into the darkness
feeling along side the wall until I found the light switch.

“Aimee.” I jumped turning as the lights flicked
on to see Aleks standing in the hall outside Michelle's guest
room.

He was frowning at me but his white blue eyes
were all I noticed. I smiled at him, “Hey Aleks. What are you doing
here?”

“Worrying about you and the reckless things you
do when I’m not around. What are you doing down the dark hallway of
the house party full of drunk teenagers dressed like that?” He
scolded me as he walked toward me.

I laughed looking into the garage, “I’m fine but
I will admit I’m glad you’re here, this garage is spooky. I’m sure
Jaime, my sisters' friend, has been drugged so I’m looking for her.
If she's not drugged she's drunk off her ass and that's probably
not safe with a pervert on the loose.”

The garage was empty but the door to outside on
the far wall was opened just a sliver making a whistling sound.

“Let me go first.” Aleks walked into the garage
looking around at the tools and motorcycle. He grabbed a crowbar
off of the bench where tools were scattered and crept through the
open door. The cool night air was full of crickets and frogs
singing. I looked around waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dark
of the backyard. Aleks put his hand out for mine, I looked at it
feeling guilty about Shane but took the hand. I felt the sizzle of
our skin touching and wondered if he ever felt it too or if I was
the only one falling. I rationalized holding his hand as a safety
precaution and reminded myself he would be gone in a few short
weeks where as Shane would be with me at least to the end of the
summer.

Our feet made little to no noise on the slightly
damp grass as we looked around scanning the back yard.

I heard a rustling and a muffled sound to my
right down the grass a ways.

Aleks looked at me, “Stay here,” I shook my head
pleading with my eyes. I was terrified.

He sighed resigning himself to the fact I needed
to come. He let go of my hand put his pointer finger to his lips, I
nodded.

He walked with the crowbar in his hands toward
the sound. I crept along behind him nearly peeing my pants, or
panties rather, damned dress.

We heard more trees and branches moving to the
right of us in the small patch of bush next to Michelle’s house. It
was more like brush in between the houses for privacy as apposed to
a forest.

I heard a crying sound and walked toward it as
Aleks took off running after the other sound.

I looked trying desperately to see but the moon
had not come out to help out with the light.

“Jaime is that you?” I whispered angry that
Aleks had left me to wander alone through the brush but hoping he
caught whoever had dragged Jaime into the bushes.

She was on the ground in a small clearing with
her shirt torn open. I could barely see in the dark but I reached
for her, she was on her stomach and her face was covered in
vomit.

“Help us, someone help us please.” I called out
into the night. I was scared giving away my location like that but
I was even more scared that Jaime had been drugged with the bad
batch of drugs I had been given. I was also certain she had been at
least partially raped by the look of her pale legs parted and her
skirt up to her waist. I pulled the skirt down tucking it around
her naked bum and felt like throwing up again.

“Please help me. Someone.” I started to cry I
was so scared, I was not the right person to be handling this
moment.

“Jaime its okay, someone will come and help
you.”

The potheads started looking over the railing,
“Hey you down there are you okay?” One stoner asked.

I sobbed, “Call nine one one and tell them we
need police and ambulance.”

“Okay man. Is someone hurt?” He asked again, no
one on the deck appeared to be moving.

“JUST FUCKING PHONE.” I screamed.

“Okay god, she’s kinda bitchy.” Pothead one
spoke slowly.

“Who is that?” Pothead two muttered.

I sat on the grass certain my leg was brushing
against her vomit but I turned her on her side and pulled her
clothes around her more.

Someone came running down the yard, “Aimee?”
Shane cried out into the night panicked.

“I’m here.” I spoke softly.

“Oh my god Aimee are you okay?” his voice was
stricken with grief.

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me, “Yeah.
Its Jaime.”

He knelt on the ground beside me and touched my
shoulder, “I was so scared when you left. I thought you were going
to look in the kitchen I didn’t know you were leaving the
house.”

He took his shirt off and wrapped it around
Jaime, he picked her up and carried her up to the house. I followed
him around the side to the front yard. Kids were streaming from the
house now, some running from the front door hoping not to be busted
by the cops for underage drinking and others trying to figure out
what was going on since the yard was filling with emergency
lights.

The ambulance was there first, rolling into the
driveway very slowly so as not to hit any of the kids mulling
about.

I had grabbed Jaime’s hand when her head went
floppy against Shane’s bare chest. The outside lights flicked on
and Michelle came running out in a panic, “What’s going on, who
called the cops?” She seemed very angry shouting at the men getting
out of the ambulance, “Get off my property. You need a warrant to
come on here.” They ignored her completely as they walked to where
Shane was holding Jaime.

Michelle froze watching a stretcher be carried
to where Jaime was and the men start to work on her. Shane put her
down gingerly on the stretcher and stepped back as a blanket
covered Jaime but I couldn’t get the vision of her two white legs
stretched out behind her in the dark woods. I imagined it was going
to take me sometime before I got past that moment. Shane spoke
softly to the two paramedics no doubt explaining the situation with
care so no one else would hear.

He walked to me and put his arm around me, we
both smelled of her vomit and were covered in dirt.

We watched as they took Jaime away, the police
had arrived and were asking questions of the paramedics who pointed
in our direction.

Constable Bindley and Corporal Williams made
their way to us with grim looks on their faces.

“Aimee and Shane want to come with me, the rest
of the guys are going to stay here and take pictures and talk to
what kids are left.” The corporal asked.

I nodded as Shane spoke, “You want to see where
we found her?”

Williams nodded, “Yup and the exact path you
took to get her here.”

Shane pointed, “I came around the side of the
house this way, and walked up the grass from the back yard.”

Williams pulled out a huge long black flashlight
that looked more like a baseball bat and clicked it on, he walked
around where Shane told him. He looked down at the ground carefully
the entire way down the back lawn.

“Who found her?” He asked softly as we walked
back to the spot slowly so he could look around.

I cleared my throat, “I did. I saw her at the
party, she looked bad. I just knew something was wrong. I ran
around looking for her for about fifteen minutes and I ran into
Aleks-“

“He was here?” Shane asked roughly.

I nodded, “Yeah I met up with him on my search
for Jaime. He came with me. We were walking down here and when we
got to about here,” I stopped and pointed to the bush, “We heard a
noise there. Aleks ran after who ever it was with a crow bar-“ I
stopped suddenly realizing he had never come back. I felt my eyes
widen as I spoke, “He never came back. Do you think he’s okay?”

Williams shook his head, “No, either way he’s in
trouble now. He’s probably looking at an assault charge now. He
probably never came back when he saw the lights. Who is this
Aleks?”

Shane crossed his bare arms looking at me
defiantly, “Yes who is he?”

I shrugged, “He’s a social worker of some sort
from the city working here for a family he stays with to help.”

Williams shook his head, “If he comes near you
again Aimee you need to phone me right away. There is no such thing
as a social worker from the city coming to a small town. We have
our own here, they are a government worker like me. They work where
they’re assigned. He’s a suspect right now and I want you to treat
him as such. What’s he look like?”

I gulped as Shane started spewing out the facts,
“Tall like me, white like me, built like me, blue eyes, dark blond
hair shorter than mine, clean cut. That’s what all the women in
town say anyway.” He spoke through his teeth.

Williams clicked on the radio at his collar,
“Dispatch I need a BOLO put out on a young man early twenties late
teens, Caucasian, dark blond hair, blue eyes, six foot two,
muscular build, seen fleeing from 1942 Elder grove road-“

“Black jacket and blue jeans.” My voice was
hollow.

“Seen wearing a black jacket and blue jeans.” I
pointed to the woods as he finished, “It was right here.” I didn’t
want to walk back in there, Shane put an arm around me as Williams
walked very carefully into the brush. He stopped when he reached
the spot.

Bindley came down the yard, “Corporal you need
anything?”

“Yup I need some lights and some pictures.” His
voice was solid and steady and I wondered how he did it. I was
sickened just guessing what had happened, he was going to have to
pick it all apart until he got a story from all the gory
details.

When Bindley and a few other police officers
came down Williams looked at Shane and I, “Okay you two we are
going to need some statements. You know how this works. Shane take
her home and we will meet at her house in twenty minutes.”

“Sounds good.”