Krysta's Curse (5 page)

Maybe that’s what this was, just a bad
dream. I closed my eyes, wishing everything would just return to
normal. But in my mind I saw
her
, face and neck blotched with bruises,
staring blankly at the wall behind me. Or was she staring at Ed and
Gertrude? She could probably see them since she was dead, too.

“Poor Sunny,” I breathed while opening my
eyes. “Do you think it was
her
?” Sophie asked, maybe a little too eagerly.

“Probably,” AJ nodded. “She’s so rude to the
customers; maybe she pissed someone off real bad.”

Sophie gasped. “I wonder who did it.”

“Her boyfriend,” I said through the hollow
ache in my chest. Yeah, she was rude, but she didn’t deserve to
die.

Tilting her head, Sophie looked at me with a
quizzical expression. “How do you know?”

Sunny’s haunting words came rushing back to
me.
It was my
boyfriend. He did it.

Leveling each of them a hardened stare, I
saw recognition flash in their eyes.

Choking back the emotion in my throat, I
spoke through a whisper. “She told me last night.”

****

Bryon was waiting for me when the bus pulled
into the school parking lot. I could see through the window that he
had the same angry look I’d seen last night.

He knew she was dead.

Chewing on my lower lip, I cast AJ and
Sophie a look.

They both nodded.

I rose to exit the bus, feeling like I was
marching to my own funeral.

My legs felt like lead weights, dragging me
down each step as I exited the bus. I couldn’t tear my gaze from
him even if I tried. The guy was majorly pissed, clutching his
binder in one fist so tight, I could see the white outline of his
knuckles. Jaw locked, shoulders squared, I could clearly read the
anger in his narrowed eyes.

“Hey.” He jerked his head, his facial
features as hard as steel. “Did you hear?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, unable to say any more.
Keeping my face forward, trying really hard to keep it together
before I turned into a waterfall of sobs and ruined all my mascara,
I walked toward the school building.

I should have done something last night. I
shouldn’t have left her there. I knew she was dead.

I knew.

I was vaguely aware of Bryon following
beside me.

All the other students had walked into the
main entrance of the building. Without speaking aloud our mutual
decision, we both walked to the secluded entrance to the side.
Strange how no one was lurking in the darkened hall. Gossip in my
small community traveled like a super-virus, so no doubt everyone
was in the main hall or the cafeteria talking about the high school
student who was murdered at the coffee house.

A light breeze blew across my face. My hair
bobbled like a dandelion in a windstorm. I picked up my pace and
Bryon followed. I caught the scent of peanut butter in the air.

And chocolate?

Why did Bryon always smell like a sweet
shoppe?

I looked over at Bryon. His mouth was drawn
in a tight line, his eyes expressionless. I could feel vibes of
tension radiating off his body.

How strange that he didn’t even know Sunny,
except for the brief few moments she insulted us. Yet, this guy was
taking her death pretty hard. Seeing this sensitive side of Bryon
made me like him even more.

Walking ahead, he stopped and faced me, his
body barricading the doorway. “Do you think it was her
boyfriend?”

Forcing myself to look at him, I gasped at
the pained expression in his eyes. “It was him.”

“How do you know?” His eyes narrowed,
darkened.

Turning away from him, I tried to restrain
my tears, but a few slipped down my cheek anyway.
Crap
. “I just know.” I
shrugged, unable to say more before I cried even harder.

“We should tell someone.” Emotion was
audible in his cracked voice. “We might’ve been the last people to
see her alive.”

Turning to him, I threw up my hands. “Who do
we tell?” Inwardly groaning, I struggled with an even heavier
problem.

Who do I tell?

No one would believe me if I told them I’d
spoken to dead Sunny and knew the killer was her boyfriend.

“I don’t know.” Bryon came up beside me and
placed a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go to the office. Maybe
they’ll know what to do.”

Looking into his softened eyes, I just
wanted to melt. He must have sensed my turmoil. God, what would he
say if I told him about dead Sunny? About my ability to speak to
ghosts?

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked
before nervously chewing on my lower lip. I was scared.

I felt it in my stomach, which was about to
drop to my knees, and in my brain, which was ready to explode from
the weight of it all.

What if they asked me too many questions?
What if I slipped and told them about my incident with Sunny’s
spirit?

“We’re witnesses, Krysta.” Dipping his head,
his wintery blue gaze was level with mine. “We can’t keep this to
ourselves.”

Deep in my heart, I knew he was right, but
that gnawing fear in my brain told me my life was about to go from
complicated to really complicated.

After we’d
spoken to Principal Sparks in private, he called our parents and
the cops and we gave the police a statement in Sparks’ office.
Thankfully, Bryon did most of the talking. He remembered loads of
stuff about Sunny’s boyfriend, even details about each tattoo. All
I really had to do was nod and agree to everything Bryon said.

I should have felt more at ease with Bryon
there answering questions for me, but the way one of the officers
kept looking at me made me feel uncomfortable.

Not to mention the fact that I had to take
shallow breaths to keep from gagging on stale beer fumes radiating
off my dad. Even though he was several feet behind us, tilting back
in his chair, his stench had somehow drifted across the room.

Hadn’t he ever heard of a shower?

I wondered briefly if Bryon could smell my
dad, but I already knew the answer to that question.

My life totally sucked.

I shifted focus again to the officer whose
gaze was practically glued to my face.

Officer Garza was an older Hispanic guy with
a receding hairline and dark eyes. He smiled at me a lot and handed
me tissues when I broke down crying, but something in the way he
looked at me made me feel uneasy. Kind of like he was looking
through me. Like he was waiting for me to say more. But he couldn’t
have known about my visit with dead Sunny. Maybe I was being
paranoid.

Just as we had finished with our statements,
Sparks came into the office and nodded to both of us. “You two have
had a trying morning. I think your parents should take you
home.”

Turning, I noticed my dad was now positioned
forward in the chair, knuckles white as he gripped each knee. His
graying black hair was a mess, as usual, and the buttons on his
stained white shirt weren’t even lined-up correctly. Brow furrowed,
he stared blankly at his feet. Was he seriously concentrating on
something, or was he ready to pass out?

If he wanted to embarrass me, he sure
succeeded. I cringed, stealing a sideways glance at Bryon, fearing
what he thought about my dad.
Krysta’s drunk father who just rolled out of
bed.

Suddenly, Dad’s gaze met mine and his dark
eyes bore into me. I couldn’t tell if he was concerned or just
angry.

My gaze dropped to the floor; my chest felt
even tighter than before. Maybe I’d interrupted time with one of
his ‘girl’ friends.

I knew having a teenage daughter wasn’t easy
for a guy like my dad. He had a hard enough time trying to pay the
bills and now his child was a witness in a murder case.

“So you’re Andy’s little girl?”

Startled, I turned to Officer Garza who
stared down at me with a knowing expression.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, before looking away from
his penetrating stare.

I wondered how he knew my dad. Maybe Officer
Garza had been a security guard once, too. I didn’t want to start a
conversation with him; the way he stared at me made me way too
uncomfortable.

I just wanted to get out of the office. Away
from the cops. Away from my dad. Bryon, the other cop and a man who
looked like an older version of Bryon were talking in front of me,
blocking the doorway, and I saw no way of getting through.

I hated being short.

“You look a lot like your mom.” The tone of
Garza’s voice behind my back softened and ended on a raspy
note.

“No, I don’t,” I blurted, looking back at
him with narrowed eyes. Even if I wanted to, I knew I looked
nothing like the woman who abandoned our family. She was tall and
had red hair and pale skin. I looked nothing like my mom.

“Time to go home, Krysta.” Dad’s strained
voice came from behind Garza.

The other men parted as Dad plowed through.
“Hey, Richards.” Garza nodded. “Feeling okay?”

“Yeah.” He flashed Officer Garza a thin
smile. “We need to get home.” Dad pulled me to him.

Looking into Dad’s strained features, I knew
he was far from happy. As he led me between the men and out the
door, I thought my hand would crush under the strength of his
grip.

“Nice seeing you, my friend,” Officer Garza
called as we retreated.

Remembering I’d left Bryon without saying
goodbye, I tried to turn and wave, but Dad jerked me forward.

Dad didn’t release my hand until we hit the
pavement. “Damn, Krysta, I don’t like you being a witness in a
murder case.” Swearing again, he jerked open the passenger door of
our little rust bucket and then erratically waved for me to get
inside. “I wish you would’ve kept quiet.”

I knew having me in his life was a major
inconvenience, but it wasn’t my fault I was born. Like it or not, I
was his problem and he’d just have to deal with it. Besides,
Sunny’s murderer needed to pay, and I wasn’t going to stand aside
and do nothing. Slamming the door shut, I turned to him. “But her
boyfriend should go to prison,” I growled.

Dad shook his head, laughing through
clenched teeth. “You don’t even know he did it.”

“Yeah.” Exhaling a groan, I rolled my eyes.
“I do.”

Dad’s eyes widened. “Did you see the
murder?” “No,” I threw up my hands. “But—”

“I’m taking you to AJ’s house tonight.”
Jarring open the door again, he pointed at the torn bucket seat
with a determined expression. “I don’t want you at the apartment
alone.”

My shoulders fell at his angry dismissal.
Sliding into my seat, I wiped a stray tear with the back of my
hand. He didn’t even care what I had to say.

The tension between us was thick enough to
touch as Dad sat next to me and slammed the door. I knew he’d
rather just pawn me off on AJ’s parents than deal with me
himself.

“Why can’t I stay home?” I pleaded.

Dad swore again, this time using words I
hadn’t heard since he’d tried to give up drinking a few months
ago.

“Krysta.” He turned to me with a look of
irritation clearly written across his creased brow. “Don’t you
understand? If you were the last person to see this girl alive, her
murderer might come after you now.”

Tattoo guy come after me? I hadn’t thought
of that. I didn’t even think this guy knew my name or where I
lived. Besides, he didn’t know I was a witness in this case. Dad
was just freaking out over nothing.

Wasn’t he?

“What are you
doing, Emmy?”

Looking up through tear-soaked eyes, I saw
Ed and Gertrude hovering above me. “Packing my things,” I said on a
sigh.

Arms folded across their chests, concerned
expressions marred their brows. I guess they weren’t going to stop
calling me Emmy. Oh, well, it didn’t matter anymore. Weird thing
was...they were kind of starting to feel like family.

“Where are you going?” Gertrude asked, her
voice laced with worry.

“Dad wants me to stay at my friend’s house.”
I shrugged, trying to pretend it didn’t matter that he was sending
me away. But it did matter. My life had been turned upside-down
ever since Sunny’s murder, and now my dad wanted me out of his
hair. I had always felt plagued by my ability to see ghosts, but
never like this. I was in way over my head and had no one to help
me.

“For how long?” They asked simultaneously.
Weird how they were always doing that. I guess if you spend over a
hundred years with the same person, you learn to think alike.

Throwing the last pair of socks into my torn
duffel bag, I hung my head. “I don’t know.”

“Mind if we tag along?”

Looking back up at them, I laughed. “Do I
have a choice?”

“Nope.” They both nodded.

I threw up my hands, knowing they’d follow
just to bug me about their tombstones. “Look, I’m sorry about your
graves, but I
really
don’t know how to stop the mall.”

“We understand.” Placing both hands on her
hips, Gertrude nodded. “We’ve got bigger problems right now,
anyway.”

“Like what?”

Ed’s lip turned in a snarl. “Seein’ that
fella hang for killin’ that girl.”

“Really?” A jolt of excitement shot through
me. They wanted to help. I didn’t know how two dead ancients could
help me, but just knowing they were on my side made me feel better.
“You want to help Sunny?”

“Sure.” Folding her arms across her chest,
Gertrude nodded. “We all gotta go sometime, but that ain’t no way
ta die.”

They were right. Then a thought struck me.
How was Sunny handling all this? Last night, she seemed in a state
of shock. I wondered if she was coming to terms with her death.

“Have you been over there? I mean, have you
talked to her to see if she’s all right?”

Ed’s glowing eyes nearly jumped out of his
sockets. “Oh, no. We ain’t goin’ anywhere near that coffee
house.”