Krysta's Curse (7 page)

She was usually very pretty and a good
dresser—for a mom—but her blonde hair was pinned back, exposing a
pale face with no makeup.

I’d never seen AJ’s mother look anything
less than perfect.

“Oh, my goodness, child.” One hand flew to
her throat. “What are you doing here?”

Then my heart sank at the expression in her
eyes. Could she really care about me? I wasn’t used to that sort of
concern from motherly figures.

The only other time I thought AJ’s mom
showed interest in me was a few months ago, when we’d told her
about our gifts. AJ said it would be okay, since her mom was
gifted, too.

“Sunny is here.” I tried to explain while
keeping the don’t-tell-Dad whine out of my voice. “I needed to talk
to her.”

A man stepped from behind her and I stifled
a scream. When the gold of the police badge strapped to his belt
reflected off my glowing flashlight, I breathed a sigh of
relief.

“Oh, hi.” I nervously fumbled with my
fingers. Now the cops were involved in my search; I was definitely
busted.

“Hi, Krysta.” Flashing a smile, he wrinkled
his brow. “Remember me?”

As I closed the distance between us, I
recognized Officer Garza, the cop who took my statement today.
“Yeah.”

“Officer Garza came to our house tonight
looking for you.” Brow drawn in a heavy frown, Mrs. Dawson used the
motherly guilt voice she had perfected on AJ.

“We have a suspect.” Garza motioned for me
to come closer. “We need you to identify him.”

“Sunny’s boyfriend?” I gasped, feeling
tension from my body ebb away at the thought of Sunny’s killer
behind bars.

“Yes, Krysta.” Garza nodded. “What were you
doing out here?” He ended on an accusatory note, like I was up to
no good.

How could I tell him the truth? He’d have me
committed.

“Nothing.” I shrugged, biting my lower
lip.

His mouth tilted in the slightest of smirks,
and for a moment, I saw a sign of recognition in his eyes, like he
didn’t believe me. “I thought you told Mrs. Dawson you were talking
to Sunny.”

“Sunny’s dead,” I blurted.

Folding his arms across his chest, he
leveled me with a hard stare. “I know.”

Something in my gut told me Officer Garza
knew the truth.

“Look,” I spoke through a shaky voice. “I
just came out here because I couldn’t sleep and it’s so beautiful
out here.” I swept my hand across the dark horizon before swatting
a mosquito on my neck.

His smirk turned into an all out accusatory
scowl. “This is no place for a young girl to be by herself.”

“Yes, sir,” I mouthed, unable to stop the
uneasiness that settled in my bones.

“You’re lucky Mrs. Dawson knew where to find
you. Do you know we arrested Sunny’s boyfriend from this spot
earlier today?”

My throat went bone dry. He was here. What
if I’d come earlier?

His facial features suddenly dropped. “Given
what happened to your mom, I’m surprised you’d take such a risk.”
Garza’s voice sounded choked with emotion, as his eyes glossed over
with moisture.

“What does my mom have to do with this?” I
spat.

Was he suggesting I was trying to run away
like she did? This was the second time today he’d mentioned that
woman and I was sick of it. I had always been a fly on the wall in
my dad’s life, but after my mom left us, I felt even more
insignificant.

“Krysta, you look cold.” Mrs. Dawson spoke
in an authoritative tone. “Officer, let’s get her in the car.”

Mrs. Dawson glared at the officer as I
silently trailed behind them through the forest. All the while, I
couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. When the
three of us arrived at Officer Garza’s police car, I
remembered.

Where were Ed and Gertrude?

Scanning the tree line, I spied them
hovering among the trees. Ed winked at me and I smiled.

All the while, I could feel the weight of
Officer Garza’s gaze on my back.

****

“Is this the guy you saw with Sunny last
night?”

Officer Garza eyed me with a steady,
concerned gaze. “Don’t worry.” He flashed a warm, but wary smile.
“He can’t see you.”

My throat was too dry to speak, like an
internal vacuum had suddenly sucked out all my mouth’s moisture at
the sight of him.

He didn’t look any less scary in the faded
orange uniform. His eyes showed no signs of remorse. If anything,
he looked even meaner than before, like a confused, rabid dog.
Smiling through a snarl, his gaze swept across the one-way mirror.
Though I’d seen it in the movies, and I knew he couldn’t see me, I
still cringed as his glare passed over where I was sitting.

“Yes, that’s him,” I breathed.

“Good.” Officer Garza squeezed my shoulder
once before letting go. “That’s all we need from here.”

“That’s it?” My jaw dropped, a mixed feeling
of relief and uncertainty washing through me. “Don’t I need to
testify or anything?”

“You already gave your statement.” Garza
peered down at me with that all-knowing gleam in his eyes. “Unless
you have something else you want to tell me.”

“No.” I resolutely shook my head.

“Are you sure?”

I could read the disbelief in his voice.

“Yeah.” I nodded vigorously, all the while
my insides trembled.

“Ok.” He shrugged. “Then you’re free to
go.”

A female officer motioned to me, and I
followed her, vaguely aware of my own actions. As I walked out of
the room on wobbly legs, I couldn’t help but feel this wasn’t my
last encounter with Officer Garza.

He knew about my powers. I could feel
it.

But who told him?

****

Walking down the corridor of the substation,
my legs were so shaky I felt like I would faint. There was also
another issue. The huge bottle of water I drank after my bike
excursion was wreaking havoc on my bladder.

After the officer pointed out the bathroom,
I rushed inside, barely taking notice of the ugly mustard yellow
walls before I threw open the stall door.

The last thing I expected to see were two
ethereal spirits hovering knee deep in toilet water.

I yelped, a hand flying to my chest, before
I had time to process the sight before me. Standing side- by-side,
Ed and Gertrude each had one leg in the toilet. They just floated
there, staring at me with those goofy grins, like haunting toilets
was the most natural thing to do.

“What are you two doing in the toilet?” I
asked through a spurt of anxious laughter.

“We was waitin’ for you.” Gertrude nodded.
“Seein’ as you like them mirrors so much, we knew you’d come in
here.” Tilting his chin, Ed folded his arms across his inflated
chest, looking proud of himself that he’d figured out my favorite
hangout.

“Well, thanks for hanging around.” I ended
on an awkward note, not too sure what to say to them while standing
inside a cramped urinal and waiting for my bladder to bust
open.

“No problem.” They answered in unison.

“They caught him.” I nodded, trying my
hardest to fall into a natural conversation during this incredibly
awkward moment.

“Yeah.” They grinned. “We knew that.”

Not knowing the right gestures to use during
dead person toilet talk, I nodded again. “He confessed, so I don’t
need to tell them about dead Sunny.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.” Smoothing my frizz down with shaky
fingers, I struggled with the right words to say to them. “Listen,
I’ve been thinking.”

And I had been thinking, a lot. The only
trouble was that my thoughts kept leading me to the same horrible
conclusion.

I had to help them stop that mall. Even
though I was committing social suicide, it was the least I could do
considering how they’d helped me with Sunny.

“Yes, Emmy.” Eyes bulging, their expressions
were eager—hopeful.

Exhaling a deep breath, I struggled for the
words that would end my social status as I knew it, but I figured
worse things could happen to a girl, like murder. Besides, after a
few years, maybe it would all blow over. Once I moved to Paris to
start my modeling career, all of Greenwood would have forgotten
about Krysta, the loser who protested the mall.

“I’m only fourteen and I really don’t know
how to stop a mall. Even though I’ll fall several steps down the
stairway of popularity if I help you, I’ll do it.”

Ed and Gertrude exchanged wide grins. “Thank
you, Emmy!”

Swallowing hard, I cleared my throat while
forcing a smile. “Now will you please leave before I wet my
pants?”

“Is that all
you’re eating?”

Looking up from my plate and across the
small breakfast table, AJ’s blonde brows were drawn together in a
heavy scowl as she sneered at my two toast wedges, lightly dusted
with low-cal butter substitute.

Sighing, I smoothed my hands up my shaky
arms. My nerves still hadn’t settled after last night at the
substation and now I had to put up with AJ’s attitude. Besides,
what had my toast ever done to her?

“Yeah, this is all I’m eating.” I met her
scowl with a direct gaze.

“My mom made bacon.” She motioned to a big
pile of greasy, steaming pork in the center of the table.

Gag.

I should have just duct taped them to my
thighs and butt, because that’s exactly where they’d end up if I
swallowed them.

I lightly shrugged, before turning my focus
back to my toast wedges, as I did my best to pretend AJ wasn’t
getting on my nerves.

“I don’t feel like eating much today.” I
washed down a morsel of toast with a gulp of water. AJ didn’t have
any diet drinks in the house.

“You
never
feel like eating much.”

I rolled my eyes. “Excuse me?” I said with
enough sarcasm in my voice to make her understand I wasn’t in the
mood for her attitude.

AJ seemed determined to turn breakfast into
a nag session.

“Look at you, Krysta.” Narrowing her gaze,
she waved an invisible circle around my body. “You’re turning into
one of those runway skeletons.”

“You
mean
fashion models.” Tossing my toast on
the plate, I planted both fists on the table. “They know, like I
do, that beauty takes sacrifice.” I spoke each syllable with
clipped precision, knowing I’d need my full arsenal of attitude to
keep up with AJ.

Didn’t work.

She had the nerve to laugh, but it sounded
more like a super loud, annoying burst of air. “What’s so pretty
about looking like a flagpole with collagen- induced lips?”

Closing my eyes, I focused on my breathing.
In, out, in, out. I should have known better than to try and top
AJ’s attitude. Maybe a little guilt would work instead.

Opening my eyes, I fixed her with a steady
stare. “I don’t dog your lifestyle, AJ.”

“That’s because
I
eat healthy.” AJ’s eyes and head
rolled in her signature major attitude head- bob.

The heavy sinking in my gut told me this was
a losing battle, but I kept up the fight. “Greasy bacon is
not
healthy.”

Face contorted in a mask of anger, she threw
her hands in the air. A move I’d seen her use many times when she
was yelling at one of her teammates for a stupid play. “It’s better
than starvation. Remember, I tried eating like a rabbit and I
passed out on the court.”

“Well, I don’t play sports, so I don’t need
to worry.” No longer in the mood for food, I pushed back from the
table and started to rise.

AJ rose along with me, pointing a finger at
my chest. “Of course you don’t play sports. You don’t have the
energy.”

Hands on hips, I tried imitating her head
bobble. “I biked all the way to the lake last night.”

Folding her arms across her chest, AJ
smirked. “Yeah, and I bet it sucked to be you.”

The air whooshed from my lungs and I almost
stumbled back into my chair. Yeah, it did suck to be me. It
really
sucked.

My mom left me, my dad ignored me, my crush
pitied me. I was just a girl with way more problems than the
average teen. How was I going to stop a mall or bring a dead spirit
back to the light? The worst of it was that the only two friends I
could really count on at the moment were dead.

Fighting back the tears that threatened to
ruin my freshly applied mascara, I decided to go wait for the bus.
AJ was acting like a major butthead and I didn’t need to take it
any longer.

As I turned to leave, a hand reached across
the table and held my arm in a strong grip. I looked over my
shoulder to see AJ’s sharp gaze had softened to a sweet puppy dog
expression.

Letting go of my arm, she motioned to my
chair as she sat down. “I’m not trying to piss you off, Krysta. All
I’m saying is that you need to eat a little more. It’s not healthy
to be so skinny.”

I don’t know why I followed her command, but
I sat. Maybe it was because my legs were still wobbly from the
weight of the world on my back. “Looking good
is
healthy for my
self-esteem.” I spoke evenly, although something in the back of my
mind questioned my own judgment. Could AJ have been right? Should I
eat more?

AJ shook her head. “If you had self-esteem,
you wouldn’t need to starve yourself.” Her voice softened and she
flashed just a hint of a smile. “And you’d still look good with a
few extra pounds.”

“Whatever.” I meant to deliver that one word
with a silencing punch, but I spoke without conviction. Like my
conscience had decided to let her win.

“I’m just trying to look out for you,
Krysta. I don’t want you to get sick. Besides, guys don’t like
stick girls.”

The image of Bryon scowling at me from
across the table at Mocha Madness flashed through my mind. My body
tensed as I recalled his words. ‘Don’t you worry you might be a
little
too
skinny
?’