ODDILY (2 page)

Should I or shouldn’t I?
The question ran through her mind until the answer became obvious. Oddily approached where they waited. When she neared them, she gasped as if someone knocked the breath from her lungs and stopped in her tracks. It wasn’t Kip’s presence that caused such a reaction, but that the tall gate was open! How could that be? She walked along this road almost every day and had never seen the gate open before. What was happening?

Again, she wanted to run away, but when she glanced at Paul with his brown puppy dog eyes staring at her, she took a tentative step forward, and another. Her legs began to shake as she approached them, her heart skipping a beat, if that were at all possible.

“
Well, well, well!” Starla’s “wells” were a crescendo of contempt mingled with false kindness when Oddily came to stand before them. Her foster sister’s cool gaze showed a forced expression of concern. “It’s too bad about the locker ordeal.”

Oddily shrugged the comment off, pretending it was no big deal, all the while watching the group warily. Starla glanced at her friends with a strange smile and then back to her.

“
I’ll admit my prank earlier today wasn’t all that funny,” Starla paused to dramatize the effect, “so I’ve had a change of heart. I’m going to be nice and give you permission to hang out with us for awhile—see how it goes.”

Starla’s friends fell silent while they waited for Oddily’s response. Amusement was evident on their faces, except for Paul, who turned away.

“
Why?” Oddily’s voice quivered with a mixture of doubt and anticipation. Starla and her friends hated her, and if the truth were to be told, she didn’t care much for them either. They were the reason she had no friends, leaving her almost as lonely at school as she was at home. The embarrassing pranks they constantly pulled on her were becoming unbearable, and she desperately wanted to find a way out of her torment.

Starla frowned at Oddily’s resistance, and decided to play around with her doubtful prey. “Can’t a girl can change her mind?” She volunteered, trying not to call her a stupid moron.

Oddily was so busy glancing at the others with her mixed emotions she didn’t notice Starla’s face darken for a second. Everything in Oddily’s innocent mind and petite body screamed for her not to be so gullible. However, with the slightest chance that this could be an opportunity to end her tortured school life, her need for acceptance overcame her sensibilities.

“
Oddily, what is your problem? If you don’t trust me, go home and forget I ever said anything.”

“
No—Please!” Oddily wanted to pinch herself for sounding so desperate, but it was too late as the words started to flow from her. “You misunderstood my hesitation,” she sounded pathetic. “I trust you and I’ll even pinky swear to prove myself!”

Starla laughed, along with the others. She hadn’t done the childish ceremony since fifth grade. She turned to her best friend, Kendall, trying to appear serious. “Should I take the solemn oath?”

“
A Pinky Swear is supposed to last forever, but if you want to go ahead.” The group nodded their head in agreement with Kendall.

“
I suppose so…but just this once.” Starla extended a well manicured pinky finger with glittery silver nail polish, and Oddily wrapped her own finger around it. She glanced over at Paul for a brief moment and then back into Starla’s cunning blue eyes demanding her full attention. Oddily began her pledge ending with, “I swear I do trust you.”

“
With one condition,” Starla added, trying to maintain a straight face.

“
You mean like an initiation?” Oddily’s large hazel eyes grew wide with wonder.

“
Yeah Mop-Top,” Kip piped sarcastically, “an initiation!”

“
Shut up!” Starla gave her boyfriend a stern reproach.

Oddily became doubtful. “What’s the condition?”

Starla had a smug look of satisfaction on her pretty face as she spoke. “All you need to do is go inside the Stafford Estate, find the Manor, and take a picture of it.”

“
Oh,” Oddily squeaked in surprise as she glanced beyond the rusty bars of the gate. The grounds appeared even more unnerving than she imagined. The trees—dark, thick, and gnarled, grew tight and close together. Their tops reached up into the sky and stretched outwards so far their boughs intermingled one with the other ensuring little sunlight to the wooded floor.

“
How frightening,” her soft voice sounded apprehensive.

“
Look, she’s scared!” Kip smirked with pleasure.

“
Are you going to swear or not?” Starla demanded.

Oddily couldn’t help noticing the discomfort in Paul’s face before she peeped, “Yes. I'll do it. I swear!”

Starla snatched her hand away and wiped her finger on her pants as Kip started to taunt Oddily. “Go ahead, go inside.”

Oddily turned towards the gate and started to inch forward, her heart beating faster and faster the closer she got. With one more step, she realized she would be on the other side, crossing the imaginary line of safety onto unfamiliar grounds. Even in the daylight the dark shadows from the giant old trees appeared as if they wanted to swallow her up. She hesitated.

“
Hey, chicken!” Kip tucked his thumbs into the suspenders and started to prance around. While he was clucking and flapping his arms, Oddily hurried to get away from him by slipping through the open gate. She glanced back over her shoulder when the gate slammed shut, leaving her trapped inside the grounds.

“
What are you doing?” Paul spoke in alarm, but Starla ignored him.

“
Don't forget this!” Starla threw a disposable camera at Oddily, hitting her in the chest before it landed in the dirt. Oddily winced from the blow as she stared at the group of curious faces through the bars. They appeared like caged animals in a zoo and yet, she was the one trapped.

“
Hurry up because we don’t have all day!” Starla’s sugary sweet voice hit a sour note.

“
I’m going right now.” Oddily answered with a quiver of fear.

After she picked up the camera, rearranged her backpack and rushed into the darkness, her eyes shifted from side to side, not knowing what to expect. “I’ll hurry—I promise,” she called over her shoulder.

Oddily had no idea that within the hour, her life would be changed forever.

Starla and the others waited until Oddily disappeared into the gloom of the woods.

3

Oddily remained cautious while she headed into the deep confines of the woods. The gloom and the silence enveloped her. It was too quiet. She barely detected the sound of birds or woodland critters scurrying about, and that struck her as being strange. She stole a hasty glance over her shoulder, tears forcing themselves free. She tried to hold them back, and yet they still flowed when she could no longer see the gate.

She wanted to go back, but she wouldn’t let herself. She knew in her heart that this might be another attempt for Starla to mess with her, but suppose she didn’t this time. What if she were to be wrong? Even if the photo were another one of their stupid pranks, she at least had to try. One lousy snapshot was all she needed, and she wasn’t going to let her fear of the woods stand in her way.

Finally, when her tears stopped, she gave herself up to the eerie dark of the forest. The enormous gnarled trees transformed her surroundings into a strange, unreal world. The shadows were so black and sharp they appeared as though they had a life of their own. The underbrush came across as unfriendly. They seemed to be watching her—crowding in before and behind her.

“
I…I’ll pretend I’m not afraid,” she said out loud; and then shuddered with fear over the lost sound of her own voice in the giant woods. But, she moved on—one had to when there was no choice, or was there?

Oddily stopped in sheer terror when she heard a loud noise. The top of the trees seemed to quiver as the sound of a voice thundered through the woods. She nearly fell to her knees when the voice spoke, “Who is trespassing?”

She screamed, and began to frantically run. Her legs were moving faster than she had ever run before—forgetting about pinky swears and everything else, except finding her way back to the gate.

“
Stop where you are!” blasted the voice again. As it did, she tripped over a rotted tree branch—stumbling forward.

She plunged on, winding in and out of the giant trees and climbed over fallen logs, not daring to peek over her shoulder. The ground grew steeper and more uneven as panic urged her to keep moving. The slope she edged along appeared dangerous, and that was when, to her horror, she realized she had been running in the wrong direction.

When a different noise came from close behind, she whirled around and almost fainted when she spotted a large, shiny thing-a-ma-jig with long metal legs. There was no way for her to know that “the mechanical spider” was one of the several surveillance cameras monitoring the property for intruders.

In her stunned state of mind, she watched the motorized eyes zoom in and out like the adjusting lenses of a camera, and then it lunged at her. She jumped back, but her hasty move caused her to lose her balance. She cried out and clutched at the air, her whole body weaving backwards and forwards before she toppled down a slope. The rocky soil kept crumbling under her while she tried to regain her footing, but her body kept on sliding. She helplessly grabbed for a handhold of dirt but loose gravel sent her body hurling downward. She stopped at last, half hanging over the edge, afraid to move knowing the slightest movement would surely send her to the bottom of the ravine.

The ground blurred, receded, and sprang back up at her. Her stomach twisted. She clutched at the dirt, leaning into the slope and yanked her eyes away from the appalling drop before another wave of fear caused her to move. Panic tightened her chest and shortened her breath even more. It was coming into her throat in tiny sobs until the ground beneath her gave way sending her over the edge.

* * * * * *

Back at the gate entrance, a hand came down on the battery powered bullhorn, knocking it away from Kip’s mouth. Kip stared into two distressed brown eyes and scowled under Paul’s troubled glare. Paul couldn’t believe how far Kip and Starla would go with their cunning cruelty towards Oddily.

“
What’s with you?” Kip grumbled. “Loosen up and have some fun.”

“
This prank isn't amusing!” Paul frowned. “You have the sound bellowing so loudly, the poor girl must be paralyzed with fear.”

“
So what are you going to do about it?” Kip chuckled. “Did you hear the way she screamed?”

“
Why do you care?” snapped Starla, her eyes questioning and dangerous as she fixed her stare on Paul.

“
You guys are acting heartless!” Paul’s words startled Starla for a moment as her body jerked in a sharp, involuntary breath.

Starla’s deep blue eyes diminished into two narrow slits. “You’ll be sorry.” Her tone carried a strong, hidden message. She implied that he was risking her friendship by speaking to her that way. Starla turned on her heels and walked away with Kip.

Paul turned his thoughts back to Oddily for a moment, wondering if he should try to find her when he realized something. In spite of the fact that he had defended the girl, he didn’t want to be linked with her. He was making himself fair game for Starla, and the rest of his friends, and he couldn’t let that happen. He needed to be careful, or the group would add him to their target list along with Oddily.

“
Are you coming with us or not?”

Paul cringed at Starla’s shrill voice. “Yeah, wait up!”

4

Oddily heard an unusual sound, sensing something hovering over her while she struggled to open her eyes. Every time she tried to get a glimpse of what or who stood so near, her eyes tilted up into her head.

Who on earth had a pair of cold, hard arms? Whatever lifted her limp body, began to move exceptionally fast through a whirl of green foliage and tree trunks. It appeared as though she weighed no more than a feather, and her rescuer wasn’t breathing. Instead, it made a high-pitched squeaking noise.

Her consciousness drifted in and out until she touched a hard surface beneath her. The crinkling sound reminded her of the protective paper used in a doctors’ office. Had she been taken to the hospital?

After the squeaking noise had stopped, her thoughts were drawn to a high melodic voice overhead that spoke in an enchanting tone. “Thank you, Tinley.”

Oddily’s eyes fluttered open and quickly closed to shield them from the blindingly bright lights.

“
Tinley, please dim the lights.”

There was that enthralling voice again. Oddily took another peek, glancing up towards the captivating sound, and came nose to nose with an inhumanly beautiful face. The girl’s features, framed with unusual light and wispy blonde hair, caused her to appear like an angel. Oddily’s eyes grew wide with wonder. “Have I died and gone to heaven?”

They both stared at each other until the girl became distracted. Oddily followed the exquisite stranger’s gaze, and thought she was seeing things. There appeared to be two of them, the other one a male. He stood at the entrance of a large doorway resembling an open warehouse.

He glared at her for a brief moment, and then his eyes flickered back to the look-a-like female. Oddily glanced from one to the other, trying to determine who was more beautiful, but it was hard. The twins looked alike and yet…different. She studied their looks in detail. Their straight nose, full lips and sky blue eyes were the same except the boy’s hair appeared to be a darker shade of blonde than the girl. He was also taller than she was—so lean and defined like a gymnast.