The Stranger Inside (15 page)

When I came to I was slurping down a chocolate milk shake at the McDonald’s near Jeremy’s house. And the J was back on my necklace.

***

I definitely did not want to come here again—back to Eve’s. And I definitely didn’t want to endure another night of seeing Jeremy with another girl. Yet here I was, at Eve’s. And there was Jeremy, with Chloe. Sawyer had a way of talking me into things. I guess it was because I knew how important his friends were to him. That “the band is my family” crap got to me every time. But let me just reiterate—I didn’t want to come.

Seeing Jeremy with a girl—it sucked. And now I was super, super tense, afraid Kenzie was going to pop up and pounce on him. She was showing up all the time now. More and more. I thought about putting a big, thick rubber band around my neck. Then I wouldn’t have to snap it. I could just yank on it and choke myself into reality. It was just a thought. A crazy one. I didn’t do it. Yet. But I was getting desperate.

Only I knew Sawyer would freak. He looked more and more concerned every time I added a rubber band to my wrist, eyeing me like he wanted to whisk me off to the loony farm and tell them to lock me in a straightjacket. And put me in a padded cell. Still, I didn’t want to go to Eve’s. I wanted to stay home and wait for Kenzie—confront her with a rubber band around my neck—see if that shock would work.

But no. Instead I was here, facing a different kind of demon. A different kind of hell. Seeing Jeremy with a girl. But … I have to admit, under other circumstances, I might have enjoyed myself. Probably. We were all sitting in Eve’s living room and there was a nice, warm fire making the room toasty and aaaah. And Sawyer and I were sitting in the loveseat, cuddling as we victoriously stomped the others in Trivia Pursuit.

Well … not really.

Not the cuddling part. Not so much. It was more like Sawyer was
trying
to cuddle. And I let him, sort of. But I couldn’t exactly settle down and be comfortable with it. Probably because Jeremy was there. Well, not really.
Definitely
because Jeremy was there.

We did totally smoke them all in Trivia Pursuit, though. That part was real—not just show. And I liked Sawyer’s band. They were tight, close. I wanted to fit in with them. But I didn’t think I could. Because, of course, there was the Kenzie issue. And the Jeremy issue. And even if there wasn’t all that, I wasn’t really able to make friends anymore. I had a wall built around me. I couldn’t let people in. Well, except Sawyer. He seemed to be getting in, sort of. But that was only because he kept
barging
in, doggedly breaking down my walls, smashing them faster than I could build them.

 “Okay, new game,” Eve said hopping to her feet. She led us into the kitchen and got out a couple of beers. She handed one to each guy in the room, except Sawyer. Instead, she gave him a can of soda. “Okay, now we’re going to have a contest to see who can drink the fastest,” she explained. “But you have to puncture a hole in the can and drink out of that. Girls, lick up the dribble that runs down their faces—that’s part of the game. No beer on the floor.”

The game sounded pretty lame to me, but everyone went along with it. It was Eve’s house. If she wanted puddles of beer on the floor, well okay.

Eve told the guys when to go and they all started chugging. I laughed the whole time Sawyer was drinking. He was making way more of a mess than I could possibly keep up with, but I tried. In the end we didn’t win, but we didn’t lose either. Jeremy did. He was busy drinking long after everyone else had finished.

“Loser! Loser!” Zack and Micah chanted as Jeremy chugged down the last of his beer. “Looooser!”

“What do you expect?” Chloe sounded bitter.

Puzzled, we all turned to look at her. What was that about?

Chloe clenched her teeth. “He was busy watching Miss Goodie Two-shoes over there lick her boyfriend’s face the whole time.”

My stomach looped and knotted and my heart went spastic. Jeremy was watching me?

“What?” Jeremy laughed nervously, acting completely innocent of the charge.

“Whatever,” Chloe snapped. “You weren’t even trying to hide it. You want to be with her? Fine. I’m gone.” She got up and stormed out of the room. Jeremy watched her go, making no move to stop her.

“Go get her,” Zack ordered sounding irritated by the fight.

Still leaning against the wall, unmoved, Jeremy silently shook his head.

Moments later we heard the front door open, then slam shut as Chloe left the house. We could hear her cursing as she stormed away, but Jeremy didn’t move. Instead, he leaned his head back against the wall, looking resigned.

“Another one bites the dust,” Micah muttered.

“Jeremy, go get her,” Trista coaxed. “At least give her a ride home.”

“She drove.” He slid to the floor, then picked up his guitar. He strummed a soft melody, seeming more interested in that than the fact his girlfriend had just stormed out.

“So, that’s really it, huh Jeremy?” Eve said. “Just keep ‘em coming though, right?”

“Yeah, just keep ‘em coming,” Jeremy muttered.

“You
have
been staring at Jodi all night,” Eve admonished. She glanced up at Sawyer as she grabbed another bottle of beer. “What do you think of this little crush he has on your girlfriend?”

“I don’t mind,” Sawyer said, a smile toying around the corners of his mouth.

It was weird. But he really didn’t seem to mind. Of course, that was probably because he knew it was insane. Jeremy didn’t have a crush on me. What a joke.

“Oh, come on,” Eve coaxed. “It must bother you.” She raised her eyebrows, confidential-like. “You know, the best way to get him over this obsession with your girlfriend is to let him have her.” At Sawyer’s raised eyebrows, Eve laughed. “Oh come on, you all know it’s true. We’ve all seen him act this way before—lots of times.” Eve turned to me. “Don’t be alarmed! There’s a cure. Jeremy’s intense, overpowering desire for a girl—any girl—mysteriously disappears once he has her.”

“You should know,” Trista piped in, sending Eve a teasing grin.

“Oh, and you’re completely unscathed by his desperate-need-and-obsession-and-then-the-next-day-complete-indifference act, right Trista?”

“Hey, I dumped him.” Trista looked at Jeremy for confirmation, but he was busy with his guitar, seeming oblivious to the absurd conversation around him.

“Yeah, she dumped him.” Micah came to Trista’s rescue instead, putting his arms around her. “So she could start dating me.”

Eve rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Right.”

Everyone was silent for a moment, listening as Jeremy quietly played. I felt kind of uncomfortable. It seemed weird Jeremy didn’t stop Chloe from leaving. Obviously, that had been what she wanted—him to stop her.

It seemed the fight was completely Jeremy’s fault—totally. What girl wouldn’t be mad if her boyfriend stared at some other girl all night? Okay, so I was kind of thrilled. Extremely thrilled, actually, to learn he’d been looking at me. But it was twisted.
I
was twisted. It was all kinds of wrong. No wonder Jeremy never had a girlfriend for long if this was how he treated them. It was weird though, because he’d always treated me with the utmost respect. At least until I was sent away.

Jeremy glanced up from his guitar, noticing that everyone was looking at him.

“What?” he asked with a guilty grin.

His gaze fell on me. A small, wry smile flashed on his face and he raised his eyebrows. “You think I’m messed up, too?” He peered into my eyes, searching, no longer smiling. “It was you. You did this to me.”

My stomach dropped.

 How could he even say that? I hadn’t even been around for the past three years. He made sure of that, coming to the house that Christmas and shoving his “little girlfriend” in my face. He’d messed me up, not the other way around.

I opened my mouth, wanting to confront him, demand he explain. But then I clamped it shut again, not able to utter a word. We were in front of all of his friends. Everyone’s eyes were glued on me. Except Jeremy’s. He went back to playing his guitar, refusing to meet my gaze.

I wasn’t up to confronting him. Especially not in front of his friends. Scenes weren’t my thing. Not even slightly.

Finally, Eve broke the silence. “Now we have an odd number of people,” she grumbled, ending any more thoughts of a confrontation. Or Chloe. “What can we play that doesn’t need partners?”

“You guys can play something with partners,” Micah said, rising to his feet. “Trista can be Jeremy’s partner. I have to get going—the folks worry.” He glanced at Sawyer. “You’re giving Trista a ride home, right?”

Sawyer nodded, and Micah headed out the door. It seemed kind of weird that Trista would want to stay behind while Micah had to leave, but what did I know? They’d been together a long time. It seemed to work for them. Whatever “it” was.

“Hey partner.” Jeremy brightened as Trista snuggled up beside him on the floor. “You won’t get mad at me because I have a crush on Sawyer’s girlfriend, will you?”

“Of course not. I totally understand,” she said affectionately, and then she kissed him. Not a full-on, open-mouthed, passionate thing, but not a little peck either.

Jeremy pushed her away, eyeing her sharply. “I think you’ve had too much to drink, Trista.”

She reddened, rubbing her lips with her fingertips. “Maybe.” She glanced up at me. “Don’t look so shocked, Jodi.” She giggled, but it was kind of strangled. “We’re a very close group.”

“Yeah, Jodi.” Jeremy gave me a lazy smile. “Welcome to the group.”

CHAPTER 11

The wall is dripping in blood. Dad’s using his heart like a sponge.

“Jodi Go Hospital.”

***

It was almost afternoon, but I was still trying to get to sleep. I woke last night from another grisly nightmare starring Dad. In the morning, I was still shaking, still freaked. I couldn’t get the nightmare out of my head. Or that Internet article either, what it said Dad did. Was it possible he was set up? I had to believe that it was, even knowing what I did—that he
had
come home all bloody that night. And he was acting crazy, sending me away, making me promise not to tell him where.

Is that what he did to protect me? He protected me from
himself
?

But if so, then he really killed that lady. And I knew he didn’t. The worry had me shaking, even as I curled up on the couch with a blanket over me, trying to forget my nightmares.

There was a knock at the front door, making me jump. When I was over the shock, I ran to the door, flung it open, and threw my arms around Sawyer, trying to get warm. He pulled me in close, having no idea what was going on. But he was there for me. He was always there for me.

So, I took a deep breath. “I have something to tell you.” Finally, I was going to come clean—get everything out in the open. He already knew
I
had the crazies. It was time to tell him about Dad.

I tugged him inside and up to my room. Sawyer listened with fascination, his eyes growing wider and wider. Then I showed him the article on the Internet—the one about Sophie. He read it a lot more thoroughly than I had. The story had made me too sick, made me puke. I was only able to skim it.

But Sawyer scrutinized it, honing in on Sophie’s younger sister—the one Dad was supposedly looking for. “Kiki Jones. What kind of name is that?” Sawyer looked at me intently. “Who is she?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Dad never mentioned her, ever. I don’t think he even knew her. I really don’t.” Dad didn’t date a lot, hardly ever, and this Sophie—the lady he supposedly murdered—was only twenty-six. The neighbor made it sound like Sophie’s younger sister, Kiki, was a lot younger. Dad wasn’t a creep; he didn’t date young girls. And he didn’t murder them either. He didn’t. He was a doctor, a surgeon, he saved people’s lives—he didn’t end them.

And he didn’t use an axe.

Hesitantly, I turned back to the computer. “I was thinking of going to this place.” I clicked on the Psychic Center. “I know it sounds crazy, and I don’t really, truly believe in this stuff. But … I was thinking I might go there—well, not
there
. But a place like that, one nearby.”

 Sawyer quirked his eyebrows. His lips twitched. “Why?”

I reddened, feeling dumb. My ears were suddenly burning. “Look, I know it sounds crazy—and yeah, okay, I
am
crazy. But when I saw that advertisement, I just felt like it could help.”

 Sawyer rubbed at his mouth, hiding a smirk. “How?”

I wished I hadn’t told him—not this part. The Psychic Center part. He made me feel like an idiot. And like the idea was stupid. And okay, maybe it was—probably. But it had
felt
right. I bit my lip. “I’m not sure. The site says they can link to loved ones killed violently, by their effects. I have Dad’s ring.” I showed him my necklace. “It’s his effect.”

He sat back, looking like he felt sorry for me. His eyes flitted from the rubber bands around my wrists, to dad’s ring, then finally to my eyes. He let out a breath. “And what do you want to accomplish?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not sure.” I bit my lip, then said aloud what I feared most. “Whatever happened to him—it seems to be happening to me.” My voice hitched. “I guess I want to know if he went crazy and killed that woman or if he was framed. And … I don’t know, maybe whoever framed him killed him too.”

“And then wrote ‘Jodi Go Hospital?’” Sawyer sat on my bed, talking soothingly, as though he didn’t want to talk condescending,
but
. “Jodi, save your money. Those places are rip-offs—they’ll scam you blind.” He took my hand, linking his fingers through mine. “What you should do is find out about this Kiki. Find out how or if she knew your dad.”

“She didn’t.” I knew that. Sophie’s neighbor had described the girl as a “trouble maker” and said she was dating a “scary creep.” That was so not Dad. He avoided people like that. Avoided people, period. Except me. He liked me.