Darkness Surrounding [Unedited Excerpt] by Kat Mellon
Chapter Two: Tension
2. Tension Enter morning. “Zanni! Your phone’s buzzing!” my mom, Jean, shouted from the kitchen. “I’ll be there in a minute!” I shouted back despite having no intention of actually getting out of bed. Instead, I continued to lie in a little ball under the covers. Several minutes passed before a wave of initiative finally helped to pry me out of bed. Her announcement was still ringing in my head, but I was in no great hurry to do anything about it. I began to make my bed with an unusual level of precision and deliberation, which wasn’t out of habit; rather, I was willing to do anything that didn’t involve checking my phone and hearing a slew of half-baked excuses. Why hadn’t they come back for me? After the sheets and covers were picture perfect and my bedside table was rid of used tissues and plastic cups, I rearranged the pillows against the headboard. The one I had slept on was smeared with makeup as a consequence of not having washed my face the night before. To avoid any questioning from my mother over the black and streaky tear-stains, I pulled off the pillowcase and buried it in my pile of dirty clothes. My little secret. With the tidying up out of the way, I stepped around my bedside table to open the blinds masking my window. The morning light peeked through the slits and instantly penetrated the gloom of my hovel. Outside, the street was radiant and alive as the sun worked its magic high up above. If only it could work some magic on me, I thought bitterly as I took in the light like an etiolated plant. I was in a terrible funk, and the day hadn't even started yet. Hurry it up, will ‘ya? My dreams had been dominated by The Stranger. Our encounter had repeated as if on a loop, but through a peculiar filtered and old-
time effect. His eyes had glowed at me without relent, although an occasional blinding flash of green light blocked them from view. These images continued to flow through my head as I stood by the window and watched two squirrels frolic across the lawn. If I was going to have any fun on my day off, I needed to distract myself. After taking in the nice weather awaiting me outside, my mind was made up—I’d take a jog. Get my juices flowing and all that jazz. I went into the bathroom and washed my face. My reflection revealed just how silly I looked, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the severity of the smudges and streaks of eye makeup running down my face. Once the smears were gone, I looked well rested and relatively untroubled. After changing into a pair of black shorts and a loose white t-shirt, I made my way into the kitchen with my socks and shoes in hand. The aroma of pancakes met my nose as I stepped through the alcove. “Hold on, Suzannah,” my mom said as she glanced at my running gear. “Breakfast is ready.” “Cool,” I said, dropping my stuff next to my chair. Sure enough, I'd even forgotten about breakfast. I glanced over at my cell phone on the kitchen counter. True to my instinct, the message light was blinking. It was too early in the morning for cheese and whine, so I left the phone where it was. Besides, I was positively ravenous given I had skipped dinner the night before. “Toby called the house phone last night to ask where you were,” my mom added after I’d sat down at the table. “He said you weren’t answering your phone. I almost woke you up to talk to him, but you looked so comfortable in there that I told him you were asleep. He said he’d just wait and call again today. You just missed him, I think.” Her unstated question radiated through the room. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. “Everything’s fine, Mom. I forgot my phone here yesterday. He must have tried to call me a few times and not gotten an answer,” I
told her. “I was pretty beat yesterday, so I crashed before you and dad got home from work. I didn’t bother to check it then either. Went straight to bed.” It wasn’t a lie. Of course, there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d tell her about the blue-eyed Stranger. Something told me that the truth wouldn’t go over very well with my mother. “Anything going on that I should know about?” she continued after a moment as she cocked her eyebrow at me. “Are you two having a fight? Did you break up?” I shook my head even though I wasn’t sure about the former. “Everything’s fine. And shit, we’re not dating.” “Well, alright,” my mom said as she flipped several pancakes onto a plate and set them to the side, where she proceeded to drown them in maple syrup. “And I don’t want to hear that word again, you understand? Not in my household.” Mid-gesture, she brushed her hand against the still-hot pan and cursed. “Duly noted, Mom.” We both laughed. We all swore. The reprimands were a running joke between the three of us. I couldn’t help but glance at my phone again as I approached the stove. It blinked back up at me eagerly. Finally, I gave in to temptation—avoiding the problem wasn’t going to make it go away. If I wanted to feel better about the previous night, I’d have to get some answers. “I’ll go ahead and give him a call,” I muttered as I pulled the charger from the wall with my free hand. “See what’s so urgent.” I carried the food to my room with my phone dangling precariously from the end of the charger. After the plate was safely on my desk, I tossed the cord onto my bed and sat down on my small wooden chair. Here goes. With that, I opened my phone—and what I found was unexpected.
The screen display was full of dozens of missed calls from Toby, and a voice mail for nearly all of them. I had to admit to myself that I rather liked the look of it. Slightly disconcerting, however, was the lack of Sean’s name on my ‘missed calls’ list. An unpleasant reality to mull over, but it would have to wait. Maybe he had some great excuse I’d be forced to hear later. I pressed the “return call” button before I could change my mind. Toby picked up on the first ring. “Finally. Zanni, I’m so sorry, but shit, you could have at least called me back, like —” “So this is my fault now?” I’d never heard him apologize to anyone. Even still, not all was forgiven. He had some more explaining to do, and I wasn't about to let him forget it. “Zanni, I feel horrible. I —“ “I’m not a flimsy little girl, Toby. I didn’t need your help. I could kick your ass any day of the week.” “So why do you sound so pissed off at me?” “Because…” I started, and then I decided to give in and be honest against my better judgment. “Ok, you caught me. I want to know why you guys didn’t come back. I mean, that was just beyond stupid of the both of you. You guys knew that was dangerous as hell.” “We were coming back for you, Zanni. We were. I don’t know why we left you up there so long. Believe me, I feel horrible about it. I kept telling Sean that we should turn around, but he kept walking. I got all pissed and told him that we were turning around or I’d punch his lights out and go alone. After we got there, I went after the guy, and Sean was supposed to check and see if you were ok.” “He didn’t. Neither of you did.” “I know he didn’t,” he replied. “Why do you think I called you so many times? That dumb shit must’a taken off.” He paused awkwardly. “I’d kill him if he hadn’t been my friend all these years.”
“So did you catch up with the guy?” I asked. I didn’t want to get him off on one of his anti-Sean tangents. It was really a wonder Sean still hung around with us. “Yeah, I did.” “And what happened?” Toby paused. He was hiding something. More intrigue. “More on that later. Meet me at the park, usual place?” “Sure. Was about to head there anyway, with or without you.” “See you in a bit, then.” I finished off my pancakes. After pocketing my phone, I stopped into the kitchen and slipped on my socks and shoes, giving my mom a nod as she cleaned the dishes a few feet away. Normally I’d give her a hand with them, but hanging around too long would mean letting something slip about last night. College-bound aside, I was still under my parent’s jurisdiction, and if admitting to the encounter with the creep meant a ban from going out at night, I’d rather keep mum about the whole thing and deal with it on my own terms. “Off to the park. Tell Dad I say hi.” Before she could ask me if Toby and I were back together or not, I was out the door. I began my jog down the driveway and out onto the street, but breakfast was still heavy in my stomach. I slackened my pace in defeat. The neighborhood was still, and the silence was, ironically, bordering on deafening. After a minute or two, a group of kids on skateboards filled the air with whoops and cheers as their decks connected with the curb. The sun was warming my face gently; the sky a tranquil blue, the clouds wandering aimlessly across the blue horizon. But when Toby came into view as I stepped into the park, there might as well have been fireballs and tornadoes hurling down from the sky. “Toby!” I groaned as he came up to greet me because I couldn’t quite accept
what I was seeing. His arms and legs were covered in bruises, which he hadn’t even attempted to hide. The ones that caught my attention first were his swollen, black left eye and the deep cut on his lip. On closer inspection, his arms had small marks, probably from being pushed, and his knee was a deep purple. “Explain,” I demanded, gesturing at the bruises. “What the hell did you get yourself into, huh? You're huge. Wrestle Sasquach after ditching me or something?” He grimaced. Although he stood a good five inches taller than me, he seemed to look up at me guiltily like a child would if they were about to be severely reprimanded. “It was him,” he began. His eyes flickered. “That guy from yesterday. I went to confront him, got a little hostile, and this is what he did to me.” “So you guys saw the whole thing,” I said, “And you didn’t do anything about it. You’re shitting me.” “Hear me out, hear me out. Yeah, I saw. Sean wasn’t there. Actually, I saw after the guy grabbed you. I caught up with him when he was walking away. I didn’t know what he’d done to you. Did he do anything?” “Other than being guilty of acting like a giant creep, nothing. It’s more than I can say for you two clowns. At least he did something, you know.” I was a little skeptical. Although The Stranger had proven to be stronger than I originally thought, he was still thin, wiry, and only a few inches taller than me. Toby, who was muscular and beefy, should have been able to defend himself easily. What had really gone down? “Get this. I called Sean this morning, and he tells me to, you know, have relations with myself and go to hell. He hung up on me. And you know what?” he added suddenly, his eyes narrowing. “I’ve just about had it. We’re going to go over there. To his house. That little shit is going to apologize to you, and if he doesn’t, I’m going to let
him have it.” Before I could open my mouth, he grabbed me by the wrist and led me toward Sean’s street, his pace quick and furious. I tugged my wrist from his ironclad grip, which he loosened reluctantly. “Dude, you’re overreacting,” I said as we rounded the corner. Sean’s one-story house came into view. “What the hell’s gotten into you, anyway? Just forget about it. You’re freaking me out.” “Frankly, I don’t give a shit what you think. We’re gonna get this sorted out once and for all.” With a few final strides, we were at his door. His parents’ cars were gone, which meant that a full-on shouting match could occur easily and without interruption. I stared at the peeling paint as Toby banged loudly on the screen door. Between the bruises and the rage, I’d figured he’d just about lost his mind. “Sean!” Toby gritted his teeth as the seconds flew by. No response emanated from within the house, so he tried again. “Sean, you useless bastard, get out here!” Sean appeared at the door, shirtless and dripping wet. “Tryin’ to take a shower here!” he said as he made his way to the screen door. When he saw Toby standing there, his eyes narrowed. “Oh, it’s you. What the hell do you want?” Toby turned and pulled me into view. I pushed his hand away and glared at Sean. The both of them were acting like children. “Apologize to her.” Sean leered at us through the screen. The look on his face made the atmosphere shift drastically, and I had a gut feeling on what it was heading toward. “Nah. I don’t think so.” He chuckled suddenly, his face cracking into an odd, strained halfsmile. “This…friendship stuff has gone on too long. I’m done. I’m out. I’m sick of all this bullshit. You two couldn’t care less about me. It’s true,
isn’t it? Who’s the weak one in our circle? Who’s the one who feels left out and gets the shit end of the stick all the time? Huh? Well, I’ve had it.” He paused, his anger growing before my very eyes. He’d finally snapped. “You chose him, Zanni. I’m going to just say it—I’ve liked you for a long, long time. I’ve tried to impress you. I’ll admit it, I even got a girlfriend to try and make you jealous. But as long as you’re with dipshit there, I’m done with you.” I glowed a ripe crimson. I instantly felt like the world’s biggest jerk for toying with him all those years, but I quickly had to remind myself it wasn’t my fault. It was all on him. Why didn’t he get it? Why didn’t it ever cross his mind that I was playing along, that it was what all of us did? I never wanted to be anything more than friends with him. Anyone could see that, so why couldn’t he? “Why didn’t you get her last night?” Toby hissed through clenched teeth, his hand clawing the screen inches from Sean’s face. “Are you that pathetic that you’d let her die just because she doesn’t want to get in bed with you, you little coward?” “You’re her freaking boyfriend, man. Little Toothpick Arms here can’t do shit, remember?” My stomach churned as my two best friends began shooting insults and curses back and forth as if they were enemies fighting to the death through verbal assault. The fallout had been inevitable from the start. I had to just step back and let the inevitable happen, didn’t I? “God damn you!” Toby screamed, lunging at the door handle. I stepped forward and shoved Toby back. The screen door slammed into my back, and I could feel Sean’s hands through the mesh. “Zanni, do you not understand? He doesn’t want to be your friend because you won’t sleep with him!” “There’s more to it than that, and you know it,” Sean added quietly. I stepped away to look at him. “Zanni, you don’t know the half of what
goes on when you aren’t around. You’re a mean one yourself, Toby. You’ve got a lot of good in you, but you’re an evil, two-faced bastard to everyone but her. Between the two of you, I don’t know how I’ve...well, that doesn’t matter. It’s over.” He began to turn away, but stopped mid-turn. “Good job last night, by the way. Looks like you had a real good handle on the situation. You’ve got yourself quite a man there,” he added with a smirk. “Just remember—you had your chance, Suzannah, and you blew it.” And with that, he was gone. The front door slammed in our faces, the click of the lock resonating like a shot from a gun. I had to admit it: in that moment, I was too hurt to be angry. Whether I’d intended it or not, a chapter of my life had probably just ended. It’d just be me and Toby for now on, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that after all. It’s what you’ve always wanted. “C’mon,” Toby urged me softly. “Let’s go.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me away from the house, leaving me no time to absorb the finality of the gesture. The gravel churned beneath my feet with hollow audacity, as the rest of the street was painfully silent. Eventually, he let his arm drop to his side. I was grateful – I needed the space. I was only human, and was quickly beginning to feel terribly guilty and confused and everything in between. “Did you know?” I asked slowly, taking in the ground carefully. I almost wanted to cry, but this wasn't the time or place for it. “Did you know that he bought into all of that, and for all this time?” “Yeah,” he admitted. “On some level. Wasn’t a problem until recently. But what could I do, you know? Not talk to you anymore and kill our friendship to make him feel like a man instead of a snottynosed punk? Well, as far as I know, anyway,” he added quickly. “I don’t know how you feel about him. But one thing’s for sure, I know how he feels about you. And frankly, it’s sick.” “You know,” I said, “You could have told me to cut out the jokes. I
liked teasing him, but had I known he was taking it so freaking seriously, I would’ve backed off. Really, I would have.” “I did it to protect you,” he blurted. I looked at him. His eyes were suddenly misted, which was unnerving. Toby never got emotional. I guess he had some regrets too. They were pretty close friends even before I moved to town. “I did it to protect you.” “From what?” “From him. You deserve better. You don’t need an ass like that in your life forever.” I sniggered. “Oh, so I suppose some overly protective freak like you is ideal, then.” I’m not sure if it was something I said or an already building surge of I-hate-the-world testosterone, but Toby’s eyes flared with a rage too big for himself. Every muscle in his body began to shake. It was as if a demon had seeped into his pores and seized his entire being. Maybe he was going to turn into The Hulk and break Albuquerque. We both had our share of anger problems — my being shorttempered and his being aggressive — but this was over the top. “We should do something,” I told him. I deliberately backed away as his eyes grew darker. His mouth twitched dismissively. “Go walk around the park. It’ll take our minds off of everything. Dude, you’re scaring me again.” I turned away to leave him to his tantrum. Maybe he was going to go beat up Sean. Hell knows what was going through that guy’s mind. I’d never seen him in a state like this before. He looked like he wanted to rip everything around him to shreds, including me. “Sure,” Toby blurted hoarsely. Breathing a sigh of relief, I retraced my steps and found that he had turned his back to me. His normally impressive stature looked somehow deflated, as if someone had opened a valve and let a good amount of air escape. He wasn’t back to normal, but at least he was probably safe to be around again. “Toby? You alright?”
“I’m fine.” When he turned toward me, there was no rage left in his eyes—only sadness. He was taking it hard. I guess his weird episode was the macho guy equivalent of crying. I wouldn’t understand. “C’mon,” I said, stretching my arm over his shoulders the best I could. My turn to be the tough one. “Let’s go.” He stood in place for a few long moments before finally complying. And so we walked in silence. Still, I was stunned at this sudden change in Toby’s behavior. He seemed shattered, almost as if someone had died. Friendship’s a weird thing. Sympathy leaked into me. I could see where he was coming from, in a weird way. We were getting older; outgrowing old ways and moving on as adults. Sean wasn’t progressing toward college. He was just as wrapped up in High School as he’d been when we first entered as freshmen. Chances were we would have drifted apart after graduation anyway. I rubbed Toby’s back, but it didn’t go over well. He picked up his pace and sped off. I didn’t rush to join him. He’d come back. He always did. Sure enough, he stopped abruptly when he reached the entrance of the basketball court. He didn’t turn to see if I was behind him, although he could probably hear me. He appeared to be calmer than before once he looked back, which I took to mean he was, for now, recovered from his man-moping. “What do you want to do?” It was a simple question, but oddly, I was suddenly having a hard time piecing the words together into a coherent phrase. My head was fuzzy, and I was starting to see odd colors intermingling with everything before my eyes. The sky and trees in front of me were starting to blur together, and with my next step forward, a huge wave of nausea passed over me and sent me straight to my knees. It wasn’t because of Sean, I realized quickly enough. I wasn’t having some post-
traumatic grief over the incident. This was a burst of dread that made me, for the first time, feel physically sick. “Zanni?” Toby was crouched in front of me with his hand extended. “You ok?” I breathed deeply, brushing my hair out of my eyes in embarrassment. It was over. The feeling had left as quickly as it had come, leaving me looking like a crybaby who couldn’t even stand on her own two feet. “Yeah. I’m fine. Got real dizzy there.” I took his hand and winced as he pulled me up. My knees were scratched—I’d cut them on the pavement. “And I’m bleeding,” I muttered, watching the blood drip slowly from the wound. “Shucks, that’s really giving me the warm fuzzies. Gross.” I wasn’t the biggest fan of blood, but neither was Toby. It made it easier to whine about knowing we were on the same page. “Good thing I’m not a vampire,” he said with a chuckle. “I guess that’s one thing we have going for us now.” “Hilarious.” “Go clean up,” he said. He sat down on a bench and patted the space next to his legs. “I’ll be here.” I nodded at him. Hell knows what sorts of things were creeping into my open cuts now. I made my way toward the women’s restroom, a small brick structure at the rear of the park. To no great surprise, I had it all to myself. I soaped up a paper towel and cleaned the grime and blood away, then rinsed off my legs thoroughly. The soap stung, and I couldn’t help but hiss. The weird vibe was returning again. I wanted to get back to Toby, and quickly. Something didn’t seem right, and the hairs on the back of my neck were starting to stand straight up on end. I dropped the soiled paper towel into the overflowing waste bin and bolted through the door. The outside chill caught me by surprise, and its lick against
my skin made my heart jump. When I got to the bench, it was empty. Toby was nowhere in sight. “Shit.” I was going to rip the guy to pieces. That is, if something bad hadn’t happened to him. I pulled out my cell phone and pulled his number up. “There you are.” I pocketed my phone. “Well, hot damn. Thanks for that.” “Had to take a leak.” “Charming. Thought some rogue park spirits grabbed you or something,” I said. I punched his shoulder playfully and he winced, which I was sort of glad about. He’d worried me by disappearing. If something happened to him, what would I have left? “Well, let’s do it, shall we?” Toby stooped down to tighten his shoelaces, which were loose and neglected. I guess he was in such a hurry to get to me that he forgot to tie them. When he stood up, I noticed that he looked better. His eyes were brighter and he didn’t have that dull, dead look about him. “Alright, let’s go. We’ll hit the court and use the flat ball in the storage shed.” “Sounds like a plan.” It was going to be weird playing without Sean, but still: basketball was basketball, and it would take our minds off of the day’s — and previous night’s — events. When we stepped onto the court, I peered with curiosity into the shadows despite myself. I couldn’t help but remember how creeped out I was. Also, who was to say the guy wasn’t watching us again? I hadn’t thought about that in advance. Was this something he did regularly? Did he live in one of the storage sheds and watch us because we were there, or was there some sinister motive behind it? I could only hope it was a one-time thing. “So what do we do if blue eyes comes back?” I asked. “Sean?” Toby asked with alarm.
“No,” I said. “The Stranger. You know, the guy who beat the hell out of you.” “Oh, right,” Toby said. “Yeah. I have no idea.” “You think he’ll be back?” Toby laughed dismissively. “To get another piece of me, I’m sure, seeing as he didn’t tear me up enough last night…” I laughed. And when I laughed, I turned away to cover my mouth, and that’s when I noticed. Stars above, there he was. I could see the rough outline of The Stranger’s body leaning against the wall with folded arms. I grabbed Toby’s bruised arm to get his attention. I was full of adrenaline, which was heightened from all the bad associations I’d made with the guy since last seeing him. This time, I wasn’t going to stick around to make those associations stronger. “Ouch, what—" “Toby, that homeless guy’s here again. I’m not shitting you, look at him. By the back wall.” I glanced up at him and leaned closer, my voice dropping to a whisper. “There.” I pointed toward the shaded alcove between the two buildings at the end of the court. “You see him, right?” “Yeah,” he breathed anxiously. “I see him all right.” The figure shifted and took a step forward. Toby’s muscles tensed up under my grip. “You’re right. Let’s get out of here.”
…
He swore under his breath as the boy and girl disappeared into the distance. He knew that staying hidden in the shadows was his only option given the outcome of the previous night, although he still strongly desired to speak to her and explain himself. She was terrified of him, and quite frankly, he couldn’t blame her. His own reflection startled him each time he caught it in a window or restroom. He’d never looked—or smelled—worse in his life. He smiled as he called to memory the heart-stopping feeling he’d experienced the night before. Her expression upon seeing him face-toface—it was a look of desire, fear, and understanding. It was exactly what he felt at the time as well, which made him uneasy and giddy all at the same time. But that disgusting cad she called a friend had to go and ruin it. Meanwhile, he, the least of her problems and with nothing but good intentions, had quickly devolved into just some creep out to get her. Out to get her. He chuckled out loud. He supposed he could see how that might seem to be the case, but it was far from the truth. He was just as ‘out to get her’ as were all of the others, but to her, he was a stranger, an enemy—an outsider. A gritty, stalking, confused outsider that was the spitting definition of anomie. He was lost and alone in the world, and all the normalcy in his life had gone out the window long ago. But there was one thing that he was absolutely sure of and that needed no further pondering – he was going to go broke buying a McDonald’s hamburger. “The things we do for destiny,” he muttered in disbelief.