Table Of ContentHAILEY
K.C. Neal
Episode Seventeen
HAILEY HAD DIED EVERY night for the past several weeks. Ever since she
and Adrian barely escaped the mine, she had dreams of Jay. Or dark, swirling
water. Sometimes both. The scenario changed, but one thing did not. At the end,
she always died. It was like living a terrifying video game and she couldn’t
figure out how to make it past the first level.
Last night it’d been a swimming dream. It started out nice enough—a summer
day at the lake—kids playing volleyball on the beach while others rowed kayaks
or floated on tubes. Hailey was swimming parallel to the shore, her hands cutting
efficient strokes through the water. Then, sunlight grew weak and the sky turned
an ugly purplish-gray. She stopped swimming and treaded water, dread welling
up through her as everyone on the beach and in the lake also stopped and looked
skyward.
Suddenly there was a flicker of movement in the water. Hailey looked down,
struggling to focus on something under the surface. A face. Jay, grinned up at
her. A pale arm darted up and cold fingers wrapped around her ankle, jerking her
down. She tried to inhale a breath of air before the surface of the lake swallowed
her, but she sucked in a few drops of water and it was all she could do to hold in
the cough that began to spasm in her lungs.
She tried to kick out of his grip, her free foot smacking against his arm, her
arms waving in wild, desperate strokes that did nothing to slow Jay’s pace to the
bottom. She watched the light above her dim as she sank.
Her lungs burned. She couldn’t hold her breath any longer. A few bubbles
escaped her lips, and then she felt the convulsive, deadly inhalation of cold
water. For maybe half a breath it felt okay, and she had just enough time to
wonder whether in this dream she could breathe water. And then panic. She took
another deeper, reflexive breath of liquid into her lungs, even as her mind
screamed at her body to stop. Spots bloomed before her eyes. She stopped
struggling.
Usually in scary dreams of falling or crashing or drowning, people wake up
before impact or sucking water, before that final moment of doom, of knowing
that this is it. Death. But not these dreams. No, these dreams always went a step
further, holding Hailey in their grip until life leaked out of her like water
swirling down a drain. Every night, she died in her dreams.
The weird thing was, it made her less afraid. She’d died so many different
ways, death no longer felt like a dark horror lurking out there, waiting to claim
her. Sure, every time it was terrifying. But on some level it was like anything
else: the more she experienced it the more familiar it became.
Hailey watched the glowing blue numbers on her digital clock as the time
switched from 6:14 to 6:15, and the alarm blared. She smacked the snooze
button on the third beep, and then turned off the alarm. She probably didn’t need
to set an alarm any more. Her death dreams woke her at exactly six in the
morning every day. And it wasn’t like there was any danger of falling back to
sleep.
She grabbed her phone from the nightstand just as it vibrated with a text from
Adrian:
How did you go this time?
She chuckled grimly. Adrian seemed to have a morbid fascination with her
dreams, and it was nice, in a way, to be able to tell someone about them. She
typed a message back.
Taking a lovely swim, Jay grabbed me and dragged me down to the bottom.
Inhaled some lake. The end.
A moment later, Adrian sent another message.
Aaand now I will never swim in the lake again. But I believe this dream
symbolizes your deep desire to accompany me to the Monster Ball. Or, you
know, possibly your repressed anxiety over the fact that your ex-boyfriend tried
to kill you. Really could be either.
Hailey laughed and pushed back the covers. Maybe this wasn’t something
they should be joking about. But it was either that or go nuts. She’d take
inappropriate joking over insanity any day.
She replied: LOL
Adrian texted: At least you’ve been practicing your… you know… and you’re
getting pretty good. So if you do see him again….
She responded: Yeah. But I can only do those things when I’m angry, it seems
like. Not very helpful….
She carried her phone to the bathroom and it buzzed again in her hand.
So? You going with me to the Monster Ball or what?
Hailey grinned and texted back: Sure, that would be great. You’re going to
love my costume.
Later that morning, Hailey pulled up in front of Kristin’s house and honked.
Her friend trotted out, carrying a bright yellow designer purse and a large pink
travel mug with steam escaping from the top.
“Morning beautiful, love the way you did your hair,” Kristin said as she
settled into the passenger seat of the Mini.
Hailey smoothed a hand over the barrette pinned above her ear. “Really?
Thanks.” She’d left her hair natural—curly and a little wild.
“Yeah, you should do that more often. Curly hair says, ‘I’m carefree and
awesome.’” Kristin sipped from her mug.
Hailey couldn’t help laughing. She felt anything but carefree these days. But
there was a strange undercurrent of exhilaration to her new life. Maybe it had
something to do with coming back from the dead every morning. Or all the time
she was spending with Adrian, who, now that she thought about it, actually was
“carefree and awesome.” She turned left at the end of Kristin’s street, heading
toward Silverwood High.
“You hear anything about Jay?” Kristin asked, and the mood in the car
sobered.
Hailey shook her head. “Huh-uh.”
“It’s just so weird. No one seems to know where he is. His parents are gone,
too. Marissa keeps calling and going by the house.”
Hailey wasn’t sure what to say. No one had seen Jay or Mr. and Mrs. Barton
since the day before Jay had nearly killed her and Adrian. She’d be lying if she
said she hoped Jay would return soon.
Marissa had grown frantic when Jay disappeared and stopped answering calls
and texts. She’d even called the police, but apparently there was nothing they
could do because there was no crime involved, as far as anyone knew.
Kristin shrugged. “Well, the Bartons certainly have the moolah to just up and
leave if they wanted to. You’d think Jay would at least say goodbye if they went
on a trip or something.”
“Yeah, you’d think so,” Hailey said. She turned into the parking lot at
Silverwood High. “Who knows. Basketball tryouts are in November. I guess if
Jay misses that we’ll know something’s really wrong.”
She found a parking spot just as the first bell rang. She and Kristin headed
toward the main entrance, pulling their jackets tighter around them to ward off
the chilly morning air.
“See you at lunch!” Kristin waved and took the stairs to the second floor two
at a time.
Hailey passed one of the school counselors, a pretty woman who was new at
Silverwood High. She’d canceled her last appointment with Kathy. Something
about her therapist made her uneasy and hesitant to confide in her. Maybe she
should talk to the new school counselor instead? No, that idea didn’t sit right
either. She had that “I’m cool, you can talk to me” demeanor, but it was forced.
Adults always thought kids couldn’t see through that.
After she made it through her first two classes and slipped into her seat in Mr.
Reed’s third period econ class, she sighed with relief. This class was a bright
spot in the middle of the morning.
“Hey.” Adrian smiled at her and set his notebook on the desk in front of hers.
“Good morning, Buddy,” Hailey responded, studiously straight-faced.
Adrian had traded spots with Buddy, the guy assigned to the seat in front of
Hailey’s, and legally-blind Mr. Reed hadn’t caught on yet.
“So what’s this mysterious costume you have for the Monster Ball?” Adrian
half-turned in his chair to talk to her.
Hailey grinned and shook her head. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Storm from X-Men?”
Hailey laughed “Nope. That would have been a good one, though.”
“Callisto?”
“No superheroes. That’s your only hint. What’s your costume?”
“No way,” Adrian said. “I’m not telling if you’re not.”
The second bell rang and Adrian turned around as Mr. Reed’s assistant passed
out graded quizzes from the previous week.
“Have lunch with us today,” Hailey whispered at Adrian’s back.
He nodded, then glanced over his shoulder and winked.
She’d been nervous about bringing him into her group of friends, but she’d
had no reason to worry. He got along with everyone, and he’d made quite a few
other friends, too. He’d joined the ski and snowboard club and trained with them
on the weekends, and started playing guitar in a band made up of kids she didn’t
know well. She admired his ability to be so at ease in a new school without
conforming to any one group.
At lunch she found Kristin at their usual table.
“Adrian is coming, too.” Hailey couldn’t keep the grin off her face.
“Wooo,” Kristin teased. “That’s the third time this week. Must be love.”
“Ha ha.” Hailey gave her a wry look. “He asked me to go to the Monster Ball
with him.”
Hailey sat down and Kristin grabbed Hailey’s forearm with both her hands.
“What? When did this happen?”
“This morning.” Hailey giggled in spite of herself.
“Well it’s not the same as an invite to prom or one of the other formals, but
still, this is big. Your first dance with someone besides . . . well, you know.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it will be fun.”
Kristin tilted her head to study the male students walking by as if studying an
imaginary menu. “I might end up going with Johnny Garcia. Maybe Bryce
Wilson. Heck, maybe I’ll just say yes to both of them and see what happens.”
Hailey laughed. “You haven’t given them an answer yet? The dance is only a
few days away.”
“I know, I’m evil.” Kristin tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave Hailey a
wicked grin.
The Triplets sat down across from them, and several other kids joined their
table. When Adrian arrived, he had to squeeze between Hailey and Penelope. He
greeted everyone with an easy smile, and even traded jokes with Dennis Carver,
who Hailey always thought was impossible to talk to. Take now, for instance.
Dennis had just stuffed half a hamburger into his mouth and was smiling around
the table with lettuce sticking between his lips and ketchup dripping down his
chin. How sixth grade.
Adrian sat next to her until he finished eating, then stood near the wall where
the other guys had congregated, joking and talking about sports.
Hailey always avoided the end of the table where Marissa sat. Partly out of
habit, but also because Marissa’s poor-me act was just getting old. She and Jay
hadn’t even been together two weeks when he disappeared, but she was acting
like a grieving widow and milking it for all it was worth.
When Hailey accidentally made eye contact with her, Marissa gave her a
narrow-eyed glare. What the heck? Hailey turned back to the Triplets, who were
describing their Halloween costumes. They were going as the three graces.
“What’s everyone else going as?” Denise pointed at the girls around her.
“Angel,” Kristin said, and they all snickered. She grinned and cast her eyes
upward, innocently batting her lashes.
“Malibu Barbie,” Marissa said. She sniffed and looked down. She probably
had expected Jay to go as Ken. Hailey started to roll her eyes and then caught
herself, turning her eyeroll into a glance across the room.
Denise continued around the girls at the table. When it was Hailey’s turn, she
arched an eyebrow and shook her head.
“Oh come on, everyone else said!” Denise cajoled, and the others joined in.
“Okay, okay.” Hailey held up her hands to silence them. She took a deep
breath. “I’m going as . . . Death.”
They all stared at her for a moment. “You mean, like, the Grim Reaper?”
Tiffany asked with a frown.
Hailey nodded and sipped from her bottle of Vitamin Water Zero.
“That doesn’t sound very hot,” Tiffany not-so-subtly whispered to Erin.
Hailey hid her grin behind the bottle.
Hailey scrutinized her ghostly face in the mirror. She’d spent a full hour
giving her face a shimmery-white sheen and darkening the areas around her eyes
and under her cheekbones, and shadowing her lids with a couple different shades
of deep, sparkly maroon. Yesterday she’d gotten her nails done with black glitter
polish.
She’d kept quiet when Tiffany and the other girls had commented on her
costume idea. Little did they know that Hailey had in mind a version of the Grim
Reaper that none of them would have imagined.
She stepped in front of the full-length mirror. She’d ordered a black hooded
cloak online, and used her sister’s old sewing machine to hem it up to mini-skirt
length. A translucent silver sash cinched the cloak at her waist. She wore sheer
black tights with flame designs that flared up her legs, and black patent platform
heels. The costume and makeup were awesome, but the finishing touch was the
scythe. She’d decorated the handle with white rhinestones, and the edge of the
blade with a row of ruby-red ones.
When she opened the front door to Adrian, he gave a low whistle. “Death
never looked so good.” He grinned at her. He was dressed as a zombie.
“Nice scabs,” Hailey said. “Hm, we’re quite the morbid couple.”
When they neared the school gym, Hailey got a text from Kristin: Help me put
on my angel wings, PLEASE. I’m at the end of the side lot.
“Kristin needs me to help her with her costume,” Hailey said as Adrian parked
on the street near the gym. “Want to go inside and save us spots at a table?”
“Sure. Hurry, though. Looks like it’s going to rain any second, and it would be
a shame to let all that work go to waste.” He raised his eyebrows and eyed her
costume.
He squeezed her hand, and they both got out of the car. Adrian headed toward
the gym entrance, and Hailey went around the corner of the building to a narrow
side parking lot.
Kristin, the Triplets, Marissa, Penelope, and a few guys milled around at the
end of the lot. Bryce was smoking a cigarette, and a flask was passed between a
couple of guys Hailey didn’t know well.
“Whoa, hello sexy!” Erin called when she spotted Hailey.
Everyone turned to stare as she approached, and someone catcalled.
“You look totally amazing, Hailey,” Penelope said. She stumbled a little over
the tail of her mermaid costume as she threw her arms around Hailey’s neck.
“You too, Penny. Love the seashell bikini top,” Hailey said.
“Kristin would not let us help her,” Tiffany said. “She said you were the only
one who could get her wings right.”
“Oh, thank God you’re here.” Kristin held out a pair of gossamer wings
suspended on thin wires. “And could you look any more hot? Adrian must have
just about—”
A loud clap and blinding flare of light cut her off. Pain seared Hailey’s face
and arms, and she squeezed her eyelids closed as she stumbled against a pickup
truck. When she opened her eyes, the afterimage blotches were so intense she
could barely make out her friends staggering around the parking lot.
She desperately grabbed for the edge of the pickup’s bed as the pavement
under her started to give. As she slid and fell against the pickup, her gaze was
forced up, where she saw someone standing on the small rise beyond the parking
lot.
Jay.
She recognized him just as another crackling bolt darted toward her. At the
last second, she ducked behind the truck, the white-hot light searing her exposed
knuckles. The truck buffeted as if it had just been rammed by another car and
sparks exploded everywhere. Every muscle twitched and jolted as a current
passed through her. She wanted to let go, but her hands seemed glued to the
metal. After what felt like minutes but probably was mere seconds, her grip
broke and she stumbled away. The smell of hot metal and burning plastic filled
her nose, and her eyes watered.
“Jay? JAY!” Marissa had seen him, too, and was screaming and running
toward him. Or trying to. Her stiletto heels took her down after a few wobbly
steps.
A few feet in front of Hailey, Kristin lay in a dazed heap, moaning and
cradling her arm. Her hand hung at an unnatural angle. Erin was bleeding from a
cut on her forehead.
Hailey stepped out from behind the truck, and another bolt blazed toward her.
Penelope tripped on her tail and fell partway into the bolt’s path. She crumpled
to the ground like a rag doll.
Rage boiled through Hailey, and she whipped around, looking for anything
she could use. A row of sandstone boulders, each a few feet wide, lined the lot as
parking space markers. She barely thought about what she was doing. She
focused on the nearest one and gave it a mental shove. It rolled, smacking the
one beside it with a loud clack. She pushed at the entire row, sending the rocks
rolling faster and faster toward the rise where Jay stood. They bumped and
rumbled along the ground with blurring speed. She was going to take him out
like a bowling pin.
But as she watched, the hill seemed to grow under Jay. It swelled to such a
steep slope it was almost a wall. The boulders crashed into the base and rolled to
a stop in a great heap.
She closed her eyes and sent her awareness upward. There. She pulled, and
opened her eyes, and watched as a funnel of wind and rain appeared in the gray
sky and stretched down toward the earth. The tip of the cone was aimed straight
at Jay. She pushed the funnel to spin faster and faster. Leaves and trash began to
whirl around the parking lot.
Just before the funnel lowered enough to surround Jay, he sent another
lightning bolt at her, this one twice as bright as the others. It crackled in the
storm-laden air, and she dove back behind the truck. But she saw. She
understood how he’d called the lightning. In the chaos, she’d nearly missed it.
He reached a fist skyward, and then right as the lightning sped down toward him,
he stomped one foot and flicked his index finger at his target. She reached for
her own bolt in the clouds above, and found it, almost as if it had been waiting
