Counter Lotus

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

How could I have healed a broken leg overnight?

How did he know my sister was out of town?

If none of our run-ins were a coincidence... does that mean he planned them all? Or was he just following me?

I was creeped out. I was flat confused. Especially confused about the other random instances of that night. Where did that lady come from? Why did Peter say I was dangerous? And what was with the hand thing? I couldn't remember what he said, but he seemed surprised by the contact of our palms. What a weirdo. Unless he was a witch or a psychopath, I couldn't think of an explanation for his weirdo-ness. Not one explanation! Like really guys, I dare you to justify any of what happened. Truly folks, amuse me: why in the world did Peter cover my mouth when he found me and say I needed to stay quiet? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Maybe that's why he said I wasn't going to remember any of it – because he didn't want me to remember any of it. Because there weren't reasonable explanations for any of it! Shit, maybe he was nuts and planned on somehow erasing my memory? He definitely was acting like my memory of that night should be gone with his tale of alternative fake events. Obviously, it didn't work. So if the asshole did drug me, he learned he did a piss-poor job of it.

We were apparently on the same page about one thing though: my car was totaled. That's the only thing I didn't 'imagine' (probably because that's a hard one to lie about). Getting a new car was the last thing on my mind, but it was a necessity.

Since Liz was still in Florida, David stepped up and took over the big sister roll (with the same sass and care too). It was beyond nice of him to jump in and help. He lent me his car and rented one for him to use for now.

Liz wanted to fly home when I told her what happened, but I convinced her to stay and that everything was fine. I wasn't thrilled about her trip, but I didn't want to ruin it for her. Which was why I downplayed the seriousness of what happened and condition of my car.

When I went to see the mangled metal mess in the tow yard... I could not believe I made it out alive. The warped sides, the exposed parts, the caved front end was eye-opening. Taking it all in was disturbing, but weirdly amusing. Did Peter really think I was that stupid? That he could convince me I was fine and had just walked out of that thing?

No joke, the mechanics did not even believe I was the person that crashed the car. They thought I was kidding. It's not like I sounded serious anyway with my stifled laugh. I couldn't help it though. How dumb did Peter think I was? I never doubted myself; I know what happened. But seeing just how unrecognizable my car was made his dumb lie that much more obvious and comical.

I knew I didn't imagined any of it, but this was now evidence that Peter was lying. This was evidence... that I did get severely hurt. Yet, somehow I woke up with no sign of injuries and completely healed. How? Just how? It drove home a deeper itch for answers. It nagged at me, bothered me, especially because I knew the truth and that dick refused to acknowledge it!

That's why the following day, my solution was to distract myself, but nothing worked. Forensic Files failed again too. I couldn't focus while at work. I couldn't even get excited when I bought five different boxes of pop-tarts – and that included the hot fudge sundae ones (a rare find in this little town). By that night, those mysteries still refused to leave my mind. It was a nonstop ambush. I just mindlessly stared at the walls, still in my red polo and slacks from work. I sat, shifted, and laid over my bed blankly.

I needed some answers. I really did. Maybe Jamie was the best option. Yes, for all I knew, he could be in on it, ignore the truth, or play innocent and dumb. It was better than nothing though. Plus, Jamie was easier to talk to than his older brother (we didn't hate each other either which helped).