Christine Rides Again

Chapter 3; Paranoia

Throughout the rest of the school day, all Leigh could think about was Dennis, even after the last classes were finished, and arriving home to an empty house did nothing to help the matter. With her parents out of town on business and no siblings, it was just her. She hated being alone. She always had, but more since she'd moved to Libertyville, since her exes car had tried to kill her. The thought alone sounded crazy, if she said it aloud to anyone besides Dennis, she didn't doubt that she would find herself in a white padded room.

Inhaling a deep breath, she dumped her bag down on the floor beneath the coat hooks and continued into the kitchen. Piled up on the side near to the sink were many used plates, bowls and glasses and beside them was a note. She crept silently across the room and picked it up, scanning the scribbled words with her eyes.

Leigh,

Your father and I won't be here by the time you get home from school, but we'll be back on Friday. In the meantime, if you could pick up on all that needs doing around the house that would be great.

Love, mom.

Putting the note back down on the counter, she eyed the washing up that needed doing and shook her head, turning on the hot water faucet and allowing the water to fill the bowl before turning it the other way to cease the flow. In haste, she grabbed one of the used glasses and a clean sponge and began to scrub away the dirt. The patter of rain on the window grew more frequent as it started to pour down outside, and every now and then she glanced up. She wasn't quite sure what she was expecting; the warm yet chilling glow of bright yellow headlights, the roar of an engine belonging to a ‘58 Plymouth Fury as it came crashing into the house in an attempt to get her the way it had managed to kill Will Darnell? Impossible. Christine was gone.

Leigh pushed the thought away and put the glass down on the drying rack, picking up the next with a sigh. She glanced back up at the window and jerked back in surprise, seeing Arnie's face reflected in the glass.

“Pull it together.” She scolded herself, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply. When she opened them Arnie was gone.

She hadn't noticed how hard she'd been gripping the glass until she heard a cracking sound and felt a sting in her hand. Loosening her grip, she let the broken pieces of bloodied glass fall into the sink and examined her hand. It was no more than a small cut across the palm, but the soapy water made it hurt worse than it should.

“Dennis!”

The sound of his father's voice pulled him away from the edge of sleep and back into the waking world. He rolled out of bed, no longer feeling overheated or sweating, the fever having broken while he'd been asleep, and sauntered out into the hall and down the stairs.

“What?”

“There's a phone call for you.” His father informed him.

“Who is it?”

“I don't know, some girl.” He shrugged.

“Huh.” Dennis acknowledged.

“How are you feeling?”

“I'm fine, dad.” He answered truthfully. “Really.” He added, then took the phone in his hand.

Waiting until his father had disappeared into the kitchen, he brought the phone to his ear and cleared his throat.

“Leigh?”

“Dennis… Hi, how are you feeling?”

“I'm okay.” He insisted, nodding as though she could see him. “I didn't think you'd- never mind. What's up?”