The Four Points

CHAPTER 6

HOME SWEET HOME

We pulled into our apartment complex and carefully parked in one of our assigned spaces under the carport. It was torture watching my mom park. Ever since she scraped the car on one of the poles that divided the spaces, she always made Alyssa or me get out to signal her in. This time it was my sister who acted as her guide. Right as my mom was putting the final touches on her parking, reporters appeared out of nowhere. Alyssa jumped back in the car, and before we knew it we were surrounded again.

Kai cried as my mom screamed at the reporters to leave us alone. I could feel I was blacking out again; I felt disoriented. I just wanted to get away. I opened the car door and started to run. The next thing I knew I was at Riverton Park, which was about three miles from my home. I was spinning on the merry-go-round. How did I get here? In my spinning blur I could see a figure standing, watching me. I slowed my spinning by placing my foot in the sand until I came to a stop.

"Hey stranger!" A beautiful smiling face greeted me. It was Liam. He was wearing a light beige paperboy hat. He walked over and sat by me on the floor of the merry-go-round.

"You okay?" he asked kindly.

"What are you doing here, are you following me?"

"Well yeah, kind of. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You run pretty fast, you know; it was hard keeping up."

"I ran all the way here?"

"Um, yeeesss. How'd you think you got here?"

"I don't know, sometimes I have these blackouts. The last thing I remember is the crowd of reporters in front of my house."

"Hhhmmm, interesting," Liam said as he looked at me, perplexed.

"Liam, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you following me and what do you want?"

Even though I felt exhilarated and excited to see Liam again, I wanted answers. Who was Liam Malloy? Why was he here and why did I feel the way I felt when I was around him? With all the different ways he made me feel, uncomfortable was not one of them. Liam was a stranger, and I knew my stranger danger alarms should be going off. After all, he was stalking me. But none of the expected feelings of being pursued by a stranger were present.

"It's hard to explain, Erika. Maybe I should let Mr. Blithe explain it to you."

"Liam, I'd like you to explain it to me." I stared into his electric blue eyes, knowing somehow that he held answers to questions that I'd had my whole life.

"Well, have you had a chance to read the book?" Liam looked pensively at me.

"No, I've been a little busy—you know, with all the reporters and the police thinking I'm part of a homicidal trio and all."

"If it means anything to you, Erika, I know you weren't involved. The police will realize it soon too, don't worry."

"Easy for you to say, but you can't be sure of that."

"Well actually, I can. Erika, I know this is going to sound, well... impossible, but I can see the future. We—you and I—have capabilities, powers. I think when you use yours, you refer to them as your blackout times. Erika, you ran here in less than 3 seconds."

It took me a moment to comprehend what Liam was telling me, until I realized that I had done it again, fell for another psychotic guy. What he was saying was impossible! I lived more than 3 miles away, people do not run a mile a second.

"Are you really trying to tell me that I—that we—have super powers?"

"Well... yes, our birthmarks give us these... abilities."

I thought this guy had some reasonable answers to the mysteries in my life. Instead, I am confronted with the fact that I have an uncanny ability to attract freaks.

"Liam, I have to go. Please don't contact me again." I got up to leave, but Liam grabbed my hand gently.

"Erika, what about your strength? How do you explain how strong you are, or the fact that you can read minds?"

I shook my hand free. Liam simply let go. Liam didn't seem dangerous, but then again, neither had Robert. Even though I didn't want to leave I knew I had to. I had to get away, away from another mistake. I was doing it again—falling for another insane person.

Liam screamed after me as I started to run back to my house, "Erika, do yourself a favor and read the book! You're in danger!"

You're in danger were the last words I heard before my vision started to blur. Everything got big, then small, pulsating noise filled my ears, and then... nothing.

The next thing I knew I was standing in front of my apartment stairs. How did I get here? The blackouts were happening more and more. They were always triggered when I was scared or overwhelmed.

I walked up the stairs to our four-bedroom apartment. It was unusual to be able to find a four-bedroom since most apartments only went up to 3, but my mom had searched high and low. After my mom's last relationship ended, our house went into foreclosure, and an apartment was all we could afford. But she was intent on making sure we all had separate rooms. They were small, but separate. She always tried to give us the best. She hated living in an apartment and wanted so badly to be able to buy a house again.

I walked in. I could smell that my mom had been cooking, the familiar aroma of my favorite pot roast filled the house. My mom immediately met me at the door.

"Erika, where have you been? I've been worried sick."

"Mom, she's only been gone for like 15 minutes, calm down," Alyssa shouted from the couch.

"I was only gone for 15 minutes?"

"I guess, or maybe closer to ten. Mom wanted to call the cops after two." Alyssa got up from the couch and rolled her eyes.

Ten minutes. There's no way. Riverton Park is three miles away: three miles there, and three miles back. How was I only gone for ten minutes?

I walked past the living room where Kai's grey and white cat, Schmuggles, slept. At least Schmuggles left me alone. The cat didn't even look up as I walked by; he couldn't care less, which was how I liked things.

As I walked past the kitchen, I could feel the warm heat of the oven permeating through my body and the smell of cloves making my mouth water. It was nice to be home. I walked down the hall, passing Kai's room on the left, and my mom's across from him on the right. My mom's room was filled with flowers and balloons. I wondered why she would put them all in her room if they were for me. I got my answer when I opened my bedroom door. My bedroom, along with Alyssa's, was at the end of the hall. It was filled with balloons, cards, teddy bears... there wasn't any more room for even one single flower. It was obvious that a lot of people believed I was not involved in the shooting. I closed my door, cleared an area off my bed, and laid down, staring up at the ceiling.

My thoughts turned to Liam. I knew it was crazy for me to entertain what he was saying. But things in my life didn't make sense. Can he see the future? It's not impossible, I can hear people's thoughts. In the hospital he knew that Detective Nixon was approaching. He also said something that didn't make sense, that he 'couldn't see my past or my future'. What did that mean?

He didn't tell me who he was or what he really wanted, but then again... I didn't really give him a chance. I guess I did that often, leave when I was uncomfortable. I wanted to know more about him. It was easy to say he was crazy or believe that what he was saying was impossible, but I had so many more questions for him.

Why did he seem so familiar? His voice, his face... I knew there was no way I had ever met him before. I definitely would have remembered a guy who looked like that. And the birthmark... what did it all mean? I thought about every inch of his face, how his left cheek dimpled when he smiled, his long brown almost auburn sideburns, and the way he got little wrinkles around his eyes when he spoke intensely.

Why was he saying I was in danger?

I got up and grabbed my duffel bag. I grabbed the fragile book and read the title out loud: "The Four Points."