Static Pages

Chapter 7: Unknown

February 6, 2004

Ellie hasn't been responding to me recently. I've looked it up and maybe this is Tay-Sachs. She's been moving around fine, and it appears that she can see things fine. Maybe I'm just talking too softly. Maybe she can't hear me. I'll teach her sign language if I can. Maybe I should learn it too. I don't think this is severe enough to go to Dr. Popwell. Not quite yet.

   My mind was racing. Who was this person? Why didn't they take the scalpel? Don't they need evidence? But most importantly, why was it there. As the walk home seemed to take years, I stayed quiet behind Amanda and Ryan. They were chatting in a hushed, panicked tone. Every once in a while, I felt their gaze on me, but by the time I would look back up to them, they would be turned around, huddled together. As we neared some houses that looked familiar, a woman was standing out on her porch. She was staring out into space, until she heard us. Her head snapped over to us, and the way she stood was almost if she was about to chase us. I grabbed Ryan and Amanda's arms. They looked at me like a weirdo, then followed my gaze to her. They nervously moved to the left edge of the sidewalk, completely wary of her.

   She took off, jumping over the rail of her porch and into her yard. As she dashed towards us, Ryan grabbed me and Amanda and we started running. As he let go of our arms to run better, I looked behind us. She wasn't running after us anymore. She was in a zone to catch up to us. I pushed myself to run faster, running past Amanda, who wasn't that fast. When we turned to block into my neighborhood, I looked behind us. No one was following us anymore. As I slowed down, I panted heavily. I heaved to get air into my flaming lungs. "Sh-she's not foll-owing us anym-anymore." I wheezed out. Ryan stopped running, and came over to my side, also panting like a dog on a hot summer day. Amanda ran past us, but turned back when she saw we weren't running anymore. All three of us were panting heavily. When I caught my breath, I frantically asked questions. "Why was she chasing us? Who is she? Was she waiting for us? What is with this town?" I screamed, feeling my voice crack painfully in my throat. My throat stung in pain as if my vocal cords snapped it.

   "We'll explain later. We just need to get back to your house right now." Ryan said, eerily calm. I followed right behind them, swatting the occasional sweat fly that got close to me. The walk home was quiet and long; it felt we have been walking home for months. As we neared the neighborhood, I could see the trees at the edge of town getting thicker. Holding the scalpel in my pocket, I remembered what the policeman had said. Does he know something that I don't? I mean, it wouldn't be impressive if he did, I barely know anything about this town. I looked at the paved road that lead into the forest. Something in there caught my attention, but I couldn't tell what it was. It completely dazed me, putting me into a sleep-like trance. I could feel my body move on its own as I started walking towards it, pushing past Amanda and Ryan. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing!" Ryan grabbed my wrist. I couldn't feel it though. I felt numb, almost like I couldn't feel anything at all. Someone else grabbed my other wrist and yanked me away from the forest's view. That snapped me out of my daze as I gained back consciousness. "Ellie, don't go anywhere near there! That place is a no-go zone." Ryan's voice caught my attention, slowly getting louder as I got control of my mind. 

   "I-, um, sorry?" I didn't know how to respond. I felt awkward, like I was just put on the spot for something. I pulled my arm away from his grasp, realizing how sweaty and clammy it was. Amanda held my other wrist, trying to drag me across the street . "Are we almost back to my place? I'm not feeling too well." 

   "Yeah, its across the street. Amanda, let go of her wrist, you're gonna pull her entire hand off!" Amanda let go, probably fearing that might actually happen. I felt my blood rush to that area and into my hand. I didn't realize how strong her grip was. We crossed the street into the side yard of Ms. Roger's house and made our way to the front door. Opening it up, I could see Mrs. Skitsokrammer pointing at some things on the coffee table. When the storm door slammed behind us, she looked up, along with Ms. Rogers and Gabe, who looked like he was sleeping, or at least about to. "Oh boy." Ryan muttered under his breath.

   "Ellis! Perfect timing! Come pick out something for yourself!" She waved me over; her bracelets clanging together making an awful sound.

   "My name is Ellie." I muttered as I walked over to see what she meant. She had a bunch of Mary Kay products sprawled out on the table, along with a flyer. I could barely contain an eye roll. Looking at the makeup she had, nothing looked good. "I'm good, thanks though." I said, mustering up the most polite voice I could. She sighed, and looked back at Ms. Rogers. 

   "Are you sure you don't want anything, Connie? I'm offering you a one-time deal! I'll even make it free if you join!" Ms. Rogers shook her head.

   "Thank you for the offer, but I'm good." She declined. I could hear a tiny hint of annoyance in her voice, but Mrs. Skitsokrammer didn't notice it or just didn't care.

   "Alright. I think its time we left, then." She sighed, hoisting herself up. I cringed at the sound of her bones popping as she got to her feet and the floorboards groaning under her weight. "Goodbye my wittle Gaby-pooh!" She kissed Gabe on his head while ruffling his hair. She said her goodbyes to him for a solid minute before Amanda pipped in. 

   "Okay mom, lets go!" She sounded very annoyed. Her mother gave her a dirty look, then stopped smothering Gabe to start swiping up her products from the coffee table.

   "Remember, Connie, if you ever want to be your own boss, just give me a call, alright?" She said as she picked up the last of her products. "I'll see you later hun!" She called out, walking out the door with Amanda and Ryan in toe. Connie and Gabe yelled their goodbyes as I shut the door behind them. Once I heard their car pull out of the driveway, Gabe sighed over-dramatically, flopping on the love-seat where only moments before, Mrs. Skitsokrammer was sitting before. 

   "Ellie, how was the tour?" Ms. Rogers looked over to me. Instantly, she noticed the scrape on my knee. "What happened? Are you alright?" She got up to inspect it closer, ready to get more band-aids.

   "I'm fine. I just tripped and fell. I'm okay." I reassured her, "In fact, I'm going to go take a shower." She nodded, before running off somewhere to get me a towel.