Lonely Souls - Rebecca James Part One

Chapter Four

"Go talk with her father, and ask to pick her up at the airport," A tall, pale man with long chestnut hair and piercing green eyes said while sitting at the head of a dining table in an old, marble floored room of a mansion. He looked at a young woman, who stood patiently in front of him, smiling while she took out scissors and an electric razor. She had blonde hair, and green eyes. They were both nearly sculpted to perfection. "Let me guess, you already have? You are loyal to her already. I can see a lot of problems arising from that."
     "Claude, I can't help but feel this is the right one. She looks like Rebecca, acts like she should have in the beginning, it just fits."
     The two stayed in near silence as the girl sharpened the scissors and replaced the batteries in the razor. She took an apron off the table and walked over to the man.
     "Duke said nearly the same thing. It's not often the two of you have the same opinion. However, I want to make sure first. I believe the same, but it doesn't stand to reason that she may not be."
     "Fair enough, but I assure you Claude, we've found her," she replied, tying the apron around the man named Claude's neck. Scissors in hand, she began chopping off his hair with quick snips of the blades. "I am to pick her up this afternoon in Toronto and bring her directly to her father."
     "Good, continue with that plan. We'll see how everything plays out."
     She continued chopping at his hair and eventually put the scissors down. She left him in the mess of hair, as she walked out of the room.
     How could Jenna possibly know for sure that this teenager is the one? The man thought. She is an exact duplicate, but a few others had been so close, and each of them had died. He knew Duke had done it, but being so close to him, it must have meant that they weren't meant to be the Rebecca he so dearly loved.
     Jenna came back in, gingerly walking back over to him with a spray bottle. He hoped it was just water. She sprayed his head and the sensation barely bothered him. She then took the razor to his head and began the styling of his hair back to the way she'd done it every day for the last two weeks. The last part was to dye it blonde, just like all the other days.

As she drove to the airport, Jenna couldn't help but think of the possibilities. The part that really made her excited was that she now had hope, a feeling she lacked for over a hundred years. Having Rebecca back would mean so many things would be better in the coven. Rebecca would assume control again and weed out the ones who oppose her and sneak behind Claude, something she was infamous for.
     Jenna knew the ones who did, but Claude would never listen. He thought of Duke like a brother, and of Shayna like a sister, they'd been together so long. She had Kyle, who she loved and confided in for everything. If it weren't for him, she would have left the coven long ago, when Rebecca died. He comforted her, and she found she needed him more than anything else. Even blood didn't matter to her.
     "Rebecca, I really hope you are the right one this time. We've tried too many times to continue if you aren't. Claude is about to give up, and if he does, I will be forced to as well."
     Jenna parked her car as close to the doors as possible and made her way inside. People were coming in from the landing, and she locked on Rebecca the moment she came through the door. She watched as Rebecca walked slower, taking a look around, no doubt for her father. Their eyes locked, and it was hard not to pull the teenager in, to take a good look and decide from there. No, she had to use self-control. Any little thing could make this girl do disastrous things, a feature her creator lacked on the outer shell, but desperately had wished to display.
     As Rebecca passed her, she knew the girl was suspicious and maybe even nervous. She needed to talk to her. "What are you planning on getting, Rebecca?"
     The girl turned to look at Jenna again, but didn't speak. Her long dark hair was slightly curled from the plane ride, and electric blue eyes shone menacingly. She was a brick wall, an observer at best, but known to be an attacker.
     Without barely a pause she went into the little convenience store.
     Jenna turned, scolding herself. Of all the things she could have said, that was what she chose? Why not invite her to the club already? Be a sales person, that would scare her less.
     She walked over to the luggage racks, finding all of Rebecca's bags simply by smell. She piled them by the door and waited for Rebecca. She looked preoccupied in her thoughts, but when she noticed Jenna with all of her luggage, her face shone with suspicion.
     "Come on, your father wants you home before he gets off work," she said as Rebecca came closer. The girl didn't look pleased.
     "Who are you, and why do you have my things?" she asked angrily.
     "My name is Jenna, I'm your father's friend. He's working, and he asked me to pick you up and bring you home," she explained quickly. Rebecca nodded, not looking like she believed the explanation.
     "What's his name?"
     "Allen James," Jenna said.
     "Where did I come from?"
     "Florida, everyone knows that," she answered. Rebecca only looked more suspicious.
     "What are his nicknames for me?" Rebecca asked.
     Hm, Jenna thought as she began going through all the conversations she'd ever had with Allen. The further back she travelled, the closer she got. She remembered one.
     "Rekka, and... oh... he said it once..." she said thoughtfully. "Well it seems to me that he called you a fox once," she finally said. Rebecca seemed to calm, and her nerves settled. Allen used to call her "Foxy Blue", and he'd explained that because of her face shape and her favorite color at the time, but it was also her sullen moods she was sometimes in, and as a child, she should never have been like that. Not that early and with no reasons.
     "Alright," she said and picked up some of her luggage, to which Jenna smiled and picked up two, and one of the men working there came to help with the last three. "Where to?" she asked. Jenna nodded for her to follow. Together they walked out to the parking lot and to her apparent shock, Rebecca's face lit up when she saw the purple Volvo.
     Jenna opened the trunk, and the man put the luggage in for them, excused himself and thanked them for using the airport, and promptly ran back to help other people. Rebecca put the bag she was holding into the back seat, then sat in the passenger seat as Jenna got in, and she noticed Rebecca was staring at her.
     "So where are we going?" she asked, trying to ignore Jenna's movements.
     "Barrie," Jenna said and she nodded, probably not having a clue where that was. "It's not huge, but it's nice. There's a lot to do there."
     "Do you live there?"
     "Yes, but not close to him," she said.
     "Then why did you pick me up?"
     "As a favor," she answered. Rebecca pursed her lips, her mind running again. She thought so hard you could practically feel it. It was an interesting trait. Jenna had always been able to tell when her Rebecca was thinking too much or too hard about something. This teenager sitting in her car seemed very promising.
     After the one-and-a-half-hour drive, they finally went past a sign, 'Welcome to Barrie.' It was getting dark, and the sign was lit up and rather beautiful. From there they went to a dark house on an equally dark street. Jenna helped bring Rebecca's things up, and she looked around. It was small on the outside, but a possible place to work with inside.
     "Well, this is great," Rebecca said, an obvious effort to feel better about the move. Then her phone started ringing. It took a minute for her to figure out which bag it was in, and when she found it, she grumbled and turned it off. "I can get used to this," she said, nodded to herself and turned to look inside the kitchen. The fridge-freezer combination with the freezer above, stove, double sink, cupboards and counter, so on. A small table. She forced herself to smile.
     She turned to Jenna, smiling. She caught Jenna's eyes and they held her.
     "Claude really wants to see you," Jenna said and no amount of magic could hold her now. She looked repulsed by the idea.
     "Get out," she said angrily, and Jenna was stunned. "Get out, now." She kept looking at Rebecca, but she moved forward, reached past, and placed the keys on table.
     "I think you're making a mistake," she whispered, but Rebecca didn't respond. "He's a wonderful person."
     "The opposite of me," Rebecca growled back, and Jenna paused, locking eyes again. "Now leave," Rebecca said, "and don't come back."
     "Only your father can give that demand," Jenna said and pursed her lips, but left anyway. How could the mention of Claude be such an ill trigger?

"Mistake, ha," I mumbled and slammed the door shut. I looked around the place and growled at it. I walked to the table, resting my hands on a chair, and knew I did make a mistake.
     The mistake was coming here in the first place. I growled, clenched my fists and flung the chair to the side. It landed on its back on the carpet. The muffled thump deteriorated my angry, being less dramatic than I'd wished it to be. I looked out the window. Taking a deep breath, I began moving my things into the room that Jenna had pointed out to be mine.
Once my bags were in the room, all piled in the middle, I slid onto the creaky wooden bed, and somehow managed to fall asleep.
     I woke up to the door of the house opening, and someone picking up the chair I knocked over. I checked the time, turning on my phone, and apparently, I missed a couple more calls from my mom over the past two hours. It was almost one in the morning.
     Another set of keys hit the table, footsteps and then boots came off, and the person sounded like they stretched, giving an audible sigh. I could see the man from my bed, my door open. I moved, and the bed felt like it cracked somewhere, but it probably only shifted. The man looked up the stairs at me as I sat up, staring at him while I did so. He was shrouded in darkness, and I wasn't sure it was my father.
     "Look at you," he said in a soft tone. "You've grown up so much," he flicked a switch and the living room light went on. He looked tired, dark rings around his eyes. He was tall, dark haired like me, with the same electric blue eyes. I stood, and we met each other half way. I came down the stairs slowly, my body still waking up.
     He embraced me as I made it to the landing, and I tried to hug him back, but my strength had gone to sleep. I managed a feeble hug back. "I've missed you so much," he said, and I heard the smile in his voice. Genuine happiness.
     "Hi Dad," I whispered and smiled myself.
     "Sorry I woke you," he said, and my phone started going off again. "Are you going to get that?" he asked, but I shook my head in his shoulder.
     "It's just mom," I whispered and sighed. "She's been calling all night."
     "Have you answered yet?"
     "No."
     "Why not?" he asked, pulling away.
     "She can worry a couple hours more. How have you been?" I asked and regretted it instantly. His living condition was not like my old house. It was quite honestly a mess, like he hadn't swept or vacuumed in a while. Maybe he was too busy, but I was sad to see the place like this. He was worth so much more.
     "Living," he replied and shrugged. "It's comfy," he said and smiled down at me. "You look so much like your-"
     "Father," I interrupted, and he stopped his sentence to smile. "I don't even want to be in the same sentence as her."
     "So why don't you like Charles? He seems nice enough."
     "To the outside, yes. Too nice to me," I mumbled, and my father took the hint.
     "What did he do to you?" he growled.
     "Nothing, I left last night, otherwise I think he would have done something."
     "If he ever... if he did you would tell me, right?"
     "He'd be dead by the time you heard, but yes."
     He hugged me again, squeezing me tightly, and I almost couldn't breathe, but I didn't complain. I smiled when he let go and backed away a bit. I wasn't nine anymore, so we couldn't just pick up where we left off.

     "She threw me out of the house, Claude. What did you do at the party to make her hate you already?" Jenna asked as he met her at the large double doors.
     "Duke and I were watching her and her friend for a few minutes. I didn't do anything."
     "Well she's onto you, somehow. Don't ask me how, but she knows there's something wrong here. The moment I mentioned your name she tensed and nearly cut my head off with her stare."
     "She can't know what we are yet. I don't understand why she's so uptight already. We haven't held a conversation, and I've only been within ten feet of her. No closer."
     "Well you did something that scared her. Don't hope on getting that conversation with her for a long time. The anger in her eyes was so intense, I'd say she was already one of us."

"I kept your place in the house," I said and took a deep breath. "My mother never liked that I sat in your seat at the table, never with her at the other end. Remember how I would sit back and forth when you were both at the table?"
     He laughed, "Yes, I remember."
     We sat for hours and talked, neither of us tired now. He broke the news that he wouldn't be able to see me much, unless I always stayed up like this, which he didn't want me to do. I needed sleep for school, he said. I grudgingly agreed.
     That morning around seven he left again for work I supposed, and I decided to take it upon myself to get a feel for the city and walk around. I knew it was large, but that was it, and I wanted to find a library, or at least the school.
     I went to the fridge and found there wasn't very much in it. Why wasn't I surprised? I found a couple bottles of water at the bottom of the fridge, took one, and an angry looking bowl of rice and hamburger. Had my dad given up on cooking? I found a container with a lid and put the mixture into it, closing it securely and put them in a grocery bag, something which my dad seemed to have an abundance, if nothing else. I figured I would go shopping once I found somewhere to do that.
     It was cloudy when I walked out of the house, realizing I locked myself out. The keys were still sitting on the table where Jenna had placed them before I kicked her out. I sighed, my dad wasn't going to be home for a while. Maybe I'd make a friend somewhere along the way and stay there for a while. I didn't want to stay out after dark.
     At some point during the day I found Hickling Park, having passed Hickling Trail. I stayed there for lunch, and watched some people playing soccer and thought about joining them, but I wasn't sure how friendly the people were around here. After I finished my rice and half my bottle of water, I checked my phone, and decided to call my mother.
     "Honey?" My mother's worried voice came through the phone.
     "Hi mom."
     "Where are you? Are you okay?"
     "I'm at a park, and yes. I just went for a walk, dad's at work."
     "There's a park?"
     "Yes mom," I said and rolled my eyes. "There's a park."
     "Well that's good," she said, trying to keep conversation. "Charles says hello."
     "Good for him," I said, and sighed. "Look I have to go, I'm going for the rest of my walk. Talk later."
     I closed the phone, and kept walking, passing a small plaza that had a Macs store, a pizza place, tanning place, tattoo store, restaurant, and an animal hospital. I turned right from Johnson Street and found myself in front of the school I'd be attending. Eastview Secondary School. It was pretty big, and I wondered if I was transferred yet. Should have asked my mom. I opened the phone and text her, and she replied with a simple yes.
     I closed the phone, and looked past the school, finding another plaza down the road. I wondered if I would find anything past there. It looked like a spontaneous event could happen past those lights, but I wasn't sure I wanted to go there yet. It was nearly three in the afternoon, and I had no friends yet. Big surprise.
     I walked into the school, much to my amazement it was open, and a girl walked past me with what I assumed to be a report card. We smiled at each other and kept going. At least they were friendly here.
     "Hey," the girl called, making me turn around. "I haven't seen you around before. You new here?"
     "Yeah," I said, and she smiled.
     "Need help with anything?"
     "No. I think I'm good, thanks," I said and she nodded, turning from me. "Wait, actually I do have a question." She turned back. "Could you tell me where the library is?"
     "Oh, yeah. It's downtown," she said. "Do you know where the City Hall is?"
     "No idea. I just moved here last night."
     "Oh. Well, from here you could take the bus downtown. Then when you see the Scotia Bank, get off and turn right, up the road and you'll see a brown building on the next block. That's the library."
     "Thanks," I said, and we smiled at each other, and she left. I went to the main office and asked them if they had a timetable for me, and if I could check out the school so I wouldn't get lost. Of course, I wasn't allowed to wander around myself, but they did have a timetable for me, and she gave me a map of the school for reference if I do get lost on the first day. I thanked her and left, then made my way to the bus stop.
     I was so-so on whether I wanted to go downtown today, there was a lot of traffic and I didn't know the area. It could be potentially dangerous. Maybe another day? I still had tomorrow before school started on the Tuesday, so I could try my courage then?
     No, of course I couldn't do that. If I put it off now I'd find another excuse tomorrow to do the same thing. I stood there for a good fifteen minutes waiting for the bus before I decided to trust my instincts and get on the bus that stopped for me. No sweat. I took a seat and watched out the window, making land marks in my mind. Then we passed the Scotia Bank building, and I nearly panicked as I pushed the button to stop.
     I jumped off the bus after muttering a thank you to the driver, ignoring the other people watching me. I walked back to the bank, and looked to my right, but that was going down to the water. The girl had specifically said up the street, so I started going up the small hill.
     Just as she'd said, there was the brown building, and soon found myself standing by the doors of the library. I looked at it, wondering if I should go in, when a man came up behind me.
     "Hey, you going in?" he asked, and I looked at him, already warming up to him, but I didn't know why. I didn't even know him. I nodded. "Me too." He said, and I followed him in. He turned to me and smiled as he held the door open. "Are you Rebecca Redowa by any chance?"
     "No," I growled at that, and he apologized.
     "Sorry, was just trying to make conversation."
     "I'm Rebecca James, my mother's last name has recently changed to that last name you speak of." He laughed, and I smiled. He was around twenty-one, give or take a year.
     "I'm Kyle," he said, and I nodded. "No last name I like to speak of." He smirked. I rolled my eyes. Using words someone else just used before you wasn't that cool. I went to the secretary and smiled at her. She gave me a curt smile back, and a genuine one to Kyle. I huffed, and her attention came back to me with a scowl.
     "Do you have any maps of Barrie?" I asked, and she pointed at the table by the door. "Thanks," I said and moved swiftly. I didn't like that woman.
     "I'd like to use a computer," Kyle said as I got to the door. I slowed to listen as the secretary started to talk.
     "Sorry, there aren't any open right this moment."
     "That's alright, thanks anyway," he said, and I held the door open for him as he walked out. "So where are you headed?"
     "Back to Cheltenham Street," I said and sighed. "That's where I live now."
     "I heard."
     "You did, did you?" I asked accusingly. Why did I think he was stalking me?
     "I mean, I read it on the MSN News about you moving here. They called you by the last name of Redowa. That's why I asked." Right. Like I'd believe that load of bull.
     "Right," I said and started walking.
     "You want a ride?" he asked as I unfolded the city map. I shook my head and he shrugged and began to walk away. He seemed so familiar, like everything and everyone else around here lately.
     When I got home, my dad was already there, and I wondered why he was off early.
     "Shorter shift so I could help get you settled in here," he replied and looked at the open map in my hands. I smiled. "Looks like you found your way around though," he added.
     "Yeah I found a park, the school, and I found the library with some help. You should have told me you were going to be home early," I said, but was secretly thankful.
     "Good thing too, I noticed your keys, so I thought you were home, then found out you weren't," he said, and I smiled sheepishly. "Don't worry, I do it too," he said and sat down. "The spare key is under the steps to the door. So, what do you want for supper?"
     "What is there?" I asked with a laugh.
     "I was thinking take-out, your choice."
     "Oh," I frowned. He must have heard it in my voice, because he cleared his throat and turned back around to look at me.
     "Or we could go shopping and get something for supper at Price Choppers or something," he quickly spurted out and I smiled.
     "My treat," I said and closed the map up, laying it on the table. I beat him down the few stairs in his old age, as I joked, and got in his not-so-new Jeep. I remembered it when it was new.
     So we shopped for food and canned goods, and mostly the basics first, then went onto what we were having that night. We bought four pounds of boneless chicken, dried thyme, pepper flakes, olive oil because he was almost out, garlic cloves, oranges, green beans, and button mushrooms. All of it cost over a hundred dollars, but that's raisins compared to my account.
     With all these ingredients and some of the things my dad already had at home, together we made a special four servings of chicken with mushrooms and green beans. We ate like a King and Queen that night, and I could tell he especially liked it because he ate half of what was made. After that he went to bed to get up early in the morning. He'd be gone before I got up. I got back up around midnight and packed the last serving of chicken into a lunch container and sat it in the fridge. I wrote him a note to look in the fridge, and then wrote a note on the container so he'd know what he was looking for. I put his last bottle of water beside it and laid a crystal light packet -strawberry kiwi flavor- on top of the container. I smiled and went back to bed.
     I woke up sometime in the A.M. after hearing a laugh in the corner of my room. I squinted through the dark, but all I saw was an outline and my window partially open. Had it not been locked?
     "Who's there?" I asked, my voice shaking.
     "Your worst nightmare," the familiar voice whispered back. Would he finally let me see him? "And Rebecca, this is your worst nightmare, to be awake and actually die."
     "You're in my head," I said, and he laughed. I tried to forget the window was open. Then it clicked closed. His laughter stopped. I looked at the window, and he started walking to me. My heart raced, and I didn't know what to do. Scream?
     "I wouldn't," he said seriously and took one last step as he reached my bed. "I've come to kill you, you're the last one I need to do that to, and my mistress has what she wants."
     "What is it that she wants?" I asked quietly.
     "The one who's after you, of course. Think back, who was staring at you and your similar looking friend?" the man asked, and I instantly saw Duke and Claude. "That's right."
     "Well I don't want him, either of them, so she doesn't have to worry," I said as fast I could. "I don't want anything to do with them."
     "Doesn't matter what you want," he hissed. I closed my eyes tight and imagined he wasn't there. I opened them, and he was gone. I reminded myself how to breathe, and laid back down. That seemed like a really close encounter. What was going on here?
     I woke to my phone screaming lyrics from His Infernal Majesty and I opened the phone. Karli had gotten me into the band, and so that was her ringtone. I placed my phone at my ear and said hello.
     "Hi RJ, what's going on?" she asked, and I looked at the time. "Hello?"
     "Oh, uh, nothing really. Just woke up," I said quickly and sat up in bed. Seven o'clock, oh well, I could go to the park and the library again today.
     "How are you holding up?" Karli asked, and I sighed.
     "Alright. Sort of a bore not being with you guys."
     "Well, do you want to come down for Halloween? I'm going to this party, and I'm allowed to bring a friend. It's a very official party, a lot of people are going to be there."
     "Halloween party? I don't know, I had a good scare last night myself."
     "What do you mean? Are you okay?"
     "Yeah, it's hard to explain."
     "I have a few minutes for you to figure it out."
     "Okay," I said and paused. I hummed and hawed, and finally came out with it. "Alright well it was weird. I woke up, and there was this guy standing in my room, and my window was partially open. So you remember Claude DeLuca and Duke Kristen from that party right?"
     "Yeah, how could I forget?"
     "Okay, well, apparently this girl wants him, and one of them wants the woman that wants the one that wants me, but I don't want anything to do with either of them-"
     "Why not? And how do you know about this so-called girl?"
     "The guy in my room."
     "Oh, okay right."
     "Yeah, so what happened is he walked over to my bed, and told me he's going to kill me, because that's what his mistress wants, so she can have the guy. Then I shut my eyes and pretended he wasn't there, and I opened my eyes, and he was gone. How weird is that?"
     "Really weird, but it was a dream right?" Karli asked anxiously.
     "That's the thing, did Eric tell you about my little episode at my mum's?"
     "Yeah."
     "Well it was the same guy that talked to me again. When I thought I was getting mad at Eric, and was talking out loud to him, but it wasn't him that I was talking to-"
     "Whoa, you lost me."
     "Sorry, I told you it was hard to explain."
     "Start with that talking to Eric thing again."
     "Alright, when I stopped on the stairs and Eric thought I was freaking out at him for something he didn't do, I wasn't really talking to him. I thought it was Eric in my head, and that's why I said his name. Except it wasn't Eric, it was some other guy messing in my head."
     "That's not good. I've never heard of that before. Religion would say it's a demon in your head, trying to control your body, but I don't really know. That stuff doesn't happen anymore. You know?"
     "Yeah, I know, but he wasn't trying to make me do anything to myself or anyone else around me. He was just talking to me, and that was it. Then he left my head and I woke up, I don't know what else to call it, on the floor."
     "I don't know, RJ, this sounds like a serious condition."
     "I need a psychiatrist."
     "I don't think they could help you. That's not a normal condition."
     "Why did you call so early?" I asked suddenly, and she paused.
     "I don't know, thought you might like an early wake up call. You really shouldn't party you know. It's bad for you." We both laughed over the phone.
     "Yeah, partying. My dad is such a dud, he doesn't even have alcohol in the house because he can't afford proper food."
     "Are you serious? Come and live me, that's an order. You need to eat right."
     "I will eat right, I need to buy stuff at the store, but I'm getting to know this area now, and I can find places no problem. I got a map yesterday from the library. The secretary is such a bitch."