Isaac threw the rope back out to me and I regained position. After several more tries and failures, my arms ached and my back hurt. My teeth chattered and my body trembled from the cold. I looked into the boat and saw Isaac and Don talking and laughing.
They"re laughing at you. You"re making a fool of yourself.
Embarra.s.sed, I cupped my hands around my mouth. "I"m done."
"You sure?" Isaac asked.
I nodded, disappointed with myself. It looked so easy when Isaac did it. I started swimming back to the boat. When I reached it, I held on to the side with one hand and unhooked my lifejacket with the other. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something skimming across the top of the murky water. I froze. It looked like a snake. My skin crawled. Something slippery slid along my belly. I screamed, letting go of the boat. When I flailed my arms, the life jacket slipped off and floated away. I tried to grab back on to the boat, but the waves pushed me away. My heavy ski encased feet made it difficult to swim. Something brushed my bare thigh. I pulled hard with my arms, feeling the water give under the pressure. Exhausted and scared, my body sunk. Panic burned through my chest as my head slipped beneath the waves.
Isaac"s voice called to me from above and I heard a splash near me. I reached up toward the surface but something pulled at my legs, yanking me further underwater. An arm came around my waist, hoisted me up. When I broke the surface I gulped air, sucking in fiercely. Shaken, I glanced over at Isaac who held me tightly.
"You alright?" he asked, fear etching his features.
I nodded, embarra.s.sed and terrified in the same moment. As he helped me into the boat he asked what happened.
"I don"t know," I responded, still short of breath. "There was something in the water. A snake, I think. It was pulling me down."
All three of them stared at me in disbelief. I must have sounded like a complete idiot. There was probably nothing at all in the water. I just panicked, that"s all. When they started the boat back up, I glanced down at the water. Flecks of gold beneath the surface caught my attention. Squinting, I tried to make out the shape. It was long and thin, shimmering green and gold. A reptilian head crowned the surface. Now I could see the snake clearly as it slithered alongside.
"See." I latched on to Isaac"s arm. "Right there." I pointed but there was only a long thin stick bobbing in the waves. My stomach dropped. Had I just imagined the whole thing?
"What?" Isaac asked.
"Nothing."
By the end of the day, my body was sore and tired and my skin was red from the sun. After my failed attempt at skiing, Sandy ended up going out. You could tell she was an old pro. She glided along the water with ease. Isaac urged me to try again but I was too scared to get back in the water. I wasn"t sure if the snake had all been in my imagination or not but it freaked me out.
Once safely docked, I was grateful to be back on dry land. My legs were still wobbly and my body swayed a little as I got my bearings. I thanked Don and then approached Sandy who was applying Chap Stick to her red sun burnt lips.
I rubbed my own chapped lips together. "Hey, thanks for having me out on your boat. That was fun."
"You"re welcome anytime." Sandy flashed me a smile and then glanced over at the guys who were chuckling about something. Then she leaned in close. "Be careful, Kenzie. That snake is out to destroy you, and you can"t defeat him alone. There is only one person who can save you from him."
My chest tightened, my face reddened. "What do you mean?" I could hear Isaac"s footsteps as he neared me.
Sandy stood back, glanced over at him. She threw me a pointed look and then smiled lightheartedly at the guys. It was clear she wasn"t going to say any more in front of them.
I shivered despite the warm temperature in the air.
Chapter Twelve.
"Kenzie. Kenzie, wake up."
My body was warm, my mind groggy and my eyelids heavy. I honed in on the voice that I"d never heard before but was oddly familiar, and tried to surface. When my eyelids fluttered open I was greeted by total darkness. I squinted, attempting to locate the person who woke me. A cold breeze blew against my neck, shivered down my spine.
"Kenzie."
I whipped my head in the direction of the voice. My eyes had adjusted now and I couldn"t see anyone in the room. My pulse quickened.
"H-h-h.e.l.lo?" I spoke into the air.
"h.e.l.lo."
Startled, I jumped back and my head slammed against the wall. I fumbled for the reading light on my nightstand and flicked it on. Dim light filled the room.
"W-who"s there?"
"C"mon, Kenzie, you know who I am."
Wesley. It had to be him.
"Where are you?" My breath came out in shallow gasps and my gaze swept the room. I was both excited and terrified. What did the dead look like?
"I"m right here with you. Where I always am."
"Why can"t I see you?"
"Cause you"re not trying hard enough."
Something brushed past me, rubbed against my skin. I felt pinp.r.i.c.ks down my arm. Near my feet the bed gave and sloped down as if someone sat there. I swallowed, lubricating my dry throat. A part of me wished Wesley would just slip back into the board and stay there until I conjured him again. Another part of me wished him to materialize and show himself to me.
As if in response to my last thought, the silhouette of a man appeared sitting on the bed near my feet. My heart raced and my palms filled with sweat. I pulled my legs in closer to my body, which trembled violently.
"h.e.l.lo Kenzie."
He turned toward me. I gasped in horror. He was faceless. His face was a black hole with no eyes, nose or mouth, like a shadow. Was this what ghosts looked like? I thought for sure they"d be white like in the movies.
"Oh, I"m sorry," he said. "Is this better?"
His face transformed before my eyes. Black turned into peach colored flesh. It stretched and bent to reveal a cartilage filled nose. Two eyes popped out, ears broke through the side of his head. Lips, hair, a body and clothes appeared. My mouth dropped open, hung loosely as if it had come unhinged. I slapped my hand over it to keep from screaming.
"You don"t need to scared," he said.
"How did you do that?"
"You think that"s amazing? I can do much more than that."
I nodded, taking a deep breath. "I think that"s enough for me right now."
He moved toward me, crawling stealthily on the bed like a cat. I moved away from him until I was pinned against the wall. He smiled, revealing blood red gums and a perfect row of white teeth. His pupils were black and the whites were filled with spidery red and purple veins. My body shook.
"Why are you scared, Kenzie? Don"t you recognize me?"
That"s when I figured it out. This man or ghost or whatever looked identical to the picture of my dad. He even wore the same white t-shirt and jeans and his hair was long past his ears, resembling a retro seventies do. The only thing that was missing was the beard. Just as the thought entered my mind, stubble grew along his jaw line and sprouted into a full- blown beard.
My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat.
"Never underestimate what I can do, Kenzie." His voice was deep and alluring. I wondered if it was the same voice he had when he was alive.
"Dad?" My voice cracked.
Wesley chuckled as he came closer until he sat just inches from me. He smelled like fire. Blood rushed to my head, pulsed through my ears.
"Are you my dad?" I asked.
"What do you think?"
Our eyes met and I feared I might faint. "I think you are."
"Then it must be the truth."
"Did you hurt my mom?"
A shadow pa.s.sed over his eyes. The white became so dark it looked like two black holes stared at me. I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Is that what she told you?" His voice was angry now and he hissed like a snake.
Opening my eyes, I shook my head. "No."
"Good, because it"s not true. I never hurt her."
"Did you love her?"
Wesley turned toward the door, his ears perking like a dog"s. Outside my bedroom I heard a door creak and feet shuffling on the carpet. My body tensed. The noise came closer and I jumped out of bed and scrambled to the door.
"Kenzie," Grandma said through my door.
I shot a panicked look to Wesley.
"Good-bye," he said, waving. His body turned back into the black shadow I"d first seen and then materialized into thin air. A breeze blew past me cold as ice. The smell of smoke lingered in the air.
"Yes, Grandma." I smoothed down my hair and then swung the door open.
She stood in the doorway in her flannel pajamas, her hair messed up.
"Is everything okay?" Her gaze shot around my room, her neck craning to look behind the bed and door. "I thought I heard talking in here."
"Nope. Just me. I was having trouble sleeping."
"Me too. If you want I can make you a cup of tea."
"Sure." I hoped it would calm my nerves. As I left the bedroom, I noticed that the rug at the foot of my bed had been moved just like my first night at Grandma"s. I froze. Was Wesley the figure I saw standing in my room that night?
It was late morning when I sat on the porch swing, sipping a cup of coffee and mulling over what had transpired the night before. After Grandma and I had our cup of tea, I was able to fall back asleep and by the time I woke up she had already left for work. The sun was already burning and it was scorching hot outside, but I was frightened inside by myself. What if Wesley returned? I mean, don"t get me wrong. It was cool to meet my dad, but it was also pretty creepy being that he was a ghost and all.
"Kenzie?"
My head snapped up at the sound of Rhiannon"s voice. I hopped out of the swing and raced across the yard. "Rhiannon! I"m so glad you"re back!" I threw my arms around her.
"Wow. That"s quite a welcome." She squirmed out of my embrace.
"You look great," I said.
Her nose and cheeks were pink from the sun, giving her pale skin a subtle glow.
"Thanks. You should"ve seen me a week ago. I totally resembled a lobster."
"Where"d you go?"
"Hawaii," she said nonchalantly.
"Hawaii? That"s awesome. I"ve never been but I"ve always wanted to go there."
"Yeah, it"s pretty cool." She shrugged.
"Just pretty cool? I"ve heard it"s like paradise on earth."
"I guess. It just kind of sucked because my parents spent all the time on their laptops so I was mostly by myself."
"I"m sorry," I said. "But at least you were on a beach."
"That"s true." Rhiannon gave me the once-over. "You don"t look so good."
"Thanks a lot," I said sarcastically.
"Sorry. It"s just that your aura"s a mess and you look like you haven"t slept in days. Is everything okay?"
I bit my lip. "A lot happened while you were away."
She raised her brow. "With lover-boy?"
Shaking my head, I said, "No, with Wesley."
Her eyes widened. "Spill."
I motioned toward the porch swing. "I think you"d better sit down for this." After we both sat, I told her everything from buying the Ouija board to Wesley"s late night visit. When I finished, Rhiannon"s face had turned green and she looked close to puking.
"Do you need me to stop rocking?" I asked.
"What?" She gave me a blank look.