Stalked by Death

Chapter 11

Since I’d come to the school, I’d had almost no contact with my mom. I’d emailed her once to tell her I wasn’t coming home but that I was okay. I deleted the email account immediately after I sent the message, because I knew if I got any emails back from her—which I definitely would have—I would’ve broken down and called her. I couldn’t let myself do that. This whole situation was too crazy to ask her to understand. She thought my dad had been some teenage jerk who didn’t want to take responsibility for getting his girlfriend pregnant. That was awful, but the truth would’ve been more painful to hear. How did you tell your mom that the guy she loved and had a child with wasn’t really human? That he was a Gorgon necromancer who was killed by his own kind barely a month after their baby was born?

Except now, my mom was the woman whose boyfriend and daughter walked out on her. I’d destroyed her life and mine. I had no parents left. At least knowing my dad’s body was nearby had given me a false sense of comfort. I’d never planned on raising him again, but I marked his grave and kept flowers on it. It was my way of letting him know I didn’t blame him for what had happened. Now, he was lost to me too. Hades had taken the one last piece of family I had.

I crumbled to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Alex bent down and wrapped his arms around me. He rocked me like a baby and whispered in my ear, but nothing registered. I was tuned out. All I could do was cry because the emotions inside of me were spilling over. Finally, the tears stopped coming. Alex took my head in his hands and raised it so I was looking at him.

“Hey, we’ll find a way to get him back, okay? I’ll strike a deal with Hades myself if I have to. I won’t let him take your dad away from you.”

“He already has, and it’s my fault. Everything is my fault.”

He shook his head. “No. Don’t say that. You never asked for this to happen.”

“I might not have asked for any of this to happen, but I gave in to it. No, I didn’t just give in to it. I became the freaking leader of the Ophi. I ruined my mom’s life, and I sentenced my father to be Hades’ slave in the underworld.” Somehow, I managed to find more tears, and they spilled over my cheeks.

“Jodi, I’m so sorry. I’m the one who came to get you. I’m the one who brought you here.”

I wiped my face and looked at him. “If you hadn’t come for me, my mother would be dead. Don’t you dare blame yourself. I killed her. You saved her. I owe you everything for that.”

He kissed my cheek and picked me up off the floor. Leticia stood there, trying not to stare at us. “Um, I’m going to wash up before lunch. I’m sorry, Jodi. About everything.”

I nodded. “Thanks, Leticia.”

The front door opened, and Chase and Randy walked in.

“Jodi, are you okay?” Chase asked.

Alex put his arm around me and started walking me toward the stairs. “She’ll be fine. I’ll take care of her.”

I didn’t even fight him. I couldn’t handle Chase right now. I didn’t have the energy. Alex waited in my room while I washed my face and tried to make myself look somewhat normal. The puffiness under my eyes wouldn’t go away, but at least I’d stopped crying. I took two aspirin for my headache, and several deep breaths, before I walked back to my room.

“All set?” Alex asked, getting up from the bed.

“I guess. Thanks for taking care of me.”

He reached for my hand. “Always.”

Everyone was already eating when we got to the dining room. I stopped in the doorway. I wasn’t the least bit hungry, and I didn’t feel like sitting through a meal with everyone talking about Hades, my dad, and my out-of-control powers.

“What is it?” Alex asked.

“You know, I think I need some fresh air,” I said. “I’m not really in the mood to eat. I’d rather go for a walk.”

“I’ll go with you.” His stomach growled in protest.

I smiled and patted his stomach. “No, go eat. I’ll be fine. I can use the time alone to clear my head.”

“Are you sure? I could grab a sandwich to bring with me.”

“I’m sure. Sit and relax. We have a long afternoon of training ahead of us. I want to look like we actually know what we’re doing when the others arrive tomorrow. The last thing I need is for them to turn right around and go back to Serpentarius.”

“Okay.” He lightly kissed my lips. “I have my cell, so call me if you get lonely or if you just can’t stand being away from me anymore.”

I smiled. That was my Alex, cocky in a cute way.

“See you later.” Chase caught my eye before I left, but I quickly turned away. No need to invite trouble. I walked down the hall and past the Medusa statue. Part of me wanted to stop and talk to her. Get her advice about my dad and Hades, but I really did want to clear my head and forget about everything for a while. I decided I’d talk to her later.

The air had a slight chill to it, the way I liked it. I didn’t want to go anywhere near the cemetery or my dad’s empty grave, so I headed around back and went into the woods. When I was younger, I loved walking in the woods, but I hadn’t really done it since I came into my powers. I hadn’t done a lot of things I loved to do before I stopped being human. When I’d drunk Medusa’s blood, I thought I was doing the right thing. Saving the Ophi and becoming what I was meant to be. Now… well, I wasn’t so sure.

I missed being human. I missed my best friend Melodie, my mom, Matt. I tried not to think about Matt. Poor Matt, who died for kissing me. Poor Matt, who I brought back as a zombie. He was my biggest regret. Alex had been able to save my mom. He’d gotten to her before I could bring her back wrong. But Matt—Alex hadn’t been in time to save him from me.

Sometimes, I wondered what my life would have been like if I hadn’t come into my powers. If I’d stayed human. I’d probably be in the cafeteria with Matt and Melodie complaining about how boring life was. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for a little boring in my life now.

I completely lost track of time, and before I knew it I was out of the woods and on a road. I had no idea how far I’d walked or how long I’d been out here. I reached for the cell in my back pocket. 1:10. I’d walked for over an hour. Everyone was probably wondering where I was. I saw I had a missed call from Alex. I forgot I’d silenced my phone. I dialed him back as a car came down the road. A car I’d know anywhere. Melodie’s car!

Without even thinking, I waved my arms in the air. The car went past me, but the brake lights came on and it slowed to a stop.

I heard a faint voice and remembered I’d called Alex. I put the phone up to my ear. “Jodi? Are you there? Where are you?”

“I have to call you back.” I ended the call as Melodie stepped out of the car. I smiled. Seeing her was like seeing a room full of presents on Christmas morning. I wanted to rush up to her and give her the biggest hug, but I felt the wetness on my cheeks and stopped.

“Oh, my God! Jodi! It is you!” Melodie’s shrieky voice sounded amazing. Like home. She rushed over to me, but I backed away. I couldn’t let her touch me, not while I was crying.

“Stay back, Mel. Please.” I held my hands in front of me to stop her.

“What? Why? Jodi, what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Where have you been? Your mom’s been worried sick. We all have.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You just left. You didn’t say a word to anyone. Your mom said you emailed her, but when she tried to email you back, she got a message saying the account had been deleted.”

I nodded and continued to back up. Melodie wouldn’t stop coming toward me. “Please, Mel. You have to stay away from me. Don’t come any closer, okay? Please. If anything happened to you, I’d—”

“What are you talking about? You’re acting crazy.”

“Look, can we go somewhere and talk? Your car, maybe?”

“Do you need a ride home?”

Home. There was nowhere I’d rather go, but I couldn’t. If I went back, I wouldn’t be able to leave again.

“No. I want to park somewhere and talk. Can we do that?”

Melodie laughed, breaking the tension. “I don’t usually park with girls, but hey, why not?”

I laughed. Good old Melodie. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed her. We walked to the car, and I got in the back passenger seat, as far from Melodie as possible.

“What do I look like, a cab driver? Get in the front.”

“No, I can’t. Mel, trust me, okay?”

“Trust you? You haven’t explained a single thing to me, and you’re asking me to trust you?”

“I know, but you’re my best friend.”

“Am I? ‘Cause last time I checked, you skipped town without telling me, your best friend.”

I didn’t have a response to that. I wasn’t even sure why I was in the car with her or why I’d flagged her down. This was all so stupid of me.

Melodie drove down the road and turned into a park. I looked out the window and did a double take. “This is Emory Park.”

“Yeah.” Melodie cut the engine and turned to look at me. She wrinkled her forehead. “What’s with you? You’re acting like you don’t know where you are.”

I thought I didn’t. When Alex had taken me to the school, we’d driven for hours. He’d encouraged me to take a nap because the drive was going to take so long and it was late. Yet here I was, only a little over an hour’s walk from the school, and I was in my hometown. How was this possible?

“He lied to me.” I got out of the car and looked around.

Melodie got out and walked over to me. “Jodi, what’s going on? Please, talk to me. Or at least let me take you home.”

“No. I can’t go home.”

“Why not? Where have you been, anyway?”

I shook my head. This was all so unbelievable. Alex had lied. He’d tricked me. I could understand not telling me in the beginning, when it was the hardest to be away from home and before he really got to know me. But why hadn’t he told me the truth after we got together?

“I can’t believe he did this to me!” I was angry. Really angry. I’d been feeling so bad about the whole Chase situation, which I didn’t really have much control over. Now that I knew Alex had lied to me, that he was still lying to me, I was furious.

“Who?” Melodie’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God! You ran away with him, didn’t you?” She grabbed my arm, but I yanked it away. “The strange guy from school? The one who was stalking you?”

I shook my head. I couldn’t let her know the truth, or anything close to it. It was too dangerous. Especially now that I knew the school was so close to home. “No.” I wracked my brain for a believable excuse. “It’s my dad. I found my dad.” Technically it wasn’t a lie.

“Your dad? I didn’t even think you knew who your dad was.”

“I didn’t, but I found him. It was something I had to do. I’m staying with him.” The lies rolled off my tongue a little too easily. I hated this. I hated not being able to tell my best friend the truth about who I really was.

“I don’t get it. Why would you just leave your mom?”

“Believe me, I didn’t want to. I miss her so much. It’s killing me that I’m not with her.” My eyes burned with the threat of more tears. I had to keep them in. I breathed deeply and squeezed my eyes shut until I felt the tears subside.

“Do you know Mr. Quimby went to see her?” Melodie sat down on a bench. “He told her you were mentally unstable. I heard him. I went to your house and saw his car in the driveway. Your mom and Mr. Quimby were talking in the kitchen. I heard your name and had to know what they were saying, so I listened in through the back window.”

“What else did he say?” I sat down at a wooden table, no longer able to stand.

“He said he’d been teaching for a while and had seen this sort of thing before. Kids taking off because they weren’t thinking clearly. He said that’s what probably happened with you.”

“I’m not crazy. Please, tell my mom I’m not crazy.” I reached for her hand but stopped myself. Physical contact was too risky.

“Tell her yourself. She’s really hurting right now. Let her know you found your dad. Even if you want to live with him—though I don’t know why you’d do that—you have to at least tell her. She deserves that.”

“I can’t. I can’t see her. It’s too hard. Please, Mel, just tell her I’m staying with my dad because I need to get to know him. Tell her I’m okay and that I love her.” I stood up. I couldn’t stay any longer. This had been a mistake. A huge mistake. I ran.

“Jodi!” Melodie’s footsteps pounded the ground behind me.

She wasn’t going to let me go, and I’d never outrun her if she got in her car. I made a split-second decision. I ran around the car and got in the driver’s seat, locking the doors so she couldn’t jump in. I turned the key, which was still in the ignition, and floored the gas. The tires screeched as I pulled a U-turn in the middle of the road. Melodie ran after me, screaming my name. I rolled down the window just enough to yell out, “I’m sorry, Mel!”

I sped away, unable to believe what I’d done. I stole my best friend’s car. I left her stranded. Her cell and purse were lying on the passenger seat. Crap! She couldn’t even call someone to pick her up. She was going to have to walk home. Some best friend I was. Now she was definitely going to think I’d lost my mind. Like it wasn’t bad enough I’d killed the one guy she had feelings for. Sure, Matt had been my almost boyfriend, but Melodie was the one in love with him. I’d broken her heart and stolen her car. Yeah, I was best friend of the year.

I thought about turning around and throwing her purse and cell out the window. It was the least I could do for her now, but at this point did it really matter? She was going to hate me either way, and I deserved it. No, I couldn’t turn back. Seeing Mel had been a mistake, and I wasn’t going to make that mistake twice. I kept driving.

I didn’t really know the way back to the school. I’d walked through the woods, not taken the roads. I did my best to keep heading in the direction I thought the school was in. Turns out none of the roads actually led to the school. That was when I remembered the road to the school wasn’t really a road. It was a beat-up old driveway that looked more like an overgrown trail. I slowed down and scanned the woods for any clearings big enough to fit a car through. Nothing. Why was this place so difficult to find? Maybe because all the residents were deadly to humans? That was a pretty good reason.

I spotted an area barely big enough for a car and pulled off the road. The car bounced and jostled more than a car should. I felt like I was rocketing off the ground every few feet. This couldn’t be right. The road Alex had taken was bumpy, but it wasn’t this bad. I didn’t have my seatbelt on. I’d been in too much of a hurry to get out of there before Melodie could stop me, and now I was being thrown around the front seat like a bag of groceries. I tried to hit the brakes, but with all the bouncing around, I wound up slamming on the accelerator instead. I turned the steering wheel hard to the left, trying to follow what I thought was a path, but a huge tree blocked my way. I slammed on the brakes, making the tires skid on the dirt and grass. I screamed as the car slammed into the tree. I lurched forward, and the last thing I felt was my forehead smack against the steering wheel.