Mary Sue Seven: Chased

As I hurried back to the Triot campus, I replayed the conversation in my head. What had pissed me off so much?

I flung some of my blonde hair behind my back, remembering that I’d left my hat back at the house. I sighed, slowing to a trudge. I’d have to go back and get it sometime.

The main road through the campus stretched from the east end to the west end and passed most of the major buildings. It was a generally well-traveled road, but today, I didn’t see many people. Perhaps it was because it was winter vacation. I shoved my numbing hands into my pockets and sighed.

Maybe it made me mad that Daemon was right. He had a better reason for caring what people thought about him. I didn’t. I felt a sob escape my throat, and I wiped some wayward tears away. Why was I crying? I sniffed, trying to stop the tears from flowing, and rubbed my eyes with my sleeve.

The sound of footsteps. I turned.

“Colin,” I muttered. He was definitely one of the people I didn’t want to see.

“What’s the matter, Ems?” he asked. “I saw you come out of that house crying.” He put a hand on my shoulder.

“I… I’m not crying,” I answered. I shrugged his hand away.

“Your boyfriend’s in that house, isn’t he?” Colin asked forcefully.

Had he been following me? I shifted awkwardly. No… no, of course he wasn’t following me. That would be creepy. “No. I told you I don’t have a boyfriend,” I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest and shaking my head. “Please, Colin, I’m not in the mood right now.” I began walking away from him toward the dorm building.

His footsteps crunched after me in the shallow snow. He grabbed my shoulder.

“Ems, stop lying to me,” Colin grunted. “Someone had to have made you cry. Bring me to the house. Prove that there’s no one there and maybe I’ll believe you.”

I turned to him, took a breath. I brushed my sleeve against my cheek and thought a moment. If I took Colin to the house, Daemon would almost certainly be discovered. Maybe Colin had seen his face on the news. Maybe he would turn Daemon in. But if I didn’t take Colin to the house, the rumor would still be out there, and Colin might even go to the house on his own. I pulled my sleeves over my hands. The first was definitely the better option – I didn’t think Colin was the kind of guy who watched the news too often.

I licked my lips and cleared my throat. “Okay, then. Follow me.”

Colin smiled.

We walked back to the house, crossing the street and working our way up to the edge of the campus. We arrived within a few minutes, and I approached the door, forcing my way through the weeds and unruly plants that blocked the pathway.

I stopped in front of the door, staring at the gaping hole where the knob was supposed to be. I turned back to look at Colin.

“Well? Open it,” Colin urged. He stared at me.

Was it possible that Daemon had heard us already? Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe we would take him by surprise. What then? I traced one of the knots in the wood with my finger, feeling as though I was betraying him. I turned back to Colin.

“I… I don’t think this is such a good idea,” I said, kicking at a small mound of snow with my toe. “Let’s go back.” I tried to walk around him, but he blocked my way.

“No, Ems,” Colin growled. “Open the door.”

“Look, there’s no one in there,” I said. “I always visit this house… I’m taking pictures of it for my photo project. It’s nothing; there’s no one here.” I tried to push past him again, and again he blocked my way. This time, he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back against the door.

“If you’re not going to open it, then I will,” he said, reaching past me to open the door.

I moved over, trying to block his way. “There’s no one in there, Colin,” I repeated as I moved in front of his hand. “It’s a deserted house; there’s no one there.” I was thinking fast, but I couldn’t find a solution to my problem.

Colin looked down at me. He grabbed my forearms. “If there’s no one in there, why shouldn’t I go in? What are you hiding, Ems?”

“Let go, Colin,” I said. I tried to pull away, but he held me tight. “Colin.”

But Colin wouldn’t budge. His gaze was locked onto mine. My heart jumped and a pit of fear formed in my stomach. I swallowed hard and tried once again to pull away. He tugged me closer.

“Stop it,” I said. My voice cracked a little. “What are you doing? Let go.”

“Tell me who this other guy is,” Colin muttered. He pushed me forcefully against the doorframe, causing a loud thump. The wind was momentarily knocked out of me, and I was speechless from surprise. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

“Let go, Colin,” I demanded. I looked up at him. He wouldn’t move.

Just then, I heard the door open with a thud.

“Why don’t you let her go, Colin? It’s not gentlemanly of you to manhandle a girl.”

My eyes widened.

Colin was staring just past my head. His grip on my arms loosened, and I pulled away slowly, watching his facial expression change from shock to anger.

“Who are you?”

“That’s really none of your business.”

“Are you dating Ems?”

I swallowed hard, still refusing to look at Daemon. He paused.

“Are you?” I could almost hear Daemon’s smirk.

Colin slammed a fist into the wood next to my head. I flinched.

“Tell me!”

I felt Daemon’s strong grip on my shoulder. He pulled me to his side, away from Colin.

“No. But she’s certainly not going to date you.” And with that, he kicked the door closed, grabbed my arm, and dragged me toward the other end of the room. Pulling me into the next room, we turned a corner, entered another room, and hurried through the back door into the open air. I heard the front door burst open as we exited.

We ran around through the underbrush to the front of the house. Colin was no longer outside; the front door was ajar, and I could hear him banging around inside the house.

I looked up at Daemon for the first time. My mouth fell open. He was wearing the hat I’d left behind so that it hid his eyes and shaded half of his face. Even if Colin had watched the news, he wouldn’t have recognized Daemon.

He glanced down at me, releasing my arm.

“Where to?” he asked, adjusting the hat so that I could see his black eyes. His cheeks had taken on a slight pink hue, probably from running.

“Daemon, I’m really sorry,” I blurted. “It just bothered me, I guess, the things you said. You were right and I didn’t want… well, I guess I just didn’t want to be wrong.”

“He’ll be out any minute now,” Daemon said, ignoring my apology. He looked toward the door. “So let’s get out of here.”

“Well uh… why don’t we go back to the dorm and I can grab my bag,” I said awkwardly. What else should we do at a time like this? “Then I should go develop the pictures I took of the house. You can join me, if you like.”

“Fine,” he said. “Lead the way.”

We walked across the lawn and a few streets before reaching the main road. Making sure there wasn’t anyone around, I led him to the entrance to the dorm and we hurried upstairs.

I stood in front of my door, fumbling around in my pocket for the keys. I looked at Daemon, who was staring at the floor.

“Thank you.” It came out as a whisper. I cleared my throat and glanced at the floor. “I… I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come out and gotten him to release me. Who knows what he would have done?” Looking up at him, I found my key and fingered it, taking the doorknob in my hand.

His eyes roamed my face for a moment. “Maybe he would have released you,” he said. “Or maybe you would have just let him in, and he would have beaten the crap out of me.” His gaze was sharp.

“What… what makes you say that?” I asked, sensing his anger. I stuck the key in the hole, but I didn’t turn it.

“I didn’t realize you were outside until I heard something hit the doorframe,” Daemon answered, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you had come in before then, he would have caught me off guard.”

I couldn’t answer. His scenario had been entirely probable. I knew that if I had opened the door instead of blocking Colin’s way, Colin would have barged in and assumed Daemon was my boyfriend. And what would have happened then?

I turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open. I shuffled inside, Daemon following me. As we walked inside, he took my hat off and put it on the desk. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, so I walked over to my closet and pretended to try and find a change of clothes.

As I stared at the clothes hanging in my closet, I thought about the consequences the incident could cause. Colin obviously suspected something now, what with Daemon actually showing himself. I wondered if I would ever hear the end of it, or if it would get around school. I sighed as I opened a drawer and pulled out a turtleneck.

“Um,” I turned around, taking the turtleneck out of the closet and looking at Daemon out of the corner of my eye. “Why… why did you help me?”

“If I hadn’t, and something had happened, I would have been just as guilty as Colin,” Daemon answered. He was talking to the window.

I took the opportunity to slip out of the sweater I was wearing and into the turtleneck. I threw the sweater to the side and pulled a heavier coat out of the closet.

“So… so it was for your own conscious,” I prodded. I pulled the coat on and adjusted the collar. Then, I walked to the mirror and spread some lip gloss on my chapped lips.

“Mostly, yes,” Daemon answered, turning around. “I didn’t really think Colin was going to do anything or that you were in any danger. It was… just in case.”

I stuck my hands in my pockets and surveyed him. He was still wearing the baggy sweats I’d lent him.

“Well,” I said, feeling slightly disappointed. “Let’s go get some lunch. Then, you can come with me to develop the pictures…” I lifted my purse off of the hook on the back of the door and retrieved Lisa’s camera from my bag.

Just then, I felt my purse vibrate. I stuck my hand inside and pulled out my rather outdated cell phone – I hadn’t had the money or the motivation to get a new one. I pressed the “talk” button.

“Hello?”

“Ems! It’s me. I’ve been trying to call you since the beginning of break. Where have you been? I was worried.”

“Chris! Hey,” I exclaimed. “Sorry, I’ve been… uh… busy.”

“Busy? How so?”

“Oh, I uh… I’ve been visiting that house a lot recently. It’s really beautiful in there, Chris. If only it could be fixed up, I think it would be really nice.” I looked up at Daemon and motioned for him to be quiet. Not like he was going to say anything, anyway.

“Ems, I’m calling because I just got a call from Lisa. She says… you have a boyfriend?”

What? The rumor made it to Christian, too? I stiffened.

“Uh, no, I don’t,” I said. “There’s a stupid rumor going around. It’s nothing. Anyway, Chris, I really have to go. I’m going to develop the pictures of the house now.”

“Okay. Call me later, all right?”

“Yeah, okay. Bye!” I hung up and turned to Daemon. “Ready to go?”

“Sure.”

-Lefty