Blue & Green
19
"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change."
Chloe was never the type of girl who pushed for information, especially from emotionally-distant Derek. He seemed to have become increasingly quiet and withdrawn over the few weeks; it didn't really come as a surprise when Derek finally told her about meeting his father.
"Oh," was all she had thought to say, unsure of what to say, how to react. She was tempted to Google it: "how to react when your best friend tells you they're talking to their dad they've never known."
That had been three weeks ago, her siting in the bay window cubby, skin warmed by the sun that played hide and seek with the fluffy clouds, her cellphone cradled between her cheek and shoulder as she watched the neighborhood bustle, the runners and bikers, dog-walkers, children, that cars that passed with music too loud.
They hadn't really spoken much about it. She didn't press. He didn't offer anything new. It wasn't like he suddenly dropped her for his father; they just didn't hang out as much with everything going on.
There were no more leads on her stalker, which only added to her stress but other than that, things were pretty great.
Rae and her were like sisters but sometimes Chloe missed the quiet afternoons spent fiddling with Photoshop, now filled with Rae's loud laughter and anime music-obsession and endless nights camped out in Chloe's room—Rae had told Chloe it was because she didn't have any sisters who were old enough to understand the complexity of over-arching anime plot lines and her TV was nice—to binge whatever anime had caught Rae's attention. After fifteen years of being an only child, to suddenly have a sister was an abrupt jump. Still Chloe didn't mind; it made her anxiety ease to have someone who knew what hell it was to live in your head.
"I'm making breakfast tacos," Chloe called happily from the stove when Rae clamored in from her softball practice.
Rae hummed a response, mouth full of a granola bar as she wandered in, her skin gleaming with sweat. Her tank-top and shorts stuck to her thighs as she walked closer. "You got a letter," she said casually, waving a white envelope at her, wiping her face with the towel draped across the back of her neck.
Chloe froze, an icy shot of fear winding through her like a barbed-wire lance, and the hand grasping the handle of the pan dropped, spilling the contents all over the stovetop. "No, no, no! Not when everything's so good," she muttered, watching with wide, terrified eyes as Rae pulled open the flap and a page fluttered out, unassuming.
"Why? What do you mean?" Rae was already turning over the paper, and Chloe watched as the doe-like brown eyes of her stepsister widened in terror and she sucked in a breath. "What? What the hell? Who…"
The blonde darted forward, ignoring the half-scrambled eggs that lay burning in the pan, and grasped the letter, yanking it away from Rae. There were no words, only a picture, and that was enough to shock Chloe, forcing breath from her lungs in a soundless sob.
Rae rushed towards her, wrapping strong arms around her, holding her up.
Chloe couldn't stop the shudders from racking, the animal sobs tearing from her somewhere deep and heavy, hot tears blinding her with sharp pain, but she couldn't focus on any of it. All she could focus on was the contents of the blurry photograph, the familiar grey-blue walls, the photos tacked up above a head board, the head of strawberry-blonde hair.
Her head of strawberry-blond hair, streaked with red.
Taken from outside her room while she slept soundly, the blinds casting moonlight slants across her relaxed face.
Derek's phone ringing cut through the home movie Zachary was showing him, and the caller ID told it was Rae. He debated on not answering but asked his dad to pause the movie and picked up.
Rae's voice came across the line too high and thin, sounding like she'd been crying. "Derek? Are you busy?" The sound of fabric rustling and a quiet click, dim conversations muted; she must've closed the door in a room. "So-something happened. Chloe—" A sharp, shaky inhale. "She's—she's okay, I guess as okay as one can be in this situation but—what I mean is she's not hurt but she's really freaked out."
Derek clutched his phone tighter, feeling the ridges of the hard plastic case digging into his palm as he growled quietly. "Rae, slow down. What happened?" he hissed, painfully aware of Zachary's concerned gaze on him as he paced.
"Derek," Rae began in a quivering voice that cracked on the words as she dissolved into soft crying, "the stalker is back. He—I don't even know how and it's so creepy—Chloe's okay and Lauren should be—my mom—shit, sorry." She swallowed hard, inhaled deep. "The stalker sent her another letter, this time with a picture of her asleep, taken outside her room."
Derek's blood turned to ice. "Where—" he started but she quickly interrupted him quickly.
"The station where her uncle works."
He ended the call and turned to Zachary. "Wanna meet my mate?" he asked, already reaching for his scuffed boots.
Zachary stood from the couch, stretching, bones popping. "Sure."
Derek grabbed his keys and headed out.
