Chapter 4
It wasn't until I got home that day that I realized that there was more going on than what I thought.
Dropping down on my bed, I noticed my window was open. I frowned. I got up to close the window, a large orange ball of fuzz leaped through the window and into my room.
I jumped back, trying to avoid being hit by Spike's claws.
"Jeez," I muttered, going back to my bed, where I took up a magazine. I expected Jesse to show up then. After all, he had been so worried about Spike. But he didn't come. I figured that it had to be because he was still mad at me. But as the minutes ticked by, I realized that it wasn't like Jesse to stay away after we fought. Usually he came back the next day.
A picture of Paul flashed through my head. Had he done something to Jesse? I pushed the thought from my mind. Paul couldn't do anything to Jesse. At least, I didn't think he could. But even as I thought this I realized that I didn't know what Paul could do.
Later that night, I stood in the front hallway, waiting for Paul. I pulled on the skirt of my silver slip dress. It was too short. I considered changing, but I decided against it. It was too late now.
The doorbell rang and my mom, who had been waiting with me, rushed to open it. You could totally tell she was excited about my date with Paul. It was almost pathetic.
The door swung open and my mom said, "Hello, you must be Paul. I'm Mrs. Ackerman."
I could see Paul over my mom's shoulder. He was smiling broadly. "It's nice to meet you." He looked at me in a way that made me tug at my dress self- consciously. This only made him smile more. "Hello, Suze," he greeted. "You look lovely tonight."
And so did he. He had on a white, button down shirt and a black tie, which would have looked horrible on anyone else, but looked great on him. I swallowed hard, plastering a smile on my lips. I just had to get through this one night, I reminded myself.
After my mom fussed over us for a good ten minutes, Paul and I finally made it out of the house and we started toward his car. I'm not sure what I expected him to drive, really. Maybe a sports car or something like that. But instead, he just drove a jeep. And it wasn't even a new jeep either, if the rust on the sides were any indication.
Paul took my arm and led me to the jeep. He opened the door for me, smiling appraisingly as he took in all that my dress revealed. I fought down the urge to tug at my skirt once more.
When Paul got into the driver's seat, I asked, "So, where are we going?"
"You'll see," was all he would say.
My stomach twisted with dread, but I didn't say anything. Whatever it was Paul was planning, he was doing a pretty good job of keeping it to himself.
We stopped in the parking lot for the forest preserve. I glanced around. It probably was a good place to take a girl you were planning to murder, I mused. No one really came there at night, so we would be alone.
Taking a deep breath, I followed Paul out of the car. He took my hand-once more making my skin crawl-and led me down a path. I'm not sure how far we went, but soon we came to a small meadow. Paul led me to the center of it where he had spread a blanket and a picnic basket. It would've been kind of romantic, if it had been with someone else.
Which reminded me about Jesse. I took a deep breath. "Paul, I need to talk to you about-"
Paul stopped and motioned for me to sit on the blanket. I did so with a horrible sinking feeling. Paul sat beside me, his leg brushing against mine. Even through the material of his black pants, I could feel his chill. I stifled a cringe. "Not now, Suze," he said in a low voice, opening the basket. He took out a bottle-filled, I noted, with ginger ale-and two glasses. "Let's not talk about that right now." He poured me a glass, then himself one. I swallowed the contents quickly, hoping that it would make this "date" go faster. Why, I wondered, didn't he want to talk? Wasn't that the whole point?
Apparently not, because he also took from the basket a bowl of assorted fruit and, of all things, fed them to me. I'm not kidding. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I had to remind myself that I was supposed to be acting here. But really, it was all I could do to not wipe that smug look off his face.
Needless to say, I didn't learn anything that night. My mind was on Jesse, and I was almost positive now that Paul had something to do with his disappearance. But he wouldn't talk about it. Each time I tried to bring it up, he made me eat another strawberry or something.
Finally, he took me home. When he stopped in front of my house, I nearly dived for the door handle. But instead Paul grabbed my arm. He was holding on so tightly that I was afraid he might be trying to break it.
"Suze," he said silkily, pulling me around to face him. "What's your rush?"
I tried feebly to jerk my arm from his grasp, but he just held on tighter, his smile growing. God, I hated this guy. He knew I was terrified and he was enjoying every minute of it.
"I.I have to get going," I gulped. "I'm really tired, you know."
Paul didn't answer. Instead, he undid his seat belt and slunk his arm around my waist. What was he doing? When I asked him that, he merely smiled. He drew me in closer and kissed me hard. It was probably the most repulsive thing I'd ever been subjected to.
I opened my mouth to protest, but his tongue flooded my mouth. I tried to push away, but he was too strong. His arms tightened around me, suffocating me. Finally, in an act of pure desperation, I bit down hard on his tongue.
His eyes widened and he pushed me away. Some of his blood filled my mouth, and I felt as though I was going to barf.
Paul wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes narrowing. "You little witch," he hissed, though he didn't say witch. He looked as though he wanted to lunge at me, but instead he muttered, "I'm going to make you regret that. You and your little boyfriend are going to pay dearly."
I didn't doubt it. I pushed open the passenger door, nearly running toward my house. When I turned back to look to see if Paul had gone, he was still there, watching me. I took a deep breath, and went back inside.
My mom was there, waiting for me. She made me tell her everything. I only left out the kiss. I didn't want her to know about that. I'd probably have nightmares about it for days.
I finally made it to my room, collapsing onto my bed, not bothering to change. Spike was still there. I sat up. What if Paul had exorcised Jesse? Or had he done something else to Jesse, something more horrible.
I decided to call him. "Jesse?" I called out as loudly as I dared. "Jesse!" But he didn't come. I didn't really expect him to, but I just needed to be sure.
The next day, I stayed home. I didn't want to face Paul. This entire thing was spinning out of control. If Paul wanted to play this game, fine. But I was going to do it my own way.
As soon as I was sure Paul would be home, I took out the slip of paper that he'd given me. I dialed the number, my fear building with each ring.
"Hello?"
"Paul?" I said, surprised at how calm I sounded.
"Suze," Paul said. You could totally tell by his tone that he was smirking. "What can I do for you?"
I took a deep breath. "You know why I'm calling."
Paul laughed. He sounded much more cheerful than I had expected him to be, especially after last night. But then, I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, I was doing exactly what he wanted-what he expected-me to do.
"Yeah, I know why you're calling. Am I'm glad you did. But I can't tell you now." There was a long pause as I waited anxiously. Why was he trying to make me wait? Then, "Meet me tonight. On the slip of paper I gave you is an address. Go there as soon as you can. I'll be waiting for you." Click!
I sighed, hanging up the phone.
After dinner that night, I excused myself early, saying that I was tired and needed to go to bed. I figured that if I was going to die, I might as well be well rested.
I was asleep within minutes, but it wasn't a peaceful sleep.
I was back in purgatory, in the long hallway filled with doors that I could not open. I looked around, searching, searching for something.
"Susannah?" a familiar voice came from ahead of me.
I glanced up. Jesse was standing only a dozen feet away from me, smiling at me as though nothing had happened. Before I could speak though, he turned and ran down the hallway. I ran after him, calling for him to stop. But he continued running, and I couldn't seem to reach him.
"Jesse!"
At the end of the hallway, an opening appeared and through it I could see a bright light. Oh, no, I though. Jesse was going toward that light, and he wasn't going to stop. I ran faster, but I was too late. Jesse passed through the opening and disappeared.
"No!" I tried to follow him, but a hand reached out and grabbed me by the shoulder, pulling me back. I fought him, but he pulled me farther and farther away from the opening. "Let me go," I said, frustrated. "I have to get Jesse."
A familiar laugh broke out that made my blood run cold. I turned around, and there was Paul, smirking down at me. Fear overtook me and I tried feebly to get away from him.
"Now, Suze, what are you so afraid of?" Paul pulled me roughly to him, not even bothering to resist my attempts at getting away. I couldn't go anywhere and we both knew it. Paul reached for something that I couldn't see, but whatever it was terrified me. "Just remember," he said softly in my ear, "you brought all this on yourself."
I awoke in a cold sweat. I had to stop Paul. Jumping out of bed, I pulled on my usual ghost-busting outfit: black jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. I pulled out my new leather mini-backpack and filled it with a pocketknife I'd found at a thrift store, and a long piece of rope. I'm not sure what I planned to do with the rope, but I figured that I might need it.
I shoved open my bedroom window and slipped out onto the porch roof. As quietly as I could, I slunk down to the edge, then lowered myself to the ground. Taking a deep breath, I went around to the garage, where I took out Dopey's old bike.
As it turned out, the address that Paul had given me was an old abandoned warehouse down by the docks. The entire place was deserted at this end of the docks. It was the perfect place for what Paul was probably planning. My heart pounded in my ears as I pushed open the old wooden door into the warehouse.
"Paul?" I called out, squinting in the dark. I stepped farther into the building, letting the door close behind me. Maybe he wasn't there yet, I thought. I took a deep breath, waiting impatiently for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. A sound came from behind me. I turned. "Paul?"
Something hard hit me in the side of the head. I wasn't ready for the blow; he had caught me off guard. I stumbled forward. Another blow connected with the base of my neck and I went down in an instant.
I didn't lose consciousness immediately. I was awake long enough to feel Paul-because it definitely was Paul who'd attacked me-rifle through my mini backpack. Oh, God, I realized as I drifted off, he was taking what little defense that I had with me.
The last thing I was aware of was the sound of Paul taking the rope out of the mini backpack. But before I could find out what he was going to do with the rope, I finally lost consciousness
It wasn't until I got home that day that I realized that there was more going on than what I thought.
Dropping down on my bed, I noticed my window was open. I frowned. I got up to close the window, a large orange ball of fuzz leaped through the window and into my room.
I jumped back, trying to avoid being hit by Spike's claws.
"Jeez," I muttered, going back to my bed, where I took up a magazine. I expected Jesse to show up then. After all, he had been so worried about Spike. But he didn't come. I figured that it had to be because he was still mad at me. But as the minutes ticked by, I realized that it wasn't like Jesse to stay away after we fought. Usually he came back the next day.
A picture of Paul flashed through my head. Had he done something to Jesse? I pushed the thought from my mind. Paul couldn't do anything to Jesse. At least, I didn't think he could. But even as I thought this I realized that I didn't know what Paul could do.
Later that night, I stood in the front hallway, waiting for Paul. I pulled on the skirt of my silver slip dress. It was too short. I considered changing, but I decided against it. It was too late now.
The doorbell rang and my mom, who had been waiting with me, rushed to open it. You could totally tell she was excited about my date with Paul. It was almost pathetic.
The door swung open and my mom said, "Hello, you must be Paul. I'm Mrs. Ackerman."
I could see Paul over my mom's shoulder. He was smiling broadly. "It's nice to meet you." He looked at me in a way that made me tug at my dress self- consciously. This only made him smile more. "Hello, Suze," he greeted. "You look lovely tonight."
And so did he. He had on a white, button down shirt and a black tie, which would have looked horrible on anyone else, but looked great on him. I swallowed hard, plastering a smile on my lips. I just had to get through this one night, I reminded myself.
After my mom fussed over us for a good ten minutes, Paul and I finally made it out of the house and we started toward his car. I'm not sure what I expected him to drive, really. Maybe a sports car or something like that. But instead, he just drove a jeep. And it wasn't even a new jeep either, if the rust on the sides were any indication.
Paul took my arm and led me to the jeep. He opened the door for me, smiling appraisingly as he took in all that my dress revealed. I fought down the urge to tug at my skirt once more.
When Paul got into the driver's seat, I asked, "So, where are we going?"
"You'll see," was all he would say.
My stomach twisted with dread, but I didn't say anything. Whatever it was Paul was planning, he was doing a pretty good job of keeping it to himself.
We stopped in the parking lot for the forest preserve. I glanced around. It probably was a good place to take a girl you were planning to murder, I mused. No one really came there at night, so we would be alone.
Taking a deep breath, I followed Paul out of the car. He took my hand-once more making my skin crawl-and led me down a path. I'm not sure how far we went, but soon we came to a small meadow. Paul led me to the center of it where he had spread a blanket and a picnic basket. It would've been kind of romantic, if it had been with someone else.
Which reminded me about Jesse. I took a deep breath. "Paul, I need to talk to you about-"
Paul stopped and motioned for me to sit on the blanket. I did so with a horrible sinking feeling. Paul sat beside me, his leg brushing against mine. Even through the material of his black pants, I could feel his chill. I stifled a cringe. "Not now, Suze," he said in a low voice, opening the basket. He took out a bottle-filled, I noted, with ginger ale-and two glasses. "Let's not talk about that right now." He poured me a glass, then himself one. I swallowed the contents quickly, hoping that it would make this "date" go faster. Why, I wondered, didn't he want to talk? Wasn't that the whole point?
Apparently not, because he also took from the basket a bowl of assorted fruit and, of all things, fed them to me. I'm not kidding. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I had to remind myself that I was supposed to be acting here. But really, it was all I could do to not wipe that smug look off his face.
Needless to say, I didn't learn anything that night. My mind was on Jesse, and I was almost positive now that Paul had something to do with his disappearance. But he wouldn't talk about it. Each time I tried to bring it up, he made me eat another strawberry or something.
Finally, he took me home. When he stopped in front of my house, I nearly dived for the door handle. But instead Paul grabbed my arm. He was holding on so tightly that I was afraid he might be trying to break it.
"Suze," he said silkily, pulling me around to face him. "What's your rush?"
I tried feebly to jerk my arm from his grasp, but he just held on tighter, his smile growing. God, I hated this guy. He knew I was terrified and he was enjoying every minute of it.
"I.I have to get going," I gulped. "I'm really tired, you know."
Paul didn't answer. Instead, he undid his seat belt and slunk his arm around my waist. What was he doing? When I asked him that, he merely smiled. He drew me in closer and kissed me hard. It was probably the most repulsive thing I'd ever been subjected to.
I opened my mouth to protest, but his tongue flooded my mouth. I tried to push away, but he was too strong. His arms tightened around me, suffocating me. Finally, in an act of pure desperation, I bit down hard on his tongue.
His eyes widened and he pushed me away. Some of his blood filled my mouth, and I felt as though I was going to barf.
Paul wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes narrowing. "You little witch," he hissed, though he didn't say witch. He looked as though he wanted to lunge at me, but instead he muttered, "I'm going to make you regret that. You and your little boyfriend are going to pay dearly."
I didn't doubt it. I pushed open the passenger door, nearly running toward my house. When I turned back to look to see if Paul had gone, he was still there, watching me. I took a deep breath, and went back inside.
My mom was there, waiting for me. She made me tell her everything. I only left out the kiss. I didn't want her to know about that. I'd probably have nightmares about it for days.
I finally made it to my room, collapsing onto my bed, not bothering to change. Spike was still there. I sat up. What if Paul had exorcised Jesse? Or had he done something else to Jesse, something more horrible.
I decided to call him. "Jesse?" I called out as loudly as I dared. "Jesse!" But he didn't come. I didn't really expect him to, but I just needed to be sure.
The next day, I stayed home. I didn't want to face Paul. This entire thing was spinning out of control. If Paul wanted to play this game, fine. But I was going to do it my own way.
As soon as I was sure Paul would be home, I took out the slip of paper that he'd given me. I dialed the number, my fear building with each ring.
"Hello?"
"Paul?" I said, surprised at how calm I sounded.
"Suze," Paul said. You could totally tell by his tone that he was smirking. "What can I do for you?"
I took a deep breath. "You know why I'm calling."
Paul laughed. He sounded much more cheerful than I had expected him to be, especially after last night. But then, I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, I was doing exactly what he wanted-what he expected-me to do.
"Yeah, I know why you're calling. Am I'm glad you did. But I can't tell you now." There was a long pause as I waited anxiously. Why was he trying to make me wait? Then, "Meet me tonight. On the slip of paper I gave you is an address. Go there as soon as you can. I'll be waiting for you." Click!
I sighed, hanging up the phone.
After dinner that night, I excused myself early, saying that I was tired and needed to go to bed. I figured that if I was going to die, I might as well be well rested.
I was asleep within minutes, but it wasn't a peaceful sleep.
I was back in purgatory, in the long hallway filled with doors that I could not open. I looked around, searching, searching for something.
"Susannah?" a familiar voice came from ahead of me.
I glanced up. Jesse was standing only a dozen feet away from me, smiling at me as though nothing had happened. Before I could speak though, he turned and ran down the hallway. I ran after him, calling for him to stop. But he continued running, and I couldn't seem to reach him.
"Jesse!"
At the end of the hallway, an opening appeared and through it I could see a bright light. Oh, no, I though. Jesse was going toward that light, and he wasn't going to stop. I ran faster, but I was too late. Jesse passed through the opening and disappeared.
"No!" I tried to follow him, but a hand reached out and grabbed me by the shoulder, pulling me back. I fought him, but he pulled me farther and farther away from the opening. "Let me go," I said, frustrated. "I have to get Jesse."
A familiar laugh broke out that made my blood run cold. I turned around, and there was Paul, smirking down at me. Fear overtook me and I tried feebly to get away from him.
"Now, Suze, what are you so afraid of?" Paul pulled me roughly to him, not even bothering to resist my attempts at getting away. I couldn't go anywhere and we both knew it. Paul reached for something that I couldn't see, but whatever it was terrified me. "Just remember," he said softly in my ear, "you brought all this on yourself."
I awoke in a cold sweat. I had to stop Paul. Jumping out of bed, I pulled on my usual ghost-busting outfit: black jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. I pulled out my new leather mini-backpack and filled it with a pocketknife I'd found at a thrift store, and a long piece of rope. I'm not sure what I planned to do with the rope, but I figured that I might need it.
I shoved open my bedroom window and slipped out onto the porch roof. As quietly as I could, I slunk down to the edge, then lowered myself to the ground. Taking a deep breath, I went around to the garage, where I took out Dopey's old bike.
As it turned out, the address that Paul had given me was an old abandoned warehouse down by the docks. The entire place was deserted at this end of the docks. It was the perfect place for what Paul was probably planning. My heart pounded in my ears as I pushed open the old wooden door into the warehouse.
"Paul?" I called out, squinting in the dark. I stepped farther into the building, letting the door close behind me. Maybe he wasn't there yet, I thought. I took a deep breath, waiting impatiently for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. A sound came from behind me. I turned. "Paul?"
Something hard hit me in the side of the head. I wasn't ready for the blow; he had caught me off guard. I stumbled forward. Another blow connected with the base of my neck and I went down in an instant.
I didn't lose consciousness immediately. I was awake long enough to feel Paul-because it definitely was Paul who'd attacked me-rifle through my mini backpack. Oh, God, I realized as I drifted off, he was taking what little defense that I had with me.
The last thing I was aware of was the sound of Paul taking the rope out of the mini backpack. But before I could find out what he was going to do with the rope, I finally lost consciousness
