This Girl Who Was A Ghost, page 7
part #2 of Near Future Series
Cindy’s eyes narrowed on him. “Really?”
“She stole your robe while naked. She’s not wearing a stitch of clothing underneath the robe.”
Sammy looked away from Cindy’s pitiful gaze, gritting her teeth.
“Will she get better?”
“I have to continue to monitor her condition, but she hasn’t been the most compliant patient.”
“I know what I’ll do. I’ll disappear. Then what will you say about that, Leo? Will that be a hallucination when I disappear?”
“Can you hold her?” Leo asked Cindy. “I’ll need to take a blood sample.”
“You’re not taking my blood.”
“It’s okay, Sam.” Cindy held Sammy’s arm. “He’s trying to help.”
“Tell her why you want it, Leo. Tell her about the hormones and the shedding fingers.”
Leo stepped behind her with a big fat needle used for oak trees. “Can you hold her steady?”
Sammy reached out over Cindy’s shoulder, trying to grab onto Leo. “How do I get these claws out? Just one claw is all I ask.”
Cindy’s grip stiffened. “Sam, it’s okay.”
Leo jabbed the needle into her outstretched arm.
“I’m disappearing. Watch close because you won’t see me…” The words came out slow as if she were underwater. She suddenly felt heavy, falling into darkness.
Chapter Sixteen
________________________________________
Thoughts and dreams seemed to bubble up not yet formed, drifting away, not quite understood. Her finger was pressed and prodded. Leo sat beside her, examining her hand.
Sammy grabbed his finger and bent it back.
Leo yelped, yanking his hand free. “Trying to break it?”
“What did you give me?”
He massaged his finger. “A sedative.”
Sammy sat up on the sofa, feeling light-headed. “Take blood too?”
Leo flexed the hand. “Haven’t lost your strength.”
“Where’s Cindy?”
“I’d imagine in her apartment.”
“She didn’t leave?”
Leo rose. “I didn’t witness another tearful farewell.”
Sammy pulled down the hem of the robe. “Thanks for making me sound like a psycho.” She followed Leo into the kitchen and grabbed hold of the counter to steady herself.
Leo ran water over his hand. He noticed her watching. “I don’t know what you were thinking.”
“You had it coming, making me sound like a raving psycho.” Sammy tightened the robe’s sash. “‘She walks around for days naked.’”
“What did you hope to achieve by telling her?”
“She’s my best friend. If I can’t tell her, who can I tell?”
“No one.”
“She won’t tell anyone.”
“Are you going to bet your life on that nugget of wisdom?”
“Talk about doom and gloom.”
Leo toweled his hands. “I have more experience in these matters. Believe me when I say that I did you a favor.”
“Yeah, I feel indebted.”
“I’m going to my lab early.” Leo opened the fridge and took out two bags. “Have a lot of work to do.”
Sammy studied her hands. They still didn’t feel or look right. “Are these going to change again?”
“Oh, you want answers now? Perhaps I’ll stop somewhere and get a crystal ball.”
“Forget I asked.”
Leo marched out and slammed the door.
“I’ll get a crystal ball,” she said, imitating him. She meandered to the dining room table and swung at the roll of cellophane. It flew off the table and bounced off the wall.
A soft knock at the door.
“Yeah?”
The door clicked open, and Cindy stuck her head in. “Feeling better?”
“A little groggy. He must’ve confused me with a horse.”
Cindy had a slightly queasy smile. “Is Leo around? I heard the door slam.”
“He left.” Sammy trudged to the sofa. “Went to the club.” The Pleasure Palace… She grinned. Nothing about Leo seemed pleasurable.
Cindy stood at the door, looking as if she wasn’t sure if she should come in. “Feel bad about last night.”
“You?” Sammy dropped to the sofa. “Leo was the one who jabbed me with the needle. How much blood did he take?”
“I meant about setting you off.”
“Forgot I’m a psycho.”
Cindy stepped inside. “Don’t talk that way, Sam. What you’ve been through…”
He must’ve been working overtime with these stories. “What did he say?”
“That’s not important. What’s important is that you get better.”
Yeah, better at breaking his finger.
“I can make you soup. It’s from a can. It won’t be like Mama’s,” Cindy said, puckering her face. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but they want us out of here.”
“I heard.”
“I’ll just tell Igor that you need more time.”
“Yeah, he’s the understanding type.”
Cindy smiled. “I’ll get you the soup.”
Sammy jumped off the sofa. “I’ll come with you.”
“Sure it’s okay?”
“Before Leo left, he told me how much better I’m doing.”
“Really?”
“Would he have left if I wasn’t?”
Cindy held the door for her. “We’re wanted criminals, you know.”
Sammy nodded. “It’s all Gladys’s doing. Should’ve let the psycho bitch finish the job.”
“Sam!”
“She’s a miserable old goat, and you know it.”
Cindy had that look as if Sammy said something that embarrassed her in public.
“How about being put in a coma?”
Cindy closed the door and locked it. “Felt bad when Tatiana hit Gladys.”
“Yeah, that feeling passed after she called the cops on us.”
“Let’s not think about it, all right?”
Yeah, wouldn’t want to be set off again.
Cindy scampered around the counter and into the kitchen, popped off the soup’s lid, and poured the reddish-brown gelatinous mix into a pot. It reminded Sammy of the pots of soup stacked on Gladys’s counter that night.
Cindy added a little water and set the pot on the stove. “It won’t take long.”
“I’m not too hungry.” Losing the fingers must’ve taken away her appetite too.
Cindy leaned on the other side of the counter, rocking gently. “I’m glad you’re back.”
Sammy nodded. “Me too.”
Cindy grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and stirred the soup. “It’s starting to bubble.”
“You’re going to have some too?”
“Don’t want to take your soup.”
“I’d feel much more settled if you were sitting beside me.”
Cindy grinned and took out another bowl.
The door’s bolt unlatched and Igor stepped in. “What is going on?”
Cindy trotted around the counter and out to the living room. “Isn’t it great, Igor? Sam’s alive.”
Igor grimaced. “Wonderful.”
“You don’t want to get too close,” Sammy said.
“It’s not contagious,” Cindy said. “At least not now.”
What did Leo tell her?
“Good, now you can go together.”
“I’m too sick to go anywhere, Igor.”
Cindy nodded. “She’s been through so much.”
Igor stepped in closer, studying Sammy. “You don’t look sick.”
“The wounds are below the surface and run deep.”
“This is bullshit.”
Sammy noticed the soup bubbling up over the top. “I think the soup’s ready.”
Cindy rushed into the kitchen and turned off the heat. “Hope it’s okay.”
“It’ll be weeks before I can even think of leaving this place.”
“You are not staying. You are going.”
“If I go now, I’ll have to turn myself in.”
Cindy stopped at mid-pour. “Really, Sam?”
“So turn yourself in,” Igor said. “If you are innocent, you will be set free.”
“I’ll have to tell them where we’ve been hiding. They’ll come around here asking questions. They might even think you helped me.”
“I do not help. More bullshit.”
Cindy carried the hot bowl of soup and set it on the table. “Be careful, Sam. It’s hot.”
Sammy sat down and blew on the soup.
Igor paced. “This is bullshit.”
Cindy brought her bowl and sat next to her. “How is it?”
“I think it’s radioactive.”
Cindy giggled, blowing on the spoon of soup.
Igor looked as though he was between going and staying, afraid if he left he’d have to give in.
“When I was lying deathly ill, I had the strangest feeling that this place is haunted.”
Cindy dropped the spoon into the bowl. “I felt the same way, Sam. I thought you were dead, and it was you.”
Igor sneered. “No such thing as ghost.”
“It seemed like an angry ghost.” Sammy dipped the spoon into the soup and stirred. “I could’ve sworn it knocked my feet out from under me.”
“Isn’t that what happened to you, Igor?”
“Nothing happened to me.” He spun and marched out.
Sammy took a sip of the soup, only scalding now.
Cindy smiled, raising the spoon to her lips.
Chapter Seventeen
________________________________________
Sammy sat in the middle of the laundry room of the apartment building down the block from Gladys’s house. It had been two days since she had been back in the apartment with Cindy, and she was still adjusting to the stubby fingers. Cindy said they looked normal, but Sammy didn’t remember them being this stubby. She folded the last of her T-shirts, still warm from the dryer, and dropped it into her laundry bag.
The washer and dryer at the apartment were busted again, and she didn’t think Igor would be listening to complaints. Besides, she could visit the twins with Gladys off to bingo. She trudged out into the cool night air with the laundry bag tossed over her shoulder and checked her pocket for the candy. She’d paid for it along with the laundry with the money from the outdoor play. It felt good to do something normal and regular for a change.
An older lady wearing flip-flops shuffled her way, pushing a wheeled mesh laundry basket. “Get one of these. That way you won’t hurt your back.”
“Where do you get them?”
“That store on Cooper has them,” the lady said, thinking on it. “What’s the name of it?”
“McGreevy’s?”
The lady nodded. “That’s it, McGreevy’s.” She disappeared into the laundry room.
Sammy hiked up the walkway and stopped at the top, looking toward Cooper. McGreevy’s was two blocks over. She bet that laundry cart could be folded up and fitted under her jacket. She shifted the bag to the other shoulder and headed toward Gladys’s house.
The twins stood on the sofa, each clutching those tube pillows that Gladys thought were the greatest things. Justin jabbed his pillow at Jenna, but she swatted it away and hit him over the head with hers. Cartoons played on the wall screen, showing a similar battle. Mark had to be down in the basement, or the only battle would be on the screen.
Sammy put the laundry bag on the stoop and crept inside.
Jenna jumped down from the sofa and rushed her. “Sammy!”
Sammy bent over and hugged her.
Justin approached, still holding the pillow. “Where were you?”
Sammy crouched down. “Don’t I get a hug?”
Justin dropped the pillow and leaped into her arms. He held her tight, resting his chin on her shoulder.
“My brave little man,” she whispered, stroking his back.
“I missed you, Sammy.” There was a slight sniffle to his voice.
“I missed you too,” Sammy said. “I miss both of you guys.”
Jenna put her arms around both of them, resting her head on Sammy’s.
“Is Mark down in the basement?”
Jenna nodded. “He’s been down there since dinner.”
“Momma Gladys is at bingo,” Justin said.
“Figured as much when I saw you two dueling on the sofa with those pillows.”
They grinned, blushing lightly.
“Come on. Let’s get some night air.”
They hurried out, banging open the door.
“Quietly,” Sammy whispered.
Jenna gazed down at the laundry bag. “You coming back, Sammy?”
Sammy shook her head. “It’s my laundry I did up the block.”
“We got a washing machine,” Justin said. “You can do your laundry here.”
Sammy figured Gladys had had those washing packets counted. “I don’t think Gladys would go for that.”
Justin flashed a devilish grin. “You can do it when she goes to bingo.”
“We’ll have to find a way to lock Mark down in the basement.”
Their eyes brightened at the notion of that.
Sammy thought of taking a walk with them but didn’t want to haul the laundry bag.
“Where were you, Sammy?” Jenna asked.
Sammy glanced down at her hands. “I wasn’t myself for a while.”
Justin looked up at her with the sweetest brown eyes. “Are you yourself now?”
Sammy pulled the chocolate bar from her pocket. “What do you think?”
They bounced around her, squealing with joy.
She pulled them close to her, looking back at the door. “Quiet, you two.” Sammy sat with the laundry bag between her legs and peeled the wrapper off the chocolate bar. She broke off a piece for each of them and took a small one for herself.
They sat beside her, nibbling on the chocolate. Jenna beamed. “This is really good, Sammy.”
Justin nodded, shoving the remainder in his mouth.
“You two are going to turn into a couple of candy monsters.”
“If I was a candy monster, I would never hurt you,” Justin said. “You could take all the candy you wanted.”
Sammy rolled her lips over her teeth. “I’d have no teeth then.”
They giggled. She broke off more chocolate pieces. It was the same kind of chocolate she’d stolen the day Tatiana messaged her a dozen times. It was expensive but worth it for the reunion.
A car pulled up in front of the house. It wasn’t a cop car, but Sammy still felt uneasy.
“Who’s that?” Jenna asked.
The door swung open. The news lady stepped out.
Chapter Eighteen
________________________________________
Sammy grabbed the laundry bag when the car’s passenger-side door opened. A bot rolled out, closed the door, and spun around the car to meet the news lady. Snakelike appendages sprang out from the bot and touched up the lady’s hair and face.
Jenna took a bite of the chocolate. “Isn’t that the lady from the screen?”
Sammy eased her grip on the bag. “Do you have somebody important staying here?”
“Just Mark.”
“Do you think she wants to talk to Mark?” Justin asked.
Yeah, the news lady wanted to do an exposé on rubber girlfriends. Unless she was here for Sammy?
The news lady stepped back from the bot. “Ready, Cass?”
The bot even had a name.
Lights flicked on from each of the bot’s appendages, giving it a bizarre sea-creature-like appearance.
Justin swallowed. “Wow.”
The news lady tapped up the walkway in heels, the bot behind her lighting the way. She flashed them a well-practiced smile. “Hi, I’m Maria Santiago from Chasing News.”
Justin shot up, pointing at her. “You’re the lady from the screen.”
“That’s right, and what’s your name?”
“Justin.” He looked a little embarrassed, standing there by himself in the glow of the lights.
Sammy reached out and grabbed his hand and pulled him toward her. “What can we do for you?”
“And what’s your name?”
“Sam.”
“Sam, Chasing News is tracking down Medusa. She was spotted in this area moments ago.”
Sammy fought the urge to roll her eyes. “If she was here, we didn’t see her.”
Maria waved her hand over her tablet and the holo-screen popped up, showing a somewhat blurry image of Sammy through a fence running away. “That’s who we believe is Medusa, and…” She flipped to the next screen. “This is what our camera drones picked up a little while ago.” It was a picture of Sammy carrying her laundry.
Sammy nodded. “I just did the laundry.”
“Cass, what is the probability that both images are of the same person?”
“Eighty-two percent.”
Sammy laughed. “You think I’m this Medusa?”
“There’s a high probability that you are.”
“Okay, you got me. We spent the whole night pulling snakes out of my head.”
Jenna shuddered. “Don’t even joke about that, Sammy.”
Sammy bent her head toward Justin. “Any snakes left?”
Justin scanned the top of her head. “Just hair.”
“There you go. The world’s safe now.”
Maria glared at her. “People have died.”
“Were they turned into stone? Nothing like a lady with snakes for hair to attract the eyeballs. Talk about mocking the dead.”
“Where were you last Tuesday afternoon?”
“I was in the park turning people into statues. The pigeons needed places to poop.”
“So you deny being on the rooftop just a few blocks from here even though the probability is eighty-two percent.”
“I’m in the eighteen percent that it wasn’t me.”
Maria’s practiced smile wore thin. “Cut it, Cass.”
The lights went out and the arms retracted.
Sammy took the chocolate out of her pocket and broke off a small piece for each twin. “Last piece, enjoy it.”
Sammy broke off a piece for herself. Maria cracked a smile, watching them eat the chocolate. “Want a piece?” Sammy held the bar out to her. “Be warned, it’s addictive.”
