Inheritance

Chapter 3

By the time we reach the mall Chris had calmed down considerably. We climb out of the car and head to the cinema section. Chris and Amicitia are fighting about which movie to watch when a chill runs down my spine, almost feeling as if someone is watching us, or more specifically, me. I take a quick look around me and see dozens of people milling around the cinema, I spot vaguely familiar blond head a short distance away but Amicitia calls me over for moral support before I can see the owner's face. I shake the eerie feeling off and run over to where they're standing in front of the ticket counter.

Chris is no match for us and we end up buying three tickets to Drew Barrymore's newest rom-com while Chris gets to stand in the never-ending queue for popcorn, candy and drinks. We grab everything we need and run into the cinema after showing the grumpy employee our ticket. We sit and watch the trailers and adverts that usually take up about three quarters of our popcorn, just as the movie starts the chill down my spine returns, resulting in me not paying attention to the rest of the movie. Chris seemed to have enjoyed he movie more than the two of us which made it extra sad that the movie was our choice. We walked around in the mall making stops at the comic book store, video-game store and Decadent Delights for some sugary treats, I expected the feeling of being watched to disappear, but the feeling followed me clinging to me like the cold after a blizzard. I looked around the courtyard, looking for something, I don't know what, but something. Chris drags us to the sporting goods store and leaves us in favour of the football balls and sneakers. Amicitia and I walk around looking at skates and swimming equipment, the chill down my spine disappears for a second and is replaced by still eerily watchful, but a warmer, more concerned feeling. "I'm going crazy." Amicitia looks at me and scrunches her face up. "What are you talking about Katei?" she asks. "I keep feeling as if someone is watching us, it's creeping me out," I say and fake a chill for pure amusement's sake. She laughs tells me that I'm chasing ghosts and continues on her quest for a new bikini asking me for my opinion before going to try it on. Chris decides that their football balls weren't good enough for his taste and seeks us out. Amicitia insists that I buy a light green bikini that barely covers what it should for myself and a black one for her that has Chris hopeless in his argument that she shouldn't and couldn't wear it anywhere more public than her room.

When we walk out of the shop, I almost pity any guy that would even look funny at Amicitia for the next couple of hours. She is setting poor Chris up for a possessive fit, the boy could wrestle a bull and win with his hands tied behind his back and my best friend didn't just hold his heart, she was his heart. I can't help but think that Ack's comment this morning still has him on edge, teetering until a poor unsuspecting, ignorant guy decides to make a move on the 5'8, gorgeous blond friend of mine walking next to me. Ami's phone starts to sing All about That Bass and she excuses herself to answer it, leaving me and Chris to chat. "Are you okay?" I hear myself ask. He gives me a confused look but answers me in anyway. "As okay as I can be. Mudak has been more aggressive this year, you saw what he did earlier today. He's not just attacking my position at school and on the field anymore, he's attacking my friends, he's going out of his way to make me lose my temper and make me hit him, so he can file a complaint with the school board to remove me from the team and student council. I think he's realised that the only way to do that is go after people I care about, especially Ami and if Ack did anything to you it would probably destroy Amicitia and that would make my life a living hell, not to mention that I don't mind having you round. You're good company."

"Aw, shucks. Don't worry he's not getting anywhere close to your girl or me. That girl of yours is definitely no marshmallow and neither am I," I say giving him a friendly hug. "I know," he says while patting my back. "But that doesn't mean I can't be protective, does it?" I see Amicitia walking back to us out of the corner of my eye. "Well as happy as I am to see you guys won't kill each other if I leave, I have to ask that you release my boyfriend Ms. Dyname-Agape, or you guys can let me in and it turns into a group hug." We open up the hug and she jumps in causing all of us to laugh and Chris to pick the two of us up spinning us until we cry uncle. He sets our dizzy, lightheaded little selves down and steadies Amicitia when she wobbles a little too close to the fountain. The two of them walk about three steps in front of me allowing me to my thoughts, I check my watch and see that there is about another three hours before my parents get home from one or another work function that began at noon and would end at five. The tingle along my spine hasn't faded in the last half an hour, yet I don't mind it as much as I had that chill. Where the chill was cold but protective the tingle is warm and watchful, almost curious.

What was I thinking, I don't care what Ami said, either I am going crazy or I am already. Apparently, it was Amicitia's mom calling earlier saying that she needed to be home in an hour because it was her parent's date-night and she had to watch the little ones. On the way out we grabbed ice cream, on the way to the car I find myself laughing at the scene in front of me where Ami and Chris are flinging each other with little droplets of melted fudge-flavoured ice cream.

I felt envy working its way to the front of my mind, not because of Chris, but because their easy-going relationship. I've always wanted to love someone like she loves Chris and have that person look at me the way he looks at her, yet no one I've met has made me feel even an ounce of that type of depth for them. Except, the way I felt in last night's dream. The stray thought workd its way through my conscious mind. But that's all it was, I chide myself, a dream. My mind followed that line of thought all the way to the car, and from the car all the way to my house, about as long as my ice cream remained edible. At my house Amicitia and Chris climbed out to give me a hug and say goodbye. I waved from the driveway until the taillights disappeared around the corner.

I unlock the door and place my shopping bags on my bed before looking at the clock. Another two hours before my parents get home. I watch television until about half past four. Then I go to the kitchen and start making dinner, I just placed the chicken pot pies in the oven when I hear my parents in the driveway. The door opens, and I hear my mother laughing at something my dad said. I hear footsteps on the stairs and assume my parents were heading to their room to take off their fancy clothes. Just then my dad's head pops around the door, startling me. "Dad! You scared me." I exclaim, laughing weakly. "Sorry my angel, I just wanted to see what smelled so good," he said sniffing the air and licking his lips. "It is pie dad, and it should be ready in about thirty minutes, so go take off your monkey suit, you look like a snob." He laughs but complies with my request. An hour later, around seven o'clock we're all sitting around the dinner table, when the chilly, eerie feeling returns, and the warmth disappeared. I excuse myself before our post-dinner binge-watching for the second night in a row, inciting worried glances from my parents, but they excuse me. I take a scalding hot shower, trying to get rid of the chill that's quickly turning into an ache alongside my spine, I brush my teeth and fall on my bed and I'm out before my head hits the pillow.

The sound of footsteps surrounds me in the darkness, then it's like a spotlight switched on and suddenly I see myself lying unnaturally still in the middle of a field, blood pouring out of a cut on my side. A fair-haired boy, cradling my body to his, tears dripping out of the corners of his eyes, the look of grief and blood-chilling pain etched on his face. Looking at my seemingly lifeless face, I see sobs shaking his body. Out of the darkness a hand comes to rest on his shoulder, he shakes it off. Then the owner of the hand came down to kneel next to the boy, he looked bout forty years old with, wise eyes and a softness to him as he whispered something in the boy's ear. I realise that the older man is crying as well. The two of them pick up my body and I see that my head is hanging at an odd angle, my neck, it hits me, is broken. My body didn't just seem lifeless. I was dead, no ifs or buts about it. I was completely and utterly, dead.

I wake up with a gulp of air and look out my window to see a pitch-black canvas dotted with shining stars. I start to think about the dream. It's the second night in row that I'm dreaming about that dark-haired guy, last time he was dead, this time I was the one whose heart stopped. I still can't shake the feeling that I've seen him somewhere. Luckily the achy chill was gone, but that's about the only good thing.