Wander Dust - Book 1

Chapter 2 - Transfixed

::2::

Transfixed

When I wake, I’m on the floor. The person standing over me is our waiter—I think. He’s kind of blurry, and my head throbs with a headache. His manicured eyebrows pinch together as his mouth moves, but I can’t decipher his words. I rub my temples with my fingertips, massaging them until the sounds return. 

A moment later, Ray and Maddi stand over me. Maddi snaps a picture of me with her phone. The flash temporarily blinds me, confusing me further. I pray that she won’t post the photo on the Internet, but I know she already has.

Ray looks concerned. Is this what it takes to get his attention? He grabs my arm and pulls me from the floor. He and the waiter drag me onto a chair.

“What happened?” Ray asks. My face reflects back from his glasses, and I look as confused as I feel. “What happened, Seraphina?”

“What happened?” I repeat, but more for myself as I try to remember how I blacked out and landed on the floor.

The Lady in Black. “The lady!” Launching forward to stand, I scan the restaurant, every crevice, every shadow, but she’s gone. Vanished. 

“What lady?” Ray jolts, his eyes scour the faces, trying to understand.

“Calm down, Raymond.” Maddi giggles, and smoothes down the shirt on his shoulders. 

Drained, I collapse back to my seat. The waiter returns with a new glass of water and offers it to me. I drink it, all of it. The hydration seems to subdue my headache. It no longer pounds out of control. When he refills my glass, I chug again. 

Ray’s already forgotten about the lady, but I haven’t. Her flaming black eyes are burned into my brain. I wince, recalling the searing pain.

“Are you all right?” Ray puts an awkward hand on my shoulder. He doesn’t normally show affection toward me, so this is a breakthrough. And all this time I thought being difficult was the way to get his attention. Now I know I just have to pass out every once in a while. This revelation should make me chuckle a little, but it doesn’t because my relationship with him is a sad one. I don’t hate him for it. It’s just the way things are.

“I’m okay.” My voice sounds uncertain, even to my own ears. I exhale, trying to calm my mind. The Lady in Black is not real. What happened, didn’t happen. These are words I want to believe, but I’m still not positive.

Ray hovers for a few moments longer, but Maddi has already returned to her glass of wine on the other side of the table. She sucks icing from each of her long fingernails. Gross. I close my eyes, unable to watch.

“I think this will make you feel better.” Through squinted eyes, I see Ray walk back to Maddi. A small birthday bag appears from her handbag. He grabs it and places it on the table in front of me. 

Polka-dotted tissue paper sprouts from the top of a hot pink gift bag. I know Maddi wrapped it because the closest Ray has ever come to wrapping something is leaving it in the bag he originally brought it home in. 

Even still, Ray is clearly excited for me to open the bag. I can see it in his eyes. It must be the booze that’s relaxing him—the booze and Maddi. 

“Thanks, Dad.” I called him Ray to his face once, and he grounded me.

“It’s something special for your sixteenth birthday.” He steps back and places a hand on Maddi’s shoulder.

What I want is keys to a car. I perk up slightly, but only because the bag is about the right size, and I’ve been dreaming about it for months.