Kate popped up out of her chair and grabbed her coat and keys. This
sounded serious. “Carol, should you call nine-one-one?”
“Oh, no, dear. I'm sure we'll be able to put it out before it spreads. At the
Community Center.”
“Spreads? Is there a fire?” Something sounded fishy.
“And Lucius says there's always a little swelling with a broken bone. But don't worry about me here down at the Community Center. I'm sure you have a
lot of important things to do.”
“Carol, are you hurt? Should I call an ambulance?”
“Oh, no need for that dear,” Carol said quickly. “Lucius is a qualified, um,
medical helper…person. Are you on your way to the Community Center?”
Qualified medical-helper person? Okay, either Carol had double-dosed on
her pills or maybe this was a repeat of her first day in town. Kate's heart thumped. “If you need help—”
“It's just we're not sure if the raccoons have rabies or not, and they look awfully hungry.”
Kate's eyes narrowed, but she felt a smile tug at her mouth. “Did you say raccoons?”
“Raccoons or possums. Or bears, it's hard to tell. The lights are pretty dim here in the Community Center.”
Carol was a terrible liar. But it was possible there was something really wrong with her. She needed to check it out, right? “Okay, Carol, I'm on my way.”
Her smile kept getting wider, but her heart was racing too. Something deeper
was going on, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to find out what it was.
* * *
Who was she kidding? Not ready? She'd been ready since grade school. The Community Center was about two blocks from the middle of town. Miles from
the Nitrovex parking lot. She got there in ten minutes flat, grinding the Bug to a stop in front of the main doors.
The building looked quiet as she jogged up the steps. No fire trucks or police
cars. No flames licking out the second-floor windows, no rabid raccoons or possums or bears bellowing as they fled out the front door. No noises, really.
She pushed through one of the thick wooden front doors.
The main hallway was quiet as well, and dark. She walked forward slowly,
listening for any signs of distress.
The place was empty. She hadn't been in this section the night of the carnival
when it had been lit with people and activity. She'd stayed in the gym, where there had been fewer memories.
This was like stepping back in time. She remembered it all. Old oak trophy case to the right, now filled with local art projects. Round clocks on the walls, most of them with the wrong time. Off-white ceiling tiles. The smell of must, dust, and floor cleaner. Slick, worn black-and-white-streaked linoleum floors echoed her footsteps.
“Carol? Hello?”
From down the hall, she heard something. Music. Faint but familiar. A
song… Why you got to be so cold, baby? Why you got to make me cry?
It reflected and bounced, the delay making it hard to understand.
Why you got to hold me down, baby? When you gonna make me fly?
The chorus came on. She began singing along, softly. “Don't do your love,
don't do your love, don't do your love…” She kept walking, slowly, her feet scuffing on the old linoleum. The faint music seemed to be coming from the back of the school, where the gym used to be.
Why you gotta leave me low, honey? Why you gotta steal my fun? Why you
always on the run, lady? Are you gonna be the one?_
It was the song from her eighties playlist. The one Peter had been playing at
his house that night. That night. She wasn't sure if her heart was pounding from hope or fear.
