Under the Altswood Sky (The Altswood Saga #2)

Chapter 3 - Coalesce

Chapter 3 - Coalesce

I walked through the streets with a spasm in my arm that I couldn't ease. 

The clouds overhead had cleared by the time I said goodbye to the others and left Annabelle and Jules playing a video game on Gabriel's flat-screen, while Gabriel was deep in conversation with his mom over the benefits of oranges over apples.

As I passed by the town square, forcing myself to look away from the Ferris wheel still looming in the distance, I tried Dad's cell again.

This time, he picked up.

"Hello, daughter," his voice shouted through the line, following a burst of sudden noise, "I didn't forget about your existence, don't worry. Did you eat?"

"The toast is going a little mouldy," I answered. "Dad, what is this about a threatening note sent to me while I was in hospital?"

Silence.

"Right," he said, "about that. I'm not avoiding the question, I just currently have ten calls down the line, so we're talk about this when I get home, okay?"

I turned my eyes skyward. "Yeah, yeah," I answered, putting in as much attitude as I could manage.

"Love you, my child."

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

I hung up, sliding my phone into my back pocket. In that one movement, I stopped with a sudden jerk, the fabric of my shirt tearing at the arm seams.

I stood there for a long moment before I even realised what had just happened. My sleeve had been snagged.

"Why?" I demanded at the notice board, at the jagged pin that someone had stuck on to display a poster advertising the town show on Saturday. "Why?"

"I don't think it's going to reply."

At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, I attempted to turn around, but my sleeve was still snagged on pin, and all I ended up doing was ripping the hole bigger.

A pair of hands reached in to help untangle me from the mercy of the notice board.

"Thanks," I breathed, free. "I—oh—"

His name was at the tip of my tongue, but suddenly I couldn't remember it. I looked up at his vaguely deer-like eyes, and I could only see us shaking hands as paint stained the lines of our palms, red like split blood. I saw it so vividly that it was blurring into this reality, the images competing for dominance. One moment, his concerned smile, and the next, a memory: his hushed Thank you for taking him out of the game, fingers dripping with crimson. One moment, he reached out to steady my sudden loss of balance, the next, the fear in his eyes, the fear in mine, and a text from an unknown number before I hurled my phone into the wall.

My head was very, very light.

Joshua Koi.

Of course. How could I have forgotten it? I had stared at his name for days on end while he had been my target.

"I'm okay," I assured, blinking rapidly. There was a dull pain building behind my eyes. "I'm okay, really."

Joshua was staring in concern. I had to change the subject.

"Are you going to this?" I asked quickly, pointing at the poster. A few classmates from our year were displayed, their faces snarling in character.

He shook his head. "I've a lacrosse game that day. Why do you ask?"

I shrugged. "Just curious."

"That's a shame."

He was smiling. I blinked in bewilderment.