XII
Sitting on a bar stool, eating a bowl of cereal, Olivia noticed the digital clock read 5:27PM, when her dad walked through the apartment’s front door. “Hi Daddy,” she was happy to see him.
“Hey Sweetie,” he said as he set a cardboard box down on the dining room table, and asked, “Where’s your sister, Jillian?”
“How do you do that, dad?”
“What’s that, honey?”
“Tell us apart, we always confused mom.” She loved how he picked up on details.
“Oh, I just think Jillian smiles more because she likes being older than you, Olivia.”
The younger teenager scoffed a laugh, “Yeah right, by two minutes dad, count them, two – minuets.” Looking at her dad’s uniform, she injected, “RICK? What happened to ‘RICHARD’ dad?” His daughter noticed the embroidered name tag on his Coca-Cola shirt was different today.
He shook his head with a smirk, “Yeah, I know right. I told that secretary of ours, Brenda to get the spelling right.” Then, changing the subject from work, Richard announced, “I was going to take you guys out for Chinese tonight. You’ve both helped out a lot and are doing great in school, so thought you could use a break.”
His daughter knew their finances were spread thin since her parent’s divorce, “You know we can’t afford to go out dad, besides it’s my turn to cook, and I’d like to make something I saw Chef Ramsey do on TV.”
Rummaging through the mechanical parts in the box that he had brought home to repair; her dad looked up, “Hey, we can afford it. I got a raise today! I wanted to go out and celebrate tonight.” A bewildered expression came over his face a second later, as though he was missing something in the conversation, he asked, “Where is Jillian?”
Olivia began cleaning up after herself, and started putting dishes away, “She got upset at me again, over some boy who helped her open her locker. She stormed off. She probably came the back way through the woods.”
His full attention was one of concern, “Okay. But, Olivia, don’t you think that 5:30 is a bit late? Even for her this is late.” Richard then instructed his daughter, “Go and check on your sister, please.”
Hearing the worry in her father’s tone, Olivia answered, “Yes, sir.” Then, getting her cell phone out of her backpack, Olivia added playfully, “And I won’t scold the old girl either when I find her.”
He grinned back, “Okay, sissy.” Rummaging again through the coke machine changer parts, her dad smiled at his daughter’s age difference.
“No, you stay here, Spence,” Olivia did not want to take the Brittany spaniel out and have to wait for the dog to do his business. The skies were darkening, and the junior high student just wanted to hurry things up. Mad or not, the two sisters always stayed in contact. Olivia was beginning to feel as concerned as her father, when she noticed there were no missed calls on her phone.
Olivia's hazel eyes scanned the grounds of the apartment complex as she exited the front door. She absent mindedly spun the butterfly bracelet on her wrist heading off to find Jillian. Jillian wore the same one on her ankle. Their grandmother Robin had given them as gifts to tell the twins apart. Olivia really didn't feel like going out and looking for Jillian or getting into another argument.
Looking beyond the treetops at the boiling storm clouds rolling in, Olivia muttered, "Thanks Jillian, now we're both gonna get drenched!" Seeking the shortest route home, she started out to the parking lot on the far side of the complex's property, only because when they were upset it was the paths they took. They enjoyed cutting through the undeveloped woodlands. With all the different trails and sidewalks to choose from Olivia hoped she wouldn't miss her sister along the way.
Her sandals clicked down a long sidewalk that lay between the last two buildings just before the woods began. Stepping off the curb, beneath the shadows of a covered carport, the redhaired twin spotted something on the ground. She barely managed not to step on it. The two halves of a heart shaped something caught her interest. Picking it up she instantly recognized what it was, "A Planchette, yeah like Dad would ever let us buy a Ouija Board, right sissy?" She held up the two splintered pieces together and peered through the clear lens that was still intact.
Olivia saw the greenery of the tree line off in the distance. An unexpected ray of sunlight shone through the disc refracting in the pointer's window with a brilliant color change. The glow took on an eerie haze bathing the woods in a blood red color. She dropped the toy immediately, yelling, "Sissy!"
She had stayed moments too long. Quickening her pace Olivia took up the search to locate her sister again. Retrieving her cell from a back pocket dialed her number, "Girl you'd better pick up!" The rings continued without answer, "Come on Jillian, swear if I get wet --." She hung up and marched faster off into the woods.
CONTINUE Reading... 13
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