Stitch (Stitch Trilogy, Book 1)

PREFACE

She woke to the sound of heavy boot steps marching down the hall and the familiar pang in her hip bones wrought from too many nights on a rigid metal cot. The back of her throat ached from the icy air ravaging her lungs; she could almost see her breath as she let out a weary sigh, resigned to another day in this hell.

What time was it? It was always difficult to tell from within her dim windowless cell. She listened as the footsteps approached, attuned to the jangle of the keys in the guard’s pocket and the soft clap of the rifle against his back. Then she heard something she hadn’t noticed before – a second set of footsteps, softer than the guard’s, following slightly behind.

She shot up with a quick gasp, adrenaline surging through her body and firmly shaking off the last wisps of her semi-peaceful slumber. The footsteps paused outside her door as she registered the soft whooshing of a lab coat and the gentle tapping of fingertips against a tablet. She was certain now that they had finally come to fulfill their grisly promise.

She’d known this was a risk when she accepted her mission. Now she cursed the misguided hero complex and sorry luck that had landed her here. She had failed, and now she was going to reap her recompense.

As the heavy automatic locks on her cell door released with a tumultuous clang, she turned to face her captors, steeling her resolve for whatever unspeakable nightmare awaited her.

She was only glad that he wasn’t close enough to hear her screams.

1. DISTRACTION

Alessa dropped her pen and looked longingly at the clock. She had less than twelve hours until the semester’s first exam, and she just could not focus on the words swimming on the page in front of her. All she could think about was the ghost.

She turned back to the diagram in her textbook, but it was no use. All she could see were those piercing sapphire eyes.

Alessa sighed, gently thumbing her laptop closed. She was resigned. If she didn’t know the basics of physics by now, she certainly wasn’t going to learn them by tomorrow. At least the midterm was open book.

She plunked the textbook down on the far corner of her desk with a resolute thud.

Alessa knew she needed to stop obsessing about the ghost. Her fixation had taken over her life, much to the detriment of her schoolwork and the few friendships she’d begun to develop at the start of the semester. She was barely sleeping, her mind abuzz dusk to dawn with questions about the ghost. And then the nightmares had started – always the same immobilizing fear pulsing through her in that dark, dank cell.

No, this was not at all what Alessa had envisioned for her first semester of college.

Alessa pushed back from her desk and stood up, poking her head out into the hallway. As she’d hoped, the door to Janie’s room was propped open invitingly. Perfect – a little Janie time was just what she needed to decompress. Alessa dug into her small refrigerator for a day-old sandwich and headed down the hall towards her friend’s room.

Janie was sitting at her desk, her small frame hunched over her computer as she typed furiously, short brown hair tucked behind her ears. Alessa remembered that in addition to the physics exam, Janie also had a paper due tomorrow.

How’s it going?

Janie finished the sentence she was keying and swung around in her chair. Well, I might bomb physics, but at least I won’t show up empty-handed to psych.

Alessa crossed the room to sit down on Janie’s bed, noticing that her friend’s usually neat chin-length bob was mussed, dark wavy layers sticking out in all directions. It looked like Janie could use some reassurance.

I’m sure you’ll be fine. You took physics in high school, right? She began unwrapping the crinkled cellophane around her turkey club.

"Yeah. But unlike some people – Janie turned her chocolate brown eyes toward Alessa, eyebrows raised, I didn’t get the highest grade in the class."

Before Alessa could explain that it was chemistry she had mastered – physics was after the accident, and she had barely scraped by – Janie reached for the sandwich.

Whatcha got there? Sooner than Alessa could react, Janie had already stolen a bite. Despite her pixie-like proportions, Janie had a considerable appetite. She was chewing in a loud, dramatic fashion. Mmm, dry turkey, tasteless vegetables, and soggy bread. Let me guess – Van Husen basement?

Alessa loosed a small smile and nodded as she swallowed her own bite. Culinary excellence at its finest. Yes, it was a poor excuse for a sandwich, but putting food in her stomach – even these meager provisions from the pitiful student-run café – immediately took the edge off her hunger, and vastly improved her mood. Got anything to wash this down with?

Janie swung open the minifridge to her right and pulled out a can of iced tea. She placed it on the edge of the desk nearest Alessa. Here you go.

Janie turned back to her paper while Alessa finished off the sandwich. Alessa loved that about Janie. Neither of them ever felt a need to keep the conversation going just to fill the space.

With the other girls in the house, Alessa struggled to even manage a 30 second exchange in the bathroom. Her sorority sisters were nice enough, but Alessa often found that she had so little in common with them that many interactions were palpably awkward. But not with Janie. Alessa was content just to sit in the same room as her, knowing that she’d be there to talk to if anything interesting occurred to her. And Janie felt the same.

The only other freshman in the house, Janie had had an easier time assimilating – her natural charisma helped her get along with anyone, even people whose only interest seemed to be boys and parties – but privately, Janie had expressed the same frustrations that Alessa felt. Alessa was just glad that they had found each other.

A spunky, sharp little bundle of energy, Janie had a fire in her that helped Alessa forget her troubles for a while – no small feat, given the long, lonely, painful year Alessa was coming off. For some reason that Alessa couldn’t fathom, Janie had been drawn to Alessa as well, and the two had become fast friends.

As Alessa drained the last few sips of iced tea, Janie tapped a few keys with a sense of finality and sat back in her chair, a satisfied smile on her face as she turned towards Alessa. Now that that’s done… What do you say we get out of here?

A break was exactly what Alessa needed. Let me just grab my bag. She headed back down the hall, looking forward to some fresh air after a long, fruitless day staring at a textbook she could barely bring herself to read.

Crossing the threshold into her room, Alessa stopped short. Standing at the window not ten feet from her was a tall solitary figure, partially cast in shadow.

Alessa stifled the urge to scream. Adrenaline rushed through her body and panic threatened to overtake her as blood throbbed through her temples, her muscles tensing for action. But she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, so she just stood still, watching.

He was looking out the window, breathing gently, one slim lace-up boot perched on the low windowsill, suspenders pulled taut across a broad, flat back and fastened to the narrow waist of his trim brown slacks. He gazed pensively across the wide expanse of the lawn, his chin perched gently upon the knuckles of his left fist, white shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbow. She could see the muscles in his forearm flex as he clenched and unclenched his hand.

He dropped his left arm and tousled a hand through the short waves of his soft brown hair. His skin was pale, but not the pallid color of sickness, more the luminous porcelain of midwinter. As usual, he was contemplative, and didn’t seem to notice her presence.

But Alessa’s body refused to calm, her insides churning as she fought the mayhem stirring in her chest. Terror mixed with agony, her heart sinking with each beat, overwhelmed with an aching sorrow she couldn’t explain. Her every impulse screamed at her to run, but she was rooted in place, transfixed, waves of anguish washing over her, drowning.

At the same time, though, she felt the firm tug of a powerful longing, searing her from the inside out. She couldn’t have torn her eyes from him if she’d tried. How did this strange apparition invoke such turmoil in her?

His image glowed faintly, the lines of the windowpane just barely visible through his semi-translucent form. For a moment, his head inclined in her direction and she could see the gleam of one sea blue eye, flecks of green and gold shining above a strong, straight nose and thin pale rose lips.

She watched, rapt, as he clenched his jaw and swallowed, breathing deep then exhaling with an almost imperceptible shake of his head, hard lines of melancholy scored into his face.

Alessa was building the courage to try to reach out to him when the ghost began to fade. It started with the hazy glow around him, which grew strong for a moment then rapidly drew inward, erasing his presence as it went. Alessa thought she saw a small flicker and then the form was gone.

2. MEMOIR

Alessa quickly closed the door behind her, gasping for air; she hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath. The entire encounter had only lasted a few seconds, but she was overcome with exhaustion. Her heart was still pounding and she was trembling from her fingertips to her toes.

She leaned her back against the door, spreading her palms against the cool wood. Alessa looked up at the ceiling, releasing a deep sigh. These encounters always left her shaken and drained.

She didn’t understand the tumultuous emotions that had hammered through her. The shock, the fear, the confusion – that was all natural enough. But her inexplicable attraction to the ghost… It was disturbingly magnetic.

She looked slowly around her room. Everything was in its place – the oversized original fireplace mantle, her twin bed and nightstand by the double window, her desk and minifridge across from the bed, and the large sliding door sealing off the closet to her right. It was amazing how such a familiar place could for those few moments feel so foreign to her, like another world she didn’t belong in.

The sound of footsteps approaching from down the hall brought Alessa back to reality. She stepped toward the mirror to wipe away the tears that’d begun pooling in her eyes just as Janie popped through the door.

Ready to go, Less? Her bright smile faded into concern as she caught sight of Alessa’s face. Hey, what is it? she implored, crossing the room to place a reassuring hand on her friend’s arm. Searching Alessa’s eyes, understanding slowly crept into Janie’s countenance. Alessa, did it happen again? she asked gently.

Alessa puffed a deep sigh. She knew Janie was intrigued by her ghost sightings, but she really wasn’t feeling up to discussing the latest one just yet.

All of a sudden, the room felt stifling. Alessa grabbed her bag and headed for the door. Let’s just go.

Janie set her mouth in a dissatisfied line, but she knew better than to push. Alessa appreciated that somehow after only a few weeks of knowing each other, her friend had already intuited that she would only talk when she was ready. Okay… Janie yielded.

Springing down the stairs of the house, Alessa set a quick pace down the cobblestone path that led across the sprawling lawn and back toward the quad, Janie following close behind.

She breathed deep and let the crisp fall evening wash over her. She always felt better being outside. The dizzy humming in her head started to clear as the cool November air lightly stung her eyes and worked its way from her lungs into her bloodstream, bringing the feeling back to her limbs.

Alessa could feel Janie eyeing her with concern as they wound their way across the quad, leaves crunching beneath their feet as they ambled past the stately brick buildings lining the walk.

A couple frat boys were tossing a frisbee across the lawn in the last rays of the fading sunlight while a gaggle of freshman girls stood huddled under a nearby tree, stealing glances at the guys and giggling to each other. Alessa watched a comically clichéd-looking professor in a classic tweed blazer replete with elbow patches hustle a stack of papers a foot tall towards the faculty offices. On the far side of the quad, a team of facility workers were blowing fallen leaves into a pile and raking them into the mountain heaped on the back of their truck. Taking in the ordinary college scene around her, Alessa began to feel almost normal again.

Alessa let her eyes rest on the façade of Van Husen Hall up ahead, its edifice laced with ivy, the heavy doors bedecked by massive old-growth trees still clinging to their last clumps of foliage as winter threatened to descend. The carefully placed up-lighting behind the trees highlighted the building’s grand turn-of-the-century architecture and cast dramatic shadows across the entrance.

Janie followed Alessa’s gaze. I know it’s not everything you’d hoped for, she murmured, but the campus is beautiful, that much you have to admit.

Alessa nodded in agreement. She hadn’t been entirely thrilled when she’d received her acceptance – Eastern State University wasn’t exactly the elite private college she’d always dreamed of – but she supposed she was lucky to have been accepted anywhere after the debacle of the previous year.

Alessa sighed. I just want everything to be normal again, Janie. Everything I ever knew is all just… gone. She held her empty palms out in front of her before dropping them feebly at her sides.

Janie flung an arm around her friend’s shoulders and pulled her in for a firm squeeze. I’m sorry, Less. I can only imagine what it’s been like for you. Sounds like a nightmare of a year.

You could say that again, Alessa somberly agreed. Alessa had started her senior year of high school with a flawless resume and her dreams right at her fingertips. Then everything had fallen apart.

Janie sighed. I know your parents would be proud of you, for how you’ve handled everything.

Alessa shrugged, water pricking at her eyes. What she wouldn’t give to hear them say it.

Tell me again what happened, Janie pressed gently.

It’s not going to change anything, Alessa protested. She’d already told her the story what felt like a dozen times.

It’s better not to bury your memories, even the hard ones.

She wasn’t sure why, but Alessa thought she caught a glimpse of desperation in Janie’s eyes before she glanced down at the neatly lined pavers under their feet. Maybe Alessa was seeing things… she wouldn’t put it past herself lately, she thought with a wry smile. With a heave, she once again recounted the worst night of her life – an abbreviated version, since she knew Janie already knew the details.

My mom grounded me after a stupid argument the morning before homecoming, I don’t even remember about what. Alessa clenched her hands in frustration. She had so many regrets about that day. And that night, my parents went out to visit a friend, and I’d fallen asleep on the couch watching re-runs of some terrible reality show. And then… and then…

Alessa could still hear the ding of the doorbell in her head, still feel the confusion knotting a pit in her stomach when she stumbled to the door in a daze. She knew right away when she answered it, didn’t even need the officer to speak – his face said it all. Are you Alessa Khole? he began. And in a matter of moments, her entire world had shattered.

My parents were in an accident, Alessa whispered. She took a deep breath. There was nothing they could do. They were already dead. She swallowed, the familiar shroud of stone settling over her countenance.

Over a year later now, Alessa still couldn’t quite believe that this was her story, that this was her life. She still couldn’t quite connect to it. When she actually said it out loud, it felt like she was talking about some character from a book or movie or something. It felt surreal. And yet, it had happened, just like she’d heard of it happening to other unlucky families over the years. She just never thought that one day it’d be hers.

Alessa glanced up at her reflection in the neighboring building, her tired green eyes shadowed deep in the dark window nestled into the ornate mahogany doors. She was surprised at how haggard she looked. Mercifully, her glossy chestnut locks hung straight in long, neat layers that framed her face. If an outside observer didn’t look closely, they might not notice the bags under her eyes, or her lackluster skin, or the jeans hanging loosely from her hips. But Alessa noticed, and she didn’t like it – she didn’t look like herself. She realized the sandwich she’d just had was the first thing she’d eaten all day.

She wrapped her arms around her midriff, hoping to quell the queasy, unsettled despair that had descended on her since her latest run-in with the ghost. That dark, heavy haze brought Alessa right back to the previous fall, when the world had come crashing down around her.

Not surprisingly, her grades had nosedived in the wake of her parents’ accident, as she struggled through a thick depression. And when December had rolled around – bringing with it college application season – she’d tried her best to pull together a few halfway decent submissions to the list of selective schools she’d been planning to apply to.

But reality had set in once the rejection letters started piling up in late March. Luckily, a few big state schools were still accepting rolling admissions, and one – Eastern State University, home of the Fighting Gophers – had been willing to overlook the disaster of the last seven months.

And that was how she’d ended up here, still clumsily picking up the pieces of a life that she didn’t even recognize anymore. Whenever that life wasn’t being ransacked by a ghost, at least.

Hey, Janie interjected softly. I’m glad you’re here now. She smiled gently.

"Thanks, Janie. I’m glad you’re here, Alessa reciprocated. I don’t know what I’d do without you," she added quietly. And she meant it. Janie was the one bright spot in an existence that Alessa had had difficulty feeling more than apathetic about lately.

Janie was quiet for a moment, then her smile widened into an impish grin. Probably be holed up in your room with an even sadder social life, she ribbed, snickering.

Alessa moaned and rolled her eyes, even though it was true. Come on, she griped, cracking a smile in spite of herself. Let’s head home.

3. OBJECTIVE

Approaching the porch of the chapter house, Alessa and Janie strolled in companionable silence, each lost in her own thoughts.

Glancing up at the front door, Alessa took note – not for the first time – of the myriad surveillance cameras flanking her from every side, an uneasy shiver slithering down her spine.

Those things give me the creeps, Alessa muttered, motioning towards the two cameras pointing down towards the door and the path. She couldn’t see them, but she knew there were others as well, peeking out of bushes and camouflaged behind rocks and benches.

I don’t know why. They’re here for our own protection, Janie shrugged, averting her eyes.

That was true, Alessa supposed. The year before she and Janie enrolled, a widely-publicized hazing scandal had embroiled the university in a drawn out lawsuit, a disastrous PR spectacle that had dragged on for months longer than would have been necessary if the university had had proper video evidence to prove that their expulsions were justified. The administration had learned from their mistake and promptly installed a state-of-the-art surveillance network across the entire ESU campus.

I know. I just… I don’t like the feeling of being watched every time I step out of the house, I guess. And I feel like a lot of students don’t even seem to notice that we’re under constant surveillance… Alessa trailed off. I don’t know. The whole setup just seems like some sort of violation, you know?

Now pointedly digging through her bag, Janie paused briefly before responding. Eh, I think you’re being oversensitive. Who cares? You have nothing to hide. Right?

Janie’s tone was nonchalant, but the tense undercurrent radiating off her didn’t jive with the casualness of her words.

Puzzled, Alessa persisted. "I just think it’s weird. One time I was sitting on