Matt had taken Amanda home after her meltdown in
the main office.
“I’m not crazy,” she said. She was sitting on the couch in their small,
one-bedroom apartment, her head buried in her hands. She could feel the cold sweat running down
her back. “There was a girl there.”
Matt was sitting next to her, watching her,
obviously unsure as to how to handle the situation. He reached out, placing his hand gently on
the small of her back. Softly he began
to run his fingers up and down, then letting his fingertips run small circles
in the damp skin. It usually worked to
help her relax, but no matter how long her tried, her muscles remained
rigid.
“Do you want me to call someone?” He leaned close
to her, trying to close the gap between them.
Amanda’s head snapped up. “Clare.”
“I don’t think…” He stopped, trying to find the
right words. What he wanted to tell her was that he didn’t want to bring in
someone who would feed into whatever delusion she was experiencing. He couldn’t say that, no. Not without her pulling away from him, or
worse, completely shutting him out. “Why don’t you get some rest, and I can see
if she can come over. Okay?”
Amanda nodded, and stood up, heading towards
their bedroom.
She glanced back at him. “I’m not crazy,” she
said,” I know what I saw. I know what I
went through. You were there, Matt. You were right by my side. You saw it. I don’t know what they did to you, or how
they got to you, but you have to remember.”
He didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t. He just gave her a slight nod. She looked disappointed, but she didn’t say
anything else. Instead, she just turned and went into the bedroom, closing the
door behind her.
Matt sat back, his fingers instinctively began
rubbing his temples. The last few months
had been tough on everyone. The deaths
at Wheaton Prep had hit everyone hard, and then when they had found Felicia…
He had to admit that something in Wheaton was
off. A dark cloud seemed to be hanging
over the town, and apparently it was starting to get to Amanda. It was getting to him, too, just not in such
an obvious way.
He stood up, and headed towards the kitchen. He hadn’t been able to grab lunch yet, and
his stomach was growling. He also had to
admit that eating his emotions a little appealed to him. He flipped the light on in the kitchen and
that was when he saw it.
Sitting on the counter was a bright pink piece of
paper with bold, black print written across it.
He hadn’t seen it before. He
would have remembered something so garish.
Maybe Amanda had brought it in? No, she was the first to throw out
random ads without a second look. He
took a step towards the counter, close enough where he could read the thick,
slightly smudged text.
It was for a Men’s Prayer Group. Apparently that new church in town was trying
to recruit new people. He picked it up, reading it closely. The ad itself was plain, but what ended up
catching his eye was the little note scrawled across the bottom in wide, bubbly
letters.
Matt, you should really come check out the
group. It could do you some good. The church can help you with whatever
problems you have in your life. Even a councilor could use some counseling
sometimes.
Sincerely,
Howie Day,
Youth Minister at Church of the New Day
He had never been one to do the whole prayer
group thing. He and Amanda went to
church regularly, and their faith had been one of the things that had helped
bring them together, but neither of them had ever been all that involved in
their church community.
He glanced back at the bedroom door, then down at
the flier. Maybe they had a way to deal
with something like this. With something like the darkness that had seemingly
gripped Wheaton the past couple of months.
He carefully folded the flier and tucked it into
his pocket.
Maybe…
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