Shadows of the Past: A Supernatural Suspense Mystery (Shadow Slayers Stories Book 1) by Nellie Steele (best books for 7th graders .TXT) 📕

wandered around like a zombie, not able to focus on anything. When her watch read almost 1:30 p.m., she supposed that she had better eat.

As she headed for the food court, the memory of her last experience here plagued her. Every place she turned, memories of Gray and his pleading for help haunted her. She left without eating, heading home to grab a light snack instead.

At home, she gathered her snack and forced herself to finish her report generation, sending them off before deciding to call it quits for the day. She was mentally and physically exhausted and spent the rest of the afternoon on the front porch swing, trying to remind herself of her end goal. She anxiously awaited the return of her roommates and the distraction that they would provide for her.

“Wonder what all that was about?” Michael asked, as they pulled back into their hiding spot near the house.

“Seems like she’s trying to distract herself, that’s what she usually does when she’s upset by something. Retail therapy. Ever seen her closet? She does it a lot.”

“She wasn’t at the motel or the mall long though, and she purchased nothing.”

“Yeah, that’s the part that’s got me concerned.”

“That she didn’t purchase anything?”

“Yeah,” Damien responded, lost in thought.

“Of everything going on, her lack of purchasing has you concerned? Seriously?” Michael asked.

“Yes. Well, I mean, it’s totally out of character. When Josie has a problem, she shops it away. Do you know how many pairs of shoes she bought when she didn’t get a big contract once?”

“No?” Michael phrased his response as a question.

“Well, it was a lot. Broke up with a boyfriend, that’s like a five dress minimum. Bad day at work, she buys a new sweater. Fight with her mom, going rate is about three blouses and a new skirt. The fact that she met with that guy, whoever he is, then went shopping and came out with nothing is majorly concerning.”

“Hmm,” Michael said, enlightened to the stress-relieving mechanism employed by Josie. “So, what’s it mean when she buys nothing? Nothing is bothering her?”

“I’d say just the opposite. Something so significant is bothering her, she can’t even shop. So that’s like something scary serious.”

“But what could it be?” Michael mused. They both sat in silence for a few minutes, lost in their own theories about what might be bothering Josie. After a few minutes, Michael said, “So, how many dresses did she buy when she broke up with me?”

Damien looked up at the roof of the car, thinking, “Um, three dresses and two pairs of shoes, I think.”

Michael made a face. “Not bad, did I do good then?!? So what’s this guy’s story that she’s bought nothing.”

“That’s the million dollar question.”

“I’m getting stiff.” Uncomfortable, Michael shifted around in his seat. “Good thing I’m not a cop. I couldn’t do this often.”

“Might not have to, looks like she’s calling it a day. She’s on her swing.”

“Maybe we should 'come home from work early,’” Michael suggested.

“That’ll work for me. One of us should circle around a few times so we’re not back at the same time.”

“Rock, paper, scissors for it?” Michael asked.

“Okay,” Damien responded, as they both made fists. “Figures, that’s my luck,” he said after losing, his rock being covered by Michael’s paper. “Okay, drop me back at my car and I’ll drive around for about fifteen minutes then come back.”

“Sounds good,” Michael said, firing up the car and backing onto the road. They drove to where Damien had left his car.

“See you soon,” Damien said as he exited the car at the abandoned pizza parlor parking lot.

Josie laid in bed, unable to sleep. Despite both Damien and Michael coming home early, they did little to distract her from her conversations earlier in the day. She had made a good show of it, but finally night had come and she was alone with only her own thoughts to plague her.

From her position in bed she could view the music box in front of her. She stared at it. She should have put it away earlier today, but she didn’t. Now it served as a constant reminder of her past. She considered putting the thing away now. She rose from bed, intending to do just that. After grabbing hold of it she took a moment, sitting back on the bed, holding the box. She clutched it to her chest, an overwhelming sense of sorrow filling her. She opened the box, letting the music fill the air. She decided against putting the music box away for the moment, setting it back on the night table and climbing back into bed.

As she set the box down, she noticed the notification light blinking on her phone. Picking the device up she checked her notifications and found a text message waiting for her. She opened the message; it was from Gray: Here is a picture of Max and Maddy, Avery’s two children… I thought you might want to see what’s at stake

Attached to the message was a picture of a smiling boy and girl, standing on either side of Avery. The last time she had seen Avery, she had been a child smaller than the ones in the picture. Now Avery had children that were about ten and eight.

How much things had changed yet also how little. Gray realized guilt was weighing on her, and he was exploiting it; how well he knew her. Using her guilt to his advantage was smart, but also maddening. She stared at the picture; at those two little faces.

Shutting her phone off, she set it back on the night table. She rolled over, facing away from it, trying to shut the image out of her mind as easily as she had shut off the phone’s display. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy. Even though she recognized what he was doing, she couldn’t ignore the text. Rolling back over, she retrieved her phone and responded: Meet tomorrow morning to talk?

She didn’t know what she would say, but