His Deadly Girl

20. Psycho falls!

“Welcome to Psycho falls!” granny announced.

All of us stared at the waterfall in front of us, with eyes wide open. It was beautiful, no doubt, but, psycho…I don’t know.

After three hours of driving, one hour of dreadful walking through a forest, we were finally at the destination. Still alive…even though, my legs were dead. And judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, they were not feeling exactly energetic either.

Everyone except granny. Yup! I am ashamed to admit that an eighty year old woman had more stamina than us teenagers.

While it looked like someone had sucked the life and blood out of the rest of us, granny and Stella were the only ones who looked the same as they did in the beginning of the journey.

Oh and I forgot to mention a small detail: granny was the one who carried Stella all through the way. Now, need I say more?

“Why did you even bring us here?” Alex asked granny, sounding slightly mad and slightly suspicious.

“Oh, Alexander, you know me. I don’t reveal my plans beforehand,” granny replied, with a wicked glint in her eyes.

“By any means, does your plan have something to do with killing us?” Ashton asked, passing a water bottle to an out of breath Millie.

Granny chuckled, “You underestimate me, Ashy dear.”

Ashton shook his head, blowing out a tired breath, while I took in the whole encounter in surprise. There was one thing that I had become completely sure of through the way: all of them were very open and chill with granny. They talked to her like they were talking to their friend. And, granny returned the favor of course.

Now, how cool was that?

Dylan raised his hand, jumping up and down. Why the hell was he so energetic, right now?

“Yes, Dylie?” granny prompted him.

“Who are these falls named after?” he asked.

Blake scoffed, “Isn’t it obvious? Someone whose name starts with‘d’ and ends with ‘n’”

All of us snickered at that. Dylan glared at Blake.

“At least there’s a fall in my name, then. What do you have, Blakey boy?” Dylan shot back.

“Have you ever visited the wall of fame in my school? My name sits right there. Shiny and bold.” Blake retorted.

“And, who made that possible? My daughter!” Dylan said smugly.

“Guy, really, stop!” Cameron ordered, making them break up their glaring contest.

Everyone had groaned at the ‘my daughter’ part, while I had looked between everyone like a lost puppy.

Okay, I had my own mysteries, but, what was up with these guys. There were so many things that I didn’t understand about them. Was it possible that Dylan was referring to Stella as his daughter?

I involuntarily laughed at my own thoughts. Dylan and Stella’s father? No…that would be too farfetched.

I stopped laughing when I realized that all eyes were on me. Again. I sobered up and cleared my throat.

What was wrong with me? Everyone must be thinking I was having a maniac episode or something.

Granny gave me a smile. A smile too sweet. Then, she turned to give the same smile to Alex. Okay, she was cool and all, but, sometimes I was seriously afraid of her.

I turned to glance at Alex. He was as usual, wearing an indecipherable look.

“Come on, kids, let’s set up the camp for tonight,” granny broke the awkward silence in the air.

What camp?

“We are not camping here!” Millie protested.

“We have school tomorrow, grans,” Cameron said.

“There are too many mosquitoes here!” Hailey complained, and then looked at Blake, “way too many.”

Blake gasped, “Did you just-? Me? Mosquito?”

“I did!” Hailey replied, nodding, “you have called me worse. You called me a leech once.”

“But, that was true!”

“This is true too, you blood sucker,” Hailey stuck out her tongue.

“Kids!” granny interrupted their banter, then scanned everyone’s faces, “Who is the adult here?”

No one answered that. Either they were too afraid to or else no one took granny for an adult…

Granny gave us a smug smile, “That’s what I thought. So, we will do as I say. You will be back by the time of school tomorrow.”

“But-” everyone started to protest, but, went quiet at one look from granny.

“Nobody said you are the adult here,” Alex deadpanned, “I think Stella is more mature than you.”

Wow! How were Alex and granny related again? They were polar opposites!

Granny waved her hands at Alex’s face, “I get it, Alexander. You are jealous of me. I know I have more life than you can ever have. But, it comes naturally to me, okay? Don’t feel inferior.”

Alex rolled his eyes at this.

After that, everyone resumed walking, their shoulders slumped, their spirits low but their legs being controlled by granny like a puppeteer controlling puppets.

Okay, that was an exaggeration. But, still, everyone looked like they wanted nothing more than to collapse on the ground.

I was about to follow everyone who had gone ahead, when out of nowhere Alex came to stand in front of me.

“We need to talk,” he said, his serious eyes boring into mine.

I crossed my arms across my chest, “Yes, we do. I have been called many names in my life. But, garbage? That was a low blow, Alexander.”

His eyes widened in bafflement, “What the hell are you talking about? Who called you garbage?”

I fished out my phone from my pocket and showed him his text which said, ‘my g’

He raised an eyebrow, “That’s what you think?”

Well…I thought something else at first, but, it was not good for my sanity…so, I decided to settle with other options…I could do with garbage, goat or gag…as long as it meant that my um…heart was safe.

I nodded, closing my eyes, “That’s exactly what I think.”

“Fine, then,” he huffed, turning around, “keep thinking.”

Oh man! Why did he seem to be mad? But, then, when was he ever not mad?

Still, maybe, I shouldn’t have done that…no! As long as it kept him away from me, it was the right thing to do!

I sighed, watching his retreating back. Then, I resumed walking, looking at anywhere but him. And, suddenly, I collided with his back when he stopped abruptly and turned around.

“What the hell is your problem, Alexander?” I scowled, rubbing my head that suffered from the bump.

“Don’t even for a second think that I have forgotten about what that psycho Isaac said,” he said, and turned back, leaving me standing there with a lump in my throat.

Of course! He had to say that to ruin my good mood.

***

Everyone including me, watched in amusement as granny ordered Alex around. The camps were all set up and we were seated outside in a circle, around a bonfire.

“I want water,” granny demanded.

“Here,” Alex grumbled, passing her the bottle.

“I want chips,”

“Here,”

“Give me my fake teeth for chewing,”

“Here,”

I want a burger too,”

“Here,”

“Now, I want some great grandkids,”

“Here-wait WHAT?”

I choked on the snicker bar I was munching and looked up to see granny giving an innocent look to Alex. Alex, on the other hand, looked like…um, I shouldn’t say this, but, he looked like a kid who was learning alphabet for the first time.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have to explain to you what great grandkids are?” granny asked him, tongue-in-cheek.

Blake coughed indiscreetly, while Cameron cleared his throat. Ashton and Millie got up, took Stella and said something about going on a walk, nearby. Hailey and Julia appeared to be way to busy in applying mosquito repellent cream, watching everything from the corner of their eyes. Dylan…well, he seemed completely unaffected and normal.

And, me? well…I don’t know…I wanted to laugh really badly at alex’s face and give granny a pat for making him speechless. But, God, I valued my life and didn’t want to die at his hands in the middle of a forest.

How pathetic would that be? Girl killed by an angry guy rather than an animal in the middle of a forest…

My thoughts were cut off when Alex spoke up in a deadly calm voice:

“What is the meaning of this?”

Granny sighed, “So, you really want me to explain you the meaning of great grandkids?” then, she shook her head, “I hope you know the process of making-”

Granny was cut off, when Alex abruptly stood up and marched away, as if his pants were on fire. Cameron, who was trying hard to control his laughter, followed after Alex, to keep him company I think.

While, I sat there, shaking with laughter.

Wow! Just wow!

Granny turned to me with a smile, “What are you laughing about, dearie? You are the one I want him to have kids with. I will take your happiness as your approval.”

That made me close my mouth and still instantly. This time, it was turn of everyone else to laugh at my expense, while I sat there with heat creeping up my cheeks.

“I-I-we-I—“

That was me stuttering. I was speechless to say the least. What the hell and how the hell? Where did I come in everything?

I turned to face Dylan, when he tapped my shoulder. He was the only person not laughing or giving me teasing looks. Who would have thought Dylan would be my friend in need one day?

He offered me a small smile, along with an apple.

I took that from his hand and bit into it, gazing into the fire and avoiding everyone’s mischievously sparkling eyes.

I was halfway through eating the apple, when it happened: the flames started dancing in front of my eyes and the forest started revolving. The sounds dimmed and all I could hear was a loud beep. My vision became blurry and then focused again, when Hailey’s worried face appeared in front of me.

“Kris? Kris! Are you okay?”

The apple was snatched from my hands.

“What did you give to her, Dylan?” I heard Julia yelling.

“What? It was just an apple I picked up on my way here! I think she needed it after you all teased her so brutally.” Dylan replied, from somewhere far away.

“This apple did something to her!”

“Let me see,” I heard the soft, soothing voice of granny.

My eyes were starting to droop. I struggled to keep them open, but, it was in vain.

“What the frick? What happened to crispy?” was the last thing I heard before my eyes completely closed.