Free The Skin Show by Kristopher Rufty Page A

softened. “I’ll come see you later. Probably tomorrow. Hopefully
you can fill me in on everything.”
    “I
hope so, too. If I have anything to share…”
    Chapter Six
    Nicole
turned the key. The engine shut off with a coughing gust. The fan continued to spin
a few seconds longer before finally stopping. She didn’t know much about cars,
but something was definitely wrong under the hood of her ‘97 Nissan Altima. And,
she wasn’t surprised since the car was acned with dents and scratches, and had
a salvage title on it. Balding tires, two of them with plugged holes in the
barely existent tread. It was only a matter of time before the engine started
going caput on her, too.
    Didn’t
matter. She lacked the funds to get it fixed, and no one would dare buy this
heap if she tried to sell it. The fan had been acting up for months already, so
a repair could wait a while longer.
    Andy
would pay for it, if he knew.
    Yes,
but she’d never ask him to. If the car held out a little while longer, she should
have the money saved up. If the Nissan got her to and from work and to the
store when she needed, that was what really mattered for now.
    With
a groan, she got out of the car and bumped the door shut with a hip. She
shouldered her pocket book as she stared at Andy’s car. The strap pulled
against her Food Town blouse, feeling itchy against her skin. She adjusted the
strap, then ruffled the shirt so it wasn’t so tight.  
    Looking
at Andy’s car again, she expected any moment for the door to open and Andy to
climb out. She’d been waiting on him to since she’d pulled up, washing the
shiny paint with her headlights. He hadn’t. The car still just continued to sit
there, dark as pitch on the inside. Since there weren’t any flood lights in the
yard, all she had for light was the moon and a pen flashlight in her pocket
book.
    Which
she fished out, using her thumb to click it on. A pencil line of light jabbed
through the darkness. She aimed it at the Camaro. Such a hot car. A couple
times Andy had taken her for rides. They’d parked at Hanky-Panky Hill and had
some hanky-panky of their own. She smiled at the memories, but felt a hollow
space open up in her chest.
    “Andy?”
She walked toward the car, keeping the light pointed ahead of her as if walking
a dog on a leash. “ Andy? ” Something about finding a parked car where it
shouldn’t be was eerie, causing her arms to stipple with gooseflesh. Seeing that
car without its driver made her whole body tremble with fear and
premonition.
    What
the hell is going on?
    Leaning
over, she pointed the light at the window. The glass seemed to glow, glaring
the light back at her. She could hardly see what was on the other side. A nearly
transparent version of herself pointed the light back at Nicole. The smeared
reflection rippled inside a puddle of black.
    Feels
like I’m looking at a ghost of myself.
    The
back of her neck prickled.
    Stop
it.
    Shutting
off the penlight, the phantom Nicole vanished. That was better. She stood
upright, looking around.
    Where’s
Andy?
    Knowing
where she kept a spare key, he was probably inside waiting on her to come home.
Since she hadn’t spoken to him all day, there was no way he could know she’d
been working.
    Nicole
woke up in the middle of the night, feeling lonely and wanting strong arms
around her. But, the spot next to her was vacant. She’d located Andy in the
living room, snoozing on the couch. Obviously he’d feared things would traverse
to more than just a harmless sleepover. It was good that he had, because it
reminded her of the real reason she’d gone over there.
    Danny.
    But
how he’d intentionally kept his distance from her crushed her feelings. She
left shortly after sunrise and was on her way home when work called asking if
she could come in early. Two people had called out, so they were extremely
short-handed. She figured if she was really going to leave Danny and attempt
making it on her own, she would need the extra