Beast

by Kate Harre

  Beside her on the couch, Karen drew in a shuddering breath, probably recalling the bloodied state of Annie’s top when she’d arrived home earlier that evening.

  ‘We understand the evidence isn’t conclusive, Sherriff,’ Jake murmured, his voice gruff with suppressed emotion. ‘But surely there’s something you can do?’

  Setting aside her pad, Sherriff Denton rose to her feet, forcing them to follow suit and trail her towards the front door. ‘I’ll pay a visit to Adrian first thing in the morning and question him, but unless he confesses I don’t have enough solid evidence to hold him.’

  Jake’s jaw clenched and Annie’s shoulders slumped. She’d nearly died, would have if it hadn’t been for Alex and Sydney. But still Adrian was going to get away with what he’d done. Annie wondered if perhaps they should tell the Sherriff the whole truth, but somehow she didn’t strike Annie as someone open to supernatural forces.

  ‘Thank you, Sherriff,’ Karen said, since neither Annie nor Jake was capable of speech. ‘Sorry for disturbing you.’

  The Sherriff surveyed the family with a grim look, but her eyes were sympathetic. ‘I know it’s difficult feeling this helpless, but we will get him. Thanks to you three, someone who I would never have suspected is on my radar… and I don’t like to lose!’

  Chapter 16

  It seemed strange that everyone was behaving normally at school the next day. Somehow Annie had expected the mood to be subdued and fearful, but since no one knew Adrian was a psychotic murderer they had no reason to creep around in fear of a fellow classmate. Even Chelsea was back to her normal bouncy self.

  Karen had attempted to convince Annie to stay home, scared that Adrian would attack her in the school grounds. But Annie had been almost certain Adrian wouldn’t show his face – she, at least, knew the truth and he wouldn’t want her confronting him in front of the school.

  By midday, rumours were swiftly travelling through the student body that Adrian was wanted for questioning by Sherriff Denton, who had made a personal appearance at his home only to discover Adrian hadn’t come home the night before. His car was missing and his parents knew nothing of his whereabouts – it seemed he’d done a runner.

  Chelsea sagged into a seat at the lunch table beside Annie, her usual vivacity gone. ‘I didn’t want to believe you yesterday. Not Adrian… anyone but Adrian.’

  ‘I know. I didn’t want to believe it either.’ She had decided against telling Chelsea about what had happened the night before, not wanting to heap more anguish onto her shoulders. And it was easier to say nothing at all than leave out huge chunks of the story.

  ‘It’s just that… that…’ Chelsea burst into tears, great heaving sobs shaking her body. Wrapped her arms around her friend, Annie let her cry it all out.

  Once the tears subsided she eased away, placed her hands on Chelsea’s shoulders and stared into her still wet eyes. ‘You have to promise me you’ll be careful, Chels. If you see him, call the police straight away. Don’t talk to him, get close to him… anything.’

  ‘I don’t think he’ll come near me; he hates me,’ Chelsea said, her bottom lip trembling.

  ‘That’s the problem – he doesn’t!’ Annie muttered. The Adrian Annie had encountered last night was unpredictable and volatile. Annie had no idea what he was likely to do next and Chelsea was the girl he was in love with, which made her particularly vulnerable in Annie’s eyes. ‘Look, if your parents aren’t going to be home, you come to my place, okay?’

  Chelsea wiped her eyes, smudging her mascara, and gave Annie a wobbly smile. ‘Thanks, but they’re both home tonight. So is my brother. Everyone’s sticking close to home at the moment.’

  Annie dug a tissue out of her bag and handed it to Chelsea. ‘Good. You do the same.’

  *

  The day dragged. Annie kept hoping news would come through that Adrian had been found, but when Jake picked her up after the final bell there was nothing new to report.

  When she asked him to drop her at Alex’s, he frowned. ‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea.’

  ‘Badge, the walls around Alex’s home are about ten feet high – it’s like a fortress and probably the safest place in Ridgeville.’

  ‘I guess. It’s just I can’t see you in there and I’m feeling this incredibly intense need to keep you permanently in my line of sight at the moment.’ He held up one hand in a silencing gesture when she was about to speak. ‘I know. You’re eighteen now, completely safe with Alex – damn, you’d be dead if not for him. But you’re always going to be my little girl and I’m terrified I’m going to lose you.’

  Annie bit her lip, hating to see her parents stressed and scared on her behalf. ‘Do you want to come with me?’ she asked gently. ‘Alex has a fantastic piano you can tinker around on while we train and I won’t stay long. But I… I need to see him.’

  ‘I’d like that. Thank you.’

  Maria opened the door at Annie’s knock and ushered them inside, her usual smile looking forced. Before Annie could ask what was wrong, two men she hadn’t seen before strode out of the lounge room. Maria skirted around them and quickly scurried up the stairs.

  The man at the front was tall, broad-shouldered, with black hair and grey eyes. His face was harsh and arrogant and he walked like he ruled the world. Annie guessed she was about to meet Alex’s father and wondered curiously what he was doing home when Alex had made it clear he preferred to stay well away from his disfigured son. The second man was slight of build, with mousey blonde hair that was receding. He wore glasses, which did nothing to hide the impact of his striking, almost purple eyes.

  Mr Hamilton halted in the middle of the foyer at the unusual sight of strangers in his home, his gaze narrowing. ‘Who are you?’

  Annie swallowed down the nervous lump in her throat. ‘You must be Alex’s father. I’m Annie… his girlfriend.’ Using the word for the first time, she liked the sound of it. She gestured at Jake. ‘This is my Dad, Jake Archer.’

  Not by so much as a flicker of an eyelash did Mr Hamilton indicate he recognised Jake, but perhaps that wasn’t a surprise. He was a good ten years older than Jake and into finance rather than fun. His gaze swept over Annie from head to foot, his eyes flaring slightly in surprise. ‘You are willingly in a relationship with my son?’

  ‘Yes,’ Annie said proudly, instantly disliking this cold, unfeeling man. It was a miracle Alex had become the warm, generous, caring person he was.

  ‘A gold digger starting early,’ he murmured with a cynical twist of his lips.

  Jake stiffened beside her and stepped forward, his fists clenched. Annie put a restraining hand on his arm, although she was tempted to let him go. It would be quite satisfying to see Mr Hamilton sprawled inelegantly on the floor, nursing a bruised jaw. ‘Don’t you ever insult my daughter or your son ever again,’ Jake spat furiously. ‘You think we’re impressed with your house, your wealth? I could buy you ten times over without flinching, you spineless excuse of a man.’

  Alex came barrelling out of the kitchen, drawn by the raised voice, and ground to a surprised stop. His brilliant emerald eyes darted from Annie to his father and back to Jake, taking note of the tension in the air.

  With a groan, he crossed to Annie’s side, wrapping one arm protectively around her shoulders. ‘I see you’ve had the unique joy of meeting my father. I should have warned you he might still be here, but I thought he’d be gone before you arrived. He’s just leaving.’

  Mr Hamilton’s lip curled as he addressed his son without quite looking at him. ‘Careful, Alexander, or you’ll find out what it’s like to only be wanted for your money.’

  Alex threw back his head and laughed in rich appreciation. ‘If you paid attention to the world beyond the stock market, Dad, you might recognise Jake. He’s rock royalty. And Karen, Annie’s Mum, is a world-renowned artist – I think you actually have one of her paintings in the New York apartment. So you see, Annie doesn’t need my money.’

  Shaking his head slightly, lik
e he couldn’t quite wrap his immense brain around the concept that someone might actually want his son for himself, Mr Hamilton’s face flickered briefly with revulsion before he quickly masked it. ‘Let me know when you want to proceed,’ he said and strode out the door without another look in either Annie’s or Jake’s direction.

  The other man followed quickly in his wake with a harried look of apology.

  As soon as the door closed behind them, the tension in the room subsided. Jake let his breath out with a hiss. ‘I’m sorry, Alex, but your father is a real piece of work!’

  Alex’s lips twitched in a mocking smile. ‘Oh I’m quite aware.’ He hesitated. ‘That was pretty much me a year ago,’ he admitted gruffly.

  Annie squeezed his side in a reassuring hug. ‘But it’s not anymore,’ she said firmly. ‘I thought he didn’t visit.’

  ‘He doesn’t. I asked him to come.’ Alex’s eyes flickered in Jake’s direction.

  Catching the look, Jake grinned and threw his arms up in the air. ‘Point me in the direction of your piano and I’ll make myself scarce.’

  Alex showed Jake into the lounge room before turning to face Annie. Shoving his hands deep into his jeans pockets, he shifted from one foot to the other, his eyes evasive. Which told Annie she wasn’t going to like what he was about to tell her.

  Grabbing his elbow, she dragged him into the kitchen and shut the door. ‘Okay, what’s going on Alex? Why did you ask your father to visit and who was the man with him?’ She barely managed to resist planting her hands on her hips.

  With a heavy sigh, he perched on one of the kitchen stools. ‘Promise you won’t get mad?’

  Annie groaned. ‘You realise that question is designed to make a person mad before you’ve even said anything, right?’

  He grimaced. ‘Yeah, not a good start, I guess. That was Dr Thomson; he’s a plastic surgeon.’

  She winced, immediately understanding the significance of his visit. ‘Oh, Alex.’

  One shoulder lifted in an awkward shrug, his attempt at nonchalance not working. ‘I’ll never look the way I used to, but with some skin grafts and the technology they have these days, Dr Thomson should be able to improve the look of my scars, some he’ll even be able to completely cover.’

  ‘It’s a curse, Alex. Do you even know if surgery will work? What if the magic simply undoes it – how are you going to explain that to a hospital full of doctors and nurses?’ she demanded.

  ‘I don’t know – I don’t know if it will work, how I’d explain any of that stuff… nothing,’ he responded heatedly. ‘I just know I need to try. And if it doesn’t work – well, I haven’t really lost anything, have I?’

  Annie bit her lip and slumped against the wall. She knew how much looking normal meant to him, but the timing seemed a bit off. ‘Why do you want to do this now, when you haven’t wanted to before?’

  He looked at her, his eyes full of entreaty. ‘Do you know how much I want to take you out on a proper date? I want to go away to college with you. I want you to be proud to have me by your side. I want… so much.’

  Annie closed her eyes on a ragged sigh. She felt like her heart was going to shatter inside her chest. ‘Please don’t make this about me. You know it doesn’t matter to me how you look. I would be proud to walk down the street with you the way you look right now. What do I have to do to prove that to you?’ she whispered painfully.

  ‘I know you say that and I know you even believe it, but I can’t, Annie. I just can’t.’ He heaved in a deep, shaky breath. ‘Right now I feel like I’m in some kind of dream-like bubble, where everything I want is manifested in you. I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and when I do, you’ll be gone. Because when I look at you and how perfect you are, all I see are my failings… and how much I don’t deserve to even breathe the same air as you.’

  Annie flinched as though he’d struck her. Her eyes filled with tears and she couldn’t look at him. ‘Go ahead and get the surgery if it means that much to you. I don’t begrudge you wanting to look normal. But don’t do it for me; don’t ever do it for me. Because I would never ask that of you.’

  She turned, stumbled in the direction of the door.

  ‘Annie,’ he pleaded, his hand instinctively reaching for her before dropping uselessly back to his side. ‘Please try to understand.’

  Her head whipped back to face him and she swiped tears furiously from her cheeks. ‘Oh I understand, Alex. I understand you still doubt me. I understand how you look is always going to be a barrier that you put between us.’ Her shoulders slumped in defeat. She was done trying to show him how much he meant to her. But she wasn’t prepared for how much it hurt to have her heart broken ‘So how do we have a relationship with all that hanging between us?’

  She made her way to the door again, half blinded by the tears streaming from her eyes.

  Alex’s chest tightened convulsively and he felt like he was going to choke on the fear clogging his throat. He was losing her. Panic sent him lurching clumsily to his feet. He shoved the stool violently out of his way, the high-pitched scraping sound like fingernails running down a chalkboard. In two long strides he reached Annie, just as her fingers slid over the door handle. His hands closed around her shoulders, spinning her to face him.

  Not looking at his face, she kept her gaze fixed on a button on his shirt, because she knew this would be hurting him as much as it was hurting her and she couldn’t bear to see him in pain. But he wouldn’t let her avoid it.

  Cupping his hands around her face, he forced her to meet his anguished eyes. His fingers splayed tenderly over her cheekbones, catching her tears, and then he was kissing her desperately, his lips urgent on hers, trying to force a response from her. It was the first time he’d initiated a kiss and she realised he’d been holding himself back until now, still shying away from deliberately putting his scarred face close to her. But now, when he was scared he was losing her, he’d found the courage to take what he wanted, to try and bring her back to him.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured against her lips, his voice fractured with despair. ‘So sorry…’

  Crushing her against him, his hands moved frantically over her shoulders, down her back and around her slender waist, holding her as close to him as was physically possible. And Annie simply melted in his arms, kissing him back with everything she held in her heart. He trembled in her arms, his big hands gripping her reflexively.

  Finally, when they were both struggling to breathe, he wrenched his mouth away from hers and buried his head in her hair, still clutching her to him. ‘Please don’t leave me,’ he whispered brokenly.

  Annie pulled back just enough to look him in the eye. ‘I need you to trust me and what I feel for you.’

  ‘I do.’ She could see the confusion swirling in his eyes. ‘It’s just I want everything to be perfect for you.’

  ‘Perfect would be incredibly boring,’ she said with a smile. He didn’t return her smile and she sobered abruptly. ‘All I care about is being with you. Nothing else matters.’

  ‘I can’t wrap my head around the fact that you could be happy with this face,’ he admitted gruffly.

  Annie reached up and spread her fingers over his cheek, her thumb tracing the scar tissue. ‘But I am.’

  The words sounded inadequate to her ears. Maybe if she told him how she really felt he’d understand how little his damaged face mattered to her. I love you hovered on her lips, but somehow the time didn’t seem right. She wanted to tell him in a more romantic setting or at least when they were laughing and enjoying each other’s company… when he might be more likely to believe her. Not now, with tears, disappointment and confusion between them. Maybe she too was guilty of wanting everything to be perfect.

  He removed her hand from his face, kissing her fingers softly before wrapping his hand around hers. With his other hand he cupped the back of her head and drew her against his chest, threading his fingers through her silky hair. Resting his chin on her head, he sighed wistfully. ‘When
I hold you in my arms I forget about how I look. Everything seems right in my world when you’re near me.’

  Smiling against his chest, she burrowed closer to him, working her nose into the opening of his shirt so she could inhale his clean, fresh scent. Her lips trailed along his collarbone and she pulled her fingers free of his so she could undo another button, giving her better access to his smooth, bronzed skin. As her lips planted gentle kisses along his shoulder, her fingers followed the join of his shirt and flicked open another button. Alex groaned. His hand dropped of her waist, finding the gap between her jeans and top, sliding under her shirt to splay across the skin of her lower back. Annie gasped at the heat his palm was generating.

  ‘Your Dad’s just across the hall. This feels kind of wrong,’ he muttered, before burying his lips in the curve of her neck. Faintly, he could hear the sound of piano music through the walls.

  Finally dispensing with the last button, Annie spread her hand across Alex’s chest, exploring the feel of him. Her hand drifted lower and she grinned against his shoulder as his abdominal muscles rippled beneath her touch.

  ‘Oh God…’ he breathed reverently. His hand slid from the back of her head to her chin, lifting her face to his. Annie looked into his eyes – they were churning with a mixture of desire and wonder, like he couldn’t quite believe this was happening to him. She smiled tremulously, her own emotions spiralling out of control. She’d never felt this way about anyone before, never had that feeling like even if she burrowed inside his skin it still wouldn’t be close enough. She swallowed hard, her eyes fluttering closed as his mouth descended towards hers and…

  The shrill sound of her phone ringing in her pocket caused her to jump, her eyes flying open guiltily. She scanned the room frantically, expecting Jake or Maria to have materialised and caught them in the act. There was no one there and her gaze skidded back to Alex. He was studying her, a rueful smile on his face and she realised he’d reacted in the same way she had.