Chapter 38
Gerrick was in the rock garden when Brandon reached Highgarden. He was stripped to the waist and using a hand tool to brush waves into the small pebbles that made up the garden. He looked up as Brandon came through the sliding glass doors and out onto the back deck. He must have seen something in Brandon’s face because he shook his head and smiled. “How is Claire?”
Brandon walked down the back steps and sat down. “Confusing. Aggravating.” He shook his head. “You knew I’d go to her, didn’t you?”
Gerrick stabbed the tool into the rocks and stood up, dusting his hands off on his pants. He twisted his neck until it popped loudly and he said. “You wouldn’t be your father’s son if you hadn’t. How crazy did she decide you were?”
Brandon stared at his uncle. He shook his head, saying. “Pretty crazy, I guess.” He laughed suddenly, though he couldn’t see a single thing funny about the whole day. “I should be thankful I didn’t tell her about talking to Gods in my head.”
“Gods?” Gerrick’s tone was much milder than his gaze, which seemed to weigh more than all of the rock in Highgarden. His heavy muscles gleamed with sweat where they weren’t covered in dust. He said. “Just how many Gods are you talking to?”
“You’re a real piece of work, you know?” Brandon said, ignoring the question. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t tell Gerrick about Rok and the new voice in his head, but felt like it was right to keep silent. If Rok wanted his existence to be known, he would let Brandon know. “You were testing me?”
“Life is a test, Bran.” Gerrick said, walking over to a water spigot that was close to the back deck. Turning it on, he began to wash himself off. The water must have been ice cold, but the big man didn’t show that it bothered him in the least. “Everything thrown at you is a test by the gods. To see if you are deserving of their respect and love. But the test wasn’t just for you, Bran. It was also a test for Claire. To gauge the depth of her feelings for you.”
“So how did she do?” Brandon didn’t try to keep the anger from his voice.
Gerrick ignored his tone, just as Brandon ignored his earlier question. He ducked his head under the water and soaked his hair, running his hands through it a few times before shaking it like a big scary dog. He turned the water off and looked at Brandon, water running down his face and past his cold black gaze. He said. “She cares about you, that’s for true, but she didn’t swallow your story whole, despite it being the truth. She has a good head on her shoulders.” He quirked his mouth into what might pass for a smile, if you ignored the rest of his face. “I approve.”
“It doesn’t matter if you approve of her or not.” Brandon said. “She’s better off out of my life. You’ve made me see the truth of that. I’ll just bring her pain. And death.” He stood up, looking out over the back yard, past the bridge and into the woods beyond.
Gerrick looked at him, using a piece of cloth to dry off his chest and arms. “Then you have passed your test as well, Bran.”
Brandon smiled, grim in the early evening light. “If you’re such a fan of tests, Gerrick, I think I’ve got one hell of a test for you.”
Gerrick met his steely gaze and quirked his mouth again. “Do tell?”
Chapter 39
Claire sat in her room for a long time after Brandon left, thinking about everything he had said and her own responses to him. She kept feeling like she should have listened harder, with more of an open mind. That skeleton at the graveyard HAD happened, that much she had to admit. It all stood out too clear in her head now, lying in her room with time to reflect.
Brandon wasn’t crazy. She knew that too. Not just in her heart, where her trust in him was still just as complete as it was before he decided that to protect her he had to stay away from her. But also in her gut, where her instincts were telling her that there was definitely something dark and strange going on in her home town. A place that had always felt safe and predictable, Matheson had somehow become shadowy and uncertain.
But understanding why Brandon would make such a decision in no way lessened her anger at him for having made it. He acted like she was defenseless. Like she couldn’t decide for herself whether to risk being with him. Even now, it was enough to make her want to take a bite out of him.
But that didn’t stop her caring for him.
Or was it love?
Sighing, she rolled over in her bed and grabbed her cell phone from the bedside table, checking to see if she had any text messages. She’d shot Emily a message earlier, asking her to come over. Especially since they had both promised Brandon that they wouldn’t go to the party tonight. She’d sent the message almost ten minutes earlier.
Still no response.
That wasn’t like Emily at all.
Claire thought about sending another text, but decided to call instead. Instead of getting her answer tone, the phone went straight to voice-mail. Claire sighed into the phone and said. “Call me, Em. I need you. You better not have gone to that party.” She hung up and stared hard at the screen of her phone. Her phone’s background was a picture of her, Emily, and Tina. They were sitting at a table somewhere, drinking gigantic milkshakes and laughing. She couldn’t remember where the pic was taken or even who took it, but she remembered when it was. It was Tina’s 14th birthday party.
Getting a bad feeling, she dialed another number and chewed at her thumbnail while she listened to the phone ring. It was picked up on the 4th ring and Emily’s stepmother said. “Yes?”
“Mrs. Nelson, this is Claire. Can I talk to Emily?”
“Sorry, Claire.” Eileen said, absently. There was noise in the background, music and the sound of a man talking. She went on. “Emily is spending the night at her friend Lola’s house, something to do with a homework assignment that they are working on together. I don’t expect her back ’til morning. Have you tried her cell?”
“I didn’t think of that.” Claire said, not caring whether the sarcasm was apparent to Eileen in the least. Emily wasn’t alone in her dislike of her stepmother. “I’ll call her now.” She disconnected without waiting to hear if the woman replied.
Growling softly in the back of her throat, Claire sat on the edge of her bed long enough to put her shoes back on and select a dark violet eye patch, before grabbing her coat and heading downstairs. Her mom caught her as she was opening the front door.
“And where do you think you’re going, young lady?” She must have heard how lame the cliché sounded coming out of her mouth, because she laughed suddenly and couldn’t maintain the stern expression on her face. “It’s a little late to be going out now?”
“I know. I’m sorry, mom, but I’m worried about Emily.” Claire met her gaze levelly and said. “She was supposed to come over tonight, but I haven’t heard from her. And when I try to call, the phone goes straight to voice-mail. I just want to walk over to her house and make sure everything’s okay. You know how Eileen is.” She let enough concern bleed into her voice to convince her mom not to argue.
Her mom did indeed know how Eileen Nelson was, along with most of the PTA and more than a few indiscriminating males scattered around town. Matheson wasn’t as small as some of the surrounding towns, but gossip definitely had a way of getting around. She met Claire’s gaze for a long moment, trying to gauge whether or not her daughter was being completely honest with her. Which, when you came right down to it, was simply deciding whether or not she trusted Claire.
Which was no decision at all, in her book. “Just be careful, honey. And call if you decide to stay over.”
“I will.” Claire said, leaving before her mom could read the lie in her eye. Outside, she stood on the porch long enough to zip her coat up against the chill then hurried out into the shadows. Moving not toward Emily’s house, but in the direction of the old mill. She had a really bad feeling that she might already be too late.
Chapter 40
The Mill was ablaze with car headlights and flashes of bright neon when Emily pulled up. There was a tall b
onfire throwing firelight across the night sky. The cracked and broken parking lot was packed with cars. Tufts of weeds and thick tangles of brambles grew up through the concrete in places. People were all over the place. They were all dressed in Halloween costumes. Some were as simple as a set of Martian antenna, bobbing on their head. Others were full blown F-X extravaganzas. Most were strangers to Emily, though she knew enough people to feel pretty comfortable moving through the groups that had sprung up all over the place.
Her friend Lola walked beside her, watching some of the kids near the bonfire. Lola was dressed similar to Emily, in black hose and a slinky black dress. Her lips and eyes were painted black, as well as her fingernails. Emily looked almost the same, though her dress was a lot nicer and tighter fitting. The kids by the bonfire were taking turns drinking beer through a funnel with a 4 foot hose. One of them spewed beer all over his chest when he couldn’t swallow fast enough.
The normally empty silos were ablaze with light. The doors were thrown open and people were moving in and out of them, holding plastic cups full of beer and punch. The punch was made with a mix of fruit juice, Vodka, and Everclear.
“This is awesome.” Lola said, laughing at a kid who was throwing up near the closest of the silos. “This is definitely going to go down as the best party of the year.”
Emily made a noncommittal sound and turned, looking for her boyfriend, Jack. He was supposed to be there with his friends from the football team. They were helping to put this thing together, along with Jack’s older brother, Bobby. Bobby bought the booze. Emily hadn’t liked being less than honest with Brandon earlier, but she’d known that there was no way she was going to talk Jack into canceling this party. He’d been planning it all year. She understood Brandon’s fears, but there were so many people here. Surely nothing would happen with this many people around.
Emily was drinking punch, watching Lola funnel a beer, when somebody grabbed her from behind. She squealed, spilling her beer, and twisted. Jack laughed as he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. “A little jumpy, aren’t you, babe?”
Emily twisted in his arms and punched him in the stomach. “You’d jump too, dick, if somebody grabbed you when you weren’t expecting it.”
“For joy, maybe.” Jack said, laughing. He grabbed her bottom through her dress and gave it a squeeze. “Come on. Bobby and some of his friends have a tent set up in the back. We’re playing cards and doing shots.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.” Emily said, giving Jack’s rear end a pinch. “Let me go get Lola.”
Giving her a quick kiss, Jack took off, saying. “Don’t be too long, babe.”
Emily watched him swagger away and felt a little pang of jealousy towards Claire. There seemed to be so much more to Brandon than other boys. He acted older than his age. As if he knew some secret that nobody else knew. It didn’t hurt that he was hot, either.
Not that Jack wasn’t cute. Some of the time. He just had a habit of being a jerk the rest of the time. Emily turned to find Lola making out with some guy dressed up like Indiana Jones. The guy had one of his hands wrist deep under Lola’s skirt. Sighing, Emily hurried over.
Lola was giggling and nuzzling the guy’s neck when Emily grabbed her elbow and said. “Come on, Lola. Jack and the others have a tent out back. They’re waiting on us.” Lola stopped her giggling long enough to look at Emily and say. “I’m a little busy here, Em. How ‘bout I meet you in twenty minutes?”
The guy moved his hand out from under Lola’s skirt and laughed. “It’s all right, gorgeous.” He pointed towards a girl coming out of one of the silos. The girl was dressed in a Kabuki costume, white face paint and all. “My girlfriend’s headed back this way, anyhow.”
Emily felt her jaw hit her chest at the same time as Lola was swinging on the guy. Her fist connected with his nose and he fell backwards, fedora flying and blood pouring down his face. There was a moment of shocked silence around them for less than 5 seconds, then someone started laughing. Soon everyone was. Well, everyone but Indiana Jones and his Japanese girlfriend.
Emily drug Lola away before anything really bad could happen, pulling her past the closest silo and around the back. The tent that Jack and his brother had erected was a large 3 room monster. There was a small gas generator puttering just outside the open entry flap, an extension cord snaking from it into the tent. The generator was running a hanging work light and a boom box hooked up to an IPod. AC-DC was jamming hard, going on about the highway to Hell, and Emily couldn’t help but think that those guys definitely knew what they were singing about. Inside, the boys had set the tent up like a little apartment or, more accurately, a freshman dorm room. In two rooms, thick blankets and sleeping bags were piled up to make sumptuous beds. In the center room, a folding table and a handful of chairs stood. Jack, Bobby, and a couple of their friends were sitting around the table, playing cards and drinking beer. There were a handful of shot glasses on the table and open bottles of Jaegermeister and Crown Royale. The room was smoky and stank of cigarettes, alcohol, and boys.
Lola and Emily were finishing their laughing jag as they entered the tent. Jack and Bobby looked up, both wearing identical looks of amused curiosity. At the looks on the guy’s faces, both girls broke up all over again, falling into each other’s arms. The two guys playing cards with them; their names were Linc and Terry, looked up and grinned. “Those chicks already drunk, or what?” Jack was laughing now. Bobby stood up and walked over. He was an older version of Jack, a little taller and a little thicker around the middle. He said, looking at Emily then at Lola. “I’m glad the two of you made it tonight. I figured all these kids going missing would scare you off.” His eyes twinkled with mischief as he took in their costumes and he made a soft whistling noise.
“No way.” Lola said, grabbing him by the arm and walking with him back over to the table. As Bobby sat down, she plopped down into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “We wouldn’t miss this party for the world.”
Smiling sardonically, Emily slid onto Jack’s lap and gave him a lingering kiss, ignoring the hand that he slid under her dress. A few more drinks and she’d let him get those questing fingers underneath the elastic of her panties, she knew, but she wasn’t that drunk yet. She slapped his hand when he wouldn’t take a verbal hint, and said. “It was a little in bad taste though, don’t you think? You could have postponed it, at least?”
Jack snorted and said. “For what? Some missing kids? They’ll turn up, one way or the other.”
“You’re an asshole.” Emily said, jabbing an elbow into his stomach. She looked at him.“You’re lucky I even came. I almost decided to stay home tonight.”
“Shit.” Bobby said, pulling Lola against his chest. “You would have missed out.”
“On what?” Emily said to both of them, but mostly to Bobby. “Watching you guys drink and holding your hands while you puked it right back up?” She watched him run his hand along Lola’s leg, sliding the hem of her dress up as he did so. She thought about mentioning the guy that Lola was making out with earlier, but that would have been catty. Instead, she said. “Why aren’t you two outside mingling? You’re the hosts?”
Bobby laughed. “Hell, we mingled earlier. When we set up the keg.”
“Yeah.” Jack said, squeezing Emily’s upper thigh. His thumb was making suggestive little circles against the fishnet hose she wore. “We mingled. I even passed out the cups to the first bunch that showed up.”
Emily arched an eyebrow at Jack and slid off of his lap. The smile dropped off Jack’s face and he cleared his throat. He said. “Baby?”
Emily ignored the pleading note in his voice and said to Lola. “I need some air. Are you coming with?”
Lola didn’t answer. She was straddling Bobby, her face buried in his neck. Bobby had his head thrown back and his eyes closed, a blissful smile splitting his face in two.
Shaking her head, ignoring Jack’s pleas, Emily left the tent. The air had a bite to it, m
aking her wrap her arms around herself and shiver as she walked around the silo. The party was still going strong, though the bonfire was looking puny. People were gathered in little groups, parked in different corners of the mill. There was a group of Star Wars characters huddled near the abandoned office. They were huddled against the cold, smoking, and when Emily got close enough she caught the acrid smell of marijuana drifting from the circle. Shaking her head, Emily skirted that group and made her way toward the bonfire.
She knew the handful of kids close to the fire, fighting the cold. A couple of junior boys, Carl and Marcus, were trying to talk some freshmen girls into helping them stay warm. Emily laughed softly as she walked up, saying. “If you boys are cold, you can go gather some wood for the fire.”
The looks that Carl and Marcus threw at Emily were the exact opposite of the relieved expressions on the faces of the two girls. Marcus said. “I think Jack is looking for you, Emily. Maybe you should go find him.”
“Yeah.” Carl said, smiling at his friend. “He should be in the big tent over by the silos. You better hurry.” The smile was a little too smug for Emily’s taste.
Emily arched an eyebrow at the boys and said, making her voice frosty. “How about I tell these girls about the last party that I saw you two at, instead? You remember that one, don’t you?”
Marcus choked on what he was about to say, actually coughing and putting a hand to his mouth. Carl’s face went white as all the blood drained from it. The freshmen girls began giggling. Emily cocked her head and said. “Maybe you want to go get that firewood now, eh?”
Carl was grabbing at Marcus’s arm, trying to pull him away. Marcus could only shake his head and mumble as he let himself be led away. The two girls were laughing out loud as the two boys disappeared into the darkness.
Rain Of Stone (The Merryweather Chronicles Book 1) Page 18
