Hunted

by T. M. Bledsoe

  “It’s Monday night, guys,” Finn spoke up around his mouthful of cookie. “Are we going to cancel the Drive-In?”

  Lanie had forgotten all about what Monday in Fells Pointe meant. It meant that all the kids descended upon the old drive-in movie theater to party and hang out. In the dark. On the outskirts of town. Without any idea of what might be prowling around out there in darkness.

  There’d be couples sneaking off into the woods to hook up and half of the kids would be so blasted or stoned they wouldn’t even have the mind to scream if a monster did swoop out of the shadows to grab them.

  “I think it should be canceled,” Lanie told the group. “It’s not a good idea right now, at least not until my dad figures out what’s happening.”

  “Well, I’m staying home,” Johnna spoke up. “I certainly don’t want to end up like those girls.”

  “We should do a mass text and tell everyone to stay home,” Devyn stated. “It’s not worth someone else winding up dead.”

  “I agree,” Finn stated. “But, you know some of the kids aren’t going to listen.”

  “We could get the parents involved,” Chase offered.

  That notion was pondered for a minute. It was a good idea, but no one in the room wanted to be the one to second the motion. Getting the parents involved was a dark and dangerous move. There were very few parent free zones in Fells Pointe. Getting the adults to shut down a spot they might never want to open back up was not something anyone wanted.

  “Look, the kids in town have heard the same things the parents have heard. News travels like wildfire around here,” Finn pointed out. “So, whoever’s dumb enough to go out to the Drive-In knowing that someone’s running around town killing people can only blame themselves if something happens.”

  There was a simultaneous nod from the kitchen, though Lanie had to admit that option didn’t exactly feel like the right one.

  “Well, I vote for pajamas, junk food, and movies,” Devyn said, trying to sound cheerful. “Who’s in?”

  There was a chorus of agreement from the room, which filled Lanie with a sense of desperation. If Kyle came back, how on earth would she ever get to talk to him? How would she get to talk with Gretchen? And she needed to talk to her aunt to find out if she planned on squealing to Sam.

  As one, the group all gathered up the junk food and made for the living room. Somewhere along the way it was decided pizza should be ordered, and then it was decided that it would be fun to call a couple more people and invite them over for a while. So, by the time they made it to the living room, the headcount had gone from six to nearly twelve, which did not thrill Lanie, but if those kids were in her living room, then those kids would not wind up lying in a heap in the park.

  “Listen, guys,” she began seriously, “my dad just went to bed, so we have to let him rest. If it gets too loud, I’m throwing everybody out.”

  “I’ll keep things under control,” Chase assured her with a smile.

  That did not soothe her worry, but she accepted it. However, she was dead serious. If things got too rowdy or loud, she was throwing everyone right out on their butts!

  Once it was decided who should be invited, Johnna and Devyn both went up to the bedroom to change into their pajamas and Lanie followed them, feeling trapped and wanting to cancel the entire movie night thing right then. But, she didn’t.

  As they entered, she heard Devyn let out a huge gasp and then a little shriek and Lanie’s heart leapt up into her throat as her gaze flew into her room, searching for…something dreadful, something in the shape of a handsome man with blood red eyes and sharp, deadly teeth. But, the room was empty.

  “Lanie!” Devyn gasped again, shooting across the room and over to the bed, where she snatched up the long brown leather coat lying there. “You nafka! You skipped school to come here and shtup!”

  Lanie felt every drop of color drain from her face. Oh crap! Oh crap! What was happening! Why was the Universe conspiring against her! Was this a sign that she just needed to go straight to her dad’s room and confess everything!

  “Who is it, Lanie?” Devyn demanded, picking up the coat and shaking it at Lanie. “I’ve never seen anyone wearing this coat before!”

  “Lanie? You really skipped school to meet a boy?” Johnna demanded, a look of shock and disappointment on her face. “That’s not like you!”

  Right. It wasn’t like her! Which is why she hadn’t done that! Despite Devyn’s accusations, she was not a slut nor had she skipped school to hook up! But, it certainly looked like she’d done that and she couldn’t come up with another account at the moment.

  Damn her inability to tell an untruth on the spur of the moment!

  “Spill it, Lanie!” Devyn demanded, inspecting the leather coat as if she might find the person it belonged to hiding inside it someplace. “Who is he? And why didn’t you tell us? You’re supposed to tell your best friends when you have a new boychik! Especially when your shtupping him!”

  “I-I…uh…he..” she fumbled helplessly, but suddenly halted her words as a dreadful thought occurred to her.

  Damn it! Kyle’s leather pouch! How in the name of God would she explain a leather pouch filled with sharp, pointy, jewel-toned spikes used for killing vampires! Frantically, she glanced at the bed, dread and fear jockeying for position within her, but the pouch was nowhere to be seen.

  “Aha! So, there is a he!” Devyn accused. “Who is it! Where is he from? Is he from over in Princeton?”

  “He-he…he’s from…around,” Lanie hedged, feeling on the verge of tears. She couldn’t deny the fact that there was a he! Devyn was holding the proof in her hand!

  “Aha! So, you do have a new boychik!” Devyn exclaimed gleefully. “What’s his name? Is he cute? How old is he? Why didn’t you tell us about him?”

  Lanie tried to keep up with the questions being fired at her, but it was useless to even try. Besides, she didn’t have an answer to a single one. Well, Kyle Vincent was cute, but that was it.

  “Lanie, if you skipped school to come here and meet a boy, then tell me you’re being safe!” Johnna demanded, worried and sounding like someone’s mother. “You don’t know where this person has been or how many people he’s been with. Tell me you’re using protection!”

  Well, Kyle did have that pouch full of very sharp and pointy stakes on him. Did that count as protection? Lanie sucked in a breath, stepped into the room and hurried forward to take hold of Kyle’s coat .

  “Lanie, talk!” Devyn practically growled. “Who is this guy! I need details!”

  Taking the coat from her friend and draping it over her arm, Lanie straightened up and hit both her friends with a very stern look. “When I want to give you guys details, I will. Right now, though, I’m not saying anything to anyone.”

  Devyn gasped and Johnna looked stunned. “Lanie, that’s not fair! I’d tell you!” Devyn cried in dismay.

  “I’m not telling you. And if you tell anyone else…I’ll make you pay,” Lanie stated, thinking that was the only route she could take at the moment.

  Play it close to the vest, keep her mouth shut, don’t give up a single detail. That way, she wouldn’t have to come up with a believable lie.

  While Devyn and Johnna stared after her, Lanie waltzed from the room and back down the stairs, hurrying to the coat closet in the entryway and stuffing the coat into the back corner where her father wasn’t likely to see it. That done, she joined the boys in the living room, figuring they wouldn’t be as nosy as her girlfriends. Maybe she’d start hanging out with just the boys. It might be easier than having to talk about every single solitary detail of her life, whether she wanted to or not. She doubted Finn or Brady would want to hear about who she was or wasn’t shtupping!

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Movie night seemed to be going fairly smoothly. The living room was stuffed with teenagers, all of whom were actually behaving pretty decently. No one was really paying much attention to the movie, though. Everyone mostly just sat around
talking about what was happening and lobbing theories about who they thought was doing it.

  Lanie stayed on the fringes, not wanting to be in the conversation, but no one seemed to notice, not even Chase Wylie, who’d pledged to watch out for her but was all over Lana Schaeffer instead. Apparently, he’d forgotten all about his vow. She probably should have minded, especially since Chase was slobbering all over another girl right there in her living room, but she didn’t. Lana, one of the Spirit Squaders, put out without a lot of effort. Naturally, Chase Wylie would be making a try at it.

  Since things seemed to be pretty low key and she didn’t have to worry about her dad being disturbed, Lanie decided to slip out of the room and into the kitchen to straighten up. She didn’t need to hear about all the theories on who was killing girls around town. She knew. She’d seen…

  The kitchen did look a bit like a small bomb had been detonated. There were empty potato chip bags, pizza boxes, and microwave popcorn bags scattered everywhere. There were cookies crumbs and pizza crusts littering the center island, and the sink was filled with enough dirty plates and glasses to keep the dishwasher going for half the night.

  Heaving a sigh, Lanie started to scoop up some of the trash and toss it into the garbage can when she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Trying not to let her annoyance overtake her, she turned to face the door, expecting it to be one of the kids coming in to search for more food or to add to the mess.

  “Hey, Lanie! Where’s Sam?” It was Gretchen who swept into the room, her cheeks flushed and her eyes looking enormous in her pretty face.

  Lanie felt a shudder go through her and her heart skip a hard beat. “He’s upstairs asleep. Why? What’s happened?” she asked. “Wh-where…where’s Kyle?”

  The thought that something might have happened to Kyle Vincent struck her like a fist in the face. Although a second later, she realized that if something had happened to Kyle, Gretchen, who had been with him, probably wouldn’t be in the kitchen, looking alive and well.

  “Kyle was going to come in, but we saw all the cars outside. What’s going on?” Gretchen asked and Lanie understood that her aunt thought something had happened.

  “Everyone decided to have a movie night,” Lanie answered. “I-I thought it would be safer if they were here instead of out in town someplace.”

  Gretchen nodded, clutching at her chest and clearly trying to get herself under control. “Kyle is waiting to talk to you,” she said, letting out a hard breath before joining Lanie in trying to clean up the kitchen.

  Hearing that, Lanie spun around and headed for the hallway without a word, but Gretchen stopped her by grabbing hold of her shoulder and spinning her back the other way.

  “He’s waiting for you out back so no one will see him,” her aunt explained.

  “Aunt Gretchen, did-did…he…explain things to you?” she asked.

  “He did. And I’m on his side on this,” Gretchen said, a nervous look on her face. “I won’t say anything to your dad unless I absolutely have to.”

  Something unsettling wafted through Lanie. “What happened? What did he say?”

  “Just go on out and talk to him for a minute. I’ll cover for you,” Gretchen said, pushing her toward the back door.

  Without further hesitation, Lanie bolted across the kitchen, flung open the backdoor, and burst through the screen, unexpectedly plowing right into Kyle, who appeared from out of nowhere. The impact of thudding into his chest knocked her backwards a couple of steps, but quick hands shot out, grabbing hold of her shoulders to keep her from toppling through the screen door.

  “Lanie, are you alright?” Kyle demanded, righting her on her feet and gazing down at her with a tight and worried expression. “All those cars out front—“

  “I’m fine,” she cut him off, the fear in his tone slicing at her. “My-my friends wanted to have a movie night, that’s all.”

  Kyle let out a little breath, his features relaxing a fraction. “I’m sorry I left you for so long. You aunt…” he paused and then seemed to leave it at that.

  “I know,” Lanie agreed. “What happened? What did you tell Gretchen?”

  Lanie tried not to focus on the fact that Kyle had his leather pouch of jewel-toned shards strapped to one thigh and his cross bow strapped to the other. He really did look like an extra from a movie set.

  Kyle’s brows lowered over his sparkling green eyes. “I had to tell her everything she wanted to know. She’s…relentless. Plus, I didn’t want her to punch me in the face again. She hits like a man.”

  “What happens now?” Lanie asked him. “If people keep getting killed, she’ll tell my dad and then what? If anything happens to my dad, I’ll—“

  “You can’t think about that, Lanie,” Kyle told her seriously. “This is a day to day situation. Thinking about what might happen will drive you out of your mind.”

  She was supposed to not think about the monster creeping around Fells Pointe and what he might do to her father if he got too close? Highly unlikely.

  “Just try not to think about it,” Kyle urged, giving her shoulders a little squeeze.

  “But, what about everyone else?” she asked him, her voice uneven. “How am I supposed to just pretend everything is okay?”

  “You just will,” Kyle stated. “No one can know about Frederik. It’s safer that way.”

  “But—“

  “I’ll be out there looking for him, Lanie. That’s all that can be done,” Kyle told her seriously. “He’s a vicious killer. He has no soul, no thought for another person. He’s as close to the devil as a thing can be. All you can hope for is that I finally nail him or that he decides to move on quickly.”

  That seemed like a very shallow hope.

  “I have to go,” Kyle suddenly said to her.

  Lanie didn’t want him to go so soon. “Do you have to go now?”

  “Yes. I can’t stop looking for him,” Kyle said, sounding as if he wished he could.

  “I’ll see you again, right?” she asked, hating her little girl voice.

  Kyle’s sparkling green eyes went soft. “You will. I promise.”

  Kyle started to turn to go, but a thought struck Lanie. “Wait. You left your coat.”

  “I’ll come back for it. There are too many people in there,” Kyle told her.

  “Go to the front door. I’ll give it to you,” she said, spinning and going back into the house.

  Gretchen looked up from the sink and Lanie held a finger up to her, letting her know to hold on a minute. She hurried into the entryway, making sure no one was coming out of the living room and then pulled Kyle’s coat out of the closet and slipped out the front door.

  Kyle was standing by the porch railing. “Here you go,” she said, handing it to him.

  Kyle took it and slipped it on, effectively covering his crossbow and the pouch of stakes strapped to his body. “I’ll be close by,” he told her again, suddenly reaching out and taking hold of her hand. He held it in his for a minute and then let go, turned away from her and then was off the porch and hitting the front walk at a dead run, his long coat flaring out behind him. And then he was…gone.

  Lanie stared after him, her heart thudding slightly harder than it should have been. Partly because she’d seen something in Kyle Vincent’s eyes that she’d never seen directed at her before. And partly because the hand that had held hers for those few seconds felt as cold as ice. There hadn’t been a measure of warmth in the flesh touching hers. It had been like touching…a corpse. She remembered that cold, lifeless feeling. She’d touched her mother at the funeral.

  With that thought pushing her along, Lanie turned and hurried back into the house.

  Back in the kitchen, she found Gretchen rinsing dishes and Lanie fell into helping the woman. There was an odd, almost heavy silence that stretched on between them, the only sound to be heard was the running water and clinking dishes and the low murmur of voices from out in the living room.

  Lanie, feeling awkward and st
iff and all tensed up inside, was barely breathing as she waited for her aunt to speak, which seemed to be taking forever!

  “I’m letting Kyle stay at my house,” Gretchen finally spoke up, the sound of her voice surprising Lanie so that she flinched.

  “What? Why?” Lanie asked, stunned by her aunt’s admission.

  “Because he’s sleeping in his car and I have an extra room. And because the only place that Sheriff Bancroft won’t look for him is at my house,” Gretchen stated, shooting Lanie a quick glance.

  Another silence dropped onto the room and again Lanie felt her insides tense up. She didn’t like this sort of uncomfortable tension between herself and Gretchen. It made her feel as if she’d done something so horribly wrong that her aunt just couldn’t bring herself to speak of it.

  Lanie cleared her throat, unable to withstand the tension any longer. “Do you think I should tell my dad?” she wondered quietly, keeping her gaze on the dishes she was loading into the dishwasher.

  “I don’t, Lanie. Not unless it comes to a point where there’s absolutely no choice,” answered Gretchen.

  “What made you decide that?” Lanie asked.

  “Kyle explained things to me and I honestly don’t believe there’s anything Sam can do about this,” Gretchen stated, also keeping her focus on the dishes she was rinsing.

  “But, more people are probably going to die,” Lanie pointed out, her throat closing up as a little wave of helplessness washed over her.

  She’d half expected Gretchen to insist on telling her dad and take that responsibility off of her shoulders.

  Gretchen shrugged. “You’ve already lost your mom, squirt. I don’t want you to lose your dad, too. And in this case, it can actually be helped. Not telling him what’s happening will keep him safe.”

  “But, people—“

  “You shouldn’t worry about the people in this town, Lanie, because I guarantee they aren’t worried about you or your father,” Gretchen stated rather vehemently. “They’d feed him to lions if it meant keeping themselves and their precious town safe.”