With his keen night vision, Jonas quickly discerned that the raccoon was eating a fallen bird. Jonas’s mouth watered involuntarily. With a devastating sense of gloom, he accepted that the raccoon would be his next meal.
As he repositioned his body, readying himself to attack, it occurred to him to fight the urge to feed. It anguished him to take the life of another living thing.
It had been distressful feeling the squirrel’s heart beating in rapid fear before he’d taken the killing bite.
Determinedly, Jonas vowed to starve himself before killing again. He refused to go through life like a ferocious animal, mauling and mangling helpless creatures so that he could survive. Starvation would bring death. Perhaps a permanent death this time. And, ultimately, peace.
Immense loneliness rivaled his urge to feed. He yearned for the familiarity of home and for the comfort of his family. The family he’d never see again. Even if he managed the impossible and made it back to Haiti, his mother and sisters wouldn’t welcome him. They’d fear him—shun him. And rightfully so. He was an atrocity . . . a monster. A mutant form of life that was sustained by flesh and blood.
In a fog of grief, Jonas collapsed onto a bed of twigs and dried leaves.
Collecting himself, he sat up and stretched his leaden muscles, and then searched for shelter—a resting place where he could conceal himself until death claimed him.
Approaching footsteps alerted him, halting his movement. Motionless, he was intent on blending in with the night.
Then he caught a tantalizing scent. Seized with an overpowering urge to feed, his earlier pledge to starve himself was instantly forgotten.
Instinctively, Jonas bent at the waist. Like an animal, he was preparing to lunge. The scent grew stronger—a unique blend that was indisputably human, but unlike anything he’d ever smelled.
Instead of pouncing and mercilessly ripping into flesh, he controlled himself and watched with intense fascination. Under the cover of night, Jonas hid in the bushes and observed the source of the delicious smell. A girl walked along the dirt path. She appeared to be close to his age, approximately fifteen or sixteen. He breathed in her fragrance and became pleasantly lightheaded.
Suddenly, the girl stopped walking. She looked down at the ground, studying it, as if trying to find something. Jonas was tempted to come out of his hiding place to offer assistance. But he didn’t trust his ability to control the insatiable hunger that plagued him. And even if he could subdue his ravenous appetite, surely his bedraggled appearance would frighten the girl away. He dared not budge.
The girl looked up at the sky. Soft moonlight illuminated her face. She was beautiful. Jonas was irresistibly drawn to her. The warm sensation that flooded through him was proof that he was not completely soulless.
CHAPTER 4
The sun had gone down by the time Holland left Naomi’s house. The path that led home was now dark and foreboding. The average person would have taken a more populated route, but Holland wasn’t afraid. Desolate places stirred her imagination. Shadows cast by trees and low-hanging branches created interesting designs, reminding her of abstract art. As she scanned the shadowy designs on the ground, she remembered the weird footprints from earlier. She squinted as her eyes swept over the dismal path.
She gazed up at the sky. The sliver of moonlight that glinted through the trees didn’t provide much illumination, and she couldn’t find any trace of those bizarre imprints. But there was proof on her cell phone.
Off the path now, bright streetlights and the roaring sound of traffic announced her return to civilization. Thanks to the beauty makeover, Holland felt ultra feminine. She stood taller. Prouder.
Wondering if others would notice her transformation, she headed in the opposite direction of home. High school kids usually hung out at the Wal-Mart shopping plaza. Going to Wal-Mart to pick up some makeup essentials was a good excuse to get noticed.
Walking along the busy avenue, she saw a group of boys loitering outside a convenience store. She frowned in disappointment; they were middle school age—too young for their opinions to matter.
Some of the boys moved about clumsily in their lean, gangly bodies, the result of a sudden growth spurt. As she grew nearer, she avoided looking in their direction. She didn’t want any attention from those young kids. Pretending to be distracted by an incoming text, she pulled out her phone and peered at the screen.
Then curiosity got the best of her. Wondering if there were any reactions to her improved look, she observed the boys on the sly. Quite a few heads turned in her direction. Gauging their expressions, Holland noticed several pairs of eyes lighting up as they assessed her.
A tough-looking boy with a small silver earring in his eyebrow stepped forward. He was huskier than the others, and he seemed to be the leader. “She’s hot. Does she live around here?” he asked his buddies.
“Yeah, she’s my neighbor,” said an awkward kid that Holland recognized as the shy kid that lived across the street.
“I’d like to smash that!” The tough kid broke out in malicious laughter and made a crude gesture, making it clear that he regarded Holland as an object.
She picked up her pace. It was somewhat laughable that a defiant eighth grader with raging hormones was the first person to call her hot. Though he wasn’t speaking in complimentary terms, it was a start, she supposed. Hopefully, her next encounter with the opposite sex would be with a more evolved person.
The parking lot at Wal-Mart was always super busy. Impatient motorists vying for parking spaces created traffic jams, and had little regard for pedestrians.
While cars were temporarily stopped at the multi-stop signs, Holland raced across the walkway toward the entrance. Out of nowhere, a white Dodge Durango zoomed forward. Fearing that she was about to be plowed over, Holland uttered a frightened sound. The driver hit the brakes barely in the nick of time.
Righteous indignation washed over her. She shot a hot glance at the driver. When she noticed Jarrett Sloan sitting behind the wheel, her aggravation instantly vanished.
He opened and closed his eyes, as if trying to sharpen his focus. “Is that you, Holland?”
Blushing, she shrugged her shoulders like a moron. Ugh! She hated that she was acting like a blithering idiot, but hadn’t expected to bump into Jarrett for at least another month when school reopened.
“You look different . . . I hardly recognized you . . . you look so awesome!” Jarrett’s eyes roved from her face down to her jazzed-up jeans.
It was the way he’d looked at her so many times before . . . in her fantasies. But right now, in real time, his heated gaze was completely unnerving. She had never spoken a full sentence to Jarrett—ever. In a state of shock, she’d drifted off into the dumb zone, and couldn’t think of anything cool or clever. Desperate to come up with a witty reply, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Pointing to the 15 miles per hour sign, Holland said sarcastically, “Who gave you a driver’s license, Jarrett?”
“I got connections. I know somebody who knows somebody,” Jarrett quipped, laughing as he played along.
Holland was bantering and making verbal barbs with seeming ease, but inside, her heart was racing rapidly. She couldn’t believe that Jarrett had noticed her, and that they were actually having a conversation.
Reality set in when a car horn honked, urging the Durango to move on.
“Need a ride?” Jarrett asked.
She wanted to swing the door open and jump in his ride, but her nerves got the best of her. “I can’t. I . . . uh . . . I have to pick up a few things.” She nudged her head toward the sliding doors of Wal-Mart.
“I can wait if you’d like.” There was a tremor in Jarrett’s voice that contradicted his confident smile. Jarrett’s nervous, too!
She felt overwhelmed by Jarrett’s offer, and shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. “That’s okay; you don’t have to wait for me.”
“I don’t mind,” he persisted. Several car horns blared in outr
age as Jarrett held up mall traffic. “Hold your horses!” he yelled out his window.
This can’t be happening. Jarrett is offering me a ride and he’s willing to wait. I know I’m going to wake up and discover this was only a dream.
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She folded her arms and eyed him with mock suspicion. “You drive like a maniac, and I’m not sure it’s safe to ride with you.” Getting the hang of being witty and sarcastic, she gave Jarrett a wry smile.
“So, you’re just gonna walk away and break my heart?” Jarrett made an exaggerated sad face. It was so adorable.
“You’ll get over it.” Holland sounded self-assured, but inside her heart was thumping. She wanted Jarrett more than anything, but she wasn’t prepared. She needed to amp up her confidence a little more before trying to hold her own for the duration of the fifteen-minute ride home. She doubted if she could keep up her end of their clever banter for that long.
“Maybe we can hook up some other time?” Jarrett said, disappointment showing in his eyes.
“Sure. See you around.” Holland gave Jarrett a smile and a wave, and then trotted over to the entrance of the store.
I just turned down a chance to be with my dream boy—how dumb was that?
CHAPTER 5
Wal-Mart was as eventful as usual. Shoppers whizzed past with carts filled with every conceivable item from cereal to flat-screen TVs.
Holland found her way to the makeup aisle, a part of the store that was totally foreign to her. But she couldn’t sponge off Naomi forever. Gripping a blue shopping basket, she inspected the selections.
All the brands she’d seen in magazines were on display, and Holland didn’t know where to begin. She moseyed over to the lip gloss display. A shimmering rose color caught her attention, and she tossed it in her basket. Next, she picked up a fuchsia blush, a duo of silver and black eyeshadow, and a bottle of mint green nail polish, and then made her way to the register.
Satisfied with her purchases, she walked out of Wal-Mart swinging the plastic bag. Holland was eager to get home and begin experimenting.
Halfway through the parking lot, she spotted Jarrett’s truck. She couldn’t believe he’d actually waited for her. He beeped the horn twice and gestured for Holland to come over. But she couldn’t bring herself to walk in his direction. She wanted to, but feeling bashful, she pretended that she hadn’t seen him.
She heard the engine as the Durango crept behind her.
“Hey, I waited for you for twenty minutes and now you’re just gonna walk right past me?” Jarrett called out of his window.
Oh, my God, this is so embarrassing! Looking straight ahead as Jarrett rode beside her, Holland held her head down, her face flushed.
“Stop playing, Holland; you’re making me look stupid.” Jarrett laughed, but the sound held an embarrassed ring.
Holland stopped walking and looked at Jarrett. “I told you not to wait for me.”
“Sorry, I have a problem retaining information.”
She couldn’t hold back a smile. “Well, that’s your problem; not mine.”
“I didn’t know you were so cocky, Holland. I thought you were a nice girl.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Jarrett Sloan. You’ve never said one word to me in your life,” she said with a smirk on her face.
“Well, that’s the past. I’m trying to get to know you now. Maybe I could find out what makes you tick if you’d stop treating me so mean. Hey, I’m trying to be a nice guy. All I want to do is give you a ride home. Hop in, Holland. I don’t bite!”
His words sounded heartfelt. And though she loved the attention she was getting from him, she couldn’t let him know. She looked over at Jarrett and sighed. Who would have thought that makeup and a new haircut could elevate her from a virtual nobody to an instant goddess?
“Holland, it’s getting late; you shouldn’t be out here walking alone. Let me take you home.”
She gave a reluctant nod. “Okay, but you better drive carefully.”
“I’ll drive like a little old lady and make sure you get home safely,” he said with laughter.
Holland walked around to the passenger side and felt his eyes on her as she climbed in.
“So what are you doing hanging out at Wal-Mart?” Holland asked, making small talk. She really wanted to ask him if he and Chaela were officially over, but she was hesitant to boldly pry into his personal life.
“I went to pick up something for my mom. They didn’t have it so I was on my way home; then I saw you.” Jarrett shrugged and gave a weak smile.
There was an awkward silence after Jarrett’s response. Holland went into a mild panic, wondering what she should say next.
“And what brought you out to Wal-Mart tonight?” Jarrett asked, filling the gap in the conversation.
“Just checking out a few things.”
“Oh, yeah? What’d you get?” He cut an eye at her bag.
“I bought some lip gloss and nail polish . . . you know, girlie things.”
“You don’t need that kind of stuff, Holland. You’re pretty without it. I’ve always noticed you before, but tonight there was something different about you. It’s like you have a glow.”
Her makeover had given her the glow that Jarrett noticed, but Holland kept that to herself.
Small talk with Jarrett came surprisingly easy. They talked about school and teachers and some of their favorite TV shows. Time zoomed, and it seemed that the moment that Holland relaxed and let her defenses down, Jarrett had turned onto her street. She pointed to her house, and felt a stab of embarrassment. Her front door needed a paint job. The front yard looked unkempt. Her mother’s herb garden had grown so wildly, it resembled tall weeds. The gardener that took care of the yard hadn’t been around for a while, due to lack of pay. Holland made a mental note to get out the clippers and tackle the job of cutting hedges. How difficult could it be? And maybe she could find an instructional video on YouTube to teach her how to do exterior painting. She hadn’t realized until now how severely neglected the front of her house looked.
Jarrett pulled over and parked at the curb. “Are you gonna give me your number?”
“Are you going to ask me for it?” Holland said saucily.
“Man, you’re tough. May I have your number, please?” He held his hands together as if in prayer.
Holland laughed and recited her phone number.
Jarrett input the numbers in his cell. “Was that so bad?” he asked with a cocky smile.
“Not at all.”
“Can we get together? You know . . . do something fun. Do you like to bowl?”
Holland frowned and shook her head. “I’m not much of an athlete.”
“Bowling is easy. I’ll teach you.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on. It’ll be fun.”
“Sure, why not?” she conceded. Then her heart started thudding and skidding around in her chest. The fact that he’d asked her out was confirmation that he and Chaela had called it quits. Jarrett asked me to go out with him; my most cherished fantasy has finally come true.
“How about Friday . . . around eight?”
“Okay,” she said coolly. She looked out the window, hoping that Jarrett didn’t see her blushing like crazy.
Taking her off-guard, he leaned over and pressed his lips against her cheek. Startled, she turned toward him and he immediately covered her mouth with his. Holland closed her eyes and tried to relax, but she was a bundle of nerves. She pulled back. “I have to go.” She grabbed the door handle and opened the door.
“See you Friday, beautiful?” Jarrett gave her a flirty wink.
“Yeah, see you Friday. Oh, and thanks for the ride.”
Behaving like a gentleman, Jarrett waited for her to get in the house before pulling off.
Holland couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face. I can’t believe that Jarrett is interested in little ol’ me!
Holland’s first kiss hadn’t been exactly
the fireworks she’d expected. She’d been too surprised and way too nervous to enjoy it. She’d try to loosen up and really get into the moment the next time Jarrett kissed her.
She couldn’t wait to tell Naomi about her upcoming date. Jarrett Sloan and me! Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!
“Hi, Mom. I’m home,” Holland yelled as she let herself in the house.
“I’m in the kitchen,” Phoebe called out.
Walking through her mother’s work area, she noticed that the creepy chalk circle had been removed. Good! How would she ever explain her mother’s bizarre practices to Jarrett? She couldn’t, and so there was no point in ever inviting him in. When he came by to pick her up for their official date, she planned to rush out the door before he had time to get out of his truck.
The kitchen table was cluttered with spell casting books, jars of herbs, an Ouija board, and other occult paraphernalia. Phoebe had cleared only enough space for her laptop, and a mug of tea.
“Mom, you’ll never believe what happened?”
Phoebe looked up. “Wow, look at you, Holland! You look so pretty and all grown up.” Her mother smiled broadly as she took in Holland’s two-toned colored hair, her perfect makeup, and jazzed-up jeans.
Grinning, Holland turned in a complete circle, giving her mother a full view of her drastic makeover. “I don’t know what you did, Mom, but it worked. I’m really happy with my hair.” Holland ran her fingers through the blonde tresses that hung on one side.
“You asked me to cast a spell for hair growth, and since that didn’t happen, I can’t take the credit. You accomplished this all by yourself, hon.” Phoebe looked at her with pride in her eyes.
“While you were chanting and working your magic, I suddenly got the bold idea to color the front of my hair. So don’t you think your magic had something to do with it?” Holland said, humoring her mother.
“Maybe.”
Holland had intended to tell Phoebe about Jarrett and their upcoming date, but she abruptly changed her mind. Knowing her mother, she’d want to cook up a love potion, and Holland didn’t want to jinx the relationship with any of her mother’s wacky spells.
Midnight Cravings Page 3
