What are you doing? he text messaged me.
Watching tv. What are you doing? I messaged him back. I was glad he’d sent a text message instead of calling, because I probably would have been all tongue tied, thinking about last night, and how we’d came so close to kissing. Just thinking about it caused my whole body to tremble.
Are we still on for today? he wrote.
Yeah, I guess. Where and when? I hoped I wasn’t acting too disconnected. I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t interested, I just didn’t want him to think I was too eager. The truth was I’d do just about anything to be with him.
I had made the mistake of acting too eager before, back when I lived in L.A. I was overly friendly with this guy I really liked, and because of that, he thought I would give in just to be with him. Was he ever wrong. When I said no and he wouldn’t quit, I ended up kneeing him in the groin as hard as I could. He let me go, but kicked me out of his car, leaving me to find my own way home from the beach.
It’s a surprise. Dress warm and be ready in thirty minutes. I’ll pick you up. Okay?
Yeah. But make it an hour. I wanna finish watching this show first. I had no intentions of watching the next five minutes or fifty minutes. I just didn’t want him to know that. I would need every minute possible to get ready.
See you in an hour. Be sweet. ; )
I jumped up and squealed with excitement. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could, which turned out to be extremely fast. I only had an hour to get ready and I hadn’t even showered yet. I seriously thought he would have given me more of a notice.
I grabbed my robe and towel and hurried into the bathroom, showering in record time. The big job would be picking out something to wear, especially when I didn’t have a clue where he was taking me. It’s not like we had a big selection. We were so far north of the lower forty-eight, I doubt if most people even knew there was life up here. Okay, so I was exaggerating a little bit, but there really wasn’t that much to do except for arcades and movie theatres. And, since they were both indoors and heated, dressing warm certainly wasn’t a requirement.
I had no choice but to just grab something so I opted for a pair of American Eagle lined dark brown corduroys, and a bright pink flannel shirt. And of course I would take my bubble wrap with me.
When my phone rang in the middle of putting on my mascara I almost poked my eye out. I was so nervous with anticipation I jumped at almost any little noise . I’m outside. ; ) William’s text message read.
I’ll be right out. Having the worst case of butterflies ever, I could hardly type the message, my hands trembled so badly. I had no idea what to expect when I walked out through the garage.
The sky was no longer sunny; a band of low lying dark gray clouds filled the air. Autumn would be coming early Aunt Bev had said, so I took that to mean the snow would start much sooner up here than anywhere in the lower forty-eight. Haven was so far north that a normal school year went from March to October.
William waited at the top of the driveway in the most awesome brand new red Lexus sports car. Through his dark tinted windows, I easily saw his sparkly white teeth and perfectly disheveled hair. He always looked like he’d just stepped out of GQ or something. His smile said he was just as happy to see me as I was to see him. My knees started shaking so badly I thought I was going to hit the pavement before I got to his car.
He didn’t actually get out of the car, but he did lean across and open the passenger door for me. When I climbed in, Bob Marley’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” wafted softly through the stereo speakers. I immediately felt a tug at my heart. William noticed and quickly scooped up the remote, turning it down.
“You don’t like Bob Marley?” he asked earnestly.
“It’s not that. I love him,” I halfway smiled. “He was my mom’s favorite. Whenever I was upset about something, she would put on this song and start singing it while dancing around the room acting silly. In just a few minutes, I was over whatever it was that had me upset in the first place.”
He reached over and squeezed my hand in a comforting way, and my heart pounded inside my chest. “I didn’t know—I’ll change it.” His voice was velvety smooth and extremely sexy.
I gave him a sidelong glance, and behind his dark sunglasses he’d lowered his eyes briefly. “Don’t you dare!” I snagged the remote away from him and we both laughed. “Really. It’s good memories.”
I turned the song up and settled back deeper into my seat. Neither of us spoke until it ended. “So … where are we going?” I asked, smiling nervously.
“It’s a secret, and if I tell you I’ll have to kill you.” He briefly lowered his glasses, looked over the top of them, and grinned. “Let me ask you this … are you afraid of heights?” He sped up once we’d gotten on the highway.
“No. Why?” I asked while trying to get up the nerve to place my hand on top of his, which rested on the gear shifter.
He grinned, like he was being sneaky. “You’ll see,” he taunted and turned up the stereo.
We drove through the mountains for the better part of an hour, and just as I was about to nod off, we turned off the road after passing a sign that read, “Alaska Adventures.”
I glanced at William. He had the biggest grin on his face. “What have I gotten myself into?” Although I was apprehensive, for some reason I trusted William completely.
After parking we got out and I saw the “Treetop Tours” sign. We walked down a dirt path, except it was sort of more like a mud path, in the middle of some of the largest redwood trees I’d ever seen. A little ways down there was a small building he went inside while I waited.
A few minutes later, he walked out with a guy wearing a Hurley jacket and blue jeans, carrying three helmets.
“Gen, this is Mark. Mark, Gen. He’s our tour guide.” William took my hand and we followed Mark to a lift. I cupped my hand over my eyes when I looked up. My heart dropped when I discovered it went so high I couldn’t even see the top.
“It’s fine, I promise,” William said when I was reluctant to get on. I took his hand and climbed on pretending to be much braver than I really was.
When we got to the top, Mark buckled William and I into a sling type thing made for two people. I could feel my heart pounding in my throat, and my mouth was so dry I could hardly swallow. I was expecting him to attach himself to the line at some point, but instead he said he’d see us at the other end, then gave us a shove.
When we first took off I screamed and shut my eyes tightly after looking down from above the tree tops. We were so high up I couldn’t even see the ground below.
William laughed. “Open your eyes or you’ll miss it.”
“That’s my plan … to miss seeing myself fall to my death.” Even though it was freezing cold up there, I’d broken out into a sweat. Summer in Alaska didn’t mean warmth, it just meant sun.
“You said you weren’t afraid of heights.” He sounded amused.
“I thought you meant like airplanes or skyscrapers. Which means being inside somewhere looking out.” I cracked my eyes open a tiny bit as I started to get used to the feeling of hanging in mid air. Slowly my anxiety lessened and I finally started enjoying it.
He had his arm looped tightly around my waist, and our bodies pressed close together. We went over one of those knot things on the zip line and it jarred the harness, startling me. Out of reflex my hand flew to his chest, and it was only minutes later that I realized his heart beat seemed faint and slow.
“You’re heart’s beating so slow,” I said, smiling before moving my hand away. “Mine on the other hand is pounding so hard, people in the lower forty-eight can probably hear it,” I laughed, but then suddenly felt like I had done or said something wrong. I shifted uneasily and looked at William. His green eyes flitted over me, then quickly away again.
He cleared his throat . “I’ve ridden these things like a thousand times,” he said, flatly.
Just before we reached the end of the zip line, I look
ed down over the side and saw a shadow of someone in the trees below. At first I dismissed it thinking that I’d somehow seen our shadows.
After our ride ended, we thanked our guide before we headed back down the same path we came in on earlier. I spun around when I heard a twig snap behind us. I turned so quickly it was like I’d heard it before it snapped, and I caught a glimpse before it disappeared that time.
William didn’t turn around, but I knew he’d heard it too. “Come on.” He tightened his grip on my hand. “Don’t stop.”
“Did you see it?” I asked, trailing behind him. I took two steps for every one of his, but was still having trouble keeping up.
When we got to his car, he’d already pressed the unlock button on the remote. “Get in,” he said in a low deep voice that didn’t even sound like him. As soon as I was inside the car he slammed my door and I heard the locks engage. I turned around to see where he went and watched him disappear back into the woods where we’d just came out.
Even though the sounds were muffled through the glass I still heard growling and snarling, along with sounds like breaking trees. “William,” I screamed, but he didn’t answer. Tears stood in my eyes.
The snarling stopped, and an eerie silence filled the air. I held my breath, staring at the spot where I had last seen William before he’d gone into the woods.
Chapter 12
I let out a deep breath and sighed with relief when William stepped from behind the trees. Walking toward the car, he brushed dirt and dead leaves from his ripped up, bloody shirt. He looked at me and smiled crookedly when he leaned in to grab a fresh shirt from the back. He closed the door and opened the trunk. A few minutes later he climbed into the driver’s seat.
“What happened out there?” I asked.
He didn’t look at me, but he’s features stiffened. “It was a couple of guys from school. They were just trying to scare you.” He glanced in his mirrors as we drove away.
I thought about what he said and wondered why he was lying to me. “Do you expect me to believe that? I was there, William. I saw the shadows and heard the snarls—”
“Leave it alone, Gen,” he snapped, but I could tell he didn’t mean to. It didn’t make the hurt I felt any less, though.
I wrapped my arms around myself and sank deeper into my seat. He reached over and tried to put his hand on mine, but I shrugged it off, repositioning myself so I was looking out my window. He cranked up Breaking Benjamin on the stereo, and drove entirely too fast all the way back to Haven.
When we pulled into my driveway, he turned down the music then looked at me with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry, Gen. Please don’t be mad.” I wasn’t facing him but could see him in my peripheral vision. He lowered his eyes and sighed heavily. “I … care about you,” he spoke softly, gently taking my hand in his. When I didn’t say anything he leaned over to my side of the car. “You’re being all quiet and sad now,” he whispered, causing a burning flush to fly over me.
“Nah, I’m not mad, just tired.” I glanced at my house then back at him. “I better go.” I gave him a peck on the cheek before climbing out of the car. “See you later,” I said flatly, then closed the car door. I didn’t bother looking back, because I could feel his eyes on me as I strolled into the garage.
By the time I got to the kitchen door my phone was ringing with a text message. I dug it out of my jacket pocket. It was William.
Want to do something fun tomorrow?
I wasn’t quite ready to forgive him yet. I’m not sure yet. I might be busy. I lied. I wanted to be close to him all the time, but for now, I needed to play a little hard to get.
Alright. You can let me know later. I really am sorry. : (
His last text message tugged at my heart strings. I would let him wonder for a little while, then I would let him know things were okay between us.
It was only around five-thirty when I’d gotten home and Aunt Bev was in her office working at her laptop when I found her.
“Whatcha doin?” I leaned against the open door casing, and smiled. She jumped at first, throwing her hand over her heart. She then quickly used her other hand to slide a book under some papers. It wasn’t just any book, it was the same book I had found inside the piano bench earlier. “Gen, you scared the hell out of me.” She forced a smile. “I didn’t expect you home so early.” She minimized the screen on her computer, then stood and moved toward me, away from her desk, as if to keep my focus away from what she’d been doing.
“Sorry … I didn’t mean to scare you,” I said, my eyes flitted between her and the book.
She crossed the room and sat on the side of her bed to slip on her boots. “Did something happen between you and William?”
“Nah, not really. The date was just over, that’s all.”
“I have to go out for a while. Can you fend for yourself with dinner?” Her eyes seemed frantic and nervous.
“Sure, I guess… why?”
“I’ve got a meeting with the town council tonight.” Even though she smiled her dark eyes betrayed her anxiety.
***
After Aunt Bev left, I changed into my flannel pajama pants and matching tank top. I cooked a frozen pizza, then settled on the over-stuffed couch in the den to watch E.T. I loved that movie. When I was little, some boys in my class called me E.T. because I had great big eyes and a high forehead. I went home and cried thinking it was a bad thing. My mom, being the loving and affectionate person that she was, rushed right out and bought the movie. As we watched it together she explained that those boys were just jealous because E.T was this really great alien who could make things move with his mind, and they wanted to be like him but weren’t.
The next day at school those same boys waited on the playground. When my class came outside they tried to taunt me again expecting me to cry, but instead of crying I smiled and skipped away. They never teased me after that day, and that was when I knew my mom was the greatest mom ever.
Occasionally we would watch it if I was upset about something, and I always felt better afterward. Although I was sitting there watching E.T. alone, it made me feel like she was there with me again.
Not even halfway into the movie my phone rang. It was a text message from Luna.
Are you at home? Luna wrote.
Yeah. Watching a movie. What’s up? I was into the movie so it took me several minutes to write back.
I’m coming over. Be there in a few. DON’T LEAVE.
I tossed the phone onto the couch beside me, and carried my leftover pizza into the kitchen. I put my plate into the dishwasher and heard a knock on the sliding glass doors. My heart jumped because I didn’t think Luna had enough time to get all the way to my house from hers.
My adrenaline surged through my veins. I grabbed a large knife from the block on the island next to the cook top, and inched my way quietly to the door. I pressed my back against the wall and peeked out the side of the curtains. As quiet as I had been, Luna was looking right at me. I let out a lungful of air, realizing then I’d been holding my breath the whole time.
“How did you get here so fast?” I asked incredulously.
She pointed to the small boat tied at the dock. “I live across the lake. It only takes, like, five seconds to get here by boat.” She wasn’t her usual happy self, and I could tell.
“Come on in, I’m watching—”
“I need a ride into town—like, now.” Luna cut me off.
“What’s wrong, Luna? Is someone in trouble?”
“Yeah … no … I don’t know. There’s been a meeting of the town council called.”
“Uh, I know. That’s where my aunt told me she was going.”
“You don’t understand, Gen.” Luna’s voice sounded frantic and desperate. “This is not like a regular meeting. Someone ‘called’ it.” Luna said, doing air quotes with her fingers.
“Which means …?” I held both arms out, palm up.
“I’ll tell you what it means. It means something’s up, and they wa
nt it kept a secret.” She followed me into the den. I dropped onto the couch while she just stood across the room, not bothering to take off her jacket. “I want to go there to find out why they’re all being so secretive.”
“Luna, I’m sure it’s nothing. You want something to drink?” I asked her before taking a large drink of my soda.
“Fine. If you won’t take me, I’ll … I’ll hitchhike.” Angry tears filled her eyes as she spun on her heel and headed out of the room.
“Wait,” I yelled, jumping up from the couch. I didn’t realize how determined she really was until the front door swung open.
I ran out of the den, through the living room, and caught up to her just as she was headed out the door. “Wait here and let me throw on some jeans.”
I found Luna pacing back and forth in the foyer when I came back down stairs. “Let’s go,” she said sounding anxious as she started to open the front door.
“No. Lock that door. We’re going out through the kitchen. I hit the garage door button then we jumped in the Jeep, and backed out.
When I glanced at Luna, she was chewing the inside of her lip, and nervously bouncing her knee at record speed. “All this really has you freaked out, doesn’t it?” I asked, softly rubbing her shoulder.
Luna paused for a minute before answering. “You don’t understand how important this meeting is, Gen. Something big is happening. The last time they called a meeting was after …” her voice trailed off and she started fidgeting with the zipper on her jacket, then peered at me again. “If I tell you something, you promise to have an open mind?”
“Yeah … sure. I guess so.”
“For many years there has been this …” Luna paused.
I looked at her and saw tears welling up.
“What is it Luna?”
Luna shook her head, but stayed silent the rest of the way to town.
There was an eeriness as we drove through town. Even though it was still fairly early, the streets were empty. I didn’t even see a dog or cat anywhere. I felt around on my door and quietly pressed the lock down.
Ties to the Blood Moon 2nd Edition Page 6
