by Dela
My heart picked up. The memory of Lucas yelling outside my shattered window flashed through my mind. “I . . .” I was suddenly confused. Why is he asking me this when he denied it? “Why are you curious all of a sudden?”
“For starters, you’re welcome.”
“For what?” I asked, perplexed.
The sunset silhouetted his straight nose perfectly. His face was carved stone, symmetrical and perfect. He leaned in closely. “For saving you that night.”
There was a bump as my stomach dropped to my feet. “I knew it,” I whispered. “But why do you want to know what I remembered? You were there.”
“It’s not the same.”
I leaned in with chills. “I don’t care what you say. I know you saw what I saw.”
He sat up straight. “You weren’t supposed to remember anything,” he mumbled under his breath, looking at his glass as if he were talking to it. When he glanced back up he looked more confused than I felt. “But you’re healing really fast. It doesn’t work like that.”
“What are you talking about? You’re freaking me out.”
He scooted his chair closer. “Zara, don’t you think if I were any other person, I would look past the quick healing and say that it was just that you heal fast? Nobody heals that fast; it’s unnatural.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“And your blackouts are not right, either.” He looked away. “It shouldn’t be like this—if you were normal.”
“Earth to Lucas: you’re scaring me. And two, the sun is almost down. We better pay and get going.”
The mountains across the lake had become black peaks against the streaked colors of the sunset. I couldn’t talk about what I saw in my blackout to anyone, especially Lucas. He must have realized I wasn’t going to say anything more, because he lifted his head in a regal fashion and with two fingers motioned for the waitress to come. She was at his side, batting her eyes, in three seconds. It was pathetic.
“More water?” she asked him.
“No, thank you. We are ready for our bill.”
She looked disappointed. As she fidgeted with her apron, I looked back toward the sunset. The gnats flittered over the water in busy, transparent clouds.
“Here you go. And please, let me know if I can get you anything else,” she said.
She clung to the folder. As her hand lingered on the black leather, it tempted my jealousy, and I felt my rage brewing again. When Lucas’s eyes left her to scan the bill, I somehow felt better.
I pulled out my ten, but before I could get it inside, Lucas slipped a fifty into the folder and stood.
“That won’t be necessary,” he said, waving my money away.
“Thank you.” I felt foolish putting my money back into my pocket, but something told me he wouldn’t take it anyway.
I rubbed my hands along my arms to warm them as we walked back to the car. Thanks to its altitude, Tahoe always cooled by around fifteen degrees at night. My shivering deepened in my thin sweater, and my teeth actually chattered as I waited for him to unlock his Lexus.
“You cold?” Lucas asked.
“A little,” I answered, trying not to sound needy as I sat down on the firm leather seat. “You?”
He snickered to himself as he cranked up the heat. “Nope.”
His voice held that sarcasm that always put me in a sea storm of confusion. I suddenly didn’t know what to say that would sound intelligent or proper, so I stared out the window as the town’s lights turned on.
When Lucas pulled onto Main Street, though, the suppressed urge burst. “Lucas, did you see another man at the crash?”
There was still enough light to see the muscles underneath his shirt tense. “Did you?”
“Yes, and I’m pretty sure I hit him too,” I said—it was more information than I wanted to share, but everything spilled out naturally at this point.
“Have you told anybody this?”
I shrugged in my seat. “They wouldn’t believe me if I did.”
Lucas was silent until he pulled up to my dark house. Maybe he thought I was crazy.
“I will wait for you to change,” he said, and just like that, it was like I hadn’t even asked the question.
“Really?”
“It’s no secret Jett doesn’t like me, so it doesn’t really matter if we show up in the same car,” he concurred.
“Right. Be right back.”
I skipped up the stairs and ran to my closet. It was full of clothes, but not so much black. I didn’t want to wear what I always wore for night games, a grungy hoodie and tight yoga pants, but there were no other alternatives. I threw the baggy sweater over my head and wiggled into the stretchy pants, sprayed myself with a flowery scent, and headed downstairs.
My jitters only intensified when I stepped outside. Lucas’s white car looked frosty in the dark as it idled, but the smell of a warm paradise blossomed when I opened the door. I sighed.
“Thanks for waiting.”
Lucas was unmoving, distracted with the rearview mirror. I didn’t understand. There was nothing but the blackness of the mountains past my house.
“Any time,” he finally said, shifting gears slowly as he took one more look at the woods.
Bri’s house towered on a small hill the next street over. It was the largest house in the neighborhood, with multiple turrets. It had a long, winding driveway and enough evergreen trees to look like Santa’s village at the North Pole. Her dad was a plastic surgeon and liked things ritzy.
I saw Jett’s black truck parked along the curb when we pulled up. Ashley’s yellow Bug sat behind it on the downgrade of the hill, and then there was a car I’d never seen before. It was champagne colored and said Porsche on the back. I turned apprehensively to Lucas.
“Gabriella’s here,” he answered promptly.
“Oh.”
Suddenly I wanted to disappear. Showing up with Gabriella’s brother was the last thing I wanted to be doing.
Jett was leaning against Bri’s car in the driveway when we pulled up. He stood up when he saw us and moved his blond hair out of his eyes to stare. I could see he was wearing his black prescription frames. He usually wore them at night to see better. I couldn’t help but look away from his jealous glare to Gabriella, who stood on the lawn next to Dylan. With her thick hair pulled up into a high bun, she looked like an hourglass. Just as I started to look away, my breath stopped: the bombshell was smiling nicely at me.
“Finally,” Tommy said, hopping out of the truck’s bed as Lucas and I joined them on the slanted driveway. “Alejandro and Zara are here. Did Zara explain to you how to play?”
“It’s Lucas, and yes,” Lucas answered.
“Good. You’re on my team. You look like you’d be of good use.”
Lucas didn’t seem honored—he clenched his jaw. “All right.”
“Then we get Dylan,” Jett yelled back.
Gabriella was suddenly next to me, talking softly in my ear. “And the girls?”
“They pick which boys are on their team first, and then the girls go on the team their boyfriend is on,” I answered, as the boys picked.
“So then, will you be on Jett’s team or Lucas’s?” Her question took me off guard.
I recovered first with a blink before I turned to her and answered plainly. “Jett’s. But he isn’t my boyfriend.”
“Right, because you practically can’t stand the fact that he waited around a few short years to decide that he liked you.”
“Gabriella, look, whatever I did to you, I’m sorry.”
Her playful chuckle confused me. “Zara, I’m only joking. I would be upset if Dylan waited around that long too. Though, if I had any say in this, I think it would be cool for you and Lucas.”
I wanted to make her finish her sentence. “For me and Lucas to what?”
“Gabriella!” Dylan hollered.
“Looks like you’re on my team,” she said. She delicately moved to Dylan’s side.
I followed her to our team. Jett casually put his arm around my shoulders, making sure Lucas was watching. Lucas’s eyes were locked on Jett’s all right—but not the way they had locked on the rearview mirror—this way practically defined If looks could kill. Jett looked away more quickly than I expected.
“We’re running first,” Jett said, once we were huddled as a team. “Gabriella, Dylan, you guys know where to go?”
“Of course, man,” Dylan answered.
“Just checking.” Jett raised his head out of our circle slightly. “And Tommy, no cars in the alleys.”
Tommy and the others on his team laughed. “You’re funny. Look at you, you’re shaking in your pants.”
“Shut up, Tommy,” Jett remarked before turning to us. “All right, guys. They have the searchlight on my truck, so stay off the streets. If you see them coming from a block away, hide in the bushes until they pass you. Got it? Oh, and if you get to the gondola first, call me.”
“So, we go alone?” Gabriella wondered.
“Every man for himself. Is that a problem, Barbie? No offense, Dylan,” Jett said.
“None taken,” Dylan said, chuckling.
Gabriella ignored them, but glanced over at Lucas with worry. When he nodded, she glared back at Jett. “Just stay out of my way,” she replied harshly.
“Gladly. When Tommy counts to three, you run the hell away from here.”
“We know, Jett.” Tana giggled.
“Just making sure. And be careful on Main Street. Getting out of the neighborhood is the easy part; it’s crossing Main Street that’s tough, so don’t be stupid about it.”
“Jett, I think we all got it,” I remarked, pulling away from his arm.
There was a clunk when Tommy hopped up into the bed of Jett’s truck. We all looked over at him. He was standing on one leg, the other braced on the sideboard.
“All right, you little babies, time to get running. And if we call your name, you’re out. Let’s go. Five, four, three, two . . .!”
Jett ditched me at once and sprinted across the street. I stood a moment, watching everyone take off in different directions. Tana ignored Jett’s advice and followed Tyson to the neighbor’s yard across the street. They disappeared in the shadows. I decided to run east, toward the next street in our neighborhood—there was another exit on the north side. I searched for Gabriella and Dylan as I crossed the street, but they were nowhere to be found.
The streetlights were out on the next street. I was suddenly scared to be alone, so I took my chances and ran in the open on the sidewalk, hoping the moonlight wouldn’t give me away. By the time I passed the fifth house I was out of breath, but close enough to see the entrance to our neighborhood and Jett’s back running away from me. I ducked behind a bush and waited when headlights appeared behind me. As the car passed, a scratchy rustle started in the leaves. I jumped up and charged as fast as I could toward the exit.
When I reached Lake Tahoe Boulevard, it was packed with cars, which made it impossible to know which was Jett’s. To stay clear of all of them, I kept to the side of the road with no buildings, hiding behind boulders and shrubs against the edge of the woods. The boulevard eventually turned to Interstate 50 at the city’s edge, and soon I was alone on the road. After a mile, I was halfway and also out of breath, but the mountainside along the edge of the road was getting too steep. I needed to cross the road.
My foot was almost on the asphalt when I heard Tommy’s laugh. I retreated behind a large boulder, then peeked out enough to see them approach. Hayden drove slowly while Tommy directed the searchlight in the back, shining it right at me. Crap.
I turned around and crouched down, leaning my back against the cold rock. The blinding light was only inches from my toes, and I could feel my feet slipping on the pine needles beneath me. I tightened my muscles and breathed in sharply through the burning. Finally, Tommy yelled to Hayden to keep driving, and I released my aching muscles with a sigh.
Snap.
I flipped my head toward a sudden cracking in the trees. It was deep in the woods, where I couldn’t see beyond the first few rows of trees. I didn’t care if I got caught. I charged toward the street and crossed it as fast as I could.
I didn’t stop until I was standing in a small alley behind the local tattoo shop. Its flickering neon lights barely lit the back. I couldn’t see well, but I knew I was close. I’d been to Heavenly hundreds of times; its entrance was only a few blocks east. I decided to stay in the alley, behind the trash bins, until I reached the road between me and the entrance. I thought I was moving smoothly along, keeping hidden, when I stepped on a small bump. A loud hiss rose and a cat on its nightly rounds ran away and jumped the wall. Stupid cat.
As I turned my back, cursing that it nearly scared me to death, I saw movement in the shadows behind me. A familiar shadowy figure stepped out into the open. I nearly fainted as the blood rushed away from my head. I dug my nails deep into my skin to stay conscious and turned to sprint, but hit my shin on a garbage can. I kept my balance somehow and fled, half hopping from pain.
As the pain eased, I didn’t look back—I just sprinted harder. At the end of the alley, a sliver of yellow light from the streetlamp gave me hope. I bolted across the street to the parking lot entrance, trying to get to the gondolas as quickly as possible. But I had forgotten that there was nothing here, only another stretch of poorly paved asphalt that led to the parking lot, and then the gondolas. And how could I know that anyone from my team would be there already? I could end up alone.
I spun around, searching for an escape route. The reflective glimmer of the dark lake caught my eye. As I pivoted toward it, multiple whispers carried on the wind.
“Lucas?”
No one answered, so I took off toward the lake.
My legs burned, but I didn’t dare stop. Through the frenzy, I tried focusing on what the whispers were saying. It was a strange language, like what I heard when I blacked out. The voices chanted the same thing over and over, in a unison that was almost tangible, making me wild with panic. When I finally reached the edge of the lake, my lungs were rough like sandpaper, and I coughed horribly as I tried to catch my breath.
A few feet away, the rocky cliff dropped straight down to water far below. I turned my back to the water, not wanting to face what my mind was telling me to do. Tears filled my eyes when the figure glided from the forest into the open. I took a step back. Another emerged out of the forest at my left, closer than the other, and I took another step. With each gliding step they took, I took another one back, praying for another way out. I remembered what they did to that girl on the pyramid.
Soon I was on my toes, my heels teetering over the edge. The glistening water beckoned me to jump. I looked back up, scared, hoping for another way. The creatures were getting nearer—ten feet, seven feet. They were only three feet away when I decided to jump. As my feet lifted into the air, I saw timeless blue eyes behind the predators, stricken with fear.
“Lucas!” I screamed, reaching for him as I fell backwards into the water.
CHAPTER NINE
Safe
Air howled in my ears as the bloodless undead rushed after me, their thirst for death bright in their glowing eyes. My arms flung away from their outstretched bony hands—they promised to reach me, but the dark water caught me first.
Needles of cold glass stabbed along my side. I fought the pain and kicked to stay afloat, but I was sinking, the pressure intense in my ears. A charley horse cramped my calf, and I thrashed my arms, desperate for breath but unable to stretch my leg to kick.
I could see the surface just for a moment, but my lungs drew in water as I raised my hand toward the blurry moon in one last farewell. As my body surrendered, something in the water cinched my w
aist from behind. A current pressed against my head, and then I emerged headfirst. I gasped and took a breath of the cold air as if it was my last.
“Zara,” Lucas said. “Hold on to my arms.”
I coughed out water instead of thanks. He held me tighter and swam around the cliff, toward the beach. When I felt rocks underneath my feet, Lucas let go. I stumbled over their smoothness to the beach, collapsed, and coughed up lake. When my heaves eased, I turned to Lucas. He stood on the shore, leaving a careful distance between us. Distress was clear on his face, and I noticed a dim bluish light glowing through his soaked sleeve. Every nerve told me to run screaming, but I didn’t. I pushed the dripping hair off my face and observed his arm, remembering its freakish glow at the crash. He stood still, letting me stare, and then he moved, his apologetic expression changing to one of guilt. I struggled to understand what he could be guilty of as he pulled his fingers through his hair, sweeping wet strands off his face, and began to pace nervously.
As he walked back and forth, spinning something small between his fingers, relentless shivers overtook me. The bluish light under his shirt dimmed, and his figure faded to a black silhouette. My bewildered stare went unnoticed as he continued pacing. I wrapped my arms around my legs and curled into a helpless ball, listening to my teeth chatter as I waited for him to say something.
My stomach roiled with doubts that Lucas was human. I uncurled enough to squeeze my sick stomach tightly. He still paced, saying not a word to me. It was only when the clattering of my teeth grew louder that he snapped around to look at me.
“Zara!” He rushed over to place a hand on my shoulder, but I jerked away, scared.
“You’re freezing. You need to get warm. I know this is the wrong time to ask, but I need you to trust me,” he said.
An uncontrollable shiver turned my nod into a cringe, but Lucas bent down and slid his arm under my shoulders. In a fraction of a breath I was cradled against him. The heat radiating off his body warmed mine instantly, and without asking, I pressed my head against his chest.
