Star Crossed Hurricane

by Knight, Wendy

Oh believe me. There are ways, Beck.

  “Maybe he has his reasons. Maybe he’s trying to do the right thing,” Sawyer said. Any other day, Savannah would have tried hopeful hidden messages in those words, but not now. Now, she knew that he was only talking about the damn show, and nothing else.

  Nothing, nothing, nothing.

  “Almost there, guys. You up for another run?” Dara’s friend called from the front of the line.

  “We are a track team,” Laura muttered. Savannah, despite herself, snickered.

  They started jogging. The path was clearer here, the trees thinner. Savannah squinted at the ground through the mist and darkness. It was smoother — lots of little pebbles, like this had been a road once.

  Her curiosity piqued and her blood raced a little more. It was nice of Beckett to ask the kid about this place. It did help, the excitement of discovery, the unknown.

  “Did he say this place was haunted?” Laura asked Savannah under her breath.

  “Yeah. Isn’t it cool?” Kelly exclaimed.

  Savannah squeezed Laura’s hand. “There are no ghosts. And if there are, I’ll protect you.”

  “Yeah… unless the ghosts have pet spiders. Then you’re S.O.L,” Kelly giggled, dancing out of the way when Savannah swiped at her half-heartedly.

  They slowed to a walk, although the mysterious mansion was still nowhere in sight. “Do you think we’re lost?” Savannah asked.

  “He’s following the road. Don’t think we’re lost,” Sawyer said from right behind her. She jumped, closing her eyes and praying for strength.

  His voice was different than usual — no laughing, no jokes. It was quiet, serious. Yeah, she’d seen him that way plenty of times, but she hadn’t been expecting it now.

  Unless he knew he’d hurt her. And he was sorry.

  Of course he’s sorry, you idiot. Sawyer is a nice guy. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, and you were crying in front of him.

  Besides, he’s never hurt you before.

  He’d always been a sweetheart. Her lucky charm.

  What did that mean?

  She sighed, shoving her damp hair out of her face.

  “Getting tired, Savvy?” Beckett asked. “Want me to carry you?”

  She shook her head. “No, Beck. I’m good.” I’m a big girl, you know.

  “Well yeah. But that’s not what I asked.”

  She forced a laugh, rolling her eyes. It was too much emotional energy to try to pretend everything was fine. As much as she wanted to explore this “legendary” mansion, she’d far rather do it by herself.

  “I don’t like haunted things,” Laura said, staring off into the growing shadows nervously.

  “I’ll protect you, Laura,” Liam said quickly.

  “She doesn’t need your protection.” Aaron glared at him over the top of Laura’s head.

  Savannah hid a smile. “That’s right. Because I already said I’d protect her.”

  Laura grinned as both boys struggled to come up with a response. Savannah winked at her and went back to the angst in her head.

  “I don’t think the storm is past. I can’t see the skies through all the trees, though.” She could hear Sawyer muttering, but no one was listening. She, of course, hung on his every word, no matter how hard she tried not to.

  Besides that, he would know a hurricane better than the rest of them. He was the only one who had grown up on the coast. But Dara’s new friends had said they didn’t get hurricanes on this side of the country. And they would know, wouldn’t they?

  “Holy crap,” Laura breathed. Savannah had been listening to Sawyer and staring at her feet, and hadn’t even realized the overgrown road they were jogging down had widened into a massive yard. Or, what had been a yard, once. Hedges grew out of control, rose bushes tangled themselves around fences. Grass fought weeds for control of the lawns — lawns that were easily as big as football fields.

  “How does no one own this place?” she asked. Dara’s friend, the blond one, not the redhead, glanced back at her.

  “I told you. It’s haunted.”

  “Oh. Of course.” She nodded, pretending like she really did believe in ghosts.

  She didn’t. Not even close. But he was their guide. Probably best not to openly mock him. “So… there’s a house somewhere around here?”

  “Yeah.” He seemed pleased that she believed his ghost story. “Still a ways up, though. Let’s go.”

  The wind had started to pick up again, although the trees still blocked the skies. Every smart fiber in Savannah’s body screamed that they should go back to the hotel. But urban exploring was like a drug to her. She couldn’t walk away, not until she’d seen the house. Dug through its secrets. She bounced on her toes, finally shoving past everyone else and bounding up the driveway.

  “I told you she’s got a thing for old buildings,” she heard Beckett say.

  The rest of them hurried with her, which meant she nearly got run over when she saw the tunnel and skidded to a halt. Her eyes threatened to fall out of her head. “It’s a carriage house. I’ve never seen one of these before!” Squealing, she ran through it, pausing underneath to try to study everything around her. She spun in circles, trying to take it all in as fast as she could. Smartly, she stopped before she got dizzy and made herself sick, tearing her eyes away from the building. As always, her gaze landed on Sawyer. He was leaning against the wall, watching her with a small, sad smile, his arms crossed over his broad chest. Her heart tried to crawl into her throat, but she shoved it away and turned her back on him.

  I’m not blind, Savvy.

  “You think this is cool, wait ‘til you see the house.” Dara’s blond friend seemed to have caught her enthusiasm and abandoned Dara to lead Savannah up the curving drive. Savannah felt like a little kid, giggling and running as fast as she could, the wind pushing at her back, just as excited as she was.

  “Holy snowballs!” she gasped as the trees cleared and the hedges died away and she got her first glimpse of the house.

  It was massive, at least four stories high, and covered in ivy. At the two front corners, turrets rose into the sky. Part of the roof had collapsed toward the back, and it looked like there had been a fire at one point, but the gray brick still stood tall.

  A wide, sweeping staircase led up to the front door, a door that looked like solid mahogany. The handle was nearly as big as Savannah’s whole arm. She sprinted up the steps and tried to push it open, but it didn’t budge.

  The rest of the group had finally caught up to them. She heard Beckett swear, heard Dara gasp, everyone made all kinds of impressed noises, but she hardly noticed them. “Have you ever been inside?” she asked the blond guy. Wrinkling her nose, she glanced back at him. “What did you say your name was?”

  “Julian. And no. I haven’t been inside. The door’s locked.”

  “Yeah. Like that’ll keep her out,” Sawyer snorted. She didn’t look at him, though, just tugged again on the door and then jogged back down the stairs to survey the house.

  Laura and Liam were missing. So were Kelly and Caleb. Savannah knew where they were, as did probably everyone in the group. She was sad that they were missing this great discovery, though something told her they were making some discoveries of their own.

  “So this was cool. I guess we head back now?” Beckett asked, tipping his head back to stare at the sky. “It’s getting pretty dark.”

  “We have an early meet tomorrow.” Dara nodded, edging closer to Beckett, watching Savannah with narrowed eyes, waiting to see her reaction.

  Take him. Please for the love of everything holy, take Beckett and make him forget me.

  “Wait, I want to take some pictures. Savannah, go over there and do something cool.” Aaron backed up, his phone in front of him.

  “Do something cool. No pressure,” Savannah muttered, climbing back up the steps, counting each one. Twenty. Twenty wide steps to get to the front door. “What do I do?” she called down to him.

  Beckett leaped up nex
t to her, grabbed her around the waist, and dipped her back, his lips smashing against hers, his tongue sliding against her teeth. She squealed, pushing at his chest as she fought to regain her balance. “Beckett!” she yelled when he finally released her.

  “Did you get it?” he asked Aaron, grinning. She wanted to punch him.

  Aaron nodded, laughing. Everyone was laughing, like it was some big joke, and she should probably laugh, too, but she didn’t think it was funny.

  Sawyer.

  Sawyer didn’t think it was funny, either. He was glaring at Beckett, his hands fisted at his sides. Hope surged in her chest, stupid hope that would break her heart, and she should crush it before the hope had a chance.

  “Don’t do that again, Beck,” she hissed, shoving past him.

  “Sav, it was a joke! It was funny!”

  She just shook her head, jumping back down the stairs.

  “Are we heading back, then?” Dara asked.

  “Text that to me, will you? I wanna make it my profile pic.” Beckett was leaning over Aaron’s phone, looking through the pictures. “Yeah, let’s get going. I think the temperature dropped like thirty degrees.”

  “No.” Savannah barely recognized the growl that came out of her throat. “Go ahead. I’m not going.”

  He looked up, blue eyes completely bewildered. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Nothing. I didn’t come all this way to turn around and go home. You go ahead, but I’m staying.” With that, she turned back to the mammoth house, looking for broken windows that she could fit through without losing much skin.

  “Fine. We’re staying. What are we going to do, stand here and stare at it?” Beckett asked, crossing his arms over his chest. She barely looked at him, because if she looked at him, she’d want to hit him, and then she’d have a hurt hand.

  “Nooo,” she drew out the word, because clearly he wasn’t as bright as usual. “I’m going to find a way in.”

  “What?” Dara choked. “But—but it’s falling down. And burned! And the storm!”

  Savannah sighed, realizing she was being stubborn and not very nice, but she was hurt and embarrassed and angry. “Then go back, Dara. It’s not like I’m making you go in with me.”

  “It looks like there’s a window on the second floor that’s broken out,” Sawyer said quietly, pointing. “That tree branch goes right into it.”

  She smiled at him, so grateful for his help that she could have kissed him.

  Well, she would have given her kidney for a chance to kiss him. But that was beside the point.

  “Can you climb in those boots?” he asked, raising an eyebrow, a small grin playing at the corners of his mouth.

  She smiled, a small smile carrying the promise of a truce, and nodded.”Yeah. I think I can manage.”

  “I’m going back,” Dara said. “Is anyone coming with me?”

  “I’ll go,” Aaron seemed to have just realized Laura and Liam were gone, and he looked heartbroken. “I need to get some sleep.”

  Julian gave one last, hopeful look at the house before nodding. “Yeah, I’ll go back, too.” He grinned at Savannah. “Never met a girl who wanted to check this place out before.”

  Savannah ducked her head, her cheeks warming. “Yeah… I’m kind of a freak. See you guys in a bit?” They agreed, or at least, she was pretty sure they did, but she was already turning away, scrutinizing the tree like it was a puzzle. Except she’d never been very good at puzzles.

  Trees, though, she could do.

  Silently, they walked across the lawns. Beckett was on his phone, Sawyer was watching the sky, and Savannah was watching him, but out of the corner of her eye because she’d already made a fool of herself once that day.

  Once a day was plenty.

  They stopped at the tree, and Sawyer hoisted himself up onto the lowest branches. “How does it look?” she called.

  “Like it was made for climbing. You comin’ up?”

  She’d just reached for the lowest branch when Laura emerged from the darkness, eyes sparkling and a small smile playing around her lips. “You owe me five bucks,” she murmured as she passed Savannah. She’d bet boxers. Apparently, Liam wore briefs. Savannah’s eyes widened and she spun. “Seriously? Laura! Where’s Kelly? She’s gonna love this.”

  Laura’s grin broadened. “Kelly’s… busy. Probably winning five bucks of her own.

  As if summoned, Kelly appeared at their side, fanning her pink cheeks. “Shew. Is it hot out here to anyone else? By the way, you owe me five bucks.”

  Savannah squealed. Laura squealed, and Kelly squealed, because this little bet of theirs had been a long time coming, before Savannah realized that she was out ten bucks. And she didn’t even have anyone to bet about to win her money back.

  Damn.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?” Beckett asked Sawyer, watching Savannah with lovesick eyes. As always.

  Yeah. You probably have the same look.

  Sawyer massaged his temples. “Girls and their bets. Who knows.” He glanced at the sky, at the clouds gathering like a warlord bringing in its assassins. “Savvy,” he called and tried not to love the way her name sounded against his lips. As always. “The weather’s gonna get bad, Buttercup. We’ve gotta head back.”

  She looked up at him and then up at the sky, and her beautiful face creased. “But–but we just got here… I haven’t got to see inside yet.” She was devastated, he could tell, and it killed him to disappoint her. But he’d rather she be disappointed and alive than caught in a hurricane and dead. Even the thought made his blood run cold.

  “It’s just a storm. We can—we can stay inside and wait it out,” she begged.

  “This place could be a death trap in a storm. Maybe we can come back after the meet tomorrow.” He dropped out of the tree and turned to help her, but she landed next to him. He hid a proud grin. That’s my girl.

  “Come on, Savannah, use your head. You’re gonna get us all killed,” Beckett said absently, raising his phone in the air. “I don’t have a signal here at all.”

  Savannah crumpled in on herself. “Yeah. Okay.”

  Sawyer wanted to kill his best friend.

  Instead, he had to settle with distracting Savannah, trying to smooth the pain. “This isn’t like Texas. If we were at home, we’d probably be clinging for dear life to the trees by now. Or, you know, washed away by a tsunami. But Julian said they don’t get hurricanes here.”

  “They don’t get hurricanes here very often,” Laura said. “We got them in Alaska, sometimes, so I know it’s possible here.”

  Savannah looked again at the sky, her eyes darkening. “Really? We don’t get storms like that in Utah much. Maybe we should run. Beck?” she snapped, keeping her eyes firmly on the road ahead.

  “Coming. You guys worry too much. Savvy’s been rubbing off on you. I remember when we were together, if I didn’t call right on time, she’d freak. My little worrywart.” He rubbed her head and Sawyer saw her grit her teeth.

  “You just said I was going to get us all killed.” She moved out of arms’ reach, hugging herself as they hurried down the drive, sneaking disappointed glances over her shoulder at the house. “Anyway, I had good reason to worry, Beckett. You were never where you said you’d be. Or with who you said you’d be with.”

  This was news to Sawyer. Savannah never spoke of when she and Beck had been together, although it was half of her junior year and all of her senior year. He’d assumed she had broken up with Beckett because she was going off to college and didn’t want to be tied down — that’s what Beckett had always said and she hadn’t argued. It seemed there were things Beckett had failed to tell him.

  If she had ever been his, he wouldn’t have made her worry. They would have to pry his phone from his hands to keep him from calling her at least once an hour. Or once a minute. Just to hear her voice. And that was if, for some unfathomable reason, he wasn’t already with her.

  Kelly wrinkled her nose. “Calling a
girl anything with wart in it is not attractive at all, Beckett.”

  “Either way, it’s getting dang cold. Maybe we should hurry,” Savannah said as a shiver passed over her thin shoulders. Lace. She was wearing lace. No wonder she was freezing.

  He pulled his long-sleeved shirt over his head. “Put this on. You’re gonna freeze to death.”

  “But—” she blushed as her words stumbled over each other and her eyes fell on his arms. “—But you’re only wearing a t-shirt. You’ll—you’ll be cold.”

  “I don’t get cold, sweetheart. Hurry up.” When she still didn’t move, he tugged his shirt over her head and she automatically stuck her arms through the sleeves.

  “Thank you.”

  “Beckett, you have a jacket on. Why didn’t you share so Sawyer wouldn’t have to wander around in a storm with no sleeves?” Kelly asked and Laura raised an eyebrow, waiting on his answer. They were tag-teaming him, and the two of them together were formidable. Sawyer tried to hide a grin, grateful that Savannah had them to protect her.

  “I thought we were going to run. I didn’t think there was time.”

  Savannah nodded. “We should run. We’re getting a workout today, aren’t we? Coach is gonna be so mad.”

  Subject effectively changed.

  Lightning cracked above them and all three girls squealed, ducking their heads.

  “Let’s go!” Liam grabbed Laura’s hand and they took off, Kelly and Caleb close behind. With one last, sad look over her shoulder, Savannah followed them, and they ran in silence for the next several minutes, except for the occasional shriek when lightning would shoot across the sky in front of them. The wind picked up, howling and moaning like it had a broken heart.

  It was a sound Sawyer knew well.

  They’d just broken out of the trees, in sight of the main road, when a car, sitting silent and dark, suddenly flashed its lights and pulled forward. Sawyer automatically moved protectively in front of Savannah before he realized it was a friend — and not some kidnapper hopped up on drugs trying to kidnap the girl he loved.

  “Hop in,” Julian yelled, cranking the window down. “I’ll take you back to the hotel!”