The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven

by Jessica Miller

  As I listened, I wondered… but before I could finish my thought, Dean took the words right out of my head. “Someone who claims to come from nothing surely has found a way to out-do herself.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t understand?” Jasa asked. Xander gave Dean a look of warning.

  “That dress, shoes, purse…surely you can understand why I have a hard time believing someone like you could afford that. As you said, you had to earn your way. So what exactly did you do to earn that?” Dean asked with a cocky smile.

  My jaw dropped out of shock.

  Xander’s face turned bright red. He had the look of death in his eyes.

  “You’ll have to forgive my son. He seems to have forgotten his manners,” my mom said, interrupting with the intent to defuse the tension.

  Dean just leaned back in his chair, still smiling.

  “You are correct. Someone of my stature could not afford these beautiful things and your brother was kind enough to purchase them for me. I didn’t have anything nice enough to wear today and I wanted to make a good impression. Xander offered to help me out,” Jasa said, apparently unphased by Dean’s comment.

  There we sat in awkward silence, until the waiter came over to take our order and then my mom continued asking Jasa all sorts of questions. She had very little to say about her family. As she had told us earlier, she was an only child whose parents had passed at an early age, not allowing her to get the chance to know the rest of her family. She worked her way through school and even managed to graduate at the top of her class. She currently is a law clerk at a very prestigious firm and is beginning a masters program in the fall.

  I have to say I was fairly impressed. So was my mom. Dean seemed as though he could have cared less, which was no surprise. If my dad were here, I know he would approve of Jasa as well.

  After lunch I excused myself got my mom’s approval to join Josie at the pool. I told Jasa it was very nice to meet her before I headed off to meet Josie and her brother. Once I changed into my bathing suit and borrowed a towel from the club, I found Josie sitting on the edge of the shallow end watching Jake. Well, at least pretending to. “Hey, so how was Xander’s girlfriend?”

  “She seems…nice.” I dragged out the words.

  “But?” Josie pressed.

  “But…also seems too good to be true.”

  “Ella! Ella! Watch me!” Jake hollered. I turned my attention to him and he did a summersault in the water.

  “Good job Jakey.”

  “Dean!” Jake shouted, enthusiastically. Dean was now walking towards us and waved to Jake on his way. Jake swam over and jumped out, running to Dean. “Hi Dean, you comin’ swimming?”

  “Maybe later buddy.”

  “Okay.” Jake did a cannonball back into the water.

  “Ladies,” Dean said passing us and heading straight to the bar.

  “It’s a shame all that hotness goes to waste,” Josie commented as he passed and I laughed.

  I spent the rest of the day playing in the water with Jake while Josie worked on her tan. After Dean was done entertaining his ladies by the bar, he joined us in the pool. It ended up being a great day. Even Josie eventually got in the water.

  Sometime near the late afternoon, Jake passed out on one of the lounge chairs, tired from playing all day. Ready to relax herself, Josie asked if we would keep an eye on him while she looked for her mom.

  Josie finally returned a half hour later – minus her mom. I didn’t even have to ask, the annoyed look on her face said it all. Apparently her mom was passed out too. She must have decided to extend her 'business meeting'.

  Dean volunteered to help Josie get her mom to the car while I carried Jake and put him gently in the backseat. “I’ll call you later,” Josie said, hopping in the driver’s seat and buckling in her unconscious mother.

  “I must say, Mrs. McNaughton is quite the hottie for an older woman. Definitely a M.I.L.F.”

  “Gross Dean. Keep away from my mom,” Josie cringed.

  “Hey, I’m just saying.” He put his hands up.

  “Yeah, I bet you wouldn’t still think that if you saw her before all her surgeries,” Josie said snidely. Dean just winked at her and she shut the door and took off.

  I gave Dean a nasty look and walked away. “What?” he said. I just ignored him and went to find our mom.

  I located her, Xander, and Jasa in the lounge. “Hi honey,” my mom said greeting me. “How was swimming?”

  “Fun, but I’m beat now.” I sat next to her on the big chair and laid my head on her shoulder as she put her arm around me.

  “Don’t worry. We're leaving soon. We’re just waiting for your father.”

  “Dad’s here?” I sat up.

  “Yes. You know nothing could keep him from spending time with his family.” I looked at my mom ready to say something but stopped, remembering that she didn’t know I overheard their argument earlier. “What is it honey?”

  “Oh nothing.” I rested my head back on her shoulder.

  Once back at the cabin, I collapsed on the couch and turned on the TV. Dean stood in front of me blocking my view. “Dean move! I can’t see.” He started dancing. “Dean!”

  “You said move.”

  “I meant out of my way, ass.”

  He chuckled and bent down in front of me. Before I had a chance to process what he was doing, he farted in my face. I kicked him in the butt and yelled at him for being disgusting. He continued to laugh as he left the room. It was moments like these that had me looking forward to going to school and being on my own.

  Chapter four

  I didn't realize I had fallen asleep until I looked out the window into darkness. I pulled off the blanket that was draped over me and went upstairs to change out of my bathing suit and into some comfy clothes. I came back downstairs to find everyone outback, circled around a fire, including the whole McNaughton family, Jasa, and two girls I didn't know sitting on either side of Dean.

  “Well, hello, sleeping beauty,” Josie said, patting the seat next to hers and handing me a cup of hot chocolate.

  “How long have you been here?” I asked her.

  “About an hour. Dean said he would wake you, but your mom insisted we let you rest.”

  “You kids have fun. We’re going to head inside and have some adult time,” Mrs. McNaughton said. This translates to drinking till she passes out, again. My mom followed her inside while my father and Mr. McNaughton retreated to the den.

  “Perfect timing Ella, we were about to tell some ghost stories,” Dean said.

  “Alright Jake, time for you to go to bed,” Josie told him.

  “It’s not my bedtime,” he whined.

  “No, but I don’t want you getting scared and then crawling in bed with me later.”

  “I’m not a baby and you’re not the boss of me,” he said, sticking his tongue out at her.

  Josie opened her mouth to yell at Jake, but I stopped her. “It’s fine. I’m sure Dean won’t tell any stories that will be too scary,” I said, eyeing Dean. “Because if you do, Jake will be sleeping with you tonight.”

  “He wets the bed,” Josie warned.

  Jake’s face turned bright red with embarrassment. “No worries. I have faith in Jakey not to get scared. I know he’s a brave little guy,” Dean said, giving Jake reassurance and getting a proud smile in return.

  “I’ll start,” Xander volunteered. “You guys hear the one about The Keeper?” he asked, looking around at each of us.

  “The Keeper?” Jasa questioned.

  “It’s some old wives tale,” Dean mumbled, unimpressed at Xander’s choice of story.

  “Anyway, The Keeper is this old guy who used to live right here in these woods about fifty years ago.” He held the flashlight under his chin, casting creepy shadows across his face.

  “He lived here all his life. The towns’ folk say he kept to himself, never married, and never had kids. When he would come into town to get supplies people stayed away from him, saying
he was strange. He smelled like burning flesh. His hair was long and white with a matching beard. He always wore the same thing: a red and black flannel shirt and denim overalls that were stained head to toe. They also said he liked to hunt,” he paused for dramatic effect, “humans.”

  I rolled my eyes, having heard this story a thousand times. “They say for each person he hunted, he would keep a piece of their body as a trophy. That’s how he got the nickname ‘The Keeper’. One night one of his victims managed to get away. When he returned home he told everyone what he saw.”

  “His cabin was covered with the skin of his victims which he used as blankets to warm himself at night.”

  The two girls with Dean shivered and he put his arms around both of them for comfort. I tried hard not to gag.

  “His fridge was filled with jars of preserved human organs; everything from eyeballs, hearts, and kidneys.”

  “How did the lucky one escape?” Jasa asked.

  “Late one night, while his captor was sleeping, he mustered up the courage to escape. He was able to sever the ropes that bound his wrists on a rusty nail that was protruding from his rickety chair. He used one of the pokers from the fireplace and bashed it over The Keeper’s head. He ran like hell and never looked back.”

  “He ran as fast as he could. All the way to the local police station and told them everything. By the time the police reached the cabin, searching it top to bottom, The Keeper was nowhere to be found. They searched for hours, days, weeks, but they never discovered his whereabouts. They say he still walks these woods searching for his next victim.”

  As if on cue, we heard a twig snap in the distance. I jumped and Jake’s eyes grew wide with terror. “What was that?” he whispered.

  “It’s The Keeper,” Josie said wickedly. Jake shivered and this time we heard a louder crack. Jake jumped into my lap, covering his eyes, and cowering.

  “Jake, it’s probably just an animal. There’s no reason to get scared.”

  “Let’s check it out,” Dean said, jumping up and reaching for a flashlight. “C’mon Jake, I’ll prove there’s nothing to be afraid of.” He took Jake’s hand and led him into the woods.

  “Dean, don’t,” I called after him, following them with my own flashlight.

  “I better go with them,” Xander said as he and Josie joined us.

  We slowly and cautiously made our way into the woods, careful not to frighten whatever creature that might have made the noise.

  Dean and I led the way, Jake in the middle, Josie and Xander following closely behind.

  There was a rustle to the left and Dean shined his flashlight in that direction to see that it was just a raccoon. “See Jake, nothing to be afraid of. It’s just a raccoon.”

  “Then what’s that?” he pointed a tiny, shaky finger into the depth of the woods where there appeared a giant shadow cast from behind a tree. Then we heard whispering.

  “Turn the flashlights off,” Dean said softly. I started to speak, but Dean quickly covered my mouth and put a finger to his lips gesturing for me to be quiet. I glowered at him. “Stay here,” he mouthed, and waved for Xander to follow.

  “Oh, hell no,” Josie said and ran to catch up with them almost running right into them. I took Jake’s hand, not wanting to be left behind, and caught up to them. I passed Jake over to Josie and took the lead in front of the boys.

  Dean pulled me back, but I ignored him and took a step closer to where we heard the whispering. Dean signaled for Xander to go around to the one side while he took the other. I went with Dean, ready to surprise whoever or whatever was there.

  Xander gave us to the count of three to make our move. All three of us simultaneously jumped out from behind the massive oak tree and were surprised to find nothing on the other side. We all looked at each other and shrugged.

  Suddenly, we heard someone curse. We moved closer to the voice. Xander went one way and Dean and I the other. We heard a rustling; I started to take a step back, and that’s when I bumped into someone.

  I spun around, startled and screamed. So did Dean.

  Our Screams were echoed by the person I ran into.

  “Marissa?” I asked, breathless.

  “Jesus Ella, you scared the shit out of me!”

  “What are you doing out here?” Before she could answer, we heard another noise, and Kevin jumped out from behind another tree causing all of us to scream again. Xander, Josie, and Jake came running up and calmed instantly when they realized who our mystery monsters were.

  “Sorry,” Kevin said with a chuckle. More people emerged from the woods, two of Kevin’s friends as well as Marissa’s clan. “What are you guys doing out here?” Kevin asked.

  “Well, we heard a strange noise and came to investigate. What are you guys doing?”

  “We were on our way to your house. I ran into Dean at the club and he told us to stop by tonight.”

  “And you decided to take a stroll through the woods?”

  “Genius here, said it would be fun, claiming that he knew a short cut. Needless to say, we’ve been walking for over an hour.” Marissa groaned and I tried to conceal a laugh. Kevin just shrugged his shoulders and pulled a flask from inside his jacket and took a swig. Dean took the flask from Kevin, taking a large gulp to calm his nerves. Again, it was all I could do to hide my giggles.

  Jake pushed his way between Dean and me. “Did you guys see The Keeper?”

  Kevin looked at me puzzled. “Jake, it’s just a story,” I said, giving Xander a dirty look.

  He came over and knelt down in front of Jake. “Jake, I promise I made it all up. There is no such thing as The Keeper.”

  “Hey, I heard about him! He’s the one who keeps pieces of the victims he kills, right?” Marissa chimed in. Josie looked like she was about to kill her.

  Jake started to panic. “I thought you said it was make believe?”

  “He did,” Kevin said jumping in. “He told me the story and I told it to Marissa. It’s not real buddy, I promise.” Jake calmed down a little and Xander picked him up.

  “Good job princess,” Josie muttered in Marissa’s direction.

  “What did I do?” Marissa questioned, oblivious of what just took place. Kevin shook his head at her and started walking, the rest of us close behind.

  I walked up next to Dean. “I can’t believe you screamed like a little girl.”

  “You tell anyone and I’ll start a rumor that you still sleep with your teddy bear, Mr. Cuddles,” he threatened.

  “I do not.”

  “They don’t know that and I can be very convincing.”

  On that note I decided to keep my mouth shut.

  Jake fell asleep in Xander’s arms on the trek back so we carefully put him to bed in one the tents we had set up earlier. Josie thought it would be fun to sleep outside tonight. After Jake was tucked in tight we continued our ghost stories with our new guests.

  “Now that we put the kid to bed, I have a good story to tell,” Dean said as Kevin passed his flask around the circle. Josie cuddled up with Trevor, one of Kevin’s friends. I sat on the opposite side of them with his other friend Mark. I handed out blankets to everyone. Since the temperature had dropped and the fire was not enough to keep us warm.

  “Okay this is a good one and not some lame old wives tale,” Dean started. “And it’s a true story. It happened when I went to visit my uncle last summer in Ireland.”

  “We don’t have an uncle who lives in Ireland,” I interrupted.

  “Yes we do Uncle…” Xander interrupted Dean with a fake cough and gave him a warning look. I searched both of their faces for some sort of expression, but Dean just continued where he left off. “He’s more of an old friend of the family, which is probably why you don’t remember hearing about him. Anyway, one night while visiting, he took me to a local pub. This friend; I’ll just call him Uncle Bobby, I learned was a heavy drinker and quite the ladies’ man, or so he thought.”

  “He got so drunk he was slurring his words and st
umbling all over the place. He hit on every chick that crossed his path. To him, it didn’t matter what they looked like. Fat, old, scarred, basically anything with tits he hit on. One of them was even a guy, but that’s a story for another time,” he laughed.

  “After the fifth shot Bobby bought me I was starting to feel the effects and decided to step outside for some fresh air. While outside I was smacked in the face with a cloud of smoke. I waved it away to reveal a beautiful woman standing in front of me. She wore a mini skirt showing off her long, luxurious legs, and a dingy white fur coat to keep her warm on this chilly night. Her long blonde hair blew lightly in the breeze and her dark red lipstick stained the end of her cigarette.

  “Fancy a fag?” she asked in a raspy voice, offering me a cigarette.

  “No thank you,” was all I could manage. Uncle Bobby stumbled out of the pub just then, throwing his arms around me.

  “C’mon, I found us some nice little girls to play with.”

  “I’ll be in in a minute,” I told him, as he turned his attention to the woman who stood before me.

  “Nah, lad, don’t waste your time. You can’t afford her,” he said pulling me back into the bar. The woman flicked her cigarette at Bobby, smiled, and walked away. “Ah...” Bobby growled, dragging me back inside.

  We drank all night; drank until Bobby passed out on the bar. I had to practically carry him out of the pub.”

  “We made it about five feet outside the door before he keeled over and started puking. I took a step back in just enough time to dodge the splatter and putrid smell of his vomit. That’s when I saw her again, the woman from earlier.

  “She was standing in the shadows, in an alley off the side of the pub. She signaled for me to follow her. I was hesitant at first, but I felt a strange pull to her. Before I could reach her she disappeared into the darkness. ‘Hello?’ I called out, but got no response.”

  “I squinted and gave my eyes time to adjust to the dark night. I saw her at the other end of the poorly lit alley and started to her.

  “She turned around and her eyes were glowing. I froze in my tracks. She took a step closer and I saw she was now foaming at the mouth. I was too petrified to move.” Dean paused and looked around at everyone.