Becky smiled. “I know what you’re thinking.” She laughed. “He went a bit too far, right? But it was sweet. He likes you.”
“Yeah…maybe.”
“I’m making you take at least one vase full home with you and the card too.”
I smiled. “You’re hopeless.”
She mirrored my smile and shook her head. “You feeling okay?”
“I told you already. I’m fine. I’m sore, but I’m fine.”
“Then let’s get you out of here.”
They unfortunately made me stay the night in the hospital, and Becky insisted on sleeping in the chair beside the bed. It was almost evening when Rudy got there. He had to hug us both about ten times. I groaned.
“Gently, Rudy,” I whined. “Please.”
He smiled weakly. “My God, I’m so relieved to see you. You shouldn’t drive anymore.”
“It was me,” Becky said. “The truck came out of nowhere. I swear.”
“Nobody is mad at you, Becky,” Rudy said. “Right?” He eyed me.
I nodded. “Not at all.”
Becky had to make sure the radio was turned off. I wasn’t able to sleep; all I could think about was how mad Ethan would be, and the throbbing in my bandaged arm was very uncomfortable. I wouldn’t have been able to drive.
When I got home, I thanked Rudy about a hundred times and gave him a kiss on the cheek before he headed home.
Ethan was already sleeping. I cleaned up the plate and cold noodles left on the table. I guess I had forgotten about the fact that my dad would have to have dinner by himself. Becky stayed over, and we talked about how we would break the news to Ethan in the morning. She insisted on accepting full blame. She stayed the night so we could both tell him in the morning. I was more tired than I expected to be, and it wasn’t difficult for me to fall asleep quickly.
It was a relief that my dad took it so well. There was no yelling.
“Well, thank God you’re both all right.” That was the first thing he said.
He also said he’d let me drive the old Camry that had been sitting in the garage for about a year, but if anything happened to it, I wouldn’t be driving anymore.
“It really wasn’t her fault,” Becky said. “Really, it wasn’t. It was my fault.”
Ethan nodded and put his hand up. “All right. You both need to be more careful.”
I couldn’t stand talking about it anymore and just spent the rest of the day in my room to rest. I was still very sore and tired. I was hoping to feel better the next morning.
Chapter Eleven
The entire next week at school, I never once stopped thinking about Aidan. In history class, I tried not to glance over at him when I felt him staring at me. I turned my face away, but my ears burned, and my cheeks were flushed.
It would be for the best.
What could that mean? So he wasn’t a very good friend—obviously I didn’t mind. I didn’t expect that from many people. I tried to focus in class with a little bit of success, more success than expected. It still bothered me that he didn’t want to talk to me, yet I knew I shouldn’t be complaining. This is what I had wanted in the first place, and if I got any closer to him, I would only end up hurt in the end. But he also sent me roses—five dozen roses. And the fact that Rudy didn’t tell him had me even more confused.
I sat silently through lunch, listening to Becky’s babble about the guy in her French class flirting with her. I smiled and tried to act amused, but she wasn’t fooled.
I glanced over at Aidan and choked on my breath when I saw that his table was empty. For some reason, the cafeteria seemed very still and quiet. It felt very normal. Aidan was like a rose in a field of weeds, and without him, nothing was quite as beautiful. Everything in the room was hazy.
“Are you okay?”
I turned to Aaron and cleared my throat. “I’m fine.”
“Are—?”
“I’m sure, Aaron,” I retorted, putting my hand up. “I’m fine.”
But I wasn’t fine. I was confused and frustrated. I wished I could just forget about Aidan.
When I got home, I locked myself in my room and ended up falling asleep. Ethan didn’t even wake me up for dinner. A knocking at my window is what woke me up near dawn, according to my slightly off digital clock on my nightstand. From the series of strange dreams that had disturbed me that night, I felt extremely anxious. I stared at my window, almost wishing there was somebody there so at least I would know what I was up against. I heard the sound again, and I jumped when a shadow skipped across my ceiling. I realized it was the wind slapping the tree branch against my window. I felt ridiculous. I sighed and rolled over but couldn’t get back to sleep.
I closed my eyes and pictured Aidan. Suddenly, I felt unnaturally lightheaded and tired, and that…was the first night I dreamed of him.
It was like being lost in the woods again, only I wasn’t in the woods. I didn’t know where I was. My surroundings were red. I saw Aidan smiling at me. I took a step toward him, but it was as if the ground moved with me. In this red haze, he was completely unreachable. He threw his head back laughing, but there was no sound. I tried to run, but my muscles wouldn’t move. I was desperate to get to him as though he were in danger and I was the only one who could save him. He stared at me, and I was frozen stiff, paralyzed. I saw his eyes transform into the horrific golden eyes of a cat. I awoke screaming.
Ethan naturally raced into my room. “Jane!”
I instantly felt his panic. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I murmured. “I’m fine, Dad. I swear.”
His eyes were full and terrified, yet his thoughts were unreadable. It reminded me of the look he had given my mother when she told him about Danny. My heart sank. If Danny had awoken screaming, I would have run to him.
“Just a nightmare,” I said. “I don’t even remember it at all. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. Go back to bed, Dad. I’m fine.”
He nodded and slowly closed the door, peeking at me until he couldn’t see me anymore. I rested for about half an hour before getting up for school.
When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw Aidan climbing out of a blood-red Mustang. Sexy car. I parked as far away from it as possible. I tried not to look at him, but it was hard not to. His face was blank until I saw him look over at me. Our eyes met, and I looked away. When I peered back at him, he wasn’t there. I rushed to my first class, relieved as always to see Becky.
By the time that dreaded history class came around, I was already too anxious for the day to end. Aidan ignored me as usual. When Mr. Cornally called on him for the answer to the question I wasn’t listening to, I couldn’t even hear Aidan’s words, only the velvet softness of his voice. It was…unnatural. Those hunters came to my mind again and the thoughts that maybe I should talk to Rudy. It would be a good time to yell some sense into him.
“Jane?”
That voice, so distantly familiar. I turned halfway, almost meeting his eyes.
“What are you thinking?” he whispered.
I sighed heavily and turned away. “So you ignore me for I don’t know how long, and now you suddenly want to know what I’m thinking?”
“I wasn’t ignoring you.”
“What?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, you’ve been the one avoiding me. Avoiding eye contact—conversation.”
Was this true? “Aidan”—I shuddered at the sound of his name in my voice—“don’t talk to me.”
He laughed.
“I’m sorry,” I said with increasing sarcasm. “Was I making a joke?”
“Oh, come on, Jane,” he answered still with a smile in his voice. “You’re the one who was mad when I said we shouldn’t talk, that it was better that you avoid me.”
“No, Aidan. I’m irritated by your inconsistency. If you want me to ignore you then for the love of god—let me!”
“I don’t want that. You just should. I told you I’m not a very good friend. I wouldn�
��t want to let you down.”
“You’re stranger than me, Aidan.”
“Maybe.” He laughed that happy laugh I remembered. “I wanted to know if you would like to go somewhere with me after school today. There’s something I want to show you.”
Again came that horribly annoying urge. I couldn’t say no. This time, I gave up the fight and didn’t try.
“Okay.” My voice was emotionless.
“Okay,” he echoed, sounding extremely happy. “If you’re worried about being let down, I’m warning you now.”
“I expect it from everybody.”
He nodded
I instantly regretted my decision when the last bell rang. I raced to the parking lot as fast as I could.
“Hey.”
I turned around. “Oh…hi.”
Did he just appear out of thin air again?
“You didn’t wait for me outside your class,” he said. “Did you forget?”
“No. Just wanted to get out of the rain.”
He seemed to believe me, but with him, I could never be sure. He had just appeared again out of nowhere. There were a lot of things I could never be sure about. How did he do that? I decided to actually see if I could get an answer out of him.
“Where did you even come from?” I asked.
“What?” He laughed.
“I mean…you just…appeared just now.”
He shook his head. “Really, Jane? Rudy is definitely seeding some crazy ideas in your head. I walked, okay? Same as you.”
“Mm hmm.”
“So are you going to make me give you directions again?”
I shook my head. “I can let you drive. If it’s far away. But what about your car?”
“I’ll come back for it,” he answered, smiling. “You seem highly distracted, Jane. Is everything—”
“Fine,” I retorted before he finished his sentence, which was a dead giveaway that I was not fine. I was terribly nervous. What if he had some plan to lead me to a secluded place and perform some kind of “hunter” ritual on me or drink my blood? Was I simply being ridiculous? I was letting him drive me to some unknown place. He hadn’t even mentioned where it was, and I was letting him because I was in no mood to fight him over it. Besides, his voice made me nervous, so his giving me directions wouldn’t have done much good. I wouldn’t have been able to listen. I got out and walked around to the passenger’s side door. When I got in, he already had the key in the ignition. He turned and smiled at me as if he were enjoying some sort of private joke. Oh God, I thought. He’s going to do something. He’s going to kill me!
I couldn’t decide why I was suddenly having these thoughts, why I suddenly didn’t trust him at all. I sat silently, trying not to think about my worries. But I couldn’t refrain from asking him one thing.
“Aidan?” He turned to look at me. “The roses…”
He chuckled. “Yes, I’m sorry about that. I couldn’t resist.”
“Yeah, so I read.”
He chuckled again. “Did you like them?”
I had to think about it for a moment. “I did. But…how did you know? That I crashed.”
“Rudy, of course.”
“What—no. Rudy said he didn’t tell anyone.”
He sighed. “Okay. You caught me.”
“Aidan…you didn’t…”
No response.
“Did you…follow me?” I instantly felt enraged.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I have this incredibly annoying urge to protect you. I only followed you to make sure you were all right. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to save you from the crash.”
I couldn’t speak.
“I really am sorry. Nothing creepy, Jane. It isn’t like I stared through your windows or watched you sleep. I only followed a bit behind while you and Becky were driving. That’s all.”
It took me a moment to reply. “Really?”
“Yes. I swear.”
I sighed. “I don’t know why it’s so impossible to stay mad at you.”
He smiled. “One of my gifts.”
I stayed silent again after that, waiting for him to speak. He drove past my street onto a road lined with trees on both sides.
“Heading to the other side of the woods,” he said. “I want to show you where I was walking. There’s something I want you to see.”
I nodded. He pulled over to the side of the road and rushed to open my door for me as if I was waiting for him to. He offered me his hand; it looked very warm and welcoming. I hesitantly took it and was confused at how it didn’t feel warm or welcoming at all. It felt cold and timid. I removed my hand from his cold fingers and rubbed my knuckles across my jeans as if that could remove the sensation. He stood there just staring at me with those radiant eyes of his, smiling. I wanted to say something, just to break the uncomfortable silence, but I had nothing to say. I wanted to hear his voice again. When he didn’t speak, I tuned in to the sounds of the birds and the wind, the rustling of leaves and tiny animals.
“Come,” he finally said.
It was amazing how his voice hadn’t sliced through the other sounds, shattering the serenity I had opened up to. It sounded like part of the woods, like it belonged. It was perfect.
He walked slowly into the trees and signaled me to follow. He was so light when he walked. My boots sloshed loudly in the mud, while he made almost no sound at all. He pulled back some branches and moved a little farther into the deeper parts of the woods. Maybe this was his plan. Maybe this was a way for him to keep me from escaping if I didn’t know my way back, and yet…I followed, wanting to trust him.
The trees were mostly bare, but some of them still burned with the colors of fall. I couldn’t focus much on the beauty around me when the beauty in front of me had shown interest in me. Again he pulled back a few branches and revealed a circle of completely clear land.
“Most people don’t just walk into the middle of the woods,” he started, his voice still adding to the music of the woods like another part of the choir. “The trail leads around this. Most people follow it, Jane.” He smiled at me and raised his eyebrows.
My body became chilled. My God, he was adorable! I still couldn’t speak. I couldn’t find any words. In the center of the clearing, there was a boulder surrounded by a circle of smaller stones. It looked like some…Aztec place of ritual.
“What is this?” I asked.
“It’s an old place of sacrifice.”
“What?” I whispered. “Sacrifice?”
He nodded. “There are stories of a tribe, some say a coven or cult, who would bring certain people here and open their throats. They would drink their blood then throw their bodies to the wolves.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. He sounded distressed. “It’s what they do. They hunt people.”
He must have been talking about the hunters. Oh God. I was right the entire time. I noticed then that the larger rock was stained strange shades of brown—blood stains. I never should have trusted him.
“Jane?”
I realized I was trembling, and my teeth were chattering.
“Are you okay?” He actually sounded sincerely concerned. “Do you want my jacket?”
“No, Aidan.” I wasn’t cold. “No, I’m okay.”
He nodded. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and patted my arm.
“Thanks,” I said.
“For?”
“Not asking me if I was sure.”
He smiled.
“Why did you take me here?” I asked.
“I guess to show you where Rudy gets his superstitions. Some things about his stories may hold truth, and I am simply warning you to stay out of the woods—especially at night.”
“You said they drink people’s blood.”
“Yes.”
“And Rudy mentioned acute night vision and strange abilities.”
“Yes.”
I almost laughed. “You people are talking about vampires!”
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He chuckled, almost silently. “I’m sure some people might call them that, but since vampires are mythical creatures, we stick to ‘hunters.’”
My God. This entire town was mad. Rudy wasn’t the only one.
“You believe in them?”
“Like I told you,” he answered, “to an extent. This wouldn’t be here for no reason. It’s just an interesting thing to see and hopefully a good reason to stay out of the woods.”
“If you knew, Aidan,” I started, “if you knew that the woods were so dangerous especially at night, why were you there that night? When you rescued me?”
He smiled. “Most people, like I said, follow the trail, which isn’t that far into the woods. First of all…I’m not like most people, and second, I told you about my ability to sense danger.”
“I wasn’t sure I believed you,” I confessed.
“Do you now?”
I nodded. “I think so.”
“Anything else?”
I glared at him but answered, “Actually, yes. You mentioned wolves.”
“Yes?”
“Why didn’t I see them that night? Why didn’t they bother us?”
“It wasn’t really late yet. Wolves usually become active deep into the morning. It was just after sunset when I found you.”
I nodded. I was definitely being ridiculous.
“So, have you yelled at Rudy yet?” he asked. “I’m guessing you wanted to.”
I growled deep in my throat. “I’m not ready yet. I had to ignore it when we got me and Becky from California. But trust me. I will definitely yell at him!”
He chuckled dryly as if he was completely un-amused. “He was only trying to help. You really shouldn’t be too hard on him. He came into your house looking for you because he thought I was with you. He feels like he needs to knock some sense into you. I came in thinking he was a burglar, and that’s when he attacked me.”
“You’re not angry?”
“Not really. He’s a decent guy. He cares about you. That’s all.”
“Yup,” I muttered. “Stranger than me.”
He smiled again—flawlessly.
“Well, thanks for showing me this,” I said. “It’s interesting, and I will stay out of the woods.”
Summers' Deceit (Hunters Trilogy Book 1) Page 9
