The Lost Relics Box Set

by LJ Andrews

  Killian anxiously joined the crew outside the van. His head reeled with curiosity—he wondered if he might be losing his mind. The anxiety he felt about spotting the woman was soon buried under a slew of harsh words from Brooks.

  "Alright, we are starting here by the athletic field. We will also cover the campus center and fitness building. There will be no interacting with students or staff. Fall semester is about to begin and I will not have us falling behind the schedule I set for the college, is that understood? I don't expect any of you nobodies to get it, but if any of the rules are broken, you'll be back in front of the judge with another year on your sentence."

  Most of the young men gave a mumbled acknowledgment that they understood; Nicco had already turned his attention to a group of girls lying on the grass by the field, laughing over open text books and Diet Cokes.

  "Well, el idiotas have a great day, I'm heading to the field," he said licking his lips and lopping toward the girls after they’d had their cuffs removed and guard assigned. Killian thought he was disgusting, but reluctantly followed him to begin work as quickly as he could.

  "Thomas! Where do you think you're going?"

  Killian turned around slowly to face the cantankerous man." Sir, I thought we were just told to begin at the athletic field."

  "Thomas, I don’t know how you are going to make it without this place. You have as much brains as the roach I stepped on this morning," Brooks said, pleased at his own beastliness. Killian did not have the patience for this today.

  "Sir, with all due respect I can go faster if you would just tell me where you want me to go."

  Brooks grabbed Killian by the cuff of his shirt and pinned him against the van. Killian was nearly the same height as the man, and his toned biceps tensed in defense. Though it was probable he would be able to physically defend himself against Brooks, confrontation only brought trouble. He listened as the guard shouted a slew of obscenities describing how worthless Killian would be to society before finally shoving him hard toward the campus center with hedging duty.

  Killian gave Brooks a menacing scowl, and bit out the words, “Yes, sir,” to his back as he watched the large man stomp toward the athletic field. He never would admit it out loud, but after a year of hearing such degrading words it was hard not to believe them. He reached down, grabbed the hedge shears, a required walkie-talkie, a water bottle, and grumbled toward the campus center. He sighed in relief at the meager crowds of students. It was still summer semester and the campus was lacking its usual crowds.

  On campus students and staff often provided a variety of expressions toward him. Some had looks of pity—some looks of wonder; he was sure they were trying to figure out what he had done to earn him a spot on the crew. But most looks—most were looks of disgust. Many students, who were in fact his peers, looked at him like he was a waste of time and space as he worked day after day beautifying their campus.

  Scowling at the bitter thoughts he followed the cement walkway connected to a large circle in the center of the campus. Walkways extended from the circle like a star, leading students down different paths to the buildings. The center was lined with benches and picnic tables where students could enjoy the sun between classes or catch up on some studying outdoors before the weather turned them into cold-avoiding recluses.

  As Killian moved off to the side he scanned the circle of hedges that decorated the area. Groaning, he estimated the amount of work the shapeless, overgrown shrubs would require. He glanced back at the single guard who'd accompanied him as he disappeared behind the hedges. Thankfully it was Warner. Killian remembered Warner as the bailiff present at the hearing. Warner had transferred to the work crew when Killian’s turn was up. Only days into the work crew Warner had admitted to Killian he’d found it unfair to be given such a harsh sentence with no prior convictions. He allowed Killian to do his work peacefully and since Killian never caused any trouble he often took time to listen to his strange science-fiction books he stored on his phone.

  Bending down, Killian placed the water and walkie-talkie behind the first section of hedges. As he came around to the front, his shoulder bumped up against another, causing him to stumble.

  "Oh, I'm sorry," a female voice said. Killian looked up and met a pair of emerald eyes. A girl with beautiful bronze skin was bending down to pick up the notebook she had dropped in the collision. He bent down and grabbed the notebook first and handed it to her. Long chestnut waves from her ponytail brushed against his face. Despite being pulled up, her hair still reached to the center of her back.

  "Thanks, again sorry for running into you. Hey, don't I know you?" She smiled up at him.

  "Uh, no I don't think so," Killian said. Suddenly, a memory filled his mind. The bright smile and gorgeous eyes brought him back to the roaring bonfire, and the drunk boy planting sloppy kisses all over her neck. Killian met her brilliant green eyes and shook his head again. “Sorry, I really don’t think we’ve met.”

  "I could’ve sworn we’d met before and I usually have a good memory—wait." Her eyes widened and twinkled delightfully. "Killian…from the beach.” She laughed remembering their short intrigue months ago.

  "Oh, right. Now I remember." He tried to turn away, but she adjusted her position to stand in front of him.

  "So how have you been?" she continued. Her face fell when she finally focused on the words lettering his vest.

  Killian pursed his lips and turned toward the hedge. Inside he wanted to disappear in a hole and never lay eyes on her perfect face again. “It’s been an interesting year.” His voice was gruff and uninviting. He didn’t want to talk anymore, he didn’t want her pity looks, or worse—disgust.

  Killian scowled at the hedge as an image of how life might have been spanned his mind. She seemed to take notice of his cold body language and clutched her books tighter against her chest. Her voice was flat when she spoke again. "Oh. Well, I'm going to go study. It's good to see you again."

  Killian gave a sad smile toward her back as she walked away. She didn’t leave the circle, instead she found a place at the small picnic table, and she turned and gave him a quick glance before immersing herself in an exceptionally thick book. Killian cleared his throat, and walked back toward the hedge.

  After an hour, he'd hedged the first ten feet of greenery. Stepping back, he critiqued his work making sure they were perfectly even. He bent down and grabbed a water bottle from his bag and wiped the dripping sweat from his forehead. In the heat he was grateful Brooks demanded short military haircuts on the crew. If he still sported his thick, longer style he'd had at the Petersons, it would be miserable.

  Drinking half the bottle in one sitting he decided it was safe to move on to the next set of shrubs. Before moving to the plants, he peeked up at the emerald-eyed girl, who studiously remained at the table. To his surprise she glanced up from her textbook at the same moment. Killian's stomach doubled up again and he quickly turned back to the plants.

  After several moments a tall, dark haired, pale man walked up to her table. Killian snorted in disgust. Kevin. The creep from the beach was still hanging around. Pretending to be focused on the hedges he found himself straining to hear the conversation between the two.

  After catching bits and pieces, the dialogue made his blood rise to his head as memories flooded back from only a year earlier. Killian choked as a familiar feeling weighed down in his chest, he had the strongest desire to protect the girl. Quickly he dissolved the feeling—those types of thoughts led to trouble.

  "Come on Dez don't make me force you. You'll have a blast tonight, just say yes." Kevin said as he twisted a piece of her hair around his finger.

  "For the last time Kevin, we're done and I don't want to go!" she said firmly, looking right into his face. She began to pile her books into her bag. Kevin suddenly grabbed firm to her wrist, forcing her to stop what she was doing.

  "Don't do that—let me go!" She shouted at him, trying to tug her arm away. Killian dropped his shears and had alrea
dy started to make his way toward them on the opposite side of the circle.

  "Listen, if I ask you to go with me to a party, I expect you to go," Kevin hissed, pulling her arm so their faces were inches apart. The girl pushed against him, trying to free herself. The struggle was useless; he was quickly overpowering her.

  "You're hurting my arm," she snarled. "Let go now!"

  "Not until you—"

  "HEY!" Killian shouted, interrupting Kevin. He couldn't stop himself, the girl was in trouble. He inwardly vowed he wouldn't let the confrontation go as far as he had with Richard. "Let her go."

  Kevin straightened up, releasing his grip on the girl. Killian noticed she moved a few feet away, but still close by. Kevin scoffed at Killian and folded his arms across his chest.

  "Huh—I don't know if you're in a place to be talking to me," he laughed, pointing to Killian's jeans plastered in the same label as his shirt. "Why don't you just get back to your yard work, or I might have to let someone know a criminal is harassing this young lady."

  Killian glared at him, but he had stopped a few feet away from the man. The billowing weight that frothed against his heart, had built up again; yet his own self-doubt shadowed the strength of the protective instinct. He'd learned even the innocent can be punished for good deeds. Killian felt a flicker of fear at his threat, if he was involved in any form of violence he could easily add another six months to his sentence. The image of walking out the prison doors, free, kept him still. It was so close to being his reality. Killian’s muscles relaxed and his shoulders slumped in defeat.

  Kevin laughed and made his way over to the girl, wrapping his hand around her arm. He gripped her tight as she struggled against him. His other tentacle-like arm wrapped around her shoulders, pressing her close into his body.

  "That's right scum bag, just walk away—she'll be taken care of I promise," he said as he tilted his head giving the girl an unwelcome kiss on her brow. She swung a wild hand, but missed his face and twisted in his grip. Kevin laughed wickedly as if he enjoyed her struggle.

  The anger inside Killian boiled over, passed the point of him caring about another six months. He felt a strange prickle of pain shoot up his back, all the way to his head. Slimy, sick desire filled his heart as if he could hear every shameful thought in Kevin’s mind. Kevin flashed him a confused look as if he saw something unusual. Taking advantage of his brief loss of focus Killian’s fist connected with his smirking jaw, causing him to release his grip on the girl. Before Kevin had time to recover, Killian dropped his shoulder, thrust it into his stomach tackling him to the ground.

  A loud smack filled the circle as Kevin's head connected with the concrete. Kevin let out a loud groan and, Killian, straddled him and gave him one last solid punch in the nose before standing up.

  "Be careful who you call a scum bag," he snarled. Kevin quickly scrambled to his feet holding his bleeding nose.

  “What kind of freak are you?” He cried out and ran away from Killian, shooting him an angry glance before disappearing beyond the hedges. Killian rushed to the tall hedge and peered over. Breathing a sigh of relief that Warren was too lost in his latest Mars adventure series he hadn’t even noticed the commotion.

  His heart raced and his toned shoulders heaved from the exertion. The strange sensation he’d felt, and the look Kevin had given him unsettled him. He hadn't protected the girl, he'd only attacked Kevin because of his own swirling anger he'd allowed to overpower him. Pushing the anxiety aside he knew he went to check on the girl.

  She was standing a few feet away from him with her hands over her mouth and her books scattered on the ground. Slowly, he made his way over to her. When he got closer he could see she had tears glistening in her eyes. She stiffened, but didn't back away from him when he came up to her. He bent down and picked up the same notebook he had earlier as well as a thick Biology textbook that had fallen.

  "Sorry about that. It’s Dez, right?" he asked holding the books out to her. She lowered her hands and accepted the books, but said nothing. Killian gave an awkward smile, his eyes glancing around as he slowly backed away from her. "Alright, well...glad you're okay. I was just trying to help."

  “Wait...” He heard the girl behind him, his stomach clenched as he met her eyes, she stared at him for a few moments before continuing. “Thank you.” She said quickly, dropping her eyes to the ground. He gave her a shy smile and moved closer to her.

  “It’s no problem,” he said, teasing he continued, “but you should stay away from jerks like that.”

  “Tell me about it,” she said, her shoulders relaxed as a smile spread across her face. “and it’s Mercedes. Kevin calls me Dez and I hate it.” Shifting the books to one hand, she stuck out the other toward Killian. Taking it, his stomach twisted even more.

  "It's good to finally learn your name, it's been what a year now?" he tried to make light of the situation, but he kept feeling like he was going to double over from stomach pains. Mercedes smiled at him, and slowly let go of his hand.

  "I really appreciate what you did," she said again. "Kevin isn't a nice guy, I'm sure you noticed. I finally had enough and decided to end it about a month ago. I guess he hasn't gotten the hint yet."

  Killian knew from her description exactly what kind of man Kevin was. He just nodded his understanding. She headed back over to the table, giving him a small wave before turning her focus back down to her books. Killian smiled, picked up his shears, and began working on the rest of the hedges.

  After about two hours, Warren had checked in once, but seeing Killian diligently hedging and receiving a little smile from Mercedes, he resumed reading his tablet. Killian put down the shears, satisfied with how the hedges looked. He grabbed his water bottle again and shifted his gaze to the table. Smiling he saw that Mercedes was still there. Over the course of the last couple hours, she had left the table and come back multiple times. This time munching on a bag of chips.

  Killian smiled. He had never been a college student, but he was sure they didn't need to sit and study the same few pages for that long. Mercedes seemed to keep scanning and re-reading the same few paragraphs. She met his gaze and returned the smile.

  Finally she closed her book and placed it in her shoulder bag. Killian felt like his stomach was doing summersaults when he realized Mercedes was making her way toward him. He could have sworn he saw her cheeks flush as her focus drifted to the ground then back to his ocean blue eyes. His palms were sweaty as he watched her.

  Killian broke eye contact from her emerald eyes. A strange rustling was coming from the neatly trimmed hedges. The hair on his arms stood up.

  “Do you hear that?” he whispered. Her brow furrowed as she searched for what he’d been hearing. “Maybe it’s Kevin, he’s going to get me locked up longer.” His neck was tight with stress as he cracked the joints wondering how he could get out of another court hearing.

  Suddenly his heart beat even faster when he heard a low rumbling growl somewhere in the plants; all around the campus the bustle from students making their way to classes appeared in one moment to come to a deadly silence.

  Mercedes stopped where she was. Turning her head, she glanced at the bushes behind her. Goosebumps prickled her skin, and she quickly rushed to his side.

  "What was that?" she whispered, whisking her head to both sides, listening to the deep growl.

  "I don't know," he responded, instinctively placing himself in front of her. Something was behind those hedges, something that was now encircling them. The growls rippled behind the circular hedge, coming from every direction.

  Killian slowly inched with Mercedes over to his water bottle where the walkie-talkie rested. He bent down grappling for his shears, and reached for the walkie-talkie. Nervously flipping the switch on, he quickly whispered into the device.

  "This is Killian, something is happening over by the campus center—someone get over here quick, it sounds like...like an animal or something." He released the button and listened to the static waiting
for a response, mentally cursing Warren's earplugs and novels.

  Suddenly the hedges snapped apart, drowning out Brooks' sudden slew of expletives on the walkie-talkie. An enormous, hideous beast entered the campus center, displaying wicked, jagged claws. A huge wolf-like animal stood before them, with yellow mucous filled saliva dripping from its black lips and its blood-red eyes focused on nothing else, but them.

  The animal had a bald scalp that was covered in deep scabbed gashes, one of the bloodied slits had a broken piece of metal protruding from the gaping wound. Its face was bald with tufts of hair trying to grow around its salivating lips. The rest of its enormous body was covered in brown, matted fur.

  Two bottom fangs curled over the top lip—those were not what worried Killian, it was the two upper fangs that hung well below the animal's square chin! The creature growled, hunching its shoulders and advancing. On the sides of the circle four more of the same frightening creatures with similar scabbed heads made their way toward them.

  Killian's heart beat faster as he clenched tight to his shears and watched the unearthly wolves while desperately searching for an escape route. Mercedes' breathing grew rapid next to him as she gripped onto his arm instinctively. His heart skipped a beat when his eyes picked out a small gap between the pack. It was their only chance —even if it was small.

  "Mercedes," Killian whispered, eyeing the small opening, "Mercedes, run...RUN!" He finally shouted pushing her ahead of him as fast as he could through the one opening in the monstrous pack.

  Chaos erupted to the side of them as the pack immediately sprang into action at their movement. Both darted quickly toward the unguarded hole; Killian shoved Mercedes through the hedge then quickly jumped over the bush. His left leg seared in pain as he fell to the ground; his bottom teeth cut through his lip as his face slammed into the cement walkway. Looking back all he saw was a scabbed, bald head of one of the beasts. It had dug its bottom two fangs deep into his muscle.

  Killian rolled over onto his back, feeling his skin and muscle tear against the vicious teeth. He frantically reached for the shears that had landed several feet from him. Blood pounded in his head, as he desperately tried to block out the pain from the vicious gnawing on his skin. In a desperate attempt, Killian kicked his free foot at the beast's nose. He felt the sick feeling of the bones crushing in its monstrous snout. The wolf growled viciously, and dug its fangs deeper into his muscles. The kick only infuriated the beast.