Midnight Rose

by Dani Hart

  Accepting defeat, I pulled out of the lot and headed down the road to my house. As if the night wasn’t creepy enough with the low-lying fog rolling in, each streetlamp burnt out as I passed it, leaving a trail of darkness behind me. Chills shook my body, my instincts telling me to get home faster, so I hit the gas when suddenly a deer ran out into the road in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, the sound of rubber to pavement vibrating in my ears, my heart thumping erratically. The back end of my Jeep fishtailed to the left and right several times, the deer frozen in the middle of the street, its eyes piercing mine, begging for mercy. Narrowly missing the deer, my Jeep skidded off the road down a small incline, bouncing over rocks and pushing through bushes. It came to a stop just before hitting a tree head-on.

  My headlights shone on the tree trunk, transporting me into a haunting memory.

  “I don’t want to drive,” I begged, tears falling from my terrified eyes.

  Wes screamed in pain, crumpled over in the passenger seat of Ben’s car. “You have to,” he screamed.

  Trembles took over my hands, and panic constricted oxygen to my lungs.

  The car was idling in the parking lot at Sandpoint City Beach. My knuckles were white under the incredible grip I had on the steering wheel.

  “Drive!” he shouted.

  I jumped at the ferocity, throwing the car in reverse and slamming on the gas. The tires spun on the graveled ground, then caught quickly, forcing our bodies forward as the car flew back violently. I was barely fifteen and had never driven a car before.

  I slammed on the brakes, threw it in drive, and peeled out of the lot. Wes didn’t look good. His face was wet with sweat, and he was grumbling hoarsely.

  “Where am I going?” My eyes fixated on the road, squinting through the dense fog.

  “Take me home.” His voice was raspy and exhausted from the pain.

  “Wes, what’s happening to you? What’s wrong?” I was terrified, and the tears flooding my eyes were blurring my vision further.

  “I don’t know.” His voice was barely audible and just as frightened as mine.

  And then his head turned to me. His bright, beautiful eyes of an hour ago were replaced with black blankness that startled me. I jerked the steering wheel to the left too hard, and the car plummeted down a cliff, the headlights bouncing from the ground to the forest ahead. Screams filled the space around us. My screams were quickly replaced by the crunching of metal on metal, folding onto itself. My head jerked to the left, hitting hard on the doorframe and then launching forward onto the airbag. Nausea washed over me, and a haze filled my pounding head. It took me a moment to remember where I was.

  “Wes?” I mumbled painfully.

  He didn’t answer. Adrenaline gave me the strength to turn my neck, shooting pain traveling through my spine. Something wet dripped over my eyes, blurring my vision. Blinking several times, I was able to discern that Wes wasn’t in the passenger seat. Dread built, increasing my strength to sit up and survey the car. The windshield was cracked but not shattered, so he didn’t fly through it. I looked back to the empty seat and noticed the car door was cracked open.

  As wave after wave of pain hit me, I moved slowly to unbuckle my seat belt, driven to search for Wes. He was in pain before the crash and had to be hurting badly. I was weak and rested my head back on the headrest for a moment and closed my eyes. The thudding of my brain on my scalp intensified, but I needed to find Wes. Forcing my eyes open, I turned my head to my window. My heart stopped as Wes’ pair of obsidian eyes bore deeply into mine. I was petrified to breathe, to move, to speak. They held my gaze for so long I thought I might pass out from the pain. Then they blinked, freeing me from an unexplainable grip.

  When the horrific memory faded, I realized I was still in my Jeep, the headlights still illuminating the tree trunk. I patted down my body, looking for injuries, still half trapped in the nightmare of my past. Mild convulsions pulsed through my muscles, and my heart thumped quickly against my chest. Everything was intact except for my sanity. The car looked to be untouched, but I needed to make sure. My parents would never let me drive again if they found I had been in another accident.

  You’re our baby, Abigail.

  I fumbled with the seat buckle as my hands still shook uncontrollably and grabbed the door handle, about to open it when a shadow passed through the headlights. My breath caught in my throat. I wasn’t alone.

  I’m not the one you need to be afraid of.

  I struggled with the door locks, only to find they were already engaged. I needed to get out of here. The engine was still running, so I threw it in reverse, the tires doing nothing to move the car but spin in the mud.

  “Come on, come on, come on,” I chanted desperately as I revved the engine to no avail.

  Not that you’ll be off-roading any time soon.

  I was never so glad that I had a car with 4WD. I reached down and slid the lever to 4WD Lo, the transmission into reverse, and slowly pressed the gas. I had only practiced it a few times with my mom, since my dad refused not wanting me to be tempted to hit the trails.

  “I can do this.” The car started to climb the hill. A smile of success praised me, but another shadow racing behind my car pumped the urgency up a notch. I pushed on the gas harder and my Jeep responded, climbing up a little faster and finding the street. I slammed on the brakes, fumbling to get it out of 4WD, but my hands were so shaky it was slowing me down. When I looked up, Wes was standing in front of the car, the headlights giving him the appearance of a glowing angel.

  “Wes!” I screamed reflexively.

  He disappeared into the forest.

  I headed straight to his house, but I lost all courage when I pulled alongside his driveway. The house was on the outskirts of town, in a custom neighborhood. Their house was situated at the end with the forest behind it. The houses in this neighborhood were grand and all very unique, matching their owners’ personalities. Wes’ house was a traditional cottage with dark gray stone and a bright red door. I had seen one similar in my history book. It was reminiscent of cottages in Ireland. Of course, those were smaller. Their house was by no means small. The Hunters lived on dozens of acres to which Wes and I had happily explored and got lost in more than our fair share.

  “Marco!” Wes yelled, his voice bouncing off the trees.

  Giggling, I stayed hidden in the trunk of a hollowed-out oak. It was a tight fit for my ten-year-old body.

  I leaned far out of the tree. “Polo!” I shouted, hoping the breeze would carry my words far away. It was the summer before sixth grade, and we played tirelessly in these woods.

  I tucked my head back in quickly, covering my mouth to keep any hysterical sounds from escaping.

  Wes’ head popped in less than a minute later, responding with, “Marco,” and smiling wide with wild eyes.

  “No fair. How do you do that? This was my best hiding spot yet.” I pushed myself out of the tree.

  “I guess you’ll have to find better ones,” he taunted as he strolled away.

  Our explorations increased in intensity as we matured, giving up silly games for deep conversations about life and death, the stars and planets, love and hate. Those were the days I cherished the most: vulnerable and innocent together, trying to unravel the secrets of our existence. Now I was a stranger in his world, sitting outside of his house like an obsessed ex-girlfriend.

  A tap on my window startled me once again. Wes was standing outside with a boyish grin on his face.

  “Are you just going to sit there all night? Pretty stalkerish of you.” His eyebrows lifted teasingly.

  I considered for a moment to just drive away, but we both knew I wouldn’t. I was hooked. I was obsessed.

  I grabbed my jacket from the back seat and swung open the door. After a closer look at Wes, I noticed he was unsteady on his feet, but still presenting pure perfection in his fitted dark denims and black pullover sweater.

  “What was that in the forest? You scared the daylights out of me.”<
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  He swayed back and forth.

  “Are you drunk?” Unbelieving because Wes would never drink. I slipped my arms into my jacket.

  “No.” He scoffed at the accusation. “Let me take you somewhere.” He held out his hand for me.

  He had piqued my interest. “Where?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. Mischief was his middle name after all.

  “Don’t you trust me?”

  “You ask me a lot of difficult questions,” I replied, still unmoving.

  “How is that difficult? You trusted me once upon a time.” He shook his extended hand, encouraging me to trust him.

  “Once upon a time, you didn’t avoid me. Once upon a time, you didn’t jump in my car and say strange things to me. Once upon a time, you didn’t scare the hell out of me.”

  Instantly, I wanted to take it all back after watching his smile fade. I had hurt him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I know I have a lot of explaining to do, and I want to, but you have to come with me. You have to trust in what we had before.”

  My heart melted. I did trust in us. No matter how many miles apart, oceans between, or years lost, I would always trust him…with my life. The bond we shared was planted beyond logical reasoning. We felt each other. We saw each other. We didn’t need words to tell us we were meant to be together. There was never a choice. He would always be my answer.

  I placed my hand in his. “Where to?”

  WES GENTLY PULLED me beside him, squeezing my hand softly, the warmth welcomed and long missed. We walked through the many acres of his property, winding around trees and crossing over small creeks. Sometimes the creeks were too wide, so Wes would wrap his hands around my waist and lift me over, sparking tingly sensations on my bare skin. We explored for a while, silently, letting the energy swirl around us wildly, reconnecting us without words. Every so often our hands would fall away and then intertwine again, magnetically drawn to each other. When our eyes would meet, my heart would flutter.

  We made it to a familiar creek bed where we had spent hours skipping rocks and dipping our feet into the water. This was where our deepest of conversations took place.

  Wes kicked off his shoes and peeled off his socks, dipping his feet into the crisp water. “It’s not that cold,” he promised, reading the trepidation in my eyes.

  I sat next to him, making my feet bare. I tested the water with the tip of my toe, recoiling quickly. “It’s freezing! How are you even able to sit there like that?” I screeched.

  His laugh was infectious, luring me into joining him. “Come on.” The glimmer in his eyes begged for me to play along.

  “Fine, but if I lose a toe or two, it’s your fault.” I dipped my feet in, the frosty chill cramping my toes, but after several brave moments and deep breaths, my feet warmed to the water. He was holding back laughter while my face contorted painfully during the process. “You’re mean, you know?” I hit him playfully on the arm.

  “I know.” His words were somber as he dipped his head, busily looking for a pebble in the dirt.

  I was well aware he wasn’t talking about the frosty water. “What happened, Wes? Why did you leave?” Me. My heart ached remembering the loss I felt without him.

  “It’s complicated.” He threw the pebble into the creek.

  “I assumed, but you promised me answers.” I couldn’t take my eyes off him. His profile was captivating with the moon glowing aside him.

  He threw another pebble, this time skipping it across the creek, finally sinking after five leaps. His tortured expression told me this wasn’t an easy conversation for him, and that worried me. Maybe I was looking at this all wrong. Maybe he found someone and he was in love with her and he was just waiting for the right time to confess. My body tensed and my mouth dried up as I braced for the blow.

  “I’m…I’m not normal, Abby. I’ve changed.” He took his eyes off the creek and met mine. He looked terrified, and that made my stomach knot even tighter.

  “As opposed to abnormal?”

  He turned away and searched for another stone, tossing it as far as he could. It made it out of sight down the creek. His forehead creased as he struggled for words. He sighed loudly. “I’m not right for you.”

  He was breaking my heart all over again, if it had ever mended at all. I ran my fingers over the ground, brushing through the sand, back and forth, trying to keep myself together. “Please, don’t say that,” I whispered, my words broken as I choked back despair. Being without him when he was miles and miles away was hard, but being in the same town without him was inconceivable.

  He picked up another stone and held it out for me. I scooped it out of his hand, sparks flying as our skin touched.

  “Ouch.” I yanked my hand back.

  “Static electricity.” His eyes peeked out from under the lock of auburn hair that had fallen.

  I shook out my hand and rubbed it lightly. “That was some static. It felt like I got electrocuted.” The mood lightened slightly, but the intensity between us remained. There was another long pause. “I…I don’t know what to say, Wes.” I made circle designs in the dirt and listened to the water trickling over the rocks in the creek bed.

  “I bet you have a lot of questions.” His eyes branded me. “Start with an easy one. Or I’ll start. How about that?” His sideways smile sent butterflies in a flurry to the pit of my stomach.

  “Sure.” I nodded.

  He looked back at the creek, his beauty radiant.

  “Did you get hurt?” he asked.

  My chest tightened. I wanted to say, “Of course, I got hurt. You decimated me.” But I didn’t.

  “In the accident just now. Did you get hurt?” Concern was evident in his slumped shoulders and sad eyes.

  “No.” I shook my head. “Scared mostly.”

  “Good.” He released a reassuring breath, looking back at the creek.

  I sucked in a nervous breath. “Wes?”

  He turned to me again, his hold on me penetrating every cell in my body.

  “How were you there tonight?” I swallowed hard, anticipating an unexplainable response.

  “I was walking to the bistro to meet my dad, and I saw you lose control. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  His answer was so normal.

  “So, it was a coincidence?”

  “Yes.”

  There was a part of me that wanted to believe him, but another part of me knew there was more to it. Why would he be in the woods, and why would he be walking when he had a car? A very expensive one.

  “Then why did you run away?”

  “I was afraid. I didn’t know what I would say to you.”

  He took another pebble and tossed it, this time leaping only once before it sank. The fog was getting thicker, and the chill was settling into my bones and rubbing my arms didn’t seem to be working.

  “You’re cold.” He pulled his black sweater over his head, his undershirt catching and revealing how much he had matured physically these last two years. It also revealed a large scar across his left side just above his hipbone. He handed me the sweater while he fixed his shirt. I turned away quickly, embarrassed, and peeled off my jacket, throwing his sweater on and then putting my jacket back on. His lemongrass scent overwhelmed me.

  “Thank you,” I whispered shyly.

  He leaned over and untucked my hair that had caught underneath my clothes, his fingers grazing my neck, sending dizzying sensations down my back.

  “This is nice.” His lips curled up slightly, and his eyes begged for another chance.

  Opening up to him was harder than I thought it would be. I had gone over this moment so many times and had already failed once when he was at my house. If I didn’t get out what I needed to, it would drive me insane.

  “You look troubled.” His finger glided down my cheekbone and slid under my chin, momentarily pausing two years of questions while I succumbed to his enchantment. I lifted my eyes to his and gathered all the courage I could.

&nbs
p; “I missed you,” I whispered, barely audible from my quivering lips. A single drop of heartbreak fell from my lashes, landing on his finger.

  He moved in, slowly resting his forehead on mine. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, too, his pain matching mine. “I’m never going to leave you again.”

  I inhaled his words, taking them deep inside my soul. “I believe you,” I responded, placing my hand on his cheek, our carefully intertwined lives transferring between us: the innocence of friendship, the pain of the accident, the heartbreak that followed after, and love reuniting.

  “There are so many things I want to tell you and show you. I want to make you understand that I didn’t leave because I didn’t love you. I left because I do love you.”

  His eyes raised and his hand slid off my chin back up to my cheek. His lips were close to mine, grazing lightly across and back, my heart fluttering and my skin tingling. This was the moment I had dreamt about time and time again, never believing it would come true.

  “Why me?” I asked breathlessly.

  “Because you’re extraordinary.”

  His fingers wrapped around the back of my neck, holding tightly, as he breathed in deeply, my breathing matching his.

  In and out. In and out.

  We were floating in a momentary time of unadulterated bliss. The moment just before the first kiss. The kiss that would never be forgotten.

  “I want to kiss you, Abigail Rose. I live in torture every moment that passes that I don’t.”

  “Then why don’t you?” Our voices remained quiet, as if we disturbed anything around us it would break the pull between us.

  His eyes burned with a primal desire. A desire for me. “Because I can’t. I’m sorry.” He slid his hand from my neck, leaving me with a tormented apology.

  It was apparent he wanted this as much as me. I just didn’t know what was keeping him from it. His body shifted away from me and back to the creek. The moment lost.