Shadow Heights

by E. N. Goeking

“What to now?” Eric asked.

  “To punk!” I said proudly.

  “Ah, man,” Chad complained which made Ryan burst into laughter.

  “That was a good one, Mina.” His cackle carried through his words. “I like this one Jay. She's a keeper.”

  Chad brought his arm back down, resting it on the counter, and tried to think of something better. “Fuck it. To punk.” We shared a laugh and then swallowed them down. Jaden positioned himself in front of me, and I eyed him suspiciously as he took the glass from my hand and set it on the counter.

  He moved the hair away from my shoulders and brought his face to my skin. I heard him inhale a deep breath through his nose.

  “You smell so good,” he said in my ear as he moved the rest of my hair away. “What is that? It's been harassing me all night.”

  I brought my hand to my neck and stroked my fingers from my cheek down to my neck while the memory of his touch still lingered. Jaden let out a rich laugh while I felt my body slide down the kitchen cabinets to the floor. I was starting to feel all of the alcohol in my system and I knew they were feeling it too. Their voices were getting louder, their bodies were getting rowdier, and their jokes grew more perverse as the hours passed into the night.

  I knew I shouldn't drink anymore and I had to get home. I wasn't comfortable driving in this town and the last thing I wanted was to get pulled over and gain a reputation with the Shadow Heights Police Department.

  “I’ll probably take off soon,” I said while we sat on the sofa together. His smile faded and the glimmer in his eyes fell away.

  “I know, it’s boring hanging out with these guys.”

  “No. I had a good time, really. I’ve just hit the point of no return. I am pretty gone and I still have to drive home.”

  “I can take you if you like,” he offered in high spirits.

  “I’ve driven in worse conditions than I’m in now and it’s not that far.”

  “Can I at least show you my room before you go?” He seemed anxious to do so and I agreed. Maybe it would tell me a little more about him, reveal himself to me without expressing it in words. Sometimes, seeing a person's room reveals a lot about their personality.

  “Yes.” I placed my hand in his and he led me up the stairs. I heard Ryan make ogling noises while witnessing us going up the stairs together. Jaden shot him a stare as if to say, “Shut the hell up,” and Ryan was quiet from that point on.

  When I entered his room, I immediately smelled him. The intoxication that was Jaden Laenzar. I finally narrowed it down to a mixture of clove, incense, tobacco, patchouli, and frankincense—all sweet and harsh in their own way.

  I looked around his room and saw that everything in it was completely organized. Nothing was out of place and everything was laid out symmetrically on the walls. The colors were centered on black and white, both bold in color. They were the ultimate opposites, the blending of all colors versus the absence of color. A great duality.

  There was a case with swords and guns on the far wall, which was a little frightening to see at first glance and I was hoping he hadn’t brought me up to show me the shiny weapons he could hurt me with. God, was I an idiot for coming up here with him? I mean really, what did I know about this guy. He had already tried to scare me, nearly killing us both on that cliff. I edged myself away from him, nearing myself closer to the door in case I needed to make an exit.

  There was one other thing I found odd about his room and in fact the whole house. He didn't have anything personal around the room, no pictures or personal trophies. No mementos of times past or snapshots in time of his life. In fact, all of the dressers and shelves were bare except for books. Was he determined to hide his life from the world?

  “It’s very neat,” I commented. I was struggling to find something positive to say.

  “Yeah, I’m kind of obsessive compulsive,” he admitted with shame but I didn't see anything wrong with that. Everybody has a tick of some sort.

  “That’s all right.” He signaled for me to come to him. He was digging through the top dresser drawer, being careful not to cause disarray of everything inside. He placed a large rolled joint into my hand.

  “Smoke it sometime and think of me.”

  “Thanks. I definitely will.” I held it up to my nose and inhaled. “Yummy.” He laughed.

  “Oh, before I forget—here.” He handed me a piece of paper that he had hidden in his pocket. I unfolded it and saw a phone number written in elegant print. “Please don’t lose that. I don't normally give my number to people but for you, I'll make an exception.”

  “Why are you so guarded around others?” I asked while slipping it into my pocket.

  “The people of this town have a general dislike for me.” He pulled his hair away from his eyes. “They fear me as if I'm the new plague and if anyone found this number, the harassment would never stop.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “You haven't lived here long enough to know the stories. I wouldn’t want to scare you away.” After seeing my inquisitive eyes, he lightly brushed away his remark with laughter. My hair began to stand on edge as I wondered what he could possibly mean.

  “So why is it that you don't have a girlfriend?” His right cheek raised in a smile.

  “I'm interested in something more authentic, you know. I need someone who can appreciate me for myself and not my title. Sure, the girls in this town like to give me attention but it's only because they're seduced by fear.”

  “Well, I don't see you that way.” He smiled and took my hand, bringing it to his lips. They felt graceful while he lightly traced his tongue across my skin.

  “That's because you do not know me yet.” I fantasized about his arms moving up and down my body, touching me in places that were yearning for his touch.

  “You're a rare person to come into my life Wilhelmina.” He held my hand in his, pleading with his eyes. “I'm quite taken with you.”

  “I like you too,” I said, looking away, slightly embarrassed that I couldn't find such elegant words as his. His warm hand brushed the side of my face while his fingers stroked the outer edge of my cheek. My breathing became shallower as his body leaned into me.

  My eyes moved down to his lips, admiring them for a moment and how supple they were, and back up to his eyes. I moved my face toward his, Jaden doing the same, and our lips touched for the first time. Liquid love poured out of him, shocking my lips and filling them with warmth. I could feel him all around me as I ventured into the private world that was in his heart.

  My lips slightly parted and I could taste him. A hormone frenzy ignited in my brain and my body soon became heated, exceedingly aroused in every crevice that could become aroused. An electric charge raced through my limbs causing my heart to pump faster to keep up with the blood flow and I was fearful my heart would rupture within me.

  He pulled away from me first, appearing as disturbed as I was by what was happening inside and he clutched his hand to his chest. Could he feel that too? We looked away from each other, amazed by the excitement filling our hearts that wasn’t there a minute ago. I had never felt such a flood of feeling. Every cell in my body was alive and craving another hit.

  “That was intense—,” I began but he was quick to interrupt me. His mouth came at me, attacking my lips with thrusting force and I kissed him back with just as much enthusiasm. Our lips parted further and our tongues were introduced. He tasted delectable, like a rich dessert to savor, and I moved my tongue around his to taste him stronger, store it in the clutches of my memory. I felt his hand wrap itself around my head as he pulled me closer.

  Our bodies collided with the wall and he held me tightly, pinning me against it. I could feel waves of heat radiating out of him like an open oven. As if sensing my disconnection, he slowed his intensity and then stopped, leaving me full of unleashed desire and panting breaths.

  “I'm sorry,” he gasped. He clenched his hands at his sides while he distanced himself from me, turning his
back toward me.

  “Don't be. I wanted it too.” He paced around the room, obviously tense about something but I had no clue what about. Before I could question him, he took my hand without uttering a word and escorted me outside to my car, leaving all questions I had unanswered.

  Chapter Ten

  After I got home that night, still delirious from his kisses, and saw that everyone was asleep under their cozy sheets, I decided to do the same. When my eyelids finally surrendered to the night, I slipped into a dream that was not so unlike the first.

  I appeared in an open clearing. The sky was dark and lacked the glisten from accompanying stars. I was walking in an open field, devoid of any civilization. I could sense I was in a different time. I could see a faint light in the distance and my body was being drawn to it. As I neared the house of light, it seemed vaguely familiar to me. I walked up to the house in search of something and I was careful in my footsteps to not alert anyone of my presence.

  A door creaked near the front of the house and footsteps followed. Someone was walking onto the front porch. It was a man of some height. He had a long wood pipe hanging out of his mouth, puffing away at the charred remains that were inside. A few seconds later a woman appeared from out of the distance holding a lantern of golden light. She approached him on the stairs and they began talking. I was too far away to hear anything clearly but I think I heard them mention something about keeping with the plan.

  I inched my way further around the house to get a better view. I craned my head around the corner and could see them standing just a few feet away. The man told the woman to grab Joseph and bring him to the basement. She did as she was told and went inside the house. He followed behind her but went into the basement instead. Lights flashed from the lowest windows in the house so I lied down on the dirt and peered inside.

  The man was lighting candles throughout the room, preparing for God knows what. A medical procedure? It was something obscene, I could tell. I heard some commotion on the stairs inside so I got up and looked to see. The woman was pulling a dark-haired boy down the stairs, practically dragging him against his will. He was protesting her authority and I could see that he was crying, his cheeks stained red. When they reached the bottom step, she shook him forcefully.

  “Stop it!” she shouted.

  “No, I’ve been good. Please don’t take me down there!” he screamed.

  She smacked him hard across the face. “You know what you’ve done and now you must face punishment.” She pulled his arm nearly out of the socket and drug him through the house. I laid my body back on the ground and looked inside.

  The man was preparing a metal table, something you would see in a hospital and wondered what he could possibly be doing with it. He laid out a satchel of tools on a nearby stand and the woman appeared with the boy in the open doorway. She led him into the room and he gripped her arms tightly with his hands.

  “Come here my boy,” the man said, motioning with his hand.

  As the boy struggled to break free, a flash of blue light shot out of his hands like a taser gun. The woman screamed in agony and let go of the boy to comfort herself.

  “God damn it, Joseph!” He took off running and I shot up to my feet. He was running through the kitchen and heading out of the house through the back door. I quickly ran to the back of the house to see him. He sprinted across the field, heading for the forest where I started my dream. In fear of being seen, I stayed put.

  Soon after the boy was lost in the shadows, the man and woman appeared, their footsteps stomping against the pavement.

  “What shall we do?” she asked in a panic. I could see the look of fear in her eyes but what did she have to be afraid of.

  “Find him and bring him back right away. It’s not safe for him to be around others,” he insisted, surveying the open field. She walked inside and came back out holding a lit torch and some rope. She took off running after the boy and I could no longer see either of their shadows in the distance. I had the sudden urge to flee as well and ran toward the dark forest, far away from their home.

  I woke up in a pool of sweat. My heart was racing from my dream and I tried to collect my thoughts. I looked at my nightstand to see what time it was and it was after twelve o’clock. I noticed it was unusually dark outside for the hour so I opened my blinds and peered out. There was nothing except gray clouds in the sky and I could see flickers of lightning in the distance.

  A knock sounded on my door.

  “Come in,” I replied. My sister appeared in a red shirt and jean shorts, her hair down.

  “Hey, I’m heading to Trent’s for the weekend.”

  “Okay. Have fun. Tell him I said hi,” I said with a yawn.

  “Are you all right?” she asked, shoving her hand into her jean pocket.

  “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

  “Well, I thought I heard you screaming in here a few minutes ago.”

  “Oh. I think I was having a nightmare,” I admitted. She seemed interested and walked all the way over to sit on my bed.

  “What was it about?” I raised my eyebrow. Why was she so interested?

  “I don’t really want to talk about it. It was scary enough the first time without me having to recall the details.”

  “Okay, sorry. So...where did you go last night? I don’t really believe the story you told Mom.” She snickered.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “What?” She seemed curious enough.

  “I was with Jaden.”

  “Jaden?” She searched her brain for a mental image. “Who’s that?”

  “You know...the guy with the long hair. The one we saw together.” I could see the light bulb turn on in her head and she looked at me with bewilderment.

  “You’re kidding.”

  “No. I met him at the smoke shop and we hung out for awhile.” She started smiling. “Then I went over to his house last night.”

  “Uh-huh. Did you guys do anything?”

  “Even if we did, I wouldn’t be telling you about it. You’ve got the biggest mouth.”

  “I promise not to leak a word. I won’t even tell Trent.”

  I rolled my eyes and surrendered. “Fine. All we did was kiss but it was the best kiss of my life.” I sighed heavily, reliving the moment in my mind. She smacked me on the arm, obviously in disbelief. “He’s got the most incredible mouth. He's very skilled.”

  “Well, that makes me happy.” Her olive eyes were gleaming.

  “Oh but if you see Greg at all this weekend, don’t you dare mention any of this.”

  “I won’t. What’s going on with you two anyway?” I sunk my head further into the pillow.

  “I really don’t know. It’s complicated and now I have another element to add into the complication pudding.” She chuckled.

  “Nice analogy. Well, have fun and by ‘have fun’ I mean,” she winked a couple times. I shoved her away.

  “Yes. I understand. Get out of here.”

  “Okay,” she giggled. “Later.” She left the room and trotted down the stairs. For as light as she was, she still sounded like a giant horse running at a full gallop.

  I closed my eyes and listened to the raindrops hit the windows. Thunder filled the air and lightning flickered brilliantly against my walls. I loved storms; the intense electricity building in the air and the deep bellow of thunder rattling the earth. Nature was beautiful in every way, whether dangerous or not.

  I got up and looked in the mirror, nearly screaming when I saw myself. My hair was completely messed up, black smears of eyeliner were running down my cheeks, and I was still wearing the same clothes from the night before. I slipped out of my grungy clothes and headed for the bathroom. I took a long shower and let the hot water soothe my soiled skin.

  I didn’t really feel like going out so I put on my favorite jeans and a brown t-shirt. I checked my e-mail and wrote a few back to the people who were important. I got mostly spam of course which I hate. A boom of thunder shoo
k the entire house below me and I could feel the vibration at my feet. The wind was showing its fury and the storm seemed to be at its peak. It blew the trees about and made leaves fly off their branches like kites in the wind.

  The power of the storm made me think of Jaden. The way the electricity in the air excited me was the same as whenever he was near. I could feel its voltage skimming through me, teasing the hair of my arms. I took a deep breath as I envisioned him. His luscious lips. His strong body. There was so much about him to adore but it wasn't all just his looks.

  I went to look for his number and recovered it from last night's pants, which were now in the hamper. I felt nervous as the ringing filled my ear. It only rang twice before he answered and the sound of his voice made my anxiety go away.

  “Hello Mina,” he said in good spirits, already knowing it was me somehow.

  “I’m still alive,” I replied.

  “I’m indebted to the gods for your safe arrival.”

  “I don't think you need to go that far.”

  “Well, I do. Your well-being is of great importance to me.” He groaned into the receiver. “I have such a migraine, feeling like horrible shit.”

  “Aw, I’m sorry. I feel great.”

  “Well I guess that’s good for you,” he said jokingly.

  “It is,” I teased. We both laughed.

  “I’m glad you called. I was starting to worry that maybe you never made it home last night,” he said. “Or I scared you away after my behavior and was never going to see you again.”

  “I told you I’d be fine.” I grabbed a chunk of hair and twirled it around my finger. “And you haven't scared me away, not yet anyway.” I reassured him.

  “So what are your plans for today?”

  “Nothing so far.”

  “Hmm. How about I pick you up?”

  “Okay,” I smiled.

  “How does an hour sound?”

  “Good. See you then.”

  “Later,” he replied. I suddenly felt giddy and was exceedingly full of energy. I felt like I was still dreaming. I had never been this happy in my life. I had never felt real joy.