Mated To The Mountain Lion

by Terra Wolf

  Joy and I were walking home after closing the gallery one Friday night when we stopped to get some ice cream at the local Tastee Freeze.

  “What flavor do you want?” Joy looked at me inquisitively while she laid her hand on the extended counter, “I got this tonight.”

  “Umm, how about some of that blue raspberry? Is it any good?” I faked my attention as I scanned the crowd. Again I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as though someone was keeping tabs on me.

  The guy behind the counter leaned forward. He had shaggy brown hair and dark green eyes. I could tell he was built as his white Tastee Freeze T-shirt hugged his chest. “Yeah, it’s okay, but if you’re into fruity, I’d try the mango instead.”

  Joy smiled, “You should listen to Dave. He’s been working here a long time, he knows all the flavors.” Ah, so this was the infamous Dave. She looked back at him and flirtatiously tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. Her sun-kissed skin glowed in the evening light. There was no competition if you were standing anywhere near her. She had all the boys looking at her. I didn’t mind though. I wasn’t ready to get back into the dating scene just yet.

  “All right, I’ll try it. Mango was going to be my second choice anyway.”

  “Perfect! And I’ll have a small cone with chocolate sprinkles please.” She winked at Dave for good measure, or maybe for extra sprinkles. Joy looked back at me and said, “They have the best ice cream here, no other place in town has this many flavors.”

  “Sure Joy, they also don’t have Dave scooping it out, do they?” I raised an eyebrow at her and she laughed. “I’ll make a mental note of that. I’m always looking for a good ice cream shop. I think Gran would like a milkshake from time to time.”

  “You should so get her one right now,” Joy said. “Hey Dave, add a small vanilla milkshake to the order too! Thanks hon!”

  I saw him nod from the back of the parlor. It looked like he was deep in thought while extracting my yellow-orange mango ice cream.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” I said, even though I knew she really wanted to. Everyone loved Gran, I felt like the whole town was rallying behind her ever since I had arrived. It was like they wanted her to be able to stay in the house.

  “Are you kidding? It’s the least I can do for her since I monopolize all of her granddaughter’s evenings. I mean really, when was the last time you saw her for an extended period of time?”

  I hadn’t really thought about it, but hearing Joy say it, it really had been a few days since I’d spent some quality time with Gran. “A couple of days I guess.”

  “Well then, tell her the milkshake’s from you because when you see her tonight she is going to be annoyed.” She laughed at her own comment.

  I squinted at her, “What do you mean?”

  She continued to giggle. It was a light airy sound. “I used to live with my aunt for a little while and even though they say to go out on your own and do your own thing, they actually mean they want you home for dinner every night by five. So just give her the milkshake and I’m sure that all will be well.”

  She paid for the ice cream and we started to walk down the cobblestone street back to Gran’s house. The large oak trees that lined the road cast looming shadows over what seemed to be our small figures. Joy continued to chatter about Dave, the gallery, and some of the houses that we went by.

  “See that yellow one over there?” I could only nod since my mouth was full of creamy goodness. “They say it’s haunted. I mean they say that about a lot of the houses here, but that one in particular… something weird is going on in there. In the nineteen-forties, when the guys came back from World War II, apparently this soldier went totally crazy. He killed his wife and his young son and then pulled the trigger on himself. It’s one of the darkest stories in Salem’s past. Nobody even does the ghost tours in front of that house, if that tells you how scared even the ghost hunters are.”

  I swallowed my ice cream and said, “Weird, I mean shouldn’t they be into all that stuff?”

  “You would think so, but some strange things have happened there.” We stopped about twenty feet in front of the dilapidated structure. It was completely falling apart. The roof was missing over a large part of the back of the house and none of the windows had shutters anymore. Most of what was left of the windows were covered up with particle board. There were vines strangling what was remaining of the walls and they snaked inside the roof.

  The house gave me a creepy feeling. It was rare that I got those feelings, but sometimes, when I was a kid, I used to feel like someone was watching me. I asked my mom about it one time but she just shrugged it off and told me to stop watching scary movies. Whenever I felt like that I would get goosebumps and the hair on the back my neck would stand up. Sometimes, if it was really bad, I would get this feeling in my stomach like I had just swallowed a brick or something. And I could feel it in the pit of my stomach.

  Joy didn’t notice my distress and continued with her tale. “Last year two kids I know broke in. I guess they thought they were being funny, or that it was some type of joke. Nobody really knows what happened to them in there, but they’re on some serious meds now, one of them is practically a vegetable.”

  I stared at her, “Oh my God, really?” This place was really horrifying. I didn’t know anybody that had been in the hospital. Even when things were really bad with me, I avoided the place like the plague.

  “Yeah, some people say he fell through the second story and hit his head on some of the metal that was remaining in the kitchen. I do know that the police had to go and get them, and fire and rescue were here and everything. One of my friends was a cop on the scene and he said that most of the other police refused to even go in after they got the kid out. My friend wanted to make sure they had secured the scene so he went in to check on things. Nothing happened to him right then, but two days later he got really sick. He was in the hospital for like a week. No one knows what he had, the doctors couldn’t figure it out. I went to visit him once, but he was sleeping. But as I turned to leave the hospital room he started talking.” She shook her head, almost like the story was too much to bear.

  “He just kept saying over and over, ‘No, I won’t go with you. I don’t want to be one of them, I’m a good person.’ It was really weird.”

  The shivers were getting really bad by then and I wanted to get out of there. Her story, which probably wasn’t true, had really freaked me out and I was ready to go home. But then I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Directly under the street lamp was a high-heeled shoe.

  “Joy,” I whispered pointing, “do you see that?” I was hoping her story had just scared me enough that my mind was playing tricks on me, but as I saw her eyes travel over to the shoe I realized it was really there.

  Her mouth opened slightly but no words came out, she just took a deep breath and walked over to the pool of light. I didn’t hear her say any words, I just heard the whoosh of the milkshake hitting the ground.

  I ran over to see what was wrong. My whole body shook when I screamed.

  7

  It was high pitched and blood curdling. But I wasn’t the only one screaming. Joy had begun screaming as well. It took us almost thirty seconds to stop and attempt to get ourselves together. But I could only stop screaming. I couldn’t stop my shaking limbs from moving any way they wanted to.

  Lying in the grass, just past the home’s iron fence, was a girl about our age. The way her body was laying she was clearly dead. She lay face up with her right arm in an odd angle above her head and her legs were placed sideways, it almost looked as though she had been running. The worst of it was that her left arm was completely missing. I turned away. It didn’t feel right looking at her like this. I didn’t even know her name and here I was staring at her lifeless body, like she was on some television show.

  I could hear Joy murmuring to herself as she pulled out her cell phone, “Not again, not again.”

  “Hello 911, yes, my nam
e is Joy Christensen. I think… I think there’s been a murder.” She paused and started to cry. I could hear the operator asking her questions, but I couldn’t understand what they were. I remember vaguely thinking that I didn’t know Joy even had a last name. “Yes, the address is 1551 Mulberry St. Yes, we’re in Salem. Please hurry, her arm... Her arm is missing.”

  Her arm! Jesus. I took another look at the victim. She was a pretty girl, no older than I was. With long brown curly hair and green eyes. Her skin had become a waxy color, I assumed after her death. Her throat was also slit, but when I looked past her throat I realized that she was wearing a necklace with a pentagram on it. The same necklace my Gran had given me as a child. As I further examined the girl, I put together something else. She looked exactly like me.

  Ultan

  I had been out in the woods, just taking a break to be free. The wild always made me feel more at home. Better than I ever did with humans. But then I felt it, her fear. It was palpable. My bear took off through the trees to find her. I arrived behind an old home, and then I saw her, crying under a streetlamp.

  I wanted to reach out to her, but I couldn’t yet. She didn’t know. I couldn’t properly protect her, Joy would have to do for the night. But I wouldn’t let her out of my sight, no free runs anymore. I had to be closer to her, to keep her safe.

  I lifted my snout and sniffed. I could smell the death as it hung in the night air. Death and magic.

  A witch had been here. A witch with blood on her hands.

  Click here to read Book 2 Now!

  About the Author - Terra Wolf

  I love to write about romance that isn’t your typical love story. My books allow my imagination to run free and explore every possible idea I have. That makes writing less like a job and more like a fantasy come to life.

  Sign Up For My Newsletter to stay up to date on all my book news!

  NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

  Salem Shifters Two

  Terra Wolf

  The Salem Shifter Series (Formerly part of Discovery/ Summer in Salem)

  Published By Your Book Boyfriend Press

  Copyright © 2015 Your Book Boyfriend Press

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places or events are entirely the work of the author. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, or places is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in piracy of copyrighted materials.

  1

  My stomach churned with fear. I leaned over and began expelling all of the ice cream that had been in my system. I could taste bile on my lips when I started to hear the sirens. Joy started rubbing my back and said calming words. I wondered if she was going into some sort of maternal mode, sometimes people did that in order to cope.

  The police arrived and split us up for questioning as they loaded her body into a bag in the back of an ambulance. “Do you know who she is?” I asked officers as they passed by me. They said it was private information and that they couldn't release it until the family had identified ‘the body’. She was so young and beautiful, she had her whole life ahead of her and now she was gone. I couldn't imagine being the officer who would have to contact her family. It was tough enough seeing her there and not even knowing her.

  “What were you doing when you found the victim?” A young officer was asking me questions and taking notes. He seemed calm enough, but I guess you had to be in his profession.

  I stuttered as I answered, “We were walking home. We... we had just gotten ice cream. That was it. We weren't doing anything wrong I swear.” My tears began again, still seeing her mangled body imprinted in my mind.

  He smiled at me sweetly, “I'm sure you weren't Paige, we just have to know all the facts.” He could tell how shaken up I was. “Listen, why don’t you go home and get some rest? I’ll visit tomorrow to further discuss the situation. Good night.” He tipped his hat at me before walking away. Honestly, it made me feel good to know that a police officer would be stopping by my house after this horrible evening. Like someone would be watching over me.

  I invited Joy to Gran’s for the night. I was pretty sure she lived alone, as she had never mentioned a roommate or much family and I didn’t think it wise for her to be by herself. We had the space for her to stay and it made me feel better to have my only friend with us, close by.

  By the time we got home and explained everything to Gran I was exhausted. My plan was to crawl into bed and wake up in a few days, when this would all be over. Unfortunately, this wasn’t my first time being attached to such a serious situation. I knew that soon the media animals would start knocking on the door, just as they had when Nick disappeared. That was one of the reasons I moved back in with my parents, once newspapers found my address, they wouldn’t leave me alone. They thought I was involved somehow or that I knew where he was. He was big news because his parents had loads of money. Some assumed he was doing drugs or something and was in rehab somewhere. Nothing like a painful rehab story to sell their paper. Others asked me about cults, serial killers, or just the runaway boy who didn’t want to be in the limelight anymore. Everything hurt. Their questions stung like bees and it was all too much to bear. Once the grief had overtaken me I couldn’t hold a job or maintain my schooling. I couldn’t even hold myself together. After I moved back in with my parents things seemed to calm down for a bit. I even started getting out of bed on a regular basis, but it took a week until I showered and another month after that to kind of care how I looked. I only wanted to look good for him and when he wasn’t there anymore, what was the point? Finally, things improved and I re-enrolled in college. I was only taking general classes because I didn’t think I could continue to paint. I couldn’t be alone anymore and my parents insisted I stay living with them. Until this opportunity arose I had plans to be there until I was thirty.

  Who knew if that would start all over again? I might even have to leave Salem just so I wouldn’t be tied to this girl as well. I could see the headlines playing out in my head, ‘New in town and out for revenge, the story of a deranged lover.’ They would make up anything so they could sell the story. I shut my eyes tight so I wouldn’t cry when I heard a soft knock at the door.

  “Paige? Are you awake?” Joy popped her head around the door, her eyes still wide with fear.

  “Yeah,” I whispered, “you okay?” I sat up in bed so she would know that I was still coherent. Then I quickly rubbed my eyes to remove what remained of my salty tears.

  “Not really. I know this is a little weird, but do you mind if I stay in here with you tonight? This house is huge and I don’t really want to be alone after everything that happened tonight.”

  I scooted over and motioned for her to come sit. She tiptoed across my room and snuggled into bed with me. I threw the cover over both of us, but she was still shaking. Not from the chill of the night but from the frightening experience we just had together.

  She had just laid her head down on the pillow when I asked her, “Joy, what did you mean when you said not again?”

  She looked up at me with sad swollen eyes. “I didn’t mean anything… it was just something to say, I guess.”

  I squinted at her, “Joy, be straight with me. What did you mean?”

  She took a deep breath and sat up. She was rubbing the corner of the blanket between her thumb and her forefingers, bunching it slowly as she worked up the nerve to explain herself.

  “Two years ago a girl went missing from town. It was the middle of the day and she was going to meet a friend for lunch and never showed up. No one ever heard from her again. When I said ‘Not again’ I meant that I was afraid that th
e sicko who took her was back. They never found her body so there wasn’t enough evidence to find the culprit. I’m wondering if this girl put up a fight and that’s how she lost her arm. I can’t be sure Paige, but I think it’s happening again. I’m afraid more girls will go missing, girls like us.”

  I understood her fear. Looking at that girl on the grass and realizing that she looked just like me could mean only one thing, whoever the psycho was had a type and I fit it. I didn’t think Joy should have anything to fear with her pretty blonde hair and blue eyes, she clearly wasn’t his type. But she was in the age range, which was scary enough. And if this had happened before, in her town, a repeat was not something she wanted to see. I nodded my head to make sure she understood that I felt her same emotions before I wrapped my arm around her and we snuggled into bed. I hadn’t had anyone sleepover since I was a child, but it was comforting to have someone there next to me to scare away the nightmares.

  The police arrived the next day, just as I expected they would. Gran tried to stave them off for as long as she could, but they demanded to see the both of us so they could continue to ask questions about the night before. We explained to them, just as we had the night before, about what we had seen. I was surprised but they seemed content with our explanation. They even mentioned how they had seen the vomit and the milkshake on the ground. I guess that added to the credibility of our story, but it was still a lot to handle. They split us up in separate rooms to make sure that our stories were the same, and it was terrifying. It was like reliving the day after Nick had disappeared all over again. But at least this time they had a body, there was closure for the girl’s family. Right before the officers left I got up the nerve to ask, “What happened to her arm?” It was a morbid question, but one that had been racking my mind since our discovery.