by Kish Knight
‘How fortunate that Gerald came along when he did…,’
Gerald tapped her shoulder hesitantly and Bri spun on him, eyes narrowed.
“Are you okay?” He asked, brows shooting skyward. He seemed to be startled by her sudden hostility, but she didn’t care. She had reason.
“How did you know?” she frowned.
“Know what?”
“How did you know that I was in danger? You didn’t see the things chasing me, but you still moved like lightening getting me to safety. You knew something, so what was it?”
The frown had now stuck on his face, and Gerald just stood there, shaking his head. “Bri, I saw you hurrying down the street. I was trying to get you hang out with me a little bit. I mean, come on, don’t I always?”
“No, not like this, Gerald. If you didn’t think that I was in danger, then what are we doing in here?” The dark shadows in the room seemed to nod in agreement as she gestured frantically around.
Gerald cleared his throat. “Like I said, Bri, I didn’t see anything chasing you, real or otherwise. What I did see is the girl I’ve had a crush on forever, hurrying toward me and I seized the moment to get her alone.” He grinned. “Bad move?”
With a sigh, Bri just ignored him and turned to scan the room once more. Whether Gerald’s sudden intervention had been planned or not, it had very likely just saved her life. “Where are we, anyway?”
“My mom owns this store. This is the store room downstairs, and only authorized persons are allowed down here, meaning me or my mom, so it’s really private.” He did genuinely seem like he wanted her company, but Bri was still suspicious of the perfectly-timed rescue.
‘What’s my choice? I’ve got to take his help. It’s either that or get ripped to shreds by those beasts prowling around outside.’
“Um, not to be a lame or anything, but shouldn’t you be in school right now? It’s only-,” she checked her watch, “1 pm. School’s still in, right?”
“True.” Gerald fidgeted, looking slightly embarrassed. “But the thing is, I loaned my History textbook to Chas last week, and now I kinda need it back.”
“So? Ask him for it.”
He just stared at her strangely. “Today is the first day of the Senior Trip. I was thinking that I could try to find him before he headed out of town and get it back. But he’s probably already gone, though.”
Bri hadn’t heard anything he had said after ‘senior trip’. How had she forgotten? Every single one of her friends would be driving five hours up to the hotel at Lake Tanaske to spend a week partying. Not only did Lake Tanaske have great hiking and nature tours, but it overlooked a poppin’ boardwalk that was ALWAYS packed with party-goers at night.
She was supposed to be on that trip too. Why hadn’t Shanice or Deanna called her? ‘They know that they’re my transportation. I can’t go if I don’t ride with one of them.’ Her heart sank as she realized that by now, any senior going on the trip would already be on their way to or already at Lake Tanaske.
A quick glance at her cell made her spirits dip even lower. Deanna had tried to call her, several times. Even Chas’s number was showing up as a missed call in her display. Which meant that, after trying her cell and getting no response from her, her friends had just left.
Without her.
And it wasn’t just that she wanted the carefree, crazy party week, Bri also wanted the relative safety of teens, chaperones and distance, to shelter her from Rikgso’s craziness, and now Korey’s deception.
She realized that Gerald was expectantly staring at her and she started to snap at him, but suddenly he smiled and instead, a smile came to her own face. Not a little one, either, or a fake one, a real, honest, full-blown grin. The guy had just seriously saved her life, after all. Plus, all of sudden, it was really clear to her how cute he was, with one dimple at the side of his chin and his perfectly formed lips.
It wasn’t surprising that he smiled at her; Gerald did that every time she saw him. But what did throw her off today, was the fact that she liked his smile. Really, really liked his smile. All of a sudden. And so she kept smiling. There was something so appealing about him….
“Did you just say something?”
“Yep.” He nodded. “I said, if you don’t mind, grab my History book when you see Chas this weekend.”
“You’re saying that as if I have a chance of going. Sorry, I already missed my ride.”
“Then,” with a mischievous glint in his eye, he grabbed her arm and pulled her along to a door that she hadn’t noticed before, “it’s your lucky day. A certain young gentleman that really likes you is free and available to give you a ride to the Senior Trip.”
He pushed open the door, and Bri flinched, expecting to see the demon dogs there, slavering and waiting. But instead, they were in a small parking lot with a couple of cars. So she had dodged the bullet once again, thanks to Gerald.
He began to steer her toward a small pickup truck. “This is my ride. Can I drive you out of town?”
CHAPTER
19
With a dubious look, Bri just stared at him. Then at the car. Then back at him. “Um, Gerald? I’m not trying to insult you or anything, but do you even know how to drive?”
He had the grace to look offended. “Can’t believe you asked that. I have my driver’s license.”
“Already?” Bri was astonished. If he really did, then Bri was seriously loafing. She certainly didn’t have her license as yet, and she was all of three grades ahead of Gerald.
“My birthday comes early,” he added with a wink.
She shook her head. “Still….,” ‘There’s no way he could have his license already? He’s only about…about,’
For the life of her, she couldn’t remember how old Gerald was, even though he’d told her his birthday over and over during their tutoring sessions. For some reason, she couldn’t seem to clear her head either. She was really confused. She gave another brisk headshake.
“How old are you?” she finally asked, when it became clear that she wasn’t going to remember.
“Old enough,” Gerald replied firmly. Obviously he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “Seriously, if you’re planning to catch up your friends at the cabin, then it is best to leave now. Driving in the dark really sucks, especially when you don’t know where you going.”
Bri balanced the options. Allow Gerald to drive her out-of-town with or without a driver’s license, or stay in town and have Korey and then Rikgso catch up to her. Pretty much a no-brainer. Death was never high on any of her lists. But then again, Gerald was only fourteen, maybe fifteen…there was no way he could have a license.
And for some weird reason, it was as if she couldn’t say no to him. “Okay,” she managed, “you can drive me home at least. But I’m not going on the trip.”
“Sweet. Let’s go.” Hurrying to open the passenger for her, Gerald flashed her a huge smile as she slid into the seat. She watched as he hurried around to the driver’s side and jumped in. “Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
****
Turning onto Dead-End Avenue, Bri bristled. She’d just remembered that she had snuck out and not even returned home the night before. Of course, her parents would want to know exactly where she had been last night.
Letting herself in through the back door, she held the door open for Gerald and then locked it behind them. After a curious glance around, Gerald asked about the restroom, and she pointed him in the right direction. Watching as he headed off down the hall, Bri slung her purse over the edge of a chair. Pulling the pendants and necklace out, she studied them silently.
‘Such a pretty thing, but the cause of so many problems,’ she mused. Carefully, she slipped it around her neck, noticing how heavy the chunky metal was. ‘The house is so quiet,’ she thought. Something seemed off. Wondering about it, she wandered into the kitchen to get something to eat while her brain worked out a decent excuse for her parents. It was only then, halfway to th
e fridge, that she saw the note.
All of a sudden, she knew what was wrong. The plain note stuck to the counter told her what she had forgotten.
“Tonight. My parents are going out of town for an event tonight,” she whispered. ‘Oh, no!’ How could she have forgotten? Tonight of all nights. ‘Why did they have to leave at a time like this?’
That’s when she heard the scraping across the floor above her head. A scrape and a groan. Bri wasted no time in flying back through the living room and was out the front door, barely snagging her purse before she exited the house.
Her mind finally caught up with her body as she found herself pounding across the grass. But it was only as she reached the end of her lawn that she felt comfortable enough to stop and catch her breath. Leaning against a tree, she pulled out her cell. ‘4’ speed dial to Korey’s cell phone.
When he answered, his husky voice made her feel instantly better. Almost. Warning bells sounded in her head as a memory of Aeryal’s desperate plea came back to her. Remembering that she was currently running from him made her hang up as quickly as she had dialed.
‘Are you crazy? He’s dangerous.’
With shaking hands, Bri slid the phone into her pocket. She couldn’t believe she’d almost put herself in danger like that. A sound at her back made her swing around, arms raised to defend herself, but it was only Gerald.
“Whoa! You all right?”
“Yeah.” Embarrassed, she dropped her arms, mind racing. “I’ve changed my mind. Let’s go to the Senior Trip.”
“Come again?” His brows shot up.
“I’m serious. I want to go. Can you drive me?”
Clearly skeptical, he eyed the lone bag she clutched, but apparently decided not to comment. “Um, yeah, sure. I have to stop at my house to grab a few things, and then we can hit the road.”
‘Good.’ “Er, also, we’ll need to make a quick stop downtown. I need to buy some clothes and things.”
If Gerald thought anything was odd about that, he kept it to himself. “No prob.”
****
Soon they were on the road. In vain, Bri tried to force Korey from her mind, but it was useless. Everything she passed reminded her of him. ‘He has to have already discovered that I’m gone by now. What’s he thinking? Probably mad….’
Turning to stare out the side window as she drummed her fingers, she frowned. ‘I really need to apologize for running off on him like that. That was completely wrong, and-,’
‘And what?’ the feisty part of her brain challenged. ‘He lied!’
Bri sighed and then jumped a little as Gerald reached across and patted her thigh. “Everything ok?” he asked.
“Um yeah.”
“Sure?”
“Yep. Completely sure.” She flashed a big, fake smile.
That seemed to reassure him and he turned back to the road, but left his hand where it was. Bri stared at it for a long time, deciding what to do, and then finally cleared her throat.
“Oh! Sorry,” he murmured, brows raised, but there was a smile on his face.
She opened her mouth to say something, but then her cell phone buzzed. Leaving Gerald for a moment, she dug it out her purse and checked the display. A text from Deanna.
CALL. ASAP!
“What’s wrong now?” she murmured, punching her friend’s number. Just dead air. Bri tried again, and then another time, until she finally just looked at her screen. No signal.
“Ugh.” Before he could ask, she mumbled, “Crappy cell service.” Even holding the phone up as close to the window as she could, didn’t help. Her phone still displayed exactly zero bars. “Sheesh. Ya’ pay close to a million dollars a month for unlimited service and your service is always, ALWAYS seriously limited.”
With a chuckle, Gerald laughed. “Yeah. That’s why you gotta get smart. No phone. Saves me all kinds of money.”
Way surprised, she just stared over at his smug face. “No phone? As in no cellular phone? Uh, sorry, honestly, I’d rather be dead!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished that she could take them back, remembering the demons that had almost torn her to shreds. Even Gerald seemed to have the same thought, for he glanced at her sharply without a word.
“Er, scratch that. Anyway, how long do you think it’s going to take to get there?” Might as well turn the convo to something pleasant, she figured. They were going to be on the road for a while and she didn’t want to talk about death anymore.
“At least four hours.”
“Yeah? Well, I-,”
Her words were cut short by an angry buzzing. Her phone was getting another text. “We must have driven into a spot that has a little bit of service,” she commented, checking out the heavily wooded area they were driving through.
This message was from Rob. WHERE R U? CALL ME.
She frowned. Rob wasn’t one of her regular text-friends. Cause really, they were cool and all, hanging out with their crew on the scene, but Bri couldn’t think of the last time that he’d actually texted her. Maybe never.
It was the same as with Deanna’s message. As soon as Bri tried to call back, her signal went right from four bars to zero. She groaned and flung the phone into her bag. “Whatever they’re calling about, will just have to wait until we get to the hotel. It’s probably not even important anyways. Deanna will have more than enough time to fill in me on the gossip.” She leaned her head back against the seat and let her eyes drift shut.
“They may not have that much time to hang with you. Your guest is going to want at least a fair share of your time too.”
“Oh, is that right?” she played along. “Well, my ‘guest’ is actually just my volunteer driver, so I don’t know if he rates any time like that.”
His grin was still mischievous. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I think the ‘driver’ that volunteered to be your ‘guest’ rates a lot of time, actually.”
She feigned irritation as she pretended to think. “Oh, I don’t-,” and then broke off as her chest grew tight. It had been happening often as she and Gerald drove, her breathing being cut off for tiny seconds at a time. Just never as bad as this time.
Even as they joked around, she found herself having more and more difficulty breathing. Bri was completely certain, 100%, that the demon was behind it, or at least had caused it when he’d taken her heart. Her health was deteriorating. It was as he had said, for her, death was sure. The only thing that would be different was the amount of suffering that he gave her first.
A warm hand rested gently on her thigh. “You okay?” Gerald shot her another concerned glance.
“Yes, my chest just hurts a bit, that’s all.” Bri unclenched her fist and forced her other hand down from clutching her chest. She would NOT succumb to Rikgso’s torture; she was stronger than that. And even if the demon did kill her, especially since it was looking more and more like it, she wouldn’t go out like a wimp.
Bri was a fighter.
“You know, I’m really tired too. I think I’ll take a little nap.” Hunkering down as much as she could, she closed her eyes and tried to let the carelessness of sleep overtake her. That way, maybe she could at least miss out on some of the worst pain.
“Wake me when-.” Before the rest of the statement was out of her mouth, Bri was lost in a dream world of warning and darkness.
****
She was lying in her own bed, about to drift off to sleep, when she heard her name whispered. Rolling over, she discovered Korey lying in bed with her.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered, puzzled.
“Your birthday’s tomorrow,” he replied. “I want to be with you when you wake up in the morning.”
“No, it’s not,” she frowned.
“It is,” he insisted, and Bri just agreed, comforted by the arm he slung over her as he snuggled closer. They fell asleep in each other’s arms, Bri sleeping fitfully through the night.
Soon it was morning and Bri’s birthday. As she came fully awake,
the usual birthday euphoria did not greet her. Instead, she was gripped by a numbing fear of what the day would bring. She was eighteen, but she wouldn’t get to enjoy it.
Korey stirred. Tightening his arms about her, he shifted to whisper in her ear. “Happy birthday.”
When there was no reply, he leaned forward to peer at Bri’s still features. “Babe?”
“Yes?” Her voice was barely a whisper; not the seductive one that he had just used, but a choked, terrified imitation of it.
