by Chase Connor
Lucas was wide-eyed.
“I would have been happy staying here and going to college—if I could get into one,” I said, “or working at Barkley’s or the café or the bank or…wherever. I didn’t need to be famous or rich. So…why did I get up and leave in the middle of the night and do exactly that?”
The wind whistled under the bleachers again as Lucas and I stared at each other with six rows of bleachers between us. Cold April Ohio air ruffled my hair, and I pushed it back onto my head to keep it out of my eyes. Lucas looked pensive as he stared up at me, as though unable to decide what it was he could say or do to help. Or he couldn’t determine the answer to the multitude of questions I had posed.
“I’m sorry.” I sighed, but I didn’t look away.
“Don’t be sorry, babe.” He said though he was barely audible over the wind. “It’s not your fault.”
“Do we know that?” I gave a bitter laugh.
“I guess not.” He returned the laugh as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. “I know the things I know. And I’m sure that I’m right. But those are the only things I am sure of, babe. I wish I could help more, but that’s all I have. All I can offer.”
“I wish I had something…anything…to offer.” I snorted.
“Hey.” Lucas frowned as he stood and moved into the aisle of stairs that led further up into the stands. “Don’t say things like that. You are extraordinary, Rob. Even if your memory is shit.”
I laughed.
“You wouldn’t happen to want company up there, would you?” He grinned wickedly.
I shivered.
“What?”
“Did you want someone to keep you company?” He reiterated.
“Were you waiting for me?”
Lucas was standing at the bottom of the bleachers, his letterman jacket on, making him look as sexy as he was. I was sitting in the bleachers, my boring coat pulled tightly around my torso to keep me warm. I had been waiting on Lucas. Just like I always did.
“Of course I was waiting on you,” I replied, my voice not as deep as it now was. “I’m always waiting for you.”
He smiled.
“I thought I was always waiting on you.”
“Well,” I shrugged comically, “one of us is always waiting. But…the wait is always worth it, right?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely,” He replied. “Don’t you get scared out here all alone? What if someone tried to get you?”
“You’d protect me.”
“How can you be so sure?”
I shrugged. “I just know.”
“I’d argue,” He said, “but I’d be wrong. And I don’t like being wrong.”
“You nearly fumbled the last pass.”
“I held on. For you.”
“For me?” I chuckled.
“So we’d have a reason to celebrate.”
“How do you think we should celebrate?”
“Maybe you can give me one of your amazing kisses?” He said, glancing around, as though he thought we might not be alone.
“You’re the football star,” I said as I lifted my legs to place my feet on the bleacher row below me. “Show me your skills. Come get it. Make a play.”
Lucas grinned wickedly then slowly stalked up the stairs, his eyes never leaving mine. When he got to my row, he stepped over my leg, then brought his other leg over it as well, positioning himself between my legs. He looked down at me as his hand came up to cup the side of my face as I looked up at him. I wanted him to kiss me so badly.
“You’re…beautiful.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that a compliment for a guy?”
“I wasn’t talking about your looks.”
That made me swallow back any retort.
“Do you want me to kiss you again?”
“Yes.” I exhaled.
“Do you love me?” He asked.
“Yes.” I breathed the word. “I love you.”
Lucas sighed.
“I love you, too.”
Then he leaned down…
The concrete behind me felt like a hammer against my tailbone and was icy cold when I hit the ground. My legs were still up on the bleacher row I had been seated upon before the memory flashback. My vision blurred, hazy, streaks of color, as I flailed, trying to get my bearings.
“Rob!” Lucas gasped from somewhere lower in the stands.
Suddenly, he was beside me, his hands sliding under my arms, trying to lift me off of the icy concrete. I flailed again, unsure of what was going on, unsure, really, of where I was. My vision continued to blur in and out as I felt him pulling at me, trying to gently fight my flailing and get me off of the ground. Through the blurriness in my eyes, I saw Lucas, though one second he looked like he was wearing a letterman jacket and then the next he looked like he was in his Carhartt. I shut my eyes tightly, willing away whatever it was that was blurring my vision.
When I opened my eyes again, all I could see was Lucas trying to get ahold of me in an attempt to pull me off of the ground. The wind was whistling under the bleachers again, cutting into the exposed flesh of my face and hands as I finally stopped fighting against Lucas. Then he was pulling me up until I was seated upright on the bleachers again and he was kneeling to look into my eyes, worry etched all over his face. I stared back into his eyes, barely able to breathe as he reached up to turn my head as if examining me to see if I was bleeding from hitting my head or had otherwise hurt myself.
“Rob.” He breathed out heavily. “Shit. You scared the hell out of me. Are you okay, babe?”
I just stared back, my eyes wide, trying to process what had just happened. Had it been a real memory? Could I remember it?
Lucas. Letterman jacket. Banter. He was standing in front of me between my legs. I told him that I loved him. He said he loved me. We kissed.
The memory hadn’t fluttered away. Mentally, I imagined wrapping an iron fist around the memory. It had been alarming, but it was also one of the most precious I currently held within my brain. There was no way I was going to let it go. I had told Lucas that I loved him. That should have terrified me. Instead, it made me reach out suddenly and wrap my arms around him. Lucas made an “oof” sound and then laughed as I hugged him to me, pulling his body into mine with all of my strength.
“Jeez, babe,” He said, “it was just a little fall. I know you’re an actor, but you don’t have to be so dramatic.”
I pushed him back, my fingers digging into his upper arms as I looked him in the eyes.
“I love you,” I gasped.
Lucas’ eyes grew wide and then a smile slowly formed on his face.
“I love you,” I repeated.
“Say it again,” He said.
“I love you,” I said, “I’ve loved you for a very long time.”
Lucas gave me a funny look.
“I love you, too,” He said, “but…what’s going on?”
“I’ve loved you since high school,” I said. “I’ve loved you since you stood in front of me after a football game and asked me if I loved you.”
Lucas pulled back slightly as his brow furrowed.
“What?”
“I just remembered something.” I was shaking my head, still confused about what had happened, but knowing it was real. “You were at the bottom of the stairs, in your football jacket, after you guys had won a game, and you asked me if I had been waiting on you…and then we told each other we loved each other, and we kissed, and—”
“I don’t remember that, Rob.” His eyes were welling up. “But I know you’re telling the truth.”
“Is that one of the things you just know?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I can just see it in your face that you’re telling the truth.”
Lucas gasped with happy surprise as I yanked him forward again and smothered his mouth with mine. My lips savored his, and then I was kissing him all over his face, cupping his face in my hands.
“Why don’t we remember that, though?” He gasped
as I kissed him and his arms went around my neck. “Or, at least, why don’t I? Why don’t we remember more?”
“I don’t know,” I said, still kissing him all over his face. “I don’t care right now. But now I don’t feel like you’re missing. I don’t miss you like I did. Now I’m just so glad that I have you back.”
“I don’t care right now, either.” He sighed as I moved to kiss his neck, still holding him tightly to me. “I’m just glad I have you, Rob. I’m so fucking glad to have you back.”
I shivered once again as I tightened my arms around him and hugged his body to mine, my face burying itself into his chest. Lucas held me to him, sighing contently as we held each other there in the stadium. Finally, I understood why Lucas felt like home, why I had missed him so much. All of the details weren’t there, but things were falling into place. After my encounter with Teenage Ghost Rob, and I started having flashes of memories and weird dreams, I felt like I missed Lucas all the time. My relationship with Lucas wasn’t new—even if we couldn’t remember being in one before. Things were coming back to me, though. I prayed that I could help Lucas remember the same things that I remembered, too.
“What’s that?” Lucas whisper against my ear.
“What?”
“That.” Lucas whisper-hissed. “Look.”
Pulling away from Lucas, but not quite letting go of him, I turned slightly on the bleacher to look up at the top of the stands where he was staring. I didn’t see anything.
“Did you see that?” Lucas jerked.
“What are you—”
Shadows moved at the top of the stairs as Lucas and I slowly rose to our feet, our eyes staying fixed in place. Our arms had fallen away from each other, but my hand grasped Lucas’, and I laced my fingers through his as I moved to his side.
“You did see that, right?” Lucas whispered.
“I saw…something.”
As if summoned by my words, the shadowy movement returned to the top of the stairs. The shadows fell away as two men stepped out of the darkness at the top of the stadium and into full view. Illuminated by the dim blue light of the quarter moon, it quickly became apparent why these men were not security guards coming to tell us to go smooch somewhere else. The most obvious clue was that they both had red eyes that practically glowed in the dark.
“Shit.” I gasped, walking back down the stairs.
Lucas followed my lead.
“Are they…”
“I don’t think they’re about to ask us to join in on a game of touch football.” I quipped.
Lucas nodded, and we turned in unison towards the field. Both of us jumped at the sight of the two men standing on the field just beneath the stands. Lucas twitched at my side.
“Rob.” He gasped.
Turning my head to look in his direction, I saw another two men with glowing red eyes walking through the bleachers towards us. A glance to my side confirmed that another two more guys with red eyes were in the stands, helping to close us in on the other side. There were eight guys: two behind, two in front, two on each side. Maybe we could have taken one or two, perhaps even three, of the guys in a fight. At least get away from them. But two against eight just wasn’t fair. Lucas and I whipped around as the men closed in on each side.
We looked up at the men coming down the stairs towards us, but they had stopped several yards away and were merely staring down at us. Lucas’ hand tightened in mine as we looked up at the guys while trying to watch the guys in our periphery. Having eight pairs of glowing red eyes watching us was unsettling. I felt another shiver run up my spine.
“You believed me when I said I remembered us, right?” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth. “You know that I was telling the truth?”
“Yes,” Lucas mumbled back.
“Do you trust me?”
“With everything I am.”
“Good.”
“We have a score to settle with you.” The guy on our right on the stairs above us said blandly, his teeth flashing white in the dark.
His teeth seemed longer than they should have. The fact that I caught that detail in the dark made me want to shiver again.
“Well, come back on Monday,” I mumbled. “I’m booked solid until then.”
He snorted, finding my quip pathetic and funny at the same time, I was sure. Lucas gripped my hand tightly.
“I’m afraid this has to be taken care of now.” He replied blandly. “Otherwise we may never get the chance, and we don’t like to leave things unsettled. Rob.”
That did make me shiver.
I didn’t know these men.
Then again, I hadn’t known Lucas.
“I truly hate to let an audience down,” I replied, “but today just isn’t your day, sir.”
Lucas’ hand gripped mine back as I squeezed his.
“Run.” I hissed.
Yanking on Lucas’ arm, I pulled him after me as I ran up three steps and then cut to the right, between two sets of bleachers. Lucas let go of my hand so he could run behind me comfortably. The sounds of the men coming down the stairs sounded. Sounds of men scrambling up and over bleachers, like metallic thunder, reached our ears but I stared straight ahead, pumping my arms and legs as I ran. The only thing I cared about was hearing Lucas’ breath and feet behind me, assuring me that he was keeping up and hadn’t fallen.
A howl sounded behind us, and I flinched but, it did not slow my pace.
“Go, Rob!” Lucas growled. “Run!”
We reached the end of the aisle, and I made a sharp right down towards the field. The men that had been on the field and the ones who had been in the stands with us had been too busy trying to get ahead of us that they hadn’t expected us to head towards the place they had previously occupied. They were now behind us. Another howl sounded. Then another. My heart was in my throat as Lucas and I raced down the stairs towards the field.
When we reached the fence at the end of the stands and the drop five feet to the field beneath us, I immediately leaped and started to clamber up the fence. Lucas was on the fence seconds after me, climbing as if his life depended upon it. And it probably did. At the top of the fence, I swung my legs over and slung myself down towards the field below us. Lucas followed my lead, landing less gracefully than I had somehow. I only took a second to make sure he was okay, and then I was leading the way across the field in the direction of the perimeter fence we had scaled to get inside the stadium.
“Rob!” Lucas gasped.
“Keep running, Lucas!” I screamed back.
“They’re coming!”
Looking over my shoulder, I could see why Lucas was even more distraught than was to be expected. We didn’t just have eight men chasing us across the field. Five men and three wolves were now giving chase, and I couldn’t tell if the men or the wolves looked more bloodthirsty. Obviously, my theory about some werewolves not needing a full moon, which Oma had confirmed, was correct.
Greetings, powerful pack with a Pack Alpha.
Not so pleased to meet you.
Lucas and I reached the taller chain-link fence that surrounded the football stadium, and I could hear feet pounding the dirt, both wolf and human. Without looking back, not wanting to lose any ground, I jumped onto the fence and started clambering to the top. I felt Lucas hit the fence and start climbing and then both of us were scrambling to reach the top. Lucas somehow reached the top of the fence first and slung his lower body over, bracing his stomach along the top bar as he reached down for my hand. Reaching out, I slapped my hand into his, and he started to pull me up.
“Rob!” He screamed.
Then I felt the tugging.
I looked down, and one of the wolves had caught up to us. The heel of my shoe was in his mouth, his teeth holding on for dear life, his mouth salivating and his eyes glowing red fury at me.
“No!” I screamed, thrusting my free hand down at him.
I don’t want him to hurt Lucas or me.
Please don’t let him hurt us.
/> Fire shot out of my palm and splattered against the wolf’s face like liquid heat. The wolf howled in agony and let go as he fell towards the ground, the fire traveled over his muzzle and around his head, then quickly crept over his entire body. I dangled there in Lucas’ grip, my right foot pushing into one of the holes in the chain link. My eyes grew wide as I watched the fire envelope the wolf, burn away its fur, then sputter out in a plume of acrid smoke. The wolf was on the ground, unmoving, its mouth gasping over and over again in terror and pain. I glanced towards the two remaining wolves and the five men. They had all frozen in place, staring at the scene unfolding before them.
“Come on, Rob!” Lucas growled and pulled me upward.
I lifted my “fire hand” to flip off the men and wolves, then pushed off of the chain link with my right foot, pushing myself up towards Lucas. Howl after howl sounded behind me, but I didn’t look over my shoulder to see the rest of the men shift into wolves. Lucas and I dropped to the other side of the fence, confident that the men, in wolf form, would have to find a different way out of the stadium. Without hands and feet, it was unlikely that they could scale the fence.
Running beside each other, Lucas and I didn’t say a word as we ran through the parking lot of the stadium and into the field where he had parked the truck. The two of us didn’t make the same mistake twice with seating assignments, though we both climbed in through the passenger door since it was the closest to us as we approached. Lucas tore the door open and clambered across the bench seat and started the truck as I jumped in and slammed the door behind myself. The roaring of the tires reached my ears before my ass was fully planted in my seat.
Lucas peeled out of the field, sending tall grass and mud flying as he punched the gas. I grabbed onto the dash as we bounced and shimmied in our seats. Once we hit the blacktop, I settled into my seat, my chin falling to my chest as I gasped for breath. Lucas’ hands were vices on the steering wheel as he looked around frantically to make sure we weren’t being followed. I wanted to scream at him to keep his eyes on the road—not out of anger, but fear. However, I found myself turning in my seat, looking to make sure that there were no wolves running in the road behind us or any other vehicles that might be in pursuit.