Mate: Level 8

by Heather Karn

  Chapter Two

  A beam of sunlight broke through my slightly parted curtains to shine against my eyelids, thus giving me a rude awakening. Rolling over, I checked my phone. It was almost nine-thirty. If I didn’t get up soon, Fin would be in here to pounce on me to get my butt moving.

  Climbing from the bed, I grabbed clean clothes and locked myself in the bathroom. Music blared through Finley’s bedroom door, which was her normal morning routine. At least this morning I couldn’t hear her off tune singing with the music. Even though we would likely be hiking and I’d work up a sweat, I took a quick shower. That was my morning routine. I’d take another after we got back if it was needed.

  I was finishing a bowl of cereal when Fin joined me, her ever peppy mood bringing a smile to my face when any other morning I would have growled at her to calm down. She almost glowed with excitement, and she shoveled yogurt into her mouth like it was going out of style. My dishes were cleaned and I was filling a water bottle when Marshall’s unique knock sounded on the apartment door.

  “Come on ladies, the day’s a wastin’!” Marsh crowed upon entering the apartment when Fin let him in. “Larissa, what’s the hold up? Come on.”

  Grabbing my apartment key and shoving it in my jean’s pocket, I followed them out the door and let Fin lock up. They led the way outside, hand in hand, and yet again, I was the third wheel trailing behind. That was the worst position, and I rolled my eyes as the couple held hands and chatted amongst themselves before we left the building.

  “Hey, where are you all going?” Nate, another junior and a computer science major, asked as he walked toward the dorm apartment building. He was in khaki cargo pants with an open flannel shirt over a white t-shirt to combat the chill morning air. In his hand was a Styrofoam cup that he sipped while the pair I followed stopped to chat with him. In my head, I begged them to keep moving.

  “On a walk. Want to come with? I’m sure Lari wouldn’t mind the company.” Fin wagged her eyebrows at me and I bit back a groan, stopping my eyes from rolling just in time. It was no secret between me and Fin that Nate, who lived practically across the hall from us, had a crush on me. I did what I could to distance myself from him, but Finley always managed to pair us up doing something, whether it was partners in a game or a spontaneous walking buddy. I was going to kill her when we returned to the apartment.

  The all too eager expression on Nate’s face, and his hungry eyes, announced his plans to join us before he even opened his mouth. “Sure, I’d love to come. Let me throw this cup away and I’ll be ready.” He headed toward the nearest trash can, and I almost laughed at the accentuated swagger in his step.

  While his back was to us, I glared daggers at Fin, who shrugged it off. “Let’s go people. We’ve got to leave so Lari has time to get back to her studying.”

  “Oh, what class are you studying for?” Nate asked as we followed Finley and Marshall across campus. Soon, Nate and I were deep in conversation.

  It wasn’t that he wasn’t a great guy. He was nice, smart, and good looking with spiky, crow black hair, but there was absolutely no spark on my end. It was only a matter of time before he’d gain the courage to ask me out, and I feared the day I’d have to turn him down and break his heart. Fin should have been helping me steer him to a girl who would return his affections, not me. Plus, I had no time for boys and dating.

  We’d crossed campus in no time, and it wasn’t until Finley and Marsh stopped to check traffic before crossing a small, two lane highway that I recognized where we were. Nate noticed at the same time, and we both stopped short, leaving the couple leading the way to cross without us. When they noticed they were alone, Fin and Marsh turned to stare back at us.

  “What’s the problem?” she called, waving for us to follow.

  “Dude, you guys, we get warned about this at the beginning of every year,” Nate responded, his eyes shifting from our friends to the forest that stood beyond them. “That’s private property.”

  “And it’s haunted,” I muttered, not believing it, but as I stared into the thick underbrush and towering oak trees, it sounded like a good enough reason to turn around and go home.

  “Oh come on, Lari,” Fin grumbled, heaving a dramatic sigh as she set her hands on her hips. “I know you don’t believe that, and there are no cameras. We aren’t the first to walk through here, I guarantee it. No one is even going to know we’re here.”

  “Yeah, but what if there are, you know,” I stammered, whispering, “gargoyles.”

  Fin shot me an “are you kidding me” stare. “Oh, come on, Larissa Fulton. That’s the most ridiculous excuse known to man. So what if there are ‘gargoyles’ in here.” She used her hands to make air quotes and imitated my hesitant voice. “It’s daytime, so they’d be stone anyway. And if we do come across something, it’s likely they’re just statues to make you think they’re real gargoyles and are there to scare off trespassers.”

  “Like us,” Nate muttered, his shoulders dropping as he released a defeated sigh. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

  Taking my hand, Nate pulled me across the street so we were all together. Swallowing hard, I sent up a silent prayer that we wouldn’t get caught. Not only would my dad kill me for breaking the law and trespassing, but my career as a lawyer might go up in smoke too. Okay, Dad could likely get me off, but I was a good girl, maybe too good, and I never broke the rules.

  “Fine, but we’re in and out, okay?” I looked pointedly at Finley, who nodded.

  “Yup, in, look around a bit, then right back out.”

  Glancing up at Marshall, he nodded and set a hand on Fin’s shoulder. “Yup, what she said.”

  “We’re so dead,” I muttered, motioning with my hand for them to lead the way.

  Fin ignored my sour mood and hopped up and down on the balls of her feet while clapping her hands before grabbing Marshall’s hand and dragging him to the wooden, split rail fence that surrounded the property. They crawled between the wooden rungs, and Nate was forced to release my hand to follow. With a final check in either direction, I straddled the lower rung. Nate grabbed my bicep to keep me upright when I almost biffed it swinging my leg over.

  “Thanks.”

  He grinned at me like he was a knight in shining armor there to rescue the maiden in distress. “Any time.”

  Now that we were on the inside of the fence, a giddy energy spiked my heartrate and spread throughout my body. It was almost addictive how giddy I was for doing something so wrong. Maybe not “so wrong” since technically all we wanted to do was walk around a forest. Still, for doing something that was illegal, I was rather okay with it now that I’d crossed the threshold of the forest.

  Focusing away from my excited energy, I stared around. The forest before us was still tinted green as the fall colors had barely begun to show. Ferns were beginning to shrivel up and turn brown. Birds flew between trees and squirrels chased one another through the underbrush, but the further we walked, the fewer animals were present.

  A heaviness settled over my chest the deeper we walked into the forest. Even Nate was swiveling his head in every direction and Marshall’s steps were slowing. The only one who didn’t appear affected by the changes in the forest surrounding us was Finley. Her devilish smile was plastered to her face and she tugged Marshall along beside her when he slowed too much.

  Clouds rolled in, casting the forest into shadow. With the assistance of the eerie silence, a shiver stalked up my spine, leaving me chilled in its wake. There was definitely something off about these woods. Maybe it was the trees, or a sickness that was spreading through the greenery. Whatever it was, the hairs on the nape of my neck were telling me to turn around and run.

  However, Finley didn’t want to comply with my body’s warning. “Come on you guys. Quit being wimps.” She pushed further into the forest, skirting large pines and downed trees. The color appeared off somehow, and I was certain that some of the vines clinging to the bark and branches of passing trees wasn’t from
around here.

  “I think we need to turn around, Fin. We’ve gone too far already. We can’t risk getting lost and wandering around for hours. Someone will find us, and I don’t want it to be the property owner.”

  She grunted. “We’ll just tell him we were on a walk and got lost. It happens.”

  “Not when you intentionally walked onto their property,” Nate muttered, and I was at least thankful he had a backbone to stand up to her, where Marshall just tagged along and shrugged at us. However, since I was a good friend, I wouldn’t leave my roommate in this crazy forest without me.

  Patting my back pocket, I reassured myself that I had my phone, and I pulled it out to check the time. We’d left the apartment two hours ago. Had it really been that long? It didn’t feel like even an hour had passed. Then again, I was thirsty, so we’d been walking for a while.

  The cap on my water bottle was snug, but when it released, it gave way at once and I lost the grip on my phone, sending it through some brush, and down an embankment where I couldn’t see the bottom because of the thick brush.

  “Well, that’s just great.” I guzzled a few swallows before recapping the bottle. “Hold up, guys. I need to grab my phone. It fell down here.”

  Nate joined me, standing behind me and setting a hand on my shoulder. “That looks pretty steep. Do you want me to go?”

  “Nah, I’ve got it. It’s not that far down.” I hoped it wasn’t, anyway.

  Finley and Marshall met up with us as I sat on the ridge’s edge and slid my way through the outcropped brush. Twigs and brambles pulled at my hair and clothes as I slid my way down, using my feet to keep from losing control and rolling the rest of the way.

  At the bottom, I spotted my bright pink phone case against the multiple shades of brown and green surrounding me. Another ridge sat before me, creating a small valley of sorts that ran in either direction for as far as I could see. The way to the right caught my attention where it started to slope downward, and after I grabbed my phone, I picked my way across the broken and uneven ground until I stood at the edge of the slope. The sight before my eyes made my breath catch in my throat, and I almost choked. Who would believe that the rumors of gargoyles in the middle of a forest could be true?

  Read more here: mybook.to/GargoylesKiss