“A few hours ago, they found the bodies up coast by some coves torn to shreds.”
My eyes widened. “How did they die?”
“They police don’t know yet, but they were clawed and chewed apart. Maybe wild animals, but the bite marks look like they were made by humans.”
“Horrible.” I shook my head as my stomach rolled in nausea.
I felt uncomfortable standing there talking to the woman and thinking about it with her, so I excused myself and looked around the small store. Rushing, I grabbed a pack of spearmint gum from an isle shelf and then a slab of meat from the refrigerator for the wolf.
“Minty fresh.” the woman smiled showing all her silver teeth again as she took my money.
I didn’t know how to respond to her sudden peculiar enthusiasm, so I just nodded politely.
“Here you go. On the house,” she mumbled as she handed me a carton of something. “It’s free live worms. Great for fishing.”
“That’s okay,” I said pushing the carton back at her. “I don’t fish.”
She frowned. “No, take it—you can give it to your friends.”
I could tell she wasn’t going to take no for an answer, so I took the carton and nodded awkwardly. I just wanted to leave.
“Thanks.” I waved as I left, the door creaking as I opened it.
“Hey, wait,” she coughed. “You forgot your change.”
I looked back at the woman and stumbled forward into the dark haired boy entering the store. My feet slipped out from under me and I fell on him.
“Oh, no—I’m sorry,” I apologized, swallowing hard. This wasn’t how I wanted to thank him.
He chuckled lightly and lifted me back up to upright position. When I saw him again, I noticed he was even cuter than I remembered—damn cute. That just made me feel all the more inadequate and flustered.
“What the hell?” His eyes widened in horror.
I peeled my gaze away from his face and saw that I had dumped all the worms on him in my fall. They were wiggling on his t-shirt, in his shorts pockets, and on his feet.
He started jumping around, slapping them off in a panic like he was covered in something as terrifying as snakes. In his frenzy, he even pulled off his shorts and shirt and threw his flip-flops in the air. He was dancing around in just his underwear.
As bad as I felt, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was just way too funny seeing a guy like him freaking out. Even the checker was snorting in between her smoke filled wheezes.
When he finally settled down, I wasn’t as embarrassed to look at him in his perfect, thin, muscular body. His dark hair was tousled and his cheeks flushed lightly. But then he looked at me and his mouth lifted into a heart racing crooked grin.
Why was he gazing at me like that? OMG! He was just way too… too…too… oh, I don’t know—confusing to look at me that way. And he was practically naked.
“Aren’t you going to get dressed?” I managed to say, trying to keep myself from passing out from the way his presence made me feel like running away. I tried to steady myself. I hadn’t thanked him for saving me yet.
“Hell, no,” he responded dramatically. “I’m not putting those slugs on my body.”
“Sorry about that,” I said sheepishly. My heart was pounding and I kept looking at the door.
“That’s okay. I like being naked.” There was a facetious gleam in his familiar green eyes. “What were you doing with those things anyway?” He lifted an eyebrow as he studied me suspiciously.
I rolled my eyes. “They’re freebees for buying gum.” I motioned over at the checker who was arranging the worm cartons in the refrigerator behind her.
He laughed louder than I expected. “There’s a bonfire on the beach. Some of my friends are there. You want to go?”
“With you?” I asked, surprised by the invitation. Usually, movie stars or models didn’t ask me out, especially the types that beat up their friends and lurked in the woods.
“Yeah, with me. Who else were you thinking of?” He sort of danced to the side.
“I don’t drink,” I said thinking of my parents and how they forbid me to see him.
“Well then, you can’t come.” He chuckled again.
I stood there feeling awkward. I wanted to just thank him and leave, but somehow I couldn’t pull myself away now.
“Come on. I’ll buy you something better.” He gazed at me for a second through his thick dark lashes.
My pulse did a little jig through my veins. I couldn’t help but wonder what he had in mind, so I walked with him and his nearly naked body toward the isles. In a second I would just thank him and leave.
He grabbed a red shopping basket and carried it with him as he limped lightly.
The checker got up wobbling as she walked and swept up the worms and the guy’s clothes. I couldn’t even focus on her because I was so fixated on boy wonder.
“What’s your name?” he asked in his sort of low velvety voice that seemed natural to him.
I cleared my throat nervously. “Hailey Maize. What’s yours?”
I noticed he had a silver skull ring on his finger and now he was running it along the soda bottles in the glass fridge. The sounds were almost musical. I didn’t want to listen.
What the hell was wrong with me? I had never been this riled by any boy in my life. And it wasn’t because he was naked. There was just something about him that caught me in a way I didn’t even understand.
He picked up a bottle of something clear and bubbly. “Dylan Masters.”
“What?” His scent had caught my attention. It was like an ocean breeze with a hint of pine.
“That’s my name. Earth to Hailey.” He took a few more bottles and placed them in the basket.
“Are you going to wear that to the beach?” I asked, trying to suppress a smile.
“I think I might take them off just for the hell of it.” His expression was unreadable.
“Funny guy.”
“You think I’m kidding.” His voice lifted in amusement.
“I’m not sure.”
I glanced at the door as I walked with him to the open refrigerators. He put several packages of hotdogs in the basket and stacked up the buns until it was overflowing.
“You’re a chocolate girl,” he murmured with a wry smile as we stepped down the candy isle. He picked out the most expensive chocolate in the shape of a heart.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he meant anything by the romantic connotations. But whatever was going through his mind agitated my senses whether I could figure him out or not.
The checker was picking the worms out of the dust pan and putting them in a new box when we walked up to the counter.
Dylan picked up a sample bottle of something and sprayed it on his lithe body, first on his neck, then his chest, and finally on his stomach.
“What’s that?” I asked wondering when he was going to stop. My imagination was running wild as I watched him. The scent reminded me of a hot day in the forest when the pine needles are most pungent.
“It’s for keeping mosquitos off. Want some?” He held the bottle up to me, a wicked glint in his eyes. “Natural stuff.”
“No,” I laughed backing away. Just say thank you and leave—I kept thinking to myself. Don’t mention how he saved you years back. But I couldn’t help but wonder if his limp was a result of rescuing me.
“Works great. Sometimes I bathe in it.” The way he suppressed a smile, I got the feeling he was messing with me.
“Put those things away, woman,” he said teasingly to the store clerk.
To my surprise, she kind of giggled, in a coughing sort of way and left her chore to ring up Dylan’s items.
“You want your clothes back?” the lady asked. Her thin lips were pursed as she looked at him. I could tell he excited her.
“Wash them for me and I’ll pick them up in the morning.” He winked.
“Will do.” Her reply seemed overly pleasing.
That interaction perplex
ed me. We weren’t at a laundry mat. As if! But I continued with him toward the exit. Before the door slammed behind us, I looked back and saw the lady holding Dylan’s t-shirt up to her face while she deeply inhaled his scent. I really couldn’t blame her, but it was funny.
Suppressing a smile, I turned on my flashlight while he slung the bag of groceries over his shoulder.
“Where’s your flashlight?” I asked him.
“Didn’t bring one.” His boyish expression seemed distant, like he was thinking about something. I wondered if he remembered me from three years ago as well.
I scoffed. “I can’t believe you walked to the market in complete darkness.”
His eyes bored into me now. “I like a challenge.”
My mind whirled as he gazed at me like that. “Uh, what?” I didn’t even hear what he said. Just looking at him hurt.
The way he lifted his chin now gave me the feeling that he was amused. “And it wasn’t completely dark. Lanterns were lit at some of the campsites and that man in the hammock with the wolf had a lit cigarette.”
“And now there’s the stars,” I mumbled, trying to steady myself as I looked up at the vast sky.
He nodded though I got the feeling he was mocking me. “And there are the stars…” At that, he looked up too, glancing down at me from the corner of his eye. A mischievous grin formed on his face. “But when I walked to the market, they were mostly covered with clouds.”
“They’re beautiful now.” I gulped, hoping he wouldn’t notice how he affected me.
“Sure are,” he sighed. “Looks like a million diamonds sparkling on a black velvet cloth.”
I couldn’t fully appreciate the breathtaking view while my heart was pumping the blood so fast to my head.
“Turn off your flashlight,” he said in that voice that sort of whispered in his throat.
I looked at him perplexed, trying to act normal. Why the hell would I want to do that?”
“So you can experience what I did.”
“I just wanted to thank you for saving me in the woods the other night.”
“That was you?” His eyes widened in shock.
My eyebrows furrowed together. “Didn’t you know?”
He laughed. “Yeah, I knew.” He glanced down at my ankle. “Looks better.”
“Okay, so I’m going to go now,” I said suddenly as I rushed away.
“Wait,” he called out jogging after me.
But then, in the dark, someone stepped out of the bushes and grabbed onto my arm. It wasn’t Dylan.
CHAPTER FIVE
To die will be an awfully big adventure. –J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
I let out a scream.
A man pulled me around. I couldn’t see his face clearly. “You’re parents said to stay in the motorhome,” he said roughly.
“How do you know?” I tried to keep my voice from shaking.
“They told me to keep an eye on you.” His face was long and distorted in the shadows. It was so close to mine that I could feel the wetness of his breath. I thought of the dead boys and the human bite marks in their flesh.
He pulled me forward before I had a chance to respond and was dragging me by the arm through the darkness. Everything was happening so quickly.
“You better mind, girl,” the man growled under his breath.
“Let me go.” I struggled to get away.
But he grabbed me tighter and wouldn’t let up.
I started to whimper.
“Hey, Ranger Mike.” Dylan jogged up to the man and put his hand on his shoulder. “I’ll walk Hailey back to her campsite for her parents.”
“Who’s there?” Ranger Mike swung around suddenly and stopped in the darkness.
“It’s me, Dylan.”
“Oh, hello there, son.”
“How was your doctor’s appointment?” Dylan asked him as I stood there panting.
“Said I have a brain tumor.” His head dropped into his hands.
“I’m sorry, man.” Dylan shook his head. “What a shame.”
The man nodded. “You take her back and make sure she stays in.”
“Will do,” Dylan agreed.
The park ranger turned around and walked away toward his office.
“Come on,” Dylan whispered.
I tried to calm my thoughts. The whole thing frightened me so much that my skin felt clammy. I walked beside Dylan, not sure what to make of the entire event. “He scared the hell out of me,” I finally whispered.
“I wanted to bash his head in,” Dylan retorted. “You watch out for that dude. He’s not normal.”
“Maybe it’s the brain tumor making him crazy.”
“Whatever it is, I don’t trust him and I don’t like how he treated you.”
“Thanks for stepping in again,” I mumbled as I wondered why he cared.
“Turn off your flashlight,” he said for the second time. His voice rang of confidence.
“Why?”
“I want to show you what it is like to walk in the dark,” he whispered. “But now, there’s an added benefit. In the dark, Ranger Mike won’t know that I’m taking you with me.”
Butterflies fluttered uncontrollably in my stomach. Now I was sure I wanted to go. I wasn’t afraid of Dylan anymore, even though maybe I should have been. I was afraid of Ranger Mike. I didn’t want to be alone in the motorhome with that man knowing my parents were out.
“All right,” I replied, feeling more curious about him than the darkness. My fingers fumbled with the flashlight for a second before I got it off.
The obscurity took a moment before I really felt the full effects of the complete blackness before my eyes. I stopped, not sure where to step. My body tightened. I could hear Dylan breathing lightly, but I couldn’t see him. My forehead beaded up with perspiration.
“What if I’m the boogie man?” Dylan whispered close enough to my ear that I could feel the heat of his breath.
The fine hairs lifted on my arms and thighs. I didn’t respond. He smelled so good.
Now with the blackness surrounding me, my hearing became more enhanced. I noticed the sounds of the waves rolling on the shore below the rocky decline. The insects’ buzz became even louder. But nothing became as pronounced as the electricity I felt between Dylan and me.
The warm sea breeze brushed my shoulder. And even though Dylan wasn’t touching me, it was heart wrenchingly obvious that he was beside me. A foreign tingling sensation danced through my body.
“Come on,” he whispered, almost like he empathized with the torture I was going through.
“I’m afraid to lose you, afraid to smack into a tree.”
“You won’t. If it makes you feel better, take my hand.”
“Okay,” I murmured shyly, hardly able to believe that soon my skin would be pressed against his.
A moment later, I felt his warm hand in mine. It was gentle and reassuring. This boy had some sort of power over me that I had never experienced with any other person.
“So we’ll just take one step at a time. Keep your other hand out and if you bump into anything we’ll change course.” His musical voice was confident.
He led me onward like that for a while. I liked the experience. My body trembled at the occasional sounds of rustling in the trees overhead and the distant voices through the forest, yet the adrenaline rush made me feel like I never wanted the night to end.
Some of the campsites had lanterns like he said and one was even well lit with a family playing a board game at their picnic table. But really I could hardly pay attention to anything else but Dylan and his gentle touch as we walked blindly through the night.
“Where’s your campsite?” I asked, hoping he couldn’t hear my heart pounding in my chest.
He cleared his throat. “We’re sort of set off from the rest of the campers just below the drop by the tide pools.”
“Really?” I was surprised. “Why would your parents set up there?”
He repositioned his hand in mine. “My fol
ks aren’t here. I don’t live with them anymore and I certainly don’t camp with them.”
“What?” My eyes widened in astonishment though he couldn’t possibly see my expression in the darkness.
“I’m almost eighteen, so they kicked me out.” To my disappointment, he let go of my hand.
“That’s horrible.” My heart tightened.
“Tell me about it,” he mumbled as he slid his fingers through mine.
My cheeks became suddenly hot at his touch. “Why did they do that?” I gulped.
“My mother’s husband doesn’t like me. He wants my mother all to himself, I suppose. He’s such a…” I could tell he was about to curse him.
“That’s not cool.” I felt an empty feeling in my stomach.
“Some people might think it is.” His tone seemed slightly facetious.
“Why would some people think it is okay for a mother to kick out her child to make her husband happy? That’s not acceptable to me.”
“They said they would give me a hundred bucks a month for the first year.” His voice was steady. “Then I’m on my own. A lot of people think that’s generous, but for me all I really wanted was for them to want me.”
My heart sank at that. “That’s terrible. To me, your mother and step father sound like jerks. A hundred dollars isn’t enough money to live on. That doesn’t even cover the cost of food, let alone an apartment, supplies, or clothes…”
His voice became gruff. “They live in a big mansion and party all the time with their friends. They never wanted a kid.” There was an underlying intensity to his expression. I sensed that he was experiencing a lot of inner turmoil.
I just wanted to pull him into my arms and comfort him when he said that. I couldn’t imagine if my parents didn’t want me. They were everything to me. They were my life breath. “What about your birth father? Are you in touch with him?”
He sighed. “When I was fourteen, my mother and step father kicked me out the first time…” His voice was solid, but I sensed it was difficult for him to maintain control.
“They kicked you out before?”
“Yeah, when I was a kid.” His admittance seemed cold and indifferent. “I don’t usually tell people this.”
“Why did they kick you out that time?” I tried to contain the emotions I was feeling.
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