Something Of A Kind

by Wheeler, Miranda

  Suddenly, Luke jerked his chin in the air. “You know, if you want to geta perfect picture, you’ve got to get the beast out here.”

  “What are you talking about? I thought you were freaked,” Noah smirked. Owen’s brows knitted in suspicion. “I won’t be a coward,” Luke insisted, reaching down to lift a fallen branch jutting into the path. Stepping on one end, he broke most of the leaves off, struggling to hold it at shoulder level. With a quick thud, he cracked it against the tree, once, twice, until it was in pieces. Despite being thin and rotten, the sounds rang, reverberating. He flexed his hands, covered in dirt and wet bark fragments, palms red with skin irritation. Ignoring Owen’s ruthless glare, Luke instructed, “Now listen for knocks. They knock back and forth, Rolland said so.”

  The forest fell silent.

  Noah sighed.

  Aly held her breath.

  Luke glanced at her, a slow smile flooding his face. His gray eyes flashed, expressive and devious.

  “Don’t,” Owen warned, suddenly looking small, despite his brawn. “It’s not funny, man.”

  He looks terrified. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Luke let out a howl. It was more high-pitched than wolves or dogs, practically hooting, but still throaty, straight from the gullet.

  Pitching screeches erupted from the brush, sending a chill down her back. Noah’s hand tensed around her wrist.

  “Luke,” Owen whispered angrily, punching his friend in the arm. “Oh come on,” Luke groaned, rubbing the spot. “I was just messing with you. You went on and on, so damn sure of yourself. I thought I’d humble you. I was doing you a favor. Don’t give me that look. Come on, man, it was a joke! Nothing”

  Turning her head towards another knock, Aly expected Luke to have continued his harassment with sticks. Instead, a flash of motion shuffled in the trees. She lifted her phone, taking as many serial photographs as the loading would allow, hoping to catch something.

  She fell to the ground, screaming and pulling a knee to her chest before she realized what happened. Noah was at her side, warm arms curling beneath her knees and around her waist. He lifted her from the ground, speed-walking to a bench further down on the trail. He set her down with a squeak, her face twisted in pain.

  Blood slid down her ankle, scrapes covering most of her shin. The area around it was reddened, quickly purpling. Catching the words slipping out of her mouth, something garbled, she shut her lips, looking back to where it happened. A massive rock sat in the middle of the trail next to the phone she had dropped, Owen and Luke staring at it, skin ashen, faces deadpanned.

  I’m being such a big baby. “It hit me?” she whispered, thankful she wasn’t crying. The pain was starting, in floods, dull and throbbing where the heat of the cuts weren’t searing. The wound was dirty, wide. In denim shorts, her legs had no protection against the rough surface. She had never seen a bruise blacken so fast.

  Please don’t be broken. “I think it was… it was trying to hit a tree. The knocking,” Noah stuttered, hands fluttering, unsure what to do. She swallowed, lightly probing the forming contusion. Hitting a tender spot, she sucked air in through her teeth. He tensed.

  “It’s okay. I’m okay,” she insisted, enunciating each word slowly. She put a hand on his cheek, looking into his panicked eyes. “Thank you for helping. Do you mind grabbing my phone?”

  He nodded, running up the trail. By the time he returned, she was frowning, unsure what to do with the bleeding. Her leg pounded like a headache, stabs of pain rolling through the agonizing rawness.

  This is so gross. I’ve got Band-Aids and tissues, but my bag’s in the car. Sighing, she forced herself to look away, accepting the cell. She flipped through the pictures, a smile brightening her face. “It’s a black blur, but it’s definitely something. The trees are too yellowish to miss a thing like that.” Glancing up, she continued, “Did you see it?”

  His brows knitted. “I saw something – movement, a shadow maybe. You should get that looked at. We should probably get out of here.”

  She nodded, accepting his hand as she tried to stand. Wincing, she said, “Fair warning, I’ll look like The Hunchback of Notre Damefor a while.”

  “Want me to carry you?”

  Aly blushed, lips parting, shaking her head. “No, no, no. I’m good.”

  “I don’t mind. I lift frozen meat like wrestlers bench. It’s really not a problem,” he offered. “That’s an interesting mental imagine,” she teased. “But I insist on hobbling with dignity.” Offering her arm, she added playfully, “Be my crutch?”

  Wrapping an arm around her waist, he promised, “Always.”

  CHAPTER 12 | NOAH

  “So you think your leg is okay to walk?” Aly stretched it out in front of her, her shin covered in BandAids printed with various members of the Avengers. When Noah commented, she snickered, insisting that he shouldn’t ask.

  “It should be fine. It doesn’t even hurt at this point. Thank you, by the way.”

  He smiled. “Don’t mention it. So are you coming back to Yazzie’s or am I bringing you home?” Aly was silent, nibbling her lip in thought. Suddenly turning in her seat, she blurted, “Do you know where he works – my dad – where the facility is?”

  He raised a brow. “This is Ashland. There’s not much to know.”

  Geographically, anyway. “We should go there, right?” she asked, turning her phone side to side as though it could morph in the light. He couldn’t tell if she was mentally outlining the cover – hard plastic, an cartoon image of the Eiffel Tower and butterflies – or thinking of the pictures inside, which, at first, had seemed to make her ecstatic. Now, she looked concerned, on-edge, nerves rattled.

  Wait– she wants to make a report?

  “You said you don’t even believe he researches it – that you don’t know what he does.” She sighed. “I’ve been trying really hard not to think about it. It seemed so crazy– he’s uptight and boring, the bigfoot-thing is eccentric at best…”

  “But you thought about it anyway,” he finished, frowning. “A little,” Aly admitted, “It’s all over this town – the woods, the tunnels, even Luke and Owen are up to date, and they don’t seem to listen to much of anything.”

  “True,” he agreed, stifling a laugh. Sobering, he added, “Aly, I think a report is a bit extreme.” The idea of dragging Alyson defenseless into his father’s territory, under the line of fire, was unacceptable. The Elders had been making threats for months, and after whatever stirred the embers the day Dr. Glass showed up with Aly in tow hadn’t been good. If Lee were any more aware of how Noah spent his time with Aly, everything would go south fast. There would be hell to pay.

  But it hurt her. “He’s researching it, though. He must be. Why else would he cross the country for a little town? There’s not a whole lot here. Nothing he couldn’t study out of a university in one of the cities, Anchorage even. Think about it.”

  He laughed. “Aly, I don’t need to think about it. I know what he does.” “And I trust you,” she murmured, eyeing her leg. “My conclusion is that there must be a particular population of whatever we saw today.”

  “I…” he faltered, rubbing his neck. Forcing his eyes to stay on the road, he continued, “I don’t know what I saw.”

  From his peripheral, he saw her lips part in shock. Blinking, she pleaded, “Yes, you do.”

  “I wasn’t exactly jumping to the same conclusions the first night. We’ve heard stuff like that for years.” “It’s hard for me to believe, too. You must know that. I’ve always said, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ about almost everything, and guess what? We have. What more do you want?”

  Whatever it was, they both knew it was real and Aly was ready to drag it into the spotlight. He didn’t blame her.

  If she only knew how bad this could be. He sighed , scratching his head. “Aly, you need to understand. This has always been a joke for us. Nothing like this has ever happened.”

  “Me neither,” she whispered, slumping in her seat. Sh
e swallowed, staring out the window.

  “Aly,” he offered, helpless. “It’s fine.” “I didn’t mean to upset you,” he promised. Chewing his cheek, he offered, “It’s a little office uptown, a ways off the main road. I’d be happy to take you.”

  Hesitantly, she asked, “Do you think it was the wood beast?”

  Voice soft, he confessed, “Yeah, I do.”

  “But you don’t want to report it.” He glanced at her. Hair falling across her face, she had a leg tucked beneath her. Fingers wrought, wide-eyed, she waited for an explanation. If he wasn’t driving, he might have kissed her.

  This is important to her. “No, I want to,” he decided. “You have pics, right? You should probably help out with whatever they’re doing.” As he pressed a button on the stereo, it switched to the clock screen. He grimaced. “I really have to get home, though. You can go tonight, and I’ll head over tomorrow. Or you can meet me after work and we’ll go together.”

  “I can go,” she confirmed, tentative. “You’re sure my dad works there?”

  Noah rested a hand on her knee. “Trust me?” Sounding confused and amazed, she laughed. “I guess I do.”

  He grinned. Not wrong at all.

  ~

  Pushing through the doors of Yazzie’s, Noah stopped in his tracks, frowning. Luke and Owen looked up, simultaneous and guilty. Their hands clasped in front of them, sitting at opposite sides of a single’s table usually taken by elderly couples.

  Considering they bicker like one. It had been that way since they were kids, the two hilarious and passive-aggressive with blood brother loyalty. Noah had always been the referee, or sometimes a front-row spectator or occasional antagonist– the mellow one, the sanest. It had never troubled him before.

  It’s never hurt anyone before. “I hope you girls are reconciled,” Noah smirked. Dropping his hoodie on the table, he crossed his arms. “Otherwise, I’m afraid for any more innocentbystanders.”

  “We had no control over that. How would he know it would come out? We weren’t even sure it was there. You said it wasn’t. Isn’t that right, Young?” Owen defended, face reddened. Luke’s eyes grew wide. “You think it’s my fault she got hurt?”

  “Nah, it’s not like you threw it. I don’t know if you could lift it,” Noah sighed, pulling a chair over. “So what the hell was all that about?”

  “Obviously bigfoot,” Luke snickered. “Hunt nearly pissed himself.”

  “And Young nearly got your girlfriend killed.”

  “It was just a stone!”

  “That could’ve hit her head,” Owen insisted.

  “I’m starting to think it hit yours,” Noah interrupted, running his hands through his hair. “It’s starting to get annoying.”

  “So Aly isyour girlfriend,” Luke frowned, lost in thought as he rocked his chair.

  “I didn’t say that.” “Then she isn’t?” Owen’s head rested on the table. Arms crossed, his hands disappeared in the crevices of his elbow. Noah resisted the urge to kick him, their feet nearly bumping.

  “I didn’t say that either.”

  “So which is it?” Luke continued. “Why do you even care?” Noah groaned, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. The guys exchanged a knowing look. “Dude, you spend every single day scrubbing your dad’s broken floors and scraping gum off of tables that belong in a nursing home. I’ve never met a guy so obsessed with coasters, and-” Luke ranted, arms waving wildly.

  “You realize you’re eighteen, right? That's sick. Like, old lady behavior. Not good.” Owen looked up as he chastised, fingers smacking is palm with each syllable to reiterate.

  “Just go for it. What do you have to lose? Your life sucks anyway.” “I've seen you twice this week. Twice. Not in school, but actually breathing oxygen or whatever. Twice because of Aly. You're not sleeping”

  “Brooding really,” Luke interrupted.

  “-when she's around, you pay attention,” Owen continued.

  “And she's hot.” Luke added.

  “And nice.”

  “And not from Alaska's favorite armpit-”

  “-Assland,” Owen finished. “It’s all good with her! That girl is a vanilla hurricane. And you’re an Arabian night, my friend.”

  “Alaskan nights.” Owen joked, layering thick sarcasm.

  “You and Alyson Glass, like white on rice-” Luke stood, planting his hands on his hips as they made a jerky circle. “Are you seriously gyrating right now?” Noah raised his eyebrows, only half mock concern. It was a silent agreement to let it go, releasing his irritability. “Well, that’s terrifying.”

  “Awkward andconfusing,” Owen added.

  “Compliments to the chef!” Luke shouted, kissing pinched fingers and flicking them towards the water-damaged ceiling.

  “Will you shut up?” Noah laughed. “It’s not like that.”

  “Of course it's not.” “Young, what are you even saying? I don’t know what you’re even saying right now. Locklear, what the hell is he talking about?” Owen intervened, looking back and forth between them.

  “No idea.” “You don’t know? Bro, I don’t even know. That’s why it’s beautiful,” Luke snorted, drawing out each syllable as though they were separate words. “So, is she?”

  Noah glanced at his wrist. It was growing irritated, his fingers tracing the ink raw. He had offered his necklace and let the artist work it up. When he saw the design on paper, he knew he wanted it. Nothing else mattered – not the fresh paycheck in his pocket, not Tony’s cautious warnings to consider it fully, not what anyone would think. It suited him, spoke to him– rebirth, second chances – clichés he would have killed for. It came easily, saying yes, putting everything he had on the table. He had been prepared to sit through the cost of marking his skin – pain, time, lectures. He knew full and well that it would graze the bone.

  “You sure, man?” The guy had asked. “It’s pretty big for your first. Thick lines, black ink, and the wrists… it’s gonna hurt and it’s gonna take a while. You prepared for this?”

  Aly was a different desire– different, obscure, complicated, but maybe just as wrong.

  He looked at his friends. They exchanged a glance, grins spreading.

  “I hope so.” Noah shrugged, swallowing. “Is that wrong?”

  Luke shook his head. Owen shrugged

  Both said, “Not wrong at all.” CHAPTER 13 | ALYSON

  “You’re sure you want to do this?” It wasn’t the first time he had asked. Noah had pulled over, bringing it up again at the town’s only stoplight, paused outside of the parking lot, and offered to leave again while idling inside it.

  Though Aly knew he had somewhere to be, Noah didn’t seem rushed or anxious. Instead, they both sat buckled, sneaking sidelong glances. Her hands were folded around the phone in her lap. Noah kept one loosely folded eleven o’clock on the wheel, the other on her knee. He hadn’t started the ignition to leave, and she hadn’t worked up the courage to step out.

  Stalemate. Unable to answer just yet, she bit her lip. Nodding towards the flashy silver in a reserved space, she observed, “I think that’s Greg’s SUV. I guess he’s home early.”

  “I thought it was at the diner.”

  She swallowed, nerves twisting in her stomach. “Me, too.” “Jerky,” he commented, having jumped to the same conclusion as her. Greg got impatient and controlling and dug for the extra keys.

  Did he lie about the trip? “I’ll take you in the morning. You can figure out what you’re going to say,” he added, squeezing her knee. “I’ll take you home right now, if that’s what you want. Or you can come back with me. You don’t have to go alone.”

  Aly shook her head, hair falling across her cheeks. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to push it back in the tight French braid her mother adored, or spend the night hiding behind it.

  Noah’s hesitation had keyed doubts in her testimony, forcing her to consider the motives she couldn’t identify. It seemed strange his support now was the only thing keeping
her brave enough to go through with it.

  He tucked the strayed curls behind her ear and twisted in his seat to face her. She sighed, raising a hand to cover his as it rested on her cheek. Closing her eyes, she focused on his warmth, like fire after sundown. When they fluttered open, Noah leaned close. He kissed her forehead, pulling her into an encompassing embrace. Pressed against his chest, his touch sent heat through her skin. Her hands rested against his muscular back, sliding to fold across his spine as her arms crossed. Breathing in his scent, Aly shivered.

  “Whatever you decide, it’s going to be okay,” he promised.

  “I know,” she whispered. “I’m ready.” As she unbuckled and gathered her things, Noah kissed her. Trying to hold onto the courage she felt when he made her tremble, she waved after shutting the door. He didn’t start the engine until Aly stopped looking back.

  The office was pushed back in the trees down the road from Yazzie’s, almost curling onto a side-street, the building’s back to the marina. At least two stories high with reflective glass paneling, double-door entrances, and a lit-up marble walkway, the building was fantastical compared to the town’s standard structures. A sign illuminated with lawn lighting read: North American Ape Research Corporation: Ashland, Alaska Satellite Office, labeling the pristine building.

  Shouldn’t it say ‘organization’? It was too pretty for Ashland from the outside in. The floors were covered in tan tiling, swirling gray patterned carpets picking up in the various hallways. Couches surrounded one of three lobby flatscreens. An artsy coffee table covered in brochures displayed like a game of solitaire was placed in the center. Freestanding chairs were lined and stacked along the outer walls, broken up by miniature trash cans or bedside-sized tables stacked with magazines, tissues, and lamps. The high ceilings looked as though they were falling apart, but the place was otherwise immaculate. The curved front desk looked more like the check-in to a hotel than an office lobby to an unknown researcher facility. Despite warm cream walls, it felt like the waiting room to a teaching hospital.