Forks, Book Two

by A. E. Davis

  “Great. Thanks.”

  “Oh. I have fishnets too, in my lingerie drawer if you want to borrow them.”

  “Okie dokie.” I didn’t bother to ask why she had fishnets. I didn’t want to know.

  Ken and Mom were all excited about giving out candy to the kids. I wasn’t sure if they would actually show up but didn’t want to voice that to them. No need to squash their enthusiasm. Once Ken showed, Mom was thankfully in a better mood.

  Taking a break from getting ready, I walked downstairs to get a drink.

  Ken and Mom were on the couch, playing cards. “What’s up, kiddo?” Ken asked cheerily from across the room.

  “Not much. Just getting a drink.” I made my way into the kitchen and got a glass of water. There was something cooking and it smelled fantastic. On cue, my belly grumbled. Grabbing a few pretzels to snack on, I made my way out of the kitchen.

  “I hear you’re going to the annual costume party at La Push,” Ken said.

  “Yep.” I took a sip of water and walked over to the couch. I was still in sweats and t-shirt but I had already blown out my hair.

  “Make sure you stay in the lit areas and don’t walk outside by yourself.”

  “I will, I mean, I won’t.”

  “Good.” He looked back down at his cards and picked one up from the deck in the middle of the coffee table.

  Mom glanced over at the clock. “Amber, you better hurry.”

  “I’m almost ready,” I said, squashing down a surge of irritation. “What’s that delicious smell?”

  “It’s vegetable beef stew.” Ken beamed.

  “Ken’s got it in the Crockpot,” Mom piped in.

  “It smells amazing.”

  “I’ll save you some,” Ken said.

  “Thanks.”

  “There’s candy over there if you want some.” Ken motioned to a large bowl on the table by the front door.

  “Thanks. But I think I’ll pass for right now.”

  “Suit yourself.” Ken picked up a card and gave Mom a cheesy grin. “Rummy!” He laid his cards down.

  Mom groaned.

  “Two out of three,” Ken asked, shuffling the deck.

  “Oh, all right,” Mom, sighed.

  “I better go finish getting ready.”

  “Okay,” Mom said absently, frowning at the hand of cards Ken dealt for her.

  I left them to their game and made my way upstairs.

  Shockingly, I was ready on time to meet Glinda. I gave my appearance the once over in front of the long mirror in Mom’s room. The pirate costume was pretty skimpy. It had a short skirt with white crinoline underneath that made it poufy. The black faux corset had strings, which tied up the front. Underneath that was a white blouse that fell off the tops of my shoulders. My boobs looked bigger too, and I didn’t mind that so much. I even did my makeup and used some of Mom’s black eyeliner and mascara. She talked me into using some red lipstick. And even to my own critical eyes, I looked pretty good—for me.

  I didn’t really have any shoes that would work so I opted to wear my black ankle boots with the pair of fishnet stockings Mom said I could borrow.

  All in all, I decided that I didn’t look half bad—earlier when I ran downstairs again to get my bag, Mom even said my makeup looked good but I wasn’t putting much stock in what she said. I was just happy she didn’t say I still looked piqued.

  As I turned away from the mirror and grabbed my cloak, I was feeling pretty good about my costume choice.

  And even though I was bummed that Vincent was going to be there with Cressida, I was also excited about the night and what it might bring, or more accurately put, who I might see. Of course there was a small part of me, scratch that, huge part, that wanted to see Viktor but I wasn’t too sure he would be there. So, I tried not to get my hopes up on that count—I decided to just have fun, no matter who was or wasn’t there.

  “Amber,” Mom yelled when I was halfway down the stairs.

  “You have company,” she called a little too cheerily from the living room.

  As my foot landed on the last step, I looked up. So shocked by who I saw, I miss stepped and fell forward.

  Two hands grabbed me, stopping me from hitting the floor.

  I looked up into a pair of light gray eyes and my breath caught.

  “You okay?” his voice came out velvety—like a caress and not surprisingly, had a similar effect.

  “Ah…yeah.” When he let me go, I grabbed hold of the banister. My legs felt rubbery.

  “Amber, come over here, so I can see you,” Mom called.

  “In a minute.”

  A slow grin spread across his face and my heart involuntarily jumped into double time. “Wow.” His eyes swept over me. “You look amazing.”

  “Thanks.” My face heated, as did the rest of me from his compliment. He was wearing a ripped up flannel shirt with a white t-shirt underneath and jeans torn up at the bottom and the knees. I had never seen Viktor looking so—unkempt.

  “So…what are you doing here?” I pushed off the banister, finally able to stand of my own volition.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced over at the sofa.

  I did too. Mom was craning her neck. “Um. No.”

  “I’m picking you up.” His expression was reserved —guarded.

  “But I was supposed to meet Glinda.” I didn’t know why I was arguing with him. Hadn’t I been hoping to see him—and now he was here, right in front of me.

  “We’re still getting her.”

  “Oh. OH! When did this happen?”

  “She called earlier to talk to Vincent and I answered.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She invited me to come out with you two, and as you can see, I said yes.” He smiled and my belly did another funky flip.

  “Amber…” Mom called again.

  “Can you hold on a minute?” I was going to kill my mom.

  “Sure.”

  I walked around him, over to the living room. Mom was practically leaning over the edge of the couch.

  “How do I look?” I mouthed to her.

  “You look really pretty and sexy.”

  “Mom…”I groaned, afraid he heard.

  “Well, you do.”

  Thanks Mom.” It was one of the nicest things she had ever said to me…actually, let me rephrase…it may have been the nicest thing she had ever said to me.

  “Stand up straight. You’re slouching.”

  I pushed my shoulders back. “Better?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going out with Viktor?” she asked, keeping her voice low. Thank God.

  “I didn’t know,” I whispered back and then peeked over my shoulder. Viktor had his back turned, looking at one of Mom’s prints on the wall. It was of a man wrapping a woman in a blanket, entitled “The Kiss.” Mom loved it and thought it was romantic. I thought it was ugly and a bit unsettling.

  “Viktor,” Mom called cheerily.

  I cringed.

  “Yes, Ma’am.” He walked over beside me.

  “He had such good manners,” she tittered, making eyes at me.

  My face turned five shades of red.

  “So…Viktor…where’s your costume?” She crossed her arms over the edge of the sofa.

  “I’m wearing it.”

  Me and Mom both gave him a questioning look.

  He pulled a mask out of his back pocket and tugged it over his head. “See.” He held out his arms.

  My throat went dry.

  He was wearing a wolf mask.

  Mom recovered first. “How wonderful! Now Amber will have a counterpart to her costume. She was really worried about that.”

  Oh. My. God! Seriously, Mom? Now was not the time to tell him my insecurities.

  Viktor pulled off his mask and his hair stuck up at awkward angles. “Not following.” He glanced back over at me.

  “Didn’t you notice…” Mom said. “Amber is Red
Riding Hood.”

  “Oh.” His brows creased. “I thought she was a pirate.”

  Mom laughed—it was a stupid loud obnoxious laugh. “I told you, Amber.”

  “I haven’t put on my cape yet.”

  “Cool. We’ll match.” Viktor’s eyes glittered.

  “Yeah, cool.” I swallowed hard.

  Ken walked out of the kitchen with two glasses of wine. “Whoa, look at you two.” It seemed he was still in his chipper mood and for once, he didn’t act weird when he saw Viktor.

  “What are you two?” he asked as he made his way around the couch and handed Mom her wine.

  “Can’t you tell?” Mom asked, taking the glass of wine from his outstretched hand.

  “Well, let me see.” He gave us the once over. “Amber is a pirate and …”

  Mom snorted into her glass.

  “I’m Red Riding Hood, Ken.” I glared at Mom.

  “And you’re…” He looked pointedly at Viktor.

  “The Big Bad Wolf,” Viktor deadpanned.

  Ken’s face turned red. “Oh.”

  So much for his chipper mood. “We should get going,” I said to Viktor, trying to break and run before they humiliated me any further.

  “Wait!” Mom yelled a bit too loudly. “I need a picture of you two.”

  “Mom…” I groaned.

  “Sure,” Viktor piped in before I could say no.

  “Ken, can you grab the camera?”

  “Of course.” He set his wine glass on the coffee table and lifted the camera. “Amber, move closer.” He waved his hand to the left.

  I did as Ken instructed and moved closer to Viktor.

  “Amber, your cloak,” Mom reminded me.

  “Oh. Right.” I grabbed my cloak and tossed it on my shoulders as Viktor pulled back out his mask.

  “Wait!” Mom yelled again, a little less loud. “Do one without the mask and one with.”

  “Sorry,” I mouthed to Viktor as I stepped next to him.

  “I don’t mind.” He slung his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close.

  I turned to face the camera. Ken was frowning as he clicked off a few shots.

  “Now one with the mask,” Mom piped in.

  Viktor lifted his arm from my shoulder and tugged on his mask.

  He looked down at me. A uneasy feeling sweep over me as I looked back up at him.

  Ken snapped off a few more shots.

  “Got them,” Ken said and promptly set the camera down.

  Viktor tugged back off his mask, revealing his beautiful face once more, and the uneasy feeling I had, thankfully dissipated.

  The air was crisp and the moon was full, glowing brightly from its lofty perch in the sky. It was really pretty but also kind of freaky since Viktor was dressed up as a wolf. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” I was afraid he would try to drive us over a cliff again.

  He glanced over at me and my stomach flipped. “I promised I wouldn’t do that again,” he said. “When you’re with me,” he amended.

  “You said you wouldn’t do it again, at all.”

  “I won’t do it again.”

  “Even if I’m not with you?” I clarified.

  He exhaled and white swirled in the air. “Yes, Amber. Even when you aren’t with me.”

  That should have made me feel better but it didn’t. He opened the passenger door. “Do you need help getting inside?”

  “I think I can manage.”

  “Okay.” He turned and walked away. Granted it did take a few tries to get inside with my cloak on but I finally managed to get in the seat just as his door opened. Situating myself on the soft leather, I pulled the seatbelt over and hooked it.

  He started the truck and looked over at me. “You ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.” And then I freaked because that was the exact thing he said to me before he drove like a crazy person.

  His lips tugged up into a slow knowing grin—it was just a hint of a smile but it still made butterflies whirl in my stomach. He put the truck in reverse and backed slowly out of the driveway.

  Braking, he put the truck in drive and crept forward. “Is this slow enough for you?”

  “You can go faster than this.”

  “Good.” He punched the gas and my neck snapped.

  “Not that fast!” I braced my hands on the dash.

  He hit the brakes. We came to a screeching halt and my body jerked forward. “Donkeyhole.”

  His eyes glittered with amusement. “Sorry. My foot slipped.”

  The words may have come from his mouth but his expression told me different—he wasn’t sorry at all.

  “Where are we meeting Glinda?” I was going to meet her at the Timber Museum parking lot, again, but the plans may have changed.

  “About that…” He glanced over at me, looking sheepish.

  I had a bad feeling about this. “We’re not getting Glinda are we?”

  “Well, no.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s not what you think,” he added quickly. “She said to meet her there.”

  “But we were supposed to go together.” I pulled out my phone, about to text her.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Finding out where she is?”

  “You don’t believe me?” There was a slight edge to his voice.

  “I didn’t say that. It’s just…well, I had plans with her and she hasn’t texted me.”

  “Go on then.” His jaw tensed.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. If you don’t believe me, by all means, text her.”

  Great. Now what was I supposed to do? If I texted her, he would think I didn’t believe him and if I didn’t text her, I wouldn’t know if she was okay with me not meeting her. I fiddled with my phone, not sure what to do.

  Stilted silence stretched between us. I looked out my window, seeing nothing.

  ”Get the Funk out,” blasted out breaking into the deafening silence. Startled by the noise, I dropped my phone. Leaning forward, I grabbed it off the floor and hit the answer button. “Hello.”

  “Where are you?” Glinda asked.

  “Ah…” I glared over at Viktor but he kept his gaze on the road ahead. “I’m sorry…”

  “I knew it.”

  “What?”

  “I knew you weren’t going to be ready on time. That’s why I told Viktor to get you.”

  “You did?” I glanced back at Viktor but this time instead staring at the road he gave me a smug “I told you so” look.

  “We’re on our way.”

  “Well, hurry up. I’m waiting for you outside.”

  “Where’s Peter?”

  “He’s running late.”

  “Oh, okay. We’ll be there…” I glanced back to Viktor.

  “About fifteen minutes,” he said, answering my unasked question.

  “Viktor says we’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

  “Fine. Hurry up.”

  “Kay.”

  “Amber…”

  “Yeah…”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  “Why would I be…?”

  “Because I sent Viktor over. You’re not mad are you?”

  “No. I’m not.” I glanced over at Viktor wondering if he could hear our conversation, but he was staring out the windshield.

  “Are you happy I sent him over?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I knew you would be.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Oh no. You’re not getting off the hook that easily,” she said. “You owe me big.”

  “I do.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “Fine. I owe you…”

  “Big…”

  “Yes. Big.”

  She giggled in that maniacal way of hers but for once I didn’t mind it in the least. “See you soon.”

  “Yep. See you.”

  The line went dead.

  “That was Glinda,” I said, stupidly, feeling like a j
erk for not believing him.

  “I gathered that.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.”

  “But…”

  “It’s okay.” He reached over and grabbed my hand and squeezed it in his cold one. “It’s okay,” he said again and for the first time since I met him, I felt like everything really was going to be okay.

  fifty four

  As we pulled past the “No Vampires Allowed” sign, Viktor visibly tensed. Bracing myself, I waited for him to drive like a maniac but he didn’t. Instead, he drove like a normal person, keeping to his word. As soon as we pulled into the lot, it started to rain. Buckets of water dumped from the skies down on the windshield. He hit the wipers.

  “Wow. It’s really coming down.”

  “Yep, sure is,” he agreed and glanced over at me.

  I gave him a small but meaningful smile.

  He didn’t smile back.

  “I’m going to drop you off at the door, all right?”

  I was about to argue but remembered I had on a rental. “Um, okay.”

  “I’ll park and meet you inside.”

  “Don’t you want me to wait out front?”

  “Nah. I don’t know how long I’ll be. The lot is pretty full.”

  “Oh. Okay.” It was true. The lot was packed. “It wasn’t nearly as crowded the last time I was here,” I mused.

  “Halloween is a big deal around these parts.” He pulled alongside the curb.

  “So I see.” I put my hand on the handle.

  “Hey Amber?”

  “Yeah?” Something akin to dread washed over me as I turned around.

  “I’m really glad I got to know you.”

  “Yeah, me too.” I frowned, and my heart picked up pace.

  “Don’t forget about me.”

  “Oh, I won’t,” I assured him, thinking he was being funny but he wasn’t smiling like I thought he would be.

  A few kids darted in front of his truck onto the sidewalk, seeking cover from the rain under the canopy. I looked for Glinda but didn’t see her.

  “See you in few,” I said, looking back at him.

  Viktor looked out the windshield, a solemn expression on his face.

  “Viktor?”

  He turned. “Yeah.”

  “Are you okay?” He seemed sad.

  “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Oh, no reason.” I frowned and gathered the bottom of my cloak up in my hands.