Novel Hearts

by Rebecca Boucher

  “That’s what I’ve been told, too,” the Guardian said softly, holding Ruby’s dark seductive gaze. It was her eyes. They had that effect on boys.

  Ruby wasn’t quite sure where this was going, but she seemed to have diverted some of the attention off her father. She smiled brightly, feeling Kent’s eyes burning a hole in her back. “I don’t suppose you’d walk me to school, so we could catch up?” she asked. When she sensed Dylan’s hesitation, she added, “Also, I was hoping you’d tell me a bit about Grams. She comes off like this sweet little old lady, but I have a sneaking suspicion she’s a force to be reckoned with.” She laughed as she slid her arm through his, guiding him along the sidewalk. Dylan, obviously enamored with Ruby, laughed and told her a story about Grams climbing a tree just last year at 79 to save a cat. Ruby smiled up at the Guardian, but she was painfully aware they would need to pass by his friend. The tension between her and Kent was palpable. She hoped Dylan didn’t notice. Ruby laughed and nodded every time is was expected. As they got closer to Kent, she stuck her tongue out at him so Dylan couldn’t see as they passed so, then smiled sweetly. She knew it was childish, but she didn’t care. As he grimaced, she turned to listen intently to Dylan’s animated account of the story about Grams without missing a beat.

  ***

  Ruby never experienced anything like the phenomenon that took place shortly after meeting Dylan. A whirlwind romance ensued like something straight from a romantic comedy. The lovely Miss Hood was the talk of both the school and the town. First, the students were amazed that Dylan had latched on to the new girl so quickly. They called it a fluke and made bets about when it would end and if he would ruin her. He had quite the reputation as a lady killer. The rumor mill at the high school was nothing compared to the trash the townsfolk spoke in Woodsville … especially the Otherly Naturals. No one seemed comfortable with the Guardian dating a wolf. The murders from eight years ago even surfaced in certain circles, and the fact that two of the victims were the parents of the young couple, unnerved some.

  Regardless of what others said, Ruby and Dylan were completely enamored with each other. The differences in their culture didn’t seem to be a problem. They spent hours staring into each other’s eyes with their fingers laced; smiling … completely oblivious of the rest of the world. Puppy love, many people called it. Even though no one stated it outright, many hoped it would be over soon, but no one more than Kent Wolf. The hatred between the Huntsman and the wolf seemed to increase with each day. Ruby refused to spend any more time than necessary with Kent … and he felt the same way about her. They were natural enemies and neither of them had any desire to change that.

  While most people—except Kent—thought Ruby was a charming young girl, many people in the town worried about her father, remembering the loose cannon that went off half cocked after losing his wife. They didn’t seem to remember the outstanding man, husband and father he had been before grief took over. These days, Tyler Hood seemed off to most people, but no one could quite put their finger on it. He showed up for work every day on time and he went straight home after work to spend time with his family. He appeared to have let go of the events eight years ago and the idea that a conspiracy surrounded the death of Ruby’s mother. He smiled as he waved to neighbors and was congenial to all he came across—except Police Chief Kevin Wolf. The two had yet to cross paths, that was, until the bomb was left on the front door of the high school.

  Ruby wasn’t exactly sure what day it was when she thought about it later, but she knew it was a week or so before the highly anticipated Valentine’s Day Dance. She was returning some items to the chemistry lab for Mr. Walters, the head of the science department. It was her free period and she chose to spend it as a teacher’s assistant for the science department, as she enjoyed spending time with inventors and scientists. She especially enjoyed watching—or even participating in—any experiments they might perform. Since the timeline for the Woodsville Science Fair had just begun, Ruby spent most of her free periods unpacking and delivering needed materials to teachers and classrooms. When the first announcement came over the speaker she froze, “Woodsville High, we are under a lockdown. Woodsville High, we are under a lockdown.”

  Ruby didn’t move for a whole five seconds racking her brain about everything she was supposed to do, but couldn’t remember. For all the previous drills, she was in a class. Now, she was alone in the tiny storage room of the chemistry lab on the fourth floor of the main building, in the most remote location on campus. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be stuck here by herself for an undermined amount of time. “Out the door, dummy,” she said to herself. “Get out of here before you get locked in.”

  So, Ruby walked quickly to the door. She reached for the handle, but the door flew open toward her, cracking her in the nose, sending her tumbling to the ground. Then, a flustered boy crashed through the door and plowed right into Ruby. By the time, she gathered herself together and stood upright again, the door locked automatically. The boy stood by the window and strained to look through the slits in the bars, while Ruby pulled on the door and cursed.

  “OUCH, man! I wanted out! What’s going on out there? Are we sure we want to be trapped in this room? Is this a drill or what?” Ruby shouted at the boy.

  “It’s a bomb threat,” the boy said, but didn’t turn around, peeking through the slit in the window as the SWAT team and bomb squads arrived. “A bomb was delivered to the school this morning.”

  “What? How do you know that? What?!” Ruby paced and began to panic.

  “A little bird told me,” the boy said.

  “Why weren’t we evacuated then?” Ruby demanded, trying to rationalize the situation.

  “Not sure. My guess is that the box was sent to one of the other buildings. That building was evacuated, but the other two buildings were locked down. We’re probably safer here than out there. At least until they can determine the scope of the bomb.”

  “That makes sense, I guess,” Ruby exhaled and sat down. She reached into her back pocket to retrieve her cell phone.

  “No service. Even if there was, they’ve blocked it by now … to be on the safe side,” he warned. “It’s just you and me, wolfie.”

  Ruby looked up and her eyes narrowed. She studied the figure in front of her as she stared out the window and rolled her eyes. “Oh shit.”

  “Believe me, sister, I’m just as excited,” Kent Wolf turned and stared at Ruby Hood.

  Ruby sucked in a breath. Why hadn’t she noticed how attractive her archenemy was? He leaned his muscular body lazily against the lab tables. His square jaw line was speckled with light stubble and his chiseled features only enhanced his steel blue eyes.

  “Just some alone time with my favorite gal,” he said, leering at Ruby as if she were prey.

  “You and me both,” Ruby huffed. Annoyed, she stood up and paced again as her mind raced a mile a minute. Stuck here with him? For how long? UGH!!! Finally, her annoyance slowed and rational thought took over. “Why did you come in here anyway?” she asked cautiously.

  “It’s the safest room at the school. It’s been structurally enhanced to protect against certain threats,” he said, peering out the window.

  “Really?” Ruby asked, inching closer to Kent. She was dying to see what he found so intriguing.

  “No, but there’s a stash of food in the back room and a fairly decent view of the parking lot,” he replied, matter of fact.

  Ruby couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He spun around and stared at he; her laughter was infectious. He couldn’t help but smile at her as he scooted to the side, allowing her a peek out the window.

  “So seriously … what do we know?” Ruby asked, standing on her tippy toes to see the ruckus outside. Hordes of police cars, some government vehicles, and a SWAT van pulled up as people in hazmat suits with dogs roamed the area, as other men in suits and sunglass swarmed the area.

  “Not a whole lot. A package was dropped off outside the office of the Annex building. No
one seems to know how it got there, but there’s a bunch of wires and a timer. I suppose the bomb squad is checking its authenticity now. If it’s a fake, we should be out any time. If it’s real, hopefully they can disarm it and get us out of here soon.” Kent paused to look at Ruby. “I’m going to hunt for food. You stay here and keep watch.” Kent grinned somewhat lopsidedly.

  Ruby chuckled, rolled her eyes and turned back to watch the scene unfold. Nothing like fear of the unknown to bring two enemies together, Ruby mused to herself. She hoped this was the start of something good and positive. If she and Kent could be friends—or at least friendly—it would make her life much easier. She loved being near Dylan, but she hated the animosity Kent provided, and he was around all the time. She was shaken from her thoughts when a box fell from up high and crashed to the ground. Ruby heard Kent groan while he was rummaging through the back of the science room.

  “You okay?” She called, worried.

  “Jackpot!” he shouted back.

  “Anything good?” she asked.

  Silence.

  “Kent? What’s going on? Are you okay?” She stood up and walked back to the small storage room, and was met with more silence.

  Kent stumbled from the room recklessly with a blue face and bulging eyes, trying to breathe, pointing to his throat.

  “Oh shit!” Ruby said, rushing to his side. Without thinking, she grasped her hands right underneath his rib cage and balled her fists. “Hang on. You’re going to be fine,” she said coolly, then thrust her hands back into his stomach, performing the Heimlich maneuver. Suddenly, a large chuck of granola flew from Kent’s mouth. He gasped for breath and laughed to keep from panicking. Ruby patted his back, reaching for one of the bottles of water setting on the table. She picked one up and handed it to him. “You okay?”

  “Uh … huh … thanks to you …” he moaned as the water hit his throat.

  “It was nothing; I took a CPR class last summer. I had to be certified to work at the children’s summer camp last year. No biggie.” Ruby looked at him and shrugged, then hesitantly turned and walked back to the window.

  He grabbed her by the arm and flung her around to face him. “Yes, it is a big deal. You just saved my life. A wolf just saved the life of a Huntsman. Not the norm. It is a big deal, Ruby Hood. It’s a game changer, at least for me. I owe you my life.”

  She studied him hard and opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the loud speaker. “This is the ALL CLEAR, Woodsville. Repeat, this is the ALL CLEAR. All students, staff and personnel, please make your way to the quad.”

  “You don’t owe me anything. We’d better go. We wouldn’t want to add to the confusion,” Ruby said, taking her arm out of his grip, then stalked to the door. She flung it open and moved through the corridor with great speed.

  “This isn’t over, Hood,” Kent shouted after her. He grabbed an unopened granola bar, tore it open, brought it to his mouth, then stopped. He stared at the bar, chuckled uncomfortably and threw it in the trash, grabbed a bottle of water and headed toward the quad.

  ***

  A barrage of people hustled and bustled about the quad. Ruby found Dylan and his football cronies in the center of the quad, handing out water and helping to check people in. Once the students had checked in, they were allowed to leave. Many parents were loitering around frantically in search of their children.

  “Dylan!” Ruby called, speeding up the closer she got to him. He turned and grinned broadly. She jumped into his arms, squealing loudly as he swung her around.

  “Ah, Ruby! I’m so glad you’re okay! Where were you?” Dylan asked, smiling.

  “I was in the science lab. It was my free period and I was returning some stuff for Mr. Walters when the threat came over the intercom.

  “We survived, thankfully,” a voice rang out from behind Ruby.

  She cringed slightly at the sound of his voice. She didn’t know why, but suddenly she didn’t want Dylan to know she had saved Kent’s life only moments before.

  “I’m glad, my man,” Dylan said happily, holding out his hand to shake Kent’s. “You guys were locked in there together?” Dylan laughed loudly. “I’m surprised you didn’t rip each other’s throats out.”

  “Nah, man. The exact opposite, actually,” Kent said, looking into Ruby’s onyx eyes.

  She stared intently back, silently willing him not to tell Dylan. She had no idea why, but she had a terrible feeling about what might come from it.

  Dylan turned around momentarily to check in a scared young freshman, handing her a bottle of water. Then, he paused, looking from Ruby to Kent. “Huh? What exactly happened in there?”

  “Ah, nothing. We had plenty of food and water. In fact, we could’ve survived the apocalypse in that room,” Kent joked, slapping his buddy on the back. “Hey, look, I’ll catch you guys later. I need to find Kayla and see if she’s had some sort of dramatic girl breakdown.

  “Catch ya later, man. Peace.” The two boys said in unison before they did some sort of elaborate handshake.

  Ruby stared vacantly at them with a smile plastered on her face, wondering why she didn’t want Dylan to know what happened, but she knew the answer. Because it was against ancient wolf law to save a Huntsman. Period. End of story. But at the time, she hadn’t been thinking about Kent being a Huntsman; all she saw was a boy choking to death. Her survival instinct took over. She had just saved her boyfriend’s best friend. Of course, a wolf and a Guardian being together was strictly taboo, too. She had just exhibited heroic behavior for a human, but she wasn’t a human; she was an Otherly Natural. Ruby suddenly stood at attention, shaken from her inner turmoil by a commotion in the center of the quad, and one of the voices seemed oddly familiar.

  “Dad?” she yelled, running toward the uproar, pushing her way through the crowd.

  “I know you had something to do with it, Hood!” the police chief shouted.

  “You are still as delusional as you’ve always been, Wolf! My daughter was in one of those buildings. What on earth makes you think I would even joke about blowing up a building that my daughter might be in? Not to mention the other 3,000 innocent children.

  “Dad?” Ruby asked, trying to grasp the whole situation.

  “Uncle Kevin?” Kent said in disbelief. The two kids looked at each other in total bewilderment and shrugged.

  “That’s enough, men!” Principal Wolf shouted, pushing his way through the crowd followed closely by Dylan Hunter. “I know a crisis can cause us all to overreact, but this isn’t the time or the place for either of you to air your personal dirty laundry. Mr. Hunter and Kent, kindly guide the chief of police to some coffee and I’ll speak with Mr. Hood,” Ken Wolf said with ease. Ever the politician, Principal Wolf flashed his congenial smile that comforted the entire crowd. “Go on about your business, folks. It’s nothing but two men worried about our young people.”

  “Thanks, Ken,” Mr. Hood said with his hand outstretched to thank the principal for his graciousness.

  “Put your hand away, Hood. There is no way I or any other member of my family, will ever side with wolves. We don’t belong in the same town. You don’t belong here. You should have stayed away,” the principal seethed through his clenched jaw.

  “Might I remind you the Hoods were here long before the Wolfs?” Tyler Hood’s eyes flashed, glowing momentarily before letting out a low, menacing growl. The hairs on Ruby’s neck stood at attention.

  “Hey!” Ruby demanded, pushing her way between the two men “What did my dad ever do to you?”

  “Ah, little Ruby Hood, obviously just as naïve as your mother was,” Ken Wolf mocked. Ruby’s eyes flashed and glowed as Ken laughed. “See? This is exactly why your kind doesn’t belong here. You’re too primal and uncivilized. You shouldn’t have come back. Watch your step, Hoods,” Ken threatened quietly, then flashed a good-natured smile and went back to the crisis at hand.

  “Dad?!” Ruby demanded, barely audibly.

  “Shhhh … not here, Ruby. You�
�ve been checked in since the lockdown. I don’t want to worry your Grandma. We should be safe in the Wood … at least for now …” Tyler Hood rambled as he glanced over his shoulders, twitching slightly.

  Ruby regarded him carefully and she wasn’t nearly as concerned as he obviously was. After all, she just saved the young huntsman’s life. It was frowned upon amongst her people, but the Wolf family owed the Hood family regardless of their cultural differences. In hindsight, not telling Dylan was a mistake, but she hoped she could figure a way out of that. She had an ace in the hole and it should be enough to get her and her father out of town with the promise never to return. Ruby was used to life with her father. She enjoyed the several months she had here, but deep down she knew it would come to an end. She almost laughed out loud at the lunacy of a pair of wolves taking up residence in a town run by Huntsman. She wasn’t entirely sure what motivated her father to bring them back here, but she got the message loud and clear: it was time for them to move on!

  “Let’s go,” Ruby said, glancing cautiously over her shoulder. They crossed the quad and hopped onto the back of her father’s Harley parked in front of the parking attendant’s shack. Within moments, they were speeding off, away from the ruckus caused by the bomb. But neither Hood noticed that Kent Wolf had pulled out behind them in his brown four-door sedan.

  ***

  “Ruby, you have to listen to me. I don’t know what you sort of bargaining chip you think up have, but these men will kill and think nothing of it. Eight years ago, they killed four innocent people: two humans, your mother and Jarred Hunter, who was our friend and your boyfriend’s father. They didn’t think anything of taking those lives to get what they wanted. The Wolf family manipulated everything to suit their needs. We have to stand up to them, now, Ruby. If we don’t take them down, they won’t think twice about hurting us or your grandmother,” he said, grabbing her by the shoulders, pleading with her to understand the severity of the situation.