Freeks

by Amanda Hocking

  With the sun dipping completely below the horizon, the sky had become a dark shade of blue that shifted to purple to almost white just before it kissed the ground. Stars twinkled brightly in the dark parts of the sky, and the moon looked bright and fat hovering just above us.

  Gabe got out of the car first, but he left the engine on, so the music played softly for us. He came around to open my door. I smiled and murmured “thank you” before following him over to the stone wall of the bridge. Then, like a good tour guide, he took on a loud explanatory voice and motioned to the river beneath the bridge.

  “This is the Brawley River,” he explained.

  I leaned over the wall, the stones pressing into my stomach, and stared down at the black water flowing beneath us. About a quarter mile ahead, I could see where the river met a large and equally dark lake.

  “The Brawley River flows from Lake Tristeaux”—he pointed to the lake—“back to the Nukoabok Swamp, which surrounds the entire north side of Caudry. Lake Tristeaux is salt water, since the Gulf of Mexico bleeds into it. Since the Brawley River is a small river, it ends up being mostly salt water.”

  I straightened up and looked over at him. “That’s cool.”

  “I don’t know if it’s cool or not, but that’s not why I added it to your Caudry Tour.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Why did you?”

  “Two reasons. The first is because Brawley is my mom’s maiden name.” He looked back down at the river, and something dark flickered across his gaze for a moment. Then he shook his head, and his smile returned. “This river was named after my family.”

  “Wow.” My eyes widened. “Your family must be pretty special.”

  He laughed darkly. “I don’t know if special is the right word. My family’s just been in Caudry for a very long time, and they’ve had money for a very long time. The combination of the two means that things get named after us.”

  “I still think it’s cool,” I said, but he only shrugged. “And your uncle sounded pretty cool too.” He looked up at me in surprise. “Didn’t you tell me that he used to have huge parties where people from all over would come?”

  “Yeah.” Gabe nodded, and an easy smile spread out across his face. “Uncle Beau was kind of legendary. He was larger than life, and everyone loved him. He was a local celebrity, actually, but he traveled all the time. He worked as a consultant for some oil company or something, so he went all over the country. And everywhere he went, he’d always make himself new friends.”

  “He sounded like a great guy,” I said.

  His expression turned somber. “Yeah, he was.”

  “So what was the second reason you showed me the river?” I asked after he lapsed into silence.

  He glanced up at the sky, then down at the watch on his wrist. “I thought I timed this better, but I guess we need to wait a few more minutes.”

  “Okay?” I gave him a quizzical look.

  “Trust me. It’ll be worth it.”

  “I trust you.”

  His smile fell, and he quickly looked away, staring down at the river again. “My uncle Beau used to tell me that since the water had salt in it, sharks would swim up the river. I never saw any when I was a kid, so I don’t know if it’s true.”

  “It’s nice that you know so much about your family,” I said.

  “It’s only my mom’s side,” Gabe explained. “My dad is from Venezuela, so I never even met most of his family.”

  “My dad is from India, but I don’t really know that much about him or his family. He left when I was three.”

  “I’m sorry.” Gabe reached out, putting his hand over mine, and the heat spread through me.

  “No, don’t be. It was a long time ago.” I shook my head. “The only thing I really know about him is that he chose my name. My middle name, Varali, means ‘moon’ in Hindi.” Then I lowered my eyes. “That’s what he used to call us—my mom was his sun, and I was his little moon.”

  “At least your middle name is cool,” Gabe said, his tone playful to lighten the mood. “I got my uncle Beau’s middle name—Bardau.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Bardau?”

  He rolled his eyes. “It’s French or something. My mom claims it’s been in the family for generations.”

  “Having heritage is cool,” I told him. “You get to carry all the history of your family, and you have a legacy.”

  In the fading light, his whole face darkened, and he swallowed hard. “Maybe. But sometimes that legacy just feels like a prison sentence.”

  “You’re old enough that you can make your own choices.”

  “As my mom is quick to point out, just because I’m nineteen doesn’t mean I can do anything I want.” He stared wistfully down at the river. “It’s so much more complicated than that.”

  My mind suddenly went to the conversation we’d had on the Ferris wheel, the one where Gabe promised to tell me his secrets on our fifth date. The look on his face now—his jaw tense under his smooth skin, his eyebrows pinching together, and his lips pressed together—made me realize his secret was much darker than mine.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Suddenly his head shot up. “It’s starting.”

  “What?” I asked, but he was already pointing toward where the river fed into the lake.

  “Just watch.” Gabe moved closer to me, so he was nearly standing behind me, and I felt his hand on my waist, hot through the sheer fabric.

  I scanned the darkening sky with no idea what I should be on the lookout for, and I was about to ask him again when I saw something. A small flash of purple—like a neon lavender—floating a few feet above the water.

  It only lasted a second, so I couldn’t even be sure that I saw anything. Then it happened again, several feet away from the first one. Slowly, it began to build up—both in number and frequency—until the sky was dotted with several dozen flashing purple lights.

  “What is it?” I asked breathlessly.

  “Purple fireflies.” Gabe’s voice was low in my ear, and I could hear his smile. “Caudry is the only place in the whole world that has them.”

  I pulled my head back so I could look up at him. “Really?”

  “Really,” he said, so I turned my attention back to the glowing fireflies. “Back in the fifties, some scientists came to figure out why they were purple. They never did find out exactly why, but they eventually decided it had something to do with what the fireflies ate here.

  “My uncle Beau always said it was the water,” Gabe finished.

  He wrapped his arms around me, hugging me to him, and I leaned into him. He felt so strong and warm and wonderful, and his lips brushed against my neck, softly but deliciously, and the heat surged through me like an electric current.

  Behind me, the Cure sang about a night like this, and in front of me, the sky was filled with dancing fireflies. The moment felt so perfect and magical, I wished it would never end.

  26. freak

  The bulbs above the marquee flickered every few seconds, but the names of the movies playing in the tiny theater were still visible: Some Kind of Wonderful, Lethal Weapon, and Evil Dead II.

  “Lady’s choice,” Gabe said, motioning up to the marquee.

  We’d hung out at the bridge for a little while, talking and watching the fireflies, before heading back to eat supper. Gabe suggested the diner that had the best crawfish in the state, and they really were the best crawfish I’d ever had.

  Since there wasn’t much else to do in Caudry, we headed over to the movie theater. It had been ages since I’d seen a movie in theaters. Usually I just watched whatever Luka or Hutch had on the VCR in their motorhome.

  “What are you in the mood for?” I asked. “Romance? Action? Campy horror?”

  He moved closer to me, looping his long fingers through mine, and although I should’ve been used to it by now, the heat of his skin surprised me. He’d ditched the leather jacket tonight, but he still had to be at least ten degrees warmer than me.
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br />   “Since I am on a date with you, I would say that I’m definitely in the mood for romance,” Gabe said with his usual sly grin.

  I stared up into his eyes—they were the color of burnt caramel, and so big and bright despite the darkness of the street. They still had a glimmer, a glint of something wicked, but tonight I could see something else lurking behind them, something that looked like hunger.

  I’d felt it inside the museum trailer last night, when his kisses had felt ravenous.

  “What’s your secret?” I asked suddenly.

  His smile instantly fell. “What?”

  “Before, we promised to tell each other our secrets, but you already know mine.”

  He looked away from me, and though he kept his hand around mine, he stepped back, putting distance between us. “We agreed on the fifth date, but this is only, like, our third date.”

  “Fourth,” I corrected him.

  “Right.” He smiled but it was weak and didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Next time, then.”

  I opened my mouth to argue that there wasn’t a point in waiting another day, and it didn’t exactly seem fair that he’d already found out that I was with the carnival. But before I could get anything out, a horn blasted loudly on the street beside us.

  A Mercedes pulled in sharply, parking at a ridiculous angle beside Gabe’s car on the street right in front of us. The windows were rolled up, but I could hear Guns N’ Roses thumping through the car stereo.

  “Shit.” Gabe cursed softly under his breath.

  The passenger-side door opened, and Troy Gendry hopped out. His blond hair was slicked back, and when he flashed us a toothy smile it made his beady eyes appear even smaller.

  “Gabey-baby!” Troy shouted as he walked over, causing Gabe to grimace.

  Logan Montgomery got out of the driver’s side more slowly, carrying a can of beer in his hand. His Ray-Ban sunglasses were pushed to the top of his head, and the collar of his polo was popped.

  Logan leaned up against the hood of his Mercedes. “What are y’all up to?” he asked, managing to sound entirely bored and indifferent to his own question.

  “It looks like these two are on a date.” Troy grinned like a jackal. “But that can’t be right, can it?”

  Gabe moved an arm protectively around my waist. “We are on a date, actually, and we were just heading into a movie.”

  “Why are you on a date?” Logan asked, then he pointed to me with his beer can. “Isn’t she running off with the circus in a couple days?”

  My cheeks flushed with warmth, but I held my head high. The disgust in Logan’s voice and Troy giggling like a drunken fool wouldn’t make me cower.

  “I told Selena that Mara worked for the carnival,” Gabe said through gritted teeth. “But Mara’s here now, so we’re hanging out, and I don’t really know why that’s any of your business or why you’d care.”

  “If you wanna slum it, that’s your thing.” Logan shrugged. “But I might marry your sister someday, and I don’t want to have any little carnie bastards for a niece or nephew, so just be sure you wrap it up.”

  Gabe inhaled through his nose, and he stepped away from me. I tried to grab his hand, to keep him beside me, but he slipped easily through my grasp as he walked up to Logan.

  Logan, for his part, stood up and tried to look intimidating, but that was nearly impossible to do against Gabe. Despite being older, Logan was much shorter and not as broad shouldered or muscular.

  Not to mention the look on Gabe’s face—the intensity of his eyes and the way his lip curled back as he glared down at Logan.

  “Gabe,” I said, but his penetrating gaze was focused solely on Logan.

  “You’re never marrying my sister,” Gabe growled. It was low and throaty, and Logan visibly gulped. “And if I ever hear you say anything like that again about Mara, I’ll bust your face in.”

  Logan’s mouth hung open dumbly as he struggled to think of a comeback, but he just ended up looking like a fish gasping for air as his lips moved and nothing came out.

  “Come on, Logan,” Troy said, rescuing his friend. “We’re almost out of beer. Let’s get to the liquor store before it closes.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Logan said. He tried to sound tough and aloof, but it fell flat, and he hurried around to the driver’s-side door a bit too quickly.

  “We don’t need to waste any more time with these freaks,” Troy sneered just before he got in the car.

  There was something about the way Troy said that and the way he looked at me when he said it. I knew then that he and Logan had been the ones who had spray painted “freeks” on Gideon’s trailer.

  Luka’d said that they’d been drunk and hassling him shortly before the carnival closed. They must’ve still been pissed off—and even more drunk—so they came back in a lame attempt to settle the score.

  As Logan sped off in his Mercedes, Troy flipped us off, and I wondered exactly what they’d been up to on Saturday night. Had they attacked Seth?

  That didn’t seem likely, given the way Logan cowered in front of Gabe, who didn’t possess the kind of supernatural strength that Seth did. But I couldn’t help but wonder if they knew something more about what was going on here in Caudry.

  “I’m so sorry about that,” Gabe said, returning to my side now that Logan and Troy were gone. “My sister always dates assholes.”

  “It’s okay.” I brushed it off. “Believe it or not, I meet a lot of assholes in my line of work.”

  He frowned. “You shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

  “I meet a lot of nice people like you too,” I assured him with a smile. “So it’s all worth it in the end.”

  27. slumber

  “So how was the date?” Roxie asked. In the darkness of the campsite, her face was nearly hidden, other than the ember from her cigarette.

  I’d gotten back to camp just in time to help the carnival close down, and then I’d helped make supper for everyone. Now, everyone else had gone to their motorhomes for the night, except for Roxie, who sat on the steps outside her door, smoking, while I put away lawn chairs.

  “It was good,” I said, since I didn’t know how else to answer. “We’re seeing each other again on Wednesday.”

  I liked Gabe a lot, and I was liking him more the more time I spent with him. But the run-in with Troy and Logan had left a blemish on the whole evening. Not to mention the fact that I felt Gabe was hiding something from me.

  But did I even have a right to be upset that he was keeping some kind of secret from me? I’d be leaving in less than a week. I would never be able to know everything about him anyway, so what did it hurt if he wanted to keep a few things to himself?

  “That’s good,” Roxie said. “I’m glad you’re having fun.”

  I walked over and sat down beside her. After her shows tonight, she’d showered away all the makeup and hair products, so her blond hair hung wet down her back against her oversize T-shirt.

  “I thought you quit smoking,” I commented.

  “I did.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I’ll quit again once we leave this place.”

  “Yeah, I think this town is wearing on everyone,” I said, looking out at all the darkened motorhomes. Normally, people would stay up a bit to talk and unwind, but since we’d been in Caudry, as soon as the meal was over, everyone went inside and locked up.

  “It’s just so weird being in the trailer by myself.” She flicked her ashes and chewed her lip. “Ever since I joined this carnival, I’ve never been alone.”

  That was the good and the bad about growing up the way I had. People were always around—looking out for you, caring for you, telling on you, invading your privacy. It was a mixed bag.

  “When Carrie started dating Seth, he was always hanging around our trailer,” Roxie went on. “And Blossom started staying half the time at your place, but she was still here a lot. I was always tripping over one of them. And now … they’re all gone.”

  “Carrie and Seth are jus
t in town at the hospital, and they’ll be back soon,” I reminded her. “And you keep saying that you’re sure Blossom will turn up at the end of the week.”

  “I know, but…” She trailed off and the silence hung in the air. “I’m a little envious of you, actually.”

  I looked at her sharply. “What? Why?”

  She shrugged and stared down at the ground. “Everything’s so easy with you and Gabe.”

  I scoffed. “It has not been easy.”

  She shook her head. “No, I know. I just mean you like him, and he likes you, so you’re together, and you kiss and talk and do all the things couples do.”

  “Well, not all the things,” I corrected her softly.

  “Sometimes, I have crushes on people.” When she said it, her eyes lingered for a long time on the trailer that Luka and Hutch shared.

  I’d suspected for a while that Hutch had a crush on Roxie, but I could never quite get a read on how exactly Roxie felt about him. She teased him a lot and always kept him at arm’s length, but Roxie kept pretty much everyone at arm’s length.

  “If you like someone, you could just tell them,” I suggested.

  “I know.” She shook her head again. “But I’m just not ready.” She took a long drag of her cigarette and exhaled a big plume of smoke. “Ever since what happened with my stepdad … I don’t think I’ll ever be ready.”

  Roxie had lost control of her pyrokinesis. Her house burned to the ground, and, thankfully, other than her stepdad—whose hands had been burned to crisps—no one had been hurt.

  That was the night that Roxie took off, and she kept running until she finally found the carnival.

  “You’ll be ready when you’re ready,” I told her gently. “And if someone really cares about you, they’ll understand, and they’ll wait until you are absolutely certain that you’re ready.”

  “I hope so,” she said.

  Abruptly, she threw her cigarette on the ground and stomped it out with the heel of her bare foot. “I should head inside, I guess.”