Kitty barked at the mention of Zach's name and I knelt, clamping my hand over his little mouth. "Shhhh... the stair made you do it, didn't it?"
Laughing at my own stupidity, I stood and snuck out the back-door. The key to the house was in a place where no one who wanted to sneak in and kill us might find it. Above the door stop. I lifted to my toes and pulled it down, working quickly to lock the door and taking the key with me.
The lake wasn't more than a five minute walk, but I would have preferred it to be longer. It was beautiful outside and the moon was almost in full effect as it hovered ahead in the distance. Large pine and oak trees lined the old dirt road in front of me, leaning down and waving as the wind picked up. An owl cried out in the distance and I smiled.
It would be Halloween in a week or so. I couldn't wait. It was my favorite holiday for multiple reasons. The first being because I loved anything insanely spooky. My collection of horror novels and movies could make a gaggle of grown men cry, but I loved each and every one of them. Better than that? It was Zach's birthday. I had been jealous since we first became friends of him getting the best day ever to be born. I was born in early January, so you got shorted Christmas gifts to get a birthday present.
Some years my mom was too lazy to actually unwrap them from the Christmas paper. Classy... just classy mom.
I had been begging Zach to go with me to the old Vandercamp Mansion at the edge of town for his birthday. He had yet to bend to my manipulation, but this year... I was going to lay it on hard.
He was an adrenaline junkie, so we usually spent his birthday jumping out of airplanes, or swimming with sharks, but not this year. This year... I was getting my way. He was going to be eighteen. We didn't have much time left together as college loomed in the near distance. I would beg, plead, and if absolutely necessary - cry. I'd turn on the water works if it would land me in the old mansion with Zach beside me.
It was said to be haunted with the souls of little kids who'd been brutally murdered by their foster parents. The dad was a mad scientist in the disguise of a sweet foster father for the mentally disabled.
"You just can't make that kind of crap up," I mumbled.
"Gotcha!" Zach jumped from behind a tree and grabbed my shoulders.
I shook my head and gave him a look my grandmother would be proud of. "That might work on your other victims, but I'm looking for a scary sensation all the time."
"Well, dang. I swear you are no fun. I didn't even frighten you a little?" He handed me a fishing poll as his eyes roamed over my attire.
I had to advert my gaze in order to lie properly. "Nope. That wasn't even a little frightening."
No way was I telling him that I'd almost peed myself. He'd never let me live it down. He had enough of those moments to pull from anyway.
"I'll have to try harder next time." He lifted his finger and pointed to the edge of the dock that extended into the lake. "Let's go dangle our feet off the edge. Unless you're scared of the lake monster getting you?"
"I wish. I'd love to go down because of something insanely horrific. Can you imagine what the paper would read?"
I cleared my throat, wanting to make my dramatization good. The soft chuckle beside me caused my heart to melt. I was so far gone for this boy. It was sickening.
"It is with extreme sadness that we have to report the loss of our most brilliant, beautiful, butt-kicking student at Jefferson High. Jennifer Esmerelda Miller was..."
He interrupted me as we walked out onto the dock. "Your middle name is not Esmeralda."
"Hush. It's part of the dramatization. You want to hear this or what?" I turned and put my hand on my hip, glancing up at him. Huge mistake. The air expelled from my lungs as the moonlight rolled over him.
He wasn't a boy anymore, but a man. His expression was filled with humor and adoration. He cared about me too. Why couldn't I just tell him? He coughed and glanced toward the water. "Well? Are you going to finish it or leave me hanging, Miss Reporter who's trying to tell a newspaper story that belongs on TV?"
I laughed, grateful that he broke the spell. I'd almost spilled my heart to him.
"Right... where was I?"
"You were taking off those designer boots and rolling up your pants legs. Get to it, J." His nickname for me. No one else was allowed to use it.
I cleared my throat again and held my fist to my mouth, because all new-papers needed a mic to speak from. Something like that...
"Jennifer Esmeralda Miller was murdered last night at the Popum Lake just a few miles from her home. The girl was said to be with her best childhood friend and captain of the swim team, um... um... well, his name isn't important." I glanced over as Zach chuckled and sat down while I worked on my boots. "The old myth's about Popum lake having a three hundred foot dinosauresque creature lurking at the depths of its girth were TRUE! She got eaten. Sucks... really, really bad."
I finished taking off my socks and sat down next to him as the wind picked up and blew my hair in an odd pattern.
Zach reached over and smoothed it as my breath caught in my chest. "No monster is going to eat you. I'd save you, silly dramatic girl. Why the hell are you a cheerleader and not head of the drama team?"
"Or the newspaper?"
"No. Just no, J." He picked up a small white container and shook it at me. "Did you bring worms, because I did."
"Oh no! I knew I forgot something." I let out a long sigh and pushed a frown across my face. "Guess I can't fish."
"You can use one of mine, but it'll cost ya." He wagged his eyebrows and scooted closer to where our knees touched.
"Well, depends on what the price is. I never catch anything out here anyway. That damn sea monster eats my bootie every time."
"Don't say that in front of anyone else." He chuckled and shook his head. "I swear you're ten when we get together."
Letting out a long sigh, I glanced up at the moon and made a wish that the rest of my life would be like this moment. Sitting beside him and just being me.
"Not to mention that sea monsters don't live in fresh water lakes."
"What are you, Bill Nye the science guy?" I asked, laughing before I could get the rest of my thought out.
"A kiss."
His response forced me to pause.
"Hmm? That wasn't a response I was expecting."
"If you want a worm, I want a kiss."
"From me?" I turned to pin him with a stare. He'd grown another three inches over the summer away, causing me to tilt my head to see him properly.
"No, from the sea monster."
"Well, call him up here then. I need a good picture for my obituary anyway."
He sat the pole down and turned to me, sliding his fingers into my hair and cupping the side of my face as he leaned down.
Time stood still.
Every fantasy I'd concocted rushed before me. Since the time of realizing that boys didn't have cooties, I'd wanted to kiss Zach Parker. My heart beat so hard it had to be pressing against his forearm as he leaned down and pressed against me.
He paused just before kissing me and I opened my eyes, unable to miss a minute of the moment. "Tell me you want me to kiss you."
"Why would I do that?" I smiled and lifted up, pressing my lips to his.
His fingers tightened against the back of my head and I let out a sound of appreciation for how soft his lips were. It was everything I'd hoped it would be.
He moved back and smiled before turning to work on the fishing pole again. "Damn. If I'd known that was going to work, I'd have asked a long time ago."
"Well, I just really wanted to fish tonight. It probably wouldn't have worked back then." I smiled as he glanced over at me. Yeah, it would work anytime.
His skin was pale under the ethereal light of the moon. I almost reached out to make sure he was real and not part of a dream I'd concocted while lying in my bed and waiting for ten to show up on the clock.
"What do you want to do next week for my birthday? You're still up for spending your
beloved holiday with me, right?" He handed me the pole. "Cast it on the other side of you. I don't trust your aim."
I grumbled about his aim and stood, taking his hand as he helped me up. I slung hard as the line flew into the middle of the lake. "Of course we're spending Halloween together. And you know what I want to do."
He growled. "Come on, Jen. You know that place gives me the creeps. I'm not a boy anymore. I don't want to piss myself in front of the girl that I want to impress."
"You want to impress me?" I glanced down at him, a bit surprised by the projection of the night. He's gone for five months and comes back ready to move us from the forever friend zone into something more romantic?
I like this study abroad stuff.
"No. I was going to invite Sadie McIntosh to come with us." He laughed and moved over a little as I swatted at him. The girl was my arch enemy.
"Well. I hope you have fun. I'm going to pay the swamp monster in kisses to eat you both. Then I'll do your obituary in the newspaper." I turned and crossed my arms over my chest, overdoing it, but I loved to be uber dramatic with him.
He shifted behind me and I had to lock myself in place not to turn around and grin up at him. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
"So now our sea monster who lives in fresh water and has to contend with a swap-like atmosphere?"
"Yes." I grunted and reeled in my line a little, trying to memorize the feeling of his arms wrapped around me, but having trouble with it. His touch was too light, like he was scared to press against me.
"No kisses for him though." He kissed the top of my head again.
"Why?" I turned a little, not getting a good view of him, but wanting to give him one of me.
"Because I'd be jealous..."
Chapter Three
The last thing I wanted to do was pack up and head to the end of the road at eleven. I knew that Carl wouldn't take no for an answer though. The ape would spend half the night throwing rocks against my window until my parents woke up and caught me out of the house. They would be cool with it if they knew I was fishing with Zach, but at Bells Camp with Carl?
Um, no. Just no.
I walked back down the long dirt road from the lake, turning once and taking in Zach's silhouette as he continued to fish. I wanted to lie to him and tell him that I needed to get back home, but he wouldn't have bought it, and I could never lie to him.
My mother told me that the devil made you smile when you lied, but I straight up belly-laughed every time I told Zach a lie. It wasn't happening.
The expression on his handsome face haunted me as I walked toward the truck lights at the end of the drive. He didn't want me with Carl and it was about time I realized that I didn't really want to be with Carl either. Just because it was expected didn't mean I had to fall to the pressures of it. My future stood behind me at the edge of a dock, lonely and hurt by my having to leave.
"Hurry up, sexy," Carl called in a loud whisper as laugher roared up from his truck. There were several head's bobbing to the music blaring from the console. I jogged toward the passenger's side and got in, reaching and turning down the radio.
"Dang. You know my house is right there. Keep it down until we're on the main road." He leaned over and pulled me toward him, pressing a sloppy wet kiss that tasted like beer on my lips.
"Ehh..." I moved back. "You've already been drinking? Let me drive."
"No, baby. I'm good. Just sit there and look pretty like you cheerleaders are supposed to do." He reached over and squeezed my thigh before running his hand up toward my hip.
I slapped his hand away and opened the door.
"I'm out. Have fun tonight and don't kill anyone. You're already drunk and I'm not interested." I shrugged and closed the door, ignoring the fact that Kat was in the back seat. If she wanted to live that life, who was I to stop her? She would be mad for weeks if I tried.
"Jen! Jennifer. Get your fine ass back here!" He yelled from the truck.
I flipped him off and jogged back down the path toward the lake. The loud squeal of wheels told me he'd left. He wasn't happy about it, but I didn't care. I wasn't interested in going in the first place, even though all my friends would be there.
"All but one." I continued to jog toward the dock, slowing as I realized Zach was no longer standing alone, fishing.
I slowed my gait to see if he might pop out from behind another tree, but he didn't. I moved to the edge of the dock and knelt down, the small worms we'd used were dried out and crusty.
"Weird." I scratched at one with my fingernail. They should have been plump and juicy. "Maybe these were here from last time."
Something moved in the water in front of me and I yelped, falling on my butt and crab walking backwards. Terror rolled over me in a way that I'd never experienced. No way would Zach get down in that murky mess just to prove a point. Besides, he was in his nice jeans and polo shirt.
I finally got my footing and turned, running off the dock and making it to solid ground as the wind blew hard, almost knocking me over.
"Alright. I get it," I spoke into the nothingness around me and walked languidly back to the house. I didn't believe anything was in that water or in the mansion we were going to visit soon. Fear was self-imposed. Nothing could truly affect me unless I let it. I just enjoyed the high too much not to seek it out.
I pulled out my phone and texted Zach.
Me: I just checked the lake and you were gone. The monster didn't get you did he?
Zach: Yes. I'm in his belly. Come save me?
Me: It'll cost you.
Zach: Name your price, woman.
Me: A kiss
Zach: Yes. Tell Sadie to meet me by the library in the morning and I'll pay up.
Me: Butthole
Zach: Lol. Night, J
I got back to the house a few minutes later with a goofy grin still on my face. Zach was the only one that had the ability to do that. I should have gone to the party, just to keep an eye on Kat if nothing else. She was a wild child and liked liquor far more than it liked her. Me on the other hand... I hated the stuff. It had to be because I was a control freak more than anything. Drugs and alcohol took away my control. No thanks.
Stripping out of my cute clothes, I tugged on pjs and let my mind wander back through the night with Zach. I was so grateful that he was home. It had been the longest five months of my life and he hadn't texted much or e-mailed at all. I'd almost come to the conclusion that he had forgotten all about me.
"Forgotten you? Never..." I tossed my hair and leapt into the bed before snuggling down under my covers and reliving the best kiss of my life.
"I want more. Lots more." I yawned and worked through how I was going to convince him to go with me to the mansion the next week. I'd been working on him for the last fifteen years or so to go with me. It was about time that he relented and finally said yes.
I started to text him, but realized I was looking awfully thirsty already. It was best to just hit him up the next day at school.
My phone buzzed and my heart almost stopped in my chest. I picked it up to scroll through six pictures of Carl and Sadie making out at the party.
"Ewww... how long is his tongue?" I sat up in bed and pulled the phone to my face. "Ugh. He's like the sea monster thing. I bet he eats babies."
A chuckle lifted out of me. If anyone knew how stupid I was... they'd never have anything to do with me.
Zach knows.
I deleted the pictures and turned the phone off. Good. I needed a reason to drop Carl. Now I had it. There were lots of things I'd put up with, but someone licking Sadie McIntosh's tonsils... no.
On that thought, I let sleep take me into a world of horror, ghosts and mazes aplenty.
Chapter Four
I woke Monday morning with a renewed sense of excitement. I wasn't only going to get the opportunity to drop Carl on his snooty butt, but I had the perfect plea to get Zach to the Vandercamp Mansion with me. I parked in the senior lot and
got out, scanning for Zach's truck before finally making my way up to the main school building.
Half expecting Carl to confront me early, I ducked around the side of the school and walked in through the gym. My history class was first period and insane types of boring, but... it was the perfect opportunity to lock in my plan for Halloween. I was a few minutes early and Mrs. Kaapke was putting on a heavy layer of lipstick as I walked up.
"What is it, Jennifer?" Her eyes adverted to me and then back to her mirror.
"That project we have coming up in November about the history of our town..."
"It's a major project that will make up forty percent of your grade and no, you cannot use your brothers, though it was brilliant." She glanced at me again as her cheeks turned pink.
My brother, Brent had been the town flirt from the time he was in eighth grade. He'd mowed lawns all summer long to pay for his gym membership in high school. It was more than obvious it worked. Every single woman in the high school, including the scary lunch lady with the one working eye had a thing for my brother.
Gross.
"Um, okay. So about that project, I want to do mine over the Vandercamp Mansion."
Mrs. Kaapke put her compact down and gave me her attention. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, Jennifer. It's got a really horrific history. Most people in the town try not to think about it."
"But it would work for the project. Right?"
"Yeah, but have you spoken with your parents or your counselor to see if they're okay with you digging into something so dark?" She leaned in while she spoke to me as if mentioning that I was seeing a counselor was a bad thing.
"No, but I can." I shrugged.
"Do that first, but if they're good with it, I guess I am too. You'll have to talk to someone at city hall about gaining access to it during the day. Do not go at night."
I smirked, unable to help myself. "Why? You don't really believe the stories right?"
"No, but I still wouldn't chance it. Horrible things happened there, Jennifer. Tons of children lost their lives. It should be torn down and burned to hell." She picked up her compact and pressed her lips together. "Sorry for saying hell."
Darkness Echoes: A Spooky YA Short Story Collection Page 2