Captivated

by Deb Apodaca

  We brought home a boxer. A great looking one. It had to be around ninety pounds of pure muscle. I’ve seen dogs like him on TV. He looked like one of the studs that pranced around on the dog shows. He had a dark mask and the rest of his body was fawn. The only white on him was his huge chest and front paws. We fell in love with him as soon as we saw him through the cage they kept him in.

  The sun was sinking into the ground in front of us as we pulled up to the house. We got home just in time. I jumped out of the car and opened the door for the dog, grabbing the leash before he took off. I wasn’t sure if he was trained to stay close off of a leash or not so I tied him to the tree in front of the house and ran inside to grab my mp3 player, time passed by faster when I had it playing during my jog.

  Upon entering my room, I heard a soft beeping sound. I thought maybe I had received a text message or something. I wasn’t sure where I had left my phone so I stayed quiet and followed the beeping. It was on the floor in front of my night stand, though that’s not where I had left it. The vibrating must have moved it off the edge. I picked it up to check the message and found it was a voicemail alert. I had several missed calls from Markus. I called my voicemail to see what he wanted.

  “Mindy. I need you to call me as soon as possible. Hurry and call me when you get this. Bye.” His voice sounded shaky. What was also strange to me was that he actually said bye. He never said bye, especially to a voicemail.

  I hung up and went to his name under contacts and pressed the send button. To prepare myself for whatever he was going to tell me, I sat down on my bed and took in a deep breath as the phone rang.

  “Hello? Hey…what’s up!” Markus said.

  “Hey you, what’s-”

  “Oh I can’t come to the phone right now so leave a message,” Markus’ voice interrupted me. I couldn’t believe I fell for another one of his voicemail pranks. He made it seem like he was actually on the phone.

  *Beep*

  “Hey, Markus. I got your voicemail. I’m going to go for a run right now so call me later cause I’m not going to have my phone on me.” I flipped my phone shut and threw it on the bed. Looking out the window, I saw that the sun was already going down. I hurriedly ran downstairs and through the front door. The dog was still in the front yard sitting where I left him, his tail wagging as he saw me coming from the house. The dog stood on all fours and shook his whole body. I leaned down to pet him when he jumped up and put one paw on each one of my shoulders. It was as if he was hugging me and I took notice that his head was much bigger than mine! He could tear my whole face off with his jaw if he wanted to. But all the gentle giant did was give me a big lick. Ewww!

  I untied him and we headed for the trail I usually ran. It was in the forest, almost a mile away from the neighborhood. I didn’t like running when there were people around as it was very awkward for me.

  I made it to the beginning of my trail. And I called it my trail because I mapped it out myself. Plus, I thought I was the only one that has run it.

  As I stretched out my legs I realized they were still a little sore from ‘the incident,’ though not enough to interrupt my run. I started off slow so I could see how the dog would do. He stayed in front of me, running at my pace. I then ran a little faster-so did he. In fact, he started running a little too fast. I yanked on his leash a little to get his attention but I think he thought it meant to go faster because he started charging. I couldn’t keep up! I was practically flying because I started leaping to keep up with him. But it was impossible. The dog was like a machine and nothing interrupted him. He was focused, on a mission, and that mission was to run so fast that it was humanly impossible to keep up. But I was too scared to try to slow down. If I even tried, I was sure to fall forward and be dragged by him.

  Faster he went. I finally lost my step and fell forward, dragged like a kite by this fast beast. My bare arms were skidding against the grass and twigs.

  I had to let go. When I did, my body stopped completely. I looked up and scanned the area ahead of me. Unsurprisingly, the dog was totally out of sight. I laid there for a second and tried to catch my breath before rolling over onto my back to give my chest some room to expand. Examining the scratches on my arms, I found that it wasn’t as bad as it felt. There were a few bloody scrapes that ran down from my wrist to my elbows, but since I was dragged on grassy grounds instead of dirt and rock, I could have had much worse. Slowly, I picked myself up and brushed the twigs and grass off of my body and noted that I would have permanent green stains from the grass on the front of my clothes.

  Stupid dog. I couldn’t believe he didn’t stop.

  I searched around to see if I could find him but the towering trees that surrounded me were blocking any chance of seeing the dog.

  Then I heard steps.

  Like those of a galloping animal.

  The dog popped out from behind a tree with a thick log in his mouth. It could be used for firewood it was so big. He ran happily towards me and threw the log up in the air with ease. It hit hard on the ground and he picked it up again like it was a twig. He trotted towards me and stopped a little ahead of me, a low growl coming from his chest. He lowered his head and dropped the log and his growl got louder as he bared his teeth. I was afraid to look behind me–where I knew he was looking. The dog started snarling then and I began to shake. Flashes of cold fear started coursing through my body.

  I slowly turned my head.

  It could be anything. A large animal maybe. I knew there were deer in the forest, even bears. I wasn’t prepared for a bear.

  I slowly reached into my pocket and grabbed onto the mace. Placing my finger on the nozzle, I prepared the only protection I had and I was ready to use it.

  I turned my head completely around. And still I saw nothing. Just a tree. The dog roared, his saliva started to foam around his lips. His eyes were fixated on the tree.

  “He-hello?” I whimpered out.

  Silence. No one answered. The dog stayed where he was, not taking a step closer.

  “I don’t think your dog likes me,” said a smooth voice.

  “Who are you?” I asked. I was hoping it was someone I knew.

  “Come find out...” he dared.

  “Sure. I’ll just skip on over there!” My sarcasm was thick. He didn’t sound familiar. So it certainly wasn’t Ayden. How I would have enjoyed my dog attacking him.

  “I’d love to see that.” he said flirtingly.

  “The only thing you’ll get a chance to see is my fist in your face!” I angrily called out. What a perv!

  “Let’s play a game.” he suggested.

  “What? I don’t even know you? Why won’t you show yourself?” I spat out.

  “You’re wrong, Mindy.” He sang. “Are you ready for my game?” the voice uttered.

  “I don’t want to play a game.” I took a step forward. “How do you know my name?” I questioned.

  “Well if you don’t play the game you’ll never know who I am…” the voice replied calmly.

  I couldn’t figure out who it belonged to, but I had heard it before. I looked back at the dog. He was pacing back and forth, growling and keeping his distance. It was getting so dark out. I should have been on my way back home by now. My vision was poor at night. And even though I knew everyone’s had to be worse at night, it was downright blurry for me.

  The mystery person was in between me and my way back. At least I could make out that it was a young voice. Most likely someone from school.

  “Tick tock, tick tock.” he sang out. “It’s getting dark out…”

  His voice. Something about his voice was so soothing, so…alluring. I wanted to follow the sound of it just to be closer to it. Then I remembered. The only time I had ever felt drawn to a voice was with-

  “Shane?” I asked. “Is that you?”

  There was silence.

  “It is you, isn’t it?” I asked.

  I was no longer afraid. I was certain it was him. No one else I knew had a voice like th
at and he stayed quiet after I called out his name. Content that I knew who it was, I courageously walked over to the tree. I peeked over and sure enough, it was Shane. He was leaning his back against the tree with his thumbs hanging off his front pockets. He looked like a model, advertising designer jeans. And shirts. And shoes. Heck, he was the whole magazine in one page. He defined everything that could ever be perfect.

  Slowly, he turned his head towards me. His eye color looked a little red. Strands of silver hair were nicely arranged over his face. It looked like elegant strips of moonlight cascading down his beautifully gentle face. The tree he was leaning on wasn’t good enough to be touched by him.

  He tilted his head a little staring right at me.

  “Tsk tsk…now we can’t play the game.” he said with mock sadness through his perfect lips.

  “We could play another!” I blurted out. I just wanted to do whatever he wanted.

  “I don’t think you’ll want to play the other game.” he warned. Even his warning sounded inviting. I felt as if I didn’t care what it was that he had in mind.

  “Sure I will. What is it?” I asked.

  “It’s a game that is only played in the dark.” He looked down at my arms. I sucked my stomach in and tried to look my best as he examined me. “You’re bleeding.” he mentioned.

  “Yeah. My dog forgot I was at the other end of the leash.” I said. I knew I looked terrible. There was nothing attractive about a girl with grass stains and blood on her arms. I had to get home and wash up already! But I couldn’t pry myself away from Shane.

  “You’re bleeding…” he whispered out. His eyes were still on my arms, locked on them as if they were a target.

  “You mentioned that already,” I said. The dog was still growling. Actually, he never stopped. “I have to go. I don’t want my dog to bite you or anything.” I warned.

  “He won’t come near me.” Shane assured me. “Besides…there are worse things that bite.” He stood up, away from the tree, and inched towards me. The dog got louder as Shane got closer. He stopped in front of me. Practically up against me. I was at ease and my body felt relaxed, almost as if I was floating. Shane gently reached out and grabbed my hand. Slowly, he raised it up to his nose and smelled my arm, gliding his hand over all of the cuts. It made my arm feel cool and the coolness calmed the stinging sensation. Then, Shane released my hand in a quick motion.

  “I should go now.” He stepped back and tilted his head. “Too bad, cuz I had special plans for you.” he quickly said and darted away.

  “What?”

  I snapped out of…something. Was it a trance? I felt like I had woken up from a dream. A really nice dream. As Shane disappeared, the dog got closer to me and barked in the direction Shane had gone.

  “You shouldn’t be out here,” said a demanding voice. Dean’s voice.

  “You can actually talk?” I asked rudely. Somewhat dazed, I whirled around to face him. The dog had calmed down and he wagged his tail at Dean. “What do you care if I’m out here anyway?” I asked.

  “It isn’t safe.” Dean sharply said. He stood there. Still, like a statue. His darkness towered over me but there was still enough light out for me to make him out. The moonlight shone on his handsome face and outlined the muscles of his body. A tingling sensation tip-toed all over my skin. Fight it!

  “I have mace!” I blurted out. Regret filled me. What a stupid thing to say! Out of all the airhead moments I’d had, this had to be one of the worst.

  “You should go home, Mindy.” he suggested. He didn’t laugh at me. In fact, he showed no emotion.

  “What is your problem?” I demanded. I felt like shoving him so I could get an immediate answer-one that I‘d deserved for years.

  “You should go home before that weirdo comes back,” he suggested.

  Flashes of the last day we were friends sparked through my mind. He said the same thing to me when we saw his parents’ killer walk by us that evening.

  Sadness waved through me.

  “Why did you stop talking to me?” I demanded, trying to swallow the lump forming in my throat. “Why did you shut me out?”

  There was silence. He simply stared at me. Pain overtook his eyes. Just his eyes.

  “I miss them, too.” I said softly. His parents were the nicest people I knew. They always treated me with love. But it might have been the wrong thing to say because his eyes started narrowing into slits. The rage filling inside them was ready to spew out.

  He looked up at the sky and gulped. Even his neck looked powerful as it forced the lump to stay down. Dean dropped his head back down and looked me in the eyes. His features were softer as he stared deep into my eyes, trying to read my soul. I felt for him. I wanted to reach up and hug him. To tell him I would always be there for him. I wasn’t staring at the emotionless Dean I had been attending the same school with-I was staring at the Dean I knew years ago. His green eyes softened little by little and the stars shined off of them. It was almost as if I was looking at the sky in his eyes. Stars? It was dark out. Too dark. I looked down at my dog sitting beside me.

  “You’re right. I should get going...” I told him when he didn’t speak. He arched his eye brows up with sadness. His eyes widened and pleaded with me.

  “Don’t.” He looked down and away from me. “Please.” He said softly. There was pain in his voice. Mixed emotions tumbled out of his mouth with every spoken word and it was difficult for me to figure out if he was angry or if it was something else entirely.

  “What? I thought you said I should go.” I walked a few steps to where he was looking so that his gaze met mine. The worry in his eyes begged me to stay. “What’s going on Dean? What’s wrong?” I sincerely asked him.

  He still didn’t answer. He just stared into my eyes as if it was the only thing in the forest to look at. It wasn’t the first time he looked at me that way, but it was usually from a greater distance like at school or the lounge. I wanted to ask him what that was about.

  “Dean. Why do you stare at me? And I’m not talking about just tonight. It’s all the time.” I asked.

  Dean’s eyes gazed into mine. I felt like I was about to collapse from his penetrating gaze it was so deep. It made me feel somewhat connected to him. His lips twitched a little, holding back, as if he wanted to tell me something but was hesitating.

  “Dean? Why? Why do you look at me?” I gently asked. My face softened, inviting him to feel comfortable.

  “Like what?” he broke out. It sounded like he was out of breath.

  “You know.” I replied.

  “You’re mistaken.” he gulped.

  “Why do you do it?” I asked again. I felt I knew what the answer was. My heart was pounding insanely in my chest I had never felt so nervous and eager for an answer.

  “Every time I look at you...” He paused and took in a deep breath. Butterflies fluttered all around my insides. My breathing got deeper and I had to focus on controlling it.

  “What?” I desperately asked.

  “Every time…there’s nothing. It’s just a glance.” Pain and worry filled his eyes. He looked like he was burning himself and was trying not to react to it.

  Disappointment settled inside me. And I wasn’t sure if it was because I didn’t hear what I wanted to. Which was what exactly? That he was into me? Or if it was because I didn’t believe him; that he was lying and trying to hurt me.

  “MINDY!” Markus called out, surprising me. “Is that you?” His flashlight shone on me, then to Dean, who was back to looking irritated.

  “Markus? What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Without saying anything, Dean walked away, leaving me alone with Markus, the dog, and my thoughts.

  “Dude! I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day.” Markus said while trying to catch his breath. He bent slightly and placed his hands on his thighs.

  “What’s going on?” I regrettably asked. I was afraid he was going to bring up the disappearing people that he thought Dean was respons
ible for.

  “You shouldn’t be out in the dark.” he said. He straightened himself and breathed normally again.

  “Why does everyone keep saying that?” I huffed out then smiled at him. “Let’s go home. I’ve had a crazy night.” I reached down and grabbed the dog’s leash and headed back towards my house. Markus rushed to my side.

  “Not crazier than mine,” he competitively said.

  “Uh oh. What did you do?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

  “You know the disappearing people?” he mentioned.

  “What about them?” I slowly let out, preparing myself for something out of this world to come out of his mouth.

  “Well. They weren’t really… people.” He blurted with an animated smile. Whatever he was trying to tell me was sure juicing him up.

  I stopped walking and cocked my head to the side. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Vampires…” he slowly whispered with a charge of excitement.

  I threw out a big huff and proceeded to walk again. “Whatever, Markus” I spat behind me.

  He caught up to me and grabbed my shoulders to steal my attention. “No. No. It’s true! I can prove it. Wait, no I can’t. But I might be-” he stuttered.

  “What are you rambling about? There are no vampires. It’s just a fictional monster created by someone who had nothing better to do.” I calmly said.

  “Do you believe that about dinosaurs? That they too are just fictional?” Markus asked.

  “No. There’s proof of their existence. There isn’t any for vampires.” I responded.

  “That’s because they disappear when they die. And when they’re alive, they look just like the rest of us!” Markus replied.

  “And how exactly did you come up with this conclusion?” I snickered in disbelief. Were we really having this conversation? I never thought I would have to convince Markus that vampires didn’t exist. He had yet to prove to me that there was a ghost that messed with him when he did his chores.

  “I saw one attacking a human.” He pointed at his eyes with his long index finger.