by Alice Moss
Liz shook her head, giving him a faint smile. “Thanks, Jimmy, but I’m OK.” Then she realized that she probably owed him an apology too. She sighed. Last night really hadn’t been her finest hour. “Look—I’m really sorry about yesterday. At the party, I mean.”
Jimmy stared at his feet, pushing his glasses up his nose, the way he always did when he was nervous, which was most of the time. “Oh—you—you don’t have anything to be sorry for, Liz.”
“Yes, I do,” she insisted. “I was feeling bad, and I took it out on you when you were just being nice. So I’m sorry.” She sighed. “I think I’ll be doing a lot of apologizing today.”
Jimmy smiled. “Well, thanks. But I had a good time. It was nice … just talking to you.” He cleared his throat, embarrassed. “So—you’re sure you’re OK?”
Liz nodded, smiling back. “Yeah. I’m OK. Thanks for checking, though. So what are you doing here, anyway? We don’t often see you at the mall.”
“Oh”—he shrugged—“Mom doesn’t seem to be feeling well today, so I thought I’d get her something to cheer her up. Some flowers, maybe. Any suggestions?”
“Aw, Jimmy, that’s really sweet,” Liz said, a little surprised. Not many of her male friends would be so thoughtful. “I’m sure she’d love flowers.”
Jimmy smiled awkwardly. “Well, I’ll let you get back to what you were doing. See you at school, I guess.”
He gave her a little wave and walked away, just as Liz’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She opened the message nervously, but then smiled.
I’LL BE THERE AS SOON AS I CAN, it said.
#
Faye walked into Winter Mill Mall, not quite sure what she would find but happy that Liz wanted to talk. Faye hadn’t really slept the night before, there had been so much going around in her head. The fight with Liz, her horrible fright in the forest—not to mention the amazing bike ride home with Finn. If she were going to tell anyone about what had happened, it would be her best friend. But after the previous night, Faye hadn’t been sure they’d ever speak again. This, at least, was a step in the right direction.
She saw Liz standing right where she’d said she’d be, beside the Millie’s Cookies concession. She had what looked like a box of cookies in one hand and a small white bag in the other.
“Hi,” Faye said quietly when she got nearer.
“Hi,” her friend answered, with an uncertain smile. There was a pause, during which neither of them knew quite what to say. Then, “Thanks for coming. Look … I’m really, really sorry about last night,” Liz offered.
Faye shook her head, feeling a flood of emotion fill her. “No, Liz—I’m sorry. I should have realized—”
“Faye, you have nothing to apologize for. I was just being an idiot, like you said. You can’t help it if he likes you. I don’t know why I got so angry.”
“He doesn’t like me, Liz, we were just chatting, that’s all. I’m sure—”
Liz sighed, shaking her head. “I’m telling you, he does. And it’s fine. Really.”
“It’s not fine!” Faye exclaimed. “And anyway, I don’t like him. At least—not like that. He’s just a friend, Liz, that’s all.” In her head, the memory of being pressed against Finn’s back as they raced into town sent a flush rising to her face. OK, so she knew Lucas was cute, but next to Finn—
“Well, whatever.” Liz’s words broke into Faye’s thoughts. “I just don’t want to lose you over him. I’m just … sorry.” Liz held out the cookies and the little bag. “And these are to prove it!”
Faye laughed. “I thought we swore we’d never eat cookies again.”
Liz shrugged. “Desperate times, desperate measures, as Aunt Pam would say.” She shook the little white bag. “Open it, go on.”
Faye took it. Inside was a little jewelry box that held the cutest silver bracelet she had ever seen. It had a small charm hanging from it that read BFF.
“Oh, Liz—it’s lovely. You didn’t have to do that. And how could you afford it? I thought you’d spent your allowance.”
“Poppy lent me some money yesterday. It was supposed to be for emergencies because she knew I was broke, but I wanted to buy you this,” Liz said softly. “Because you deserve it. And because if I don’t have you, I don’t have anyone.”
Faye felt tears in her eyes and pulled Liz into a fierce hug. “Funny,” she said, “I was thinking the same thing about you this morning.”
Liz pulled away with a shaky sigh. “So. Friends?”
“Definitely friends,” agreed Faye, slipping on the bracelet and holding it up to the light.
Liz smiled, a flash of her usual sunny self breaking through. “In that case … I’ve got another surprise for you!”
Faye followed Liz through the mall, expecting them to end up in Griffin’s. Instead, her friend led her to the door of MK. Liz headed straight in, but Faye held back.
“Liz, I can’t go in here!”
“Sure you can. Come on, they’ve got some great new stuff! I can’t spend any more money, but that doesn’t mean I can’t plan what I’m going to buy with my next allowance, does it?”
“No, Liz, the owner lifted the ban on you, but she didn’t do the same for me! They’ll call security if I try to go in there!”
Liz turned, her hands on her hips. “Well, that was yesterday. This is today.”
“And why should today be any different?” Faye asked.
Liz walked toward her, linking their arms and pulling her into the shop. “Because today I got Barbie Finch to call the owner and give you a glowing reference, that’s why. And now we’re both fine to shop here whenever we want.”
Faye blinked, touched. “Really? You did that for me?”
Liz grinned. “Really. So come on, let’s split up and find the perfect outfit. Meet you at the fitting rooms in twenty minutes!”
Maybe it was a side effect of making up with Liz, or maybe it was because she kept trying to imagine what Finn would think about each item she picked up, but this time Faye found it far easier to find something she wanted to try on. She picked out a cute green top with an appliquéd flower on it, a light sequined scarf in a matching color and a distressed pair of dark blue jeans. She went to wait for Liz at the fitting rooms as instructed, trying not to let her mind wander back to the previous night.
“Look what I’ve found!” Liz exclaimed when she’d finally decided what to try on. She was holding up the same green top that Faye had slung over her arm.
Faye laughed as she realized they’d picked out identical outfits—right down to the same little scarf!
“Well, we can’t both wear it,” giggled Liz. “What would Candi say?”
“Let’s both try it on, and see who looks best,” Faye suggested.
They each ducked into a cubicle and began to pull on their new outfits. Faye loved the jeans—the careful stylized fading on them was great.
“How’s it going so far?” Liz called from the next cubicle.
“I love the jeans!”
“Oh no! Me too!”
Faye had just pulled on the top when she saw a reflection in the mirror. A woman of about forty, with anxious, tired eyes, was standing just behind her. Thinking that the woman had thought the cubicle was empty, Faye turned around.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll be done in just a—”
Faye stopped dead. There was no one there. She pulled back the curtain and looked around the store, but the woman was nowhere to be seen. Shaken, Faye returned her gaze to the mirror. The woman was still there, staring at her with mournful, empty eyes. Faye shivered as the temperature suddenly dropped. Tiny patterns of ice began to creep up the edges of the mirror. She grabbed her camera to take a picture, but by the time she’d gotten the lens cap off and put it to her eye, the mirror was empty, reflecting nothing but her own worried face.
“Faye?” asked Liz, appearing from the other cubicle, wearing the outfit. “Did you say something?”
Chapter 18: Forest Speedway
Finn too
k his coffee extra strong that morning. He hadn’t really slept; he’d been far too wired from his encounter with Faye to settle down. So he’d stayed out on his bike until the early hours, only returning when the sun was beginning to stain the forest floor with light. Even then he hadn’t felt like sleeping. Instead, he’d sat by the campfire with his penknife and a piece of wood, and as the rest of the bikers slowly began to stir around him, Finn began to whittle it into a shape. But carving didn’t calm his thoughts, as it usually did. He just couldn’t keep his mind off Faye.
He couldn’t shake the image of her from his mind, and he couldn’t erase the feel of her arms around him during that fast, fleeting ride. She looked so much like Eve, with that same fragile beauty that he’d fallen head over heels for all those many years ago, and Finn was torn. Torn between running away as fast as he could, and never leaving her side again. It had to be a sign, didn’t it? That she was here at all, and especially now?
Finn put down his knife and took another mouthful of coffee, letting the bitterness wash around his mouth. That moment they’d shared, outside her aunt’s shop—he’d sworn he’d keep her safe, but could he? Could he save her from the evil that was sweeping these woods?
“Finn?” His dad’s voice was rough in the early-morning light. “We missed you last night. Where were you?”
Finn glanced up at Joe Crowley. “Out on the bike. Just … felt like riding, that’s all.”
Joe frowned. “You don’t fool me, son. What happened?”
“I told you—”
“And I know you, Finn. Something happened.”
Finn shook his head, looking down at the object he’d been carving, a tiny wolf, its mouth open midhowl. He sighed, snapping his knife shut and stuffing both it and the wolf into his pocket. It was pointless to try to keep anything from his father, and actually, he probably needed to know about it. Some of it, at least. “There was a hunt last night.”
“Not around here, there wasn’t. We’d have sensed it.”
“It was farther south, near the road into town.”
“You saw it?”
“No,” Finn said. “I picked up a girl on the road. She was running from them.”
Joe narrowed his eyes. “What girl?”
Finn sighed, knowing what his father would say. “The one from the mall.”
“And you just happened upon her at the right moment, is that right?”
“Yes. I kept my word. I didn’t go looking for her. But I couldn’t leave her there. You know that.”
Joe shook his head. “Finn, you know what happened last time. You can’t let this one get to you. Not again. You have to keep your distance.”
Finn shook his head. “What if I don’t want to? What if—what if we’re here for a reason? What if this is a second chance?”
“We are here for a reason!” Joe said, his voice rising above the chatter of the early-morning birds. “But this girl isn’t it! You know that.”
Finn upturned his coffee mug, tipping the dregs into the fire. “I know what we’re here to do,” he said quietly. “I just don’t see that it has to rule the rest of my life—or that it gives you a right to tell me how to live.”
“I’m just looking out for you, Finn.”
Finn shook his head. “You can’t, Dad. Not forever. And this … this is too important to me. Try to understand that.” He turned his back and strode away toward his bike.
“Finn!”
Finn didn’t answer. He slung a leg over the saddle and kicked the engine into life, its dull roar momentarily drowning out the dawn chorus. Then he headed into the early-morning light, not even pausing to pull on his helmet.
The air was cold. It made Finn’s eyes water, but he didn’t slow down. He skidded through the trees, churning up snow in his wake as he headed for the road. Blood was pumping in his veins, fueled by anger—anger at his dad, for saying what Finn already knew but didn’t want to hear; anger that his life wasn’t simpler; anger that he couldn’t just walk up to the girl and ask her out like any other normal teenage boy would. He’d seen the look in her eyes; he knew she’d wanted him to kiss her last night as much as he’d wanted to do it.
But his life wasn’t normal. He wasn’t normal, and no amount of wishing would make it so, and that was what had held him back. The fear that what had happened before would happen again, the fear that if she ever found out, she’d reject him anyway. The fear that his life, even now, was not his own.
It was this anger and fear that drove him on, faster and faster, at speeds that were more and more reckless. But through the fear he’d made up his mind. He was going to talk to her again, no matter what his father had decreed. Finn had to talk to her again: he couldn’t live in this world knowing that she was in it too, without being able to talk to her, see her, know her.
He heard the siren before he saw the flashing blue light. A cop car, Finn thought. Oh, great, that’s just what I need right now.
Finn briefly thought about kicking down and pushing the bike onward even faster, but he thought better of it. That would cause more trouble for all the bikers and would only distract from their task at hand, and his anger wasn’t worth that. So he slowed, careful not to spin the back wheel the way he had the night before, and pulled to a stop on the shoulder of the road.
Killing the engine, he pushed off the bike and leaned against it, waiting for the officer to approach. Finn recognized him as the same cop who had come up to talk to his dad the first day they arrived—Sergeant Wilson. He nodded a polite greeting but said nothing.
“License and registration, please.”
“Sorry, Officer,” Finn said as he handed over his documentation. “I know I was speeding.”
“Damn right you were,” said Wilson calmly. “Any faster and your speedometer would have burned right out.” He handed Finn’s papers back before sticking his hands in his pockets. “You’re also not wearing a crash helmet. Where are you off to in such a rush, so early in the morning?”
Finn decided to be honest. “Into town, sir.”
“Town. Is that so? And what were you going to do in town, exactly?”
“I was heading for the bookshop. The lady there—Pam—I fixed her heat a few days back and I wanted to check that it was still holding up all right. Especially after last night—that was a cold one.”
The big officer stared at him impassively. “You’re polite for a biker, aren’t you?”
“I was brought up right, sir.” Finn glanced at the ground. “And not all bikers are out to raise hell.”
Wilson nodded. “Your driving says otherwise.”
“Sorry, sir,” Finn said once more. “It won’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t.” Wilson paused before sighing. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt this time. I know Pam McCarron, and she has good things to say about you. But if I catch you driving like a maniac again, I’ll see that bike of yours confiscated, understand?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“And, Finn … it is Finn, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Sergeant?”
Wilson looked at him hard, and Finn had the impression that the gaze was boring straight down into his soul. “Pam has a niece living with her. Faye McCarron.”
“Yes, sir. We’ve met.”
“Faye’s good friends with my daughter, Liz. I want you to stay away from both girls, do you understand?”
Finn frowned. “Faye and I are friends, and—”
“When Faye’s dad’s away, I keep an eye on her,” said Wilson, cutting Finn off with a steely look. “And I can say for sure that you are exactly the sort of friend that Faye does not need, do you understand?”
Finn felt fury pricking in every pore, but he forced himself to keep his cool.
“Yes, sir” was what he said.
Wilson eyed him again before nodding curtly and turning away. “Right. I’m glad we understand each other.”
The cop car followed Finn’s bike all the way to McCarron’s Bookstor
e.
Chapter 19: A Simple Investigation
The two girls kept on shopping, but Faye’s heart wasn’t in it. She shivered every time she thought of that woman reflected in the mirror. What was happening to her? First the terrifying chase through the woods, and now this? Faye wished her dad were around. Just talking to him would make her feel better, but there still had been no word from him. Even Aunt Pam was beginning to worry and had said she’d try to track him down.
“Faye? Are you all right?” Liz asked. “You’ve gotten very quiet.”
Faye forced a weak smile and shrugged. “I’m fine. Sorry, I’m probably just still tired from last night.”
Liz immediately looked guilt-stricken. “Are you still mad at me?” she asked. “I’m so sorry for making you walk home, Faye. I still can’t believe I did that.”
“No—no, it wasn’t … You didn’t …” Faye stopped. She didn’t want to tell Liz that in the end she hadn’t walked home, because that would mean explaining why. And Faye wasn’t sure she wanted to tell Liz about the chase through the woods. That would make it all the more real, somehow … and she would prefer to think of it all as a bad dream. All except Finn’s rescue and that trip home on his bike. Her stomach still did backflips every time she thought of him touching her face. She cleared her throat. “I just didn’t sleep well, that’s all.”
Liz narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “I don’t believe you. There’s something you’re not telling me.” Reaching out, Liz grabbed Faye’s hand and squeezed. “Please tell me. We used to tell each other everything. Maybe I can help.”
Faye shook her head. “I don’t think anyone can help.”
“Then there is something going on!” Liz cried. She pulled Faye down onto one of the mall’s benches. “Come on, spill. A problem shared is a problem halved—or something like that. What’s going on? You haven’t been yourself all day.”
Faye took a deep breath. “You’re going to think I’m crazy,” she said.
Liz laughed. “Come on, Faye. Out of the two of us, who’s known to be the crazy one?”