Knight Flyers

by Ann McCune

  I slumped where I stood. They were acting so weird, they wouldn’t have batted an eye if Billy had been coming over. What was wrong with Shawn and what made Billy so great in their eyes?

  I went up to my room, opened my laptop, and clicked on my Facebook page. I clicked on the messenger button and sent Shawn a message.

  Hey, my parents went skiing today. Let me know when you want to come over to study.

  He must have been on his computer because he responded almost instantly.

  Did you sleep well?

  Part of me didn’t want to tell him about the nightmare, but he was someone who could protect me.

  No, my stalker wouldn’t leave me alone. I found something I need to talk to you about.

  I closed the lid on the computer and swung my backpack over my shoulder before going down to the dining room. When I opened the lid again I had another message from Shawn.

  I will be there around eleven if it works for you. I can’t wait to hear what you want to talk about.

  I looked at the clock. It was ten, so I had an hour. I typed back, Sounds Good.

  I closed my computer and started reviewing what our test would be covering. I looked at the clock when I finished, it was almost eleven. I moved to get something to drink when someone put their hands over my eyes.

  “Nice Jeep.”

  “Billy.” I jumped and turned around to see him standing in the doorway. “What are you doing here? How are you already back from your trip?” I loved Billy like a brother, but I didn’t want him there when Shawn arrived.

  “We made it halfway before Tommy’s machine died. We spent the rest of the day fixing it. We ended up camping where we were and decided to just come home, no need to tempt fate.” He walked to the head of the table and put his hands in his pockets

  “I’m glad you guys are safe,” I said, only paying attention to half what he said. I need to come up with a way to get him out of the house before Shawn showed up.

  “Yeah, we were never in trouble or anything. Hey, I kind of missed you.” He was up to something, and I didn’t think I was going to like it.

  “Why? Need me to fix Tommy’s machine?” I folded my arms over my chest.

  “And make fun of him for not knowing how to fix it himself.” He pulled out a chair and sat. “We have a history test on Wednesday, right?” he asked, looking at my book on the table.

  “Yeah, actually Shawn is on his way over to study for it.” Honesty was the best policy, right?

  “He is, huh? I bet I’m cramping your style.” He leaned back in the chair, he had no intention of leaving. “Heard you guys had quite the date on Friday.”

  “We had a great time, but I don’t know why it’s any of your business.” I moved to stand by the doorway.

  “I don’t think he is right for you, Liz.” He brought the chair back down.

  “Why?” He was not going to have an answer to make me stop seeing Shawn, but I would listen.

  “Who knows how long they will be here. They move all the time. I just don’t want you to get your heart broken.”

  “Is there anyone who you would be okay with me dating?” He was starting to sound like my dad.

  “I can think of someone.” He stood and took a few steps toward me.

  “Who?” I asked, taking a step back when he got too close.

  “Me,” he almost whispered but then found his courage. “Me,” he said firmly.

  My mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. Mom had warned me about Billy, but I ignored her. How could Billy want to date me? “Billy, I—” I didn’t know how to tell him. He put his finger on my lips to quiet me.

  “Think about it.” He started walking toward the front door and I followed behind him.

  I should tell him I would never date him, I thought to myself, but I was a chicken. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

  “Billy,” I said, finding my courage while he opened the front door.

  He turned to face me, pulled me into his arms, and kissed me. I was too surprised to do anything at first. Once I realized what he was doing I pushed myself away from him and slapped him as hard as I could across the face.

  It was too late though. I heard the tires squeal and looked up in time to see Shawn fishtailing out of the driveway. “Crap,” I ran my hands through my loose hair. “What the hell, Billy? Did you do that on purpose?”

  “I did it because I’ve wanted to for years and now seemed to be the right time. If Shawn was here to see it, all the better.” He ran his hands over a welt in the shape of my hand on his cheek. “I want you to go out with me, I want to be your boyfriend.”

  “Billy, you’re like a brother to me. I could never think of you like that.” I folded my arms across my chest. I was killing him, but he just screwed everything up for me and Shawn. I needed to get rid of Billy and call Shawn. “I’m sorry if it hurts to hear. You are my best friend and I don’t know what I would do without you, but you need to leave right now. I need to call Shawn and explain what happened.”

  “Why are you suddenly so interested in guys? You never gave anyone the time of day before Shawn. I thought you were waiting for me to make a move.” Billy wasn’t going anywhere, and I rolled my eyes at him.

  “Because I have never been attracted to anyone before. If I liked you in that way, I would have made a move. Now, please go.”

  “Fine, but this isn’t over, Liz.” Billy stomped to his truck and I ran inside slamming the door behind me.

  I ran for the phone, dialed Shawn’s number. It rang and rang before going to voicemail. “Shawn, its Liz. I’m guessing you saw Billy kiss me, what you didn’t see was me slapping him. He just showed up and I was trying to make him leave. Please call me, I want to explain what happened.” I hung up the phone and carefully put it back on the charger instead of throwing it across the room. My eyes were starting to burn. I didn’t know what to do. I went to my computer and sent a message on Facebook to him, then lay down on the couch and waited for him to respond. When an hour passed without a word, I sent him another one. After another hour passed with no response I could not help the tears that started to fall. I let them come and I cried until I fell asleep.

  I was running through the forest looking for Shawn, he was hurt, and he needed me, but I couldn’t find him. I ran, calling his name. If I could find him I could save him.

  “Liz,” I heard him yell from behind me. I turned around but there was no one there.

  “Where are you?” I called, turning in a circle. I was surrounded by twisted pine trees and I could not see beyond them. I pushed through the branches running toward Shawn’s voice. When I broke free from the trees, I found myself at the opening to the mineshaft from my dream.

  “Liz, help me.” The voice I thought was Shawn’s turned scratchy and cracked.

  I froze, my stalker was back, and I remembered where I fell asleep, on the couch without my dreamcatcher. The mare wouldn’t know the barrier between us wasn’t there. I just need to wake myself up and I could escape.

  “Wake up,” I yelled at myself. Nothing happened, I was still standing outside the mineshaft and the wind started to pick up, instead of coming from the mineshaft this time, it came from behind me. It was trying to push me toward the opening. I looked at opening of the shaft, and I saw the mare waiting there for me, ready to welcome me into his home, where he would feast on my soul.

  Not today, I thought to myself, digging my heels into the ground, and bending my knees, trying to stand my ground.

  “Come now, Liz, it will only hurt for a second. Then you won’t have to worry about your Knight or your other boyfriend,” his voice swept across the wind almost stinging me when the words reached my ears.

  “Billy’s not my boyfriend,” I yelled back at him. It was not the time to debate my relationship with Billy with a goblin, but I was so mad at Billy.

  The goblin laughed grabbing his stomach. “Whatever, you think I care? The only thing I care about is eating your soul for dinner.” He moved
his hands in a complicated pattern, and the wind gusted.

  I dropped to my knees and grasped at the sparse vegetation, trying to keep myself from being blown into the shaft. Another wind gust hit, and I lost my grip on the ground. I was lifted off my feet and flew straight toward the opening. Is this how I die? I thought, trying to think of anything to save me. A weapon, I was able to manifest a gun the other night. I thought frantically, while flying through the air, of a weapon I could use to kill the goblin. My hunting knife finally came to mind, I looked down at my hand to see the shining metal in my hand. The wind died, and I started to fall from the sky, the goblin was directly below me waiting to catch me with his arms out.

  I felt his arms take my weight right before I hit the ground. He pulled me towards his mouth and I flung my knife into his back. He screamed and dropped me on the ground. I tried to jump to my feet, but he was on top of me in less than a second.

  “You think your puny knife is going to stop me?”

  I tried to punch him, but he caught my right wrist in his hand and started to lean over me. His grip on my wrist burned so badly, tears formed in my eyes. I squirmed and jerked trying to think of anything that would save me from him. I had one hand free, I brought it up to the side of his head as I thought of an icepick and slammed it into this ear. He screamed in pain and grabbed the side of his head.

  I pushed him off me and got to my feet. He fell on his back and looked up at the sky. I didn’t think he was dead for a second, but I was mad. I ran over to him ready to give him a kick to the head when his arm shot out stopping me.

  “You think you beat me, little girl? The joke is on you. I marked you, no matter where you go I will find you, and eventually I will take your soul.” He laughed dryly before melting into the ground like rain on a parched desert floor.

  “Liz, wake up.” I opened my eyes to my mom shaking me.

  “I’m awake.” I took a deep breath trying to slow my racing heart. I was covered in sweat and my hands were shaking. My wrist still hurt from where he had gripped me. I wanted to look at it but not with my mom there. It took me a second to remember where I was. I looked around remembering everything from earlier in the day.

  “You know you shouldn’t fall asleep out here. Where’s Shawn?” Mom sat on the couch next to me.

  “Billy ruined everything.” I didn’t want to cry in front of her, but I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

  “What did Billy do?” Dad asked, walking into the room.

  “He came over before Shawn got here. We talked and when I walked him out he kissed me. Shawn saw the whole thing and peeled out of the driveway. He didn’t even wait to see me slap the crap out of Billy.” I sobbed into Mom’s shoulder.

  “Did you try to call him?” Mom asked, patting my back trying to sooth me.

  “Yes, and I sent him a message on Facebook. He hasn’t responded. Damn Billy, he ruined everything,” I yelled, letting go of Mom and reaching for a tissue. I blew my nose loudly.

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m sure you’ll be able to talk to him tomorrow and work it out,” Dad said, sitting down in the recliner. “If not, he isn’t worth it.”

  “Your father’s right. If Shawn’s worth it, you two will work it out. If not, then you will find someone else.”

  “I’m going to kill Billy. How dare he kiss me?” I got up and started pacing.

  “I’m surprised he waited so long,” Dad mumbled, kicking the recliner back and folding his hands together to rest on his lap.

  “You knew he had a crush on me?” I asked, stopping in front of him and putting my hands on my hips.

  “Billy has been in love with you since you were ten.” Mom leaned back on the couch and put her feet on the coffee table. “I tried to tell you,” Mom said.

  “I know I just didn’t want to believe it?” I threw my hands in the air. “I wish I could have taken care of this years ago. I love Billy like a brother. The thought of him kissing me is disgusting.” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

  “We kept waiting for him to make a move. I didn’t think it would happen like this, but it’s not a huge surprise,” Dad said.

  “Why isn’t it a huge surprise?” I asked, stopping in front of him again.

  “Sometimes, boys won’t make a move until they are threatened, and Shawn threatened him,” Dad said, trying not to laugh.

  “Guys suck.” I looked at the clock, it was already four o’clock. “I have to study,” I said, going into the dining room, and sitting down in front of my history book. I wanted to drive over to Shawn’s house and force him to talk to me, but I didn’t want to fail my history test. So, I stayed home and studied.

  After studying for a few hours, my parents forced me to eat dinner then I went up to my room. I sat on my bed and thought about the dream. I was lucky. I looked down at the burn I woke up with on my wrist. It was almost a brand, there were two interlocking lines of angry red welts wrapping all the way around my wrist.

  I needed to talk to Shawn more than ever now. The goblin said I was marked, that I would never escape him. Then there was everything I had learned about my bio-dad in his journal. I didn’t know if Shawn would ever talk to me again, but I needed his help if I was going to survive.

  CHAPTER 17

  I tossed and turned all night, never making it to REM, which was a relief in some ways. If I had, I would have to deal with my goblin stalker, but when my alarm went off in the morning I felt like I had just gone to bed. I took a quick shower, braided my hair while it was still wet, threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt without looking at it. I pulled a hoodie off a hanger and decided I had to face the day.

  I should have been excited to drive my new Jeep, but I was freaking out about seeing Shawn and Billy. I wanted to corner Shawn and explain to him what happened, and I wanted to slap Billy again for the kiss. Even thinking about his lips on mine made me want to throw up.

  I stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at my wrist. It looked the same as it had the night before. My mom would freak if she saw it, thinking I did it on purpose. I shoved my arms through the hoody and pulled it over my head. I didn’t like hiding things from my mom, but there was no way she would believe the truth.

  I went downstairs and got a cup of coffee before sitting at the bar. I had no appetite, I just wanted to get the day over with.

  “Good morning, sweetheart,” Mom said in a singsong voice when she came into the kitchen already dressed for work.

  I grunted and took a sip of my coffee.

  “Liz, it will be alright. Talk to Shawn and explain what happened.”

  “Mom, I tried to talk to him yesterday after he left, and he wouldn’t return my calls.” I rested my forehead on the counter.

  “If he’s worth it then he’ll listen to you.” She patted my head then went to the refrigerator.

  “You’re right, but it wasn’t my fault. It was Billy’s, and he did it on purpose.”

  “You are going to have to deal with them both, dear. It’s part of growing up.”

  “Then I don’t want to grow up.” I got up and took my lunch sack off the counter and put it in my backpack.

  “You’ll be alright. Don’t let a boy ruin your mood.” She came up to me and gave me a hug. “They aren’t worth it.”

  “Thanks, Mom, I have to go.” I pulled out of her embrace. “I’ll see you after work.” I put my coat on, grabbed my bag, and went out to my Jeep.

  The sun was out and warm on my face, but I didn’t enjoy it. I wanted thunder and lightning to match my mood. I got into my Jeep and started it up. The last thing I wanted to do was go to school, but my parents would be really mad if I ditched because of a boy. Instead, I took the long way to school enjoying my new Jeep and listening to Hair Band Radio to take my mind off my problems.

  When I got to school, I parked my Jeep and forced myself to face the day. I stared at Shawn’s empty Jeep in the parking lot as I walked. I wanted to find him and force him to talk to me. I looked at my watch, unfort
unately I didn’t have time to find him unless I wanted to be late to class. I picked up my pace and made it to class with seconds to spare.

  I tried to pay attention in math, but my eyes seemed to stray to the clock waiting for class to be over. I wanted to find Shawn and make him talk to me. It was the longest class of my life, the seconds slowed down to minutes and the minutes turned into hours. When the bell finally rang, I jumped out of my seat and ran for the door. I was going to camp out by Shawn’s locker and not leave until he would talk to me. Unfortunately, Billy was waiting outside the door of my classroom, and I knew I wouldn’t get away from him.

  “Liz, wait. Would you talk to me?” He grabbed my elbow, stopping me.

  I tugged my elbow free of his grasp. “No, Billy. You messed everything up for me and Shawn. I’m not ready to talk to you. Leave me alone.” I turned and stormed down the hall to my locker, I didn’t have time to go by Shawn’s, thanks to Billy, and got my books for my next class. I looked everywhere for Shawn while I walked, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  “Jo,” I called, seeing her turn down the hallway in front of me. I ran after her hoping she would stop so I could talk to her about Shawn. She was waiting for me when I turned the corner.

  “What do you want?” she asked, leveling her eyes on me.

  “Where’s Shawn? I need to talk to him. I need to explain.” I felt the back of my eyes start to burn and I blinked hoping I wouldn’t cry in front of her.

  “He saw everything he needed to on Sunday. I never took you for a slut, but I guess it’s my fault for trusting someone I just met.”

  “Billy kissed me,” I almost yelled. “Shawn left before I slapped the crap out of Billy for doing it.”

  “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.” Jo turned and walked away.

  “I just want to talk to Shawn,” I called to her. “I need his help,” I said, rubbing the burn on my wrist. I wanted to tell her more, but she didn’t know I knew about her.