The boy who had stared at the man fought to keep his valiant attitude. “Who are you, then? You look weird. And you’ve got no shoes. What are you, a homeless?”
“Not really,” the man said. He did not raise his voice, yet Suzy, standing mesmerised in the window many metres away, heard him clearly. “Not yet.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” the boy demanded. “You better get out of here. Or I’ll call the police.”
“I would rather that you did not.” The man smiled, and the boys retreated a step. Suzy gripped her towel tighter, feeling her throat go dry. There was something vaguely feral about the man’s small smile. She was half-surprised to see white, normal teeth and not fangs.
“Okay,” Suzy said, in complete lack of anything more intelligent to say.
The man turned his black eyes on her, and Suzy stood lost between two impulses. Half of her wanted to slam the window and hide under the bed, while the other half of her wanted to give in to temptation, open the window and walk up to the man. She wanted to touch that strange skin, those arms. She wanted to look deeper into those twin black inkwells in his face. She wanted to...
“You, woman,” he said.
Suzy faltered. Who said ‘woman’ these days? But there was no sarcasm, no derogatory tone to his deep voice. Maybe he was an immigrant and did not know the language that well. Except for his height, he looked vaguely Native American, but there was a faint slant to his eyes that spoke of different origins. She cleared her throat. “Yes?”
“Are these men threatening you?”
“Hey – “ one of the boys began.
“Quiet. I am addressing the young woman,” the man said. Not snappy, not challenging, only in command. Someone used to being obeyed. Was there a military base nearby? No that was ridiculous; with that hair, he would not be in the military. Suzy shook her head, as much in reply as in at the whole situation. Her friends would perhaps believe her when she told them about the boys, but they would never believe this.
She realised the man still waited for an answer. She was tempted to say yes, if only to see what would happen. Nasty, perhaps, but she was only human.
Then she changed her mind. First of all, the boys had not threatened her. They were just hopeful kids with one too many sugary rum drinks in their systems. And Suzy had a feeling things could get ugly if she said yes. The boys were probably anything but violent, but the man’s calm unnerved both the boys as well as Suzy. There was something about the way he stood, relaxed and totally still, yet somehow ready to spring. It was time to sort this out before something bad happened.
“I’m fine. They just wanted to join my, um, party. But they haven’t done anything bad. I’m sure they’re sweet as pies.” Did I just say that?
A short silence followed. “I see,” the man said. “And you say you mean this woman no harm? Be honest. I do not take lightly to lies.”
“Of course, dude. We were just – “
“We’d never – we just thought they’d – “
The man cut them off. “Understood. A good night to you all, then.” He nodded at each of them, his black gaze lingering a moment longer at Suzy – and there it was again, that faintly feral smile, playing at the corners of his mouth.
Suzy’s throat felt tight. Once again feelings clashed inside her. Part of her told her to run away, part of her said the same thing, only to run in the other direction. And part of her wanted to…growl? What was that all about?
Then he turned and walked away, across the lawn, blending with the night until he was gone. The boys did not stop staring at his back until he vanished. They looked at each other, then turned to Suzy and babbled.
“We better, you know, go back.”
“Yeah. Our friends will wonder where we are.”
“Sorry if we bothered you.”
“Yeah.”
“Didn’t want to…”
“…cause any trouble.”
“But if you change your mind, you know where – ouch.”
Once again the boy with a trace of tact – or maybe a measure of survival instinct – slapped his friend over the back of his head. Then they turned and walked quickly down the path.
Suzy watched them go, then closed the window and leaned against the wall. She did not move until her heart stopped hammering. Christ. Weirdness galore. Her memory flickered back to the night she had spent in New Orleans a month ago. She had put off that whole unbelievable – but pretty interesting – event as an unusually intense dream, but now she recalled the night with polished, sparkling clarity. Was she losing her mind? ‘Cabin Fever’. The term came sailing back and run aground in her brain. Turning nuts from being confined too long. But did not that require more people, or could one get it by oneself?
Suzy snorted, stalked back to the stereo and whacked the power button. Seconds later a brooding tune made the house’s walls shudder. Much better. She swapped the wet towel for a black tracksuit with orange stripes and threw the wine-stained carpet into the washing machine. Having checked all locks, she poured herself a new glass of wine and went back to the deck chair with her bag. The moon had turned the forested landscape into a mass of silvery peaks, broken only by a few, dark meadows and clearings. A small stream wound its way through the forest, starting far up in the mountains and running in gentle curves towards the hill upon which the cabin rested. In the moonlight, it looked like a shining rope flung across the woods.
She upturned her bag in her lap and dug out her black nail polish from the mound of bric-a-brac. Not that she needed another layer, but she had to do something to take her mind of the unexpected visitors. She glanced at her watch. Eight-thirty. They had better not miss another flight. She sighed and turned her attention to her left fingernail.
A movement in the forest made her look up. Something had stirred deep in the woods. Probably an owl, or perhaps another fox. She cursed her jittery nerves and scowled at her fingers, only to look up again when a shadow crossed the stream. She watched the shining brook for a few seconds. Once again a shadow flashed across the stream. A big shadow. Hundreds of metres away, yet clearly visible in the pale light.
Suzy paused. Were there bears in these woods? She screwed the cap back on the nail polish, unloaded her belongings onto the veranda’s wooden floor, stood up and walked over to the telescope. After a minute of zooming and scouting around, she spotted the shadow again, lost it, grimaced as she whirled the telescope around and found it again. She was not even surprised to see it was the tall man who had been on her lawn.
Suzy did not know how she could be sure; after all, all she saw was shadowy someone walking along the stream. But there was something to the man’s build that she remembered, and she could tell even from this distance that the night-time wander was really tall. After a moment’s fine-tuning of the zoom, she could discern his shirt, his jeans and his unruly hair. The only thing she did not recall was the hat he wore. She could not see for sure, but she thought it was one of those silly tourist caps with beer can holders and tubes to drink from, but there was something about its silhouette that made her think of a hart.
Suzy took her eyes from eyepiece and pinched the bridge of her nose. So her would-be saviour walked alone by the stream in a stupid hat. Not her problem. Probably a local loony. All towns had one. New York, she knew from experience, had plenty. Why not Newridge?
Meaning to look one more time for good measure and then go back to her nails, she peered through the eyepiece, adjusted the zoom, and gasped.
There was a beer, right behind the man. Her heart started hammering again as she gripped the telescope with white-knuckled hands. The huge beast lumbered along the water, not far behind the man who looked in the other direction. Had he not seen the bear? Turn around! Run! Or you’ll be eaten alive in that dumb hat!
Then another shadow appeared next to the stream, behind the bear, and then another. Suzy zoomed and felt her jaw go slack. Two more bears, both trotting in the same direction as the first animal. The three animal
s moved behind the man, all four of them heading in the same direction, away from the cabin.
“No, no, no. Look back. Look back.” She accidentally bumped the telescope and lost focus. Her mind raced, seemingly trying to outrun her heart. What could she do? Scream? No, that would perhaps scare the animals and make them attack the man. Or attract them to the cabin. Could she use a flashlight to signal? Suzy remembered seeing a large portable halogen torch in a drawer in her bedroom labelled ‘outdoor equipment’ No, that was useless; he was looking away from her. She cursed, and made a decision. She had to go there.
Part of her brain – probably the bit where sense and reason hung out – screamed at her to stop as she ran to the drawer where the flashlight was, but Suzy told the voice in her head to shut up, tore the drawer out and emptied it on her bed. Flashlight, matches, Swizz pocketknife, sharpening stone – so that’s where it was! – a box of survival ration bars and, at the bottom of the pile, a large can of pepper spray. Bless those clever grandparents. Suzy snatched the flashlight and the spray and dashed to the front door. Tying her boots seemed to take forever, but soon she was out through the door, down the stairs and then bounding awkwardly through the grass. She paused to shove the keys down a pocket, zip it shut and turn on the flashlight, bathing the forest in a bleak light fit for a horror movie. Suzy remembered seeing a path below the veranda leading into the valley, so she ran around the house with the flashlight’s circle of light bobbing in front of her. She found the path, and set off into the woods.
This is insane. What if she had been wrong? Perhaps there had not been any dangerous animals, only a pack of oversized badgers. And who knew who the stranger was? Perhaps he was the real madman. After all, he had a frigging hat. She reminded herself that she did this to stop him from being bear food. She was not doing this because of his dark eyes. Or his voice. Or those arms. She wasn’t!
Suzy shoved the thoughts aside and focussed on not breaking her neck as she tore through the forest. If she stumbled and smashed the flashlight, she was done for. The path was wide and clear, but even with the bright moon illuminating the land, the darkness outside the flashlight’s radiance was a dense black, a fog of ink that would close on her in the blink of an eye, were it given half a chance. Her eyes flickered left and right. In her imagination, bears, wolves and Sabretooth tigers lurked everywhere she did not look.
After a minute, the path took her to the stream and then ran along it, the glittering water to her right. That must be why that man walked here. And the animals. Maybe. Soon she fought for breath, and her sides began to throb. The stream flowed towards the house so she was running uphill, and even though the slope was gentle, it soon began to take its toll on her legs. This would leave her sore as hell. Suzy shook her head. As if that was my biggest concern right now!
Her mind raced alongside her feet. A plan. She needed a plan. Well, that was simple. Find the man, warn him, and then run like mad from whatever animals that stalked him while pepper-spraying anything that moved. Suzy was the friend of any beast furry or fuzzy as long as her place in the food chain was undisputed. Right now, though, she was driven by a dicey blend of near-panic and hell-bent determination, and any beast in her way had better watch out.
She passed a large boulder she remembered seeing through the telescope. She was getting close. The pepper spray can was slippery in her sweaty palms. The air was still murderously warm. Panting and wheezing, she slowed her sprint to a jog, then a walk. Any time now. The shadows held a hundred make-believe bears licking their fangs. She frowned. Did bears even eat people? She had seen plenty of news clips where black bears dug through bins in national parks up north, but she had never seen one tearing a human being apart. At least wolves ate people. Or did they? And pumas? Who knew what they ate? Well, some people would know, but Suzy was not one of them. In any case, they all had fangs.
She turned another bend in the path and froze. She swallowed and forced her breathing under control. Something sounded from inside the woods, to her left, not far away. And it sounded like – singing. Beautiful singing, at that. A man’s voice, soft yet strong, drifting to her on the warm breeze from somewhere in the darkness. It was definitely the man’s voice.
He was alive. That was good. Mission accomplished. So why did she not run? Come on, legs. Get me out of here. But what if the bear was still around? No, she had to warn him. Make sure he was alright. That made perfect sense.
Suzy swept the flashlight in the direction from where she heard his singing. The trees stood so close the flashlight’s light reached no farther than a few steps. She made her way through a wall of tree trunks, stepping over ferns and roots that tried to trip her, edging around the pine trees with the pepper spray held what she estimated to be bear-face high. The singing was closer. She stepped around a wide trunk, brushed a few, dense branches out of the way, and found herself in a glade. Almost perfect circle, the clearing was no more than a dozen steps wide, walled off by trees and with a pond in the middle. A ring of smooth, knee-high rocks were placed side by side around the pond’s edge, encircling it.
Several things competed for her attention. First, inescapably and strikingly, the man. He languished on the grass next to the pool, lying on his side and resting on an elbow as he poked at a flower. He was still singing. Strands of his tawny hair hung down to shadow his face, but the moonlight found its way to parts of those high cheekbones and that lined law. He still wore the same clothes he had worn at the house but – thankfully – no hat. The stupid thing had really looked like it had a pair of antlers. Next to him stood a dark bottle and, of all things, an empty wine glass. The water in the pond was absolutely still, reflecting a sprinkle of stars. There were no bears. No wolves. No pumas.
She stole another look at him where he lay. Once more she tried to pin down where he might have gotten his looks from, but again she failed. Part Caribbean, part Native American, and part tall and powerfully built Eskimo? And not to forget, one whole part amazingly good-looking. He belonged on a stage in front of thousands dazzled fans, or on a silver screen so that everyone could bask in that gaze. Or on a battlefield commanding legions of sinister elves, if there were such a thing. She blinked and shook her head. He had not looked up, but he already messed with her mind.
Suzy lowered the pepper spray and cleared her throat, hoping not to startle the man.
He did not look up, but his singing stopped. “You have come here, woman, by your own intent. Why?”
Good question. “The name’s Suzy. And I, er, came to warn you.”
He looked up at her. At least Suzy thought he did; his eyes were hidden in shadow, but she felt as if two black, pinpoint suns burned there. “To warn me?” he echoed.
“Well, yeah, I saw this bear, and a wolf. And a puma, I think. From the veranda, up at the house. They have this telescope, and I something. You. And the animals.” She was babbling. Damn his eyes! And damn the wine, too.
“That was very kind,” he said. “But I am quite safe, I can assure you.”
“Safe? What about the big bear?”
“They are friendlier than you could ever imagine. How did you find me?”
“That wasn’t really hard,” Suzy said. “I went up along the stream, then I heard you sing.” Suzy scratched at her arm. Her recent tattoo had started to itch.
The man was silent. He was so still she would have walked past him if he had not been in the open. “You heard my song?” he asked.
“You weren’t exactly quiet.”
“Interesting.”
Suzy thought the man sounded as if he meant it. She decided to ask some questions of her own. “How come you’re hanging around here all alone. Do you sleep here?” Maybe he was homeless after all. No shoes, worn clothes. It was possible.
“I do. Sometimes.”
“It’s all right. I won’t tell on you.”
“Most kind,” he said and smiled.
Suzy could not help to smile back. Without its feral touch, his smiling was not frightenin
g, only gorgeous. She wanted to touch those auburn lips. In fact, she realised, she wanted to do more than that.
Stop it! What was she thinking? Panic threw another question into her mind. “What happened to your hat?”
“Hat?”
“I saw you wear it before. When I saw the bear.”
His eyes widened a fraction. “Oh. I took it off. No reason for you to see me in it.”
“Why would you have something like that?”
“It was a gift.”
“From whom?”
He smiled and looked around, as if searching for someone. “My mother,” he said.
“Okay, be all secretive, then.”
“I apologize. I do not mean to be rude. I have few visitors. Please, have a seat.”
He gestured to the stones around the pond as if were they plush chairs. Suzy sat down on one of the stones, keeping a few metres between her and the man who stayed sprawled on the grass, picking at the leaves as he studied.
This close to the man, she saw his eyes for the first time. They were not brown as she had thought but green, a deep, dark emerald that bordered on black. Then she noticed his scent: Faint and subtle, it evoked images of tree crowns and sunlit grass, made her think of wild rivers, icy wind and blooming spring. It made any perfume she had ever known appear artificial and rank. This was an aroma of pure, untamed freedom. Suzy inhaled, deep, and began to lean towards the man.
Only then did she realize that she was actually sitting. She had not really meant to sit down. Or had she? She pulled herself back, blinking. “You never answered my question,” she snapped.
Moonlight Meetings - Three Erotic Supernatural Stories (The three first stories from Suzy's Adventures) Page 4