thirty three
After much coercion on Jason’s part and a promise that Kirk would take a hike once we got there, I finally ended up giving in and following him to the party. It was either that or hangout in my driveway for a few hours until one, alone. Jason was right; the party wasn’t too far away from my house. What he neglected to tell me was that it was behind the Thompson twin’s house. We parked over to the side of the road. Cars were lined up down the long darkened drive and in the distance, through a break of trees I could see bonfires set up. Still not trusting Kirk, I shoved my Taser in my pocket, along with my phone before I climbed out of my car. I made sure all the doors were locked too.
“Wow, this place is packed,” Kirk said and pulled on his jacket.
Jason locked up his car and walked over beside me. He pushed his glasses back up and looked down at me. “You ready?” he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said.
“I doubt that,” Kirk muttered.
“What is your problem?” I snapped at Kirk. I was at my limit.
He looked at me, and even in the darkness, I could tell he was giving me one of his nasty smug looks. “I don’t have a problem.”
“Could have fooled me,” I muttered.
“Take a hike Kirk,” Jason snapped.
Kirk looked like he was going to say something but then seemed to change his mind. A slow grin spread across his face. “Try not to get lost,” he said to me.
“Yeah, you too… Donkeyhole,” I muttered, making a face at his back as he broke into a slow jog down the driveway.
I hit Jason’s arm.
“Ow, what’d you do that for,” he complained, rubbing his arm.
“I thought you said he wasn’t coming?”
“I didn’t know he was,” he complained.
“How’d he know where to meet us, then?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
“Didn’t you ask him?”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “It didn’t come up.” He exhaled. “Besides, what difference does it make, he’s already gone.”
He had a point but still, I wished Kirk wasn’t with us. “I guess it doesn’t,” I said. A brisk breeze blew my hair away from my face and I shivered. I pulled my jacket closer, and felt in my pocket. I had my Taser in one pocket along with my phone and a box of Red Hots. My keys were in my jean pocket.
“You ready?” Jason looked down at me.
“I guess so.”
Another car pulled up and parked behind us. The headlights lit the way and tall trees crowded the drive lined up on either side, corralling us in. I felt another tremor of unease slide over me. “Are there supposed to be this many people here?” I asked walking down the drive at Jason’s side.
“Yeah, the twins have big parties,” he said, walking beside me. “That’s why they have it behind their house.”
“Their parents don’t mind?”
“I think they’re out of town.”
“Oh.”
“Come on,” he said, cutting through a path in the trees.”
“Wait,” I called. “Why are we going in the woods?”
Jason stopped. “This is how we get to the party.”
“I thought it was behind their house.”
“It’s behind their house,” he said. “On the beach.”
“It’s on the beach?”
“Yes, Amber,” he sighed. “See.” He pointed through the clearing in the trees.
“Oh.” I followed behind Jason slowly, stepping over fallen trees and brush. By the time we got to the break in the trees, I was breathing hard. And there was the beach in front of me, just like he said. There were tons of kids standing around the bonfire and some sat on logs. A huge tree was in the middle of the beach and looked like a car could fit inside. I stopped.
“What are you stopping for?” Jason asked.
“I’ve been here before,” I said, barely audible.
“You’ve been to La Push before? When?” he asked, looking concerned.
I guess my face showed my shock. “Um, I was there at the dance, the one I went to with Glinda,” I added when he gave me a questioning look. “I didn’t go to the beach though.” The tree was just like the one in my dream. Waves crashed on the surf against a beach scattered with rocks and big pieces of driftwood. “I think I dreamt of this place,” I said, pulling my jacket closer.
“Huh. Wonder how you did that?” he asked. “Have you ever been here?”
“Not that I know of,” I said, feeling even more unsettled.
“Are you sure it was this beach?”
“Is there one of those on another beach?” I asked, pointing at the giant tree.
“Not that I know of, but all the beaches here look pretty much the same.”
“But I haven’t been to any of the beaches here yet.”
He inflated his cheeks and blew out a slow stream of air. “Maybe you saw it somewhere else.” He shrugged
“Maybe,” I said, even though I didn’t think so.
“Come on,” he said, and tugged my arm. “Let’s get a drink.”
“Oh—kay,” I said slowly, following him carefully across the rocks. Once again, my dream came to the forefront of my mind. The rocks were just like the ones I had run on in my dream. I had a bad feeling about this. I tried to ignore the funky feeling in the pit of my stomach, and waited in line behind Jason.
“Isn’t this awesome,” Jason, said exuberantly.
“Oh, yeah, it’s just great,” I deadpanned.
He bumped shoulders with me. “Come on Amber, cheer up.”
“Who said I’m not cheery,” I snapped. His face fell and I immediately felt bad. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s just…”
“Move dork,” someone said, shoving in front of Jason.
I recognized Curtis immediately. Great. He was almost as bad as Kirk.
“Oh, it’s you,” he said, giving me a sweep with his eyes.
“Yep, it’s me.” I glared at him.
He laughed. “Vincent’s right,” he said. “You are feisty.” He looked over his shoulder. “Hey Vincent, your girl’s here,” he called.
Vincent stepped forward from the darkness. He gave me a sweeping look with his eyes and my skin prickled. “You actually showed.” He smiled at me in that flirty way of his and my heart went into overdrive, pounding fast.
“Yes,” I gulped.
“Amber, come on,” Jason said and tugged on my arm hard. I jerked forward but remained where I was.
I felt like hitting him.
Jason made a face at me. “Fine, I’ll get the drinks.” He stomped off to the back of the line and waited for the keg.
“So,” Vincent said, “he’s your date?” he asked. Lifting his brow, he gave me a look I didn’t quite understand.
“Um…” I chewed on my lip, making sure Jason was far enough away as not to hear me. “Not really,” I confided.
“Really?” His brow lifted a notch. He seemed amused.
“Yes, really,” I said. “We’re just friends.”
“Interesting,” he mused.
“What’s so interesting about that?”
“When Curtis told me, I thought you were…”
“There you are,” slurred Cressida. She glommed onto Vincent, smushing against his side. She took one look at me and made a face. “Eww, what’s she doing here?”
I fisted my hands in my pockets. “I was invited,” I said.
“By who?” she asked and then hiccupped.
“By Curtis,” I said.
“Curtis!” she screeched. “Why’d you invite her?” Her voice was full of disdain.
“It’s a party, Cressida,” he exhaled. “You invite people to parties or else you’ll just be standing outside by yourself,” he explained in a placating tone but it sounded like he was insulting her intelligence.
My lips twitched. I looked up at Vincent and his eyes crinkled around the corners, like he was about to laug
h too. “I’m glad you came,” he said, ignoring them both.
“Me too,” I said, with meaning.
“So,” he breathed. “I need to talk with you…want to take a walk?”
“Ah…”
“Here, Amber,” Jason said, pushing out a drink to me and stood beside me like a sentinel. I wished the line was longer or better yet, he would just go away.
“Thanks.” Not even thinking about what I was doing, I lifted the cup and took a large drink to cover my nervousness. It burned, and I coughed. “What’s this?” My eyes teared up and my vision blurred.
“Not sure,” Jason said and took another large gulp of his drink.
I hit his arm.
“Ow!” he yelped. “What’d you do that for?”
“I’m driving.”
“Then don’t drink anymore,” he snapped and pushed me slightly.
“Don’t do that,” I gritted, clenching my teeth. He was getting on my nerves.
“You started it,” he complained.
“How long have you two known each other?” Vincent asked his gaze curious.
Jason sobered. “Not long.” He glanced at me, looking nervous suddenly.
“He’s in my English class,” I explained.
Jason grunted and lifted his cup and gulped some more of his drink. I stared at him. At this rate, he was going to be wasted.
Jason lowered his drink. “I’m in English with Viktor and Viola, too,” he said and wobbled in place. “Where’s your brother?” he asked, sounding smug like he knew some kind of secret.
Vincent glared at him. “Not my night to watch him.”
“Interesting,” Jason mused and then gulped the rest of his drink. “You planning on drinking that Amber?” he exhaled, and stumbled into me, nearly pushing me over.
“Excuse us a minute,” I said to Vincent. “Jason, come here.” I pulled him off to the side. “What is wrong with you?” My voice sounded strange, pitchy. I didn’t feel right.
“What’s wrong with me?” he exclaimed. “You’re the one…” he flustered and shoved his hand through his hair. “ I’m your date.”
“No you’re not,” I reminded him in hushed tones. “We came out as friends… remember?”
“You came out with me!” He poked his chest. “Not himmm,” he said, his words already slurring.
“I’m not talking to you when you’re acting like this.”
“I thought you were like us,” he spat angrily.
I gaped at him. “You aren’t even making any sense.” Thoroughly irritated, I turned to walk away.
“You said you didn’t’ like Vampires,” he blurted from behind me.
I stopped and spun around. “Jason, what are you talking about?” He was acting crazy.
“Kirk was right,” he scoffed. “You’re using me.”
“How am I using you?” I was getting riled. He was talking nonsense. Everyone was starting to stare at us.
“So you could come to the party,” he spat.
“I was already invited to the party …remember?”
“You wanted to see him.” He pointed his finger at Vincent.
My body tensed. I looked over at Vincent fully expecting him to be staring at me too, but he was looking at the ocean and didn’t seem to have heard. “You know, I thought we were becoming friends.” My voice was low but stern.
“Me too Amber…me too,” he sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. When he pulled them away, his face had a pained expression that I didn’t understand.
“I’m leaving,” I said.
He laughed. It sounded bitter and a step away from crazy. “With who?” he spat. “Him?” He pointed at Vincent again. “Good luck with that.”
“What is wrong with you?” I kept my voice low but it was hard. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I am going home.”
“If you make it,” he taunted angrily.
I shivered in spite of my brave front. I could feel everyone staring at us. My face burned with embarrassment. I stormed away from him out of the giant tree. Cressida snickered meanly as I passed.
“Amber…wait…” he yelled, chasing after me. “ I didn’t mean it.” I ignored him and kept right on walking. His voice got louder. “I know about you…about your family,” he yelled at Vincent sounding like a crazy person.
Trapped between them, Vincent turned slowly. His eyes were cold…hard… “Good for you,” he said, unfazed by his obvious threat.
Kirk materialized from who knew where and grabbed hold of Jason’s arm. “Jason man, shut up,” he warned. “Come on.” He tried to pull him away.
Jason tugged his arm. “I don’t care, Kirk,” he yelled. “Let me go! He jerked on his arm but Kirk wouldn’t let go. “I’m not afraid of him!”
“You should be.” I heard Vincent say under his breath. A shiver raced up my spine.
“He’s drunk,” Kirk called out to Vincent, in a pacifying tone. “He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”
Vincent leveled Kirk with a look so intense it sent a shiver of fear racing through me.
“Amber, you’ll be sorry,” Jason yelled like a maniac. Kirk finally pulled him away and they disappeared through the crowd.
Everyone was quiet and staring right at me. I wanted to crawl away and hide under a big rock. But there was no place to hide. I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked past Vincent.
He grabbed my arm, lightly, stopping my escape. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going home,” I said, barely keeping it together.
“Don’t go,” he said. His face was full of concern. It nearly pushed me over the edge.
“I have to,” I lied. “I’m late.”
“Want me to walk with you?” He gave me a small sympathetic smile.
That was it. I had to go. “No,” I said and shook my head, trying hard not to cry. “I’d rather be by myself.”
Vincent looked down at me, his expression troubled. He reluctantly let go of my arm. My heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest. Hot tears stung the backs of my eyes, threatening to slip from my eyes. “I gotta go,” I half sobbed and took off across the rock-laden beach.
thirty four
I was a good ways into the woods before the darkness closed in on me and I was second guessing my decision to go alone back to my car. The sounds of the forest seemed to amplify around me.
A branch snapped.
I froze. My heart pounded. I reached in my pocket, to pull out my zapper. My fingers barely closed around it when something hard slammed into me, knocking me forward onto the ground. The smell of damp earth and wet moldy leaves surrounded me. Dazed, I crawled up on all fours.
“This is for you own good,” said a familiar voice. He grabbed hold of my arm with a surprisingly amount of strength and jerked me upward.
“Jason, let me go!” I screamed, trying to pull back. “You’re hurting me!”
“Sorry Amber, it has to be this way,” he said. “I tried to tell you…but you wouldn’t listen to me and now you’ve left me with no other choice.” He jerked me forward again.
With my free hand, I reached in my pocket. My fingers closed around my Taser. He jerked my arm again; it felt like he was going to rip it from my shoulder. “Why are you doing this?” I cried out, more from pain then fear at this point.
“It’s for the best,” he said, his voice strangely high. “You’ll thank me….once I tell you…”
I switched tactics. “You’re right Jason, I know. I will come with you, just let go of me,” I pleaded. A branch scrapped my side.
Jason paused for a moment. He turned and his hold loosened. I took advantage and jumped forward. I zapped him in the chest. He gurgled and dropped to the ground.
In shock, I stared down at him. His body jerked violently. I’d never used my Taser before and had no idea the effect it had on a person. “Sorry Jason,” I said, feeling horrible. I took off running through the trees, and overgrowth. Sticks scrapped me, and br
iars pulled at my hair but I kept running. I broke through the trees onto the driveway.
In the distance, I could see a group of people. I lifted my arms, waving, running toward them. “Heelp meee!”
A hand closed over my mouth and jerked me backward into the woods. I bit the hand and twisted away.
“You’ll be sorry for that!”
Fear gripped me so hard I could barely take a breath. I would know that voice anywhere. It wasn’t Jason… it was Kirk. My feet flew out from under me and I hit the ground. A sharp blast of white and pain simultaneously shot through my head. Dazed, I stared up into Kirk’s smiling face.
“Hey Amber,” Kirk said cheerily. He lifted my feet off the ground and dragged me off into the woods.