Dealing with Demons

Light spilled onto the bed where I lay curled on my side. For a moment, Brian stood unsteadily in the doorway. Then, sweeping a hand through his hair, he sighed, turned off the hall light, and made a noisy attempt at creeping into the room. We both knew I wasn’t asleep, but neither of us spoke.

In the next bedroom, our daughter slept, oblivious to her father’s infidelity and, later, his alcohol-induced death.

Standing in the senior hallway of Middlelyn High School, I dipped my shoulder, shrugging off Brian’s warm hand and the remnants of the vision.

“Tessa?” he asked. He stood close to me, waiting for my answer.

Revulsion filled me as the bitter tang of stale alcohol lingered in my nose. I managed a smile and answered his question with a lie.

“A movie and dinner would be great, but I’m not allowed to date. Sorry, Brian.”

He shifted his stance and tucked his hand into the front pocket of his fashionably worn jeans.

“I could come over and maybe help with homework or something.”

Animated conversations from the kids flowing around us muted his suggestion. It didn’t help that the school secretary’s voice also blared over the intercom system with the end of the day announcements and joined the cacophony of noise. None of it really registered, though, as I studied Brian’s expectant face.

With his messy, light brown hair, chiseled classic features, bold blue eyes, and buff body, he could have his pick of dates.

“Brian, I have to be honest. I don’t trust you or your sudden interest. What’s up? Really.”

When I first moved to Middlelyn months ago, the boys asked me out based on genuine interest. Because of my blonde hair, deep brown eyes, trim figure, and oval face, I passed as attractive. Add to that the fact I didn’t grow up with any of them and witness their awkward stages of puberty, nor they mine, and I stood out even more. Fresh meat. However, after I’d declined to go out with every boy who’d asked, the requests had tapered off, and I’d been labeled a prude. Just one of many labels I now carried.

The sudden interest of one of the most sought-after seniors didn’t fit.

Brian flashed his cocky I’m-hot-and-you’re-not grin before answering.

“Fifty bucks for the first one to get you on a date. Say yes, and I’ll split it with you.”

Hurt, but not willing to show it, I turned away and stacked the textbooks into my locker. He didn’t leave, most likely because he thought the money would tempt me to change my mind.

In a school this size, everyone knew where I lived and that my family didn’t have much. Brian probably didn’t even realize how cruel his words sounded. It annoyed me how callous boys could be. Dating was all a game to them. Then again, I’d witnessed girls acting as bad. In fact, I knew I could be one of those girls on occasion. I didn’t like it, but sometimes I didn’t have a choice.

“Wow. So tempting,” I said, still facing the locker. “But if I take half, it won’t leave much for the booze you’re thinking about buying.”

Glancing his way, I caught his startled look before he schooled his features. I immediately regretted my temper. Annoyed or not, I should have kept my thoughts to myself.

“You’re a freak,” he said as if just now believing the rumors circulating about me.

I hated the rumors but couldn’t claim them untrue. My mouth often got me into trouble. Might as well finish with flare.

“Yep, and the freak thanks you for asking her on a date, Brian.”

Grabbing my jacket and bag, I closed the locker door with a metallic clang and walked away. A few of my schoolmates hurried out of my path. I ignored them and their careful avoidance of me.

As much as I tried to keep what I saw to myself, sometimes I failed. And, that’s how the rumors about me seeing someone’s death started to circulate around school. People didn’t like hearing how they were going to die. It didn’t matter that I was trying to helpfully warn them. They only saw me as a freak when I knew things I shouldn’t. Yet, how could I keep quiet when I saw so much death that I might be able to stop if I just said something? I still wasn’t sure if I had that kind of influence over their fates, but it didn’t stop me from trying.

The glimpse of my life with Brian replayed in my head. Although it wasn’t pretty, it remained consistent with most of my visions. Not horrible, but not great either. At least, not for Brian. If I dated him, he’d drink himself to death. But what if I didn’t date him? Given his reaction to my suggestion that splitting the winnings would cut into his drinking money, I’d guessed accurately about his current drinking habits. Would my sarcastic comment change anything? Despite his attitude, I hoped it would.

I let myself out of the main doors and immediately smelled bus exhaust tainting the clean, cool, fall air. Other students jostled around me as I headed toward the end of the line and boarded my bus. The warmth was welcome.

The driver used her mirror to watch the trouble underway in the back of the bus and ignored me as I sat near the front with the younger kids. They were less irritating, and that made the forty-minute bus ride tolerable.

The flow of kids leaving the school slowed, and the first bus in line finally pulled away. The rest of the line slowly followed.

Taking the bus sucked at my age, especially when I already had my license. Even with both Mom and Aunt Grace pooling their incomes, there just wasn’t any extra money for even the crappiest of a second car for my family. I hated the limitations that came from living so far out of town.

The young boy next to me tapped my arm and asked me to tie his shoe. I smiled at him then showed him how to make bunny ears out of the laces. Little boys were cute until they learned to care what their peers thought of them.

At one of the first few stops, I moved to let him out. After that, I stared out the window and watched the trees pass in a blur of brown.

When the bus emptied of a few of the more obnoxious older kids, I pulled out my homework. I always finished my assignments on the bus, which worked out well. Despite the long ride, I usually beat my mom and aunt home. With my homework done, I could help out Gran a little more.

Two minutes after finishing my last math problem, the bus slowed for my stop. Gravel crunched under my feet as I stepped down from the bus, and a crisp breeze swept past.

I went to the mailbox to do my one true chore in winter, and quickly placed the mail under one arm before returning my hand to my pocket. The air that had felt cool and refreshing after school now just felt chilly.

Eyeing the distance to the house, I again wondered how we would manage to shovel our long driveway. Naked trees and long, dormant grass crowded the narrow drive. Small hills and valleys in the gravel made for a bumpy ride or a slow walk. It would be a challenge to navigate with a shovel. But, the house made up for the driveway.

From a distance, the faded green paint that coated the wood siding of the two-story farmhouse didn’t look bad. Up close, you could see the crackled pattern in the paint that stubbornly clung to the old boards. Other than being drafty and needing paint, the house remained in good shape, and low rent made it worthwhile.

I spotted my great-grandma waiting for me on the porch and hurried my steps. Her stark white hair stood out against the green paint behind her as she rocked slowly in an old wicker chair. She had no jacket on, just a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

In her early seventies, though she looked the grandmotherly part, she didn’t always act like it. Her life had been hard early on, especially after the death of my grandmother. It had taken its toll. She’d told me repeatedly that my birth had breathed life back into the family. Life that she embraced with every breath.

“Gran, it’s getting too cold to sit and watch for me.”

She laughed away my concern.

“The cold won’t be what kills me. How does spaghetti sound for dinner?”

“Great.” I helped her from the chair, and we both went into the house.

It wasn’t much warmer indoors, but I still peeled off my jacket before I followed her to the kitchen. I knew the small, cheery room would warm up as soon as we started cooking.

I moved to the butcher’s block, and she went to the pantry.

“Anything interesting happen at school today?” she asked, returning with an onion for me to peel and chop.

“Brian asked me out. Touched me. With me, he’d be a drunk and a cheat until the day he dies.”

“Any kids?” Gran asked absently, moving the empty pot from the stovetop to the sink.

The image of a sweet, cherub face invaded my mind, and I suffered a pang of loss. The visions, along with their emotional attachments, always stayed with me for a few days.

Gran set the pot full of water on the stove and pulled out another pan, jarring me from the fake memory.

“One.” I grabbed some garlic to mince while she prepped the sauté pan with oil.

“Hold out for at least two.”

I didn’t bother answering. That’s what my mother, the aunts, and grandma always said. Not, “Hold out for a guy who will live to see his hair turn white,” or, “Wait for the right one. Someone who makes your toes curl.” No. Instead, their suggestions all revolved around holding out to make the best of a horrible fate. After all, that’s what they’d all done.

Understanding their stance didn’t stop their answers from frustrating me. I didn’t want to make the best of things. I wanted life to go easy on us all for a little while.

I could feel Gran’s eyes on me while I chopped in silence.

“Tessa, honey, you know we want you to be happy. We’ve all tried to find what happiness we could. When you lose your man, you’ll at least have your daughters. That’s why we say to wait.”

The onions and the garlic made my eyes water so when I answered, I sniffled a little. “I know, Gran. I just don’t understand why this happens to us.”

“All we have is what is in Belinda’s book,” she said sadly before turning to pour the noodles into the boiling water.

Belinda, the first of our line, had created an unpretentious, small book that detailed the basics of her life and gave us a few slivers of knowledge.

All the women of our line had a gift. With a single touch, we could see a glimpse of our future with the man we were touching. The touch only worked on men, and it manifested exactly on our twelfth birthday. Belinda’s book warned that we had until our seventeenth birthday to choose our future partners, and that gift would disappear when we made our choice.

It sounded simple. A wonderful gift that would enable the women in my family to avoid the cheaters and the unmotivated and search for the one who could make us truly happy. Who wouldn’t want that? However, there was a catch. None of us would ever be happy because the gift came at a price. The one we chose would always die young. If we were lucky, we’d have a daughter or two before that time. Only daughters, never sons.

Belinda’s book left so much for us to guess. What would happen if we didn’t choose? Neither she nor any of her descendants ever noted an answer. Only that we must choose.

In the back of the book, Belinda had started a family tree of sorts. Mothers noted the birth of their daughters by entering their names. Many branches just stopped. Like Great-Aunt Danielle’s, Gran’s twin. She never had a daughter. No one ever talked about who she’d chosen or what had happened. My mom had warned me at an early age not to bring it up. Mostly, Aunt Danielle sat quietly on the chair in the corner of the living room, her haunted eyes staring off into space. I suspected she lost a daughter long ago along with her husband.

Aunt Grace, my mother’s sister, had chosen a man who wouldn’t give her children. Unlike Aunt Danielle, Aunt Grace spoke about her decision once when just the two of us were home. She hadn’t wanted to condemn her child to our shared fate of the visions and forced choice. But after helping to raise me, she regretted her choice because now, only one branch remained active in the book. My mother’s. Everything rested on me. I’d have no cousins to share my burden when I had children of my own.

Gran and I worked in silence. The smell of fresh basil, plucked from the herb pot in the window, filled the room. Water bubbled on the stove and slowly heated the kitchen. Gran added the chopped ingredients into the frying pan, and I moved to sit at the table. I buttered bread, cut each slice in half, and set them to the side. I enjoyed working in the kitchen because of the warmth and light.

“Looks like it will be dark early tonight,” she said with a glance at the cloud-laden sky through the window by the sink. “Homework done?”

“Yeah.”

I already missed summer and its long hours of daylight.

Only in winter did I truly resent the rules in Belinda’s book. Actually, not all the rules. Mainly just the one that stated those with the gift had to be home before dark. The book gave no explanation why. Just simple instructions to secure the house before the sun sank below the horizon. A brief note stated that shutters worked best to block out the night.

Between school and the bus ride, I never had much spare time in winter. In late fall through early spring, the monotonous events of my short days made me want to scream. Get up and race to school. Do homework while riding the bus home. Make dinner with grandma, eat, and get ready for bed. No time remained for anything else.

Mom and Aunt Grace arrived home just as Gran and I put supper on the table. As usual, Aunt Danielle didn’t join us. However, Mom and Aunt Grace didn’t seem overly worried about her. As Gran’s identical twin, I supposed they would worry if she started to look thinner than Gran.

After supper, we all got ready for bed. I had priority on the shower since I wouldn’t wake before seven. Another lovely rule. To protect any daughters from the night, the daughters slept until the sun’s first ray crested the horizon. In winter, that rule made it a tight race to get to school on time.

Mom knocked on the door.

“Fifteen minutes until dusk. We’re starting now.”

“Okay,” I called back, turning off the water.

I hurried to pull on my pajamas. The material stuck on my damp skin a few times, and as a result, I rushed out the bathroom door with clothes that felt slightly twisted.

The tightly closed shutters blocked out the fading light and cast most of the house into darkness. Using my hand as an anchor on the hallway wall, I moved to the living room where everyone waited.

They sat on their heels in a small circle in the middle of the living room floor. Their quiet murmurs filled the house as each spoke the words of protection from Belinda’s book. This was the one time of day Aunt Danielle always joined us.

Outside, I could feel the sun setting and a cold, scary presence growing. I stepped between Mom and Gran to stand in the middle of their circle. As one, they rose and reached their right hands toward me. Their fingertips brushed my bare arms, and lethargy set in, cocooning me in safety.

“Sleep tight, Tessa,” my mom whispered as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

She led me to my room. I struggled to keep my eyelids open so I didn’t run into my bed. Waking up with a bruised shin made me grumpy.

Yep, I hated winter, weirdly induced sleep, and boys who died after committing their lives to me.

I woke abruptly and glanced at my mute alarm clock. Seven a.m. Mom stood by my bed with a plate of toast.

The cycle began anew.

With a sigh, I sat up and shoved a huge bite of toast into my mouth. Though cheap and filling, I disliked toast. Probably because I had it every weekday during the school year. I’d tried cereal, but I made an awful mess in my rush to get ready and usually wore milk dribbles to school. Now, cereal remained reserved for the weekends.

While I chewed, I tossed on clothes then grabbed my bag.

Within five minutes, I sat in the back seat of mom’s rusted out car. It had long ago lost its emblem identifying the make and model. The cracked leather seats quickly warmed on the fifteen-minute drive to town. As usual, I dwelled on the unfairness that it took fifteen minutes to get to school and forty to get home.

She and Aunt Grace dropped me off near the front steps of Middlelyn High. Only a few other late arrivals still rushed through the main doors. It meant fighting my way to my locker through crowded hallways.

As I trudged forward, I felt more than the usual stares boring into my back. Glancing around, I saw Brian and a group of boys talking quietly. They all watched my progress. Great. By rejecting Brian, I’d made matters worse and made myself more of a challenge to them.

With a mental sigh, I hurried to my locker, placed the books I’d taken home inside, and pulled out the books for my first two classes. Less locker time would be a good thing today.

Predictably, one of the boys broke away from the group and approached me. I cut him off when he opened his mouth to say something.

“Don’t waste your energy.”

I closed my locker and walked away.

The day crawled by as Brian’s group of friends took every opportunity to speak to me. My patience wore thin when one of them approached at lunch. I sat alone at the table and tried to ignore Clavin as he invaded my solitude and graced me with his magnificent presence. The mockery in his voice as he suggested we “get it on in the supply closet” pushed me too far.

My words carried to the next table when I told him to sit on a broom handle instead. Everyone at that table snickered. Clavin’s face infused with red, and his eyes narrowed before he stormed off. His look promised retribution.

By the end of the day, I’d managed to offend each member of Brian’s circle. Not intentionally though. But after the cafeteria incident, it didn’t matter what I said. They all got angry, and I hated their stupid bet and callous attitudes even more.

The last bell rang, and I left the chemistry lab to merge with the other students who poured into the halls. My mind was on what Gran and I would make for dinner, and I didn’t notice Clavin until he bumped into me. The nudge was hard enough that I lost my balance and stumbled into a side hall we were passing.

Tripping over my own feet, I struggled to regain my balance. My bag almost fell off my shoulder in the process, and I narrowly avoided a face plant to the floor. A pair of shoes, attached to familiar legs, registered as I caught myself. Heart thumping, I looked up and saw Brian standing next to a door.

Before I could do anything, he opened the supply closet and Clavin pushed me in. The door slammed shut behind me.

The sudden absence of light startled me as much as the abruptly cut-off laughter worried me.

A thin band of light at the bottom of the door did little to illuminate the small space that smelled of cleaning supplies and old mop water. I dropped my bag and grabbed the door handle. It didn’t move.

“Real mature.” I pounded a fist on the door. “Let me out.” No response.

If they thought this would turn me into a crying mess, they needed to think again.

Pausing, I listened for an indication the boys waited outside the door. In the distance, I heard other students as they left the school. No sounds came from nearby. The school had almost emptied already. My stomach did a crazy flip, and fear slid into my belly. I needed to get out soon or I’d miss the bus. Home before dark…

The handle still didn’t budge.

I pounded and kicked the door, hoping someone from the main hall would hear me. Somebody had to have seen what happened. Before that hope took hold, I realized no one would care.

I changed strategies, knowing it was time to be smart, not panic.

Feeling along the door, I searched for a switch. I felt nothing to either side but shelves. Raising my hands above my head, I waved them around, feeling for a string. Something brushed my fingertips. I slowed down the waving and tried again with success.

With the string between my fingers, I gave a gentle tug. Light flooded the space, and I blinked away the pain as my eyes watered. Between blinks, I studied the tiny area.

Mounted to the wall, a small utility sink occupied the back of the room. In front of it sat the janitor’s mop and bucket filled with cold, dirty water. I wrinkled my nose. The shelves held cleaning supplies, and bags of liquid absorbent lay stacked on the floor. There was nothing I could use to open the door.

Turning, I studied the doorknob. The lock was on the inside. I frowned at the lock and stepped forward to try the handle once more. It gave a little before stopping. They hadn’t locked me in. Someone held the knob from the outside.

Angry, I gripped the knob tightly. Whoever stood outside held it steady.

I closed my eyes. I’d only ever gotten visions when touching skin to skin, but I concentrated anyway, hoping I could figure out who held the door closed. I breathed slowly, cleared my mind, and willed a vision to appear.

Nothing happened.

Outside the door, the sounds of leaving students faded to an eerie quiet. The thought of the buses leaving made me desperate. So I guessed.

“Brian, I know it’s you holding the handle,” I spoke with a false calm as I placed my ear against the wood to listen. “I know it’s you just like I know you’re going to grow up to be a raging alcoholic who dies in his sleep.”

The doorknob twisted sharply, and because of my tight grip, my knuckles scraped on the frame. As I gasped at the pain, the door jerked outward a few inches. Just enough for me to lose my balance and catch sight of Brian’s startled face peering back at me.

Before I recovered my balance, he slammed the door shut again. The side of my face smacked against the wood with a crack. The cheap door gave under the pressure, splitting before my cheekbone did.

I cried out and pressed a hand to my face. Heat radiated into my palm, and my eyes watered from the pain.

Fury cut through the urge to cry, and I grabbed for the knob again. This time, I met no resistance when I pushed the door open. The sound of my tormentor’s rapidly retreating feet assured me I need not worry that they lingered.

Further down the hall, a janitor turned the corner. He pushed a mop and bucket identical to the one already in the supply closet. Before he spotted me, I grabbed my bag and darted out, my hand still pressed to my face.

The deserted halls echoed with my racing footsteps. Each footfall sent a jolt through my throbbing cheek. The pain, which started near my earlobe, seared through the bone to carve a slow, brutal path to the base of my eye. Too angry to cry, I didn’t pause to look for Brian and Clavin and focused on getting out of the building.

Afternoon sunlight poured into the main lobby, an atrium with display cases for the school’s sports trophies. It usually felt warm and welcoming. Not today. The doors flew wide open as I raced through them.

The empty drive in front of the school confirmed my guess that I’d missed the buses. Since we only had the one car, calling Gran wouldn’t do me any good, and I didn’t want to call Mom at work. She’d insist I wait at the school. I couldn’t tell her why I didn’t want to do that. We had enough to deal with.

I glanced at the overcast sky, shouldered my bag, and set off at a brisk pace. I estimated we lived about seven miles from school. It was probably almost three o’clock. That’d give me two hours to get home.

Plenty of time, I tried to assure myself. And, when the bus passes the house without stopping, Gran will call Mom, and she and Aunt Grace will watch for me on their way home.

An icy breeze played with my hair. Lifting the strands, it swept over the back of my neck and made me cringe. Forty minutes until Gran called Mom. I could handle the cold that long.

I’d made it across the staff parking lot when I noticed a mustard yellow car idling in the student lot. Like my mom’s car, what it lacked in newness it had in character. Too far away to see the people inside, I only spared it a passing glance as I cut across the lot to the school’s main access road.

It wasn’t a big school or a big town, so the sidewalk disappeared just before I hit the southern outskirts. I walked the graveled shoulder at a steady pace and kept a careful eye on the ditch that dropped a few feet before it sloped away into fallow fields. My face hurt enough without me falling and landing on the clumps of dirt that poked up in frozen disarray.

A shiver stole through me, and I curled deeper into my light jacket while using my freezing digits to soothe the hot ache in my face. My cheek helped keep my fingers warm, but I worried what the extreme heat meant and began to regret what I’d said to Brian. I should have kept my mouth shut.

At the last school I’d attended, just an hour away, I’d finished the year as a complete outcast. I hadn’t liked it, but at least the bullying there hadn’t escalated past nasty words exchanged in the halls.

Lightly touching my cheek, I hoped it wouldn’t bruise. My mom would flip if she found out just how bad things had gotten and would want to move. Again. In my life, we’d moved eleven times. Seven of those occurred since I’d turned thirteen. We usually moved at the end of the school year, stayed somewhere for the summer, and moved again before the next school year started. Every year, a different school.

According to Belinda’s book, moving often protected us. From what? I was sure that Gran and Aunt Danielle knew. They always instigated the talk of moving. Their primary argument centered on the fact that moving meant new boys to meet. After all, finding “the right one” remained our priority. Once I made my selection, we’d all be free until my fatherless daughter turned twelve.

I wished I could be like other kids at school. The normal drama of who dated whom and what so-and-so said to what’s-her-name appealed to me. Heck, just having someone willing to sit with me at lunch would be nice, I thought. But, did I want that bad enough to move again so soon?

Even if we did move, the chances of finding a friend willing to deal with my weirdness was low. No, it was better to stay with the devils I knew. If I beat Mom home, I could try to use makeup to hide whatever mark might be on my cheek.

Hopefully, the problem with Brian and Clavin would die down on its own.

Lost in thought, it took me a moment to hear the sound of a car approaching from behind. Already on the shoulder, I took another step away from the road as I turned to look back. The large, faded yellow car from the student lot approached fast. I squinted, trying to see the driver, which hurt my cheek. Absently, I touched my cool fingers to it.

The fire in my cheek dulled in comparison to my anger when I recognized Brian driving. His glare and white-knuckled grip on the wheel had me spinning away. I jumped the ditch and landed in the field. Trying to run and keep my balance while avoiding the frozen, tilled clumps of dirt proved almost impossible, and I stopped after I’d only made it about five feet.

A large, overturned stone lay loosely on top of the hard ground near my feet. I grabbed it and faced the road.

The car flew past with Clavin’s arm hanging out the passenger window. He flipped me off.

Heart hammering from the scare, I stayed in the frozen field and watched them disappear over the next slight rise.

The fields eventually gave way to woods in the direction they’d headed. The same direction I needed to go. My eyes lingered on the distant, dense trees on either side of the long, remote road home. Tops barren, their thick trunks still afforded protection if I needed it. If I could reach them before the boys returned, the trees would give me a chance to run.

Without any other option, I moved back to the road. I still clutched the rock. Heavy and about the size of a hardball, the rock was better than nothing. I could try to throw it at the windshield if they came back before I reached the trees. Deciding not to take a chance on my aim, I started to jog.

My cold hands warmed, and sweat started to dampen the small of my back and underarms. My face hurt, and without my cool hands to help it, I could feel my cheek start to swell.

When I topped the next rise, I spotted the car parked on the west side of the road, a fair distance beyond the start of the trees. Dread filled me.

Apparently, Brian and Clavin weren’t ready to forgive and forget.

I couldn’t tell if the pair waited in the car or if they already hid in the woods. I stopped my approach and glanced right then left. Neither side of the road presented a better option. Both were still three fields deep before the nearest tree line. Brian and Clavin would spot me before I made it very far and could easily cut off any attempt to avoid them. They probably watched me standing on the rise now. If I turned around, they’d likely just follow.

My stomach churned. I hated my life, but not enough to walk willingly into a fight I’d lose. They’d already injured my face. What would they do to me next? I couldn’t imagine it would be an apology.

I eyed the clouds. Dusk stole closer. I didn’t have time to stand still and debate my next move. They were determined to confront me again, and I didn’t see that I had any other option.

Taking a deep breath and gripping my rock, I started the long walk forward. The wind blew across the fields, playing with my hair and tickling my ears. The sweat I’d worked up cooled too quickly. At least the chill felt good on my face.

When I was close enough to hear the rattle of the barren branches, I saw the outline of the car’s two occupants. I stayed focused on them and kept walking.

Both car doors creaked as Brian and Clavin opened them and got out.

I didn’t stop.

At about twenty feet away I called, “How much do you like your car?”

“How much do you like your teeth?” Clavin asked.

Well, that made their intent very clear. I pulled back my arm and threw the rock at the car’s back window.

My plan? Throw the rock as a distraction, run past Brian who’d presumably freak about his car, and bolt into the trees in the general direction of home.

Instead, I watched in horror as the rock flew straight at Clavin. Despite what they’d done to me, I didn’t want to hurt either of them in return. Clavin saw the rock sailing toward him and tried to dodge. The stone clipped his hip with a deep, muffled sound. He folded over.

Brian stood frozen in shock for a moment. Then he ran around the car to check on Clavin.

What had I just done? I shook myself so I could shed the brief paralysis.

I’d created the distraction I needed. The realization motivated me.

I sprinted across the road and cleared the tree line opposite the car. If they caught me—I cringed at the thought and ran faster, dodging around trees to move deeper into cover. Despite my fear, I focused to maintain a sense of direction instead of running blindly. The cloud-filled sky made it difficult, though.

Too soon, I had to stop because of a stitch in my side and the ache in my face. Bent over and gasping for air near a clump of bramble, I tried to listen for pursuit. Voices echoed distantly from the direction I’d run. I couldn’t see the boys though.

Shaking with adrenaline and fear, I wanted to cry. Instead, I changed direction and forced myself to walk softly over the leaf-strewn ground. I snuck from tree to tree, making my way back toward the road where the trees thinned. After a few moments of quiet movement, I noticed their yelling had stopped. Hopefully, they would believe I was still running straight toward my house and would keep heading in that direction.

By the time I neared the road, I could breathe semi-normally. The wind swept harder over me through the thinning trees. I stopped walking and leaned against the trunk of one. The dry, rough bark bit into my palms as I risked a look around it. In the distance to the right, Brian’s car still sat on the shoulder. At least I’d passed it.

I listened for another moment. Hearing nothing, I sprinted across the road and leapt back into the cover of the trees on the other side. A broken branch, half-covered by fallen leaves, tripped me. Going down hard, I skinned the palm of my right hand.

Immediately scrambling to a crouch, I held my breath and listened again. Nothing. The silence wasn’t necessarily a good sign, however. They could be anywhere. Quietly, I made my way farther into the trees and started to follow the general direction of the road. I had no idea how much time had passed, but the fading light spurred me on.

Tired and sore, I jogged when I could and walked when I couldn’t, making slow progress. Several times in the distance, I heard a car on the road and quickly dropped to the ground. I wasn’t sure how far into the trees they’d be able to see when they drove past, but I didn’t want to take a chance.

After a while, the long shadows in the trees forced me to the road, which proved fortunate. I recognized the familiar bend where I emerged. I was so close to home.

I wanted to laugh, but a vibrant orange streaked the sky, announcing the sun’s final rays. Fear, instilled by every lecture from my mother, great-grandmother, and aunts, had me sprinting over the blacktop and down the treacherous gravel driveway.

My house waited ahead, shutters already drawn. The front door stood open, light filling it from the inside. I wheezed for air but didn’t slow my pace.

Behind me, the cadence of running feet harshly hitting the crushed gravel grew in volume. Another spike of adrenaline filled me. Even this close to home, within sight of my family, I didn’t trust Brian or Clavin to leave me alone. I just hoped it wasn’t Brian behind me. Clavin, heavier and less fit than Brian, meant I’d have a chance to reach safety.

My mother stood in the doorway, shouting for me to hurry. She had her arms outstretched to catch me. Worry etched her face.

While my legs continued to eat the distance between me and the house, I looked back. My eyes widened, and I cried out for the second time that afternoon.

Behind me, a dark creature with glowing green eyes and horns galloped on two hooved feet. It seemed more shadow than reality, and I couldn’t process what chased me.

My mom’s voice called my attention. I quickly focused on her instead of the thing behind me. I sprinted up the steps then through the open door and fell to my knees just inside. The door thumped closed, muffling the sound of the creature reaching the steps.

I never got off my knees before I felt the first, light touch on my skin.

“No,” I tried to whisper.

I needed to know what waited outside our door before they forced me to sleep.

Too bad I never seemed to get what I wanted.