Aftermath (3 page)

Inside Hayden’s black
sports car, I second-guessed myself. “What are we doing? I mean,
really? Who knows when this is going to happen? It’s only after
nine, we could be waiting all night. “

“What are you afraid
of?” His hazel eyes met mine and my chest immediately constricted.
I held his gaze only briefly before the smell of autumn caught in my
nose.

“Let’s do this.”
I shifted in my seat and turned up the volume knob on the stereo.

He smirked as he thrust
the gear in drive.

What was I afraid
of?
That wasn’t an easy one to answer. Sure, I could pretend
that I wasn’t afraid at all, and that is surely the face I would be
giving Luke. But that was a lie. Was I afraid of whatever kind of
animal it was that attacked the passerby? Was I afraid that I
wouldn’t be able to stop it? That I would be too late? Or maybe I
was afraid of the feelings that were developing in me as a result of
Luke’s unconditional faith in my abilities.

It took thirty minutes
to drive to the national park, and with the stereo loud, I spent the
entire time chipping the polish off my nails and thinking, or rather,
second-guessing.
What was I doing?
The closer we came to our
destination, the more anxiety I had. I came up with a million
different excuses to turn around and go back home but when we got to
the entrance, I didn’t need any.

“Oh, it’s closed.
Too bad. Well, at least we tried.”

“You’re kidding,
right?” Luke pulled the car to the side and got out.

“What are you doing?”

“You don’t think we
came all this way to let a little gate stop us, do you?”

When he saw that I
wasn’t getting out of the car he came around and opened the door
for me.

He bent down to face
me. “What’s wrong?”

I looked at my hands,
trying to decide what to reply. “It’s a swamp.”

“And?”

“And I’m afraid of
alligators, okay Luke?” Maybe it was the fear of going into a swamp
at night with hungry alligators that had been ticked off since the
hurricane or maybe it was something more. Either way I didn’t want
to find out.

“You've been hunted
by a ghost and driven eight hours with a gang of Hunters who wanted
to kill you and you’re afraid of
alligators
?”

He was right. I hated
when he was right. I was not the same person I once was. I had become
stronger, I had to be stronger.

“C’mon. Not to
wound your pride or anything, but, more likely than not, I am going
to be the one that is protecting us here. I
am
immortal; an
alligator is the least of my worries.”

I nodded once and got
willfully out of the car. It took Luke only a second to open the
gate. His nonchalance about it gave me just a glimpse into his world.

“You said you dreamt
of a jogger?” Luke asked as he stepped through the gate.

I followed close
behind. “Yep.”

“That’s weird.”

“What’s weird?”

“It’s weird that
someone would go jogging in a state park after hours, especially one
that you claim is filled with alligators.”

“Hm. I guess I never
really thought about that. I never said this was the exact place, I
couldn’t be sure. It’s just what I saw, okay?”

“Okay, Okay, I
believe you.”

The lights on the car
went off automatically. I jumped forward, almost knocking into Luke.
My heart sped up and I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. Luke
laughed.

“Will you stop
listening to my heartbeat?” I barked at him.

“I can’t help it;
it’s so loud I could hear it from Terrytown.”

“Ha-ha,” I mocked.
My eyes were adjusting to the complete darkness but the moonlight was
not enough for me to see where I walked.

“You have no idea
what it does to me knowing how close you are to me right now, but
could you stop stepping on my heels?”

“I am a human
remember? I can’t see anything in the dark.”

“Oh yeah, woops.” I
heard the rattling of a key chain and then a small flashlight turned
on.

I grabbed it from him.
“Thank you.” I shone it on the scenery around us, hoping
something would spark a memory of familiarity. We walked about ten
minutes in and the smell of swamp hit me. It was probably all around
us.

“Anything look
familiar yet?”

“No, for the last
time.” I was ready to give up, until I saw a bench. It was just a
small resting place for walkers but it looked like one in my dream.
“Maybe this bench? I don’t know, I can’t be sure.”

“OK, well at least
that’s a start.” He sat down.

“What are you doing?”

“Waiting.

I shone the light in
his face, looking at him incredulously. This was not the Luke I knew.
“You really have that much faith in me to sit here and wait
who-knows-how-long for who-knows-what?”

“Don’t you get that
already, Ana? Yes. I do.”

I shrugged and sat down
next to him. Gooseflesh covered my arms; it was the cool air of a New
Orleans winter. I had barely managed to grab shoes in the excitement
as I left the house. I looked at Luke; he looked perfectly
comfortable in a black t-shirt. Impossible. I tried to rub my arms to
produce heat by friction. My cold hands only chilled me further.

“You’re cold?” He
asked surprised.

“Uh, yeah? It’s
like 40 degrees out here!”

A unique expression
came over his face; it was of confusion, then pain. “Oh, I’m
sorry. I didn’t realize…”

“Aren’t
you
cold?” I shone the flashlight over his t-shirt for effect.

“No, Ana. I don’t
get cold. Or hot.”

“Oh. I hadn’t
thought about that.” He still held the same expression, thinking. I
continued, “I guess there is a lot I don’t know about Hunters.”
There was hint of sadness to my comment, which I tried to hide from
him.

He suddenly stood up,
taking off his t-shirt.

“What are you doing?”
My back straightened as I choked out the words.

“Keeping you warm.”
I moved the flashlight abruptly off his torso. If he thought my
heartbeat was loud before…

“Here, put this on.”
He handed me his shirt and I obeyed. It was still warm when I put it
on and gave his autumn scent a stronger, more home-like feel.

“Thanks. Are you sure
you won’t be cold?”

He laughed. “No,
Ana.”

“Okay…” I wished
he would have just kept the shirt on, which would have been less
awkward than knowing he was shirtless beside me.

“So, what’s the
plan?”

“You’re asking me
the plan? I thought you’d have one.”

“It’s your dream,
you know all the details.”

The beauty of his
facial features in the moonlight distracted me. “How’d you get
that scar?”

I tried to reach out to
his face and touch it with the tips of my fingers. He pulled his
eyebrows together and turned away. “It’s nothing.”

He exhaled a jagged
breath. “It’s from the night my parents died.” I pulled my hand
away and placed it on top of his, not forcing him to say more about
how his parents were killed, but hoping he would. He turned his hand,
palm up, entwining his fingers in mine. A tingling sensation shot
through my body.

“Something’s
coming…”

I jerked my hand away
at his comment. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Shhh…”

I turned off my
flashlight, my hands shaking in the process.

A minute later I heard
quick footfalls on the leaf-covered pavement. Adrenaline rushed
through my body; the shot of blood to my head caused it to spin. My
heart pounded against my rib cage; anxiety and joy took over as I
realized I was about to witness my dream coming true first-hand.

A few things happened
simultaneously. The man approached us, Luke stiffened, and I turned
the light on and jumped up to stop him.

“What is this?” The
jogger skidded to a stop. His postured erected like he was ready to
defend himself.

Luke got up with me,
standing to my left. His eyes were scanning the darkness around the
jogger. Upon seeing a shirtless and muscular Luke, the jogger started
to run in the other direction.

“Wait!” I yelled
after him. Luke held out an arm to stop me. I shined the light on
him, his chin rose and his gaze narrowed in the opposite direction of
the jogger.

“We’re not alone.”
He let out what sounded like growl. Luke pulled me closer with his
arms. “You ready?”

A tried to force a
swallow and nodded.

“Whatever it is,
we’ve disrupted its plan, and it’s not happy about it. The jogger
is no longer its target. Listen to me, Ana. You need to go back to
the car immediately. I’ll take care of whatever
it
is. Go
now.” Luke disappeared beside me and I didn’t hesitate to think
about how I was alone in the dark swamp. My legs took off under me,
faster than ever before. The adrenaline pushed me harder and faster.

‘
Whatever
it
is
?' That can’t be good. That definitely can’t be good. My
heart raced but my breathing remained steady. Should I be worried
about Luke? No, surely he could handle whatever was out there. I
stopped running and looked in both directions, not sure which path to
take. I had to listen to him this time, to stay out of trouble and
meet him at his car. But the energy that flowed through my veins told
me otherwise. I felt like I could take on whatever was out there. But
I didn’t want what happened last time at Club Skye to happen again.
There would be no Hayden or his parents to bail me out again. I
looked down at myself, realizing I still wore Luke’s shirt and it
saddened me. He was here because of me. Because he believed in me,
and if anything happened to him because of it…

I looked one final time
in the direction Luke went and started running toward him. I ran for
a few minutes, feeling like the darkness was about to close in on me.
Fear prevented me from stopping, a high kept me going. Luke’s black
t-shirt clung to the sweat forming on my body and I finally slowed to
a fast walk.

“Luke?” I whispered
knowing I didn’t need— or want -- to yell in order for him to
hear me. Seconds passed with nothing but the sound of locusts and
bullfrogs. But then even those quieted and there was pure silence
around me. I had whispered his name again before I heard footsteps
behind me. My heart froze in my chest.
Luke
.

“There you are! I’ve
been trying to find you, are you all right?” I turned around to
look at him, but there was no one there. I shone my flashlight in
every direction. Still, there was nothing. Nothing but dead silence.
And then the sound of footsteps. I turned in each direction, always
hearing footsteps behind me. Maybe I just didn’t know where they
were coming from.

“Luke, it’s not
funny.” If he tried to scare me, I swear—

The sound of the
footsteps got closer. My ears were ringing and skin burning from a
painful chill. An instinct inside me warned me and I took off in a
run. “Luke!” I yelled, tearing my vocal chords as I started
running. Yes, I definitely had to run. I ran faster than before,
still hearing the footsteps trailing me. They were catching up to me,
and getting louder and louder as they hit the ground, sounding like a
horse trot on hard pavement. I gasped as something stung my back in
one sharp movement causing me to fall to the ground, face first. I
turned on my back ready to face whatever was after me. I felt the
ground around me with my hands, hoping by some stroke of luck that
the flashlight had just turned off but had not broken. A bead of warm
liquid slid slowly down my face. It felt too thick to be sweat.
Blood. I sat up feeling the gash on my forehead and cringed at the
pain. My breathing heaved as I waited for whatever was in front of
me. It was as if it enjoyed tormenting me this way. I tried to make
out the dark shadows around me. Nothing was there until all-at-once
something dark and heavy was on top of me. I kicked it off me with
such force I heard its friction against the ground. I thought about
running again, but I knew it would just keep coming after me. I had
to kill it, but how? Was it man, animal or something other entirely?

I stood up preparing to
find something I could use as a weapon. The shadow rose taller than
me and then the shadows multiplied. Like the thing had split in two
because there were now two things on either side of me, surrounding
me. In what felt like hours passing, not seconds, I flashed back to
Halloween night at Club Skye. I pictured the Hybrid, a disturbing
combination of a pig’s head and a man’s body. The pig-head craned
its neck to the side, its black, empty eyes boring into mine. The
corners of its repulsive mouth drew up into what appeared to be a
smile. A satanic smile. My whole body shuddered. Luke was there. He'd
pushed me forcibly behind him, his body tensed and positioned in a
crouch. His broad shoulders had blocked my view of the hideous
creature. He had been protecting me that night but I had no one to
protect me now. Luke was prepared to fight then.
How could I let
this happen? I was supposed to save his life but he ended up risking
his to save mine. Something wrapped tightly around my neck, choking
me as I was lifted into the air. My feet were set on top of the bar,
but the tightening around my neck was not released. I felt the blood
start to pool in my face. There was only one person pressing against
me from behind, but too many arms imprisoning my body. One around my
neck, each arm and leg, my waist… Luke turned around and looked up
at me, determined. My vocal chords didn’t work as I tried to call
out his name…

I should fight the two
dark shadows approaching me. I should never give up. After everything
I’d been through, I couldn’t let this be the way I died. I
couldn’t let them kill me so easily. But I was frozen. Frozen in
the past. Locked in the memories of just one of the many times I
would almost die.