Bluedawn (A Watermagic Novel, #2) (3 page)

The bike ride was a comedy act. Mom and Dad
were mad at me because I kept falling off. Dad tumbled to the
cement a few times too, but that was probably because he was too
tall and stocky for the bike. I should have kept my eyes away from
the sunset and paid more attention to keeping balance. But I
couldn’t help it—I loved admiring nature and often got lost in my
own thoughts. Peddling was so tiring and boring.

But after we were all done, to my surprise,
they said they had fun, even with the mishaps. I think they were
probably lying so I wouldn’t feel bad. Whether they were or not, I
was determined to show them a good time on our future endeavors.
Even though their actual anniversary wasn’t for a few days, I had a
whole schedule planned around celebrating every day. I was
essentially a little nervous because I wanted it to go well.

After we returned the bicycle, Dad threw me
the car keys. “Why don’t you drive us back to camp,” he said with a
grin.

“All right. How much for each person I
hit?”

His eyes narrowed. “A hundred per kid, two
hundred per adult, and a thousand per senior citizen.”

“Very funny,” Mom interrupted, speaking in
her sarcastic voice. “I’ll drive.” She snatched the car keys from
me before I could even protest.

We piled into the car, turned up the radio to
a Led Zeppelin song that was playing, and rolled down the windows.
Ironically, Mom drives like an old person, terribly slow. She
almost
really
hit a woman pushing a stroller into the
campground. Dad and I nearly passed out. We were yelling at her the
rest of the way until we pulled into our campsite.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I
just couldn’t see.”

“No excuse,” I reprimanded her again. My body
was as stiff as a board.

Dad was just holding his head in his hands
shaking it.

“Look,” she sighed. “The lady and her baby
are just fine. Nothing happened. I’ll pay closer attention next
time.” Her hands grasped the steering wheel tighter. “This damn
campground is pitch black at night. Why don’t they light the place
up?”

“That is kind of odd,” Dad responded. “They
should put up some lampposts.”

We kept the car headlights on while we lit
the fire we had set up earlier in the outdoor pit. The flames were
tall and beautiful. Dad put his arms around us as we sat on either
sides of him in foldout chairs warming ourselves before the
blaze.

For about an hour my father told us ghost
stories and slasher tales. With the woods partially surrounding us,
I started getting scared so Mom got out the marshmallows from the
motorhome to roast in hopes of lightening the mood. Once we put the
put them on unwound wire hangers and held them over the hot flames,
the distraction helped a little, but I still felt nervous.

“Let’s go for a night swim,” Mom suggested to
no surprise. She had a glint of mischief in her electric blue
eyes.

Dad moaned a bit, but when he saw the
disappointment on her pretty face he agreed.

“You guys go ahead,” I encouraged. “I want to
relax in the motorhome and call my friends.”

They didn’t argue, but promised to be back
soon.

“No, enjoy yourselves. Take your time.” I
needed a little break.

“Okay.” Mom brushed her hand over my hair and
kissed me on the cheek. “We’ll just be about an hour.”

Dad’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked at me.
“Don’t get into trouble,” he warned teasingly.

After they left, I poured the contents of our
water bottles on the dwindling fire. Once the blaze was
extinguished, I was surprised how completely dark it was without
the light of the flames. My throat tightened. I wanted to kick
myself for not carrying a flashlight. I felt like an absolute
moron. With a deep breath, I held my hands out before me so I
didn’t bump into anything. As awkward as it was, I tried to make my
way back to the motorhome.

I kept inching slowly forward. But the metal
outer surface of the motorhome never came. My mind was racing with
all sorts of spooky thoughts. I heard something stir ahead of me.
It wasn’t my imagination. There was actually something out
there.

With that realization, I froze in my step.
There was a snap of a branch. My adrenaline rushed. As I listened
more closely, it sounded like something moving in the forest. The
movement was slight and hesitant like someone stepping carefully so
not to make noise.

After a moment, I held my hand up to my ear,
straining to listen. There was a stirring of dried leaves on the
ground. My jaw dropped. And then, there were whispers.

My pulse raced like crazy. The blood must
have drawn completely from my face. Who could be in there? I wanted
to run away, but I was afraid I would bump into something. The
darkness was maddening. I held my hands out once again and rushed
forward. My fingers smashed right into a tree. I released a short
wail. It hurt like hell.

With my scream, birds flew from the trees all
at once. I must have startled them. I heard the sounds of wings
flapping and the rattling of the leaves and branches. That scared
me even more than bumping my fingers against the rough bark.

My digits throbbed from the injury. To stop
the pain, I sucked the wounds. The bitter taste of blood filled my
mouth causing me to gag and spit up.

I must have walked too far because I was in
the woods now. I sensed the numerous trees around me. The buzz of
insects rang in my ears. Desperately, I wanted to slap my arms and
legs to keep the night bugs off, but I was afraid the sounds would
lead whatever was in the forest right to me.

Considering all of the circumstances, I had
to pull myself together and concentrate. I took a quiet, yet deep
breath. The slightest bit of tension released from my body on the
exhale. As I focused, I became more in tune. I could hear the faint
rhythms of the ocean waves rolling on the shore behind me. The far
edge of the campground was on a cliff facing the water below. That
meant that the motorhome must be behind me.

Now that I was more centered, I felt I could
make more rational choices. Slowly, I turned around, taking
deliberate, careful steps forward. Our vehicle should be very
close. I must have just passed it by a hand’s length.

Carefully I progressed, hopefully in the
right direction now. I thought about the missing teenagers the park
ranger mentioned. What could have happened to them? My mind drifted
to the wallet, the bikini, and the blood we found in the woods
earlier. Maybe those things were somehow connected to the boys’
disappearance. Did someone kill them?

Shivers ran up my spine. My body tensed from
fear. I had this terrible feeling that something bad was going to
happen. I took another step forward even though I sensed that I
shouldn’t have.

I heard a loud snap as I stepped on
something. Suddenly, whatever I trod on swallowed my foot and bit
hard around my ankle. Something that felt like fangs pierced my
skin. Oh, my God. Was I being eaten alive?

I screamed a blood curdling scream—as I fell
to the ground.

CHAPTER THREE

You’re like a dagger and
stick me in the heart and taste the blood from my blade and when we
sleep would you shelter me in your warm and darkened grave?
–Lita Ford & Ozzy Ousbourne,
Close My Eyes Forever

Anxiously, I felt around my leg. My ankle was
caught in the mouth of something. But now the offender wasn’t
moving. Had it died in the midst of eating me? Or was it just
slowly digesting my foot before it swallowed more of my leg? My
fingers fumbled around trying to figure out what was happening. I
felt my body grow hot.

Whatever had me in its mouth had strong, cold
jaws. It couldn’t be an animal I decided. The shapes were too
angular. What was it?

Moments later, I figured it out as I felt
around more. I was held in the metal teeth of an animal trap. The
apparatus swallowed my foot with a shocking snap. It hurt like
hell. I must have stepped onto it and triggered it to close around
my ankle.

Desperately I fumbled with the metal prongs,
trying to pull it open. I wasn’t strong enough to release it. My
hands just tore open more as I tugged at the sharp edges. For a few
minutes I lay in the dried leaves and dirt confounded as I
supported myself up with the lower half of my arm. How in the world
was I going to get out of this trap?

I heard a rush through the trees. Now I was
even more terrified. Something was running toward me. It was moving
fast. Was someone coming to kill me? Goose bumps raised on my arms.
I felt so sick and horrified.

I gasped. Whatever it was, brushed past me. I
felt the fur of a wild beast. My fingers dug into the ground. Oh,
God, was I being hunted?

But then, there were more sounds. It was all
happening so fast. Suddenly someone’s arms were around me. I was
choking on air by now. It was so hard to breathe. Had someone set
this trap for a human?

“I got you,” a male voice said.

I nearly fainted. At once, I tried to calm
myself to figure out what to do, but my intentions were pointless—I
was too strung out.

“Just calm down,” the voice coaxed.

I couldn’t see a thing, but I felt his warm
breath on my cheek. He lifted me into his arms.

I struggled violently to get away. What was
happening? I just didn’t know. I was afraid whoever had me was
going to kill me.

He held me firmly. I couldn’t get out of his
grasp no matter how much I tried.

“You just have to trust me,” he said. “I’m
not going to hurt you. Your motorhome is right there. I’m going to
bring you to it, so I can get this trap off your leg.”

Possibly the person was trying to save me and
I was taking it all wrong. My fight could be unfounded. His voice
sounded gentle enough. It was difficult to decide if I could trust
this stranger or not.

He could be a serial killer who purposely set
the trap to catch someone. Sociopaths can be tricky like that. Or
he could be a hero. If I wasn’t in such pain, I might have been
embarrassed for treating him like a psycho murderer. But, all I
could focus on now was metal teeth knifing my ankle.

I stilled my body, keeping perfectly immobile
now while I considered my escape. But he carried me just a short
distance and walked with me up the motorhome steps. “Is it
unlocked?” he asked as he tried the door.

I didn’t have to respond because the door
opened right away. He felt around the wall for the light switch and
found it almost immediately. Never before had I been so relieved to
see the fluorescent fixtures glow above me.

Now that the lights were on, I looked at the
person carrying me and saw that it was the boy with dark hair from
the mini-market who beat up his friend before me. I was alarmed.
“Let me down,” I demanded vehemently.

There was blood all over my leg and on his
arms from carrying me. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he tried to
reassure me, but I didn’t believe him. He set me down on the bench
at the kitchen table.

My heart was pounding too fast to make any
rational decisions. I scurried over to the corner, dragging my leg
like a frightened animal. “Don’t hurt me,” I warned.

He held his hands up. “I just wanted to help
you. Let me call an ambulance instead.”

My eyes narrowed. I wondered if he was
telling the truth. I didn’t understand how he could have found me
so quickly after I got trapped in the forest. Had he set me up?

But then I looked into his eyes, such green
eyes, beautiful. And that sparkle… And the way I felt… Suddenly, I
remembered who he was!

Right then Mom and Dad walked in the
motorhome. At first, they seemed calm and peaceful, but then their
eyes widened in horror—probably from the sight of so much blood on
the boy and me.

“My baby girl!” My mother gulped. “Don’t kill
her!” she screamed as she lunged at the boy.

But he was too quick. At once, he ducked away
from her and ran out of the motorhome and away from our
campsite.

Both my parents rushed to me. “What
happened?” My dad asked in as calm of a voice as he could muster.
By now he was staring at the prongs around my ankle.

“What did that devil do to you?” Mom
panted.

Now that I was out of harm’s way, I realized
how pathetic I had acted. “I got lost in the woods and fell into
this animal trap,” I finally blurted out. The look in the boy’s
eyes when he rushed away hastened back into my mind. I feared that
I had grossly misjudged him.

“That boy saved me,” I breathed, realizing
that this wasn’t the first time he had rescued me.

A few years ago I was crossing a busy
intersection rushing to meet a friend at the local coffee house. It
was around twilight and raining really heavy out. I lost my balance
as I often did and slipped and fell in the street only feet away
from a car that was fast approaching. At once, I tried to scramble
to my feet, but there was no time.

A dark haired boy ran into the road and
pushed me out of the way as I was standing up. But he was hit by
the car. I wasn’t hurt, but he was rushed to the hospital.

I never found out what had happened to him.
Though I tried the local hospital, they said they couldn’t give out
information unless I was related. And nothing ever came of it.

The way he looked at me tonight with those
intense green eyes triggered something in me and I just knew it was
him even though he appeared very different now. His eyes were the
same. “That boy saved me,” I said again to my mother and
father.

My parents appeared perplexed. I got the
feeling that they didn’t believe me. Dad tried to pry the metal off
of my ankle.

I hollered out as the teeth shifted slightly.
“Don’t do that!”

“Just wait,” he commanded me and then Mom who
looked as pale as a ghost.