Catching Temptation (In Darkness She Fades (Book 1) Page 8

  ****

  The envious gazes of the twins never leave me for the remaining week, but I learn to block them out. Victoria’s desperate efforts to tempt Herald’s gaze back never works. Jerald tries to stop me in the hall a few times, but I blow right past him every time. One twin is enough for me to deal with, without the other also jumping my ass.

  I hang out with Whelan at lunch most of the time. When I ask him why he wants my friendship, he brushes it off. Everyone in school is his friend. I suspect he is hiding the real reason.

  “I’m glad it’s Friday,” I say to Whelan as we exit our class.

  “Totally. I’ve gotta jet, though. Mr. Dredfield gave me detention for tardiness all this week. Peace.”

  Shaking my head, I giggle. I like chilling with Whelan. His friendship helps tune out the tension from the other students. At least he never bothers me about my past.

  The bell echoes across the hallways. Thank the Gods the school week is finally at an end. Out of the hectic school, I walk down the street, with my tribal belly dancer skirt swishing around my ankles. Sunlight beats down on me. I remove the mesh shirt covering my black tank top. The new henna-tattoos on my arms, along with my outfit, make me look barbaric; pagan.

  Catcalls and whistling rouses me from my thoughts. One of the boys from the crowd shouts, “Keep taking it off!”

  In the parking lot, I spot the twins on their motorcycles with their usual crowd. Victoria wraps her arms around Herald’s neck and sits down behind him on the skull bike.

  Jerald’s grin stretches out across his handsome face. His human eyes roll over my figure.

  My stomach lurches with unease at the catcalls, but wrestle with the telltale heat of flattery coloring my cheeks. Choosing to ignore the catcalls, I keep strolling in the direction of home.

  Predatory eyes still follow.

  A roar of motorcycles deafens my hearing and in a split second, Jerald stops his bike at my side. “Hop on Temptation, you’re coming with me today.” He scoots so I can slide on.

  I twirl my black and white hair between my gold fingernails. “I have things to do. Maybe another day.” I continue walking, a bit faster this time. Honestly, I thought the guy would take the hint.

  Jerald’s bike lurches forward. He reaches out and grasps my hand; tugging me closer. “I’ve been trying to talk to you since the first day of school and you keep avoiding me. I don’t know the whole story of what happened between you and my brother, but I can assure you I hold opposing characteristics from him. Besides...you’ll like where we’re going.” He pulls me over to the bike, trapping me with his arm.

  Inwardly cursing my hormones, I say, “I made an agreement with your brother to leave the goblins alone, not to do anything either of you asked of me. But if you promise not to threaten me like Herald did a couple weeks ago, I might reconsider.”

  Jerald’s facial features soften. “I’m not my brother, Temptation. We may look identical, but are complete opposites. Herald possesses more of…an animalistic edge.”

  “You mean a jerk edge? I picked up on that one when he tried to bite me.”

  Jerald winces proving either the shame of his brother’s actions or of his own inaction. A few strands of his black hair blow across his forehead.

  I find myself staring for too long and say in a stronger voice, “I’m not taking any more of my clothes off.”

  Jerald’s depressed demeanor vanishes. I swing my leg over the hot metal. He reeves up the engine once more. The motorcycle lurches forward. Herald and the rest of the crowd follow. They whoop and holler at the passing school buses.

  The scent of gasoline surrounds me for a brief moment. Flashes of the burning car, screams, and monsters, cause me to shudder.

  Jerald must have felt my arms tremble, because he uses one hand to reach behind him to press me closer against his back; an oddly comforting gesture.

  A bus passes.

  I smile at the startled face of my cousin.

  At the theater house, we turn right, and travel out of town. Picking up speed, I wrap my arms tighter around Jerald’s waist. After traveling a few miles, the bike swerves down a dirt road leading into the woods. Tree branches swish and sting my skin. The motorcycles skid to a halt at the top of a small hill. A car stops behind the motorcycles. A group of girls emerge from the car.

  I worry about another encounter. Jerald strokes my hand in a calming sort of way. I like it.

  A glistening lake stretches out below us with picnic benches and a few grills on the shore. Oak and pine trees encircle the lake.

  “I’ve got the beers!” Someone shouts in back.

  “Woo! Last one to the tables takes all their clothes off,” Herald shouts.

  All the boys rush past me, while the girls take their time sashaying to the shoreline. Victoria ignores Jerald and me. She and the other girls start pulling their shirts off while the boys camp out on the picnic tables, egging them on.

  I slide off the bike and narrow my eyes at Jerald. “I’m not stripping for anyone.”

  Jerald’s amused laugh does not help my nervousness. “It’s okay, Temptation. The only person you have to strip for,” he rises off the motorcycle and grabs my waist, “is me.”

  I plant a hand on his chest and push. “I told you I’m not taking any more of my clothes off.”

  “You’re going to have to if you want to get in the water.” Jerald pulls me down to the rest of the crowd. “Come on, Temptation. Relax. Have a little fun for a change.” Jerald grabs two beers and hands me one.

  Maybe he is right. I take the cool beer from Jerald and sit at the vacant part of the picnic table. The girls strip down to their bras and panties, while the boys strip to their boxers. My jaw drops slightly when Jerald and Herald remove their shirts. Greek Gods would envy their bodies! I study the other girls and know the same thought surfaces in their minds. The boys rush at the girls and carry them to the water, while they giggle and scream. Jerald stays behind with me. I look away and take a swig of beer.

  Yuck – it tastes disgusting!

  How people enjoy drinking beer stretches beyond my comprehensive abilities. As I sit the bottle down, I wish for the taste to subside.

  Jerald slides off the table. “Don’t you want to go swimming?”

  “Not really.”

  His fingers comb my hair off my cheeks while his other fingers trail up my jawbone. Little tingles of desire follow beneath the surface of my skin. “Come on, I promise the other guys won’t touch you.”

  “Why’s that?” I ask. “I never agreed to be your girlfriend. I don’t need a guy.”

  “Hmm, it’s a good thing I’m a demon and not a guy.”

  Sighing, I shift my gaze away from him. “You know what I mean.”

  “Well, if you’d rather sit up here and play a drinking game with me…”

  Ready to gag at the idea of drinking more beer, I grumble. “I’ll get in the water.”

  “Good choice. Learning you can’t win against me, huh?”

  “No.” I slide off the table and walk in a circle until the table divides us. “I’m learning the next time you ask me to go anywhere, I’ll run like the hounds of Hell are chasing me.” I remove my shirt and skirt.

  Jerald’s eyes roam over my figure and then stop on my abdomen. “Whoa. No one works out to have a stomach that hot without wanting someone to see it.” Jerald leans against the table and crosses his arms. A string of black hair slices across his face. “I think you enjoy surprising me.”

  I swing my hair forward so it covers up my chest and part of my stomach.

  “Jerald – Temptation! Come on,” Herald yells, while Victoria pouts into his shoulder.

  “Coming!” Jerald snatches me up. He carries me down into the water.

  “Unbelievable as it might seem, I can walk!”

  “Yes, but then I don’t get to touch you.” He grins when I glower at his response.

  Descending into the water brings shivers to my skin as the cold lake encompasses my abd
omen. He releases me, twirls me, and then presses my bare back to his chest. I do not resist this time. His warmth in the cold water stops me from shivering. Strange. I always thought demons are supposed to be cold.

  “Are you in love with Whelan?” His claws grow against my skin.

  “What makes you ask?”

  “You keep sneaking off with him. Makes me wonder what you two are trying to do. All alone.”

  Making Jerald mad is not an option. I remember quite vividly how Herald reacted and I wonder if Jerald will react the same way. Will he hurt me in front of witnesses?

  As if sensing my thoughts, Jerald rests his chin on the curve of my neck, and pulls me closer to his abdomen. “I’m not going to hurt you even if I don’t like the answer, Temptation. I need to know.”

  My heart simmers down. “Fine. No. Whelan and I are friends. Period.”

  His claws retract. A warm kiss heats the side of my neck.

  “Hey, who’s up for a race?” Herald asks.

  The crowd cheers in response.

  “Whoever swims to the island first, gets to choose who they want to make out with.”

  “What island?” I whisper to Jerald.

  “In the middle of the lake. Do you see it?” He points out in the distance.

  I spot the wooded island. Thank the gods I know how to swim.

  “Ready?”

  Jerald releases me with a feral look of determination. He is aiming to get to the island first. An equal determination stirs in me.

  “Set.”

  A silence sweeps across the lake.

  “GO!”

  The group lurches forward and starts swimming. I duck under the water. I never quite got the hang of regular swimming, but I can swim fast underwater. After a couple of minutes, I emerge to the surface for air. Jerald and Herald are neck and neck in the lead. At least I am holding second place. Frustration causes Victoria to dig harder into the water.

  I immerse myself back in the water and keep swimming. A few more stops to the surface for air, and a short while later, I make it to the shore of the island. The Jenkins twins gaze down at me with satisfied smirks. They haul me out of the cold water. I ring my hair out and check out the lake, where the rest of the crowd is wading to shore. Wet ringlets twist down to my waist. The Jenkins twins watch me with identical lust.

  “What?”

  “Herald’s trying to decide who to make out with. I choose you.”

  I cross my arms. “Who won?”

  “We both made it to shore at the same time,” Herald says.

  “You’re with Victoria. Aren’t you?” I eye Herald’s uncaring reaction. “Shouldn’t you be making out with her?”

  “We’re not dating,” Herald says with a casual wave of his hand. “We’re more like friends with benefits.” He exposes his perfectly human teeth.

  “Does she know that?” I raise my sleek eyebrows and twist a ringlet of hair in her violet-tipped fingers.

  Victoria stumbles onto the pebbled shore along with the rest of the crowd.

  “You know this is starting to get old,” one of the boys says. “You two always win.”

  I shift to one leg. It had been a set up.

  “So.” Victoria passes me, bumping my shoulder. “Do you want to make out here or somewhere more private later on tonight?” She wraps her arms around Herald’s neck.

  Herald removes her arms from his neck. His face holds a look of revulsion. “We’ve both chosen Temptation this time.” Herald gives her a slight shove.

  “What?” Jerald and I voice in unison.

  “But I’m your girlfriend!”

  Guess she didn’t know she is just his play toy.

  A loud siren echoes out over the lake from the direction of Rosewood. Frenzy and a loud splash startle me. For a moment, I think someone may have been drowning. In the lake, the Jenkins twins are racing to shore. “What’s going on?”

  One of the boys says, “The recruiters are back.”

  “What recruiters? You mean like military recruiters?”

  The crowd laughs, except for Victoria. She stares out after the twins, who make it to shore and rev up their engines. They disappear into the forest.

  “Chevy, go to shore. Get Temptation’s clothes and bring them back to the island,” Victoria says.

  “Awe, come on–”

  “DO IT!”

  “All right, all right. Dang, don’t go all psycho on me.” Chevy jumps back into the chilly water and heads for shore.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You’re not coming with us. You’ll have to walk home.”

  “So why are you bringing my clothes to the island? I can easily go back to shore and get them myself.”

  “I don’t need the twins getting pissed off at me. If you walk back the way we came, you won’t get home until one in the morning. Swim over to the other side of the lake and walk straight through the woods. You’ll cut your walking time in half.”

  “What’s your problem? It’s not my fault you allowed Herald to treat you like a slut–”

  “Everything was perfect until you showed up! They only like you because you can see those nasty goblins,” Victoria kicks a rock. “I was the only one who could see them and I never tried to find them like you. You broke the law! They should’ve killed you for it!”

  “I never sought those goblins out; Herald and Chevy took me to see them.”

  Victoria blanches. “What?”

  Taken aback by Victoria’s shock, I ask, “You mean Herald never took you into the forest to see the Goblin King?”

  Victoria’s shock dissipates and anguish replaces it. “I didn’t need to see the king to know he is a monster.” She turns around and lifts her hair. Four long scars, similar to claw marks, streak across the back of her neck.

  No. My mind cannot process the evidence before me. “What happened to you?”

  Victoria drops her hair. “Last year, on Halloween, he cornered me in the old theater house. Jenkins still doesn’t know how he managed to do it, but the king said I had to leave the twins and come with him. Ha! As if I’d be stupid enough to fall for his false concern. I spat in his face and tried to run, but he grabbed my neck. Cut me. I escaped but he didn’t follow. I don’t think he could leave that room in the theater. Jenkins was happy with me. He loved me.”

  Chevy returns to the island with my surprisingly dry clothes in his hands. He tosses them to me. “Let’s get back to town.”

  Victoria pushes me out of the way and dives back into the water with the rest of the crowd. The sun begins to sink behind the tall pine trees.

  “Lovely,” I mutter as the others reach the shore and drive off. Raising the clothes up over my head, I wade into the water. The water reaches my neck. I doggy paddled to the opposite shore. “I swear I’m knocking her out when I get to school, Monday.”

  Stumbling up onto shore, I stop at a dead log. Putting my clothes back on, I rejoice at my decision to wear slip-on shoes today, instead of athletic shoes or boots. At least my clothes are not soaking wet. Tightening the tribal belly-dancer skirt around my waist, I decide against putting my shirt back on, since my bra will only soak it. The curvy shoreline leads me to the far edge of the woods. Sunlight disappears before my eyes and darkness embraces the forest. I bet I still have a couple miles to walk. In the shadowy woods, I count my footsteps. I lose track when the splashes of the lake water disappear and the swishes of the trees replace the water’s melody. The creaking of brittle tree branches mixes with the animal noises in the forest. It makes for a creepy path to walk alone. I mentally conjure up lyrics for a new song to subdue my rising panic.

  I don’t want to, be seen by you...

  Because I’ve fallen,

  Broken down in this crippled life.

  Forsaken,

  From all the others, I’m not their kind.

  I’ve fallen from your light.

  An hour passes and still there is no sign of the town. I cannot even see evidence of artificial light in t
he clear night sky. Only the annoying fireflies buzzing around the forest presents me with a shred of light. My toe still hurts from stumbling over a large pile of loose rocks a short distance from the lake.

  This does not seem right. I should have reached the town by now.

  A soft light and the rumble of voices reverberate from the other side of the hill. Perhaps the campers can give me a ride back into town.

  At the top of the hill, I face my worst nightmare. Goblins, of all shapes and sizes, roam around the base of the hill. They hobble in and out of cliffs with hollow openings. A little stream runs through the middle of the goblins’ cove. Decorative stones on the ground mimic pathways from cave to cave. Little lanterns line the stream, illuminating the bright water.

  I bow behind an old tree and suck in a breath.

  A screeching sound erupts past the goblins’ cove. Stretching, I peer through the branches. I cannot see very well, so I grasp the lowest tree branch. I climb until I get a good view of the roaming bodies. Masked goblins run over the hill screaming, “Recruiters in the forest! Recruiters in the forest!”

  A bulky figure emerges from the largest cave entrance. The disfigured face of the Goblin King shines in the lamplight. “What’s going on?”

  “Me lord!” A crooked goblin steps forward and bows. “Recruiters be in the forest and Jenkins be leadin’ ‘em.”

  The king’s eyes reflect the flames of the lanterns. “I want every goblin out here and ready to fight. Jenkins does not leave alive!”

  “Wait, me lord. There be one more thin’.” The goblin grins. “Temptation be lost somewhere in the woods. That’s why they be here. I heard ‘em talkin’ ‘bout her travelin’ from de lake.”

  The king’s gleeful expression roots a rush of panic into my heart.

  “Remorse!” An older, noble-looking goblin steps forward. Remorse’s face mirrors the goblin I met on my way to the theater house. “Seek Temptation out and don’t allow her to escape.”

  “Yes, me lord–”

  “Silus!”

  On the hill where the goblins previously emerged, stand the Jenkins twins in their demon forms, along with a group of humans.