Stealing Your Heart
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“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I told her. “There’s nothing going on between me and that girl.”
My friend’s brows furrowed, a sure sign he was confused as hell. “What? She’s your cousin.”
“Oh come on! You have no idea how much we look like twins!”
It wasn’t my fault they were both blonde with blue eyes. And yes, it did get pretty annoying when people would constantly call us sisters. But seriously. There could not be more than two degrees of separation in our families because, well, there are only two people in the world who can claim to share blood with me: My mom and dad.
So unless my parents had siblings or cousins that weren’t on my mother’s side (which is highly unlikely), then I was definitely not having any sexual relations with someone who didn’t exist.
“No one believes you,” he said. “You’ve got to admit she’s really good-looking. And if she’s your cousin then you must love her too.”
He was right; I loved her just like I did my own family. And maybe, just maybe, she had grown up to be quite attractive. At least from what I knew of her over the years. But it simply couldn’t be happening.
But even as I argued with my friend, my mind was still reeling at what had happened during the week before we had left for school. It took all I had not to throw myself into his arms and beg him to let me go back home until after Christmas.
If only my friends hadn’t been so eager to believe the rumor mill…
“Look, guys! We found it!” I cried out happily, pulling off the freeway onto a road leading through a thick forest of trees. The sky was grey and heavy, as though winter had already decided to stay for another year. It would snow soon enough—that was inevitable.
A few miles later and I parked alongside the highway, leaving the car running while I stepped outside. It might take a bit longer to find the cache if I ran, but I had plenty of time since we were driving separately.
That was part of why it worked best when we got together every other weekend. One of us would drive down early and park somewhere nearby to wait for the others so we wouldn’t waste gasoline. This week it had fallen to me, which meant we were getting a late start.
The ground underneath my feet crunched softly, the dry leaves crunching as though they’d never been swept away by an autumn wind. Leaves littered the dirt path we had cut through this section of woods, making things extra difficult to navigate.
“Hey, you hear something?” I asked my friends. They were huddled up near me, trying not to lose each other among the trees. “Sounds like…sniffing.”
“Maybe it’s a wild dog.” My best friend laughed nervously, glancing around to make sure no animal could possibly be stalking us.
Yeah. Right.
It wasn’t likely there would be a bear or cougar lurking anywhere near these roads. And besides, we were in the middle of suburbia where deer were common as birds. A big cat would stand no chance of finding a meal here. Or maybe I’m just being paranoid.
We followed a narrow trail for half a mile before coming across our first clue. An old rock rested atop a large boulder in the center of the small clearing. It was hard to miss because it stood tall above the surrounding landscape. As a matter of fact, the whole area seemed to be built up around this point. Not a single tree grew anywhere close to our vantage point.
I crouched down for a closer look at the stone and saw that someone had carved some initials into its flat surface: A T & L. “Whoa! Wait!” I held up my hand and grabbed them both as I turned toward the sound. Then I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of two men dressed in black ski masks carrying guns aimed directly at us. “Run!”
The three of us jumped aside, taking off into the forest behind us, leaving the gunmen to run straight past the spot we had abandoned, their shots flying uselessly through empty space.
Within moments the sound of bullets hitting branches filled our ears and a blast of white powder exploded against the dirt and leaves as they fired again and again. My heart pounded wildly as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on, and why they were shooting at us.
And how could they possibly know we were here?
Then I heard a voice calling my name.
“Shayla! What are you doing here?!”
I glanced over my shoulder to see two familiar faces emerge from behind the boulders where we’d hidden. And as they drew closer, I realized they wore similar ski masks and looked equally scared as they searched the trees, searching for us.
“Oh God,” one of them moaned as he stumbled forward, falling to his knees. Blood trickled from his head as his eyes bulged and stared up at me. “What have you done?”
“Don’t worry! It won’t hurt much.”
***
There was no time to ask questions about who we were or what exactly we were doing out here. The gunmen didn’t seem interested in giving us any answers. They simply pulled back their hands and blasted us with more bullets.
My body flew backward, slamming into a tree and knocking the breath right out of me. For a moment the world seemed to spin around and then everything went dark. All I could hear was a ringing in my ears.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was the dull ache on my side. Then, as I focused my eyes on where I sat, I gasped in terror.
“Nathan?”
His pale blue face swam in front of me, his mouth contorted into a scream, and blood pooled beneath him. He was lying face down in a pool of blood.
“Nathan!” I screamed, scrambling to get to his side and grab onto his shirt. “Hold on, Nathan. Hold on!” But as I touched his chest, all I felt was a wet sticky warmth oozing between my fingers. There was no pulse.
Tears fell from my eyes. “No…”
I let go of him and staggered back, covering my mouth as the sobs started. “No…no…”
More gunshots rang out as I collapsed to the ground, unable to hold myself up anymore.
They’re killing Nathan.
I don’t understand. We’ve always been careful.
We weren’t supposed to die like this.
“He didn’t mean anything to you, did he?”
A voice came from behind me, but when I lifted my head to turn and see who was speaking, I couldn’t focus my eyes properly. It was too bright, the world still spinning around and around. A woman walked over and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
She must have picked me up and carried me because suddenly I found myself leaning against a nearby tree. I blinked several times, trying desperately to regain my composure.
But it was no use. Nothing would come of my efforts. My mind was in complete turmoil.
This can’t be happening.
Nathan is dead.
He can’t be dead. Not now. Not after all we’ve gone through together.
Not over something so stupid as some foolish curse.
Someone stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the woman who was comforting me and staring at me intently. “Your friend needs medical attention,” she said calmly. Her voice sounded strange; as though it had an odd accent to it.
The woman who’d carried me turned back to her companion and nodded.
She’s talking to somebody else, I thought to myself, but before I could take a second look, the other woman grabbed my arm.
“Come with us,” she commanded.
***
As soon as the women left, the first one turned to Nathan, who lay facedown in the dirt. She knelt beside him and began to check his pulse, then she took his hand and placed it firmly over his chest.
The second woman stood up and approached her, glancing quickly at me as she did.
“We need to get him out of here,” she said.
The first woman nodded. “Yes. We’re wasting precious time.”
Both women started moving toward me and my eyes snapped open, wide-eyed with panic. I tried to sit up, but they pushed me back down again.
“Please! Let me go with them,” I begged.
Neither woman answered me.
“You need to stay quiet.” The one who was carrying me leaned in close to my ear and whispered in a harsh tone. “They’ll shoot us if we make noise. Don’t do it.”
My heart was pounding wildly, threatening to burst out of my chest. I felt dizzy. Everything spun around and around, the world seeming to tilt crazily. I closed my eyes and willed my brain to calm down.
To keep myself from passing out, I counted slowly in my head. One…two…three…
Slowly, it calmed down and I was able to think clearly once more. If we got away, maybe it wouldn’t matter that Nathan was dead, but I knew that wasn’t very likely to happen.
The men who were shooting at us would probably catch up with us soon enough. As long as I lived, there was still hope for someone to find him and help him, even if it was too late for me.
The woman carrying me stopped walking and turned to face her companion.
“We’re not going any further until we get him out of this place and somewhere safe to rest. Otherwise, he won’t be able to heal himself.”
Her companion sighed in frustration. “If you want him healed, then why are you dragging him out of here? That’s all I ask.”
I didn’t answer her, instead just looking up into the sky. It was dark outside, the stars shining brightly through the few clouds overhead. The air smelled of rain, but none came.
It was too cloudy. We shouldn’t be outside this late at night anyway.
And it was raining.
But the drops falling from the sky were warm and gentle. They soaked deep into the earth and seeped underground, washing away the foul smell from the city. It was like a cleansing flood. It was almost pleasant, although I had a terrible sinking feeling it wouldn’t last long and we’d be forced back into the filth of our situation.
That was the way of things these days.
One moment everything was fine and the next we were thrown to the side.
But Nathan was dead. He wasn’t coming back. And I couldn’t afford to lose my life either.
I wanted to tell the women about my feelings for Nathan, but they seemed to be in such a hurry to get away from the park that it never occurred to me. Besides, I had more immediate concerns than telling them what I thought they already knew.
After a while, the two women finally stopped and put me down on the ground, then they both knelt in front of me and began to examine my wounds, pulling my clothes off gently and examining each cut.
When they were done, they sat beside me and looked up at the sky. Then they stared intently at nothing.
It happened suddenly. One moment there was darkness in front of us and the next, there was light. It was bright and dazzling. A shaft of golden brilliance shot upward, illuminating the area with a glow that filled the shadows.
Then all hell broke loose.
A blast of energy hit my shoulder hard and caused me to wince in pain, sending waves of agony through my body.
There was another explosion behind us. I tried to stand, but my legs buckled under me and I fell face down on the ground. I heard the women shout as they struggled to their feet and run toward something, but my head throbbed so badly now, I barely heard anything over the ringing in my ears.
All I saw was a blur of movement, flashes of brilliant light, and screams of terror.
Someone was yelling, but the words were so soft and far away.
It was like a dream. It was like being in an endless nightmare.
My vision blurred, then cleared and my eyes focused on a single point.
The bright yellow eyes of a wolf.
The End