A Demon Made Me Do It (19 page)

I scrunch my forehead, confused. “Why
would you do that? Don’t you have better things to do with your
time than study stuff you already know?”

He twists his mouth and looks down at
his hands. “Yeah, but I needed a reason to spend time with you. To
talk with you. It was the only thing I could think of. Stupid, I
know,” he mumbles.

I still don’t get it. “What did you
want to talk with me about?” I whisper.

He looks me straight in the eye. “I
dunno…nothing. Everything. I think you’re probably one of the most
interesting girls I’ve ever met. And believe me, that’s saying a
lot. I wanted to get to know you better.”

I don’t know what to say, so I just
stare at the grass.

“
Oh.”

“
I hope you’re not mad,” he
says, “that you wasted an afternoon in a cemetery reading with
me.”

How could I be mad when other than
today, it was the best time I’ve had in my life?

“
I’m not mad,” I
mumble.
What am I? Happy?
Scared?

Yes.

“
Good.” He lets out a sigh
of relief. “Because I really want us to be friends.”

Friends?
Why does that word sound like such a stinging
rejection?

He places his fingertips
under my chin and gently tilts my face toward his. “Good friends,”
he whispers. “
Very
good friends.”

With benefits?

I think he’s going to kiss me, but he
doesn’t, and I don’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved.
This is a dangerous path I’m on. One that can only lead to
heartache. Kieron doesn’t know anything about me. And if he ever
finds out, he’ll hate me. Despise me. Fear me.

But until then…

His eyes never leave mine as I lean
closer to him so the sides of our bodies are touching. More than
anything, I want to lose myself in this tranquility for eternity—to
freeze this moment forever. Just Kieron and me in our secret,
perfect Paradise.

The second our fingers
touch, the moment his hand tenderly wraps around mine, the instant
I feel the hot flow of energy course through my veins and ignite my
soul, I know I’m never letting go. Kieron has entered my life in a
way that cannot be ignored or undone. I’m
supposed
to know him.

Somehow…some way, I will
make this work. I
have
to.

Whatever it takes.

******

The sky turns a menacing shade of
grey, and I suddenly realize it’s later than I thought. My blissful
time is over. “I have to go,” I whisper, reluctantly.

Kieron nods and together we gather up
the rest of our stuff and head back to the truck. Judging from the
long shadows cast on the field, and the fact that we’re at least an
hour away from my home, I know I’m cutting it close. Too close.
Being with Kieron makes the time pass way too quickly.

“
Please hurry,” I say, the
desperation apparent in my voice, despite my attempt to stay
cool.

Once we start heading down the hill,
he gives me a concerned glance. “You’re really worried about being
late, aren’t you?” he asks, casually resting his hand on my
knee.

“
Yes.”

This really, really,
really
sucks. What was I
thinking staying out here so late? We should’ve left an hour
ago.

Breathe, Liora…just relax.
Don’t freak out until you have a reason to…

Kieron speeds the truck down the
mountainside nearly twice as fast as he drove up. Normally I
would’ve been concerned, but it’s all I can do to stop myself from
whispering, “Faster, please,” every few minutes.

Despite Kieron’s best efforts, the
full weight of my cruel reality comes crashing down on me when,
halfway down the mountain, the truck inexplicably sputters to a
stop.

“
What’s happening? Why are
we slowing down?” My voice borders on hysteria.

Kieron just shakes his head and taps
the dashboard a few times. “It looks like we’re out of gas. I’m so
sorry…I didn’t realize…”

I look at him with horror,
feeling the blood drain from my face.
“
No, this
can’t
be
happening.
”
I
gasp. We’re still a good thirty miles from town. In the middle of
nowhere.

I don’t know what I’m going
to do, but there’s no way I can stay here with him much longer. No
way. Even if Lucky
somehow
manages to behave herself, which is
highly
unlikely, if she
starts saying weird things and introducing herself as ‘Lucky’,
Kieron will think I’m
completely
insane. And what if she does something awful to
him? She’s very unpredictable when it comes to people. I don’t
think she’ll necessarily hurt him, but using him as a toy for her
sadistic amusement isn’t much better…

Okay, I can freak out
now.
Where’s a good trash dumpster when you
need one?

I spot a farmhouse across the fields
and get an idea. Not a great one, but so far it’s my only
hope.

“
All right, you stay here
and guard the truck. I’ll run to that house for help and see if I
can use their phone.” I jump out of the cab. But Kieron is out in a
flash and grabs my arm before I’ve taken five steps.

“
Yeah, like that’s really
going to happen. There’s no way I’m letting you run off to some
stranger’s house…”

“
Sorry, but you don’t have
a choice. You stay here. I will go.” I struggle to pull my arm
free. He releases his grip and gives me a smirk.

“
I have a cell phone,” he
says, reaching into his back pocket. “And triple-A. Can’t say for
sure they want to trek out here, but you can call your grandma and
tell her you’re going to be late if you like.”

His words momentarily throw
me. “No, I
don’t
like, because I
won’t
be late,” I say, my voice cold.
Now what?
Stop and
think… Don’t panic
. “Are you sure you even
get reception way out here?”

He grins. “Full bars. So don’t worry.
I’ll call the towing company, you call your grandma, and everything
will be fine.”

I pace in a circle, my body
trembling and my mind spinning. This is the
worst
thing that can happen right
now. My fantasy is so quickly morphing into a nightmare.
But what did I expect?

Kieron watches me intently as I try to
clear my mind and think. “Okay,” I finally say, “why don’t you go
ahead and call them; I really need to go to the bathroom. I’m just
going to go behind those trees for a few minutes.”

His expression is a mixture
of suspicion and amusement, but he nods silently. I flash him a
weak smile to show I’m fine, and then head toward the cluster of
trees. I’ll worry about giving him an excuse later, but right now
my number one priority is to
get
away
. In a million years, I have no idea
how I’ll explain my crazy behavior to him, but better he think of
me as a lunatic than a monster.

Kieron eyes me suspiciously as I duck
behind the thicket. My attention focuses on the farmhouse in the
distance. And where there’s a house, there must be a vehicle of
some sort. At least I have an excuse to tell Kieron later, as
insane and lame as it is.

The second Kieron’s head turns away, I
sprint as fast as my legs will carry me, praying the trees are
blocking his view of my mad escape. But a few minutes later, I hear
him calling me.

“
Liora! Wait!”

I put my head down and continue
running as hard as I can, my breath coming fast and hollow.
Determined, I press on as my legs turn to rubber.

“
Go back!” I yell. My voice
is weak, but I’m pretty sure he hears me. I keep going, ignoring
the stabbing in my chest and the fire in my legs, focusing only on
getting to the house. I don’t know why I think that will save me,
especially with Kieron following. Maybe I can hide somewhere. Maybe
Kieron will leave me alone for a while and Lucky can get away.
Maybe…

…
Maybe I’m totally
screwed.

I come to the fence bordering the
farmer’s property and clumsily scale the low wooden barrier,
ignoring the splinters lodging painfully in my
fingertips.

Kieron is right behind me.

I stumble and fall. Quickly, I pull
myself back up again as Kieron draws closer, almost upon me now.
Suddenly, I’m distracted by the appearance of an elderly man. He’s
charging toward us holding something long and skinny in his hand.
Blinded by my fear and crushing devastation at the pure insanity of
the moment, I keep running toward the man and the house, as Kieron
barrels up behind me.

I know there’s no point in continuing.
My plan to escape has failed miserably. If anything, I’ve only
managed to make things worse. But I keep going, mostly so I won’t
have to face Kieron and my mortal shame.

Soon, my body makes the choice for me.
I stop, gasping for air. The mile sprint has made my legs feel like
spaghetti, and they wobble beneath me. Kieron reaches my side. I
push him back, but he doesn’t budge, asserting his place beside me.
We notice the old man again. He has been watching us with curious
interest up to this point, but now that we’ve stopped, he’s lifting
his arms, aiming straight at us.

“
Stop right there, or I’ll
shoot ya both!” the man yells.

******

Kieron instantly jumps in front of me,
his arms held high. I double over, hands on my knees, panting
heavily. “Sir, please lower your gun. We wish you no harm,” he
says.

The old man scowls and points his
shotgun directly at Kieron’s chest. I clutch the back of his
sweater, and he presses back against me protectively.

“
What are you kids doin’ on
my property? This here’s private land. Ain’t no one s’ppose to be
here!” His lined face is contorted with rage, his wispy grey hairs
wild and unkempt.

“
Sir, we apologize. We just
had some car trouble back on the mountain, and we were hoping to
use your phone.” Kieron’s voice is so calm and professional he
sounds more like he’s ordering a pizza than negotiating with an
angry man holding a shotgun.

And he’s not even out of
breath.
How is that possible?
Even if he ran miles every day, he should be
breathing a
little
heavy, shouldn’t he?

The old man spits something on the
ground and moves closer, giving Kieron a look of disgust. “Don’t
look that way to me. Looks like she was runnin’ from ya, and you
was chasin’ her.” He bobs his head to me. “Y’all ar’right missy? He
tryin’ to force hisself on ya against yer will?”

“
No…no...sir,” I gasp,
still short of breath. “Nothing like that. Honest. We were driving
and ran out of gas. We wanted to get help before it turned
dark.”

But I know nothing will help me now.
The sun is going to set any moment now, and when it does, my whole
world is going to collapse.

The old man shifts his narrowed eyes
from Kieron to me. He grunts and lowers his weapon slightly, still
wary.

“
What’re you two doin’ out
this way anyhow? Ain’t no one s’ppose to be up there. You havin’
immoral relations and injectin’ yerself with drugs?” He spits on
the ground again and kicks at the dirt with a scruffy
boot.

Kieron slowly lowers his arms, and
pulls them back and around me. I’m biting my lip so hard I can
taste blood. This crazy man doesn’t seem to need a valid excuse to
shoot us both. And Kieron’s right in the line of fire, protecting
me. If I hadn’t acted like such a psychotic lunatic we wouldn’t be
in this position.

If something happens to Kieron because
of me...

Please, Lucky…hurry up…we
need you…

“
No, sir. We were just out
for a drive and found ourselves in a bit of trouble is all. I
sincerely apologize if we gave you a fright. It certainly was not
our intention.” Kieron’s voice is loaded to the brim with charm and
grace, but the man is unmoved.

“
Well I guess we’ll have’ta
see what the cops say about that. You can tell them yer story, why
you bein’ places you don’t belong and doin’ Lord knows what to that
young girl there…” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cell
phone.

“
Sir, please. Trust me… you
don’t want to do that,” Kieron says, sounding like he’s trying not
to laugh.

“
Don’t you be tellin me
what I do and don’t wanna be doin, boy! You hush up and put your
hands where I can see ‘em!” He scowls and spits again. Dialing the
phone with one hand, he steadies the rifle with the
other.

“
Sir, please, I’m warning
you…you don’t want to do that. Please just let us be on our
way.”

“
Oh, God. Oh, no” I moan
softly behind him. My body trembles uncontrollably, the familiar
fire returning. Tears trickle from my eyes.