Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (155 page)

I sucked in a trembling breath. “I
don’t want to, Jesse. I’m scared.”

“
It’s your house, and I’ll
be right there with you. I promise I won’t let anything happen to
you, Taylor—not ever.” He paused. “Unless you want to go inside for
a shake or a burger or something.”

I laughed. “In this? No
way.”

He smiled. “Trust me, I’ve seen worse
in McDonald’s after dark. Anyway, if you think you’re up to
driving, I’ll follow you back.”

“
Okay.”

Back at the house, I didn’t notice
anything out of place, and my parents weren’t home from their date
yet. I held on to Jesse’s arm as he glanced around, using the
bright moonlight to guide our way.

“
The door is still wide
open,” I observed.

We walked into the living room, and I
flicked on the switch.

“
Hey, at least the lights
work now.” I glanced around but didn’t see anything out of the
ordinary, no mud or footprints or overturned furniture or broken
glass or anything to prove I wasn’t hearing things or going crazy.
There was nothing to support my claim. I shut the door and locked
it.

We walked through the downstairs and
into the kitchen. Jesse told me to wait at the table while he
bravely checked the upstairs. After a minute or two, I heard him
yell, “All clear up here.”

“
You must think I’m crazy,”
I said when he walked back in the kitchen.

“
Not at all. Something was
here. I can smell it.”

“
You think it was a wolf?
Because I heard howling, clear as day.”

“
Definitely a wolf…but
there was something else too.”

“
What?” I asked, not sure
if I wanted to hear the answer.

“
There were two intruders,”
he said.

“
I thought so. The robber
and the wolf who decided to take advantage of an open
door.”

“
It’s complicated, but I
swear I’m gonna find out what happened. You weren’t imagining
things, Taylor, and it was smart for you to bolt out of here when
you did.”

“
What if it was Jonathon?”
I asked with a shudder.

“
Not possible. He’s…out of
town.”

“
Maybe he was, but what if
he came back?”

“
Like I said, not
possible,” he said, sounding absolutely sure.

“
You’re right. He probably
would’ve killed me in the shower, just like Norman
Bates.”

A car pulled in the
driveway.

When I opened the door and recognized
the vehicle, I was relieved. “Thank God. It’s just my parents.” I
threw my arms around them as soon as they stepped in the
door.

My father looked at me, noticing that
I was in a robe and slippers, then looked at Jesse and raised an
eyebrow. “What’s going on?” he shouted, absolutely livid. “We leave
you alone for one night, and you invite a boy over? Why are you
dressed—or rather, undressed—like that?”

“
Dad!”

He looked at Jesse again, this time
with anger washing over him. “Go home, young man. Get out of my
house!”

“
Mom,” I said, “please make
Dad stop. He doesn’t know the whole story. It’s not what you
think.”

“
I trusted you, Taylor,” he
said, shaking his head.

“
Let her explain,” my mom
pleaded.

I touched my dad’s arm. “Please, Dad!
Jesse just got here. Somebody broke in, so I called him over to
help.”

“
What?” he asked in
disbelief. “Someone broke in? With you here by
yourself?”

I explained the entire story to my
parents.

My dad’s tone softened. “I’m sorry,
Jesse. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I-I’m sorry I didn’t
trust you.” He then turned his gaze to me. “You’ve been through a
horrible experience, and I shouldn’t have accused you of anything.
I apologize.”

“
It’s okay, Dad. I know it
didn’t look very good.”

My mom wrapped her arm around me.
“Baby, you’ve had a rough evening. Would you like me to make you
some hot chocolate?”

“
Mom, I’m not ten anymore,
but thank you.”

“
You stayed up late with
Julie last night watching horror movies,” my dad said. “What if you
imagined the robber? Are you sure it wasn’t just a
shadow?”

“
Dad, the door was left
open, and the power went out,” I retorted.

“
You’re tired from work,
hon’. It’s easy for a tired mind to wander and—”

“
I would have remembered
leaving a door open. I heard a wild animal howling.”

“
We live in the woods,
dear. If the door was left open, something probably wandered
in.”

I swallowed hard. “Dad, I didn’t leave
the door open,” I said again. “Like I said, the power even went
out. I had to get the flashlight out of the drawer.”

“
We’re in a remote area,
and the wind really picked up tonight. It could’ve easily knocked
the power out temporarily.”

“
I’m gonna go, now that you
folks are here with her,” Jesse said.

“
Goodbye, Jesse,” I said,
gazing into his eyes. “Thanks for coming over and checking out
things for me.”

“
Not a problem.”

“
Thanks, Jesse,” my dad
said, swallowing his pride and his accusations.

“
Yes, thank you, Jesse,” my
mom said. “You take care of yourself, now, and have a good
evening.”

After Jesse was gone, I
turned to my mother. “I was so scared, Mom. My entire body was
shaking.”

She looked at me with concern on her
face, the way she had when I was little and had a fever. “I’ve
never seen you this terrified before, sweetheart.” She turned to my
dad. “Something scared her. If she says she saw an intruder, I
believe she saw someone. Maybe we should call the
police.”

“
I’m sure everything is
okay now,” my dad said. “Nothing seems to be missing or damaged.”
As if he refused to believe the obvious, he turned to me and said,
“Honey, maybe you’re just having a hard time adjusting to such an
isolated life out here in the woods, or maybe you’re missing Sean.
I know how much you cared about him.”

“
Dad, I know I cried for
over a month when we broke up, but I’m over him. Besides, this has
absolutely nothing to do with him. Sean breaking up with me was the
best thing that ever happened to me.”

My mom wrapped her arm around me. “How
was dinner? I made spicy chicken. Did you like it?”

“
I didn’t eat,” I said. “I
was warming it up in the microwave when I saw that man through the
glass.”

“
That’s too bad, darlin’.
Let me warm it up for you.”

“
I’m really not hungry now,
Mom.”

“
How about something to
drink?”

“
I’d love that. Surprise
me.”

My mom
smiled, and I headed up to my room. I replayed the entire situation
in my head.
Maybe I did overreact, but I
know that growl was real. It was so loud!
I
was glad I didn’t check it out on my own, or I might not have lived
to tell the tale.

With that thought on my mind, I
slipped into a nightgown and crawled into bed. I usually kept the
door closed when I slept, but this time, I left it open.

A few minutes later, my mom stepped in
with a steaming mug of cocoa.

“
Hey, Mom,” I said with a
smile.

“
Hi, honey. Look, I know
you’re not a child anymore, but I also know you still love hot
chocolate, especially loaded with marshmallows.”

“
I have to work early
tomorrow, so I hope it won’t keep me up.”

“
It shouldn’t. At least
have a few sips. Goodnight, honey.”

“
Goodnight,” I said. “And,
Mom…”

“
Yes, honey?”

“
Please leave the door
open, just this once.”

Chapter 12

When morning dawned, I peeked out the
window and into the woods. I didn’t see any intruders lurking
around. It was actually beautiful outside, complete with all the
shining sun and chirping birds the outdoors had to
offer.

In hindsight, I felt silly for asking
Jesse to meet me at McDonald’s when I was barely dressed and
hysterical. I realized now that I should have called my parents and
left him out of it. I was relatively certain he didn’t want to date
a stark-raving lunatic, but the damage had already been
done.

Realizing I couldn’t turn back time, I
took a shower, put my uniform on, and left for work.

* * *

Again when I clocked in for work,
Jesse was waiting for me.

He looked so handsome in his uniform
and with his hair tied back, and I felt a flutter as he pulled me
aside. “How did you sleep?” he asked.

“
Look, Jesse, I’m sorry I
bugged you last night. I’m so embarrassed. I should
have—”

“
You have nothing to be
embarrassed about,” he cut in, speaking with heartfelt
sincerity.

“
I beg to differ. I was at
McDonald’s in a robe.”

“
Technically, you were in
the parking lot.”

I smiled at his attempt to make me
feel better. “I guess. But anyway, I’ve had enough of the wild
animals around here. They’ve gotta do something about their wolf
problem.”

He smiled. “I totally
agree.”

Ms. Aikers approached us, bid us a
quick “Good morning, folks,” then handed us our assignments for the
day.

“
Looks like my job’s for
the birds today,” Jesse said. “I guess that’s all right. I’ve been
missing Beauty Queen.”

I glanced down at my assignment sheet.
“Mine’s worse. She put me on cage cleanup.”

“
I can get my stuff done
pretty quick, and then I’ll come over and help you,” he offered,
ever the good Samaritan.

“
That’s so nice of you.
Thank you, Jesse.”

“
Not a problem. I’ll see ya
later.”

“
Okay,” I said with a big
smile.

* * *

I was mopping one of the empty cages
when screams echoed in the air. I quickly threw down the mop and
hurried out to find a crowd of people gathered around the cage
across from me, screaming in panic about a five-year-old who had
fallen into the mountain lion’s cage. The child was unconsciousness
in the enclosure, and the big cat was quickly approaching. Shouts
and cries pierced the air, especially from the little one’s
mother.

“
Can you help?” the kid’s
mother yelled at me, noticing that I was wearing a zoo
uniform.

“
Uh…” Not sure what to do,
I began to scream and yell and try to get the animal’s attention.
When that didn’t work, I reached down and grabbed several rocks,
then started throwing them at the mountain lion. The animal didn’t
even flinch, as its attention was completely absorbed by the
child.

Suddenly, zoo workers entered the pen
and desperately tried to get to the child as the mountain lion
snarled at them.

Its menacing growl made me shudder,
and when I felt a tap on my shoulder, I jumped like an NBA
player.

“
What’s happening?” Jesse
asked.

“
A kid fell in!” I
said.

Without waiting for any further
explanation, he took off in a flash to help the other workers. On
the way over to help, I ran into my boss.

“
Taylor, stay back,” she
said.

“
But I want to help,
and—”

“
You stay right here,” Ms.
Aikers commanded. “We’re getting tranquilizer guns.” The woman
looked frazzled, more shaken up than I’d ever seen her
before.

My gaze shot to the pen. Just as Jesse
hopped in, the mountain lion lunged at one of the zoo workers and
sank its teeth into the bald man’s head, causing blood to gush
everywhere. Somehow, Jesse managed to pry the animals jaws open and
free the man, and the victim gasped for breath and crawled away.
That left Jesse face to face and alone with the big, angry cat. The
bald man was three times Jesse’s size, so I didn’t know how Jesse
could possibly escape the animal.

“
Jesse!” Jeanie shouted.
“Get out of there!”

I knew it was better if Jesse didn’t
run, if he just stayed and confronted it, tried to look big and
bad. If Jesse tried to run, the cat would only be instinctively
driven to give chase, and Jesse would become helpless
prey.

The lion snarled and focused on Jesse,
and I wondered why Jesse wasn’t screaming and yelling at it or
lifting up and flailing his arms, all the usual tactics for getting
away. Instead, he just looked at the animal and calmly spoke to it,
boldly staring into its eyes. The mountain lion turned and calmly
walked to the back of the enclosure and just waited, and the other
workers cautiously rushed in and grabbed the child.

When Jesse came out, I ran into his
arms. “I was so worried,” I said. “You’re so brave.”