Dark Realms(53)

“Thanks.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You okay? You look kind of flushed.”

“I’m fine,” I replied, not able to meet her eyes.

“Go home and get a good night’s sleep,” she said. “Working here can take a lot out of you.”

“I will. Thanks.”

I followed her back out and expected to see Ethan and his friends, but they were all gone.

“Hi,” said Duncan.

He was dressed in a light blue polo shirt that complimented his silvery-gray eyes and low-riding jeans that showed off his tight abs. Because I was still feeling the pheromones from whatever Ethan produced, I had an incredible urge to jump his bones.

“Ready?” I asked, grabbing his hand.

He chuckled as I pulled him out of the diner. “What’s wrong? Had enough of this place already?”

I released a heavy sigh and nodded. “It was a long day.”

We both hopped in to his truck and he turned on the music. He caught me staring at him and smiled.

“You look nice,” he said, grabbing my hand.

His smile was much more boyish than Ethan’s and the tenderness in his eyes was so sweet. Part of me was already falling hard for Duncan, while another part of me screamed out for Ethan. It was frustrating and I decided to try and drive away my lustful thoughts of Ethan, so I told him to pull over to the side of the road.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I scooted closer to him and pressed my lips against his. Soon we were kissing and my hands were all over him. When I pulled myself onto his lap and looked into his eyes, he let out a shaky sigh. “Nikki,” he groaned, and then his mouth captured mine.

I ground my hips into his and he moaned with pleasure as I rocked against him. He unbuttoned the top of my uniform and raised my bra, kissing my breasts. Nobody had ever done that before and the sensation made me quiver down below.

“Shit,” he groaned as a squad car pulled up behind us and we were surrounded by bright flashing lights.

I jumped off of him and buttoned my uniform while Duncan tried to compose himself. “Man,” he said, looking at me again. “That was intense.”

There was a tap on the window and we both smiled sheepishly at Sheriff Caleb, who was frowning.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Duncan’s face looked so guilty it was comical. “Um, we were just talking.”

He smirked. “You certainly fogged up the windows pretty good with all that talking you must have been doing. Next time, open one up.”

We both smiled.

“Listen,” said Caleb. “I’m not stupid, so I know your raging hormones probably got the better of you. Next time you feel like making out, though, don’t do it on the side of the road. It’s pretty dangerous, especially at night. Now, Duncan, bring Nikki home before her mom gets worried.”

“Okay. Thank you, sir,” answered Duncan.

He looked at me. “Say hello to your mother for me.”

“Okay.”

He walked back to his squad car, and we drove to the cabin in an awkward silence. Thankfully, Nathan was waiting on the porch for us when we pulled up because I didn’t want to talk about what had just happened. The truth was, I wasn’t exactly sure myself. That promiscuous girl back there? That wasn’t me. I’d made out with two guys in the last two days and had no real explanation for it.

“Hey, guys,” said Nathan, who was sitting on a gliding bench with a grim smile.

Duncan cleared his throat. “What’s up, Nathan?”

“Read this,” he said, holding out a newspaper.

I grabbed it from him and we both started reading the article he’d circled. There were several pictures of girls who were either missing or dead under the headline: ‘Serial Killer Targeting Similar Victims?’

“They’ve included a picture of the girl who was found in the lake, as well as Amy,” said Nathan, pointing. “See the resemblance there of the two girls?”

“Why is Amy included in this? She killed herself,” I said.

Nathan’s eyes narrowed. “Or maybe it was only made to look like she did. The most disturbing thing about this article is the photos of the girls.”

“They look very similar,” said Duncan. Then he turned to me and tensed up. “In fact, they look similar to Nikki, too.”

My brother nodded. “Their hair is different but, if you look closely at the facial features of those girls, there is a definite resemblance to Nikki’s. What really concerns me, are the strange things that have been happening to her. What if it’s somehow related?”

“Seriously, I doubt it has anything to do with what’s happened to all of those girls,” I said.