“Goofball,” I laughed, suddenly feeling fingers wrap around my upper arm. The contact caused me to whirl around, and I was met with amber eyes again. Reese’s grip wasn’t hard by any means, and he immediately let go as I faced him.
“Hey.” The natural bravado in his voice had been undoubtedly replaced with quiet discomfort.
“…Hey.”
“I don’t want this to sound weird, but…you want a ride?”
Of all things, I actually laughed. “What?”
“Sorry, it’s just…that doesn’t exactly look too safe,” he remarked, nodding over to the van that gurgled unnaturally as Eric turned over the engine.
“I thought you of all people would be thrilled to see me locked in a high-speed deathtrap.”
He didn’t laugh.
“Thanks for the offer,” I politely amended. “But my mom taught me to not accept rides from strangers. And I don’t really know you all that well, so...”
Unrest stirred behind his eyes as he closed the distance between us in one swift, unnatural motion. “Please, don’t get in the van,” he whispered.
“Excuse me?” I tried backing up, but his hands gripped my arms again, this time with a much firmer hold.
“Please, just listen to me. I know this sounds crazy, but you can’t get in the van.”
In any other circumstance, I would have already screamed bloody murder, but there was something about the earnestness in his voice that seemed to paralyze me.
“There a problem here?” Daniel and Eric started heading over to our sides. I tried pulling away, but Reese again wouldn’t release his grip, and the guys immediately charged over at the sight.
“Let her go!” barked Eric.
“Don’t do it,” Reese pleaded again, refusing to take his eyes off me.
A force ripped between the two of us, and Daniel slammed Reese against the side of the truck as Eric safely pried me away.
“What the hell’s going on?” begged Carly, seeing Mark quickly meet up to aid Daniel.
“Please, don’t get in the van!” Reese repeated.
“Why?” scoffed Carly.
“’Cause he’s a freak,” spat Eric.
“Kat, don’t—”
“Give me one good reason not to bust your teeth in,” barked Daniel, shoving Reese back against the vehicle as he tried to step forward.
“She’s going to die!” Reese suddenly blurted.
The entire parking lot came to a standstill.
What did he just say?
“Okay, the guy’s clearly bat-shit. Let’s just get out of here,” howled Mark.
No one else hesitated, but Daniel was forced to practically lift me up into the vehicle as I remained paralyzed in place. Mark grabbed hold of Reese’s coat, feeling around the pockets. Sure enough, he pulled out his car keys and hurled them into the oblivion of the woods bordering the parking lot. Mark used the distraction to race back over to us, and he hopped into the front passenger seat. The van took off before he even had a chance to close the door.
“Shit,” Reese muttered. He charged at the van, and we all unreservedly screamed as his fists hammered the back window right where I was sitting.
Daniel managed to shift the van into third gear, and we finally gained momentum.
I stole a look at the speedometer, seeing us already pushing over twenty miles an hour.
“This dude’s gotta be on PCP or some shit,” said Mark, watching Reese unrelentingly race beside the van, not losing ground.
He kept hollering, pleading for me to get out.
It wasn’t until we clocked thirty that we finally started pulling away from him. Only once he became nothing more than a speck in the distance did anyone else breathe.
“You okay?” asked Vanessa, giving me a hug as I sat frozen in my seat.
Eric looked over his shoulder and sighed. “Hey, don’t let that freak get to you, okay? He was just trying to scare you.”
“Mission accomplished,” said Carly shakily.
“Don’t let him ruin the night. The guy’s nuttier than a peanut butter factory,” assured Mark.
Chapter 2
Bad Moon Rising
“You need to loosen up!” Everyone continued to tease me as we all sat on bales of hay, watching the massive bonfire blazing nearby.
Music coursed through the air, and a bunch of our classmates drunkenly gyrated away to the beat in the middle of the open field. Screams sounded off in the distance by the waterfront, which drew my concern, until I realized it was from a bunch of moronic guys throwing their girlfriends into the pond. I shivered at the thought, not just because it was a little chilly outside, but because that pond was murky beyond belief. I was pretty sure the creature from the black lagoon lived in there.