Eden's Creatures (6 page)

Go to school.

As ridiculous as it sounded, at least getting back to his routine would buy him time to clear his head enough to think this through.

“Come on, Cal!” Landon whined from the bed on the other side of the room. “Shut off the alarm!”

Cal did as his brother asked, pulled his jeans on and went into the kitchen. His parents had already left for work, so he set about getting breakfast ready.

After a quick meal and an even quicker shower, he ushered Landon out of the house and they walked together down the dirt road from their house to the bus stop. Cal looked around warily for the Pervall brothers, but they were nowhere in sight.

When the bus pulled up, Cal followed Landon on board. While his brother ran to the back to sit with his friends, Cal slumped into a seat up front.

“Hi, Cal.”

He was forced to move over when Skylar James squeezed into the seat with him.

Cal frowned.

Skylar, arguably the prettiest girl at Mendon High, had never spoken two words to him despite their having been school mates their entire lives.

“Hey.”

“What have you been up to?”

You don’t want to know.
“Not much.”

“There’s going to be a party in the clearing tomorrow night. Why don’t you come?”

He snorted. “You’re inviting me?”

She lifted a slim shoulder. “Why not? I thought you might like to hang out.”

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What time?”

“Four o’clock.”

“I’ll think about it.”

She squeezed his bicep. “Have you been working out or something?”

He pulled his skinny arm out of her grasp. “Hardly.”

“Well, you’re looking good, Cal. Hope to see you at the party.” She smiled prettily at him before getting up to sit elsewhere.

But there was only one pretty face crowding his mind, and she bore the name of Perstassia.

Mendon High crackled with activity. It was the Friday before Christmas break and everyone was anxious for the day to end. Including Cal. But his day also dragged for another reason. He had been contemplating going back into the woods.

Despite his earlier vow and all the talk about killing and mating, the Faedin dominated his thoughts. This weird sense of kinship that stemmed from the
Shahda
ceremony seemed to be growing throughout the day, filling his chest and mind with a painful yearning. So much so, that by three o’clock, Cal could think of nothing else but getting back to Stassi. Yes, she was beautiful and fearless and intelligent —
and, of course, those appendages weren’t bad either
— but, there was more to this magnetic attraction that gripped him in its throes and he was determined to find out what it was.

Mind made up, he decided to return to the Faedin that very afternoon to get the answers he needed. He also decided not to tell anyone else about their existence yet. If they weren’t causing any harm, there was no sense in stirring up trouble.

When the last bell of the day finally rang, Cal sprang from his chair and took off for the bus, a frantic need driving him on.

The ride seemed to take an eternity and when he finally arrived home, he didn’t even bother going into the house. He threw his backpack up onto the porch and sprinted into the woods.

He made it all the way to the clearing, where tomorrow night the kids from school would be having their party, before stopping to rest. He wasn’t sure what he thought yet about the unexpected invitation from Skylar James, but he had no interest in showing up. Their juvenile activities seemed so petty in light of what he now knew existed beyond the trees.

He left the clearing and walked along the trail where he’d discovered the feather. He searched and searched, but found no trace of the Faedin or their beautiful village. An hour went by. Then, two. The deep valley where he first met Stassi was nowhere within a mile of the clearing. How could everything have just disappeared? Had he imagined the entire encounter? That possibility seemed more and more likely with each passing hour.

“Stassi, can you hear me? Stassi!”

He continued on, running and shouting, but all it got him was a sore throat.

Finally, he decided to go home. Depression raked at him, but he couldn’t figure out why.

She’s just a girl.

With wings.

So why did if feel like so much more?

Along the way back, Cal found the perfect Christmas tree for Landon and marked it. In an attempt to forget about the Faedin, he went home, grabbed his brother and they returned to the woods with an axe to chop the tree.

His mother squealed when they dragged it in through the front door, making Cal realize just how long it had been since he had seen an actual smile on her face.

Ignoring the grumblings of her husband, Evie Taylor went into the basement to retrieve a box of decorations. Together, Cal, Landon and his mother put the ornaments on the tree and chuckled at old memories. Cal wished it could always be this way. Just the three of them.

At the sound of another beer cracking open, Cal glared at his stepfather through the glittery branches. How much better their family would be without him. Any person who derived such sadistic pleasure in harming others didn’t deserve to be here.

I wish he were dead.

I wish even more that I had the guts to do it myself.

T
he boy does not move yet the shadow drifts closer to his hiding place between the rocks and wrenches him free by his ankle. Harsh, guttural words echo hollowly in the cave. Fetid breath blasts over his face.

Then, there is pain.

Always, the pain.

Every nerve is on fire. Every muscle clenched tight in fear.

Alone in the darkness, the boy cries out for help. He cries for ears that can’t hear — that refuse to hear. Yet it doesn’t stop him from trying. From hoping that maybe this time she’ll come.

She doesn’t.

Cal bolted upright in bed, the sweat-soaked sheets twisted around him, and gulped in long, calming breaths. His heart thumped so violently against his ribs, he thought they might break.

It had been some time since he’d had the shadow dream.

But not long enough.

It took several minutes for the panic to subside, but finally it did and he unraveled his damp body and stumbled out of bed. A glance across the room told him that his panic hadn’t awakened Landon. Not that much could.

He picked his jeans up off the floor and stepped into them, but glanced down in surprise when he couldn’t get them buttoned.
What the hell?
The bottom of his jeans stopped short at his ankles.
Huh?
He had outgrown them overnight?

His initial excitement that he might finally be filling out waned at the more pressing concern of what he was going to wear since he only owned two pairs of jeans. He rummaged through his drawers and finally decided to try sweatpants that had been too big for him. Surprisingly, they fit perfect now, not just in length but around the waist.

He shook his head and left the bedroom with a more pressing matter filling his mind. Somehow, some way, he
would
find the Faedin today.

At the doorway into the kitchen, his mood darkened at sight of his stepfather sitting at the table drinking a beer. It really amazed him how little one could contribute to society when they put their mind to it.

“Where’s Mom?” Cal asked.

Ross Taylor lifted his head from the newspaper in front of him. “Do I look like a fucking babysitter?”

“Whatever.” He turned to go.

“Don’t make no plans for today. You’ve got chores to do.”

Cal threw a scowl back over his shoulder. “What chores?”

“We need more wood cut.” Ross grinned. “A lot of it. And, when you’re done with that, you can clean out the basement.”

“And I suppose you’re just going to sit there and do nothing but drink all day?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew what a mistake they were. His stepfather’s lip curled in anger and he stood, tipping his chair over backwards.

Cal turned to run, but Ross came around the table in a maddened rush and caught him by the shirt. A beefy fist swung at his head, but he managed to duck just in time. The movement spun his stepfather into a drunken reel. Cal dove toward the stove, picked up a frying pan and whipped it at him.

Ross swatted the pan out of the air and charged him once again. This time, the fist connected and blood blossomed in Cal’s mouth. He fell to the ground and his stepfather fell on top of him.

“Get off me!” Cal cried, wriggling beneath his stepfather’s weight. “I’m so sick of your shit!”

Ross ground his hips into Cal’s backside. “Maybe you need an old-fashioned spanking, you little bastard.” Ross’s hands dug beneath the waistband of Cal’s sweatpants and started to tug them down. “Get these things off!”

Cal snapped.

He rammed his elbow back with as much force as he could. He heard the crunch of bone, followed by Ross’s scream.

The heavy load lifted off him, and he scrambled to his feet and ran for the door.

“Don’t you come back, you hear me?” Ross hollered. “If you do, I’ll put a bullet between your eyes. You and your bitch mother!”

Cal grabbed his coat and slammed out through the door. After taking the time to put on his boots, he flew off the porch and ran. The wind tore through his hair, the tears froze on his cheeks. That inexplicable need to see Stassi was back and it burned through him.

When the clearing came into view, he skidded to a stop. “Stassi!”

He spun in a circle, praying she would hear, but like yesterday, there was no answer.

“Stassi!”

The silence of the woods had never been more deafening.

Why can’t I find her? Has she changed her mind about me?

No, he refused to believe that and started to run again, searching for any landmarks that looked familiar. At one point, he thought he found the lip of the valley where the Faedin village lay, but he found nothing below but winter-torn trees.

It wasn’t until his stomach growled in protest that he realized he had been at his search most of the day.

Now what?

The soft sounds of laughter drifted to him.

Stassi?

Hope flared in his chest. He raced toward the sound, but lurched to a stop when he came upon the source standing in the clearing. Half a dozen of his schoolmates were there, starting a fire in the round pit. Two of the boys were passing around a brown paper bag and taking swigs of whatever alcohol it contained inside. Others were cracking open beers or lighting cigarettes.

Skylar James sat on a stump, huddled in her jacket. To Cal’s horror, she glanced up and spotted him.

“Hey, look everyone. Cal made it.”

All eyes swung toward him and he berated himself for being seen. The last thing he wanted to do was spend time with these people, but it would look stupid if he turned away now.

Skylar jumped up and came over to him. “Hey, Cal. What’s up?”

He simply shook his head.

“Come on. You look like you’ve had a shitty day. Let’s have a drink.”

Cal numbly walked behind her as she pulled him over to the group.

“Cal, you know everyone, don’t you?”

He nodded, grateful that the Pervall brothers weren’t there. The kids greeted him warmly, just like he was one of the gang.

Only, Cal Taylor had never been one of the gang.

Ever.

One of the boys held out the bottle toward him. Cal reluctantly accepted it and took a long pull. The fiery burn of whiskey slid down his throat, warming his stomach.

Skylar let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him close to her. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do the same to her.

Soon more laughter filled the clearing and, this time, Cal laughed with them. Just part of the crowd. A normal teenager hanging out on a Saturday afternoon. It felt good. After several more gulps of the alcohol, his typically tense body started to relax, and all thoughts of psychotic stepfathers and exotic creatures melted from his mind.

Skylar lifted her face to his. “Are you having fun?”