Monster Read online

  A couple of the stalls I noticed were empty.

  “Shires,” he said from the far end of the building.

  “Is that why they’re so big,” I asked gently petting one of the brown and white ones on the muzzle.

  “Yes. They’re very powerful creatures. Come, sit with me and let us talk,” he said standing in front of one of the stalls.

  Giving the gentle giant, a kiss on the nose, I walked down the stall and found

  Ryker sitting on one of the bales of hay. His legs were stretched out and crossed in front of him with his arms crossed behind his head.

  In the dimly lantern lit stall I could see him more clearly.

  It was only now that I realized he had been wearing a white men’s muscle shirt; his arms were muscular and the shirt appeared to be painted onto his defined torso.

  His muscle lined legs shown through his tight black pants, which lead down to his rather perfect feet in black sandals.

  Coughing to get my attention, I looked over at him and saw that he was grinning at me like a little boy. If I had those human feelings still, I’m pretty sure my face would’ve flushed red with embarrassment. But instead I just rolled my eyes at being caught and glared at him waiting for this conversation to start.

  Leaning forward he placed his chin in his hands and looked at me for a moment. It wasn’t curiosity he watched me with. I don’t think he had any curiosity left in his body; he kept looking at me too much. Something told me he knew what I was but I decided not to push the subject in case he didn’t.

  “So, what’s this chat you want to have?” I asked him leaning back against the wooden wall.

  “Pull off your hood. It makes me a little nervous not to be able to see your eyes,” he said still leaned forward.

  Sighing I pulled the hood off of my head and smoothed out my hair. I don’t know what my eyes were going to tell him, but I knew what my hands were going to do to him if I couldn’t get back out there to look for Skiles. Feeling his eyes on me suddenly made me feel self-conscious and I ran my hands over my hair again.

  We sat there in silence, the only sound an occasional blowing sound from one of the horses and I felt myself growing impatient. Unzipping my jacket, I rolled the sleeves up to reveal some of my artwork. For some reason it was getting hot in the stall, which is something I hadn’t felt unless I was being suicidal in the sun. Where was this heat coming from?

  A small trickle of sweat started to run down the side of my face, which caused me to pull my jacket off. Standing up, I started to fan myself with my hand and tossed my jacket into the corner. Looking around the room I found a scrap of a leather strap and used it to pull my long hair into a ponytail.

  A ponytail.

  I had to giggle at the irony. Here I was in a stall full of horses and I’m pulling my hair into a ponytail.

  Leaning over the stall door, I put my head on my arm and turned my face toward the breeze that was coming in from the front of the stables. The Shire that I had been petting earlier leaned out of its stall to look at me and we locked eyes. I smiled at it and it blew a gentle breath of air out. A gust of wind picked up slightly and washed over me taking the miniature heat wave away.

  Shivering I stepped back into the stall and sat on the floor closest to the door, eyeballing Ryker suspiciously. His grin had reappeared making him seem even more handsome than when I had first locked eyes with him outside.

  “Okay. Conversation or I’m out of here. I do have other things to do tonight.” I knew that I was being rude, but I couldn’t help it now. After suddenly sweating which is something that my kind doesn’t do, I was getting a little freaked out. I didn’t know if it had to do with Ryker or not, but I did know that I did not like that parlor trick.

  “Tell me about yourself, Finn. How'd you become ... you know,” he said trying to look me in the eyes.

  Standing up abruptly, I leaned down and snatched up my jacket. Brushing off the pieces of hay that had clung to it, I slung it over my shoulder and glared at him.

  “I'm not talking about that. I don't care how you know or who you are. Don't follow me and stop asking me questions,” I said warningly.

  As I stomped down the stall corridor. I stopped in front of the Shire I had become fond of in such little time and gave it a soft pat. Then I continued on my way out, hearing Ryker calling my name from the back of the stall.

  I refused to look back though. I knew I was never going to trust him, so there really was no point in stopping now. Instead I walked back onto the fairgrounds and made my way to the Death Wheel. If one ride was going to attract Skiles it was going to be this one. Well it would attract him if he still liked to relive that sadistic night. Glancing up at the towering machinery, I felt myself slipping back to that night again.

  Holding open the gate for me, he let me walk past him like a perfect gentleman.

  Once we were both firmly on the ground and the shakes had subsided, we started to walk toward the haunted house ride. I felt him reach down and grab my hand. A feeling of surprise washed over me and I looked at him with a shy smile.

  “I can't help it,” he had said with a charming smile, “you're really pretty.”

  I remember feeling my face rush with blood. If I was going to keep his attention I was going to have to be cooler than this and stop blushing. We got in line for the ride and he started to make small talk. Just random questions about who I was and what I wanted to be in life. I answered everything as smartly as I could, hoping that I sounded educated enough for him. He was really smart. I could tell from the words he used when he spoke.

  The line moved quickly I noticed. Some people would leave the line giggling when they heard the screams of terror coming from inside the walls of the rickety house.

  We parted as a group of girls not much younger than me, ran between us holding onto each other laughing in fright.

  “You're not scared of the dark are you,” he asked me.

  “No. Not really anyway. Well. Maybe just a little,” I had said giggling.

  Laughing he pulled on my hand as the attendant waved us up to the cart that had been waiting for us. I didn't realize how quickly our turn had come; apparently a lot of people had run out of the line in front of us.

  Once again, Skiles had gestured me in front of him. Smiling I walked past him and climbed into the cart. He sat next to me and put an arm around my shoulder and let the attendant fasten us securely in.

  “Get ready for a wild ride,” he whispered into my ear.

  The cart lurched forward into the darkness.

  “You look familiar,” said a young voice next to me, startling me out of my recollections.

  Looking at the source of the voice sharply, I had to fight the shock that was threatening to show on my face. I hadn't seen this face since I had been transformed. My little sister had changed so much. I wanted to hug her; to tell her that yes, it was me. But she thought I was dead and I didn't want to scare her.

  “I get that a lot,” I said turning and walking away. For the second time in two nights I felt tears stinging my eyes.

  I couldn't believe how big she'd gotten. She had to be sixteen at least. Her blonde hair was longer than it was when I had seen her last. Just past her shoulders and in long measured layers. Her light brown eyes were so full of life. One glance into them made me feel envious.

  She was alive and I wasn't.

  I pushed away that thought though. It wasn’t her fault that I had the world’s worst luck.

  Making my way to the game booths I felt that her eyes were still on me. It gave me an uneasy feeling. I hope she didn’t want to pursue –

  Wait.

  What was Kendall doing in Devils Lake? How did she get here from Marble?

  Colorado was a few states away from North Dakota. Maybe I should... Would she be able to handle it?

  Walking over to the shooting range booth, I tried to act normal. I paid the attendant for some ‘ammunition’ and lifted the plastic shotgun. Apparently if you hit the fro
nt row targets you would get one of the smaller prizes. If you hit the targets in the middle of the row, your prize would be slightly bigger. Hitting the three targets in the last row would get you an enormous stuffed animal. This was going to be a breeze.

  With Kendall in mind, I watched as the targets whizzed by and squeezed the trigger. Ping! Down went the first duck in the back. Another round of targets flew by at wicked speeds. Ping! Down went duck number two.

  The attendant was staring at me in awe and a group of people had begun to crowd around me to watch. I heard people whispering about how I was an amazing shooter. Biting back a grin, I focused on the last target, which was moving faster than ever. With the shotgun I traced its movements as it flew back and forth.

  Blocking out all the lights and noise around me, I heard only the movement of my target.

  It sounded almost like when you hold a seashell to your ear and you hear what some people swear say is the ocean. I waited and counted silently to myself as the target came into view again, this time in slow motion. One...two...three... I squeezed the trigger.

  Ping! The last target went down and lights started flashing. Loud alarms went off and the people around me started cheering. Normally I wouldn’t partake in the joyfulness of humans but did feel a little proud. Some in the crowd around me were slapping me on the shoulder and telling me what a great shot I was.

  It definitely made me chuckle. I mean I had shot some targets in a carnival booth, I didn’t save a saint from death. But I let them be excited as I scanned the top row of prizes. Glancing through my peripheral I saw Kendall standing there with a couple of girls I didn’t know. Leaning over to the attendant I told him that I wanted the giant blue dog.

  After he shook my hand and congratulated me on being such a good shot, he gave me the dog. I started through the crowd mumbling a quick ‘thanks’ or ‘thank you’ to the crowd that had gathered and cheered me on. I had to stand on my tiptoes at one point to glance around for my sister as most of the crowd rushed passed me to take turns at the shooting gallery.

  Smiling when I saw her still with those girls, I pushed through a little harder so I could get to her in case they decided to leave.

  I stood no more than two people away from her when I hesitated again. How was I going to do this? I wanted her to know that I was still alive in some way but I was really worried she might freak. Oh well, here goes nothing.

  Taking a deep breath, I stepped toward them and cleared my throat. The girls that were with her looked at me began congratulating me on my shooting. I smiled again hoping they would either leave us alone or just shut up long enough for me to let Kendall know who I was and that I was okay.

  “So. Um. Here,” I said handing her the top prize of the carnival.

  “Really? This is for me?” she asked happily taking the stuffed animal.

  Nodding, I thought about how I was going to approach this. She may just be a kid but she was still smart. I looked her in the eyes for a second and then it hit me.

  “Remember this?” I asked my voice barely above a whisper.

  I held my left hand out patiently waiting for her notice why I had been showing it to her. She looked at me a little oddly at first. So I motioned down to my hand with my head hoping she would understand. Then she saw it and gasped. Somehow I knew that the jagged scar on my palm would be a secret calling card.

  That little gem had come from the time we decided it would be a great idea to go for a hike on the Marble Quarry Trail. We had veered off the trail and decided to try to climb some of the more mountainous terrain. Yeah that had been a great idea, until she slipped and started to lose her footing on the side of the elevated piece of land. I had grabbed onto a boulder and held on with all my might so I could reach down and yank her back up. My hand had slid down the boulder cutting deep into my palm, drawing blood, and leaving that scar. With all my strength I pulled on the back of her shirt and yanked her back up onto the trail. After we caught our breaths we had looked at each other and laughed. After a bloody and dirty high five, she had washed my wound with some water out of her canteen and tore a piece of her shirt off to wrap around my hand. It had been one of my favorite memories with Kendall.

  I saw her eyes welling with tears, wide with fright. I knew what she had to be thinking. She had been at my funeral and saw my casket lowered into the ground.

  Then again, I had been there and seen the same thing myself. The services were closed casket so I’m not exactly sure what my parents had buried in my place.

  “Finnie?” she asked taking a step closer.

  I just smiled at her without answering. I didn’t want to verify or deny it. Not yet, I mean I’m pretty sure if I needed to I would able to explain away the scar or any other questions she would have.

  “See you around kid,” I said with a smile. Turning I walked away with quick steps in case she tried to catch up to me. Even if she did attempt to trail me I’d just kick into turbo mode and lose her.

  As I wandered around the fairgrounds I decided to make a mental note to keep an eye on her for as long as she was going to be here in Devils Lake.

  Adjusting the strap in my hair, I blew out my breath impatiently wondering why

  I hadn’t spotted Skiles yet. I mean I had gotten dressed up appropriately for the occasion and didn’t want to go home empty handed.

  Another hour passed while I stood there and kept watch, and still nothing.

  Frustrated I pulled my hood up over my head and started to leave when I heard

  Ryker calling my name. I had forgotten about him already, which made me kind of proud.

  Turning to look at him I saw that he was frantically pointing at the Death Wheel. Raising an eyebrow I looked at it focusing my vision. I watched as a carriage with a lone passenger circled its way to the top. My heart started to race when I got closer. The scent was overpowering. I ran to the opposite side of the Wheel and braced myself as the carriage came down again, this time with the passenger in full view.

  We locked eyes.

  He smiled.

  I’d found him.

  2. Cat and Mouse

  Running as fast as I could, I made a leap for the carriage, but found myself being tackled.

  “Not in front of all these people,” Ryker said holding me to the ground. “Come with me, he will follow us. He’s seen you.” Pulling me up from the ground, he pinned my arms at my sides. The murderous rage in my eyes was obvious and he knew that if Skiles and I engaged it would be like a war zone.

  Humans would die and neither of us would care.

  I struggled against him. I was going to have my revenge.

  “Think of Kendall,” he said sharply holding my arms tighter.

  Instantly I stopped struggling and looked into his eyes. It was becoming obvious to me that if Ryker was in fact a human, he had to have some kind of power to know so much. Unless he was a monster in disguise, I was definitely going to find out sooner rather than later.

  I took a deep breath to steady my temper giving him one quick nod. Releasing my arms he motioned me to follow him back to the stables. I knew what he was trying to do. He wanted me to get back to the stables before Skiles had gotten off the ride.

  Glancing back up, I saw that he was now leaned back in the seat, one leg crossed over the other and that damn charming smile on his face.

  It was obvious to me now that he knew who I was.

  Since I had yet to make a move to follow Ryker I had a clear view of Skiles. Each time the ride came back down his smile would grow larger. At one point he waved at me. I felt my body begin to shake again with fury.

  He was mocking me now.

  The ride finally was coming to a stop and I removed my jacket. I was going to end this here. Tonight would be the night that one of us was going to die and to be honest, I hoped beyond all hope that we would end each other.

  Ryker was suddenly at my side again, tugging at my arm, but I made myself as heavy as stone. He wouldn’t be able to move me now unless I let hi
m.

  “Get Kendall out of here,” I said in a low voice. “I’ll find you once this is finished.”

  “Finn ...”

  “Go,” I said my eyes on Skiles as his cart neared the ground. “Please just go.

  Take her, I’ll follow your scent.”

  More people exited the ride.

  Skiles’ cart inched closer to the ground. One more cart to go, I thought sinisterly to myself. I felt a wicked grin starting to spread across my face and knew that my well-deserved revenge was close at hand.

  “I will keep her safe,” Ryker said as he ran off to get my kid sister and her friends.

  I reached up and tightened the strap around my ponytail again.

  The cart lurched forward again.

  His cart reached the attendant.

  The attendant lifted Skiles’ safety bar.

  Skiles stood and approached the gate.

  I steeled myself.

  He smiled at me again.

  Oh yes.

  Skiles was going to make one gorgeous looking corpse tonight.

  I loved what would be his dead shrouds.

  His short hair was tousled and his eyes seemed to be glowing in the moonlight.

  The buttons were open and his white muscle shirt underneath showed off his chiseled upper body. He had on black chino pants and the same boots he wore the night he changed me. He had on a grey Dickie’s work shirt.

  With a cry that seemed to split the sound barrier, I lunged at him and grabbed air. I heard his mocking laughter at the edge of the fairgrounds.

  Cursing, I spun in the direction his voice came from and took off as fast as my legs would carry me. I reached the origin of that cruel laugh within seconds, leaving the people I raced past looking like blurs of cloth.

  “How have you been,” I heard his voice say from behind me.

  Running into the secluded wooden area, I found him standing by a pine tree.

  He moved quickly to my left with another laugh. As I turned slightly, I saw him standing in the shadows, a slither of moonlight giving him away.