Cursed Mate - Chapter One
I clutched the phone as I waited for the line to ring. I shouldn’t have been holding it because Tennessee was a hands-free state, but I didn’t care. Annie needed to answer my call, and I felt more in control holding my phone to my ear.
After ringing once, her phone sent me to voicemail. The automated voice informed me, yet again, that the mailbox was full. Like I hadn’t already known that. I and Eliza, Annie’s and my foster mother, were the ones who’d filled the damn thing up.
Foster mom was no longer strictly correct. Annie had turned eighteen, and I was edging closer to twenty. Eliza didn’t have to take care of us any longer, but she chose to. She was our mother in every sense of the word, and I wasn’t sure what would’ve happened to me if she hadn’t taken me in the morning after my fourteenth birthday. Annie and I had discussed this same thing three days ago on her birthday before she’d left to meet up with her boyfriend in Shadow Terrace.
Her flipping boyfriend.
The problem.
Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones.
I’d heard how he had talked to her. He was a sweet talker and a damn manipulator. Messing with her mind and threatening that he wasn’t sure what would happen if she didn’t come back to see him soon. Suggesting that maybe he’d take solace with someone else. The kicker was she fell for it every single time, which surprised me. Prior to meeting him, Annie had been the strongest person I’d ever known.
I huffed and tossed the phone onto the black cloth passenger seat of my cherry red Mazda 3. I’d bought this car several months ago back home in Lexington, Kentucky which was a blessing. Otherwise, the five-hour trip south down the interstate and through Nashville and Chattanooga would’ve been a lot more challenging. But Shadow Terrace wasn’t much farther away.
Annie always answered her phone. I’d teased her mercilessly that it had become an extra appendage, one she never went anywhere without. But she’d been acting strange ever since she’d run away to visit Shadow Ridge University against Eliza’s wishes, two months earlier in April, and right before the application deadline. The university was in a neighboring town to Shadow Terrace.
She’d never done anything like that before, and Eliza had felt hurt and betrayed. We never would’ve found out about her visit if it hadn’t been for Annie’s boyfriend, who called constantly, demanding she return to the university.
When Eliza had asked why she’d gone to Shadow Ridge University, Annie had explained that it was a very exclusive place and she felt like she was meant to go there. Eliza had told her that slum lords attended the college, but Annie wouldn’t be deterred.
After returning, Annie had lost interest in every other school, which right there had been a red flag. She’d turned down every acceptance letter to the Ivy League universities without any hesitation.
I had a feeling her newfound singlemindedness was due to the asshole who’d talked her into running down to Shadow Terrace again this weekend.
Annie and I used to hang out on weekends, watching television and planning our lives, but this weekend, she hadn’t even called into her job at the children’s shelter to tell them she wasn’t working. We hadn’t caught wind of her sneaking away until they’d called Eliza to see where she was. She’d worked at the shelter since she was fifteen, saving up to gain the best college education.
This guy not only had her acting strange but flaking on a job she claimed gave her life purpose. If I hadn’t known her so well, I’d have thought she was a druggie needing her fix, but I’d heard lust could make someone act that way too.
Not that I’d know.
The sun dropped behind the mountain range, changing the pretty pinks, purples, and oranges in the sky to the cool, dark shades of twilight. Normally, I’d have pulled over to take in the beauty, but not today. It was just another reminder that Annie hadn’t called us in two days or returned this Sunday afternoon. So here I was, heading down to Shadow Terrace to check up on her.
My foot pressed harder on the gas pedal, increasing my speed to well over eighty. I shouldn’t have been going this fast, but with every passing second, I felt more hopeless.
Calm down, Ronnie, I scolded myself. I couldn’t let my imagination get carried away. Maybe her phone had died, and she’d gotten stranded on the road.
Okay, that scenario wasn’t much better. Annie always gave me shit for thinking the worst, but there had to be a plausible explanation for her silence.
My GPS told me to take the interstate toward Georgia, and I passed through the lit-up downtown area of Chattanooga. The GPS said Shadow Terrace was about forty minutes from here. I only hoped that those minutes went by faster than the last four and a half hours had.
My phone rang on the seat beside me, and I nearly swerved off the road to grab it. It was about damn time Annie called me back. Anger replaced my fear as I hit the green button, not bothering to look at the name. “Took you long enough.”
“It’s me.” Eliza sighed. “I take it you still haven’t heard from her.”
“Of course not,” I bit out and immediately felt bad. I softened my voice. “I’m sorry. I just mean I would’ve called you if I had.”
“No need to apologize.” Eliza chuckled, but the sound fell flat. “I was hoping you’d forgotten to call me and that everything was okay. I hate that I didn’t go down there with you. If something were to happen to either of you—”
“Stop.” I refused to let her consider the possibility. She’d already lost so much. Her family had died in a car wreck like the one that had claimed my parents. That was one reason she’d wanted to foster me—she could relate to the pain of how I’d lost my mother. Now Annie and I were the only family she had. “I’ll find her.” I had to. There was no other choice.
“Just make sure nothing happens to you.” She tsk ed. “You’ve already given up so much for her, holding off on your own future to help set her up for college and pay the bills.”
Eliza had been bringing this up more and more often—the fact that Annie was going to college in a few short months, whereas I’d barely graduated high school a couple of years ago and spent all my time working long shifts at an Italian restaurant to help Annie save money to go. Eliza kept telling me I was avoiding my future and had become too focused on helping everyone else but myself. Maybe I was. Part of me still wasn’t at peace, and I didn’t understand why. It was like I didn’t belong anywhere, but I liked living with Eliza and doing whatever I could to help Annie succeed. They were the only two people who had been there for me my entire life. I’d do anything for them.
“Nothing will happen to either of us, and I told my manager I needed a few days off. Everything is fine.” Okay, I couldn’t promise that, but I needed to hear the words too. Maybe if I said them convincingly enough, it would make them true.
A girl could hope.
“I’m a horrible guardian.” Her voice grew tight. “I … I shouldn’t have let you leave without me. It might not be safe.”
“You have to work early in the morning.” Her bladder was the size of a pea. We’d be stopping every thirty minutes. The trip would go by much faster with her back home. “Besides, I can take care of myself.”
“Maybe, but there is so much going on in this world. If something happens—”
“I’ll call you.” I wouldn’t pull the same shit Annie was. “I promise. And I’ll let you know when I find her.”
“Okay, just be safe.” She hung up the phone.
That was a pet peeve of mine with her. She never said goodbye. When she was done talking, she ended the call. It didn’t matter if I was done talking or not. Rather than call her back and scold her, I bit my tongue. She was pushing sixty and had taken us in out of the kindness of her heart. She deserved respect. Hell, she’d earned it.
I pulled off I-24 and followed my GPS onto a twisting two-lane back road.
Maybe I’d plugged in the wrong address. Annie had made Shadow Terrace sound like a quaint but happening town, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if cow pastures started popping up. Nothing but trees surrounded me, and no cars drove the opposite way.
The moon slid behind clouds, further darkening the road. I turned on my high beams and leaned forward, like that might make a difference.
A chill ran down my spine, and goosebumps spread across my skin. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have paid any mind to that, but my gut was telling me to turn around now , sensing danger. But that was insane.
Paranoia hit me hard, and my heart rate increased. I was alone in my car, and there was nothing threatening nearby, but my pulse jumped so hard I felt it beating in my pressure points.
I inhaled sharply, trying to clear my mind, but something yanked inside my chest.
Stop it. I had to use my head. There is nothing wrong. Great, I was losing my mind. Pretty soon, I’d be having complete conversations with myself.
A sign appeared next to a long wooden bridge ahead, and I slowed the car.
Welcome to Shadow Terrace
Thank God. I wasn’t lost after all.
Determined to find Annie, I pushed my irrational fears aside and proceeded across the bridge. I hadn’t let my imagination go wild like that in a long time. When I was younger, I’d see a dark shadow flickering in my room, especially at night. I’d scream and cry to the point that no foster parent could take it. I’d bounced from house to house until, on the night of my fourteenth birthday, a shadow approached me in a group home I’d been staying in. My screaming didn’t stop until morning when the warden decided to take me to Eliza. Instead of growing frustrated with me, she would hold me every night, keeping the demons at bay.
For the first time in my life, I’d felt safe. All because of her. That was why I had to find Annie and bring her home. Eliza needed us.
About a mile past the sign, the trees thinned, and a cute town appeared. The Tennessee River ran beyond the town, just like Annie had described. The closest buildings were white with red roofs and varied in size. In the center of town was an enormous gray stone building with a dome on top. It stood out from the other buildings but at the same time … didn’t. Obviously, the businesses and the central building had been designed in the same era, but the one in the center felt different from the rest.
It was the landmark Annie had described as sitting right across from the bar where she and her boyfriend would hang out every night during her visits.
And that was exactly where I was going. It was my only lead to finding her. Even if she wasn’t currently inside, someone should be able to direct me to her.
As I bumped over cobblestone roads, I saw couples strolling on the sidewalks, hand in hand, looking smitten with each other. I drove down the road, which was lit up with old-fashioned gaslights, and searched for the bar Annie had described. Strangely, there were no stop signs or traffic lights, but mine was the only car in sight.
Two figures wearing dark hoodies over their heads stepped out from a building shadowed in darkness. Not an inch of skin was visible, despite it being summer and hot as hell, even at night. What kind of idiot walked around dressed like the Grim Reaper? The only thing missing was the scythe.
I’d seen some runners trying to sweat, but these two were walking slowly. Maybe they were part of a secret society—that was the only thing I could think of—but from what I’d seen in movies, secret society members didn’t wear their outfits in public.
Whatever. I wasn’t staying in town long, so it didn’t matter. To each their own.
As I approached the domed building, I noticed a three-story white building directly across the street with a sign labeled Thirsty’s Bar.
It was the only bar in sight, meaning this was the place Annie had mentioned.
I rolled my eyes. Whoever’d named the place must have thought they were being clever.
This town was so odd.
I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here.
Back home, it was hard to find a metered spot downtown, but here, the parking spots were open for miles. I parked in front of the bar and climbed out of the car. A warm breeze hit me, but the earlier chill returned. It reminded me of the chill I’d feel when I was younger before the shadow would appear. I grimaced and chided myself for being dramatic. Five years had passed since I’d imagined a shadow coming after me, so my unease had to be from the unsettling situation I’d found myself in.
That was all.
I wrapped my arms around my waist and hurried across the street as the smell of honeysuckle wafted around me, putting me more on edge. I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched and wanted to get inside.
Once. I’d look behind me once, and that was it. The door was only a few feet ahead anyway.
I glanced over my shoulder … and stiffened.
A man five inches taller than me and with dark eyes stood two feet behind me. His irises were … outlined in crimson? I blinked, thinking I was seeing things; then a sickly ripe-apple cinnamon scent attacked my nose. The back of my throat dried, either from fear or the overwhelming stench.
“Hello, there,” he cooed with a slight Irish accent. “Are you lost?” He tilted his head, and the moonlight reflected off his short ebony hair. His skin was fairer than mine, which said a lot, considering my natural red hair and pale complexion.
Stranger danger blared in my mind. “Nope. Not at all.” My legs stopped moving, and I was practically frozen in my tracks. Neither fight nor flight instincts were kicking in.
Figures. I’d turned into an icicle instead.
“Are you sure?” One dark eyebrow arched, and his gaze landed on my neck.
Odd. Normally, guys stared at my boobs first. Any other time, I’d have been comforted by that, but it just upped this guy’s creep factor. “Yup, I’m positive. Just looking for a friend.”
“Friend?” He leaned closer. “I’ve never seen you here before, so I’m thinking you’re lost.”
He was really hung up on me being lost. “I just got here.”
He stared at me like I was a tasty meal. I took a step backward, and the corners of his mouth tipped upward.
“Let me help you find them.” He touched the ends of my long copper hair. “A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be walking the streets alone at night.”
My breathing turned shallow, and my back pressed against the wall next to the entrance. “I’m good. She’s inside.” I prayed she was. I wanted to find her and get out of here.
“Well, I’m going in too.” He brushed past me and opened the door, waving me in as he said, “Ladies first.”
A breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding left me, and I practically ran through the door, wanting to be around other people.
When I stepped into the room, it was as dark as the night outside. My eyes tried to focus as the man grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into a corner. His head lowered to my neck as a scream built inside me.