Chapter 5
FIVE
SUTTON
“ W hat do you even write in there, anyway?”
Startled, I jump, pen flying out of my hand.
“Don’t do that!” I glare at him over the top of my notebook, before setting it down to the side so I can look for the pen I just dropped.
On my hands and knees, I begin to scour the ground, looking around the overgrown grass, but it’s hard to see in the fading light of the sunset.
I have to find it though. This pen is my favorite one, the special fountain pen that Daddy got me for my birthday two months ago; now, it’s the only one I use for writing my stories with.
Callum squats in front of me, my precious pen held out in front of my face like a prized trophy, which it is and he knows it.
“Looking for this?”
I swipe out, trying to snatch the pen from Cal’s hand but he pulls it away, holding it out of reach as he stands back to his full height. At fifteen, he’s already almost six feet tall. Way taller than me.
“Give it back, Cal!” I stand too, jumping to try and reach, but he just grins, turning slightly to continue keeping it at arms length.
“Not until you tell me what you write in that notebook all the time. You‘ve been coming out here for months, every night, without fail. And I know your parents wouldn’t like you being out here by yourself this late, which means you have been sneaking out. So what gives, Shorty? What’s so important in that book of yours that you have to hide it from everyone? ”
“None of your business, Cal! Come on, just give it back. Please!” My hand is outstretched as I jump again, trying to reach the notebook that he continues to hold high above his head.
His reflexes are much faster than mine though, and as I awkwardly try to grab for my pen, he uses the momentary distraction as an opportunity to swipe my notebook away with his other hand.
I watch in horror as he opens the pages to the one I was most recently writing in, craning his head up towards the sky so he can read it at such an awkward angle while still keeping it out of my reach. And then he begins to read aloud.
“Hello, little one.” There is a slight gleam to his eyes, and in the fading light of the sunset, they take on a slightly golden hue that is not quite human.
I can’t help the shiver that runs through me.
My clothes are soggy, soaked from my fall into the frozen lake, and I’m sure I must resemble a cat that fell into a bathtub.
But the chill that runs through me is so much deeper than the cold seeping into my bones. No, the chill that I feel now can only be described as a sense of dread. The unmistakable aura of prey that has been caught in the predator’s trap.
The stranger must sense my unease. He grins, and the gleam of his teeth is more feral than reassuring.
Cal stops reading aloud, and pauses to look down at me with a frown on his face .
“What is this?”
His arms lower slightly, and I don’t pass up the golden opportunity, fingers outstretched just enough to reach my notebook as I jump once more to try and claim it.
“It’s – nothing!” My voice comes out in an exasperated gasp as I desperately reach for the pages, feeling exposed from the small section he read aloud.
But as my fingers finally curl around the cover, I’m thrown off balance, landing awkwardly on my feet.
My ankle gives out and I trip, crashing into Cal.
“Geez, Sutton!”
I feel his hands on my shoulders as he reaches for me, but his foot must catch on something, because before either of us can stop it, we are both falling. And then, I’m landing.
Right.
On.
Top.
Of.
Him.
I can feel my cheeks burst into flames, embarrassment flooding through me at the unexpected contact, and I try desperately to scramble free of our tangled arms and legs. Callum is faster though, and more graceful as he pulls himself up, but his hands are gentle as he tugs me along with him.