Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Van
I’m trying really hard just to drive my damn car and not look over at Noah’s smug face.
I can’t believe he’s got Izzy sitting in his lap.
The pretty brunette is the only girl in school who completely ignores me, and it drives me nuts.
No matter how many times I walk past her locker, or linger near her table at lunch, she doesn’t seem to see me anymore.
And I’m a hard guy to miss.
Stepping on the gas, I take the next corner a little sharper. I’m satisfied when she gives a little frightened squeal.
“Can you slow it down on the corners?”
I glance in her direction. Doesn’t she know most women would give their left leg to ride in my car? “Sorry, sweetheart, my car and I only have one speed.”
There’s a flash of something in her eyes, and she looks back through the back window. “Fine. Let’s see how fast it can go”
My eyes narrow. Something’s up. “What’s going on?”
Noah’s dark eyes connect with mine in the rearview mirror. “Izzy says someone was chasing her.”
My foot hits the brake, faster than thought, as rage uncoils within me. I’m not running away from a fight. “Who?”
She turns big brown eyes onto me. “I—I don’t know.”
I yank the wheel, pulling a tight U-turn across the road. “Well, I’m going to handle it, and the guy’s going to learn a lesson about scaring women.”
Suddenly, Izzy grabs my arm and my skin tingles beneath her soft touch. “Don’t.”
My teeth clench together. She looks fucking scared. “You two can stay in the car.”
She shakes her head. “Please. I… I have a bad feeling.”
“That feeling will go away when I break every fucking bone in his body.”
Izzy’s eyes lock with mine, and for a second I can’t breathe. “Please, Van. I just want to go home.”
Emotions war within me. I hate the idea that some guy scared her and gets to walk away, but I don’t want to be the one who scares her myself.
And then there’s the fact that I like the way she says my name. For some reason, it makes me want to give her anything she’s ever wanted, just to hear her say my name again.
I stop the car, noting the dead-silent roads stretching around us. “What did he look like?”
She glances out the window at the quiet streets. “I didn’t get a good look at… him.”
It takes everything in me to loosen my hands from the steering wheel. “If you ever see this guy again, call me. I’d like to have a friendly conversation with him.”
She nods eagerly, as if to please me, then glances out the windows again. I hate that I can practically feel her heart racing.
Clenching my teeth again, I do another U-turn.
She leans back in Wilder’s arms, and jealousy twists through my guts, but she’s just trying to get a better look out the window at the dark night outside. “Just turn in three streets.”
“Yeah, I remember where you live.”
Glancing at the two of them out of the corner of my eye, Noah looks so damn smug again. I hate that I just admitted I know where she lives.
Being around Izzy has always brought out the weakest side of my personality. When we were kids, I’d do anything to make her laugh. I’d act stupid, not like the Van Wellington my parents exepcted me to be.
Even these days, if I'd had one beer too many with Wilder, we'd fall into reminiscing about how things used to be with Izzy, about how much we miss her.The next morning, I always feel hungover…not from the booze, but from spilling my secrets with reckless abandon.
There’s nothing worse than feeling vulnerable. When the wealthy show any weakness, the vultures narrow in. That’s what my father always says, and the old jackass might be right about that one thing.
“You live next to Aiden and Reid,” I add.
She shakes her head. “You don’t have to go all the way there. The park in my neighborhood is close enough.”
Hell, no. “You want me to drop you off at a park, late at night, when some pervert was chasing you? Did your frontal lobe fall out while you were running back there?”
Her lips tighten. “If my foster parents see me getting dropped off in the middle of the night by a couple of guys—“
I’ve never liked them. “Aren’t you eighteen? They can’t exactly ground you.”
“But they can kick me out. After eighteen, the government stops giving them a paycheck. The last thing I need to do is give them a reason…”
Her lips pressed together suddenly, as if she’s spilled too many of her own secrets.
Anger burns through my veins. The last thing this girl needs to be worrying about is being kicked out on her ass.
Can I even imagine the kind of fear she lives with? My life after this is already written like a book: go to an Ivy League college, work at my parents’ company, and at least escape from their mansion to my own life of freedom and wealth and hopefully a little debauchery.
I’d love to throw that whole damn book out.
But at least I don’t have Izzy’s fears.
Maybe I don’t have Izzy’s strength, either.
Izzy has real problems, and they remind me of the rich, whiny assholes with their made-up dramas who I hate so much. Even though I realize I might very well be one of those rich, whiny assholes myself.
“We’ll stop at the park and walk you the rest of the way, okay?” Noah says. He sounds so damn reassuring that a spike of jealousy lodges itself in my chest.
She gives an unconvincing smile. “Thanks. I, uh, appreciate it.”
When we roll into her neighborhood, I frown. “I’m glad I’ve got wheel locks, that’s all I’m saying. I’m pretty sure that if I left the car long enough to walk you to your door, someone’d jack my Audi.”
“You don’t need to get out of the car, Van,” she shoots back. I start to prickle at her words, but then she says softly, “I think it’s a pretty nice place. Nicer than some of the places I’ve lived.”
God, I hurt her. I instantly feel like a jackass, but can’t figure out a way to fix my words, so I just shut up.
When we pull up to the park, I turn off the engine. Instantly, silence swallows us. I get out of the car and go to their side, opening the door.
Izzy stares up at me, her wide eyes surprised. Something tightens in my chest, because she doesn’t expect me to be nice to her.
I offer her my hand like I’d planned, adding a mocking little bow.
Her lips tighten, but she slips her hand into mine.
When I help her unfold herself out of my low-slung car, her motion brings her close to me.
For a second, I breathe in the soft, creamy scent of her shampoo, her body so near mine that my heart lurches.
Izzy stares up at me for just a second like she’s felt it too, and then she’s slipping past me, out of my arms. Wilder gets out too, slinging her backpack over his shoulder, and I take a step back. I don’t need to smell Wilder’s shampoo, thanks.
“Let’s walk through the park,” she says.
I glance at the dark park. One lone street lamp blinks over a decrepit playground like we’re on the set of a horror film.
If I was by myself, I’d find this place creepy, but I’d walk through it.
With Izzy? I want to grab her arm and guide her down the brightly-lit sidewalk, and I’d still be ready for a fight.
“Sure.” Noah flashes her his warm, golden boy smile, then they start down the path toward the playground.
I sigh, cross my arms over my chest, and follow them. This feels like a bad idea, but I’m not going to be the asshole who makes her upset again. Noah’s always so good at being the nice guy.
We’ve nearly reached the playground when shadows separate from the dark wall near the trees. I tense and move to Izzy’s side. I want to touch her, to reassure her, but Noah’s already got an arm around her.
So instead, I ready myself for a fight, watching the shadows with narrowed eyes.
Two seconds later, Aiden and Reid step out into the light.
Man, I got so wrought up over those two geeks. But something lifts for me whenever I see them--my other two best friends.
“What are you two jerks doing out here at night?” I demand.
Aiden is the one to answer. “Needed some air.”
He’s wearing some dumb band t-shirt and a pair of jeans with holes in them. His dark hair is overgrown, messy, and just plain embarrassing to look at. The guy takes no pride in his appearance, but that’s no surprise. I think he’s more concerned with staying off the cops’ radar than how he looks.
It’s Reid I’m surprised to see skulking through the park at night. The slightly thinner version of Aiden is wearing his typical collared shirt and slacks. His skin looks pale, even beneath the lamp light. Nerd boy looks just about as out-of-place out here as I do.
I raise a brow at him. “You’re out here, with him, for air? And what kind of substance is ‘air’ a code name for now?”
High color rises in Reid’s face--man, that kid will never win a poker game in his life--before he glances at Izzy and then away. “I felt kind of, I don’t know, off. Something was bugging me.”
“Bugging you?” Izzy asks, her voice tense.
“It’s nothing,” Aiden cuts Reid off just as he begins to speak. But despite Aiden’s quick, confident tone, he keeps glancing off into the darkness.
Reid glances at his twin, and his voice rises. “You felt it too.”
“You sound like an idiot.”
Tension sings between them for a second. But with the silence comes a different sense. I glance around us. Something is off.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “Well, this is a wonderful little spot and this has been a lovely reunion, but I think maybe it’s time to get the hell out of here.”
“Now you sound like him.” Aiden stares me down. “Apparently everyone’s feeling dramatic tonight.”
“Izzy was just chased by some weirdo. Sorry if I don’t think we should be hanging around in this little piece of paradise,” I say, my hands curling into fists.
Mr. Tough Guy’s ‘I don’t give a shit about anyone’ persona falters, and his gaze goes to Izzy. “You okay?”
I don’t like how he looks at her. Aiden and Reid are my friends, but even I know Aiden isn’t good for anyone.
He’s like a destructive force, taking anyone and everyone down with him.
Yeah, I understood why. If I lost someone like he did, I’d be as fucked up as he is, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let him destroy Izzy’s life.
“She’s fine.” I grab her arm. “Just time to go home.”
I don’t think that she realizes that she sways into my touch.
Her voice sounds higher than normal when she speaks again. “Guys, I want to get out of here.”
I do too, but I won’t let her see that I’m feeling nervous too. “You know you’re safe with us, right?”
A rough voice comes from the shadows, full of menace but with an edge of laughter at the same time. “Is that so?”
Every one of us turns abruptly. I stare into the darkness, but I don’t see anyone.
“Hey, fuckhead,” I call. “Why don’t you step into the light?”
The answering low chuckle sends chills down my spine. I strain my eyes into the shadowed trees and bushes that surround us. I should be able to see him.
“I haven’t heard fuckhead before.” The voice seems to ring out in the night. “When people manage to speak before me, they call me the messenger of the gods. But it does have a ring to it.”
“Some psycho homeless guy,” Aiden mutters.
“No,” Izzy says, her voice full of terror and her gaze suddenly far away, and for some reason her one word holds a spell over us.
We linger, staring into the shadows, waiting.
“They thought the gods were too powerful. They wanted them gone. There was betrayal. There was blood and war. But a god can never die.” His words come out rough, almost inhuman, a rambling of madness that sounds so serious none of us speak.
“I went to Hel to save my brother’s life.
No one else was brave enough. But it wasn’t enough.
I couldn’t bring him back. And then, when I thought Hel would grant my quest, the gods were buried. ..”
The shadows separate, and I hear the unmistakable sound of hooves on the dirt before something emerges from the darkness.
My heart stops. A creature rides on top of a horse.
Not a man. Some kind of demon, or a creature born from nightmares.
He’s tall, unbelievable tall, with a silver helmet and horns.
Golden eyes glow from beneath the helmet.
In his hand is a spear, and his body is covered in armor.
As he moves closer, my gaze moves over to his armored horse. It has… eight legs.
Holy fucking hell.
“No one will be happy to see you. They will try to trap you. They will try to stop the coming of the gods. But no one can stop this. It was written, and so it shall be.”
He freezes then, his gaze moving over us until it lands on Izzy. “You shall decide. Live or die. A new world or the same, old, dark one. You.”
Then, his gaze goes to Reid. “Hel, you can always call on Hermod, and I will always come. You know my price. Return my brother.”
When he kicks his heels into the side of the horse, the horse flies toward us. There’s no time to run. No time to react. We shift, curling ourselves over Izzy, tensing as one, ready for an impossible creature to trample us to death. The hoofprints rise in my ears, matching my racing heart.
And then, suddenly, the night is silent.
I open my eyes and rise slowly to a standing position. The creature…it’s vanished.
“What the fuck was that?” Aiden asks.
But I don’t have an answer.
“It can’t be real,” Reid says, but even he sounds unconvinced.
As we stand, the stars begin to fall above us. Or at least, they seem to. Colors of impossible brightness and color rain down on us, and we stare as the lights cling to us like embers. They gather more and more, coating our flesh. And then, I stop and really look at the people around us.
We look like gods. The thought comes and goes in a flash. We look magical. Impossible. But the crazy horseman that can’t exist wasn’t telling the truth.
Right?
And then, the embers start to burn and burn and burn. I hear someone around me scream. And then more screams join the first, but my vision is filled by the brightness. The burning is maddening, sizzling my skin from my body. Pain unlike anything imaginable consumes me, and I’m lost to the fire.
Time passes. I don’t know how much. All there is is the burning.
My eyes slowly open. I expect to see myself burnt to a crisp. Actually, I expected to know deep in my heart that I’m dead.
But I don’t feel dead.
I feel more alive than I ever have before.