2 Whispering (21 page)

“Bummer.”

“You’re right, though, I am short a life force,” he smiled. “I’ve got someone in mind, though. I think you’ll find it poetic, for lack of a better word.”

“What do you mean by that?” Paris asked the question. She had been mostly quiet during Zach’s recitation.

“Brittany,” I said finally. “That’s why you’re still nice to her – even though she’s annoying. She’ll go anywhere with you.”

Zach chuckled as he got to his feet. “You’re smarter than you look.”

“Why do you have to bring the bodies here to gather their life force?” I asked desperately. I needed more time.

“I don’t have to,” Zach said simply. “I just like to keep my donors close, so I can visit them from time to time. I like to keep up on their daily lives.”

Zach took another step towards us. “What about the whispering?”

Zach cocked his head. “What whispering?”

“Every time you’ve been around, I’ve heard whispering. Tonight, on the bluff, that’s how I knew you were there.”

“It’s the souls,” Paris answered for him. “He absorbs their life into him, but their souls are free. They’re a warning.”

One we hadn’t listened to. “How do you know that?”

“It was in a book I read.”

“Well,” Zach chuckled. “You learn something new every day. I never hear the whispers. Sounds like I’m missing out on something.”

“Wait a second,” I said suddenly. “I first heard the whispering the night Aric was up at my house. You were there that night? Why?”

“I just wanted to see the girl I had heard so much about,” Zach explained. “You’ve become something of an oddity in the supernatural community. Most groups think you’re destined for some sort of greatness. I guess I’ll be able to correct that erroneous assumption.”

This was it; we were out of time. Zach started advancing on us. I scrambled to my feet, but there wasn’t a lot of fight left in me. “I’m not going to go quietly,” I warned Zach.

“Go ahead and scream,” Zach said. “No one can hear you out here.”

“The truth is,” Zach licked his lips. “I want you to scream. Your fear is a special gift for me. Why do you think I herded you out here? This is the one place I knew no one could hear us.”

Only a few feet separated us now. This was it.

“I can.”

I sucked in a breath when I heard the new voice. I recognized it. Aric.

Zach swung around in surprise. When he saw Aric on the opposite edge of the clearing, he swallowed hard.

“How did you find us?”

“I found her,” Aric gestured towards me. “She led me right to you.”

“And how did she do that? Some magical power I’m unaware of?”

“Yeah, it’s called a telephone,” Aric said wryly.

Zach furrowed his brow. “She called you from the woods? She couldn’t. I would have heard that.”

“I called him from my pocket,” I said haughtily.

Zach slid an angry glance in my direction. “And you told him we were on the bluff by the football field. I should have realized. Well, no matter, it looks like I won’t have to go after poor Brittany after all. I’ve got a willing third right here. Just sit there and wait your turn. I’m taking your little girlfriend first.”

Aric didn’t look too worried, although his body was tense and he was poised for action. “If you take a step towards them, I’ll break your neck.”

Zach looked Aric up and down for a second. “You’re big, but I’m stronger.”

Aric flexed his hands, and I couldn’t help but notice that his own fingers were starting to grow like Zach’s had earlier. Instead of black talons, though, Aric’s fingernails were turning blood red.

Zach watched Aric warily. The subtle transformation wasn’t lost on him. “What are you?”

Aric ignored the question. “You should just give up now because I’ve had a really long night and I’m not in the mood for any of your crap. I’ve got her crap to deal with and that’s enough crap for everyone.”

“I was just thinking the same thing about you,” Zach challenged, although I could tell he was noticeably more anxious now than he had been a few minutes before.

“Let’s see if that’s the truth,” Aric growled, launching himself off the small ledge he was standing on and straight towards Zach.

Aric moved so quickly, Zach didn’t have a chance to move. Before he even realized what was happening, Aric was on top of him.

Paris and I stood and watched helplessly, not knowing what else to do. The scene was kind of like a cartoon, it was just a tangle of arms and legs – with the occasional punch being landed.

Aric got the upper hand pretty quickly – pinning Zach to the ground with his body weight. Zach wasn’t going to just give up, though. He positioned his legs underneath Aric and kicked with all of his might – managing to hoist Aric’s much larger frame off of him and to the side. Aric crashed into a tree a few feet away and shook his head, momentarily dazed.

“What are you?” Zach hissed.

“Pissed off,” Aric growled. He climbed to his feet and moved back towards Zach with a ferocious purpose. I couldn’t help but notice that, when the moon hit his mouth just right, his teeth had also grown longer and more menacing. That was a little creepy.

Zach tried to get to his own feet before the next onslaught but Paris wasn’t going to let that happen. She picked up a fallen tree limb from the ground and slammed him in the head with it angrily. “You’re a disgusting pig!”

The blow was hard, but not hard enough to stop Zach. “You bitch! I’m going to eat you first!”

“I thought I was first,” I protested. Then I realized what I had said. “I take it back. She can be first.”

“Thanks,” Paris said irritably. I noticed she didn’t drop the tree branch, though.

Aric slipped in between Zach and Paris, grabbing Zach by the neck before he could regain his footing. Aric’s large hands – and those terrible, terrible talons – dug into Zach’s skin. I could see blood seeping out around the small wounds.

Zach shrieked in pain. “Let me go!”

“Why should I let you go? You weren’t going to let them go?”

“I need them to survive,” Zach said. “A person has a right to survive.”

“Not at the expense of others.”

Zach shifted to his left, managing to slip out of Aric’s grasp again, and then he swung around to land a hard punch to Aric’s immovable granite jaw. The noise was so loud, I thought for sure Zach must have broken Aric’s face in the process. Instead, Zach grabbed his own hand, screaming in frustration. “What are you?”

“I told you,” Aric picked Zach up by his shirt and lifted him two feet off the ground. “I’m pissed off.” Aric slammed his forehead into Zach and then dropped him to the ground again.

Zach wasn’t out cold, but he was definitely dazed. All the fight – at least for the moment – seemed to flee him. Aric sat down on top of Zach, pinning him to the ground with his impressive body again, and then turned his attention to us.

“Are you guys alright?”

I nodded mutely.

“Good,” he muttered. “Because when I’m done with him, I’m going to kill you.”

“What did I do?”

“I told you not to go anywhere alone at night. So what did you do? You went out to the woods. Alone. At night.”

“I wasn’t alone,” I protested. “We had an astronomy lab.”

Aric shook his head ruefully. “Just stop talking. I know it’s hard for you, but just sit there and shut up.”



Things happened pretty quickly after that. Aric had me reach into his pocket – and he didn’t even make a lewd suggestion, which told me this was serious – to pull out his cell phone. He told me a number to punch in and then had me hold it up to his ear. He wasn’t taking any chances with Zach getting away.

Aric told whoever was on the other end of the line the situation and then nodded to me to disconnect the phone.

“Who was that?”

“Someone that can make our little problem here disappear.”

For his part, Zach was pinned under Aric’s impressive weight. Every few minutes he tried to buck up in an attempt to dislodge Aric, but it was a futile attempt.

Paris desperately wanted to flee the scene – and head back to the dorms – but Aric vetoed that right away. “You two are staying right here, where I can keep an eye on you, and then I’m taking you back to the dorms.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” Paris grumbled.

Aric shifted a disgusted look in my direction. “What? You’re not,” I took Paris’ side.

“It’s nice to see you two have made up,” Aric muttered. “Nothing like a little death and destruction to bond a friendship.”

“We made up before he showed up,” I informed Aric airily.

“Well, that’s great,” Aric said with faux brightness. “I was really worried about this falling out breaking up the Scooby Gang.”

Zach actually laughed from his position on the ground. Aric smacked him upside the head. “Shut up, freak.”

My knees were starting to get stiff in the dark, so I stood up to stretch. Aric watched me carefully. “I’m not joking; if you try to leave I’m going to let this guy go.”

“I’m not leaving,” I sighed. “I’m just stretching. Stop being such a douche.”

“A douche? The douche that saved your life.”

“I had things under control,” I countered.

Paris raised her eyebrows speculatively.

“What? I had him right where I wanted,” I protested.

“In control of things?” Aric barked. I was relieved to see his hands – and especially his teeth – were normal again.

“I was in control of things,” I said.

“The only thing you’re in control of is giving me a migraine.”

I blew out a frustrated sigh and walked a few feet away from Aric, looking around the clearing. “How are we going to get the bodies home?”

“What do you mean?’ Aric asked.

“Zach said it’s magically cloaked. Normal people can’t see the clearing, so how are we going to get the bodies home?’

“Phil will handle it.”

“Who is Phil?”

“Phil is my dad’s right-hand man.”

“Is that who you called to take care of Zach?”

“Yeah, he’ll come with a team, take Zach into custody and then unearth the remains and make sure they get home.”

“How is he going to do that?” I asked dubiously.

Aric shrugged, shifting to get a better grip on Zach as he did. “I have no idea. I don’t ask too many questions. Do you really care?”

“I care that these families get their daughters back.”

“They will,” Aric said softly. “I promise.”

I mustered a small smile. “Thanks.”

“It’s no problem,” Aric said gruffly. He obviously wasn’t used to the softer side of Zoe.

“No, thanks for coming for us.”

“Like I had a choice?”

“You could have ignored the call.”

“No, I couldn’t.

I didn’t push Aric further. This wasn’t a conversation for a crowd.

“You’re definitely going out with me now, though,” Aric said. “I’ve definitely earned a date."

“A naked date,” Zach grunted from the floor.

“Shut up,” Aric smacked him again.

“If you don’t get naked for him,” Paris said, moving up to my side. “I will.”



The last few days of the semester flew by. I still had no idea where Phil – and the five guys he arrived with, all dressed in black – took Zach. I had asked Aric if they were going to kill him. He had said no with his mouth, but his eyes had been a little less sure.

While Paris and I were now totally fine, she was still cool with Laura. She wasn’t overtly hostile, though. I guess getting stalked by a maniacal killer in the dark puts things into perspective.

I was downstairs, loading the last pile of my things into my mom’s car, when I noticed a shadow looming over me.

“Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?”

I glanced up at Aric and smiled. “I have your number.”

“Yeah, but were you going to use it?”

Good question.

“Probably,” I said finally.

“You know, you still owe me a date,” Aric flashed his dimples.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” I admitted.

“You have?”

“I have.”

“Do those thoughts involve clothes?”

Most of the time. “I have a deal for you.”

Aric groaned. “I’m not going to like this deal, am I?’

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Let’s see.”

“Lay it on me,” Aric said.

“We’re going to be apart all summer,” I said. “It doesn’t make sense to go out now.”

Aric opened his mouth to argue, but I silenced him with my hand. “If you still want to date me when we come back in the fall, then I want to date you, too.”

Aric closed his mouth and regarded me seriously. “You want to date me?”

“Oh, please, you know I want to date you,” I grumbled.

Aric’s smile was as wide as his shoulders.

“If you keep doing that, though, I just may change my mind,” I warned him.

Aric stepped closer to me, closing the distance between us and pressing me up against the car. He lowered his face to me and brushed his lips against mine – pushing them into me hungrily after a second of flirtation. After a minute, he pulled away.

“I’m going to hold you to that deal.”

With those words, Aric turned and strode across the parking lot. My mom, who had insisted on checking the room one more time to make sure I hadn’t left anything behind, was standing a few feet away as Aric made his departure.

“Who is that?”

“Trouble.”

“He doesn’t look like trouble,” she said appraisingly.

“Oh, don’t do that,” I moaned.

“What?” She asked innocently.

“You’re already picturing grandkids.”

“I am not,” she protested. “They would be cute with his dimples and your coloring, though.”