Full Moon (22 page)

“Are you ready to feed them?”

“Minnows?” I guessed.

“Try crickets,” he said as he picked up a
Styrofoam cup with hundreds of chirping insects inside. “We need to
make sure the ducklings can eat when they’re released. Let’s throw
a few in and see if they’ll catch them like they’ll have to in
training.”

I picked up a wiggly cricket and smiled.
“Here it goes!” I said as I tossed the bug into the water.

Jesse tossed a few in as well, and within
minutes, the babies started diving and swallowing them up. It was a
good sign that they were learning how to feed themselves, even
without their mother around to teach them. It was refreshing to
know that in some small way, we were preparing them to survive and
live a happy life outside on the lake, where they really
belonged.

* * *

When I got home from work, I found a note
letting me know that my parents had gone out to dinner and a movie
and would be home late. My mom had left me some chicken and mashed
potatoes in the microwave, so all I had to do was heat my dinner
up. I still had those pesky butterflies dancing around, though,
having spent the whole day with Jesse, and that totally killed my
appetite.

I watched television until about eight p.m.
After flipping through the unopened mail, I jumped into the shower.
As the soothing, hot water danced across my skin, many thoughts ran
through my head, most of which were about Jesse.

About twenty minutes later, I dried off and
slipped into a fluffy pink robe and slippers. When my stomach began
to growl, I decided to heat up my dinner while I got dressed for
bed. I walked downstairs to the kitchen and threw my food in the
microwave.

I jumped when Max started barking. “Max! Be
quiet. You scared me to death, boy!”

As I walked over to sit at the kitchen
table, I saw why Max was barking: Through the sliding glass doors,
I could see a figure moving My heart lurched. It was only for a
split second, but I could have sworn it was someone dressed in
black from head to toe, including a black ski mask.

Max ran to the window and started growling
and barking.

I frantically reached for the landline
phone, only to discover that it was dead as a doornail, just as I
feared I was about to be. My gaze shot to my purse. “My cell!” I
exclaimed. I reached my purse in two strides, but chills flooded
through me when I realized my cell phone wasn’t in it. It suddenly
dawned on me that someone else had been messing with the phones. I
swallowed hard as I spun in a slow circle, my nerves on complete
edge. My stomach dropped when I came to the realization that
someone was outside, so I couldn’t even run. My biggest worry was
that someone was inside as well, because I knew for a fact that I’d
left my cell in my purse.

My fingers hurriedly rummaged through the
kitchen drawer for a knife. When I found one that I thought sure
would do the trick, I clutched it tightly, then glanced out the
window. The moon sliced through the darkness, and shadows shifted
in the blackness beyond.

I didn’t see anyone, but when the television
shut off and complete silence filled the air, I had never felt so
utterly alone. “Max!” I said. “Come here.” As the dog sat by my
feet, I sucked in a trembling breath.

Next, the power went out, and everything
went black. I forced myself to walk to the drawer where I knew I
could find a flashlight. My trembling fingers wrapped around the
cold metal, and I switched it on. The beam wavered in my shaking
hands.

A growl echoed from the living room, one I
knew didn’t belong to Max.
What the heck was that?
The knife in my hands shook. I’d never been so
frozen with fear before, not even during the mountain lion attack
or when we’d been surrounded by wolves. I was scared to go outside,
but I was more terrified of whatever was in the living room. I
tried to reason what could be growling.
Maybe a stray dog got inside somehow.
Maybe my parents adopted another dog and didn’t tell me.

Max kept growling and barking, then shot off
into the living room.

“Max!” I cried, but the only answer was
silence.

Chapter 11

My loyal and faithful companion had taken
off into the dark living room.

With my heart pounding nearly out of my
chest, I took a few daring steps forward. “Max?” I whispered. “Max,
come back.”

Heavy breathing echoed in the air, and my
heart thumped wildly. A few long growls made the hair on my neck
stand on end. I gripped the knife tightly. Feeling like I was
cornering a wild animal, I took slow, measured steps. A howl
pierced my ears, a sound that only a wolf could make. Nearly
paralyzed by fear, I somehow managed to carefully back up,
abandoning my plan to take a good look.

“No! I have to help Max,” I said to myself,
shining my flashlight around the darkness.

At the sound of another howl, I jumped back.
My heart had never beaten so fast before, and the floor creaked
with every step I took. My flashlight beam swung around, but I
didn’t see anything in the dim light. Sweat coated the palms of my
hands as I stood there holding my breath, listening for any sounds,
trying to hang on to what was left of my sanity.

Then, a ravenous moan echoed from across the
room, and a sudden panic flooded through me. I paused, drew a deep
breath, and pressed myself against the wall. I could hear something
shuffling in the living room. I took a deep, trembling breath, my
beam wavering as I whipped my flashlight all around.

A scratching noise made me jump, especially
since it was coming from directly behind me. Gasping for breath, I
turned around. There was Max, outside and scratching at the glass.
I had no clue how he got out, but as I was trying to figure that
out, my poor dog let out a long yelp and then started barking.

I bolted into the kitchen and grabbed my
purse. Regardless of what was outside, I had to get out of that
house, and since Max was already out, I didn’t have to worry about
deserting him. I opened the sliding glass door, my heart
threatening to explode. I turned on the back porch light. Holding
the knife tightly, jutting it out in front of me like some kind of
horror movie menace, I glanced around. My legs took off, carrying
me like a bat out of hell to the driveway in front of the house. My
senses were on high alert, and I glanced over my shoulder to make
sure my trusty canine companion was keeping up with me.

Just as I opened my purse and grabbed my
keys, a howl came from inside the house. When I glanced up, I saw
that the front door was wide open, and I realized that had to be
how Max had gotten out and whatever it was had gotten in.

Move
! I thought, but I almost couldn’t breathe.
Find the right
key.
I couldn’t hold on
to the flashlight, the keys, and the knife, so I slipped the
flashlight into my robe pocket. My hands shook as I tried to open
the car door. Max was barking, and I knew something was coming. The
door opened, Max jumped in, and I started the ignition. Then a
thought occurred to me: I’d forgotten to check the back seat. My
stomach clenched, and I quickly looked back there. Relieved to see
no one and nothing but a few fast food wrappers, I let out a breath
and put the car in reverse.

Everything was a blur as I sped down the
road. I was still gasping for breath as I pulled into McDonald’s,
still dressed in my robe. I contemplated going inside for help, but
I knew I would have looked ridiculous in that getup, and I was sure
no one would take me seriously.

Max barked, as if asking me what was going
on.

I petted his head. “It’s okay, boy,” I
said.

As I looked at the passenger’s seat, I
noticed that the dog was actually sitting on my long-lost phone. I
had no idea how my phone got inside the car, because I was sure I’d
put it in my purse, but I picked it up and, without hesitation,
dialed Jesse.

“Hello?” he said.

“Jesse! Oh my gosh! You aren’t gonna believe
this.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I…we…uh…there was this noise, and then the
lights went out and—”

“Are you okay?” he asked, clearly confused
and concerned by my panic.

“No, Jesse, I’m not.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m sitting here at McDonald’s in my
bathrobe, if that’s any indication how not okay I am! There was
something in our house, so I got creeped out and bolted. I’m not
sure whether to call my parents or the police.”

“You were home alone?”

“Yeah. Mom and Dad are on a date, at a late
movie.”

“Okay. Just sit tight. I’ll be right
there.”

“Okay,” I said, then hung up.

It seemed like it took forever, but he
finally showed up. When he pulled up next to me, I ran out of the
car and into his arms. “Oh, Jesse!”

“Taylor, you’re shaking.”

“I was so scared,” I said, sobbing.

“What happened?” he asked.

I explained the entire story, and he
listened intently, never doubting me once. “Do you think somebody
tried to rob the house?” I desperately asked. “Maybe the intruder
was shocked when he heard me taking a shower. Maybe he wasn’t
expecting anyone to be home, so he just ran out and left the door
open, and some wild animal came in.”

“Did you notice that the door was open after
you took your shower?”

“I came down the back stairs, so I didn’t
notice.”

“Maybe you’re right, to some degree. Maybe
you did spook a robber, and he left in a hurry without shutting the
door behind him and something got in by accident. But what I don’t
understand is why he’d come back. If he was scared off, he shoulda
been long gone, so why would he come back and look through the
sliding glass doors? If he wanted back in, why didn’t he just use
the open door?”

I smoothed out my robe. “You must think I’m
crazy.”

“No. We’ll figure this thing out. I’m here
for you, Taylor.” He gave me a long hug, and I was sure he could
feel my entire body trembling.

“I know I look ridiculous, but I was too
petrified to put clothes on. I just wanted to get out of
there.”

“I know. And you just look…cuddly, if you
ask me. Let’s go back and take a look,” he said.

I sucked in a trembling breath. “I don’t
want to, Jesse. I’m scared.”

“It’s your house, and I’ll be right there
with you. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, Taylor—not
ever.” He paused. “Unless you want to go inside for a shake or a
burger or something.”

I laughed. “In this? No way.”

He smiled. “Trust me, I’ve seen worse in
McDonald’s after dark. Anyway, if you think you’re up to driving,
I’ll follow you back.”

“Okay.”

Back at the house, I didn’t notice anything
out of place, and my parents weren’t home from their date yet. I
held on to Jesse’s arm as he glanced around, using the bright
moonlight to guide our way.

“The door is still wide open,” I
observed.

We walked into the living room, and I
flicked on the switch.

“Hey, at least the lights work now.” I
glanced around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, no mud
or footprints or overturned furniture or broken glass or anything
to prove I wasn’t hearing things or going crazy. There was nothing
to support my claim. I shut the door and locked it.

We walked through the downstairs and into
the kitchen. Jesse told me to wait at the table while he bravely
checked the upstairs. After a minute or two, I heard him yell, “All
clear up here.”

“You must think I’m crazy,” I said when he
walked back in the kitchen.

“Not at all. Something was here. I can smell
it.”

“You think it was a wolf? Because I heard
howling, clear as day.”

“Definitely a wolf…but there was something
else too.”

“What?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to
hear the answer.

“There were two intruders,” he said.

“I thought so. The robber and the wolf who
decided to take advantage of an open door.”

“It’s complicated, but I swear I’m gonna
find out what happened. You weren’t imagining things, Taylor, and
it was smart for you to bolt out of here when you did.”

“What if it was Jonathon?” I asked with a
shudder.

“Not possible. He’s…out of town.”

“Maybe he was, but what if he came
back?”

“Like I said, not possible,” he said,
sounding absolutely sure.

“You’re right. He probably would’ve killed
me in the shower, just like Norman Bates.”

A car pulled in the driveway.

When I opened the door and recognized the
vehicle, I was relieved. “Thank God. It’s just my parents.” I threw
my arms around them as soon as they stepped in the door.

My father looked at me, noticing that I was
in a robe and slippers, then looked at Jesse and raised an eyebrow.
“What’s going on?” he shouted, absolutely livid. “We leave you
alone for one night, and you invite a boy over? Why are you
dressed—or rather, undressed—like that?”

“Dad!”

He looked at Jesse again, this time with
anger washing over him. “Go home, young man. Get out of my
house!”

“Mom,” I said, “please make Dad stop. He
doesn’t know the whole story. It’s not what you think.”

“I trusted you, Taylor,” he said, shaking
his head.

“Let her explain,” my mom pleaded.

I touched my dad’s arm. “Please, Dad! Jesse
just got here. Somebody broke in, so I called him over to
help.”

“What?” he asked in disbelief. “Someone
broke in? With you here by yourself?”

I explained the entire story to my
parents.

My dad’s tone softened. “I’m sorry, Jesse. I
shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I-I’m sorry I didn’t trust
you.” He then turned his gaze to me. “You’ve been through a
horrible experience, and I shouldn’t have accused you of anything.
I apologize.”