Hidden Moon (8 page)

I walked beside him to the lockers, unsure of what to say until we reached them.

“Thanks,” I said taking my books back and putting them in the locker.

Adam leaned against the lockers. “You need to be careful in the woods when you go on that hike. Stay with the others and don’t separate. I’ll try to make it, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to. If I don’t go, promise me you’ll stick close to Brian. He’ll look out for you.” He waited as I stared at him, and then gave me a rueful smile. “Yeah, I know. I may not like him, but I know he won’t let you out of his sight. So, promise?”

“Okay,” I wasn’t sure how the conversation had gone this way. One minute he didn’t want to look at me and the next he was worried about me.

He smiled and walked off as Brian came running.

“Sorry, Nikki. Class went over and I couldn’t make it in time over to yours,” Brian huffed.

“It’s okay, I know my way around now.”

“What did
he
want?” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Adam’s retreating back.

“He just wanted to tell us to be careful and stick together if we went on a hike this weekend.”

“Is he coming, too?” He grimaced.

“No, I don’t think so.”

With Brian in much better spirits, we went to the cafeteria and sat at our usual table. I set my tray between Ronnie and the wall, forcing Brian take the seat next to Beth. The guys at the table across the room were deep in conversation, sending occasional glances my way. Ed and Erik both waved and smiled when they saw me looking back at them. There was one girl I hadn’t seen before. She didn’t look very happy with whatever the conversation was about.

“That’s Hannah,” Ronnie whispered to me. “She tries to hang all over Adam. I don’t know what they’re talking about over there, but she’s giving you some pretty bad looks. Looks like she’s jealous.”

She’s not the only one, I thought, as I caught the look on Brian’s face. His blue eyes seemed to be shooting darts at Adam.

Adam got up and walked toward us. He stopped and smiled down at me. “Nikki, I was wondering if you would eat lunch with me today.”

“S-sure,” I mumbled as I picked up my tray and followed him back over to his table.

Hannah stood up and took her tray, dumping its contents in the trash as she left, her long hair swinging wildly behind her. Everyone else at the table seemed oblivious to her and smiled at me as if my eating lunch with them happened all the time. Chairs scooted around the table, as they made room for me to sit next to Adam.

Erik gave me his usual huge grin. “Hey, Nikki.”

Leave it to you to be the icebreaker, I thought as I smiled back. “Hey, Erik.”

The other two boys I hadn’t met smiled as Adam introduced them as Michael and Tommy. They were cousins. They could have been twins, I realized, as I looked into two very similar faces. Each had a dimple on their left cheek when they smiled. They were younger than Ed, Erik, and Penny by a year or two, which made them sophomores. That was the reason why I hadn’t seen them in any of my classes. Next to the others, the cousins looked younger and smaller. Even more so since they sat next to Ed, who was taller than Adam by an inch or so.

“When are you available for another English lesson?” Adam asked me.

“Whenever you want.”

“He needs all the help he can get,” Erik teased, “He is available tomorrow evening. If you want, I can take you over after school.”

“If she wants to go, I’ll take her.” Adam shot him a look, but Erik only grinned wider.

“I can get a ride. It’s not a problem,” I said, trying to calm the tide of testosterone that seemed to be rising.

Ignoring Adam, Erik turned to me. “I’ve seen you driving Brian’s old jalopy. When are you going to get your own wheels?”

“Whenever I can find a cheap car,” I assured him. Soon wouldn’t be soon enough.

“I talked my mother into letting me get rid of my old car. It isn’t much, but if you’re interested, I’ll make you a great deal on it.”

“Yeah, he’d rather ride around on his bike. If you bought the car, I could tell you where the money would go, straight into parts for the ‘cycle,” Ed snorted, as if the idea of getting rid of a perfectly good car to ride a motorcycle was insane.

“He’s just jealous,” Erik said. Then shot a grin at Ed. “Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll still give you a ride to school when Adam’s Jeep is too full.”

Ed turned up his nose. “You couldn’t pay me to ride on that deathtrap. If the Jeep’s full, I’ll either stay home or hitchhike.”

I laughed. “How about call and ask a neighbor for a ride? If I buy Erik’s car, I’ll have extra room.”

Ed puffed out his chest and grinned at Erik. “She offered to give me a ride.”

Erik feigned disappointment. “But I did, too.” He tried to frown, but the sides of his mouth kept quirking up. He gave up and grinned.

Adam had been quiet, listening to the banter between the two. He leaned toward me. “So, are we on for tomorrow after school? You can ride with us. We have room regardless of what these two idiots say. I’ll make sure you get home before dark.”

“Sure, that’s fine, unless you’d rather study tonight,” I offered.

“I can’t tonight,” he said without explanation, then stared straight ahead.

“We have a missing hiker on the trail,” Erik explained. “Whenever one of them goes missing, we scout out the woods and try to help find them. Adam’s dad is the sheriff so he lets us know when someone goes missing. We help search. The national forest runs from here all the way up to Roanoke so it’s a lot of territory for the police to cover. They appreciate all the help they can get. Since the forest wraps right around the Res, we help whenever we can.”

“Oh, I hope you find him safe.”

“Her,” Adam whispered. “It’s a her. A young woman in her early twenties. When she didn’t make it to her checkpoint yesterday, her parents reported her missing. She had made it this far because the store clerks remember her from where she had bought supplies in town a couple of weeks ago.”

“The trail killer,” Ed mumbled under his breath.

“We don’t know that,” Adam’s voice was sharp. “She could just be lost, and if she is, we’ll find her.”

“The trail killer?” I asked, “Who’s the trail killer?”

“No one knows,” Ed shrugged. “Its pure speculation that there’s a killer at all. In this area, over the last five years, a number of young women have been reported missing from the Appalachian Trail and have never been found. It was as if they just disappeared into thin air. Only their gear is found, always by the trail. Of course, there would be a small chance that they saw something they wanted to check out and then just wandered off and got lost. But without their gear? No way.”

“They never found any of them?” I asked as cold chills ran down my arms.

“No,” Adam whispered.

Now do you understand why I don’t want you in the woods alone?
the voice whispered as Adam’s eyes seemed to stare into me, their onyx specks shining dark against the gold.

“I understand,” I said. He looked shocked for a second and then a smile tugged at his mouth.

The bell rang and the usual rush of confusion ensued. The boy behind me shoved his chair into the back of mine, sending me into the table. Adam caught the back of my chair and stopped it just as I was about to be pinned.

“Are you okay?” he asked, as he glared at the back of the boy who was heading toward the trash can.

“Yeah, thanks,” I mumbled, getting up from the chair he still held.

An arm came down to help pull me up from the chair. “Are you all right?” Brian asked.

“Yeah, Adam kept me from getting smashed.”

He nodded at Adam. “Thanks.”

Adam gave a slight nod in return as Brian picked up my tray with his free hand.

“Good luck tonight, I hope you find her,” I called over my shoulder as we walked toward the door.

After school, much to Brian’s delight, I offered to drive us back home. I managed to get us back to my house in one piece without killing the engine even once. After waving to Brian, I did a little dance through the front door, happy that I had done so well. Mom grinned at my enthusiasm.

“Good day? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that dance before,” she teased.

“Great day. I’m getting the hang of driving Brian’s truck.” I leaned in and kissed her on her cheek.

“That’s wonderful, honey. We’ll have to look into getting you a car. Whenever you want to go take the test for your driver’s license, just let me know.”

“One of the guys from the reservation is selling his car. I have to go over tomorrow after school and help Adam study so I thought I’d check it out. I’ve got money saved up and I don’t think he wants much for it. Whatever day you don’t have to work late and aren’t busy, I’ll be ready for the driving test.”

“I have dayshift all the rest of this week. I should be home whenever you get here after school. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

“Okay,” I nodded and sat down beside her, “How was work?”

“Adam’s father is the sheriff so he’s in charge. He’s very nice. And there are two other deputies besides Anita, so there aren’t many people there, but everyone is patient and helpful. I think I will like working there.”

“Adam was telling me about the woman that’s missing from the trail. Have they found her yet?” I asked.

“No, not yet. They’re still looking. It seems she had a spat with her boyfriend a couple weeks ago, so they’re trying to find him to see if he knows anything,” she broke off, as the phone rang. She got up to answer it in the kitchen.

I thought about Adam and the other guys searching the woods looking for the lost woman as I went upstairs. I sat down and stared out to the woods, imagining the group of boys scouring the forest.

A sudden flash blinded me. When I opened my eyes, trees were flying past me as I ran.

There were wolves around me. One gray, one cream, and two a sable brown. The brown wolves weren’t as muscular, yet they moved with the same fluid grace as the others. I led them on the trail. They sniffed the air around them, their nostrils flaring as they searched for a scent. I looked at the trees around us. The woods were silent. The birds had quieted. Six giant wolves slowed down to a walk as they searched.

The cream colored wolf reared back his head, and let out a mournful howl that was full of sorrow and anguish. He sat back on his haunches and stared at something in front of him as the rest rushed over to see what he had found.

I came up beside them and saw what caused him to cry out. A hiker’s backpack, in a dark green color, was lying against a tree. I looked closer where one of the carrying straps had a name scrawled into the worn leather…Meghan. Two aluminum walking sticks laid beside it. I bent down and sniffed the end of one. I breathed in a sweet, copper smell. I snorted, trying to shove the scent back out of my nostrils, as my eyes registered the sticky, dark red stain. It was blood. We would never find her, he had found her first. I set back on my haunches and howled, my mournful cry echoed in the air as my brothers joined me in my anguished song.

I blinked back out at the trees through my window, shaking my head to clear it. Cold chills swept up my spine as I heard a pack of wolves howl in the distance. The sun had set as I sat there daydreaming. I got up from the chair and changed into my pajamas. Leaving the window open, I crawled into bed as a soft breeze played on my face. I lay there in the dreamy place between sleep and awake, wondering if Adam had found the girl or if the wolves had.

THE MOON CALLED to him. It stirred his blood, waking him from a peaceful sleep. Even stronger than the pull of the moon, was that of the wolves. He could hear them in the distance as they searched. He listened to their quick footfalls. They were running, trying to save the missing girl. He walked along the edge of the forest as he fought the urge to join them. His skin felt as if a thousand tiny electric currents were running through it. The moon beckoned to him. He fought back the growl that tried to rise from deep inside his belly. Something furred slid against his bones, as if searching for a way out. He fought it, thinking it was simply a matter of will to keep himself whole. He felt the graze of teeth and the slash of claws. The creature snarled inside of him. It was frustrated, becoming angrier and more determined to get out as it charged against him, as if his very body were a cage to be escaped.

The force of the blow threw him to the ground. A single howl split the night air, giving the creature more strength. It forced him to submit. He watched in horror as the fur flowed over his body and changed into the nightmare from which he hoped to wake. He heard the wolves’ cries as they sang their sorrowful song to the moon. Somehow, he knew they called to him. They were waiting for him.

The animal wanted to join them, to answer their call. The boy trapped inside the creature cried as despair washed over him. He threw back his head and howled, cursing the moon. He didn’t want to be a monster. He only wanted her, and now he knew he would never have her. He ran, faster than his human legs had ever carried him, as he tried to outrun the anger that built inside him and the rage that pushed him farther and farther.