Chapter 7
As soon as I realized where Alex was going, I went into full-on panic mode. I even temporarily contemplated jumping out of the moving vehicle.
After I’d followed Alex out of library, we’d went out to the parking lot and climbed into his car—an old cherry red Chevy Camaro. It was a beautiful car. But a beautiful car that was taking me toward the mountains, something that I realized a little too late. The mountains. Here I was alone with a guy I scarcely knew—a strange guy that I scarcely knew—and I was going straight to the place where I was killed every night in my nightmares, by yellowed-eyed monsters that may or may not be real. I’d really gotten myself into mess here, hadn’t I? I can’t believe how stupid and irrational I was. I mean, a cute boy finally smiles at me and I forget all logic.
But there was nothing I could do about it now except strap my seatbelt on, watch the town slip farther and farther away, and keep my fingers crossed that everything would turn out alright.
I tapped my fingers anxiously on my knee. In the confined space of the car, the electricity hummed powerfully. Between that, the heater blaring, and my jittery nerves, I was starting to sweat. “So where exactly are we going?” I asked.
“Where going to two places, actually,” Alex told me, down shifting the car. “But the first stop is just so I can pick something up.”
I wiped my sweaty palm on my jeans. “So what’s the second stop?”
He flashed me a devious smile. “That one’s a secret.”
A secret. Secrets were rarely good. And since it was Alex…let’s just say I wasn’t feeling too optimistic here, especially since he was being nice. Well nice for him, anyway. It made me even edgier than I’d already been, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he had some kind of hidden agenda for bringing me out here.
A lumped formed in my throat as I mentally cursed myself for coming with him.
He lifted an eyebrow at me. “Is something wrong? You look scared.”
“What?” I shook my head.“No. I’m not scared.”
“Really? Because you sure look like you are.”
I fiddled with the zipper on my messenger bag, deliberating what to say. The truth. Sure, why not. It couldn’t make the situation any worse, could it? “Well, I guess maybe I’m a little scared.”
He slowed down the car and made a right turn off of the main highway and onto a snow packed back road that laced over the foot hills. These kinds of roads were the kind that the snow plows only plowed a few miles up, which meant we probably wouldn’t be able to make it that far up it. Or at least the car wouldn’t be able to. On foot, well, that was a different story.
I gulped at that frightening thought.
“So why are you scared?” Alex asked.
I shrugged, trying not to get freaked out by the sight of the trees trimming the sides of the road. Or by thinking about what might be hiding in them. “Because…well, I really don’t know anything about you other than you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you,” he told me, and oddly enough, he sounded like he was telling the truth. “I’m just moody. It’s nothing personal.”
Moody. Understatement of the year. I tore my gaze away from the trees and looked at him. He was staring ahead, eyes focus on the road. As much as I hated to admit it, the guy was gorgeous. Bright green eyes, dark hair, perfect lips. He wasn’t too thin, nor too big and bulky. He was a happy medium—lean and nice.
Very nice.
A crooked smile crept up on his face as he turned his head toward me. “You’re staring.”
I whipped my head back toward the window, feeling like a total idiot. “No, I wasn’t.”
He laughed but said nothing.
A few minutes later, he was parking the car in front of an old log cabin. A crooked gray stone chimney topped the roof, and a partly collapsed deck wrapped around the bottom. The windows were boarded up, and the entire yard was buried in at least five feet of snow except for a recently shoveled walkway.
He pulled the emergency brake and left the engine running. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” He got out of the car, sinking ankle deep in snow as he trampled up to the front door of the cabin and entered without knocking.
My nerves were bouncing as I sat in the car alone. There were trees all over the place. What if they were out there, watching me, waiting for the perfect moment to jump out and kill me? We were so far away from civilization, if something did happen, I was doomed. I bet I couldn’t even get a signal on my cell phone. I checked the screen of my phone. Yep, no bars.
I tapped my fingers on my knee as I counted backwards from one-hundred, trying to stay calm. Breathe, I told myself. Just breathe.
Thankfully, Alex came out of the cabin before I’d gotten too worked up. Light, fluffy snowflakes had started to float down from the sky and frost now laced the car windows.
“What were you doing in there?” I asked as he climbed back inside the car.
He rubbed his hands together, warming them up. “Nothing important.” He flipped the windshield wipers on. “I just needed to check on something.”
“I thought you said you needed to pick something up?”
He shrugged, shifted into reverse, and backed out onto the road, the car’s tires spinning in protest.
The snowflakes became thicker and fell more rapidly against the window the farther up the mountain we drove. The windshield wipers were working overtime so Alex could see. Just as I was starting to worry that the car was going to get stuck, we came to a stop in the middle of the road. I assumed he was turning around since the only things around were mountains, snow, and trees. But instead, he killed the engine.
“What are you doing?” I asked nervously.
“We’re here.” He gestured at the scenery outside. “This is it.”
I frowned. “Where are we?”
“The mountains.”
I gave him a duh look. “I know that, but why are we here?” Out in the middle of nowhere, I thought but didn’t say aloud.
“Because this is the place I wanted take you.” It seemed like he was trying to tiptoe around the details of why he’d driven me clear in the heck out into the middle of the mountains.
I grew more uneasy. “You wanted to take me to the middle of the mountains”
“Yeah,” he opened the car door, “but you have to get out of the car and walk a little in order to get to the exact spot I want you to see.”
Get. Out. In. The. Middle. Of. The. Woods. Was he crazy? “Yeah, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
He shot me a quizzical look. “What exactly is it you’re afraid of here?”
Hmmm…What was I afraid of? How about the trees and the image of me running for my life through them. However, there was no way I could explain that one to him. “I don’t know…I really just don’t feel like walking around in the snow. That’s all.”
“Don’t worry, I promise it’ll be worth it.” He smiled, this beautiful, hypnotic smile—the same smile that had lured me to follow him out of the library and into his car. Before I even realized what I was doing, I was getting out of the car. But when the cold air hit my face, it knocked me back to reality. You’re out in the mountains. Don’t be stupid. Get back in the car. I shivered, debating if I should do just that.
Alex took off toward a narrow path, caped over by leafless trees, and motioned for me to follow. I gulped, my hands shaking—from the cold or from my nerves, I couldn’t tell you—and tromped through the snow after him.
The great thing about wearing sneakers while you’re hiking through the snow is…nothing. Absolutely nothing. Unless you think your feet getting wet and frozen is a great thing.
On a more positive note, though, it had stopped snowing.
But the air was still cold, and I was shivering so badly my limbs were aching. “How far is it exactly?”
“Not too much further,” he answered. “Why? Are you cold already?”
“No,” I lied, trying my best not to let my body noticeably shake. “I was just wondering.”
“Okay. Whatever you say,” he said, unconvinced.
“Really, I’m not.” I repeated, feeling the need to defend myself.
He didn’t say anything, but by the way his body was shaking, I was pretty sure he was laughing at me.
Rounding a corner, we came across a large branch of a tree, dangling low to the ground. It blocked out the entire path. Great. Going over it would take a climbing ability I so did not possess. And going around it meant wading through at least a few feet of snow. My jeans would get soaked.
I took it as a sign that we should head back. “Umm…maybe we should…” I started, but Alex was already lifting the branch over his head like it weighed nothing. The thing had to weigh a ton, though—it was gigantic.
“Go ahead.” Alex gestured with his free hand for me to go underneath the branch. “Ladies first.”
Part of me wondered, as I ducked beneath it, if he’d drop it on me. I know the thought was ridiculous, but hey, after everything that had happened, could you really blame me.
Although he didn’t drop it on me, my hair did get tangled around it somehow. I struggled to get my hair loose, but my fingers were too cold and numb and wouldn’t work properly. Plus, my neck was tipped back in this awkward position that made things even more difficult.
“Hold on,” Alex said. I could feel him moving around and then my hair being gently pulled on. He was standing so close to me and touching my hair; it made my head buzz like a beehive full of bees.
“There,” he said, and my head was freed from the uncomfortable position it had been stuck in.
I’d been holding my breath the whole time, and I let it out, a white puff of smoke rising in front of my face. I quickly scooted out of the way so Alex could slip underneath the branch and let it go.
He dusted the snow off of his hands while I smoothed my now damp hair back into place. Well, as much in place as it had been to begin with.
Alex watched me, seeming amused. “You good?”
I zipped up my coat and tucked my hands in the pockets. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Alright then.” He brushed past me and headed down the trail again.
With every step I took, my heart beat fiercer. We were distancing ourselves farther and farther from the car, and the trees were becoming denser. For all I knew, any spot could have been “the spot.” The spot where I kept dying over and over again in my nightmares. It was hard to tell, though, because a forest was a forest. Everything looked the same. And in my nightmares, my death took place during the night, when the sky was black and the ground was a giant shadow.
I’d never been in a forest in real-life before. At least not that I could remember. I was quickly learning that, despite the stillness the air held, there was a lot of chaos. Yeah, I know, the two are a huge contradiction. What I meant by it was, even though everything seemed calm, I could almost feel the things hiding out in the bushes and trees that surrounded us. Things that I wasn’t sure I really wanted to see.
Every time the wind blew, I swear it was whispering danger. The branches of the trees canopied above me, making it seem darker than it truly was. And then there was Alex. Amazingly, he’d been fairly quiet. Too quiet if you ask me. Maybe he was being that way because of the electricity firing between us. I couldn’t be certain how much of an affect it was having on him, but personally, I felt fully awake and alive because of it. Every single one of my senses felt sharp. My skin was tingling from head to toe, which helped fade-out some of the cold, so hey, I guess that was a plus.
As I was plucking a piece of a dead pine needle out of my hair, I heard a branch snap from behind me. I skidded to a halt and spun around, my gaze skimming through trees. But I couldn’t see anything but branches and snow. I was about to turn back around when a huge gust of wind whipped through the air. I heard another snap, this time much, much closer. Okay. Okay. It is just an animal…a deer or something.
Yeah, maybe it was some kind of forest animal, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. I whirled back around and hurried to catch up with Alex, who hadn’t appeared to have notice I’d fallen behind.
As I tried to catch my breath and calm down, I heard it. Not a snapping twig. No, this sound was way worse. A crackle, like the one I’d heard in the school parking lot the day I’d first seen the glowing yellow eyes. Fear rocketed through me. I had no idea what to do. Turn and sprint back to the car? Try and explain what was happening to Alex? Neither sounded appealing.
My heart drummed in my chest as I shot a glance over my shoulder. Only trees and snow. I turned back around, only to end up slamming straight into Alex. My forehead banged against his shoulder, and a fire ignited under my skin. I gasped, backing away from him.
Holding his hands out in front of him, he cautiously stepped away from me. “You okay?”
I nodded, rubbing my forehead. “Sorry. I wasn’t watching were I was going.”
“Yeah, I got that.” He nodded at the trees behind me. “What were you looking at back there?”
“Nothing.” My voice squeaked a little. “I just thought I heard something, but it was nothing.”
He eyed me over carefully, then apparently satisfied by my answer, spread his hands out to the side of him. “Well, this is it.”
“Huh?” I stared at him blankly. “This is what?”
“This is what I wanted to show you.”
Funny, but my near panic attack had made me forgot why we’d came up here in the first place. “Okay…” I glimpsed at all of the trees and snow around us. What was so special about this particular spot? It looked just like every other spot. “It’s…nice, I guess.”
He laughed a genuine, heartfelt laugh. The kind of laugh that made his green eyes light up. “Gemma, this right here,” he pointed to a spot on the ground in front of him, “is what I wanted to show you.”
For a brief second, I got lost in the way he’d said my name in a normal, anti-hating voice. But I quickly forgot all about it when I caught a glimpse of what he was pointing at. In the middle the crisp white snow, right between our feet, a small spot of dirt showed through like the snow had instantaneously melted away after it had landed there. And the dirt wasn’t brown, but black and ashy.
I looked back up and found Alex watching me with curious eyes.
“What?” I asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He shrugged. “No reason.”
I shook my head. Whatever. “So what is it,” I asked, pointing at the ashy spot.
“Well…” He tapped his finger on his lips. “See, there’s this legend that about twenty years ago, a star had fallen from the sky and landed right here.” He pointed to the strange spot. “And I’m not just talking about a meteorite, but an actual star.”
I frowned. He was joking. He had to be. “If a real star hit the Earth then you and I wouldn’t be standing here, talking.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong,” he said simply. “It wasn’t a whole star that fell, but a small piece that broke loose when the star began to spin too quickly. And when the piece hit this spot, the snow has never been able to stay here. It’s like the heat of the star is still trapped there, and it melts the snow away.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” I told him. “Are you sure you’re not just trying to…”
“Trying to what?”
I sighed. “Pull one over on me.”
He grinned. “Now why would I do something like that?”
I rolled my eyes. “I think the real question is why wouldn’t you do something like that?”
He deliberated this. “Yeah, I can see where you’re coming from. But I’m not.”
We both stood there for a moment, staring at one another, my blood boiling from the electric heat.
“So if this actually did happen, then why haven’t I heard of it before?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“Because hardly anyone knows about it.” He paused, before adding, “Even some mediocre high school astronomy teacher.”
“Mr. Sterling isn’t that bad,” I said. “And he knows a lot about astronomy.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “He isn’t that bad? Wasn’t he was the one who put you and I together in a group?”
That stung. “Yeah…but…” I had no idea what to say.
“Relax.” He cracked a smile. “I’m just kidding.”
I tucked my hands up into the sleeves of my coat. “Kidding about the star or Mr. Sterling?”
His smile broadened. “Mr. Sterling.”
As much as I was glad to hear that, I still wasn’t feeling too ecstatic about the idea that he was still trying to convince me that an actual piece of a star had fallen. The idea was absurd. A real piece of a star—I’d never heard of anything so insane. Okay, I take that back. I guess I had.
But still…
“So, why is it that people don’t know about this fallen star?” I asked, making air quotes.
“Well, for starters, the piece was only about the size of a baseball.” He hesitated, shifting his weight to the side. “And …well supposedly, there was this secret group who came and collected it before anyone could discover it had fallen.”
I stared at him like he was crazy. And, who knew, maybe he was.
“You think I’m lying.” He crossed his arms and leaned in toward me. My heart reacted with a jolt that nearly knocked the breath out of me. “But I’m not.”
I had to catch my breath before I spoke. “How am I supposed to know whether you’re lying or not? I don’t know you at all. I mean for all I know, you could be the world’s greatest liar.”
He pressed his lips together, pausing before he said, “Yeah, you’re right. You don’t know me. But taking you out here was me trying to let you get to know me.” He moved in closer to me, and I could feel the warmth of his breath on my face. “But you’re not making it very easy on me.”
“I…” My mind clouded, and it wasn’t until he moved away from me that I could think clearly and process words again. “So what you’re saying is there’s a group that took the fallen star?”
He nodded. “That’s what I’m saying.”
“So who is this group?”
“Now that’s a secret I can’t tell you.”
I sighed. I was so confused. Confused about why he’d brought me up here. About why he was telling me this. About everything really. “So, what happens if I touch the spot?”
“Why don’t you try it and find out.”
I stared apprehensively at the ashy spot. There was something off about it. The color, the charcoal texture, the way the snow didn’t cover it.
“Don’t worry,” Alex said, “I’m pretty sure you won’t start on fire or anything.”
“Pretty sure,” I muttered. Well, that was reassuring.
I took a deep breath and bent down, letting my fingers brush up against the spot. It didn’t feel hot or anything. Not even warm. But there was something off about it. Something different, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. It almost felt sparkly….or maybe it was more electric.
“Feel anything?” Alex asked.
“Not really.” I let the tips of my fingers rest against the spot for a few seconds longer, then pulled my hand away and stood up. “It’s not even warm.”
“Huh…” He furrowed his eyebrows as he studying me over.
My pulse sped up like a bolt of lightning had shot out from the sky and zapped me in the chest. You’d think after a couple of weeks of feeling it, I’d have gotten use to it. You’d think, being the key words. But that wasn’t the case. In fact, I could still barely remember how to breathe whenever I felt it.
The wind started to pick up again, twirling flakes of snow around in the air like pixie dust. The sky had become shaded with clouds. Sundown was nearing, and it looked as if a storm might be moving in.
“Well,” Alex ran his fingers through his hair, “we should probably get going before it gets dark.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” I agreed.
I’d been so swept up in Alex’s story about the star that I’d temporarily pushed the yellow-eyed death monsters out of my mind. But when we started the walk back to the car, and the silence set in, my mind raced back to the what-if’s. What if the monsters were hiding out there? What if they were real? What if they showed up and tried to kill me? What if they… well, you get the picture.
So, needless to say, I was beyond thankful when we made it safely back inside the car. It was then that I silently vowed to myself that I would never go up into the mountains again, unless it was absolutely necessary, which I could never see it being.
By the time Alex was turning the Camaro onto the main road, dark had settled in. The glow of the headlights glistened against the icy roads as we inched nearer to town. Alex and I hadn’t spoken a word to each other since we’d headed back to the car, and I was still confused why he’d brought me up to the mountains in the first place. To tell me about the fallen star? It seemed like a really strange reason.
“So,” he dimmed the headlights for a SUV passing by in the opposite direction, “you live with your grandparents?”
“Huh?” It had been quiet for so long that his voice startled me. “Yeah, I do. But how did you know that?
He shrugged. “And you like to be by yourself a lot, too, I’ve noticed.”
“I guess.” Like always, I was confused. “What’s with the analysis?”
“I’m just curious…about you.” He gave me a sideways glance. “I find you fascinating.”
“Fascinating?” I gave him a doubtful look. “I highly doubt that. I think the word you’re looking for is annoying.”
He chuckled softly, shaking his head. “I already told you, I’m just a moody person.”
“You can say that again.” I paused, realizing it was kind of a bitchy thing to say. I made what I hoped looked like an apologetic face. “Sorry.”
He laughed. “Well, that’s a cute side of you.”
I chewed on my lip, replaying his words. Cute? Had he meant it as a compliment? Or had he meant it as an insult?
I was guessing the latter.
Suddenly the radio, which had been playing quietly in the background, cut out and static screeched through speakers. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard, and I threw my hands over my ears.
Alex hurried and turned the volume down. He pointed to the visor above my head. “Grab one of those CD’s and put it in, would you?”
I lowered my hands from my ears and flipped the visor down. Oh. My. Word. I was in heaven. Okay, so let me explain why. I’d developed a huge obsession with music over the last couple of months. An obsession that had played a bit of a part in the whole Marco and Sophia vs. Gemma showdown because, apparently, blasting music was a very rude thing to do. At least that’s what Sophia had told me. She’d also threatened to take my computer away if I didn’t stop listening to music. But I loved music way too much to quit listening to it completely. I was in love with the lyrics, the rhythm, and the way it could sweep me away to another world. So late at night, when Sophia and Marco were sleeping, I’d put my headphones in, listen, and relax.
What was exciting here was that Alex had great selection. Chevelle, Hawthorne Heights, Dashboard Confessional, they were all such great bands.
I decided on Rise Against and slid it into the CD player. Five seconds later, the intro popped on.
“You like Rise Against?” He sounded somewhat shocked.
“Yeah…” What was with all the weird questions? “Why do you sound so surprised?”
“I just hadn’t pegged that about you.”
“Pegged what about me? That I wouldn’t like music? Or that I wouldn’t listen to Rise Against?”
He pressed the skip button, skipping the CD to the next song. “That you’d be the kind of person who likes listening to music.”
“Why?” I felt my skin warm. And it was not from the electricity. Nope, I was getting pissed. “What kind of person would I have to be to like listening to music?”
He frowned. “Gemma, I’m not trying to insult you? I’m just trying to get to know you better. That’s all.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth or not. He sounded like he was, though. “Well, I like music, especially the soul speaking kind.”
His expression fell into a look of horror.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. Had I said something offensive? After all, I was a bit of a newbie at the whole socializing thing, but he was saying a lot of strange stuff to so…I don’t know.
“It’s nothing.” He shook his head. “Sorry.” His smile returned, but it looked forced. He fiddled with the heater, turning it up full blast. Then he cranked up the volume of the music so loud the windows vibrated.
I took it as a very unsubtle hint that our conversation was over, so I stopped talking.
Neither one of us made so much as peep until he’d pulled back into the school parking lot and parked his Camaro next to my Mirage, which was now covered in a thin layer of snow.
He turned the volume down and said in polite tone, “Thanks for taking a break with me.”
Matching his polite tone, I replied, “Well, thanks for the break.”
“Yep, no problem.”
I opened the door and climbed out into the cold night. The parking lot was empty, except for my car and his. There was only a single lamppost that actually worked, so it was basically dark.
I went to shut the door, but heard Alex say my name and paused.
“Sweet dreams,” he said, in a soft voice that made goose bumps sprout up on my skin.
I smiled at him as I closed the door. Then I jumped in my car and let it warm up just long enough for the ice to melt away from the windshield. To my surprise, Alex waited for me leave before he did. He followed me out of the school parking lot, staying closely behind me until I made a right turn onto Main Street. There he turned left, his headlights disappearing and taking my sense of comfort right along with them.
All the lights at my two-story red brick home were off when I pulled into the driveway. It was only a little after seven, too early for Marco and Sophia to be in bed. They must have gone out for dinner or something.
I locked the back door behind me and stumbled around in the dark until I found the light switch and flipped it on. I grabbed a Coke and an apple from the fridge and headed upstairs to my room, debating whether or not to do my homework. My brain was distracted by the weird day I’d had. The weird day I’d spent with Alex.
My day with Alex.
Holy freaking cow.
A light suddenly flipped on behind me.
“And where have you been?”
I whirled around, almost dropping the can of Coke.
Sophia was standing at the bottom of the stairs with her hands on her hips. She had a fluffy pink robe on, and her auburn hair was curled up in rollers. I guessed I’d been wrong when I assumed she’d gone out. But what had she been doing; waiting around in the dark for me to show up?
So weird.
“I was out with…a friend,” I told her, knowing how unnatural the word “friend” sounded coming out of my mouth.
She narrowed her eyes. “You don’t have any friends.”
“Yes, I do,” I protested. “Sort of.”
“If that’s the case, then why haven’t I seen any of these friends?”
“Maybe because I don’t want to bring them over here,” I snapped hotly.
A strand of her hair unwound from a roller and landed in her face with a bounce. “What's wrong with over here?”
I gave an exhausted sigh. “Nothing’s wrong with here. I don’t know why you care about any of this anyway.”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t.” She pushed past me and marched up the stairs, calling over her shoulder, “In fact, I don’t care what you do at all.”
I’m not going to lie. Her words hurt me like a knife to the heart. I mean, I’d always assumed she’d never liked me that much, but now that she put it out there…I felt like I might cry. They didn’t care about me.
No one did.
Tears stung at my eyes. Breath, I commanded myself. You will not cry. I sucked back the tears and dragged my butt up to my room, where I changed into my pajamas and crawled into the welcoming warmth of my bed. It was early, but I was exhausted.
Outside my window, the clouds had parted. The moon smoldered against the blackness of the sky, the stars twinkling harmoniously around it. I felt that same strange pull that I always did whenever I looked up at the night sky. It made me feel like I belonged up there, shining with the stars.
Sometimes it felt like it was the only place I did belong.