"That's not it either," I said, surprising myself at my eagerness to go on. "He acts strange too. His body language is different. It's hard to explain, but when he first met me in the woods, he kept circling me and sniffing me like an animal."
He smelled like one too.
I shook off the thought.
Ty's fingers found her small locket, rubbing it between her index finger and thumb. "But he didn't do anything to hurt you, right?" Ty asked. "Didn't you say he helped you?"
"Yeah, I guess he did. More than once actually." I had to admit, it did seem like he cared. He didn't want his friend talking badly about me either. I laughed inwardly; as if that excused his cryptic behavior.
"Really?"
"Look Ty. Okay. I'll admit he's attractive."
"Attractive?" Ty asked with a grin.
I glowered. "But seriously, there's something not right about him. He's too secretive, even if he does have a knack for showing up at the right time to save the day."
Which is a little suspicious.
A trickle of goose bumps ran down the back of my neck and every tiny hair on my body stood. "Ty. Do you feel something?" A light sound found my ears, soft, still in the distance. "Do you hear that?"
Ty leaned on her elbow as she tried to listen. I thought for a moment she might have, but she shook her head. "I don't hear anything. Why? What'd you hear?"
I paused, straining my senses. It stopped, but the icy trail across my back hadn't left. "I know this sounds crazy, but I thought I heard...howling. You know, like wolves."
Ty's left eyebrow lifted precariously. "It can't be wolves. We're too far east for wolves." It looked like she wanted to add something, but she stopped. "Wait. I do hear something."
The howling returned, getting closer.
"When does your dad get home?"
I had to agree, this was getting creepy. The late afternoon sun had died down, covering my kitchen in a cascade of dull winding shadows. "Not until late. He's on call at the hospital tonight."
Ty forced a laugh, waving her hand as if that would push her fear away. "What are we doing Charlotte?" She laughed again, this one more convincing. "We're getting ourselves all worked up over nothing. So Liam and his friends are a little different." She shrugged and turned towards the large glass doors in the back of the open kitchen-living room. The sounds continued to get closer. "It's just some stray dogs. We're in the house, Charlotte."
Yeah, just dogs. Little did Ty know, that's what scared me. I wouldn't go back there. I wouldn't tell her about the haunting visions that followed me ever since...I stopped. They couldn't get us anyway.
"You're right. We're just being silly," I said.
The doorbell rang and both of us jumped. The prickling sensation on the back of my neck made me shutter and I slowly willed myself to stand up off my stool.
"Are you expecting someone? It's after dark."
I shook my head. "I have no idea who this could be."
"Maybe you shouldn't get it. You know, just pretend no one's home."
I nodded, when the doorbell rang again. "You know, I don't hear the dogs anymore. Maybe I'll just take a peek. I won't open it."
Ty gave me a face that clearly said I'd gone insane. I agreed with her, yet I found myself cautiously walking to the front door. Every floor board seemed to creep under my feet and my pulse slammed in my ears. Reaching up on my toes, I strained my neck to peer through the small peek hole high up in the large wooden door.
When my vision focused, my entire body went numb. I gasped, dropping my gaze. I couldn't believe it.
"Who is it?" Ty shout whispered from the kitchen. Apparently she was too afraid to move from the protection of her stool.
I couldn't find the breath I needed to say it. I had to be hallucinating. Maybe the milk in the ice cream had gone bad.
"Charlotte?" a voice said through the door.
My nerves went haywire.
"Who is it? What's wrong?" Ty whispered, still unmoving from her safety zone.
I swallowed hard and forced it out. "It's Liam."
Ty's features fell, reflecting the horrified shock I felt inside. She scrambled to my side, looking a little pale. "What?" She pointed to the door. "Are you sure?"
I nodded. "What should I do?"
Liam chuckled on the other side of the door. I quickly shook off the thought. No one could have heard us whispering through several inches of thick oak. Could they?
"I don't know," Ty whispered back. "Get the door."
"Have you lost it? How does he even know that I live here? I told you, total stalker."
"You didn't give him your address?"
"No."
"Well, you've got to do something. He's at the door."
"I know!"
It felt like I couldn't breathe. My mind blurred.
"Charlotte," Liam's said. "We know you guys are in there. We just want to talk, you know, about today. We feel really bad."
"How does he know we're in here?" I looked to Ty who appeared just as surprised to hear him calling through the door as I did. She shrugged, her face showing up blank.
"Maybe he saw us come in?"
"That was over an hour ago." I paused for a moment, realizing something else. "Did he say we?"
"I think so."
I stood up on my toes and braved another look through the peek hole, but Liam looked right back at me with that infuriating smile. I shot back down.
"What it is?" Ty asked.
"Nothing." I placed my head in my hands. "Do you think I should get the door?"
Ty shrugged with a look of resolve. "You have to now. He knows we're here."
I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, and turned back to the door. With my face a twisted mass of lines, I fastened the chain, and unlocked the main part of door. It opened with a whine and snagged against the metal fastener. I tried not to look at Liam, but I failed miserably.
"Hi Charlotte," he said with a crooked grin. His green eyes danced down at me from under his ashen hair. My heart quickened and I furiously fought with my body temperature. I prayed he didn't notice, but from the look on his face, he knew exactly what he was doing.
Dark shapes moved behind him on the dimly lit lawn only illuminated by the singular low volt bulb Dad installed on the front porch. I strained to see them. Byron waved. I could guess the others.
Fantastic.
"What are you doing here, Liam?"
I held my arms with a vice-like grip around my chest. Liam chuckled.
"I'm glad you find this so hilarious, Liam. Why are you here? How do you even know where I live?"
This seemed to catch the attention of the other guys, for they stopped goofing around and wrestling in the dark. My poise didn't falter.
Liam leaned in closer to the small gap between the chained lock, blocking out my view of the others in the background. I wanted to move, but I refused. I would not give him the gratification of thinking his proximity affected me.
"You're kidding, right?" he asked, smiling down at me despite my efforts to inflict some sense of warning into him. How could he be so calm?
It was annoying.
"I mean your dad is the new town doctor, Charlotte. It's a small population. Everyone knows where you live."
I turned to Ty for backup, who failed me by returning an 'it's kind of true' shrug. Groaning, I focused back on Liam. "It still doesn't explain why you're here and why you snuck into the cafeteria today. You're following me, aren't you?"
Liam's eyebrows pinched into a twisted 'V'. He mumbled, "Maybe."
"What?" I took a step back, my temper flickering at the surface. "You are unbelievable! You can't just go trailing people around like some stray dog, Liam."
"Why not?" He chuckled. How he found humor in this was beyond me. I clenched my fists.