Beauties and Beasts Read online

  “Not sure if I’ll be here…” I reminded her gently. “Well, you have to at least come back and stay for a few days,

  even if you’re not living with your mom and George anymore…you can come and stay with us.” Sara said matter- of-factly.

  “Su re, I can do that. Who knows, I might come crawling back if my dad doesn’t want me…”

  “Oh, I’m sure he’ll want you to stay. No worries, girly. I’ll go and knock some sense into his thick head if he doesn’t.”

  I laughed at the thought of that. My little five-foot-two inch friend stubbornly trying to convince my dad to love me. I could just see her flipping her shoulder length caramel brown hair back, and scrunching her freckled nose while yelling at him. Now that would definitely be an interesting scene. Maybe Sara was a little jumpy and easily spooked, but she had an attitude and could hold a grudge like no one else.

  *~*~*

  I accidentally fell asleep on Sara’s bed, and when I woke up I was alone. With a yawn, I headed downstairs to see where everyone was.

  There was no one in the kitchen, but I found a note on the table saying that Sara and her mom had gone grocery shopping and didn’t want to wake me.

  Not exactly sure how long they’d be, I decided to find something to eat. Food was always my favorite option when I wasn’t sure how else to pass the time. But as I was opening the cabinet, I heard the stairs creaking. For a split second, I was completely frozen in place. Then, doing what any sensible person would do in this type of a situation I grabbed a knife from one of the drawers and I waited.

  Chapter Seven, Abel

  It wasn’t until I was half way home that I remembered that I had promised the girls that I would stop Kathryn’s place on my way home from work to check things out. I groaned and sluggishly got dressed. It was the last thing that I felt like doing, but I wanted to keep my promise. For Kathryn’s sake at least.

  I went home and took a shower first, since I was already closer to home than I was to Kathryn’s house. All I wanted to do was take a nap and make up for the sleep I’d lost but the sooner I got there, the sooner I could get back.

  Where were the girls anyway? They must have gone shopping or something.

  I took the steps two at a time and strode into the kitchen, only to find a somewhat startled-looking Kathryn, wielding a carving knife. I put my arms up, in mock surrender wondering what exactly I had just walked in on. Her shoulders slumped when she saw me, and she started to laugh.

  “Oh my gosh, Abel, you scared me,” she gasped, sounding exasperated. Her face turned bright red, and she shook her head. “I thought someone had broken in.”

  “No, it’s just me.” I replied, amused by her overactive imagination. “I do live here, ya know.”

  “Your mom and Sara went to the store to get something for dinner. I just woke up from a nap. I’m still a bit out of sorts I guess.” She rubbed her forehead and chuckled nervously.

  “It’s alright, don’t worry about it. Hey, I was going to head over to your house and check things out for you. Do you want to come with me?”

  “Uh, sure, that’d be great.” She quickly set the knife on the counter and went to get her shoes.

  We drove in silence over to her house, but it wasn’t an awkward silence, more of a contented one.

  “Do you want to wait in the car?” I asked her as I pulled into the driveway.

  “No, I’ll come in with you,” Kathryn replied, hopping out. I couldn’t help how beautiful she looked as she gazed out the windshield, her gray eyes fixed on the house.

  “Alright then, let’s go.”

  When we found the door unlocked, I turned back to see Kathryn limping behind me chewing her lip, her nose scrunched in annoyance.

  “Come on,” I said reassuringly, taking a step into the house. We checked every room, every door, and window, but nothing appeared to be broken into or stolen.

  “There has to be something—I know I wasn’t dreaming. There has to be blood or footprints or something,” Kathryn sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince me.

  “Blood, why would there be blood?” I asked.

  “Well, I kind of hit the guy on the head a flashlight…” she said, pushing her bedroom door open. She groaned when we looked in, seeing that nothing was amiss.

  “I swear he was here…” she mumbled, sitting on the edge of her bed. I didn’t really know what to say. She just huffed and stood right back up.

  “Whatever. I guess I’ll just grab some clothes for tomorrow.” Kathryn sighed, opening one of her drawers. She shoved clothes and some pajamas in a backpack and then grabbed her phone.

  “Who’s this?” I asked, pointing to a picture on her desk. It looked like it was taken a while ago. She looked up and she gave a little half-smile.

  “That’s me and my dad when I was a kid,” she said quietly. “You two look a lot alike,” I remarked, holding the picture up next to her face. She and her father had the same hair and eye color and smile. I always loved Kathryn’s smile. She had these cute dimples in her cheeks when she smiled. Her eyes got this sparkle in them and her whole face lit up when she was truly happy. I hadn’t seen one of those smiles in a long time.

  “Yeah. My mom always says I act just like him. ‘You’re so stubborn, just like your father’ she tells me. Too bad he wasn’t stubborn enough to stick around,” she mumbled, throwing her backpack over her shoulder.

  “Here, let me carry that for you,” I said grabbing her backpack.

  “Thanks, Abel. Oh, hold on a sec, I have to grab my toothbrush.” She dropped her bag but handed me her cellphone. It of course started buzzing and ringing as soon as she left the room.

  I glanced down to see an extremely unflattering picture of Stephanie light up the screen. Kathryn came back to see who it was and immediately rolled her eyes when she heard the custom ringtone. I handed the phone to her, and she growled before answering.

  “What, Steph?” she answered, making a face like something smelled. “No. No, I don’t feel like it. Oh grow up, Stephanie! Sure, call daddy—see if I care.” She hung up and sighed. “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, fine,” she muttered, sticking her jaw out. I chuckled and shook my head. We looked around her room one more time and then left, finding nothing out of the ordinary. Sara and my mom were home by the time we got back.

  After dinner, we played a board game and stayed up until two in the morning watching a movie. We let Sara pick since it was her last night at home; so of course she picked a girly movie. Kathryn dozed off halfway through, her head unintentionally resting on my shoulder. She didn’t wake up until the credits started to roll. As soon as she moved away from me, I missed her warmth. I could tell by her face she hadn’t meant to fall asleep like that.

  “Uh, sorry, I didn’t mean—sorry,” she mumbled, her face turning pink. “Goodnight, Abel,” she said softly. “Night, Kathryn.”

  *~*~*

  The next morning, Sara was a basket case. She cried as I put her suitcase in the car. She cried again when the airport came into view, and then again when she said goodbye to me and Kathryn. My shoulder was soaking wet by the time my mom finally had to pull her away so they wouldn’t miss their flight.

  Kathryn and I didn’t get back to her place until around eight o'clock that night because of traffic. The worried look in her eyes didn’t escape my notice as I walked her to the door.

  “I keep thinking Sara’s going to text me tomorrow and we’ll hang out or something,” she said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah…it’ll be weird without her. You know you’re still welcome anytime, even though Sara isn’t home. If, you know, you need to escape the wrath of Stephanie or something,” I offered.

  She laughed a little and shook her head. “Thanks, Abel…but I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to take you up on that offer.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well…I’m leaving.” She smiled sadly and looked down at her feet
.

  “Leaving? Where?” My heart started beating faster. “There’s really not much for me here…I mean you’re here and—I mean yeah, Sara but now that she’s at college...” Her voice drifted off and she turned her head up to look at me. In the soft evening light, I saw the bruise on her jaw. At first I thought it was just a shadow, but then I noticed the broken skin that ran alongside it.

  “What’s that from?” I asked her, gently brushing the bruise with my finger. She winced a little and took a half-step back. “I uh—II don’t know, I must have hit it on something,” she replied with a shrug.

  She was totally lying. I raised my eyebrows and gave her a look. Our eyes met briefly, but then she looked down at her feet again.

  “Kathryn, what happened?” I asked, stepping closer to her. “It was George,” she finally blurted, shaking her head. “He’s the worst. It’s fine, though.” She pursed her lips and pushed them to the side as she always did when she was perplexed.

  “Kathryn, he shouldn’t treat you like that! Has he hit you before?”

  She shrugged and again, wouldn’t look at me. I lifted her chin and made her look up at me. “Not much. Really, Abel, I’m fine.”

  “I’m still going to have a talk with him. It’s not right, Kathryn.”

  “I’m leaving anyway. It’s not worth it…I’m not worth it.” The last part she whispered so softly that I barely caught it. “Don’t ever say that, Kathryn, that is not true at all.” I grabbed her hand pretended not to see the tears in her eyes.

  She nodded slowly, then looked up and me and gave me a soft smile. I don’t think she had ever looked more beautiful than at that moment.

  Slowly, I leaned just a little closer as she stared deeply into my eyes. My lips were just about to brush against hers when suddenly she squealed and fell back into the bushes.

  My immediate reaction was to start laughing. Her face got red and she laughed, although she looked absolutely mortified. I helped her up and we had a good laugh about it. The moment was ruined though, so I didn’t try to kiss her again even though I wanted to.

  “Are you going to be okay here by yourself?” I finally asked.

  “I think so.” She shrugged, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Despite her attempt to smile and laugh it off, I still noticed her hesitation.

  “Are you sure? You can come and stay in Sara’s room tonight,” I offered.

  “No…I think I’ll be fine. Thanks, Abel. I should probably start packing anyway.”

  The thought of her packing her bags and leaving made me feel as if someone was driving a knife through my heart. Although I saw why she would want to leave, I didn’t want to lose her.

  “Alright. You have my number so call me if you need anything. Seriously, anything. If you change your mind about staying at my place tonight I can come pick you up alright?” She smiled and nodded again. I wrapped my arms around her and she hugged back tightly. I really didn’t want to let go. “I hope I can see you before you go.” I said, walking backwards toward my car.

  “I’ll make sure to stop by to say good-bye to you and your mom,” she said with a smile. “I owe you guys that much.” “See you later, Kathryn.”

  She waved good-bye, then slowly opened the door and went in the house.

  Her beautiful smile occupied my thoughts the entire ride home. And it wasn’t the first time that I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head. I laughed, thinking of how young she was when we first met.

  She was only fifteen when I came back from my second tour. Since then, I’ve watched her grow into beautiful young women. And ever since that camping trip we went on with my mom and Sara this past summer, my feelings for her had blossomed into something more than just friendship. She and I would get up early every morning and catch fish for breakfast while my mom and Sara slept in. We’d had some pretty deep conversations then. I will never forget that camping trip—that was the week she had turned nineteen. We didn’t have cake, but the memory of her sticking that little birthday candle in the fish’s eyeball is forever burned in my brain. She had an absolutely fantastic sense of humor. Everything about her was wonderful. I didn’t live without her. When she came to say goodbye, I would tell her about my feelings for her and see what happens.

  *~*~*

  Not long after I had gotten home, this weird feeling had nestled its way into my stomach. And I found myself wondering… What if someone really did try to break in the other night? What if they tried break in again tonight? I’d be responsible for anything that happened because I left her to fend for herself.

  Don’t be stupid, she’ll be fine. You checked the house and everything was okay. I tried to convince myself.

  But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Finally, I decided to just play it safe and go back to get her. I texted Kathryn to tell her I was going to come pick her up, then headed out the door.

  About halfway down the road to her house I saw Kathryn running down the street. What the hell was she doing? Then I saw someone chasing her. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as she was tackled to the ground. “Hey!” I shouted, jumping out of my truck and running towards them. A gunshot rang out. An explosion of pain rippled through my leg. My knee buckled, and I fell to the ground, scraping my hands on the asphalt. My eyes scanned the darkness in attempt to find the gunman.

  “Abel!” she screamed, her voice filled with such desperation it sent chills down my spine. I tried to stand but my leg wouldn’t support me. Blood had already starting to soak through my pant leg. I clutched the wound with one hand and tried to drag myself with the other

  “Kathryn!” I called, but my shouts were met with silence as I looked out into the dark night surrounding me. There was no way I was letting them get away with her, whoever they were. I managed to pull myself up despite the searing pain in my thigh. I leaned on my truck for support and made my way over to the passenger side. I pulled the door open and yanked open the glove box, revealing my .44 Smith & Wesson Magnum.

  Chapter Eight, Kathryn

  You idiot! What the heck are you thinking? I asked myself as I watched Abel’s black truck drive down the road. He was going to freaking kiss you! And you messed it all up.

  I groaned, replaying the entire day in my head and picking apart every stupid thing that I did or said.

  What was I thinking telling him about George hitting me? It really didn’t matter, because I was leaving soon anyway. But it surprised me how much Abel protested when I told him I was going to leave. Could…could it be possible that he had feelings for me too? Heck, the man just tried to kiss me and I’m mental debating whether or not he likes me. Unless I was imagining things…it seems that my imagination has been running pretty wild the past few days. But that didn’t matter.

  All I knew was that when I was staring into his deep brown eyes, nothing else seemed to matter. It was just so easy to get lost in them. I had promised him I would go and say goodbye to him before I left, but I wasn’t sure if I could. I wondered if I should just leave tonight. Pack my bags and drive off before mom, George and Stephanie got back.

  Just as I was getting all fired up, and filled with inspiration to pack, I remembered that my car was still at the garage for repairs.

  “Just my luck.” I muttered to myself. With a sigh, I turned around to look at my big, empty house. The thought of sleeping here alone tonight filled me with dread.

  A twig snapped in the woods a few feet away and I bolted in the house, slamming the door shut behind me. Blood pounded in my ears as my eyes scanned the pitch-black room around me. The few moments that I fumbled around in the dark searching for the light switch were nerve-wracking. Thankfully the power had come back on, it must’ve just been the storm the other night that knocked it out.

  Even after the lights were on, it took a few minutes for me to slow my breathing and calm my racing heart. I thought that maybe a nice hot shower would help to relax me, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what I would do if someone
broke in and tried to murder me. Dying naked in the shower definitely was not on my bucket list.

  After spending more than an hour in the shower making a plan of attack, I got out and put my sweatpants and tank top. As I was towel drying my hair, I heard the floor creak right outside the bathroom.

  The hair on the back of my neck prickled and my heart began to race wildly again. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. With a deep breath, I opened them again, flung the door open and saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The house was completely silent and everything was in its place. But right then and there I realized that I was a scared-y-cat and refused to spend the rest of the night completely on edge.

  I grabbed my phone and was about to call Abel and ask him to come pick me up, but then decided against it. It would be a waste of gas for him to drive all the way back here and then all the way back to his house again. His house wasn’t too far— maybe a twenty-five minute-walk—and I could use the exercise since I had been in the car all day. My biggest concern was trying to get there before it started to rain again.

  I hastily changed into jeans and an old button-down, seeing as it was cold out and I didn’t like the idea of walking down the road in my pajamas. The stairs creaked again, and I froze...and listened…and waited. But there was nothing. I grabbed my iPod and pulled my sweatshirt over my head.

  When I went to grab my cell phone off the counter, I noticed that the pocket knife my dad had given me for my tenth birthday was lying out.

  Strange, I thought I had left it in my room. I hesitated a moment, then grabbed it and stuck it in my pocket, just in case. It probably wouldn’t do much to someone who wanted to rob or kill me, but it gave me a little comfort. I laced up my black converse high-tops and locked the door behind me.

  It was surprisingly cool night in the end of August. The air was damp, and the sky cloud covered. The moon peeked through occasionally but didn’t provide a whole lot of light. I wished I had brought a flashlight. Too late—there was no way I was walking back now.