From Bad to Cursed

“What are you doing out here?” I whispered.

She said, “Shhh,” and pulled me along, treading as lightly as she could.

The scraping grew louder as Kasey looked around. She dragged me behind a bush next to a thick pine tree and crouched down, hauling me with her.

I shot her a questioning look. But she was staring back at the clearing.

The animal, the beast, whatever it was, stepped into a small patch of light. There was a peculiar lightness in its step. It raised and lowered its head in a subtle bobbing motion as it moved.

I shivered. It was primitive, feral…inhuman.

In the darkness, I still couldn’t get a good enough look to tell what it was. It didn’t move like a person, or a bear, or even a werewolf.

I thought of Barney wandering these woods alone and shivered, glad we’d found him and that he was safely with Carter.

But were they really safe? Carter was alone, unsuspecting. I had to get back to him.

And we all had to get out of the woods.

But the creature was too close; we didn’t dare move a muscle until it disappeared. It was traveling again, that quick movement that sounded like a bundle of branches being dragged along the ground.

And it was coming closer. Much closer.

Kasey and I were pressed together, holding our breaths, as the thing came within ten feet of us. Maddeningly—or maybe it was for the best—you still couldn’t make out anything about it. It seemed to be made of shadows.

It paused briefly at a tree near us, sniffing the air like Barney had done.

And then there was an explosion of outraged barking, the release of an hour’s worth of pent-up fear and anger, and Barney came crashing through the woods.

“No, Barney!” I called. I tried to grab for his collar, to keep him away from the creature, but right behind was Carter, using his belt as a leash, holding on to the leather strap.

“What are you guys doing?” Carter demanded. “Lex, you said you’d be right back!”

“Nothing,” I panted, looking around. The shadow-creature had vanished. “Nothing, we’re fine.”

“I thought I heard something,” he said, his lip curling in irritation. “I was worried.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But we’re totally okay.”

I glanced back into the darkness. Carter looked around, too.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said. “If you don’t mind.”

Kasey clipped the leash to the dog’s collar, and Carter put his belt back on. We made slow progress through the forest and emerged right where Carter had left the car.

“Where’s Adrie

“She wanted to walk,” Carter said. “Said she’d go home if the car wasn’t here when she got back.”

“Maybe we should look for her,” I said, thinking of that thing in the woods.

“I called her,” Kasey said. “To tell her we found Barney. She could see Lydia from where she was, so they’re probably at the house by now.”

We drove to the Streeters’ house, and Kasey rang the doorbell. We heard shuffling inside, and finally, Mrs. Streeter pulled the door open. Her hair was pulled back, and she gave off an air of stylishness that clearly wasn’t hereditary. Her eyes were ringed with worry lines.

“My Barney!” she cried, wheeling her chair around the door. The dog flew into her lap. “Thank you guys so much.”

“No problem,” Carter said.

“You sweet, dirty little dog!” she said, letting Barney lick her nose. “I was so worried about you!”

It was cute. I smiled at Kasey, but she frowned.

Mrs. Streeter turned her attention to us. “Hello!” she said. “You must be Alexis. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Yes,” I said. “Hi. And this is Carter.”

“You guys really saved the day. Can I get you something? Water? Soda?”

“No, thanks,” I said. “We should probably get going.”

“Please, just stay till Ay gets back. She’ll want to thank you.” She wheeled backward and closed the door behind me. “How’d your pictures turn out?”

I froze.

“That was you, right?” she asked. “I recognize the hair.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Um…Actually, they’re good.”

And they were. Mother and daughter, hopeful companions. A little optimistic for my taste, but not bad.

“I’d love to see them,” she said.

I nodded, too fast, too apologetic. “I’ll send a print home with Adrie

She shook her head, her earrings swinging gently from side to side. “Don’t do that,” she said. “I’ll never see it. She hides from cameras these days.”

“Oh, okay,” I said.

“Forgive me!” she said. “I didn’t even introduce myself. I’m Courtney.”

Just as she said it, the front door opened and Adrie

“Barney’s home! Now, tell me what happened.” Courtney gave Adrie

“I don’t know.” Adrie

“But I keep telling you, dogs don’t think the way we do. If something scared him, he could take off.” She gave the dog a kiss on the head. “He did take off. Poor old stinky guy.”

“We’d better get going,” I said. “I need to change out of these wet clothes.”

The front door opened again, and Lydia and the other girl came inside. They hovered behind Adrie

“I—I might go home with my sister. I don’t feel very well,” Kasey said. In the light of the hall, you could see pine needles in her hair and my well-defined shoe print on her shirt.

The girls tried to cluster around her, but she ducked away and disappeared down the hall.

I took the bag of cookies from my pocket, and Barney hopped off Mrs. Streeter’s lap and zipped over to me. “You’ve probably had enough for one night,” I told him.

“I’ll take them.” Adrie

There was silence.

“He’s scared of you, Ay,” Courtney said. “Did something happen during your meeting?”

Adrie

Meeting?

The voice came from behind me.

“Alexis, right?” I turned to see the fourth girl standing with her hand extended. She had beautiful light bronze skin and a mess of golden brown curls. “I’m Tashi.”

I shook her hand and gave her a quick smile before turning toward the front door. Kasey was coming down the hall, and I was ready to get home.

In the car, Kasey stared out the window.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She was quiet for so long I thought she was ignoring me. But finally, she spoke.

“Mrs. Streeter really loves that dog,” she said.

Carter seemed all right on the drive, but when we got to Silver Sage Acres, he pulled past the guest lot and idled in the driveway, keeping his seat belt fastened.

Kasey went inside, but I lingered in the front seat.

“Want to come in?”

Carter traced the underline of his jaw with his thumb. “I…I don’t think I should. I mean, you need a shower, and it’s getting pretty late.”

“I can shower in three minutes,” I said. “I’ll put on a pot of coffee. We can watch a movie.”

“Lex.” Carter turned to me and grabbed my hand. “I don’t want to lie to you. I really am tired, but…even if I weren’t, I’ve had enough for the night.”

“What does that mean? Enough of me?” I pulled my hand away as a thought occurred to me. “Or enough of Kasey?”

He sat back. “Out in the woods…did you see what was making that sound?”

I counted three heartbeats before I could answer. “No,” I said. Technically it wasn’t a lie. I didn’t see what it was, after all.

He rubbed his eyes. “I know this sounds mental, but I think I kind of did see…something. I heard more noises, and I thought I saw a shadow go by. The dog went nuts and I got really worried, but by the time I reached you, there was nothing around.”

“Right,” I said. “Nothing.”

He grabbed the steering wheel. “Except your sister.”

“So, okay, if the noises were Kasey,” I said, “which maybe they were …then what’s the big deal?”