Full Moon (6 page)

“
You feel like getting up and going for a drive?”

With him, no human would say no.
Except…
“I should find Grace, and see
if she’s planned anything.”

Michael let
out an intoxicating laugh. “She’s fine.” He paused, staring at the
ceiling a moment. “Grace and Sarah are out running an errand. We’ve
plenty of time to go for a ride and still be home before they get
back. I promise. She’s not mad.” His hand came up in a Scout’s
honor position.

“
If you’re sure…” Guilt washed over me for preferring to hang
out with Michael rather than Grace. However, if she’d gone out with
Sarah, a short drive wouldn’t be so bad. “Give me ten
minutes.”

I waited.
Michael didn’t move. My only way off the bed would be to crawl over
the top of him. Kicking the blankets off, I shuffled to the foot of
the bed. Still unable to avoid not touching him, I edged over his
legs and let my toes reach for the floor. My hands brushed against
his shins, enjoying the hot and cold feeling his body gave off.
Once off the bed, I stood in the middle of the room not sure where
I’d left my backpack or what to do.

“
I’ll meet you downstairs.” He dropped his legs over the bed
and stood, relaxed and confident. He walked by me, his arm brushing
against mine. When he opened the door, he turned. “I’ll make some
breakfast while you get ready.” He pointed at the ground beside
Grace’s closet and disappeared down the hall.

I looked down
where he’d pointed. My bag. The door behind it led to a bathroom.
Alone, I grabbed my backpack and dumped it on the bed, hoping I’d
packed something decent to wear today. The leather book from the
bookstore slid to the floor. I leaned over and grabbed it then
tossed it on the bed, more concerned about dashing to the bathroom,
showering and getting dressed in record time.

I did manage
to get ready in a decent amount of time. Unfortunately, my sneakers
decided to play hide and seek. Michael knocked on the door just as
I was crawling around on the floor looking for my right shoe.

“
Do you remember where I tossed my shoes last night when we
got back?” Near the corner of the bed, a sparkle caught my eye.
“Forget it. Found you.” I grabbed it and held it up triumphantly to
Michael. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved black
shirt.
Incredibly hot without even trying
to be
.
Okay.
Enough with the oozing over the guy
. I was
starting to annoy myself with my inability to let it go.

“
I made coffee and Sarah bought muffins. She bought like ten
different kinds. Are you almost ready to–” He stopped mid-sentence,
dropping the travel mug on the nightstand, and muffin bag on the
floor. He swiped something off the bed.

I reached out
to stop the wobbling mug.

“
Is this
yours
?” He held the book at arm’s length, by the
corner.

I nodded.

He
snorted.

In disgust?
“I got it from The
Eclectic Bookshop yesterday.” Pulling my shoe on, I peered at the
cover.
Why’s he acting so weird?
“I haven’t had a chance to look at it. It looks
really old.”

“
Yesterday?” He glared at the book and mumbled
something.

All I caught
was “…makes sense now.” I had no idea what he meant.

“
We need to get this out of the house before Caleb gets home.
He’ll freak if he sees it.”

“
Why? It’s just an old folklore book.”

“
Let’s go.” He reached for my elbow and steered me toward the
hall. “You can drink your coffee in the car.”

Gravel sprayed
as we spun out of the driveway. Michael finally slowed the car when
he turned onto a scenic route to the mountains. He sat rigid and
quiet, so I sipped at my coffee and ate my muffin. I picked up the
book and flipped it open to the middle. “Holy friggin’ smokes!” The
hand drawn picture was of the ugliest, crudest looking thing I’d
ever seen—some kind of ancient scary mythical creature. I traced a
finger along the charcoal ridges. Some kind of fountain pen ink had
been used in tracing it.

I turned to the first page and read the single sentence on
it. “Grollic Monstrum. A
n aberrant occurrence that has the ability to produce
fear or cause physical harm. Can the beast be tamed? Or
controlled?”

I flicked
through some of the drawings scattered throughout the book. Large,
dark, omniscient animals had eyes that stared directly at you from
the paper. A page on the left showed a drawn photo which had been
painted in. Amber yellow eyes.

I gasped and
then tried to catch my lost breath. What knocked the wind out of me
was cold, hard realization.

“
That animal last night, it…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
It couldn’t be. This kind of stuff was all myths and legends,
folklores.

Michael
continued to stare at the road, his knuckles white against the
wheel he gripped. His posture confirmed what I didn’t want to
believe.

“
It can’t be. It doesn’t exist.”

The silence
drove me crazy.”

“
It isn’t real.”

“
They are.”

What
?
Wait
a sec.
“Not just one, there are
more?
H-How do you know?”

“
I just do. The grollic’s smell was all over the
forest.”

Turning to
face him, I studied his tense profile. “You could smell it? I
didn’t even hear that thing until it was three feet in front of me.
A grollic?” The word was foreign to my tongue. I needed to
concentrate but it all seemed ridiculous. What normal human could
hold a conversation on real-live monsters seriously? “You’re not
one, are you?” I giggled. He did seem to have some peculiar habits,
obviously not spooky, but, in my anxiousness, I couldn’t resist
teasing.

“
Never!” He snapped like I’d whipped him.

I exhaled,
letting my head fall against the back of the seat. “Sorry. I’m only
kidding.” Michael obviously wasn’t. I’d hit a nerve with my crappy
humor. A reminder of why I should never use it.

He pulled over
on the side of the road at a lookout point. Something about the
intensity in his blue eyes captivated me. I didn’t bother glancing
out the windows at the scenery. I had all I needed in the car.

Michael shoved
the car in park and drummed his fingers against the steering wheel.
“This is real. There are things I’m not allowed to say,” he
scoffed, “and other stuff you wouldn’t understand.”

Crazy alert. Get out of the car and walk
away
.
My brain
seemed to think it knew better than my body. I sat silent, unsure
what to do.

He stomped a
foot against the car floor. “I’m not sure what to tell you.”

“
The truth.” I barely knew the guy and here I sat, in his car,
demanding he spill his guts. I crossed my arms, ticked at my
inability to keep my mouth shut.

His eyes ran
up and down me, obviously misreading my body language. “I tell you
a hideous creature went after you, and you barely bat an eye. You
just turn and ask if I’m one.”

“
I was joking.”

“
Yeah, you said that.” He shifted, turning back to the wheel
and staring straight ahead.

My right thumb traced the pad of my left hand. If I told him
my feelings, I’d step over a line I’d never crossed before.
Totally risky, but is it as dangerous as the
animal in the forest last night?
Swallowing hard, I hesitantly laid my fingers on his wrist.
When he looked at me, I stared back into his ocean blue eyes. “I…We
haven’t known each other very long, but there’s something...I
li-like you.” I wanted to add it was different, not like anything
I’d ever felt before. Instead, I babbled. “This may sound weird,
but I can’t get you out of my head. I hardly know you, but I trust
you with my life.” Horrified at what I’d admitted, I pressed my
lips closed tight. When Michael didn’t say anything, I sat back
against my seat.
Crap! I’ve just screwed
up royally.
I dropped my face in my
hands.

“
Trust
me when I say I’m not right
for you.” Michael’s voice took on that husky rasp which made my
breath catch. “I’m no good for you.”

My heart sunk.
Grace had been wrong last night when she said Michael liked me. My
brain kept sending my heart mixed signals. I responded the way I
always did. I got defensive. “Isn’t it up to me to decide what’s
good or bad for me?”

“
I was afraid you’d say something like that.” Without another
word, his hands pulled at my wrists, forcing me to look at him. The
anger in his face softened as his eyes danced back and forth. His
face close, he leaned forward and as he opened his mouth to speak,
he brushed his lips lightly against mine. Fire and ice. Like
dynamite exploding inside my head.

Without
thinking, one of my hands touched his face and the other went
behind his head, its fingers curling in his soft hair. Then he
kissed me, this time with intention. It was intoxicating, left me
completely breathless.

As quickly as
he’d begun, he pulled away, heaving. “Sorry. That wasn’t supposed
to happen.” His eyes were shut tight.

“
I didn’t mind at all.”
Could
my mouth, for once, keep up with my brain and
shut up?

“
Rouge,” he whispered. I loved the way my name rolled off his
tongue. “This can only end badly.”

“
How do you know? We’ve barely started. Why not give this a
chance and see what happens?” Terrified he’d push away, I reached
out and grabbed his wrist. I’d never wanted someone like this. I’d
been content to live my life on my own and suddenly it seemed the
loneliest option in the world.

Michael rubbed
the light stubble on his jaw. He appeared torn, trying to wrestle
his version of good versus evil. He sat perfectly still for a few
minutes and finally turned, his blue eyes boring into mine. “Screw
it. I can’t fight this. Just promise you won’t hate me in the
end?”

“
As long as we don’t burn in hell, we’re good to go,” I
joked.

His jaw
dropped and his eyes grew big. Then he laughed, a deep throaty one
straight from deep inside. “Alright. Let's head back to my place.
Grace is already bugging me, wondering where you are. And,” he
swallowed, “it’s time you met Caleb.” He squeezed my hand and
turned the car around.

The way he
spoke made me anxious. I thought about those terrible yellow eyes
again. Thankful now it’d been too dark to see the thing properly.
“What are they?”

Michael
sighed. “Grollics? They’re human but biologically messed up.
Something’s wrong within their natural order. It’s impossible to
explain.”

I had no
reply. I didn’t get it nor could I fathom it. If I hadn’t seen
those freakish hollow eyes last night, I wouldn’t believe a word
Michael said.

We drove for a bit in silence. My mind raced at the thoughts
of a possible relationship, of monsters and of why in the world my
hormones were all jacked up.
Why did
Michael know so much about grollics?
A
sudden thought crossed my mind.
“How old
are you?”

He glanced at
me out of the corner of his eye. “How old did Grace tell you I
was?”

“
She dodged answering the question, like you are
now.”

“
You asked her about me?” He grinned.
“I’m…nineteen.”

“
I’ll be eighteen in January. However, I think I’m seventeen
going on thirty. I’ve been grown-up for so long.”

He chuckled.
“I know the feeling.”

Another
thought hit me. “How old’s Grace?”

The question
took him by surprise. He appeared about to say one thing but seemed
to change his mind. “We’re twins.”

Totally weird.
Now how’d I have a
hunch on that?
“How come you’re done with
school?”

“
I work with Caleb.”

“
Did you drop out? Or skip a grade?”

“
No.”

That didn’t
answer anything. He obviously didn’t want to talk about it – yet.
“Why the pretense she’s younger than you?”

“
She is younger, by a bit.”

“
You born first?” Grace had said he was older. Too many weird
secrets. “Are you guys in some kind of trouble?”

“
Questions, questions.” He grinned. “Has anyone ever told you,
you talk a lot?”

“
Never.” I shrugged, feeling giddy. Not once in my entire
life. “One more question, and I promise I’m done.”

Michael raised
an eyebrow.

“
Why was one of those monstery-things after me?”

“
Now
there
’s
a loaded question. Caleb might know the answer.” He glanced down at
the book sitting between us.

“
One more question.” He opened his mouth, so I quickly added,
“Can we stop at Starbucks and grab a latte? Sorry to say this, but
you make lousy coffee.”

Chapter
6

Rocking
slightly side to side, I now hesitated outside the house. Maybe the
reason my body didn’t want to go in had to do with the horrible
memory of the beast. If we went inside and talked about it, I’d be
admitting it was real.

Michael
reached for my hand and squeezed it, giving me the courage to cross
the threshold. Little currents of hot and cold raced across my
skin.