Shadow Cave (38 page)

“
I guess so.
Ice skating or roller skating?
Because I have got to warn you, ice skating with me is a dangerous activity.
”

He laughed as we climbed into the car.
“
Wind skating.
”

“
Wind skating?
I
’
ve never heard of it.
”

“
Then you
’
re in for a treat.
”

“
Lead the way.
”

Secrets and Lies

Wind skating was nothing like surfing.
It wasn
’
t much like skating either.
The best way to describe it was that it was very similar to driving a car
...that
is, if the car was strapped to your shoes.
You didn
’
t move your feet at all, you just tried to stay upright as you went flying around a track.
Waist high concrete walls
bordered
the track itself; it
looked pretty much like your average racetrack.

Mark stayed close the first few times I went around the track
,
since wind skating could easily become hazardous to one
’
s health.
Talk about a turn for the worse.
But surprisingly enough, once I got over the fear of becoming a giant skid mark, I had a great time.
The most challenging part was staying clear of the other skaters.
It was just my luck that the track was nearly at full capacity that day.
Either way, the wind whipping through my hair felt wonderful.
I leaned to the right and narrowly missed mowing down a woman in hot pink shorts.

Oh well, I was still getting the hang of it.
I yelled an apology
over
my shoulder anyway.
The way that I saw it
,
it was hard enough to master something that you had never attempted in the past.
Just imagine trying mastering an activity that you had never known existed.
Everyone knew that made it twice as hard
,
didn
’
t they?

I was having fun, regardless, and doing pretty darn well, I thought
,
with no small degree of satisfaction.

During our last run on the track, Mark even took my hand.
I told myself that simple concern motivated his actions and nothing else.
Whether I believed this or not was another matter.
For the most part, I did want to believe that he felt nothing out of the ordinary for me.
Because if he did
—
and I was becoming increasingly convinced that was the case
—
then it did
not
speak well for him.
I was supposed to be his cousin.
I didn
’
t know how they did things out here, but where
I was
from, cousin lovin
’
was
—

“
They
’
re closing the track!
”

“
What?
”
I jerked myself back to the present and struggled to stay upright.
Leave it to me to daydream at sixty miles an hour.
I applied light pressure and began to slow down.

“
Track
'
s closing.
”

“
Ok
ay
.
”
We came to a stop near the old Victorian house that served as both business office and homestead for the owners of the track.
Next to the house was the tall wrought iron gated exit.
The track butted up against a long set of concrete stairs that cut through the sloping grass and led to the towering old house.
It was there that I stopped.

“
If you don
’
t mind returning the skates then I can run out and get the car.
That way you don
’
t have to walk through the entire parking lot.
”

“
Are you sure?
I don
’
t mind the walk.
”

“
I know
,
but you must be sore after all the skating.
The first time is always the most difficult.
Even if you don
’
t feel it now, you probably will by tomorrow morning.
”

Was he considerate or what?
“
Thank you.
”

“
Good.
I will only be a minute.
”

I think that it took longer to take the skates off than it had taken to put them on.
There were eight buckles across the feet and six more that fastened around the ankles. The owner of the track was a short balding man who looked to be in his
mid-forties
.
He looked like a used car salesman to me, but he had nice eyes and a pleasant smile.
He held a cellular telephone to one ear and motioned for me to wait.
I nodded an agreement and shouted to Mark.

“
It will be another minute!
”

“
No problem!
I am going to
...,
”
he
yelled back.

The rest of whatever he was trying to say was lost in the wind that had rapidly picked up.

“
What?
”
I yelled back, squinting to try and read his lips.

“
Clean
the car out!
”
He pointed to the car several times.

“
Ok
ay
!
”
I grinned and waved before returning to the base of the stairs.
I zoned out for a moment or two while I waited for the owner of the track to return.
My daydream was short lived though
,
and I stumbled when the first gust of wind hit me.
Despite the growing force of the breeze, everything else seemed to be normal.
I blew out a shaky breath and chided myself for over reacting.
It was an approaching storm
,
nothing more sinister than that.
A quick appraisal of the sky above assured me that there were not even that many dark clouds out yet.
With any luck
, I thought absently,
Mark
and I
will
make it home before the downpour
is
in full swing
.

When the first bug whirred past my head I knew that I was in trouble.
I strained to get a better look at the thing as it continued to buzz back and forth in front of me.
Yet try as I might, I could not identify it.
The best I could come up with was that it looked like a cross between a locust and a common housefly.
The most unusual thing about
it
was its massive size.
The creature was nearly the size of my hand.
Sure
,
it did not compare much to the Naule, yet for a flying insect it was enormous.
I ducked as it sped past me a third time.
It was getting closer, I noted with a sense of foreboding.
It was…circling me.
I backed up, crouched low next to the concrete steps, and scanned the yard for
the
manager.
He was nowhere in sight.

“
Shit.
”
I swore.
“
If he is not back in exactly ten seconds, I am dropping the skates and making a run for it.
”
The creature was flying erratically and my nerve was waning by degrees.
I felt sluggish and short of breath as the minutes passed.

“
Ten seconds…
.
”
I mumbled.
“
Been more than ten seconds…
.
”
I began to panic.
I could hardly move and my chest was becoming more constricted by the second
, yet
my mind remained sharp and alert.
I was fully aware of what was happening but unable to control it.
Venom, I realized with dread.
The thing had stung me.
Even though I had not felt the sting, it was the only logical explanation for my sudden symptoms.

“
Lady!
Hurry and get up here!
”
It took a
Herculean
effort to turn my head, but finally I managed.
It was the owner of the track.
He stood near the top of the steps
,
frantically waving his arms.
I struggled to move and fell to my knees.
The man shouted one more time before disappearing into his house.
I did not blame him.
The creature had apparently called for backup.
There were at least ten more of them swarming around me.
I would never be able to make it up the stairs.
My only hope was to make it to the gate on my own or get Marks attention somehow.
I stumbled onto the track and tried unsuccessfully to scream.
I could see
Mark
just beyond the gates.
He was half inside the passenger seat of the car and the stereo was blaring.
He would never be able to hear me over all the noise.
My heart
sank
, but I refused to give up.
I just had to find another way to grab his attention.
I forced myself to take a step towards the gate, and then another.
I felt a sharp pain in my side and dropped to the ground.

The sky began to darken and the wind howled.
A buzzing sound filled my ears as the gates began to close.
I saw
Mark
straighten in the car as my throat began to swell painfully.
I could only pray that he would run.
The gate was more than half closed.
He would never make it out alive if he tried to be a hero.
As desperately as I needed to cling to the hope that he would come and get me, I had no desire to watch him die next to me.

But Mark would never leave a man
—
er
,
woman
—
behind
,
and I knew it.
In the next instant, he had dashed through the gates and thrown me over his shoulder.
I pressed my hands to my puffy throat and struggled to breathe.
The gate swung shut and the latch clicked into place a second after we raced through it.
Mark stopped and tried to set me on my feet next to the car
,
but my knees buckled and I slid down to the gravel and continued to gasp.
He kept his hands under my arms and knelt down in front of me.

“
Annabelle
,
why didn
’
t you say something?
”
h
e asked in a tormented whisper.
“
Oh, no
—
you can
’
t breathe, can you?
”

I shook my head in answer
...or
at least I think I shook my head.
In any case, I meant to.
But
Mark
summed up the situation fairly well on his own.
We had to get out of there and we had to move quickly.
He tossed me into the car and swiftly jumped behind the wheel.

“
Just lie back and try to take deep slow breaths.
You should be ok
ay
within a few minutes.
”

I did as he instructed and several minutes later, the pressure on my throat had eased ten-fold.

“
Better?
”

I placed a tentative hand to my throat and nodded.

“
Good.
Just stay nice and relaxed.
Their venom is strong but it does not have much staying power.
You are going to be fine.
”

So it had been a reaction to the venom, as I had suspected.
What a thing to be right about,
I thought sarcastically.
Mark steered the car onto a gravel road that cut through the forest that connected outer Briggston to Grandview.
Like the track, the forest was unprotected territory.
I wondered why
Mark
had taken this particular path instead of circling back to Briggston and taking the protected route home.
But then again, we had been running for our lives
,
and this was probably the fastest way home.