Wiccan, A Witchy Young Adult Paranormal Romance (16 page)

I changed into cotton shorts and a
light t-shirt. The shorts said GEORGIA across the butt and the
t-shirt said SAVANNAH across the chest. After that, I busied myself
picking up my room and what little mess there was throughout the
rest of the house. That didn’t take me very long and used very
little of my nervous energy, so I decided to go for a
run.

I’m not exactly an athletic person per
se. I dabbled in a few random sports in school, but didn’t really
specialize in any one particular thing. I like to be active
occasionally, but not regularly. That’s the best way I can describe
it. That had been the case all throughout school and that was still
the case now.

Slipping on my running shoes and
grabbing my iPod, I locked up and took off up the street. I thought
I’d just jog my path to school and see if I could get anything at
Lisa’s murder site.

Once I got there, I pulled my earphones
out and stood staring at the crime scene tape. I hadn’t been
thinking about the consequences of crossing the tape. I wondered
how much trouble I could get into for crossing it if someone caught
me. How on earth would I explain what I was doing? But then I
thought of the downtrodden way Grayson had spoken of the case and I
threw caution to the wind and slipped under the tape anyway. He was
worth it.

I walked slowly, carefully placing one
foot in front of the other, mindful of where I was stepping and
what I was “seeing”. As I watched the ground, neither my mind’s eye
nor my other eyes saw anything. No vision, no additional evidence,
nothing out of the ordinary. Just nothing. Not even a
flicker.

Putting my earphones back in, I bent
and shuffled back under the tape and turned to head up the sidewalk
to take the longer route home.

A prickly sensation stirred the hair at
the back of my neck and I stopped to look around. The wind rustled
in the trees and bushes, the birds fluttered here and there, a
butterfly darted from blossom to blossom on a lilac bush, but other
than that, I was alone.

I resumed my run, trying to forget
about the disturbing feeling. It was hard to describe and even
harder to shake, but finally, when I was two streets away from my
house, I’d finally managed to push it out of my head.

That’s when I heard the
growling.

CHAPTER NINE

With Katy Perry blaring in my ears, it
was hard to locate from where the sound had originated. Slowing to
a fast walk, I quickly unplugged my ears and listened as I looked
around.

I heard the growl again, but by the
time I figured out it was coming from about an eight o’clock
position, which was to my left and nearly behind me, the huge
chocolate Doberman was upon me.

As I turned, the dog jumped at me. The
fact that I was in mid turn probably saved my life. He wasn’t able
to get to my neck as easily because of my shoulder, thank
God.

When he knocked me down, I defensively,
instinctively threw my arms up. I felt his teeth sink into the
flesh of my right forearm and bite down—hard. It seemed as though
the bones were being crushed; the pressure was tremendous. And
then, as if he wasn’t doing enough damage, he started shaking his
head and pulling, like he had hold of a chew toy.

From a distance I heard a scream, but
it didn’t register that it was my own. I was totally focused on the
dog and what he was doing to my arm. I saw blood and saliva flying
from his jowls and when I met his vicious black eyes, they were
trained on me.

I’m not sure how I didn’t
panic. I certainly
felt
panicky. But somehow, despite that, I was able to
completely focus on the dog. And then I knew nothing but
rage.

The way the dog was staring at me, I
knew he would kill me if he got the chance. I could see it in his
eyes. There was a craze beyond logic in them. I thought he might
even be rabid. It didn’t make any sense for a dog to just attack me
out of the blue like that. But this wasn’t the day I was going to
die. Not on the whim of a dog, anyway.

I imagined that if I had the strength,
I would pry open the dog’s jaws, extricating his teeth from my
flesh. Then I would throw him across the street into the big maple
tree I’d just passed. And then I’d—

When the dog began to whine, it broke
my concentration. His jaws trembled against my skin, almost like
his teeth were chattering. The murderous look in his eyes had
turned to one of fear. Then, with a yelp, he backed away and
hunkered to the ground. He lay there whining, staring up at me
pitifully, as I rose to my feet.

Even though the dog had just tried to
eat me, I felt a little sorry for it. I don’t know what happened to
him, what had changed his mind, but I wasn’t going to wait around
to find out. I was going to get the heck out of dodge and worry
about it later.

With my heart thudding
painfully in my chest and my breathing as ragged as ever, I ran
home. Not jogged,
ran.
I didn’t waste a second. I cut through yards and flew across
patios. I even climbed a short fence and jumped a fire pit. I was
determined to get home before whatever had come over that dog wore
off and he remembered what I tasted like.

As I let myself into the house, I
thought back to my trip home. I was incredibly quick and agile when
terrified. Good to know.

I washed and cleaned the dog bite,
examining it closely. I thought I saw a flash of white bone in a
couple of places and thought I probably needed stitches. I knew I’d
have to go to the hospital anyway. If Animal Control couldn’t find
the dog, I’d probably have to be treated as if it had been rabid. I
wanted to avoid that if at all possible. I’d heard horror stories
about the series of injections you have to take when you’ve been
exposed to rabies. Not for me!

I called Animal Control first and
explained what happened. They promised to have someone come out and
look for the dog as soon as possible. They assured me that they’d
want to speak with me as well. I told them I was going to the
hospital and that they could find me there or reach me on my cell
phone.

Wrapping some gauze around my arm, I
grabbed my keys and purse and headed for the Jeep.

Once I’d been checked in at the
emergency room, I had to wait. I took the time to call Mom and Dad,
just to let them know where I was. They both wanted to come to the
hospital, but I assured them that it would only add insult to
injury if my parents accompanied me to the ER like a child. I
promised that if I needed anything, including a ride home, that I’d
call.

Almost an hour later, I was still in
the waiting area when the Animal Control Officer called. I was
relieved to hear that they’d located the dog. Apparently, it was
still lying in the street where I’d left it. They traced it back to
its owners via its tags and they were able to produce records where
the dog had been recently vaccinated for rabies.

Finally, nearly two and a half hours
later, they put me in a room. A nurse came in and took my history
then examined my wound. She warned me that she’d be coming back
shortly to clean it in preparation for the doctor. I felt like she
probably did that on purpose so that I’d be preoccupied and filled
with dread rather than impatient and filled with aggravation
because I had to wait. And, sadly, it worked.

When the nurse returned, she brought in
all sorts of supplies. Among them was some kind of little scrub
brush spongy thing that was impregnated with an antimicrobial
solution. What had been a dull ache in my arm up to that point
began to burn, sting and throb as she cleaned. That nurse was
brutal.

Needless to say I didn’t thank her when
she left to go get the doctor. I thought by not punching her in the
face, I was showing my gratitude and incredible good grace. And, at
the moment, that was the best I could do.

While I waited for the doctor, my cell
phone rang. I was supposed to have turned it off upon leaving the
waiting room, but I was feeling antsy and rebellious and it soothed
me somehow to thumb my nose at authority, even in such a petty
way.

The screen showed that it was Grayson
calling. Not surprisingly, that did a lot to take my mind off my
arm.

“
Hello,” I said
quietly.

“
Why are you whispering?” he
whispered. I’d always wondered why people did that. I couldn’t help
but laugh.

“
I’m at the hospital and my
phone is contraband. I don’t want to get busted and sent to the
principal’s office or the boiler room or wherever they send
hospital rule-breakers,” I quipped.

“
Why are you at the
hospital?” He was talking in a normal voice now and I could hear
the concern in it. Despite the frigid temperatures of the sterile
room, it warmed me.

“
I got attacked by a dog and
I had to come get my arm checked out.”

“
You
what?”

“
I got attacked by a dog,” I
repeated.

“
Are you
alright?”

“
Yeah, I think so. They
found the owners and the dog’s had its rabies shots. That was what
I was worried about more than anything else.”

“
How bad is it?”

I turned my attention back to my arm.
It was hurting like crazy since that devil nurse had messed with
it. “I’ll probably get some stitches. The doctor hasn’t been in yet
so I don’t know anything for sure. I’ll live though.”

“
Can you move your fingers?
Your arm? Which side is it?”

You know, I hadn’t even
thought to be concerned about
that
kind
of damage, but now I was incredibly
grateful that I could move my fingers as well as bend my elbow.
“Yes, yes and right,” I answered. “Really, it’s not that
bad.”

“
Is your luck always like
this?”

I considered his question for a few
seconds. “Yeah, pretty much. Wanna change your mind about that
coffee?” I said it in jest, but I was desperately hoping that he
wouldn’t take the out I’d given him.

“
Not a chance. You’ll be
weak and I’ll have the upper hand,” he teased.

A little chill raced down my spine at
the prospect of him overpowering me and having his way with me,
though not in a rape-ish kind of way. I was thinking more of a
you’re-strong-and-hot-and-I’m-a-damsel-in-distress kind of
way.

“
Sounds like a
date.”

“
Call me when you’re
finished?”

“
Will do,” I said easily.
Then quickly, before he could hang up, I said, “See you
later.”

“
Count on it,” he promised
then hung up.

Though it was not an actual goodbye, it
would do. Plus the promise in those words did funny things to my
stomach.

My phone rang again while the doctor
was in with me. Thank goodness it was the Animal Control Officer. I
answered and quickly asked if I could call him back in a few
minutes. When I got off the phone, I told the doctor who it was and
that they’d said they needed to be able to reach me so that’s why I
left my phone on. It wasn’t until later that the fact that the lie
had come so easily to me became worrisome.

About an hour later, I was stitched up,
bandaged up and ready to go. The nurse gave me my discharge
instructions, a prescription for antibiotics and pain medication as
well as an order to follow up with my primary care physician in
7–10 days.

I gathered my belongings and headed for
the door. Once in my vehicle, I remembered to call the animal
people back. I punched the number into my phone and listened to it
ring. I was beginning to think they’d gone home for the night when
a man finally answered.

It was Officer Bryant, the same man I’d
talked to twice before.

“
Where were you when the dog
attacked you?”

“
I was crossing the street.
Why?”

“
And where was the dog?” he
asked, not answering my question.

“
I don’t know. I didn’t see
him until he started growling. At that point he was sort of behind
me in the street. Why?” I asked again.

“
And what did you do to the
dog?”

“
Nothing. He jumped on me
and knocked me down. And then he bit me. When he let go, I got up
and ran away. Why?” I asked a third time, my patience running
thin.

There was a pause before Officer Bryant
finally answered me. “The dog has some pretty severe injuries. The
owners were curious how he sustained them.”

A cold lump of dread formed in my
stomach. “What kind of injuries?”

“
The muscles in his jaws are
torn, several ribs are cracked and he has some internal
bleeding.”

I thought of my imaginings about the
dog, about what I’d have done if I’d had the strength to defend
myself. Suddenly, I felt sick. The things the officer was
explaining were the types of injuries the dog might’ve sustained if
I’d pulled his jaws apart and then thrown him up against a tree.
Just like I’d imagined.

“
So, what are you getting
at?” I asked, trying to keep my voice as level as
possible.