Page 37 of Shrouded in the Dark
I’d started to notice that they liked to touch. Not just me, but brief hand touches, shoulder brushes, or hugs with each other. They didn’t seem to care that I’d seen the displays of affections.
If I were honest with myself, I was a little envious with how comfortable they seemed. Plus, deep down, it fed fantasies kept hidden.
A few days later, I woke up in the morning to my text message alerts going off every few minutes. I dragged myself out of bed, hopping quickly doing the potty dance. Bathroom first before checking the messages. It took a little over ten minutes to finish in the bathroom since I wasn’t taking a shower. The cool water on my face was what really woke me up.
The security screens were already up, so it had to be past seven when they were automatically set to raise. My phone had fallen to the floor in my haste to not pee myself. My breath came out in a relieved sigh as I turned it over to find no damage to it.
My relief was short as I started to go through the messages even as another one came in. Sheesh. What was going on? The first few were from Mom asking if I was okay, that she saw the news.
What news? I headed out to the living room to turn on the TV as I kept going through the other messages after sending a quick text to Mom letting her know that I was fine, that I had just woken up.
The other texts were from Jasper, Felicity, and a few art colleagues from school. Most of them asked if I was alright, they saw the news, etc. Only Jasper’s texts were different.
Call me when you wake up.
Are you up yet?
Woman. WAKE UP!
Obviously, something was up, but Jasper's texts made me snort happily as I looked for the local news station. What came on made my knees go weak. Luckily, I was standing next to the ottoman, so I sank down onto it, staring in utter revulsion at the scene on the screen.
My phone was forgotten momentarily as the volume went up so I could listen to what was going on as I tried to make sense of the pictures flashing across the screen.
“…these pictures were sent into the station early this morning, right before the sheriff’s department appeared at the scene. They’ve asked us not to share these with the public until they figure out what’s happened, but we felt it was our duty to show those in the area of Tabernash so that they can take the proper precautions.” The anchor stared straight into the camera as it went back to her briefly. “The pictures you see have been authenticated. Law enforcement has said no comment as of now, but as our viewers can see, this appears to be a male body in pieces. We have reached out to experts to review more of the pictures to see if they can tell what caused the damage but it was clearly violent.”
The pictures appeared on the screen again. My blood froze as I saw what was a man’s forearm laying on the forest floor. The fingers were curled and were covered in mud that was mixed with the blood that was soaked around the arm. He’d had to have been terrified. What the hell had happened?
“This occurred in Tabernash, up higher in the country to the north east of the town in the woods.” The news displayed a map showing the approximate location of the attack. It was only a few miles from my house. “This attack comes a week after a woman near Winter Park was attacked on a hike near her home by some kind of animal. We have no information if this is related to that incident or not at this time.”
The loud blare of my phone ringing made me jump. I realized that the news had started an anxiety attack without noticing yet, but the phone brought me back to the present. My heart rate had already sped up in the oncoming attack. I took two slow deep breaths as I answered the phone without looking at who was calling. The edges of my vision were turning black as I fought against the grip.
“Hello?” My voice was a little rough.
“Damnit, woman.” Jasper’s voice was a welcome distraction to pull me from the anxiety except his was strained. “Why didn’t you text me? I know you’re awake!”
“How’d you know I was awake?” My voice was breathless as my body began to shake all over.
Jasper was quiet for a second before clearing his throat. “I just do. You’ve heard what happened?” He didn’t wait for my reply. “We’re going to come get you, you’re going to stay with us. Pack your stuff, whatever you don’t get done by the time we’re there, we’ll help.”
The sudden command was just what I needed as the blackness dissipated slowly as I continued to breathe deeply. My body was still shaking, but my heart rate was slowing down. Progress.
“What? I’m not staying at your house. My house has the security, remember? Yours doesn’t.” A soft sound made my eyes narrow. “Jasper, did you just scoff at me?”
My answer was a loud sigh before a scuffling came over the line. Seth’s deep voice came on and damnit, my toes literally curled into the rug.
“Becca, we’re just worried. If you aren’t comfortable staying with us, we can come stay at your place. I’d,” a loud noise followed by some grumbling, “WE’D feel better if we were with you. Our house is a little further from the body location, so we thought it’d be better to stay here.”
This time when my heart sped up, it wasn’t because of anxiety. It was because these four men cared about someone, they barely knew, who was alone. Scraping my finger against the ottoman’s leather, I went over my options for a few more moments.
“Becs?” His tone softened.
“I’m thinking.” I paused again. “What if I call Gary? See if he thinks it’s better to stay in this house or yours? I’ll call you back right after.”
“That’s fine. If we don’t hear from you in thirty minutes, though, we’ll be on our way to you, regardless. Deal?”
I felt his protectiveness even through the phone. My smile could be heard as I agreed before hanging up.
Gary’s phone rang once before he answered.
