Page 1 of Those Who Are Bound

Jonah

“Ohmygod,Jonah,I love it already!” Lucy bounced excitedly in her seat as Jonah maneuvered his black Rubicon down the tree-lined drive. The sprawling acreage of Easy Street Events sat off highway I-29. Barely visible at the end of the lane, the modern building was a one-story, light gray metal-and-glass structure with a steeple roof.

He drove toward the event center on its dedicated paved lane. A smaller road angled off to the right, leading to a parking lot.

Smiling, Lucy reached over the console and grasped his thigh, her nails digging through his pants. “I mean, I knew I loved it when I Googled it. Iporedover the pictures.” She rattled off what sounded like descriptors she’d memorized from the website.“There’s a built-in bar in the front corner: leather, glass, and polished silver, not a tacky bar; upscale. No bar stools, no foot rails, no blinking neon signs. Just soft blue LEDs for the back-lighting.”

He navigated around a picturesque fountain statue of an alluringly draped woman holding a bowl overhead from which the water cascaded down.

“I’m so stoked!” Lucy gushed again.

Jonah peered over at her from behind a pair of dark aviator sunglasses. “Expectations, Luce.” It wasn’t as condescending as it sounded. Lucy was aptly named: she was often up in the sky with her expectations. A little tempering was sometimes necessary. Seeing her deflated when her ideals weren’t reached was as devastating for him as for her.

“This is it; I know it is,” she said with more determination than confidence. His attempt to level her out wasn’t going to work. He knew this based on experience, but he still tried. “Oh my god!” She squealed again, this time slapping his leg.

Jonah grasped her wrist gently and moved her hand away from his thigh. “You don’t need to pulverize my leg.” There was laughter in his voice. “And don’t get carried away yet.”

“I feel it,” she said, verbally batting away his caution. “This place is so me. Isn’t it me? This is me.”

Jonah pulled up in front of the building. He had to admit: itwasher. The space, the structure: it all screamedLucy.He scanned the area before he asked, “Is anyone here?”

“The owners live on site: brothers named Gage and Elliott Rork,” Lucy answered, flipping down the visor to check herself out in the mirror. She put a hand to her blond hair, no doubt confirming it was still in its bun, despite the visual evidence, before running it over her cheek. Again, assuring herself that her makeup hadn’t flaked, and that she wasn’t getting too dewy in the summer heat despite the air conditioner. He knew her well enough to know what these actions meant.

“You look fine.” Jonah’s affirmation was sincere, even if automatic.

Lucy grinned over at him, her appreciation clear. “I love you.”

He affirmed, “Love you, too.”

He tilted his head as he looked forward, turning off the ignition, surveying the area again: the large windows, the closed red door that boldly announced itself as the main entrance. The place looked deserted; no life. Of course, it was a colossal structure set back in the woods.

Jonah tossed his sunglasses on the dash, and in the same motion, opened the car door. The summer heat immediately poured in. “Did you at least call ahead?”

“No,” Lucy answered, also opening her door.

Jonah tossed her a look of gentle rebuke across the hood of the Jeep as they walked toward the front of the vehicle. “Lucy…”

“I wanted to surprise them. I wanted to be spontaneous. You know me,” she defended herself. Smoothing down her white skirt, she walked across the pavement and onto the light-gray tiled patio, her heels clicking as she went. “Maybe if I knock?” Looking back at him, she lifted a shoulder, winked, and rapped her knuckles on the door.

From where he stood by the Jeep’s fender, he could hear her knock echo within the space on the other side. He pointed out, “I doubt they live inside the event space itself.”

She made a face back at him. He knew that expression: she wasn’t impressed by his know-it-all tendency. He saw it multiple times a day. He hid his amusement, an eyebrow raising as nothingness met her knocks.

She leaned over to look into the vacant building through the large window. She took some time to peruse, and he didn’t need to look inside himself to know it was completely empty.

What she did see, though, must have shot a thrill through her because she wiggled. “Classy.” She relayed it through clenched teeth, like she was trying to hold her enthusiastic shit together.

Awhumpfollowed by awhump-whump-whumpbroke the eerie silence.

Straightening on a slow spin toward him, Lucy’s expression fell into one of puzzlement, searching his face for an answer. Jonah shrugged, equally baffled. He looked briefly to his right in the direction of the sound.Someonewas around.

Looking back at Lucy, he attempted to discern what could be causing the sounds. After a few more staccato whumps and thwacks, Lucy turned to cautiously make her way to the side of the building, near the extended paved drive. Jonah tensed, focused on her, ready to move if she needed him.

He watched as she stepped to the corner of the edifice, stopped, blinked, and then stared. She tilted her head quizzically, reminding him of a curious puppy.

The whumps came again:whump-whump-whump, thenwhump-whump,whump-thwack.From his vantage point, he sawLucy’s mouth open in an exaggerated jaw-drop. She turned her head to look back at him with acan you believe this?expression.

He widened his eyes comically and shook his head at her, relaying,can’t see what you see.

---