THIRTEEN FOR DINNER

Chapter Ten

TEN

            Deal breaker! I struggle against him like crazy now, Fear fueling my fight. He has my arms pinned but my legs are free so I kick with everything I have inside of me but to no avail.

            “There is no way in hell that I’m going to help you do that.”

            “Why?” he grimaces against my struggles.

            “You seriously have to ask me that?” I stop tussling in the grass to take a breather.

            “Yes. Why wouldn’t you want to save sixteen lives?”

            “Because,” I go into a rant. “I am scared of my own shadow that’s why. I am a card carrying fraidy cat. I have these paralyzing fears I can’t explain.  I can’t even watch scary movies so how do you expect me to help you stop a gruesome massacre? And besides, it’s thirteen lives not sixteen.”

            “You’re forgetting Lunar’s murder and Emily’s suicide.” He reminds me. “I’m here to stop James Faulkner from hanging Lunar. If I can keep that from happening, then I save all the others.”

            “Still it’s fifteen and not sixteen.” I continue to correct him on a minor detail only to keep myself from committing to something I am terrified to do.

            “You’re stalling,” he pegs me right and I catch a twinkle in his eyes when he does.

            “Damn straight, I’m stalling.”

            He loosens his grip and helps me up to a sitting position. It’s quiet for a moment, neither one of us say anything, the only sound is the deafening chorus of cicadas tuning up for their morning song. A hundred and fifty three years and those little boogers still sound the same. Quillan is staring at me and I wish he wouldn’t. I must look terrible. I can feel my natural curls fuzzing in this humidity. His eyes are smiling though and I’m starting to feel bad for the swift kick I gave him. He’s got a good motive for this mess he drug me into. I guess I can’t fault him for trying to save some lives. It’s a noble mission for sure. I pull at the overgrown grass, uprooting it and tossing it aside. I hate the fact that fear controls my life. It’s kept me from doing so many things. I’ve always dreamed of being fearless, of taking on an impossible task and overcoming the prison I’ve been trapped inside my entire life.  It’s funny, the one time I relent and let my guard down for a minute, look where I end up. But then again, maybe that’s why I am here. Maybe the life I am supposed to save is mine.

            “So we have a month to do this?” I break the silence.

            Quillan nods and I think I see hope blossoming in his face.

            “And I go home afterwards whether we succeed or not?”

            He nods again but this time I see a hint of sadness behind his affirmation.

            “So I’m thinking you must have a plan of action since you’ve made it this far.”

            The corners of his lips pull into a smile and suddenly I think he’s pretty hot again.             “I thought so. So, what’s first on the itinerary?” I ask while clawing at the million chigger bites on my legs.

            “Well,” he says with a twinkle in his eyes. “We need to change clothes because we will be dinning at the Faulkner Estate this evening.”