Beware Of The Dark

Chapter Eight

     After my dad told me that there is a whole another world, I was curious. What other creatures were out there? As silly as it sounds, I started to think of the creatures in the series, True Blood. There were werewolves, vampires, and shapeshifters.

     When we pulled into the parking lot, a few motorcycles were sitting there. I looked over at my dad and he smiled. "Jared and a few of his guys are here," he nodded towards the door and Jared stepped outside.

     Two other men stepped out with him and I asked, "Who are they?"

     "What are you picking up from them?

     I looked over at my dad like he was crazy. When he smiled, I knew that he wasn't crazy. I didn't like the shorter man, something didn't feel right about him. "Dad," I whispered as if they could hear me. "I can't pick up anything on them. There's something about the shorter guy though. Something ain't sitting well with me about him."

      My dad motioned for Jared to come over to the van. When he saw the bags in the van, he laughed as he said, "Damn, did you buy the whole store?"

      "Natara's idea," my dad quickly said with a laugh.

     "It was both of our ideas," I laughed as Jared shook his head. "Who's the shorter guy?"

     Lowering his voice, he said, "Keith but I'm having doubts about trusting him."

     "The taller one seems more trustworthy," I told him and he nodded.

     "That's Dawson," he told me and I smiled. "I had a feeling that something wasn't right with Keith. Soon, I'll change who my right-hand man is."

     Looking at them both, I saw what looked like a circle of colors above their heads. I gasped as I saw that Keith's was darker in color. "I'm seeing what looks like a halo of colors," I looked at Jared and he nodded. "Something ain't right about Keith one bit."

     "Maybe you can talk to him," my dad suggested and I looked over him. "Jared, could you hold off on the ceremony?"

     "I can do that," he looked up at them.

      He opened my door for me and I stepped out. Corey came out but I didn't smile like I used to. Our dynamics have changed over the months. I felt like our flame died out between us. This trip back to my home state won't help repair that.

     We started to carry bags inside but Corey was still on his phone. I shook my head as I walked by him. As petty as it was going to sound, I said, "Don't worry, we got this."

     Dakota and Landon came out to give us a hand. "What is going on?" Jesse asked when he saw all the bags.

     "We're turning this into a haunted house attraction," I told him with a smile.

     When he threw the dish towel on the bar, some dust flew up. Achoo! "Damn it," I rubbed my nose as I shook my head.

    "Sorry sis," he said with a laugh. Reaching under the bar, he grabbed some paper towels for me. "Is everything okay between you and Corey?"

    "Not really bro," I told him and he shook his head.

     "Are we leaving the dust on the table?" I heard Jared teasing my dad. "Because Ryan, it'll add authenticity to this haunted house idea."

     "You're so funny," my dad retorted back with a laugh.

     "You two, really?" I laughed as they both looked at me. "We're going to clean it up then make fake dust and stuff."