Night Angel

Chapter Four (Sample)

I wasn't sure what woke me. I figured probably an animal moving around in the trees looking for a meal. It was still dark out and thick clouds had moved in, obscuring much of the light from the stars. I sat up, yawned, and stretched my arms out then looked around for my clothes. I found them with ease, they had been tossed to the side of the truck bed in a neat little pile so I grabbed them, slid out of the truck, and quickly dressed myself.

Adam was snoring softly behind me so I nudged him awake and told him to get dressed. I didn't know why at the time, but I suddenly felt uneasy, and I wanted to leave. I'd never been scared of the dark, in fact I kind of liked it. I was more at home in the dark but this time it was different. I felt exposed, like someone was watching me. Maybe it was the noise I'd heard earlier or just the sense that we were so open sitting in the middle of the field. Anyone could have driven up on us at any time. It was unlikely that anyone else would show up this late at night, we were pretty far out in the country, but it wasn't unheard of. I'm sure plenty of other teenagers had come to the field at one time or another with the same idea that we had. It was really a great place if you wanted some privacy and far enough out of the way that there wasn't a lot of traffic.

Just as Adam had finished dressing I turned to get into the passenger side of the truck when I heard a twig snap. Adam heard it too because he turned suddenly in the direction that the noise had come from, the bank of trees to the right of us that separated the field from the road.

Growing nervous, Adam walked around to where I stood and stepped in front of me, backing me up against the door of the truck. "Stay behind me." He said as he looked around though not able to see much beyond the tree line. It was just too dark.

I nodded, holding onto his upper arm as I too scanned the area. I heard more rustling around in the weeds and bushes about six or seven feet from where we were standing.

"It's probably just a skunk or a racoon or something." I cringed even as I said the words though, not really even believing myself.

A cold wind blew past us as the first drop of rain fell. The leaves parted just enough for the moonlight to creep in and for a split second I saw a flash of metal.

"Get in the truck." Adam said suddenly, alerting me that he'd seen it too.

"Right." I nodded then turned to open the door but I was just a half second too late.

Before I could even process what had happened, I was grabbed from behind and slammed against the side of the truck. The flash of metal I had seen I now knew had been a knife as I felt the hard, cool, blade of it pressing against my throat.

I gasped and cried out for Adam only to be told to "shut the fuck up" by my attacker.

Adam lunged forward but was caught by two others who held him by his upper arms and though he fought against them, couldn't break free.

I looked up to see the face of the guy holding the knife on me and recognized him as one of the three goons that had been with Pepper earlier that night, Randy Snively.

I also recognized the two holding Adam. Kurt Baller who had also been there and Josh Durand. Josh wasn't there earlier but I 'd seen him hanging around the others before. He didn't go to our school though. He'd been kicked out the year before and had been a year ahead of me. He was a big guy, as big as Adam, and just as strong.

Close to the tree line I saw Leland Carver standing next to Pepper. She'd changed out of her prom dress and was now wearing jeans and a black top. Leland was holding a flashlight that moved back and forth from me to Adam. The little rat was laughing like it was some kind of game. I suddenly wanted to bash his face in.