Her Terrifying Love

Part 1

Beneath a crescent moon, loud music blared from an old farmhouse. In the front windows, silhouettes of partiers danced.

The orange glow of cigarettes and blunts marked the locations of smokers leaning against cars in the darkness, parked along the rutted mud and gravel driveway that twisted down a grassy hill.

Lyla Perry, a pretty girl with mascara-streaked cheeks, bumped into a couple locked in a heated embrace.

"Hey, watch it," Carissa hissed, throwing back her thick mane of blonde hair.

Lyla was embarrassed to have literally crashed into her high school's power couple. With those high cheekbones and perfect facial features, Carissa Swanson was supermodel-hot. And her boyfriend was her male equal, the school's star quarterback, Jack Bentley.

Every heterosexual girl at school had fantasies involving Jack. And every hetero guy practically drooled over the captain of the cheerleading squad, the scalding-hot Carissa. She wore light skinny jeans and a gray suede jacket. There wasn't an ounce of baby fat on the girl.

"Sorry," Lyla mumbled. "I can't even get one bar." She held the phone above her head, searching desperately for a signal.

"Good luck with that," Jack grinned, his warm brown eyes peeking out from under his wool cap. "You okay?" he squinted through the darkness. "Are you crying?"

"I'm fine," Lyla nodded.

Carissa pulled Jack into a deep kiss.

A short distance down the driveway, Lyla's phone signaled two bars. She dialed excitedly.

A voicemail message. "Hey, it's Darcy. Leave me a message." BEEP.

"Where the hell are you?" Lyla sobbed. "I wanna go. Now! He's here and he won't leave me alone."

Lyla was startled when Keenan materialized like a ghost out of the shadows.

"There you are, kitten," Keenan grinned, obviously intoxicated. He looked like the devil with his narrow penetrating eyes and the blue serpent tattoo inked on his neck.

"You scared the shit out of me!" Lyla growled.

He leaned in to kiss her.

Lyla retreated. "It's over, Keenan."

Keenan laughed.

"It's been over," she crossed her arms over her chest.

He played with the zipper of his faded green bomber jacket. It was a nervous tic; a behavior he frequently exhibited when he was feeling anxious.

Lyla's ringtone startled her. It was one of her favorite old songs.

Keenan snarked, "What are you? Like twelve?"

Lyla flipped him off, checked her messages. She began texting her reply when Keenan yanked her toward him. He roughly kissed her neck, then gave her a playful bite.

"Owww!" Lyla winced.

He reached for her breast. Lyla stumbled backward and toppled to the ground. She glared up at him.

Keenan was rimmed in a hallucinogenic glow.

"What did you put in my drink?" she did her best to sound assertive.

Keenan squatted at her feet and smirked. He mocked her in a creepy little girl voice, "What did you put in my drink?" His jaw shifted like a lizard with a gummy bear stuck between its teeth.

"Get the hell away from me, Keenan. I mean it!"

"So, that's how it's gonna be?" he stood.

He extended a hand. The word SNAKE was spelled out in tattooed fingers.