Her Terrifying Love

Part 9

Jack drove his car up the rutted driveway toward the farmhouse and found a place to park. He locked eyes with Lyla, leaning in to speak when he noticed Carissa approaching.

"Jack!" Her voice jumped an octave. "What happened to your car?!"

"I know, right?" He got out and pulled the cap lower on his forehead. "Uh, hit a big freakin' deer," he stammered. 

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. It came out of nowhere, bounced off my hood... and took off."

She glared at Lyla. "No good deed goes unpunished."

Lyla exited the car. "My car broke down. I would have froze to death. It was a good thing he came to my rescue."

"A good thing for you." Carissa inspected the car. "Not such a good thing for his car."

Lyla and Jack shared a look.

"What happened to that gross excuse for a human?" Carissa folded her arms. "The one with the snake on his neck?"

Lyla shrugged. "I didn't see him." 

Jack looked at the ground.

"What happened to your shoes?" Carissa squealed. "And your pants? You're totally covered in mud!"

Lyla noticed that her shoes and pants were in the same condition.

"I was under her car trying to see what was wrong," he said.

"You don't know anything about cars." Carissa's voice dripped with suspicion. She swept her butterscotch hair behind her ear and shot Lyla a nasty look.

"I couldn't get it started anyway," he said. "So I brought her back here."

She could tell that Carissa wasn't buying his story, but before Carissa could continue the interrogation, Darcy emerged from the shadows. 

"There you are!" she shouted, drawing her auburn hair behind her ear. "You okay?"

"My dad's gonna kill me," Lyla replied. "He told me not to take that car. I'm gonna be grounded for the rest of my life." 

Darcy gave her friend the long hug she desperately needed.

"Thanks for coming to get me," Lyla whispered, her head inches from Darcy's ear. 

"Sorry I missed your calls," said Darcy. "I went to the movies with Richie. I hate to turn my phone off." Darcy glanced around at partiers moving in and out of the shadows. "What the fudge are you even doing here?"

She shrugged.

"This looks like the kind of place they'd find a bunch of girls chained up in the barn by a crazy guy with a chainsaw." Darcy winced. 

Lyla teetered before regaining her balance.

"What did he put in your drink? You look totally--"

"It wasn't a Zanny. I don't know what." Once again, she wobbled.

Darcy took her friend by the arm. "Let's go."

Loud headbanger music belched from a high-rider pickup truck that rumbled up the drive. A figure jumped down from the cab.

"Hey!" A familiar voice cut through the raucous voices and loud music.

Lyla turned to find JoJo approaching, a brutish guy with tatted arms and broad shoulders. 

"Where's Keenan?" he growled.

"He was here earlier," she replied. "I don't know where he went."

"He said he was here with you." 

"He was wasted and being an obnoxious ass," Lyla grumbled. "So I told him to leave me alone."

Jack interceded. "The dude was totally out of line."

"Who asked you?" JoJo puffed up his chest.

Carissa wrapped her arms around Jack. 

JoJo squinted into the darkness and looked around. "So, where is he?"

"Do I look like a babysitter to you?" Jack shot back.

"You look like a punk who's gonna get his ass kicked if he doesn't watch his mouth."

Carissa clung more tightly to Jack. "Let it go," she said. 

Lyla was relieved that he took Carissa's advice.

JoJo snarled, "If you see my little brother tell him I'm looking for him."

"Your brother?" Carissa asked.

"Keenan," he said. "Keenan Ames."

As if on cue, a gust of wind cut across the hilltop. When Lyla pulled the hair away from her eyes she found JoJo glaring at her the way a cat sizes up a cornered mouse.