Her Terrifying Love

Part 12

Lyla tossed her book bag onto her bed. Her phone buzzed.

A text from Darcy – HEY, WAT UP?

She responded – HOMEWORK. (bored face)

Darcy – WANNA GET SUM NOMS?

Lyla – DAD'S MAKING DINNER (sad face)

Darcy – TALK LATER (disappointed face)

New message – HEY

Lyla - HEY

Message – NOBODY LIKES TO BE ABANDONED.

Lyla - ?

Message – YOU LEFT ME

She was horrified when she read the text name: KEENAN

Message – YOU LEFT ME ALONE IN THE DARK.

She threw her phone on the bed, covered it with her pillow.

Did that really happen? She was too scared to check.

It became nearly impossible for Lyla to focus on her Trig homework. She was drawn to her phone. Did that message actually say "Keenan?" Really?! With a trembling hand, she drew the phone out from beneath her pillow.

No new messages. Momentary relief. She blocked the last contact, went back to work.

Sines, cosines, and tangent ratios. No matter how many times she read and re-read the chapter, the information refused to find a home in her brain. It was as though her mind had exceeded its capacity. There was no room for homework. Especially not math.

She closed the book, curled up on her bed. Lyla needed to rest her eyes for just a minute. And then she fell. Deeply.

Lyla was on the soccer field at school. The murky, menacing sky threatened to explode at any moment.

Someone was following her. She squinted over her shoulder against the stinging wind. The figure in the green jacket was approaching.

She strained to pick up the pace, but her feet couldn't find traction.

He was closer now, and there was no question. It was Keenan. And he was angry. He tugged at the zipper on his jacket. Up and down. Up and down. To anyone else it would appear to be a simple habit. But Lyla knew. It was a threat.

There was no one but the two of them as far as she could see. She called for help, but her voice merely squeaked. The wind raged. Debris pelted her face. She squinted against the wind.

A hard object struck her forehead. "Ow!" She winced.

She knelt to pick up the object. It was Keenan's ring, a silver snake swallowing its tail, two fake red gems for eyes.

Lyla looked over her shoulder. He was closing in. His angry eyes burned in his sockets.

She was desperate to escape, but she couldn't run. Her feet slipped. She looked down to discover that she was ankle-deep in piles of wet leaves.

She could hear him breathing. Deep labored breaths. He was close.

She turned, prepared to scream. But it wasn't Keenan's face she saw. It was Jack's. He was desperate. Exhausted. His brown eyes were clouded with fear.

"Come on," he urged. "Just a little further."

Lyla looked down to find that she held Keenan's corpse by the wrists. Jack gripped the corpse's ankles. They were back in that dark, wooded hillside, slick with wet leaves, carrying Keenan's body to the edge of a cliff.

Broken branches signaled something moving in the brush nearby. Suddenly, she was blinded by a shaft of bright light.

"There they are!" Detective Morales pointed a flashlight. Steiger was right behind her as they descended the hill.

Lyla felt a sharp pain in her chest. Her throat closed. She couldn't inflate her lungs.

"Run!" Jack urged, his eyes wide. He dropped Keenan's ankles and bolted into the blackness of the hellish, suffocating forest.

But before she could react, Keenan seized her wrists. His thick hands clamped tight. The fingers tattooed with SNAKE imprisoned her.

From the mat of wet leaves, Keenan stared up at her, a sinister grin on his horrible face. A bright blue serpent slithered from his neck and coiled around her ankle.

A persistent BUZZING woke Lyla from the nightmare. It was her phone on the bed beside her.

In one quick motion, she sat up and snatched the phone from her bed.

Her heart pounded when she read a new message...

Keenan – YOU'RE MINE, KITTEN. ALWAYS WILL BE.