The Tale of Tessa Crane (Halloween Chronicles #2)

Chapter Three: Old Grudges

I was very disoriented when I woke up the next morning. There was a split second, before I was fully awake, that I had thought it had all been a bad dream, just a nightmare that would disappear once I opened my eyes, but the twig poking me in the back reminded it had not been. Also, I was curled up against Ander Van Brunt, my head on his chest and his arms were wrapped around my waist.

I reluctantly pulled away from Ander, telling myself it was just because I didn't want to deal with the truth and not because it had felt really nice laying in his arms, feeling his heartbeat under my cheek and his warmth surrounding me. I tried to be careful, going as slow as possible, but Ander still stirred. He was staring at me, but I could tell he wasn't really seeing me. His gaze was unfocused, lost in his own thoughts as he relived the tragic events of last night.

He sat up abruptly. "Tessa," he gasped, face pale and eyes wide, "your shoulder." He reached out, gingerly touching the bloodstain on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's not my blood..." I trailed off, not wanting to remind him of whose blood it was, but it didn't matter that I didn't say his name, Ander knew.

Ander's hand dropped and his face fell. "Right," he said, unable to meet my gaze. Instead he was staring at his shirt that was still covered in blood. "What the hell happened?" he whispered.

"I don't know," I said, hugging my knees to my chest. "Something went wrong with the ritual."

"But what?" Ander looked over at me, his usual smugness that drove me crazy was gone. His face was open and his eyes were searching mine, for answers that neither one of us had. The last time Ander had looked at me like that, so vulnerable and genuine, we had been thirteen and had just seen the Headless Horseman for the first time. "The Cranes and the Van Brunts had been doing this ritual for centuries. What could have gone wrong?"

"I don't know," I sighed, "but something did."

He was quiet for a moment, chewing on his cheek. "Do you think..."

"Do I think what?" I asked when he didn't continue.

"Do you think," he started again softly, "that everyone is okay? Do you think anyone else is..."

Dead. Ander didn't say it, but I could hear it just the same.

"I'm sure everyone is fine," I said, wanting to believe it, but my heart beat a little faster all the same.

He didn't look convinced either, but he didn't contradict me. "Do you have your phone?"

"Yeah," I pulled it from my back pocket, "where's yours?"

"I left it in my car to charge."

"Well," I sighed, holding up my phone, showing the black screen with the charging symbols. "It's dead."

He sighed too. He glanced at the surrounding trees. "Do you think it's safe to leave?"

Everything seemed normal. The sun was shining brightly, fully illuminating the forest and with the trees so sparse, there were no places for a hulking monster to hide. There were birds singing, something I didn't think they would do if there was some kind of danger lurking nearby. Besides, I was fairly certain that the legend said something about the Headless Horseman only coming out at night.

"I think so," I said, rising to my feet.

"Me too." Ander stood as well, but neither of us were confident enough to move out from under the bridge. He took a deep breath and held out his hand to me, but I just stared instead of taking it. "So we don't get separated."

"We need to stick together," I agreed. My cheeks felt as warm as his hand after I hesitantly put my hand in his.

We walked to the edge of the shadow, still safely beneath the bridge when Ander squeezed my hand. I looked over at him and saw him staring at horseshoe prints in the mud, barely three feet from where we slept. Apparently, we were closer to death than we realized last night.