Don't Wander

Gut Feeling

The end of the school day came much too quickly, and I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to get to Eden’s place. I couldn’t ask Britt, because she was still grounded and wasn’t allowed to drive. I couldn’t ask Ben either, because he was mad at me for several reasons. I knew bus wouldn’t take me there, as Eden's house was not on any of the routes, and walking would take far too long.

At that moment, I spotted Kerry getting into her little silver coop. I ran over and said, “Hey Kerry, would it be possible for you to take me over to a friend’s house? I’ll pay you for the gas.”

She smiled and said, “Sure, hop in.”

“Thanks Kerry, you’re a life saver,” I replied as I sat beside her and shut the passenger door. I gave her the address and she looked thoughtful.

After a minute, she inquired, “Who lives there? I don’t ever remember you having a friend at that address.”

I looked at her sheepishly and said, “It’s Eden. I need to talk to him about something that happened last night. It's no big deal, but please don’t tell anyone. Ben is already kinda mad at me and I don’t think he likes Eden very much. As you know, Britt is a bit of a blabbermouth and it would be unfair to tell anyone else if I don't tell her...so, will you keep this our little secret? At least for now?” Kerry sighed and looked straight ahead. I knew she was uncomfortable with keeping secrets. She was a very honest and shy person. She wrinkled her nose, and her freckles bunched together.

“Okay, I won’t tell, but only because you say it’s not a big deal. I gotta ask you something, though.” She looked over at me nervously.

“Alright,” I said cautiously. I hoped she didn’t know anything about his shady past, or about the wolves.

“You’re not secretly dating him or anything, right?”

I laughed with relief. “No way! We just started talking and being friends. I just need to talk to him, and he left school early today, so I didn’t get a chance earlier. I would call him, but I don’t have his number.”

Kerry relaxed then and said, “Okay. So how long will you be over there? Do you want me to wait and give you a ride home?”

I hadn’t even thought about a ride home. I wanted to accept her offer, but I didn’t really know how long it would take, so I told her not to bother. “I’m sure Eden will give me a ride home,” I said with much more confidence than I felt.

“This is it?” Kerry asked as she pulled up to Eden’s house a few minutes later.

“Yeah,” I replied as I handed her a couple dollars for the gas and got out of the car. I leaned back in and said, “Thank you so much for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’re welcome. See ya...” she said quietly as she eyed the building behind me apprehensively. I shut the car door and waved as she drove away, and then I turned to face the house.

It was nowhere near as eerie as it had been during the night when I last visited. Eden’s motorcycle was parked in the driveway, so at least I knew he was home. I took a deep breath to steel myself for an angry guy in my face, and then walked up to the front door, rapping on it a few times with my fist. The door opened after only a few seconds, and a tall, thin guy stepped out. He had dull brown hair and matching brown eyes. He looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, but I didn’t recognize him from school.

He looked me up and down appreciatively and said, “Well hello there. Who might you be?”

I said, “Hi, I’m Rebekah. I'm a friend of Eden’s. Is he home?” I felt awkward because of the way he was staring at me.

He smirked and said, “I can give you anything he can, sweetheart.” He took a step toward me and I backed away quickly. He found my reaction humorous somehow and chuckled, “What’s the matter?”

“Um, nothing. I need to talk to Eden, that’s all. It's important. Where is he?” I peered over his shoulder into the house. It was dark and quiet, appearing empty.

The guy leered at me for what felt like an eternity before introducing himself as Micah.

“Eden is upstairs in his room. I’ll show you the way.” My gut told me that it wasn’t a good idea to follow this creep all by myself through a seemingly empty house, but I was pretty much out of options. Despite my reservations, I stepped across the threshold and stood in the entryway as Micah closed the front door. I took a moment to look around.

The entry opened up into a shabby little living area with a staircase directly in front of us. Immediately to the right was a doorway that led to what appeared to be a dining room with a well-worn wooden table and several mismatched dining chairs.

I kept as much space as possible between myself and Micah as we ascended the stairs. I continued to look around as we made our way down the hallway. There were no pictures or decorations hanging on the dingy wallpapered walls, and although the place appeared lived in, it wasn’t personal in the slightest. I couldn’t glean any details about Eden, or anyone else for that matter, from the home. “Here we are,” Micah announced. He was standing in front of a closed door on one end of the upstairs hallway.

“Thanks for the help, but I can take it from here,” I said brusquely. I stood on the opposite side of the walkway from Micah, in front of another closed door. There was a third door to my right at the very end of the hall, and I could hear what I thought was running water. This gave me some comfort, as I hoped it meant there was indeed someone else in the house.

“Don't worry about knocking. I share this room with Eden.” Micah opened the door and stepped inside, then said, “Come on in.” He gestured with his arm for me to do the same. I followed him inside the room and wasn’t exactly surprised to discover that Eden wasn’t there.

The room was small with one window and had two unmade beds on opposite walls. There were clothes strewn all over the place, along with a few bottles of water, stray papers and pencils, and a pair of boxing gloves. I heard the door shut firmly behind me and I turned to face Micah.

“Let me out. I’ll just wait for Eden outside,” I demanded. Micah shook his head and walked toward me. I tried to rush past him, but he grabbed me by my shoulders and threw me onto one of the beds. I scrambled back and yelled, “Get away from me!”

“Shut up, b***h. We’re gonna have some fun now.” He jumped on top of me and pinned my arms above my head. I screamed and attempted uselessly to push Micah off. Despite being thin, he was deceptively strong. He grabbed the neck of my shirt and yanked it sharply sideways. I heard the seams rip and I screamed again.

Then I heard a voice call out, “What the f**k?”