The Island Curse

A Long Walk Home

I pivoted slowly, and almost swallowed my tongue. Kieran was sitting on the porch railing. I'd never seen him in jeans before, and these fit like he'd had them tailored. A distressed leather jacket clung to his shoulders, making him appear broader. Looking at him made me ache.

"Where were you?"

"We looked everywhere for you. In every room. You were missing." What I didn't miss was the

tremble in his voice. Tara's outline materialized through glass door, but she walked away when she saw who I was speaking to.

"Clearly, you didn't look in every room then. I've been here all along."

"Why are you being evasive?"

"What was the deal you made earlier? I'll tell you, if you tell me."

"And what do you think there is to tell?" He slipped off his perch and came to my side.

With my heels on, he was still taller than me, but he wouldn't have to dip his head to kiss me. Do not go there, Isla. You're mad, remember? "Every single time I've asked if there were caves in the cliffs, you've implied I was imagining it."

"Damn it," he cursed, slamming his fist into one of the columns. "Why are you still going on about that?"

"Because you lied to me!"

"And who told you that?" Frost coated every syllable.

"Ewan."

"That's who you were with all night? You promised."

"I promised I wouldn't seek him out."

"Were you alone with him?"

"Yes." That one word broke him. I saw the fissures spread, turmoil roiling out of every crack. "Are there caves in the in the cliffs, and was it Tara I saw?"

He nodded. "Yes. It was."

"That's all I needed to know."

"Isla, please. Hate me. That's fine, but stay away from McDuff."

"Hmm," I said, studying my nails and fighting to keep the tears out of my voice, "you're asking me to believe you?"

"Yes." The single word was tortured, anguished.

"And yet I have proof that you're a liar so why would I believe anything you said?"

When he didn't say anything, I left, not even stopping at Tara's car. The long driveway wound up to the main road, the one I knew went all the way up to my home. The walk would be long, but the alternative was to swallow my pride and return to the McDuff's. For a moment, the image of Kieran's face when he saw me sitting in a vehicle with his enemy made me smile, but only for a moment. I was pissed-not petty.

Five minutes down the road, I stopped and removed my boots. The cold ate through the thick material of my socks, but it was better than the pinching and burning. I tied the laces together and let them swing from my hand as I resumed.

The earth was quiet the way it can only be the few hours just before the dawn, but the moon was bright, illuminating my path and easing some of the eeriness. A low, silvery mist curled across the fields, and the leaves rustled against one another as the wind slid through the branches. The deep lowing of a cow stole the silence and made me stumble, a panicked laugh falling from my lips.

Mel would say this was the start of any great horror movie. A teenage girl, alone on a country road at night. If this was a movie, someone would be lying in wait for prey, beyond thrilled to see me top the hill, or they were following, watching me from the roadside bushes. Was the stranger's heart pounding with excitement? Twisted desire urging them to reach out and take me?

I walked faster, my thoughts driving me to the edge. The peaceful quiet was gone, my mind creating sounds where they didn't exist. Those rustles in the wind were now limbs bending to make way for a perpetrator. The mist reached out to the road, mimicking fingers that wanted to wrap around my throat. And the lowing of the cattle was an echo of my dying groan.

"Shit, Isla. Get it together." It was hard to speak while maintaining my current speed, and everything inside of me pushed me to go faster. To run. But I knew I was too far from anywhere, and I needed to conserve my energy should a real threat appear.

A twig snapped. A real one, not one in my mind, and I came to a screeching stop while I searched for whatever- whoever- made the sound. Shaking, I twirled to face the right direction again, and it was in that moment, the dark outline of a man materialized in the mist. My eyes had been resting right where he was, but he'd only moved when he thought I was moving on.

Like a fool, I whipped around, pinning him with my gaze. We stood that way for several moments. He in the field, a blemish blocking the moonlight, and me in the road, my features clear in the pearlescent glow. I drew a deep breath into my lungs, filling them to capacity and then bolted.

The boots slipped from my hands, clattering onto the pavement, but I didn't stop to retrieve them. Something sharp ripped threw my sock and blood began to flow. The road snaked upwards, the incline lighting my calves on fire. Coupled with the pain in my foot, I began to slow.

I took the risk and looked over my shoulder, expecting to find him nipping at my heels like a hellhound. There was no one, but I didn't stop running. Not until I reached my front door.