Angered Seasons: The Worst Birthday Ever (Volume One) (3 page)

Lane’s face blanched and I felt my heart kick
in my chest.

“Lane?”

He swallowed hard and licked his lips
nervously.

“You’re nothing but a home wrecker,
Gabrielle!” Michelle was completely oblivious to the fact that the
music had stopped and the whole bar could hear her screaming at me.
“You’re a selfish, ignorant bitch!”

My anger sparked and I broke eye contact with
Lane so I could look at her.

She held her chin up and let lose her last
insult. “You’re worse than all that! You’re a hopeless whore!”

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered
why she thought that. The thought didn’t bother me enough to stop
my fist as it connected with her face. The instant I saw her fall
to the floor I regretted my actions.

“What the fuck, Gabby!” Lane bent down to
help her up. He glared up at me, the shocked and scared look he’d
had, gone. “Look, I’m going to get her home.”

I nodded.

“Can you catch a cab?”

I nodded and followed them out to the truck.
Apparently, Michelle was all talk and once the fists came out, she
simply turned into a blubbering mass on Lane’s chest. I watched as
he smoothed her hair, helped her with the seatbelt, then shut the
door.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came
from.” We stood awkwardly facing each other.

“Look, I’ll see you on Monday at work.”

My heart dropped. “You’re not coming
home?”

He shrugged. “Maybe everyone’s right, Gabby.
Maybe it’s time we grow up and get our own places. At this rate,
we’ll be old and decrepit before we find anyone who will put up
with our living arrangements.”

“If this is about what she said…”

“It’s not. Or maybe it is. Look, whatever the
case may be, I can’t keep doing this.”

“What? This?”

“Us… this…I…” He ran has hands over his face
and took a deep breath. “I have to go.”

“But Iggy…”

“You can keep Iggy. It’s not like we’ll never
see each other again. We own a business together. We’ll still be
friends.”

“What about Jasper.”

He shook his head and I felt a tear slip down
my cheek. “The two weeks off will be alright, but do with it what
you will. I don’t think Jasper’s a great idea right now.”

My chest was so tight I could barely breathe.
Lane walked around the truck and got in without giving me my usual
kiss on the forehead. I watched his tail lights until a hand
touched my shoulder.

“Are you coming in for another drink?” asked
Haley, one of the waitresses.

I shook my head and wiped my sleeve across my
face. “I’m just going to head home.”

“Let me call you a cab.”

I waved away her offer. “I’ll just walk.”

“In those boots?”

I shrugged. “Hey, Haley? Did anyone pay the
tab?”

“Just catch me up tomorrow.”

I dug in my purse and pulled out a hundred
dollars in twenties. “Here.”

“Shit, it wasn’t that much. I’ll go get you
some change.”

“Don’t worry about it. Buy the staff a couple
of rounds at closing time.” I started walking. “Someone may as well
have a good time on my birthday.”

The tears slipped down my cheeks again. Happy
birthday, Gabrielle. I snorted to myself. What the hell was so
happy about it? I’d gotten dumped by my shitty boyfriend. Granted,
I’d planned to dump him tomorrow, but that wasn’t the point. I’d
knocked a girl on her ass in a bar. My chest tightened. I’d lost my
best friend. How the hell had that happened? We’d been best friends
for twenty-seven years. We did everything together… Well, almost
everything together. In twenty-seven years, I’d never slept with
him other than to sleep. Hell, I’d never even kissed him. Of
course, I’d thought about it; the man had amazing lips. But he was
Lane and he was my best friend. Twenty-seven years of perfect
friendship wasn’t worth destroying because of one drunk impulse.
Even if Michelle was right and we did feel more than friendship…
things always changed when friends hooked up. What we had was
perfect. Or so I’d thought.

I started to sweat from walking and swore at
myself for wearing such heavy coat. If I’d been trying to be sexy
and put on my little black coat, I wouldn’t be so freaking hot
right now. I started to overheat and just unzipping the jacket
wasn’t letting enough air in to cool me down. I slid it from my
shoulders and frowned.

“What the hell?” I pulled my phone from my
purse and touched the weather network app on it. Plus five. I
stopped walking, pulled the battery from the back of it and
rebooted it. When everything was back to normal, I checked the app
again. Plus five. Of course, that was impossible. Just a couple of
hours ago it had been minus thirty. I looked at the snow melting on
the sidewalk. “This is messed up.”

I started walking again, faster this time.
Something wasn’t right. Maybe I should phone for a cab. I looked
down the street in front of me and noticed for the first time
tonight that there was absolutely no traffic. A quick look at my
phone told me it was ten o’clock on a Saturday night which meant it
should have been packed with cars heading to bars and parties.
There was movies letting out and the local hockey game was ending.
Where in god’s name were all the cars?

I was about halfway home when I thought I
heard something behind me. I spun around, trying to see who it was.
Nothing. I pulled my cell phone out again. Enough was enough. I was
calling a cab.

I screamed as something hit me in the back
and I fell to the sidewalk, skidding on my knees and elbows.
Whoever it was pressed a hand against the back of my head and
started to squeeze. I screamed again and tried to roll to get away
as the pressure increased. Realizing I had moments before I blacked
out from the pain, I dug into my purse and snapped open my
jackknife. I gripped it as hard as I could and swung it backwards.
I heard a grunt and the hand released my head. Fighting the panic
to keep slightly coherent, I bucked my attacker off of me and
scrambled to my feet.

The woman facing me seemed normal enough. She
was dressed for an evening out. The only thing about her that
struck me as odd was her eyes. They were yellow; bright yellow,
like the yellow on the vests that highway workers wore.

“La… lady? Are you ok? Do you need me to call
an ambulance?” I took a step back as she took a step toward me. “I…
I have my cell phone. I can get you some help.”

She rushed me which caused me to trip
backwards. I fell on my back and the air left my lungs in a rush.
She was on me in seconds, clawing at my face. I brought the knife
around and stabbed it into her side. She fell off of me with a
screech but came back just as determined as she’d been with the
previous attack.

I yelled for help, hoping someone would hear.
The knife was getting slippery with her blood and I jabbed it into
her chest as hard as I could. This time, the wound was damaging and
she fell off of me. I scrambled to my feet and started to run.

“Help!” I chanced a glance back and started
to cry when I saw no one. Where the hell was everyone? My phone
vibrated in my hand. Fresh tears slipped down my face at the caller
ID. “Lane!”

“Thank god! Gabby, where are you?”

“On Marquis, almost at the curve.”

“I’ll be there in two minutes. I don’t know
what the fuck is going on, but find somewhere to hide. There is
some strange shit happening…”

I tuned out as two men started toward me from
across the street. Even from this distance, I could see their
strange, yellow eyes.

“I… Lane?”

“Hang on, Gabs. One more minute.”

“I… I don’t have one more minute.” I dropped
the phone and wiped my hands on my dress, trying to get the blood
and sweat off of them.

“Gabby!” Lane’s voice sound small and far
away as he yelled into his phone. Both men stopped and turned at
the sound of tires squealing around the Marquis Road curve. The one
ton’s headlights flashed to the side and jumped as Lane hit the
curb then straightened. I realized he was on the walking path I was
on and that he wasn’t slowing down. I ran back onto the street as
fast as I could, turning just in time to see both men go under the
truck with a hollow thump. Lane barely slowed to get back onto the
street so that he faced back toward the curve. The driver’s side
door opened and my knees went weak with relief at the sight of
him.

“Gabby! Gabby! Please! Are you ok?” Lane’s
arms pulled me to his chest and held me tight. “We have to go.” He
was forced to carry me as my legs gave out.

Once in the truck, he gave me a once
over.

“I’m ok.”

He shook his head. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s hers. She attacked me and I stabbed her
with my jackknife. Oh my god, Lane, I think I killed her. I think I
killed somebody.” My chest heaved and I tried to breathe through
the sobs that raked through me.

“Sshhh. Come here.” He pulled me into the
middle of the seat so he could put his arm around me while he
drove.

“What’s happening?” My question was just a
whisper.

“We don’t know.”

I jumped and screamed at the voice that came
from behind me.

“Gabby! It’s ok. This is Rebecca. I saw her
getting attacked while I was out looking for you.”

I looked back at the woman. Her grey hair was
tied in a low ponytail though most of the hair was hanging limply
by her face and her brown turtleneck was stained with blood.

“Are you ok?”

It seemed to be the question of the night.
She nodded with a wince and touched her swollen left eye
gingerly.

I settled back against Lane’s side, glad when
he put his arm around me once again.

“From what the radio is saying, there’s a
gang out there beating the crap out of whoever they find walking
around.”

“But their eyes…” I shivered at the thought
of those eyes.

“Some people are saying drugs of some
sort.”

“Where’s Michelle?”

“She’s at her place.”

“She’ll be pissed you came to get me.”

“Probably.”

Rebecca’s hand on our shoulders interrupted
us. “If you turn left, you can drop me off at my house.”

Lane nodded and did as instructed. Rebecca
stepped out of the truck and gave Lane a hug through the
window.

“Thank you.”

“Just stay indoors until this blows
over.”

We watched as she went into her house. Lane’s
phone went off and he put it to his ear. He nodded.

“Yes.”

Whoever he was talking to said something else
and I felt him take a deep breath.

“Yes.”

I looked up in time to see him cringe before
he put the phone down.

“Michelle?”

He nodded.

“You can just drop me off, too. I’m sorry I
caused you so many problems.” I stared straight ahead and we drove
the rest of the way in silence. It was one of those heavy silences;
the kind that would choke the life out of you if it could.

Lane pulled into the drive and helped me out
of the truck before leading me into the house. He closed the
door.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

I stood by Iggy’s tank and nodded. “Sure. I
mean, Iggy’s the best guard iguana out there.” I hated that my
voice shook and killed our inside joke.

“Gabby.”

I shook my head and waved back to him before
closing myself in the bathroom. I pulled the dress over my head,
let it drop to the ground, and turned to the mirror. My gasp had
Lane rushing into the room.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… I didn’t realize she’d scratched my
face.” I forced myself to look again. I decided the shock I was in
was responsible for the fact I wasn’t feeling any pain. The five
scratches ran from my right ear to the corner of my mouth, but
weren’t very deep. I let my gaze fall to my arms which were road
rashed, as well as my knees and thighs where I’d skidded after my
fall.

I started the shower. “I’m just going to
clean up and go to bed.” I met his dark blue gaze then looked at
the white and black tile floor. “Maybe we could talk tomorrow about
what’s happening with us.”

He hesitated before turning and walking out
of the bathroom. Though a shower had sounded like a good idea at
the time, the hot water hitting my injuries was pure torture. I
made sure to wash the scrapes and to pick out whatever stones I
could find. Once I was clean, I leaned against the shower wall,
letting the hot water run out, the stream washing away my tears as
they flowed down my face. Out of tears and hot water, I stepped out
of the shower and put bandaids on any cut that was still bleeding.
Walking out into the living room in a towel, I frowned.

“I thought you might want a beer.” Lane
handed me a bottle and took a sip of his. “How are you
feeling?”

I took a sip of my beer and closed my eyes as
the bubbles rolled down my throat. “I’m going to make some nachos.
Do you want some?” I looked at the floor, scared he’s say no.
Nachos was an after bar tradition.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m ok. A bit rattled. Christ, I got jumped
by a woman with glowing yellow eyes. Then you ran over two guys!
Not to mention everything before that…” I headed to the oven and
pulled out the cookie sheet so I could make some nachos.

Lane watched as I put everything on the sheet
and placed it in the oven to melt. I looked at him sadly and asked
the one question I was scared to ask.

“Why are you here?”

He frowned.

“I mean, Michelle’s going to tear you a new
one when you get back. Why were you driving around?”

“When we got to her place, I turned the TV
on. They were reporting on the news about the gang attacks. I just…
I got worried cause I hadn’t driven you home and I know you like to
walk when you’re upset. I phoned the bar, but Haley said you’d left
just after I had. I phoned the house, but there was no answer. You
didn’t answer your cell… She yelled at me to stay, but I couldn’t.
I had to make sure you were ok.”