Promise Me Darkness (21 page)

Ryder put a finger to his lips, signally for me stay quiet. Brody and Eva laid beside me silently, watching as the headlights drew closer and closer. I felt panic bubble up as Ryder’s arm pressed down on me. If he was nervous, I knew we were in trouble.

The lights were now even with us. I watched as an old mustang raced by, packed with young men, laughing and yelling at the top of their lungs. Someone threw a beer bottle out of the window, narrowly missing us. As the car flew down the road, voices lingered behind in the nighttime silence.

After their lights disappeared, we crawled out of the ditch, covered in mud.

“Why didn’t we flag them down?” Eva asked with exasperation as she tried to pick mud off of her pink shirt. "We could have caught a ride."

“Because I wanted to see who we were dealing with,” Ryder answered.

“Yeah, a car load of drunks isn’t exactly a good thing when we have two girls with us,” Brody said. “We have no weapons and neither of us wants a repeat of what those convict bitches threatened to do to you two if we didn’t cooperate.”

I saw Ryder clench his jaw hard. “That won’t happen again. Heads will roll if anyone touches them,” he snarled.

“Well, hell!” Eva muttered. “Can we not catch a break here?”

I felt the same way. I was tired and my stomach was rumbling painfully. Help would have been nice.

We started walking again. This time we stayed close together, spooked by the darkness and the threat of danger.

“So Ryder, I heard you are an avid hunter,” Brody said, breaking the heavy silence.

“Yeah, I hunt. What about it?” Ryder asked, still obviously upset with Brody from earlier.

“I was just thinking that if the power doesn’t come back on, we’ll have to hunt for fresh meat. That takes guns and ammo. You got them?”

"Yeah," Ryder answered, not giving details.

“I don’t eat venison,” Eva said, stubbornly.

“If you want meat, you will,” Brody said.

“You’ll be doing a lot that you usually don’t do, Eva,” Ryder mumbled as he looked around us. “Better get used to it.”

I knew what he said was true. If the power didn’t come back on in the next few weeks, the simple day–to–day living was going to be more complicated and a whole lot harder. We had to be stronger, more willing to do what needed to be done, to survive.

“My dad and I will have to hunt. We don’t have enough food to last us longer than a week,” I said worried, wondering how long we could maintain that kind of life. We didn’t know how to sterilizing water or live off the land. How we would survive, I didn’t know.

“You don’t have to worry, Maddie, I’m not going to let you starve,” Ryder said grimly, watching the distance. “What’s mine is yours.”

I felt my heart quicken at those four words, so full of meaning. I wanted to read so much more into them but knew that was just my heart talking.
Friends took care of friends. That’s all there was to it. Stop overanalyzing everything he said.

I shot Eva a don’t–you–dare–say–a–word look when she raised her perfectly arched eyebrows at me. It was time to steer the conversation in a different direction before Eva got it in her head to prod Ryder to elaborate.

“Do you think your brother is okay?” I asked Ryder.

The moon chose that moment to pass behind a large cloud, momentarily shrouding us in complete darkness. Completely blind now, I was thankful when Ryder’s hand wrapped around my wrist, keeping me close to him.

“I figured Gavin hauled ass out of Dallas and headed home right away,” Ryder said, his fingers holding onto me.

I cleared my throat, trying to ignore the tingle his touch caused.

“I hope he’s safe.”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” he said, with a surprising amount of tension in his voice. “Don’t worry about him. Gavin is too much of a badass to be brought down by this.”

I wish I could be that positive about my dad. Concern for his safety was constantly on my mind.

“Do you think my dad’s okay, Ryder? He’s home alone and with his heart…”

Ryder looked down at me, just an outline against the dark sky now. “My parents know he has health problems. They’ll make sure he’s okay. And you know my mom; she’s a ballbuster. She probably insisted that he stay with them so she could keep an eye on him.”

“I hope,” I whispered, sadly. “He can be stubborn.”

“Must run in the family,” Ryder said, the corner of his mouth lifting up in a grin.

I smiled tentatively at him. “Well, it’s rubbed off on you.”

“I’m not complaining if anything of yours rubs on me,” he said, huskily as his thumb lightly brushed over the sensitive skin of my inner wrist.

“Does that line work on all the girls, Ryder?” I asked with a nervous laugh, blushing.

“No, but it got you to smile, didn’t it? That was my goal.” Stopping suddenly, he cupped my jaw and turned my face up toward him. “I’ve missed your laugh, Maddie.”

I felt those darn butterflies take flight in my stomach again.

Abruptly, he dropped his hands away as if he suddenly realized he was touching me. As his blue eyes looked deep into mine, I felt the invisible wall go up between us again, cutting him off from me once more.

“I know you’re going to worry about your dad. You wouldn’t be the Maddie that I know if you didn’t. But try to relax. I’ll get you home. I promise,” he said, all playfulness gone.

And if there was one thing Ryder always did, it was keep his promises.

I was so exhausted that I was having trouble staying awake as we walked. I prayed silently for shelter, help, a reprieve from this awful situation. Something. Anything. I just prayed.

When Brody and Eva stopped unexpectedly, I didn’t realize it until Ryder came to a standstill directly in front of me.

I felt the air fill with tension. Looking around Ryder’s tall body, I saw a minivan parked in the middle of the road with all its doors thrown wide open.

I watched with panic as Ryder pulled the hunting knife from the back of his waistband. He held it in a strong grip, ready for any threat.

I felt terror, knowing he was going to check out the car.
What if it was a trap?
I glanced around but my view was obscured by the blackness of the night. If there were people waiting to attack us, we would never see them coming in the darkness.

“Stay here, Maddie,” Ryder said, leaning over and whispering in my ear. I nodded in understanding as his hand lingered on my arm. With one more glance at me, he started creeping toward the abandoned car.

Brody, Eva and I stood together, watching as he slowly approached the vehicle with his knife ready. Without a noise, he peeked into through the open passenger door. I saw him stand up and glance around, looking for any danger. Not seeing any, he motioned us over before he started rifling through the minivan’s contents.

When we walked up to the car, Ryder pulled his head out.

“Nothing. No water or food,” he said.

“Shit!” Brody exclaimed loudly, the sound echoing through the empty night. He threw his backpack on the ground in frustration and started pacing back and forth in front of the car.

“I say we stop here for the night,” Ryder said, sounding more like he was giving an order than making a suggestion.

We stood in indecision. No food, little water, exhaustion, and extreme heat made thinking rationally difficult. Being on the verge of collapsing didn’t help either. But there was nothing around us except trees and empty pastures. The only form of shelter was the car unless we wanted to sleep out in the open.

“Hell, I’m not going to stand here all night,” Eva muttered. She climbed into the back of the minivan and looked up at me, patting the seat next to her.

I slowly climbed in, my ribs and fingers protesting in pain. I didn’t care that I was covered in dried mud. I just had to sit down. Leaning my head back against the worn seat, I closed my eyes, thankful for our newfound luxury.

I was drifting off to sleep when Eva whispered, “I’m sorry I jumped on Ryder, Maddie. I just don’t want him to use you like he does every girl he meets.”

I glanced out the open door at Ryder, standing beside the car and talking softly to Brody.

“I don’t want the two of you to fight, Eva. Just let it go,” I said around a wide yawn.

“I can’t let it go, Maddie. He’s a man whore. Sure, around you he’s…different but I’m worried he’ll hurt you.”

I sighed. “I’ve realized that if he hurts me then he hurts me but I can’t say no to him. I never have been able to.”

Eva didn’t say anything. I thought she had fallen asleep when she spoke again. “And I don’t think he can say no to you, Maddie."

That wasn’t true but I was too tired to argue. I snuggled closer to her, unable to keep my eyes open a moment longer.

Sometime during the night, I woke up to Ryder covering me with a jacket. I felt him slide in next to me on the bench seat, surrounding me with his body heat. He pulled me to his side and placed my bandaged hand on his abdomen. I laid my head on his chest, feeling it rise and fall with each breath he took. Strands of my hair caught on his whiskers as his lips rested against my head, whispering something low that I couldn’t hear.

With nothing except darkness and nature pressing down on us, I should have been afraid but with Ryder beside me, I was content. Feeling safe and secure, I closed my eyes and sleep claimed me.

~~~~

I woke up the next morning to the sound of talking outside of the minivan. Stretching, my ribs objected to the movement.

Eva moved beside me. I wondered if I looked as bad as she did. Besides the circles under her eyes, her hair and clothes were caked with dried mud. I looked down to discover that I was just as dirty.

“I need coffee,” Eva grumbled.

“I need more than coffee. A bed, hot shower, and maybe some air conditioning would be nice,” I mumbled, stretching my cramped legs.

Feeling sore, I slowly crawled out of the minivan. The sun was rising on the horizon, bringing with it the early morning heat. Now that we had light, I glanced around. Nothing particular stood out to me. Only pastures and cows.

Ryder and Brody stood a few feet away, studying the map and talking quietly. When they realized we were awake, Ryder glanced at me with a grumpy expression.
Apparently, not everyone got a good night’s sleep.

“Turn your back, boys, I’m changing,” Eva said. When Ryder and Brody turned around, she hurried to yank her shirt over her head.

I needed to get out of my dirty clothes also. Digging in my bag, I pulled out clean shorts and a t–shirt but I found that changing clothes with one injured hand was difficult. When Eva saw my dilemma, she stepped over to help me.

“Oh, shit, Maddie! I’m sorry!” Brody said when he turned too soon and saw me halfway naked.

Ryder whipped around, a furious scowl on his face. It disappeared when he saw me standing in only my bra and shorts. His eyes were intent on my ribcage as he closed the distance between us. Stopping inches in front of me, he ran his finger along my side lightly, causing a tingle to race around my abdomen.

“You’re covered it bruises, Maddie. Does it hurt?” he asked, looking into my eyes.

“Not as much as earlier,” I answered, feeling my heart quicken at his touch.

He gazed down at me with hunger as I slipped my shirt on.

“What’s the holdup?” Brody asked, sounding impatient as he stood with his back to us.

Eva walked past me, picking up her backpack and rolling her eyes. “Get a room, you two.”

Ryder stepped away and I could tell he was struggling to fight the same desire I was feeling.
Would sex with him be as good the second time as it was the first? Oh, Lord, where had that thought come from? And why would I ask myself that anyway?
This was Ryder. He oozed sex. It would be epic the second time just as it had been the first.

I stuffed my dirty clothes in my backpack, telling myself it didn’t matter because there wasn’t going to be a second time. Ever.

Within seconds, we were leaving the minivan behind and walking again.

“Sorry ’bout that, Maddie,” Brody said, walking beside me. “If it’s any consideration, you have a hot body,” he said with a wide grin.

I smiled back, knowing that he was teasing, but then I caught Ryder glaring at Brody. He looked ready to pounce and start throwing punches.

Brody chuckled. “Don’t worry, Ryder, it was just an observation.”

“Don’t observe,” Ryder growled.

“Damn, you have it bad!” Brody scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief.

I snuck a peek at Ryder. He pulled the baseball cap out of his backpack and smacked it down on his head, pulling the brim down low and hiding his upper face. I could see his jaw clenching and unclenching in anger.

He didn’t deny Brody’s words. My mind went crazy thinking about that.

I wasn’t sure how many miles we covered or how much time passed but when the sun reached its highest point, I couldn’t walk any further. The heat was overwhelming. Our water was gone, we hadn’t eaten for close to twelve hours now, and we were all suffering from heat exhaustion.

We passed a few houses but decided not to approach strangers in their own homes. A person’s very existence was now being challenged and most would be willing to do anything to protect their family and property. With only a hunting knife between the four of us, we didn’t want to take a chance on confronting someone who shot first and asked questions later. We needed an empty home, safe from all threats.

I tugged the brim of Ryder’s hat further down on my head, trying to hide my already sunburned face from the sun. The heat caused my body to throb with each heartbeat. My head was pounding and my legs were cramping.

I suddenly realized that I was no longer sweating. Looking over at Eva, I saw that she didn’t appear to be sweating either.

“I think Eva and I have heat exhaustion," I said, weaving on my feet. "We need to stop before we get worse.”

Brody ran over to Eva, suddenly frantic. He held her face in his hands tenderly, turning her toward him. “Worse?”

“Heat stroke. It will cause nausea, vomiting what little water we have in our system, fainting, and eventually death,” I said. “The ER sees it all the time when temperatures get this high.”