Unbound (2 page)

***

It was dark when I arrived at the barn. Shopping, lunch, more shopping, the movie and then dinner took longer than I had planned. I was glad to be busy all day though because Mike hadn’t called me yet. I figured he was hung over from partying last night, but it was late. I had that something-is-wrong feeling in the pit of my stomach. I purposely left my cell phone in the car so I wouldn’t be tempted to check it compulsively for missed calls. I had a lot to do horse-wise, anyway.

 
There weren’t too many people there this late except for Amanda Williams and know-it-all Ramona Carl, who I couldn’t stand. Amanda’s horse Allie was in a stall next to Mystery’s but I’d gotten to know Amanda only a little bit. She was probably the sweetest girl I’d ever met and was very quiet. Her medium length brown hair was almost always in her face as if she was trying to hide from everyone. She was putting the last of her grooming supplies away when I walked by.

“Hey, Anora,” she mumbled quietly.

“Hey, Amanda. How are you?”

“Oh, fine. Just finishing up.” She smiled and turned back to her grooming box. I grabbed my own box of brushes and went to Mystery’s stall.
Ramona walked past me (towards the door thank God) just as I was finishing brushing Mystery. Ramona was a chubby blonde who was a few inches shorter than me. She always had her thick hair in a perfect French braid. I wouldn’t call her definitely unattractive, but there was nothing pretty about her. She was plain; pale hair, pale skin, and pale blue-gray eyes.

Ramona stopped, spun around to face me with her hands on her hips.
Go away,
I shouted in my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her take in a breath and open her mouth, preparing to lecture me on something I already knew.
Just leave!
I mentally screamed, turning my back to her. Her boots scuffed against the concrete aisle and the door slammed.

“Dodged that bullet,” I whispered to Mystery, relieved.

It was ten-thirty by the time I got done. I wished I brought Hunter with; the barn was full of sounds and had a creepy feeling when you were alone, which only got amplified at night. That, and I’m pretty sure the old barn around back where the hay was stored was haunted. I’m not certain because I avoid that place like the plague. I got the feeling someone was watching me as I darted out to my Prius. After the doors were locked—I pushed the button twice, just to be sure— I tapped the screen on my cell. A wave of disappointment washed over me when I saw that I had no missed calls.

My parents were in bed already when I got home twenty minutes later. I heard multiple voices coming from Harrison’s room as I headed towards mine. I opened the door to see who was over and got immediately choked by smoke.

“Close the door!” Harrison ordered. I stepped in and closed it.

“Holy crap, Harry, Mom and Dad are so gonna smell this!”

“Nah. They never do. Come have a seat with us, sista.”

I sat next to my twin as I joined the small group of people. Luke was the only one I recognized. He was six feet of pure muscle. His tight white tee shirt contrasted beautifully with his dark skin. He had intensely dark brown eyes, but currently they were all red and a little puffy. A large brown haired boy and sandy red head were playing some sort of football game on the PS3. Luke put his hand on my thigh. “What’s happening?” he asked me sleepily.
          

“Um, nothing.”

 
“You’re pretty.” He smiled, showing a row of beautiful white teeth.

Luke never really paid much attention to me before. I knew the types of girls Luke dated, and I sure wasn’t one of them. “Thanks.” I could feel my cheeks redden a bit, but hey, I doubt any one in here would notice. Harrison put his arm around my shoulders.

“She’s off limits. She’s my sister.”

Luke waved his hand in the air to show it was ok. “I know man, but you didn’t tell me your sister got
hot
!” He looked at me intently, and I felt my cheeks redden even more. Harrison scowled at him. Just then my cell rang. I jumped up when I saw it was Mike.

“See you guys later!” I called as I dashed into my room.

“Hey!” I sounded cheerful, too cheerful.

“Hey.” Mike’s voice was dull.

“Why didn’t you call me all day?”

“I dunno, I was busy.”

I felt a little crushed that he was able to brush it off that lightly. “Oh.” There was a long silence. Obviously that was all the explanation I was going to get out of Mike. “I went shopping today. I got lots of new stuff.”

“Really, want to model it for me?”

I smiled. “Of course, but you should know, Marie made me go to Victoria’s Secret.” I paused for dramatic effect.

“Oh yea?” Mike sounded suddenly more interested.

“Mh-hm. And she convinced me to buy something.”

“Remind me to thank Marie.”

 
I heard voices in the background. It sounded like girls. “Where are you?” The bad feeling suddenly came back. I heard the distinct sound of a door shutting. The female voices disappeared.

“Travis’.”

“Oh.”

“Yea, I never left. He wants to meet you, by the way. Listen, I got to go. You’ll model for me tomorrow, ok?” That sounded more like a statement than a question.

“If you want me to.” I hoped I sounded coy.

“You know I do.” Click. Not much of a good bye. I sighed and got ready for bed.

Hunter bumped against the door, causing it to rattle and whined. I’m a light sleeper, so that was enough to wake me up. I sat up and ran my hands over my sleepy face.

“You need to go out, Sweetie?”

I mentally kicked myself for not taking him out earlier. He whined again. I groaned but slowly got out of bed. I paused as I walked past Harrison’s room and peaked inside. He was still fully dressed and passed out on top of his bed. I snuck in and picked a blanket up off the floor and threw it over him. The house seemed oddly cold. No one else was in the room, leaving me to conclude that they were either in the guest room or gone. I cracked open the last door before the stairs. Empty.

Good, they’re gone. I hated seeing Harrison’s friends in the morning; I look like a mess. Whenever Luke stayed the night, I made sure to shower and put makeup on before heading down for breakfast.

I opened the backdoor and stepped onto the deck. Hunter trotted past me and onto the grass. He sniffed around, looking for a good spot. The wind picked up and I wrapped my arms tightly around me. The August air was still warm, but the breeze carried the promise of an early fall. I enjoyed fall; the cool weather was nice for riding and the multi-colored leaves were so pretty. My mind drifted to my favorite fall memories, all of them consisting of horses and friends. A low growl startled me out of my reverie.

“Hunter! What are you growling at?”

I scanned our small fenced in backyard but saw nothing of significance. Crap. That meant he was growling at something in the woods. The fence we had was one of those white cast iron ones that are made to look pretty rather than keep anything in-or out.

“Get in here!” I called.

 
He growled again. The porch light spilled out enough for me to see that the fur on his back was standing up. Wind rattled the trees, which were still heavy with green leaves. I heard branches breaking and undergrowth crunching. Something was in the woods. Hunter sprinted forward, fully in protection mode now. It was too dark to descry exactly what was out there. Please be a bunny.

“Hunter! Come here!”

He ignored me and started barking. Oh man, I didn’t want to go out and get him. But if something was really out there… I didn’t want him getting into a scuffle with a wild animal. It moved again, causing so much noise that I knew it had to be big.

“Definitely not a bunny.” I said to myself.

I moved to the edge of the deck. “Hunter, COME!”

 
Finally he turned to look at me. After another snarl at whatever was behind the fence, he ran over to me. I grabbed his collar and squinted, trying to focus my eyes to better try to see something. Hunter growled again. I looked down at my dog and was mighty glad he wasn’t growling at me.

He was huge for a German Shepherd. The breeder we got him from was baffled; both of his parents were award winning show dogs weighing not over eighty-five pounds. They actually apologized when Hunter topped one hundred pounds. He was mostly black, with the characteristic tan legs, chest, belly and chin. He had enough brown mixed in on his head, ears, and neck to give him a handsome, wild-dog look. His teeth were big. And sharp. Maybe it was just my opinion, but his fangs seemed longer than other dogs’. Hunter was a good, loyal, well behaved and friendly dog, but boy, could he look scary when he wanted to.

I woke up the next morning feeling very uncomfortable and completely drained. It was eight-thirty and Hunter was lying on top of me. I tried to sit up but realized I couldn’t move under his weight. “Hunter,” I called quietly. It was enough for him to hear, and he stood up and moved so he could lick my face. “Ok. Enough.” I gently pushed him off and sat up, wiping dog slobber off my face. I groaned; I really didn’t want to get out of bed but I had a riding lesson in an hour. I sleepily started down the hall.

“
Anora!
”

I swiveled around, looking for the source of the whisper. Harrison’s door was still closed. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, imagining invisible shields going up around my mind. It was the only way I knew to keep things like that out of my head. It was odd though, I could have sworn I’ve heard that voice before.

***

 
“How were the horses today?” Mom asked me during dinner that night.

“Really good. I had a lesson and then went out on the trails.”

“That‘s nice honey.”

“Yea, it was fun. Can you pass me the gravy?” I spooned some over my mashed potatoes and offered the bowl to Mike.

“Have you ventured to the stable to see Anora‘s horses, Mike?” Mom always sounded so formal when she talked. It’s like she never took a break from being Mrs. Serious Doctor.

“Yes.” He shoved a large forkful of potatoes into his mouth. Conversation closed, is how I took it. I wished he talked to my parents more; after all, they made an effort to be polite and talkative to him.

After dinner, Mike and I went upstairs to watch TV. I plopped down on my bed.

“Want to watch
Buffy
?” I asked enthusiastically.

“That show’s lame.” Mike sounded bored, as usual.

“I thought you said you’ve never even seen it.”

“Yea, exactly, because it’s lame.”

“Then how would you know its lame if you haven’t seen it?”

“I said I don’t want to watch it, damnit.”

I leaned back on my pillows feeling a little hurt for some reason. I didn’t want to start a fight. Better change the subject then. “That’s ok, it was just an idea. What do you want to do then?”

“Travis is having people over again. We could go.”

“Mike, you know I have another riding lesson tomorrow morning. I can’t stay out late.” Though he wasn’t looking at me, I’m pretty sure I saw him roll his eyes. I didn’t want him to think I was the dork that I really was. “Well, I guess I could go, but just for a little bit. I know you don’t really get it, but riding is really important to me.” Mike smiled, and I loved it when he did. He had dark blonde hair and deep blue eyes, and he looked absolutely charming when he smiled. “Let me tell my dad where I’m going and change and we can take off. Promise we can be back here by like, nine-thirty?” He pulled me close and gave me a kiss.

“Promise.”

We didn’t talk much on the way to Travis’ apartment. I’d never been there before, but I knew it was near the University. The apartments over there ranged from really, really nice to very run down. Common among student housing, I was sure. Tired of the awkward silence, I decided to try my hand at starting a conversation.

“You know what I was thinking?”

“Hm?”

“That I would love to run a rescue barn for off the track racehorses, like Penny and Dave.”

“Who?”

“Penny and Dave. The people who own the barn my horses are at. You’ve met them before.”

Mike was silent for a minute before saying, “That’s stupid. You would never make any money and plus, where would you get the land and the barn to do something like that? You aren’t thinking realistically.”

Ok, true, I hadn’t thought out every little financial aspect yet, but it wasn’t like I was trying to put the plan in motion. “It was just an idea,” I said quietly. I folded my hands in my lap and stared at them until we arrived at Travis’.

The apartment wasn’t really an apartment complex, like I’d imagined. It was a big old house split into several smaller houses, and it wasn’t one of the nicer ones, but it wasn’t a rundown crap-hole either, thank God. It was obvious that college students occupied the houses on the street. Music, laughter and loud conversations filled the warm night air, and beer bottles, red plastic cups and other kinds of food wrappers littered the tiny lawns and walkways. Mike took my hand led me onto the large covered porch. Several guys were sitting on aluminum lawn chairs drinking beer.