Five: Out of the Pit (Five #2) (41 page)

Natalie visibly relaxed. “Okay, then, my monster killers. Tell me what you’ve been up to.”

We stayed and talked until the night nurse kicked us out and ushered Natalie off to her room for her night meds and bedtime.

Heather just happened to be starting her break as we made our way out to the front lobby. “Can I walk you out, Alec?”

“Sure. We don’t have much time, but I’ll spend as much as I can with you.” He put his arm around her waist as she came through the security door to where we stood. Her pouty face reminded me of Mariah’s, only a little less annoying.

“I’ve missed you,” Heather said as we stepped outside.

“Ahh, that’s sweet,” Alec said. “I’ve missed seeing you, too. I’m sorry we’re in a hurry tonight. Maybe I can come up here when you have a day off and we can spend the whole day together.”

The smile on her face showed every tooth in her mouth. She snaked her arm under his and wrapped both of her arms around his waist. “That would be awesome! How about Saturday? I’m off Saturday.”

He stopped walking and pulled her closer. “Maybe, I have kind of a big project I have to get done, so I’ll have to see how things go for me on Friday.”

Her smile turned into a frown. I turned and took a few steps away when I saw her eyes well up with tears. Alec’s appeal to women was really disgusting.

“Oh, now, don’t do that,” I heard him say. I walked further away when I heard kissing sounds.

After about five minutes of the wind whipping my hair around my raw face, hair sticking to it from where I’d slathered on the lotion earlier, I’d had enough. I turned around and saw they were still locked in each other’s embrace, lips glued together. I rolled my eyes and yelled, “Alec, we really need to be going.”

Besides wanting to get out of the wind, I wanted to get back to Johnathan so we could annoy the others with our kissing as much as Alec was annoying me.

I thought for a minute that I would have to go peel Heather off him—she was more than reluctant to let go of him–but he was finally able to untangle himself from her grasp, only after promising to meet her at a restaurant in Provo on Saturday.

I wished with all my might he’d be able to keep that date—not for Heather’s sake, but for all of us. I hoped we’d survive the Gathering.

riday morning, we awoke to an eerie calm. The ravishing wind of the last several days had stopped sometime during the night and a thin layer of snow covered the ground. We ate cold cereal for breakfast, and I don’t know about the others, but I had to force each bite down. My stomach was not in the mood to accept much of anything, not even Cocoa Pebbles.

We gathered in the living room, and in hushed, almost reverent tones, went over the plan for the last time. Planning is good. Knowing the plan inside and out is better.

The official start of the execution of our plan wasn’t set to begin until 9:00 p.m.

I felt a strong impulse to stay close to the others. They must have felt the same, because no one even tried to go off by themselves. Together, we walked into town to try to get rid of some pre-battle jitters and to pass the time more quickly. The main street of Moab matched the stillness of the air—there were no other pedestrians and very little traffic on the street, unusual for early afternoon.

We stopped at a small used bookstore, but didn’t even make it past the threshold before the stooped and wrinkled owner waved us away. “Sorry folks. Somethin’s not feelin’ right about this day. I’m closin’ shop early and goin’ home.”

“Not a bad idea,” Joe said. “Keep safe.”

The old man nodded, stepped outside, and used his key to lock the door. I looked back at him as we turned to walk away. He gazed up into the cloudless sky. I heard him mutter, “Calm before the storm.”

Back out on the sidewalk of the Main Street, we stopped to decide what to do next. A small red car going in the opposite direction screeched as the driver slammed on the brakes and flipped around, coming to a skidding stop next to us. The driver’s side door flung open and Mariah exited and flew around the front of the car to stand in front of Alec, leaving the door wide open and the car running on the side of the road.

“Alec!” She was out of breath. “I was just going up to your house.”

Alec took a step back. “Why?”

“I needed to see you.” She closed the space between them, flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest.

The look on Alec’s face was one of surprise as he embraced her uncertainly. “Mariah, calm down. Tell me what’s going on.” When she didn’t answer he grabbed her upper arms and pushed her away so he could look into her eyes. “What is going on?”

The thoughts kept circling in my mind that this girl who had seemed so normal a couple of weeks ago, was now as unstable as a three-legged chair—and, she knew much of our plan for that night.

“Oh, Alec. I’m scared for you. Please don’t go tonight, please. Just stay with me. I’ll… I’ll make it worth your while, I promise. I’ll do anything you want… anything. I can send my roommates away for the entire night… or they could stay… with us… if you wanted. Please, Alec, just don’t go to the Gathering tonight, please!”

Seth leaned over to Johnathan. “Did she just offer him what I think she offered him?”

Johnathan nodded his head, mouth open just slightly.

“I don’t think Claire would do that,” Seth said loud enough for Mariah to hear.

Her head snapped around so fast I swear I heard her neck crack. She pierced Seth with an icy stare. “I’ll make her do whatever I want her to do.” In that instant, her voice went from quavering hysterics to scary, possessed-by-a-demon, horror movie steadiness. I expected snakes to come crawling out of her mouth any second.

I reached for my
sight
and examined her with opened eyes. She looked normal, except there was something different about the aura that surrounded her. There was darkness where I expected light. Not completely dark, but like when a crisp white shirt gets washed with new dark colors. I sensed something else, barely, but couldn’t place exactly what it was. I switched my
sight
off.

Mariah turned her full attention back to the stunned Alec. She pressed her body against his and pulled his head down to hers. The kiss she proceeded to give him was unquestionably inappropriate. I wanted to reach over and cover Halli’s eyes, but I was afraid she’d break my arm. As Mariah pushed her body tighter against his, Alec stepped back. She followed, pressing closer, and he stepped back again. The grip she had on his head and the suction from her lips was such that he couldn’t have pulled away easily if he’d wanted to. His backside bumped into her car. As soon as he couldn’t back away from her anymore, she started grinding her hips against him. That was more than I could take.

“Alec!” I didn’t think Mariah would hear me or care if she did. “Stop it! This is disgusting. Stop, or I’m going to slime both of you.”

I heard Seth whisper, “Hmm. Slime might be fun.”

I shot him the look of death before returning my attention to the lip-locked lovers. If I’d had a hose, I would have sprayed them both down. Alec tried to escape her hold on him. He pushed her shoulders away from him, gently at first and then more firmly as she resisted. He tried a new tactic by reaching up behind his neck and pulling her hands apart. The little space he’d made between their bodies a moment before was instantly closed again. He peeled her hands away from his neck and pulled away from the kiss. He held her hands down at her sides and slid his body sideways, away from her.

In a breathless voice, he choked out, “Mariah, what was that all about?”

Breath coming rapidly, face flushed, lips red from the intense pressure of the possessed kiss, she said, “I just wanted to show you that I meant what I said. There’s much more where that came from. You can have me… all of me. Just, please, don’t go tonight.”

Alec let go of her wrists and stepped closer to us. “Mariah. No. I told you I won’t go any farther than kissing. What in the world is wrong with you?” He’d talked to me about this earlier—he didn’t want to be like his dad. Kissing was one thing, but sex, he’d said, should be special. He didn’t want to use women like that.

Her pleading intensified. “I just want you to stay with me.” She took a step toward him.

Joe placed himself between them. “Mariah, why are you insisting Alec stay? What’s happened since last night?” His voice was calm and soothing.

The tears started to flow again. “I… he can’t go. I did… something. Something stupid. He’s too strong. There are too many.” She looked back at Alec. “I made a deal for you!”

She slapped her hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened. She spun and ran to the open door of her car. Before any of us realized what was happening, she’d slammed the door and the tires squealed down the road.

“This can’t be good,” Halli said.