Chapter 128: The party
My mind turned over every second and every minute detail of what happened as I got dressed up for the day. I put on a black crop top sweater, a red and black plaid high waisted skirt, black thigh high stockings and my boots. A chain belt accentuated my waist and l wore a similar necklace.
After applying winged eye liner, l put the top half of my hair into a loose bun. I didn't put any lipstick on, my busted lip was still tender. When I carefully ran my fingers over my bottom lip, memories of the strange handsome man rushed in my head. Our moment together had been more than an erotically charged kiss.
I was smart enough to admit that to myself. He had sucked my busted up lip and sucked blood from it. I could remember the feeling of his tongue on my chin licking it away. When my body flushed with heat, l questioned my sanity. I witnessed what he did to Richard before they vanished.
Even if he saved me, he acted as brutal as a monster. That only told me that there was something wrong with this town. As someone with a natural curiosity about all things strange and unsual, l couldn't fight the urge to learn more. Luckily Aunt Matilda still had some coffee left in her cabinets.
I paired a cup of black coffee with some partially stale graham crackers in the cabinet for a brunch while looking up the location of the library. My vague memories of it weren't enough to get me there on my own. All l recalled were the colors and the brick outside together with the children's nook inside.
It was noon by the time l left the town. Aunt Matilda's homemade trinkets and wind chimes rang in the slight breeze as I locked up the front door. The sight of the withering plants caused the corners of my mouth to turn down. I would have to remember to water them when I come back.
The wind had a bite to it. It nipped at my skin as I walked under an overcast sky toward downtown. White and grey clouds moved low and fast through the sky. Those foreboding clouds threatened rain if the chilly wind didn't blow them away quickly enough. I was slightly regretting the choice of my outfit when a frigid gust of wind blew my skirt up.
By this point I was so close to the library to turn back and go change my outfit. While walking l made sure to avoid the street around the corner from downtown where the incident of last night happened. No matter how many times it added to my walk or how often the wind tried to uncloth me.
I knew it that Richard's body won't be there but still I couldn't bring myself to walk that way. It only added five minutes to my walk to take a different road that allowed me to cut around the main Street. What l didn't enjoy was the utter silence outside of the whooshing wind. Just as l was taking the road from the main Street, l finally heard the rumble of a car on the aged cobblestone street.
My head poked around the red brick building at the corner and then saw an old beige Buick rambling around the main Street. The chittering of a squirrel stole my attention and my eyes widened. The creature made the unfortunate mistake of running into the street right as the car was passing.
"No!", Shouting l jumped around the corner as if I could have been fast enough to change anything. The car made no move to stop or slow down then I heard the solid thump of the tire hitting the animal. The old man pushing the Buick along didn't blink twice as he drove past. He simply turned off the main Street and kept driving away from downtown.
I listened to the sound of the engine fade as I stepped on to the cobblestone and toward the red smear of mangled fur. As l took in the small creature's crushed skull on the road, l almost wished I had my camera with me. This made me think about the dead deer on the road outside Willow Wood.
"Is every creature in this town determined to die?", I sighed to myself, not expecting anyone to hear or answer me in his desolate town. Placing my hands on my thighs, l bent forward for a closer look. "I could say the same about you", That dark viscous tone shocked my system as l was still looking at the dead squirrel.
At the same time it warmed my blood. "I thought I told you to leave", l knew that stranger's voice. His warning and the feeling of his lips haunted my dreams all night. Instantly l straightened up and twirled around. He lifted his head to my face to meet my gaze. Even with his sunglasses on there was no mistaking that he had been staring at my ass while I was bent over.
"You didn't tell me to leave", l rushed out now flustered. It was an overcast day but I could see him clearly than the night before. My eyes devoured the dark ripped jeans on his long legs and the black leather jacket struggling to contain his wide shoulders. "The warning should have been enough to get the message through", He crossed his arm over his chest.
I watched one dark eyebrow lift up over the rim of his sunglasses as he scrutinized every inch of me. "Every monster in this town is going to want to have a taste of you, what the hell does that even mean?", I murmured more to myself. "It's exactly what if sounds like sweetblood , you're a decadent drop of blood in water and every shark around these parts is going to come after you", His words made chills to race along my flesh.
"Monster and sharks?", I scoffed dramatically and rolled my eyes so that he couldn't see how unsettled l was. "If anyone's a monster around here, it's you",