Falling Into Darkness: The Under Series Book 1 (13 page)

“Why do you call me that?”
He leaned in closer to me, his face inches away. I couldn't help but stare into his black eyes, they
were hard to look away from they were so unusual.
“It's what I've always called you,” he said.
But before I could register what he had said his lips were on mine. My mind was going over a
hundred different reasons why this was not a good idea.
Sure he had been nothing but charming with me but there was something about him, a cold feeling I
couldn't shake and it frightened me. His lips were soft but felt cold against mine, he held the kiss
waiting for me to return it, but I breathed in his rose scent and had a flashback to the image in the
glass in my bedroom and pulled away quickly. “Sorry. I don't think this is a good idea. I hardly
know you,”
“Well you weren't complaining a second ago when you were biting my lip,” I looked at him, he was
joking trying to fluster me and it was working.
“I didn't bite you,” I said, embarrassed.
He smiled at me and ran his fingers down my hair playing with the ends. I was starting to feel
extremely uncomfortable. First he tries to kiss me, now he was pawing my hair. His hands seemed
to find their way to wherever they wanted to. I didn't like it, he was treating me like I was his
property.
A cry for help filled the air, I looked around wondering who had called out and where it had come
from?
“Did you hear that?” I asked turning back to face him.
“Hear what?” he said running his fingers now down the side of my face. I heard another call for
help and was almost certain it was Caitlin. I pulled his wondering hand away from my face and
jumped off the swing.
“I can hear Caitlin,”
“Ruby there's no one there, I can't hear anything,”
“Well I can. I need to find her,”
I walked past him in the direction I thought I had heard Caitlin calling. He grabbed my hand and
pulled me back.
“Ruby stay,”
“No I have to go,” I tried to wriggle my hand free.
“You're hearing things, there's no one round here. Now stay princess,”
My mind was racing with bad scenario outcomes. What if this was something he did all the time?
Taking defenceless teenage girls out into the woods.
“Let go,” I tried to pull my hand free again
“Ruby stop it, I'm not going to hurt you.” he said amused, but it sounded fake and seriously creepy.
“Let go of me then,” It came out almost like a cry.
I was using my other hand trying to realise his grip on me.
“No, not until you calm down. Ruby I would never hurt you, you have to believe me.”
“Well you are hurting me,”
The more I tried to pull away the tighter his grip got.
“Let go of her,” said a familiar voice from behind me.
I looked over my shoulder to see Mack and he looked angry.
“This is nothing to do with you,” Cam said to Mack.
“Maybe not, but if you touch her again I will make it my business and dislocate something of
yours,”
Cam grunted a laugh and let go. I fell to the floor as I had been using my weight to pull away from
him. I quickly scrambled to my feet as Mack walked over to me.
“You can't hide from me,” Cam said looking at me.
He looked at Mack one final time, if looks could kill that would of been it. He left quickly and
disappeared into the trees in seconds.
“You okay?” Mack asked.
I nodded not sure what to make of everything that had just happened, and everything that could of
happened if Mack hadn't shown up.
“You're shaking,”
I hadn't even noticed I was cold, the tank top and jumper I was wearing weren't enough layers and I
had left my jacket in Caitlin's car. He unzipped his own hoodie, he was wearing a green and grey
striped one today which matched his green hi tops. Underneath he had on a black baggy T-shirt.
“Here put this on,” he said handing me his hoodie.
“But what about you?”
“I'll live,” he smiled at me.
“What are you doing this far away from the party” I asked.
“I noticed you'd disappeared and I don't trust that guy, so I came looking for you,” he said watching
me. I pulled on his hoodie which was still warm and smelled of pine.
“He told me you were trouble and to stay away from you,” I blurted out.
“And....what do you think?” Mack said in a low tone.
“I don't know,” I looked at him grateful he had shown up. Caitlin's voice cut through the air loudly.
“Caitlin, I need to find Caitlin. I can hear her calling for help, something's wrong,”
“Really, where? I didn't hear anything,”
“Over there I think?” I walked past him leading the way.
We weaved in and out of the trees, we had been walking for ages and I hadn't heard anything for
sometime. I was starting to think we were going the wrong way or I was actually hearing things.
The sun was starting to dip and I didn't want to get stuck out here in the dark. I tripped over a
branch and Mack caught me by the arm.
“Helloooo. Can anyone hear me?” Caitlin shouted, this time it sounded near by.
Mack snapped his head in the same direction as I did and we both rushed over. We found Caitlin at
the bottom of a ditch she had her cell in her hand holding it in the air, probably trying to get signal.
She was stood over Josh who was either asleep or passed out.
Mack helped me climb down steadying me with his hand.
“Ruby, I thought no one was ever going to hear me?” Caitlin said, stepping away from Josh. “I
couldn't leave him after he started being sick,”
“What's wrong with him?” I asked.
“I dunno he was fine one minute then he said he was dizzy and fell over,” Mack squatted down next
to Josh.
“Did he drink anything?” he asked Caitlin.
“I don't remember.....no wait he drank my drink. I didn't want it, so I handed it to Josh,” Mack
looked up at her waiting for her to catch up, on what had happened. “Oh my gosh I drugged Josh,”
“Err, no the person that gave it to you did.” I said, putting my arm around her.
“I can't believe Brandon would do that what a jerk.”
“What did this Brandon guy look like?” Mack asked.
“He had a T-shirt with a smiley face on over a jumper, baggy pants with a red cap on backwards.”
“What, that's the same guy that offered me a drink, I'm glad I declined.”
I looked down at Josh lying on the floor. I would have never known Brandon's intentions when
giving me the drink as there were so many thoughts filling the air and I wasn't really paying
attention at the time. Now I wished I'd been more alert as I could have prevented this.
Mack picked Josh up and threw him over his shoulder like he weighed nothing, then we picked our
way back through the trees, eventually making it back to the clearing just in time before the light
faded. There were now torch lights set up and lit so the fun could carry on into the night, but I'd
already had enough fun for one night and desperately wanted to get out of here.
“Where have you guys been? You're missing all the fun,” Aimee said trying to get Caitlin to dance
with her.
“What happened to Josh?” Aimee asked poking at Josh as he hung over Mack's shoulder.
“Brandon drugged him,” Caitlin said furiously.
“What, why would Brandon do that? Surely Josh isn't is type,” she said giggling.
“Aimee that's not funny the drink was for me.”
“I've told you before not to take drinks from Brandon, he's a creepy perv.”
“He's in my history class, I didn't think he would do something like this. I let him copy my notes
yesterday cause he was late.”
“Poor little Caitlin, when will you ever learn,” Aimee put her arms around her.
“We're leaving, you coming?” Caitlin asked.
Aimee pouted. “We were just about to roast some marshmallows,”
“Well you can roast them from home. Anyway it looks like we are the only sober ones left to drive,
it's now or never. You know you're on your final warning from your mom about curfew.”
“Point taken, lets roll,” Aimee said marching in front like a wobbly toy soldier.
We all helped get Josh into Caitlin's car, he laid across the whole of the back seat. Aimee climbed in
the front, which didn't leave much space for me. I grabbed my jacket from the car and returned
Mack's hoodie back to him.
“Maybe we can push Josh over,” Caitlin said, looking at the seating arrangement.
“I'll can take her home,” Mack said. I looked around wondering if he came here on his bike.
“Ruby, I'm sure we can shove Josh over if you don't want to err....” Caitlin said to me with her back
to Mack.
I looked over at Mack, he had his hands shoved in his pockets waiting for me to decide.
“I live out in the middle of nowhere past Eggy's Diner at the end of a very long dirt track.”
“Let me guess old cabin in the woods, backs onto the river,”
“Yeah.....that's the one,” I replied noticing the sly smile on his face that made me think he already
knew where I lived, he didn't need to ask.
“No problem,” he said walking off leaving me with Caitlin.
“Are you sure about this?” Caitlin asked.
“He's not that bad, I'm sure he'll get me home in one piece. Where are you taking Josh?”
“Robbie had to spend tonight with his parents, they're actually home for once. So we've arranged to
drop him off there. Robbie can keep an eye on him until he sleeps it off. Josh's parents would flip if
they saw him like this.”
“What about Robbie's parents, wont they mind?”
“They wont even know, Josh will be in the guest house.”
“Guest house?”
“I know right who has a guest house. They are so rich it's unbelievable.” Caitlin hugged me
goodbye.
“So glad you heard me calling for help, can't believe no one else did,”
I was still figuring out how though. It was like she was just around the corner when in reality we
walked well past hearing distance.
It was like my senses were going into overdrive. What was happening to me? First smelling the deer
from my bedroom and now hearing Caitlin.
“Drive safe,” I said to her as she closed her door.
I wondered over to Mack he was leaning up against a large red Jeep.
“This is nice, for a minute there I thought I was going to have to sit on the back of your bike,”
He grinned at me and grabbed my hand pulling me around to the back of the Jeep.
“Sorry to disappoint, but the truck isn't mine. This is all mine though,”
He climbed onto the motorcycle and handed me the only helmet.
“You can wear it, probably look better on you,”
“I doubt it.”
I was still deciding whether riding on the back of his bike was a good idea or not. Seth would kill
me if he knew I was about to climb on the back of a random boys motorcycle.
I took one finale look at the bike before putting the helmet on. Just hoping I would get home in one
piece.
Thankfully the ride home wasn't as scary as I had first thought it would be, holding onto Mack was
probably helping. I was probably holding on far too tight though but he didn't show any sign he
minded my arms around him.
The sun had completely set by the time Mack pulled up near the cabin.
He parked behind a tree just out of view from the cabin. The porch light was on, but over here we
were hidden by shadows. I got off and looked around the tree expecting to see Micah with his nose
pressed up against the window, but no one was looking out.
Mack swung off and leaned back against his bike.
“Thanks for the ride and for getting me home in one piece,” I handed him back his helmet.
“Well I prefer you in one piece not all separate bits, this is much better.” I wasn't sure whether he
was flirting with me or joking.
“So do you like that guy?”
“Who Cam?” I asked. He nodded kicking a stone across the dirt. “I don't really know him,”
“You looked like you were enjoying his company,” he said, no emotion showed on his face. I wasn't
sure if he was annoyed, upset or not even bothered.
“So earlier you were really spying on me,” I lightly joked. I knew he'd said he'd come looking for
me but I didn't know how much he had seen of what happened between me and Cam.
“I think it would be a good idea if you stayed away from him, like really far away,” he said not
smiling.
“And why is that?”
“I don't like him, he's not right. And I don't think he had any intention of letting you leave earlier.”
“Yeah it got a little scary at that point.”
“You should definitely stay away from him. I don't want him luring you into the woods again.”
“You make him sound like a real creep,”
“He is. And what normal girl goes into the woods with some freak she doesn't even know,” Mack
said, looking straight at me.
“The first day I sat next to you in class, you weren't exactly friendly to me yourself and earlier you
said you'd followed me to see where I'd gone. Maybe I should be staying away from you,”
“Oh, so I just rescued you from the creepy janitor and you think I'm the bad guy here,”
He shook his head half laughing half annoyed. “You want me to stay away from you fine,” He
pulled his helmet on.
“Ruby,” Micah called. He had spotted us and was walking this way. I groaned.
“Mack I didn't mean it like that....”
He cut me off. “I have to go there's something I need to take care of,”
He climbed onto his bike, I quickly moved out the way and Mack pulled off in a hurry. It was my
fault I'd upset him, I couldn't blame him wanting to get away from me.
He had driven me home safely and I had somehow managed to accuse him of stalking me even
though he had really rescued me from Cam.
Even if he had been following me I knew deep down I didn't care for some reason, I liked the idea
of Mack following me. Probably because I liked the idea of Mack.
“Who was that?” Micah asked having quickened his pace to get over to me.
“His names Mack, but don't worry I don't think he'll be coming back.”
“And where did you meet this Mack?”
“At school. I sit next to him in English.” I brushed past him towards the cabin.
“I thought Caitlin was driving you home tonight?”
“She was, but Josh was passed out in the back seat of her car and there wasn't really much room for
me. So Mack offered me a ride.”
“Why was this Josh boy passed out?”
“He drank something that had been drugged, I guess,”
“What! Where on earth were you? I thought you were going bowling?”
“I never said that did I?” I replied innocently.
“Yes you did,”
“Okay well I might have accidentally lied about my location.”
“Accidentally lied. There's no such thing. Where were you?”
“Just this place called The Jump,”
“Seriously. Seth would hit the roof if he knew you were there. That place is well known for it's after
dark illegal activities.”
“It wasn't that bad and I knew if I told you I was going you'd tell Seth and stop me,”
“That's not true. I would of just gone with you,”