Talisman (73 page)

We laughed
for a moment.  I found it much easier to find some humor in it
now
, especially since I’d resigned myself to the notion of healing Mike to clear my conscience. 
But I’ll let him suffer with his injuries…for a few more days
.

Soon our amusement dwindled, and
we found ourselves sitting in awkward silence.  The handsome jock seemed to be wrestling with something else he wanted to ask.

“
So what’s next on your list of talking points?” I blurted.

Ty raised his brow.  “
Um
, about last Saturday night…”

I nervously awaited his question. 
Is he going to bring up the fact that I ran off, right as we were about to kiss?

“I’m still curious about
…
the rattlesnake
,” Ty stressed.

I bre
athed a silent sigh of relief.

“I think it’s more than just a coincidence that
two
huge rattlers had their sights set on you, on the
same
day…
Don’t you?
” he speculated.  I was unquestionably quiet, and he picked up on it.  “Especially since you said that Mr. Estell was in Bea’s neighborhood staring at you.”

I tried to muster my be
st clueless and innocent look.

“You k
now he’s a member of that snake-handling church in Jolo, right?” Ty remarked.

He “was”
, I mused to myself.

“I think
he
did it,” Ty charged, “but I haven’t figured out
why
he would.”

Ty
tried to study my reaction to his claim.  I needed to play this one off —
fast
.

“That’s an interesting theory,” I pondered aloud.  “B
ut what would he have against me?  I don’t even know the man.”

“I don’t know,” Ty replied.  “B
ut the next time I see him wandering around Welch, I’m planning on asking him.”

I don’t have to worry about that happening
.  Ty noticed me shudder and draped his arm around my shoulder.

“Don’t worry.  It
won’t
happen again,” Ty vowed.

How sweet.  He’s
thinking that I’m scared, when I’ve been sitting here trying to get the image of Mr. Estell’s severed head out of my mind for the past few seconds
.

“Oh, I’m
not
worried,” I interjected confidently.  Ty just sat there and shook his head.

We hadn’t addressed any of the rumors floati
ng around yet. 
Maybe he wants to save the “best for last”?
  I couldn’t take the suspense, so I decided to broach the subject.

“Ty, I’m not sure what Kara told you today, but
—”

Ty interrupted, “Shi, I know how rumors fly around the halls at school.  I was always told to
believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.  But I’ll admit at first, the thought of you and Mike kis—”

Now it was my turn to cut him off.

“We
did not
kiss!” I insisted emphatically.  “He may have gotten the wrong idea and leaned in to kiss me, but it
NEVER
happened!”
  I made repulsed gesture.  “The thought of Mike Riverside going down in
my
mental memory book as my
‘first-kiss’
makes my skin crawl!”

Ty seemed
both surprised and intrigued by my “first-kiss” confession. 
Maybe I should’ve omitted that part
, I thought, sitting there feeling utterly embarrassed about my gaff.

Ty
grinned.  “I can certainly relate to Mike on that one.  He’s not the only guy you’ve shied away from when it comes to
that
.”

Now I was
really
getting uncomfortable.  I hadn’t intended to run off from Ty, far from it, but I still couldn’t openly reveal what had happened.   The evening was full of insane premonitions.  They had my mind so jumbled as to what was real and what was yet to be.  However, I was sure of one thing — from the moment he led me onto the dance floor, I knew exactly where I wanted to be…
in his arms
.  I jumped up and started to walk down the bleachers.

“Is that the same reason why you ran
away the other night?  Did the thought of kissing me make you feel like that?” Ty questioned.

My eyes widened as I spun around.  “
No
,” I replied adamantly.  Upon hearing and observing my rigid response, a beaming smile emerged on Ty’s face that sent my cheeks straight into a flush.  “I didn’t run off because of anything like that. 
I promise
.”  I hopped off the bottom step of the bleachers and began to stroll around the field.

Ty laughed.  “You’re running
away right now,” he called out.

I turned
and flashed him a playful grin.  “No, I’m
walking
…and did anyone say you couldn’t follow?”

I watched as he rose from the stands and started to head my way.  I continued
to walk along the outside edge of the field at a slow pace.  Ty quickly caught up with me.  We strolled around the football field in silence.  As soon as we had reached at the end zone, Ty jumped ahead of me and reached around to grab the chain-link fence, blocking my path.  I had no other choice but to stop. As I looked up at him, I spied the reflection of the stadium’s bright lights dancing within his dreamy blue eyes, heightening their sparkle. My heart began to race and I felt my flush exploding into a full-on glow.

“
So
, how do you feel
now?
” Ty asked softly as he leaned closer.

My heart was
now pounding right out of my chest, but I tried to play it as cool as possible.  He had a curious, yet sly look about him.  He
knew
I wanted him to kiss me. My body language had sent him that message, loud and clear.

“You won’t know until you
try
,” I hinted, rather boldly.

Ty leaned closer, but he paused and pulled back slowly.  He grinned as he look
ed down at his sweat-stained tracksuit.

“Let me run in and hit the showers.  It’ll just take a second, okay? 
Just wait here.”

“Okay,” I replied as I tried to subdue the goofy smile
creeping across my face.

Ty
jogged over to the team’s locker room and stopped as he pulled open the door.  He turned back around and called out, “I’m serious…
DON’T run off!”

I assured him with a flirtatious, “
I won’t
.”

My enthusiasm took hold of me as I watched him disapp
ear into the team’s locker room, and my smile was no longer containable.  Even my emotions were running rampant.  Without realizing, I was clutching the top bar of the chain-link fence, trying to balance myself.  I felt excited, nervous, and even somewhat giddy, like this was a dream.  After the day I’d had, if someone told me that I would be alone with Ty at Golden Knights Stadium, about to finally take part in one of a girl’s rite of passages, I would’ve thought they were crazy.  I smiled as I thought about how resistant I was to being “normal” for a day.

I did need this after all
…

My mind
lingered with thoughts of a freshly showered Tyler Smith emerging from the locker room.  The vision of his wet tousled hair and the faint scent of Acqua di Gio cologne, which I’d smelled on him many times before, was undeniably intoxicating.  I felt myself getting more aroused with every passing second.  I tried to calm down, but that was next to impossible with the reality of handsome and hard-bodied Tyler Smith probably showering off at this very moment. 
However
, my daydream came to an abrupt end as soon as I heard someone behind me clearing their throat, quite crossly.

“
WALLACE! 
Suspension from school includes
ALL
school property,” the familiar voice scoffed.

As
I stood there staring out at the field, my hands automatically tightened around the top rail on the metal fence. 
Coach Hayes — So much for a “perfect” evening!
  He was the last person I wanted to see (with the exception of Lazarus and my newly-acquired creepy stalker).  I kept my back turned to him so he couldn’t see the disgusted glare in my eyes.

“I’m waiting on Ty.  I’ll be gone before you know it,” I assured him.

I could feel his approach, but I remained still.  He was now propped against the fence, standing right beside me.  My pouty stare fell to the ground. 
Why did HE have to come along and ruin this perfect moment?

“You know, I don’t particularly care for punishments like suspensions,”
Coach Hayes acknowledged.  “I’ve always been a big believer in
something else
…”

I really couldn’t have cared less about anything
the surly old coach had to say, but the fact that he never finished his thought and was now silent struck me as odd.  Curiosity got the best of me.

“Oh yeah…
What’s that?
” I asked in a flippant tone as I tilted my head his way.

As soon as he turned
towards me, I caught a subtle whiff of a peculiar odor, and his face darkened on the spot.

“
An eye for an eye
,” he roared in a menacing voice.  Coach Hayes’ eyes were now as black as night.  My nostrils flared from the pungent stench of sulfur, and in less than a second, my eyes exploded with streaks of white light.

Oh
Shit!  The Onyx!

Suddenly, I felt the Onyx’s stinging grasp around
my neck as he swiftly lifted me off the ground.  I tried desperately to break free from his vicious chokehold, but his painful grasp was wickedly unyielding.  Without any effort, he then catapulted me over the fence, where I crashed into the goal post.  The crushing blow threw me for a loop.  Dazed, I found myself lying in a mangled mess of metal.  The force of the strike, combined with my indestructible bones, had dented the goal post into an unrecognizable shape.

Before I could get to my feet, the possessed body of “Coach Hayes”
had already scooped me up and sent me flying across the field.  I crash-landed in the Home section’s metal bleachers.  Though my bones and skin were still intact, I was in a lot of pain from being knocked around with the amount of force the Onyx was using.  The press box was just a few feet above me.  I turned to spot my fiendish attacker charging into the stands.  Speedily, I jumped up and raced towards the side door of the structure, praying it was unlocked.  It wasn’t, but I opened it with a swift kick and hurried inside.

There were several loud
“thumps”
on the door.  I’d managed to lock it, but it took all of my strength to keep the Onyx from busting through it.  Finally, the relentless banging stopped.  I stepped away from the door and waited breathlessly for the Onyx to make his next move.  My eyes scanned around the small, dimly lit space.  The lights from the football field were streaming only a small amount of light into the press box.

I jumped when suddenly, the o
utdoor field lights went out.  My eyes narrowed as I slowly crept towards the long window that spanned the dark room.  I couldn’t see much.  The only lights that remained were the ones at the opposite ends of the field, illuminating the locker rooms and the concession stand. There wasn’t the slightest movement of any kind, and the Onyx was
nowhere
to be found.

Anxiety took hold of me as I scanned the field.
I wasn’t fairing very well against my cunning assailant.  I looked over at the locker rooms and pictured Ty’s astonishment when he stepped outside.  He would be helpless against the supernatural being’s attack.  Surely this “thing” couldn’t leave any witnesses after killing me.  I had to get back out there.  Something struck my shoulder blade when I backed up, forcing me around. It was a wooden ladder that led up to a small door in the roof.  I looked out the window one last time and then clamored up the ladder, pausing to unlock the latch.  Gradually, I raised the hatch while I kept a watchful eye on my surroundings.

Without warning, I was jerked the rest of the way out of the press box and thrown down onto the roof.  The Onyx
had anticipated my next move and had been waiting for me the entire time.

The body of “Coach Hayes” lunged at me.  The Onyx’s grasp was
A LOT more formidable than I remembered.  No doubt about it.  The diamond’s energy was intensifying my assailant’s powers, causing the pain to be nothing less than
unbearable
.  We soon found ourselves locked in a violent game of tug of war.  Our bodies rocked back and forth while he tried his best to keep me pinned.  Not only did I have to muster all of my strength to defend myself, but I also had to mentally block out the excruciating pain from his slightest touch.