Unlocking Adeline (Skeleton Key) (3 page)

Oh God. That feels like real skin. This sends my back dead stiff.

No.

It can’t be true.

I turn and grab for my purse. His hand surges outward wrapping around my wrist. The moment he cloaks his hand around my arm, I feel my skin heat.

“Stop, what are you doing?”

“I think ye know, Adeline.”

“Wh—what? How do you know my name? Let go of me.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be happening.” His deep voice sending a spike of
something
through my body.

“I’m… I’m not sure who you are, or how you know my name, but this seriously was a bad idea.”
Super bad idea.
I’m not sure what I was thinking. His eyes; they are just like in my dad’s stories.
The crescent moon. The eyes of the prince who comes to claim his princess.
Which is strange, because unlike in my dad’s stories, when he
rescues
his princess, this guy looks like he wants to kill me with just his stare. And right now, I think he is trying to. I try to pull my arm away from him, but his grip tightens.

“Ye know who I am, Adeline. I can tell. The way ye look at me. The way yer skin tingles with acknowledgement. Ye were told about me. And now that I have found ye, it’s time ye return home.”

“Let go of me!” My voice rises, almost in hysterics. No matter how hard I pull, his grip only tightens. I’m starting to get scared.
Scratch that.
I’m already scared. I turn to beg the bartender for help, just as a fight breaks out in the bar. Two large men are thrown into us, and to avoid the collision, Hot Guy releases my wrist to block us. That’s when I jump off my chair. A full-blown brawl erupts, and I find myself diving to the floor, crawling through the herd of legs to get to the door.
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
Popping up by the back door, I look around and I see him. He is pushing people left and right. No, he is
tossing
people to get to me, and he looks pissed.

Oh shit.

Hot Guy just went from hunk to hulk.

I turn, pushing a drunken girl into the wall and run toward the back door.
Don’t be locked, don’t be locked,
I pray as I slam myself into the lever, and thankfully, pushing the escape door open to the back alley. I waste no time and bolt down the alley to the street. I’ve never been a good runner, but when you add adrenaline to the mix, it’s amazing how fast one will go. Sadly, it seems that is the same with my angry new
friend.
I exit the alley, take a quick left, and run into the open coffee shop. I run through the back, scaring customers and being yelled at by the employees. I just need another back door to throw him off, and then I’ll backtrack back by the diner. I’ll wait a little bit, and then I need to get home to Dad. He has a lot of explaining to do. That man is
not
supposed to be real.

Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me and I just thought I saw the mark. I mean, I
did
want him to be real my whole childhood when dad told me those stories.
He’s not real.
That’s my final answer. Out the back door I go, I take a sharp left, slamming into an unexpected huddle of bodies. I bounce off them and slam onto my ass.

“Damn ese` what do we have here?” a male voice asks, sounding like a big time gangbanger.

“Fresh meat tonight yo. Dayum!”

I shake my head and look up to see a group of guys. The fresh scent of pot lingers in the air, and I take notice that they’re smoking a blunt. Wiping off my dirtied jeans, I get to my feet. “Yeah,
so
sorry about that. You guys sure do make a better door then a window.”
What?
That doesn’t even make sense. “Okay, so yeah, I’ll just leave you homies to do
yo
thang.” My voice is shaky, clearing showing my discomfort. I side step what seems to be their leader, but he blocks me.

“Yo girl, where you think you’re going? You too fine to be here all alone at night.”

“Yeah,
so
true. I was just playing a game with my crazy boyfriend. He’s kinda Scottish and
huge,
and totally about to jump out of that back door, so if you don’t mind, I’m gonna head out. Bizounce. Book it. Drop it like it’s….”
Ugh
. I fade out. I didn’t watch enough diverse movies when I was young.

“Ain’t nobody be coming for you, girl.” He steps closer, grabbing for my waist. I try and swat his hand away but his homeboy steps behind me, blocking my escape.

They’re starting to form a circle around me and unsettling feeling begins to set in. “Nah, it’s all good, dude. For real. Didn’t mean to bust in on your illegal party an all… I mean it’s cool. Pot and all. Go weed.” I raise my hand slowly to fist pump. Everyone is staring at me, and I feel like I am making absolutely no headway on getting out of here. Hottie Hulk is about to find me for real, and I’m not sure which scenario will be worse.

“Come here, baby. Why don’t you offer me something and maybe I’ll let you go.”

“Ew, like what?” Okay, so maybe
this
scenario would be worse.

“Like this, bitch,” he replies and slaps me across the face. The same time I stumble back, two men grab at my feet. I’m a bit disoriented, but not enough that I don’t get a good kick to one of my attacker’s chin.

“Fuck! That bitch just clocked me!” He steps back, dropping my legs and my lower body falls to the ground. His hands are replaced by another member, as they pin me to the dirty alley floor.

“Get off me! What are you doing!?” I’m screaming and buckling my back. The leader crawls on top of me and begins to unbuckle my jeans.

“Help! Get off me! HEL—” My mouth is covered by someone, and I feel my pants being unbuttoned.
No no. no
. How can this be happening to me? I don’t stop fighting, even though their grip on me is tight, causing instant bruising on my skin. I manage to bite the hand that’s covering my mouth, which results in another hard slap to the face.

“Help!” I scream while my mouth is free.

“Bitch ain’t no one gonna come save –”

His body is instantly ripped off me. I watch his friends prepare for a fight, but they never even get the chance. Bodies are tossed. One gang member tries to retaliate when a knife is inserted into this throat. It’s then I see
him
. The one with the crescent moon hidden within his iris.

And I begin to scream.

Like a banshee.

It takes less than thirty seconds for him to disarm all the gang members. I’m still lying on my back, trying to button up my pants. He walks up to me and covers me with his tall frame, sticking out his hand. “Get up,” he demands, lowering his hand for me to grab. I lift my hand slowly, as if I’m being compliant. That’s when I lift and kick him straight in his junk. He pulls back, bending over. I roll to my side, get my footing just right, before lifting myself off the ground and into an impressive sprint.

“Daddy, do you believe in monsters?” I wonder, thinking about how meanie Stacey Cartwright from school tried to tell me I had them under my bed.

“I believe that there are people out in this world that might want to do bad things, but don’t worry, I will never let them take ye from me.”

“Who would want to take me?” I ask, worried that those monsters will sneak up and snatch my little ankles and drag me under my bed.

“Oh, baby, I didn’t mean to scare ye. I’m sorry I was lost in thought. No one is going to take ye. I promise.”

“What about those people in your stories? The Wen’s. The pwince with the crescent moon. Will he come for me one day? Like he does his pwincess?” Daddy’s face falls for a second. Long enough for me to worry.

“No, Addie Bear. He won’t. Those are just stories. But in those stories he does come for his chosen. He comes for his princess because she is special. Gifted at birth. Ye see in their land, they abide by what they call The Book of Wren. They match two families and make a promise to come together and create a beautiful child. A girl. And that girl will become not only a princess, but one day Queen. She will marry the prince and together they will build a great empire. It is their destiny.”

“Daddy, I want to become a pwincess! Can I?” I hope he says I can, but he looks so sad. “Baby, sometimes those alliances don’t form. Sometimes the princess needs to stay where she belongs, where her mommy and daddy can love and protect her.” He stops, as if he is losing himself again in a memory.

“But why don’t they form? Are they broken?” Daddy snuggles in closer on my bed, kissing the top of my forehead.

“No, they aren’t broken. Sometimes the mommies and daddies just don’t want to give up their daughter. Sometimes they choose another path in life. So they leave their home to make sure they are able to give their children their own options.”

I try and think about what he says. We’ve been learning in school about keeping promises. I want to tell my daddy that if he promised someone something, then he should honor it. Like in the book, Winnie the Pooh, when Christopher Robin makes Pooh promise that he will never forget how brave and strong he is. But he looks sad, and I don’t want to make my daddy sad.

“Don’t worry, Daddy, I will never leave you. I promise.”

I’m running, like
bat outta hell
running. I’ve lost all feeling in my legs two blocks ago, and I am functioning on pure adrenaline. I know that if I stop and acknowledge how tired I am, I’ll wither like a baby, and he will catch me. And if he catches me, I am going to go on a limb and assume it’s not going to be a good thing.

I take a swift left, around the corner of the town square, and head up Mille Street. I know the bookstore, two blocks ahead, stays open late. Most shops close around dusk here in Merryville. Being a small town just outside of Seattle, by dinner time everyone is tucked away in their cozy homes, so there is never a need for most establishments to stay open late. That and I’m sure the increasing crime is keeping people safely locked behind doors at night.

“Two more blocks
,”
I chant to myself as I pass by another dark alleyway in fear. More gangbangers could be hiding behind the shadows and snatch me. The horror of someone grabbing at me causes more panic, pushing my feet harder onto the pavement. The vision of
him
as he, in no time flat, stopped those gangbangers from hurting me.

“
One more block.” I chant, as I jump over a pile of loose garbage lingering on the sidewalk, landing in a puddle of water hidden by the bags. “Shit,” I hiss, almost losing my balance. The iciness of the water shoots up my legs, shocking them into feeling again, and adding to the already chill of the cold November night. Even the sweat I’ve built up from my five block sprint to escape isn’t keeping the chill away.

I make it through the last stretch when I see the glowing sign of Gilmer’s Bookstore.
OPEN
, it shines at me. My salvation. The place that is going to give me shelter and protection away from him. Someone will be in there to help me.

I try not to look behind me because I know what happens. I’ve seen those movies, where those idiotic damsels stop at the worst times, just to see where their attacker is, and
bam
! They get snatched. I’m not stupid, though. I know he’s close. I can hear the smashing of his boots hitting the concrete, he’s that close. But I am
not
going to turn around to confirm it.

I make it to the store, and my hands wrap around the doorknob.
Yes
. “I win, sucker,” I huff to myself, as I try turning the knob. Just at that same time, a gentleman on the other side flips off the
OPEN
sign and a bright
CLOSED
sign appears.

No!

“No!” I scream, as I pound on the door. “Help! I need help!” The store owner looks at me. He seems confused at my hysterics. He points at the closed sign, “I’m sorry we’re closed. Come back tomorrow.”

Tomorrow?
Not sure I have that long. I bang again. “Please, you don’t understand! Please let me in!” I beg. I may begin to shed a tear, because let’s face it; the careless cool girl persona in me is slowly cracking. It’s been one hell of a night, and if I make it out alive, I swear to change my ways.

“Please, sir! I’m in danger! I need to use your phone!” I yell, as he investigates my plea. Thankfully, I see him give and begin to turn the lock.
Yes
“Come on, come on.” I bounce up and down now, turning like that damn damsel to see where my predator is. He was close; he should have caught up to me by now.
Where is he?
Just then the door opens, and I stumble inside.