Cursed

≛Chapter Twenty-Seven≛

Zachery

I stand up from the kitchen table and give my mom a kiss on her cheek while excusing myself from dinner.

"Dinner was delicious mom. Thank you."

"Where are you off to Zachery?"

"I'm just going out for a walk. I'll be back soon. I'm pretty tired."

It was a lie but I didn't want to draw attention to myself. Whatever cry I thought I heard coming from the field behind our house sounded freaky. I need to check it out and I don't want my family to get involved. My mom nods as she clears the table and watches with disdain as my father resumes his position, with a beer, in front of the television. Of course no one pays me any attention as I recede into the dark hallway towards the back of our house.

The screen door gives a resistant screech when I leave and head out into the crisp night air. There's no sign of movement anywhere in the backyard so I take off down the property line, scanning the fields as I walk. The hooting of owls harmonizing with the sounds of cicada's wings vibrating together creates a cacophony of music. Normally I would grab a cold budweiser and sit outside and enjoy the noise, but not tonight. I try to quiet my breathing so I can hear even the slightest activity coming from the field. Whatever animal made that noise has to be in extreme pain. I've never heard a sound like it before and I consider myself to be pretty good at identifying animal intonations.

I look back to see I've already gone a mile from my house. The lights from the windows aren't making it easy to see the property anymore so I pull out a flashlight and shine it into the shadows. The corn stalks look ominous in the spotlight. Not having any luck on the edge of the field I decide to go a few feet into the maze of corn. The deeper I go the harder it will be to find my way back out.

A memory pops up of my childhood self, taking off into the field one day and getting lost for hours. My dad ended up finding me by nearly running me over in his John Deer tractor. Needless to say I never went too far into an unharvested field again.

I'm brought back to the present moment when my flashlight catches what looks like an arm on the ground. I bend down cautiously shining my light deeper only to find the body of a young girl. Her clothes are torn and soaked with blood in various places. She's unrecognizable by the dirt covering her skin. I check her pulse and it's faint. Shoving the flashlight into my back pocket I scoop the body out of the mud and carry her back towards my house. My mind is flooded with questions. How can I get her inside without my parents noticing? How bad are her injuries? What the hell was she doing out in the middle of a corn field? And most importantly. Who is she?

She begins to stir in my arms but doesn't wake up while I walk as quickly as I can back to my house. Once I reach the back door I stop. How can I possibly carry this person inside without my parents seeing us? I form a quick plan and I know I will only have a few minutes to execute it successfully. With some maneuvering I grab my cell out of the pocket of my jeans. Still holding the girl I manage to text my mom one-handed.

(no subject)

Mom, I just got back. I saw a package on the front door for you.

I wait quietly until I hear the sound of my mother leaving the kitchen table and opening the front door. Now's my chance! I quickly grab the door handle and it screeches right at the same time my mother closes the front door. Now we are both inside but I'm already halfway up the stairs to my room when I hear her call out.

"Zachery there's no package out there!"

"Oh sorry mom. My mistake!"

I gently lay the stranger on my bed. Dirt and grass that's been caked on her skin crumbles upon contact with my sheets. I grab a washcloth from my bathroom and wet it with lukewarm water. I don't want to frighten her but I have to get this dirt off before she wakes up. As gently as possible I wipe the cloth over her arms and legs, careful not to scrub into any of the open wounds. My army instincts tell me that she's at risk for infection but I don't want to jeopardize her privacy by having a run-in with my mother. I know she will ask a million questions before giving me the first aid kit that she keeps so conveniently in the kitchen cabinet. I can't risk exposing whoever it is that I've found. Especially considering that she could be running from someone who's trying to hurt her. Or worse.

After rinsing the washcloth of dirt several times, I manage to remove most of the grime. I just have to clean her neck and face, which is the part that I've been dreading. Will she wake up if I touch her face? She's going to freak out if she sees that she's in a stranger's house. I take the smallest corner of the washcloth and clean her forehead. Sweat and blood have mixed with debris from the field. Wiping gently down her nose and cheeks, it hits me. It's Aurora Kline! I sit back on the bed in shock. This quickly turns to anger.

Hayden must have something to do with this, I swear I will kill him if I ever see him again! Her eyelids flutter and I think for a moment that she's going to wake up. I have a cup of water ready on my bedside table. Her lips are dry and cracking. I offer the half asleep Rory a sip of water. She drinks it barely conscious, mumbles something, and then falls back asleep on my pillow. She's going to be ok, she just needs to rest.

My mind is somewhat at ease knowing that she will make it through the night. Even though I want to go get the first aid kit and tend to some of her wounds that look nasty. I realize that the best thing I can do is to sit on the floor next to her and wait. That way if she wakes up in the middle of the night she will see me and know that she's safe. Then we can talk about what happened to her.

I grab a quilt from my closet and roll it out on the floor next to my bed. I stretch out on the floor with my hands behind my head and stare at the ceiling fan blades circling round and round. Even though my body is exhausted, my mind is still going a mile a minute about what could've happened to Rory. There's no way I'm going to get to sleep with all this adrenaline.

How did Rory get all the way out here on foot? Could she have finally found out about Hayden's secret and he attacked her? I never should've left her alone with him. I knew what kind of a monster he truly is but I never told her. It's my fault that this happened. I have to make it right.