Eighteen Going on Dead

Chapter Two: Ladin Biker Club

I sat at the dining table eating a bowl of cereal, I felt weak and tired; barely sleeping a full hour last night because of nightmares. Each nightmare were the same, I was looking outside in, it was dark and cold; I could barely see my surroundings. It was all too real, the cool wind on my skin, the hard pavement under my feet, my pounding heart and the sound of heels clicking in the distance; but I could not turn my head.

I remembered it all, the way Naomi's body fell, her yellow dress- the same dress she were found in that night. Tears streamed down her face, she crawled back from the tall muscular stranger that toward over her. The stranger wore a hoodie, darkness surrounded the person's face; suddenly the person grabbed Naomi as she screamed, that's when I wake up from the nightmares.

I shivered and continued to eat before Aunt Joyce walked into the kitchen with her uniform and coffee mug. "Morning." I said in a gruff voice.

Aunt Joyce poured another mug of bitter coffee before acknowledging my tired gaze. "You didn't sleep well." It was more of a statement than question.

"I've been up studying." The lie was simple and straight to the point.

She stepped towards me, eyeing me close- obviously seeing right through me. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

I shook my head no. "Nothing. Maybe a little distressed, two of my classmates died in the past two days. That's mainly what's keeping me up."

Aunt Joyce took a seat next to me, grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. "It's hard, seeing those girls- I'm scared that when I receive another call it would be..." She took her hand back and palmed the warm mug. "I assure that no one will lay a finger on you, until my last breath I will search long and hard for this psycho. For the meantime, do what I said last night. No going out unless you need to, if so go in packs, have a ride to school even if it means riding on a motorcycle and always carry your pepper spray."

"I will."

"Have you heard from Howard yet?"

I took a deep breath and shook my head no, "Not yet. I'll give it another week."

"Good, until then don't stop applying for other schools. UCLA is accepting and Washington State it still looking for excellent students."

"Okay," I simply said before finishing my cereal and placing my dishes in the sink, by then I heard the roaring engine of Gabriel motorcycle- Smaug, the dragon from the Hobbit- as he call it. Even though Gabriel tried to keep that juvenile tough guy look, he's actually a geek on the inside; he just don't want to face it.

I grabbed my bookbag and kissed Aunt Joyce in the cheek to brighten up her day. "Try not to kick too much ass today."

She chuckled. "Language, young lady."

I chuckled as well, knowing Aunt Joyce didn't give a damn if I cursed or not. I jogged out the house, Gabriel was sitting on his bike; hair a mess and sunglasses on. I melted from the site of him, my gut formed butterflies as my heart picked up pace. "Right in time." I spoke.

Gabriel smirked before placing a large hand on the back of my head and pulling me into a kiss, one I was not expecting- especially after I told him I wasn't planning on staying in town after graduation, which is practically around the corner. "I'm always on time, especially for school."

"Oh please." I rolled my eyes at his false statement. "Have you heard?"

Gabriel scratched the back of his head, his smirk dropped into a deep frown as he took in a deep breath. "I heard my dad in the phone last night and saw it on the local news. Kinda fucked up, I mean this psychopath already killed two people and no one have any leads. We need to put this person down before they take someone important."