Never lose the keys - Chapter 1

What a stupid asshole! Can someone explain to me what I got to see in this guy? Rick. Another argument over his family.

He's the type of man who usually catches my eye. The strong, defined shoulders ... That's my downfall. I have a terrible shoulder drop. And then his look ...

The blue eyes radiated heat on my skin with just the look he gave me. Ah, the smile ... It was a charm the way the dimples marked his chin whenever he was relaxed and distant from the family and having fun.

Only he was the type of guy who cared too much about appearances. Nothing to be surprised about when you live in a small town and if it is considered one of the best parties for wedding dreams.

Director of a group of Medical resident. In just a year Rick was going to graduate and probably take over the city hospital because of the influence the family had on the region. Richard was the mayor's son. And the hypocritical old man who was right had not liked to find out that his only son was dating a girl like me.

My name is Cassie Randall. Today my parents died a year ago and I don't even know why I'm here at Rew Mountain Cemetery mourning. There is little left to leave all this here. Perhaps that is the reason. The real estate agent told me that there are people interested in buying the old family house.

I am in a lot of trouble and have no courage to get back together with the people of the city. The low comments every time I pass ... I didn't care at all that they believed what they said about me. It was a tremendous lie. Only Rick had believed every word they said and hadn't even given me a chance to explain anything.

Is it true that you are going to spend the Friday hiding here like a coward and miss work, Jack? - I thought to myself.

What difference would an unjustified absence make in my small salary? Probably Mrs. Willians already expected me to miss the day after yesterday.

Rew Mountain would soon celebrate three hundred years of foundation. There was talk of a great celebration to attract tourists. Speculation that the small town had been founded by witches who had escaped the fire was still everyone's favorite story. Who could complain?

I worked in a shop that sold everything imaginable for portions of love, amulets, and talismans with the guarantee of the old lady that witchcraft existed. An esoteric shop that was preferred by the locals and who also liked to hear the fanciful stories about the old oak tree beyond the hill. My limit to all this madness was Stephen King's horror books.

Damn it! I had spent a long time of the age believing that these things existed. What existed was a real world, with pain, losses, loves, and disappointments.

-Oh, I wanted you so much to be here with me ... I wanted so much, Dad ...- I spoke out loud looking at the tombstones with a lump in my throat.

My family was descended from the city's founders. I think can now imagine more reasons why the mayor doesn't like me very much.

The biggest problem was that strange things always happened at Rew Mountain. Nobody liked to comment much on the subject. It was a city with a population of older people than teenagers or children. Early childhood education has been reduced in the last year a lot. The birth rate was the worst.

There was the Council of Illustrious Citizens who liked to organize appealing parties to attract tourists and also spread a lot of nonsense about witches and witches who had escaped the fire. I, exactly, should help with the staging because of my family.

Reluctantly I looked at the birthmark on my wrist with a shiver. In a past that didn't seem far from me, warts, moles, scars, or birthmarks were certain guarantees for someone to be considered a witch. They also say that witches could project their spirit out of the body.

My mood was the worst after my mother's old black cat was gone. Max had probably been luckier than me with flirting. I sighed helplessly looking at the horizon knowing that in a few hours it would be dark.

Any sensible person here would be very careful to avoid the streets after dark. The local superstition was enormous. They talked about everything. And since no one knew how to explain the strange disappearances that occasionally happened ...

Agh, hauntings, ghosts, or lost souls ... It didn't matter what they called those things. They did not exist. What existed were real people. The old habit of tying a rope three times during the full moon, putting red rose petals in a glass of water, practices that are part of the belief that everything is connected ... I had never believed in occult powers manipulating physical actions.

It was a fact that the police authorities always avoided mentioning. In any small town, there are local beliefs, and the best way to make people forget this is to put fear in them. The belief that there is some great evil about to attack ...

This time it wasn't going to be so easy. A body had been found in the vicinity of the forest that surrounded the limits of our city. And they commented on marks of violence and the reason for his unnatural death probably.

There was something about that secular oak forest that surrounded and stalked us all. Something perhaps very real emerged from its depths when darkness reigned absolute and the residents retreated to the safety of their homes. And nobody commented on that. It was a kind of law for everyone. Accidents, deaths, or disappearances happened and were part of life.

-They found the body of a teenager today, Mom.- I continued talking out loud and alone. - They said there are marks all over the body of violence. I always said that maybe an old lion or other animal lives in these woods.

It was certainly better than believing that there was something supernatural around us. A rational explanation in a logical and perfectly normal world.

Only it was suddenly getting dark very fast. Too fast for my taste. There are predictions for four lunar eclipses in the year 2020. A lunar eclipse is a natural phenomenon that happens when the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun are aligned. So the Earth casts partly its shadow.

It was a time of night with a full moon. It is a spectacle to watch the Moon setting completely eclipsed and the Sun rising across the horizon. The illusion that the Moon looks bigger when it is close to the horizon and if the sky is not cloudy. The moon looks a little different, almost smoky. Unlike solar eclipses that last for an average of perhaps seven minutes, a lunar eclipse can last up to three hours.

There was a feeling in me that something wasn't quite normal when I looked at the sky. Maybe it was the tension of the argument with Rick and the abrupt breakup. I stood up and wiped my hands in my jeans pockets with goosebumps and not knowing why.

When the cell phone rang, I jumped scared, looking sideways in the oppressive silence there in the cemetery. Since when had it been this late?

- Shit, Cassie. Answer the damn cell phone! - I heard it as soon as I answered the call and sighed deeply recognizing the annoying voice.-WHERE ARE YOU?

My hand felt around in my coat pocket while I mentally reproached myself. The car was not mine. There was only one complaint from his father that I had stolen the damn car. In my wallet left at home, there was a formidable amount that manthe had offered to get me away from his son. All I wanted most was to rub the money in the face of that wretch.

-Hello. - I spoke weakly as I leaned against the tree and took a deep breath.

Dizziness hit me showing that I was well past mealtime. I hadn't even had lunch yet.

-You want to tell me where the hell you got in my car, you irresponsible?

"Hi, Rick. I'm not cool at the moment but your damn car looks great. I missed you too, dear. Even after the hooligans of you believing that I had a mistress. Or that I just wanted your money."I thought.

-Sorry, I didn't realize it was so late. I'll be there in less than ten minutes. Your bags are packed. I took the opportunity to shop at the market outside the city because of the prices.

Pause and silence on the other end of the line. I could even hear him breathing at a low, noisy distance. Damn it. Rick was furious. In addition to the horrible blatant embarrassment, I couldn't imagine anything else to make the ex-love of my life so angry.

-Do not you go to work! Missed the service without explaining ...

The complaints continued as I fumbled in my other coat pocket, biting my lips apprehensively. Head off mine. Where were the car keys? And since when should Rick care if I miss work or not?

- Well, that's none of your business. - I replied sourly and poorly created. - Your car is perfect and without even a scratch. I will deliver it to you in less than ten minutes. - I promised seriously.

He might have forgotten the formidable and brief speech of his entire life. It's over, Cassie. From a whore like you, I could only hope for that. I took a deep breath, fighting tears of pain and sadness. Rick usually hated that I got in the car and traveled alone on the road. Even more, after the damn nightmares had started again and made me wake up shaking and screaming in the middle of the night. At least now with Rick away from home, I could throw the tranquilizers in the trash and send the doctor's orders to hell.

-Don't you dare make little scenes like that to get more attention. - I heard Rick yell possessed. - Are you thinking of killing yourself with the damn car, running down the road even darker ?! I swear to God I beat you up until you can no longer be stupid like that. It is setting up a big storm around these parts. Did you decide now to kill me with worry?

Like?! The peaceful and noble Richard Randall saying that? Rick had never laid a finger on me. In two wonderful years of a torrid and hidden romance from everyone, I had crossed all possible boundaries by his side. I had even thought about the marriage proposal and all my ex-boyfriend's litany about everything just right, alliances, and commitments. Soon me! Was he worried about me?

- I lost time. - I said I took a deep breath talking while looking now through the grass looking for the unfortunate keys. - I...

It had to be there somewhere. I can remember the keys well when I took the ring off my finger after parking the car. They were or should have been in my pocket. I groaned softly and my finger slid through a small hole in the large pocket of my jeans.

What the fuck! Did I lose the keys? He's going to kill me!

-I want to know where you are! Now. - Rick now roared without any patience.

I rolled my eyes in amazement. Had he forgotten the small and significant detail that we were no longer a couple?

- I stopped for a while when I came back to the city ...- I started to talk in any way yet. Damn it!

There was a curse at the end of the line and a static sound. I looked at the darkening sky and around me feeling like a complete fool for being afraid. The cell phone signal would be terrible with a storm.

-God! They found that girl's body in the forest. Please say you're not at the cemetery again. Jack?

I know they found the body of the teenager in those parts. They don't say anything else in the city besides my shame. And it wasn't whether I had a lover or not. They were accusations of the typical scam of a poor and orphan girl who hooked the richest and most eligible bachelor in the region interested in his money.

I cowered with the cold gust of wind that ran over the hill. My imagination was beginning to become too fertile. Damn it again!

- I just stopped here a little and ...

"I completely lost track of the time and the damn keys, Rick. You don't have to make me scared like a fool. I'm already managing to do this alone and without your help!"

Imagination is a very strange thing. There was adrenaline running in my blood for no apparent reason. I was alone there. Alone and it got dark. My body was beginning to send signals of the real and inexplicable sense of danger.

Fear in general is always associated with the most basic survival instinct. It is a strict limit that requires us to assess the risks and consequences before we do anything. It is also associated with a fight or flight reaction of the body to protect and act.

I was on the alert suddenly feeling threatened by something I didn't even know, whether it was real or imaginary. IninInctionss of seconds, the body reacts to stimuli, reinforcing the functions of the brain, muscles, and lungs. My heart raced like crazy. It all started at the same time. Physical sensations, such as shortness of breath, dizziness, pressure in the chest, acceleration in heartbeat in addition to the absurd desire to cry there.

I was overwhelmed with the store's services and excessive fatigue from extra shifts beyond schoolwork. Rick was very upset as I dealt with the proximity of my parents' death date. I just didn't want to think about anything and collapse in bed until the unfortunate month was over and I didn't think. Don't remember.

-I'm taking a colleague's car and going to get you. - Rick began to give orders furiously. - I want you to go back to the car and stay inside with the doors locked. It's a bloody order, Jack. Try only once to obey an order.

I was going to respond with outrage outraged by the rebuke. It wasn't even his business what I did. Except to be honest I wanted him desperate there. I heard noises from the nearby woods, making me shiver and the back of my neck prickle.

"Is anyone there?" I shouted, stepping back slowly and there was no hiding fear in my hesitant words.

-WHO IS THERE WITH YOU?

Rick's voice now showed more than just irritation. Damn it. He had noticed that I was scared.

There was the sound of footsteps muffled by the approaching grass. A flock of birds left the frightening sound of the sudden flight precipitated for some reason. And I was scared to death with the certainty that stress finally took its toll and trembling from head to toe.

-Rick ... - I whispered stiffly, eyes hugging everything around me.

Why the hell did I get the impression I wasn't there alone anymore?

-Just go back to the damn car and lock the doors, baby. I'll be there in an instant.

I think that's what I heard Rick say. And it could only be a tremendous hallucination. He was pissed at me.

I saw two red eyes that shone in the darkness that fell quickly paralyzed. I know I screamed like I could wake the dead and then ...

-Cassie!!!