A young girl fights a demon after her soul. |
I never imagined when I met my great-uncle that A) He'd be about my dad's age, B) I'd end up killing him C) That he was hiding a secret much more massive and deadly than a child porn collection. I was already miserable because I had to spend the summer with some dude I'd never met. I was sitting in the waiting area of the small-town airport, glowering at the tarmac through the window and cursing every rich bitch (and jerk) coming through to his "Cabin" on the lake. "Summer?" I looked up at the young guy standing in front of me. "And you are?" I snarled, hinting that I didn't like how my uncle had sent some local yokel to "escort" me home. "Please don't panic." He held up his hands, his face wide with concern. I couldn't help but notice that minus the fact that he was probably about my dad's age he was pretty good looking. "I'm your great-uncle Tom." I won't deny it; I stared at him. At least I didn't freak out like he was worrying about. "You're my uncle?" I managed many minutes later. "You're barely my dad's age! How can you be his uncle?!" "Looks can be deceiving, Summer. Let's talk more in the car." i should have met his eyes when he said that first bit. There were oh so many clues that he tried to give me. I was just too blindly ignorant too catch on. His "car" was a beat-up pick-up that was older than anyone in the family by at least thirty years. He offered to put my bags in the "bed" but I shoved them into my seat. "Please just tell me where you plan to rape and kill me and we'll go from there." I commented as we roared away from the airport. "Ah, you're just like you're grandparents." he muttered, cracking a slight smile. "I'm not joking. if you were my great-uncle you'd be at least fifty, maybe sixty." He looked over as we hit a traffic light and I pretended to find the corner store out my window incredibly interesting. "I'm older than I look. I keep in shape." It was my turn to shoot him a look (and began tapping in my dad's cell phone number discreetly on my phone) "I know this isn't going to look good, since you're convinced I'm a pervert out to rape you, but you're going to lose cell service when we leave town." I jumped guiltily and looked down at my phone. "Then can we stop so i can tell my dad i arrived here safely?" I asked, noting that we were right on the edge of "town". he nodded stiffly and flicked on the turn signal before pulling into someone's driveway. The moment we'd stopped I hopped out of the truck and half sprinted a few yards away (out of earshot and closer to town) "Sum! Hey baby, how was the flight?!" he greeted me as i spun around to watch Tom. "How often did you talk to this guy?" I asked ignoring the pleasantries. "Um, a few dozen times. Is something wrong?" I'm so glad my dad isn't like a regular parent (sometimes). "Yes. One, he looks like he'd about your age. Two, he lives out of cell range. Three, he's a guy. Four, I'm a girl. Five, WHY CAN'T I LIVE WITH ROSALIE FOR THE SUMMER?!" I was sure he heard that last bit. he did crack a grin and wave merrily. "How much soda did you have on the plane? I guess young looks runs in the family. So what if he lives out of cell range? We were lucky he lived close to an airport. And, if I'm understanding three and four correctly, you've lived alone with me your entire life. Lastly, you need to live with somebody you don't know." "Somebody you don't know either." "I'm going to hang up and then I'm turning my phone off as I recommend you do. |