The Bridge Over Snake Creek Read online

  “How do they get away with this?” I asked as my blood started to pump in time with the music, giving me a moment of reprieve from the ache within my bones.

  “They have connections,” Cass vaguely explained. “The party won’t be shut down unless they want it to be.”

  “Weird,” I whispered under my breath. “And why such big houses?” I asked.

  Cass stopped our walk with a hand on my forearm. “Look, Hannah, our town and this one, well, they’re different. Some families here have more pull with the legal system than most. And a warning, don’t talk about their families.”

  My eyebrows slashed downward. “What do you mean?”

  “They have more than one dad,” Novalee explained.

  My lips pursed, trying to understand. “What do you mean more than one dad? Like, gay couples? I’m not here to judge.”

  “No,” Novalee spoke up. “Families here have a mom and at least three dads.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Like a... what do you even call that? A backward harem?”

  They nodded. “Whoa.”

  Cass gave my arm a friendly squeeze before dropping her hand. “So you see how they might be a bit picky about newcomers and what they might say.”

  Novalee’s eyes shined in the moonlight. “My advice is to not say anything.”

  “Sure. I can do that.” But the thoughts that ran through my mind were endless. If Mom grew up here, were my grandparents in that type of relationship and was that the reason my mom had left? So many questions and very little answers.

  The three of us continued into the mansion and through the crowd until Cass and Novalee immediately started dancing to the beat. I put my arms up and swayed my hips, dancing along with them, moving my body to the music. It was fun. The three of us at one point started to sing to a song we knew, and I felt the tension leave me, but it wasn’t enough.

  “I’m going to get a drink,” Cass hollered over the noise while pointing to a room off to the left. “Either of you two want to come?”

  “Yeah!” Novalee looked my way for confirmation.

  I gave her a push. “Go ahead, get smashed. I’ll haul your asses home.”

  She squealed and hugged me. “Thank you!” Then she pulled away. “We’ll be right back.”

  But they weren’t. After dancing for a little bit longer, I realized those two must have gotten caught up with someone.

  “So much for sticking together,” I muttered under my breath as I wove my way through the crowd to where they had last gone.

  Someone shoved a cup of beer in my face. “Drink?”

  I pushed it away. “Ugh, no.” The guy shrugged and moved on into a massive kitchen.

  Kegs were lined up on the counter like they were kool-aid in igloo containers. They probably were and mixed with who-knows-what kind of alcohol.

  Moving past the kitchen into a dining room, I found guys doing beer-pong on a table. Classic.

  I moved to leave when my eyes landed on him. Back up against the far wall with a girl against his side, his eyes were already on me. It was almost as if time froze. There was no sound and movement around me became slow- sluggish -as I took him in. Coal black hair, stocky build like a bouncer, and an intense gaze that made me want to get closer to check out his eye color.

  I glanced away, and the noise came back. People now seemed to move faster. My head spun. I was going to be sick. I turned around, going back into the kitchen and searched for the outside door.

  Did someone drug me and I didn’t notice? No, I hadn’t had anything to drink yet.

  Noticing a door that led out to a back patio, I exited, breathing in the fresh air. My dizziness went away, and clarity came back. Cheering could be heard, but I was still stuck on what had just happened inside. I immediately thought about checking my levels but I left my phone to do that in the car. I wished my life pack kept record.

  Breathing in a bit more just to get my bearings, I smelled chlorine. Then I heard the splashes from a distance. Shaking out of my thoughts, I noticed a walking path off to the left, just past a white wood fence, and ventured that way to find out what the cheering was about.

  Around the corner, a little beyond a group of people, there was a pool that looked like a pond. Next to it was a trampoline that people were jumping off of and doing flips into the pool. The trampoline seemed out of place in front of a pool house, and I assumed someone had moved it there. Also, people had somehow climbed up onto the pool house roof with camping chairs and were relaxing and chatting with beer bottles in their hands. It was hard to see, but it looked like mostly guys up there.

  I glanced from the pool, to the trampoline, then to the roofline of the pool house and got an idea. I could totally make that. I turned around and moved back into the house to search for a bathroom. I avoided the dining area where I had seen that guy and merged into the crowd of people who were dancing.

  One moment I was on a mission, and then the next someone was tapping my shoulder. I turned to find smooth caramel eyes staring back at me. My heart leapt within my chest as tingles replaced the ache. It was him!

  He leaned in, and I almost thought he was going to kiss me, but he just yelled above the noise. “Wanna dance?”

  Eyes wide, I could only nod. He took my hips, my arms landed on his shoulders, and we danced. With every touch he made, the tingles caressed along my skin, making me forget. His eyes crinkled when I yelped as he whirled me around and my mouth tipped upward on a laugh.

  He smelled earthy, and like home. That's the only way I could describe it. I melted. We danced to three songs when I remembered my goal for tonight and stopped.

  I leaned in, like he did with me, to tell him I had to go, but before I could yell into his ear over the loud music, he turned his head and captured my lips.

  He was slow, hesitant at first, his lips coaxing mine as if unsure if I’d run away screaming or not.

  I applied firm pressure, opening my mouth under his, daring him for more. He caught on quick, catching my hips and bringing me in close. I rested my arms on his shoulders as we swayed to the music. My heart thumped in my chest when his fingertips slid slightly under my shirt at my waist to touch my bare skin. When he went to move around to my sides, I froze, and ice filled my veins.

  No. Not there. My lips left his, and his grip tightened as I went to pull away. The slight caress of his fingertips traced dangerously close to what I wanted to hide, scaring me as he tried to soothe.

  He brought me in closer, rested his cheek on mine and asked next to my ear, “What’s wrong?”

  My heart started to beat erratically. Once guys found out my fault, they ran for the hills. It was best to leave this moment as it was, a moment.

  “Bathroom,” I muttered, drawing my arms away from his shoulders and pushing against his sides.

  He didn’t let go. “Will you come back?”

  I raised myself to my tiptoes and lightly bit his ear. He shuddered. I’d played this dance before but never gone all the way. And I wasn’t about to tonight.

  “Won’t your girlfriend be upset if I did? She's probably already fuming that I took your time up already,” I said, thinking about the girl he was with earlier.

  He tensed and this time let me go. His gaze met mine. Dark with an unknown emotion. “She’s not mine.”

  I patted his shoulder and shouted, “Well, for my safety, let's keep what happened between us and this crowd of people. Wouldn’t want you to be wrong, now would I?” I gave him a wink pulled away, but he caught my hand.

  “You’re new. What’s your name?”

  I bit my lip to prevent the grin that was creeping up. “That's for me to know, and you to find out.”

  Someone crashed into him, causing his attention to shift away from me and his hand to drop from mine. I took the opportunity and slipped away.

  Wandering around through the throng of people and into a hall, I found a bathroom. The door was open, and I pushed it further, bracing myself in case there was something that I didn't
want to see. You never knew where people would end up while in the heat of passion. And you would think that they would lock the door, but they often forgot.

  Luckily for me, it was empty. I turned on the lights and locked myself inside. Sliding my hand in my pocket, I pulled out a waterproof duro strip, and lifted my shirt to reveal a small needle attached to a tube on the upper side of my left hip. I despised it but needed it to live.

  I peeled off the cover on the duro strip and placed the heavy duty bandage over the needle site to prevent it from getting wet.

  I checked my monitor, which was located in a secret compartment on the outside of my boyshort underware, and called it good. I put everything back in place and excitement coursed through me.

  This was the first time I would do something like this alone. Well, if you could call jumping off the roof of the pool house onto a trampoline and flipping into a pool with more than a dozen people watching alone.

  Someone pounded on the door. “Gotta pee! Open up!” I opened the door, and a guy zipped passed me, pushed me out, and slammed the door shut.

  “Jeez,” I muttered and made my way back outside and toward the pool house.

  On my way there, surprisingly, Cass and Novalee found me. “Hey, it’s our buddy, Hannah-banana!” Cass greeted me with a hug, clearly on her way to a night full of barfing and an after morning migraine.

  I waved to the group they were with as I patted her back. “Hey, Cass.” Then I reached out to Novalee. “Hand them over.”

  Novalee frowned and twisted her lips as she drew her keys from her pocket. “Fine.” She gave them to me with a slight stumble. “But we're stopping for shakes and fries on the way home.”

  “Sure,” I answered as found a bush near the pool and shucked my shoes and socks, putting Novalee’s keys inside one of them. The group followed, totally oblivious to what I was doing. “Hell, what did you guys drink to make you this smashed so soon?”

  One of the more sober gals in the group laughed. “They did shots! Off of Snowden!”

  “Snowden!” everyone squealed.

  “No way!” a girl from the outside of the group joined in. “He's hot! In that bad boy, curse you out, kinda way.”

  They all gushed, again. “And his brother. Hubba hubba.”

  “And the red hair; the devil really got in them,” a newcomer voiced in a high pitched squeal.

  I rolled my eyes and grabbed hold of Cass and Novalee’s arms. “Don’t move. When I get back, we’re leaving.”

  They both nodded, but I had a feeling they wouldn’t stay once they realized what I was going to do.

  I hurried barefoot past them to the pool house and tried to figure out a way up. I found a ladder at the back and started to climb. When I reached the top, some guy helped me up and the brief scent of peppermint filled my nose before the guy started in on me. He was built stocky with impressive shoulders followed by wheat colored hair.

  “What the hell are you doing up here? You know the rules,” he bit out when I gained my bearings. “Jag owners, only. Head back down.” His voice was full of authority that made me want to disobey. Lucky for me, I was going to, knowing there was no way he could actually make me go back down.

  I gave him a vague statement. “I’m new.”

  That’s when another guy came over, the one I had been familiar with only moments before. He put a hand on his buddy's shoulder. “She’s good, Jamison. Just this once.”

  Jamison threw up a hand. “Fine, Quinn. No more. Don’t want our place to be tainted with-”

  “Got it, man,” Quinn stated firmly.

  I shivered. Quinn. I liked that name. I slid past them to the camping chairs they had situated near the edge, and Quinn followed from behind, his earthy scent lingering along with a tinge of cinnamon.

  “You guys certainly have a view up here,” I mused, startling two more guys sitting as they drank. “Shit. No girls up here, man!” one of them growled, wiping off the beer that spilled.

  “Sorry,” I apologized sheepishly while I drew closer to the edge of the roof line.

  Quinn brought me back a bit and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Hey, not so close.”

  I settled into his side, and he offered me a drink. “Nope, I’m good. So you guys hang out up here, drink and hope to catch something blackmail worthy?”

  They all laughed. “Maybe,” Jamison answered, his gaze calculating. “And you? What made you think you could just come up here?”

  “A thrill,” I answered truthfully, ready for my pain to go away, at least for a little while.

  “A thrill?” Quinn murmured close to my ear. “I could have taken care of that earlier on.”

  “Mm-hm,” I murmured as I drew away from him and turned so that my back was to the edge. Quinn tensed.

  “A thrill? Hell, girl. There’s not a lot of that here, but a few of us could help out,” guy two answered.

  Quinn’s gaze turned to him and tossed the open cup of beer he had offered to me on him. The guy jumped up. “Shit.”

  “Don’t be saying stuff like that to her,” he barked.

  “What’s with you, man?” Jamison asked, looking between the two of us.

  “Yeah, Quinn? What's up with all this hostility?” guy two asked, now looking me over.

  Quinn dragged a hand through his hair and sighed. “I don’t know, man. ”

  Jamison’s gaze turned to me. “Who are you?”

  “New,” I explained with a shrug.

  A commotion by the ladder had them turning, letting me have my chance. I turned and glanced down, waiting for my moment. Guy one, not at all realizing what I was going to do, asked, “So what kind of thrill were you looking for?”

  The trampoline cleared and I turned to him with a grin. The thrill, the rush of a fall or jump wasn’t like anything else. Gut tight with anticipation, blood pounding in my veins, I answered, “This one,” and fell.

  I did a flip and landed on the tramp feet first, launched into the air with a twist and flipped again before landing in the cold water and sinking to the bottom, grinning. This- this was my happy place. A way to live again. A way to remember that I was still living. That death hadn’t come yet. Bet Maleficus hadn’t done anything like that. Too bad Trace wasn’t here to record it. But it wouldn’t have mattered. I didn’t want anyone to know me here anyways. Especially as Fallon Knox.

  Everyone was cheering and raving about what I had done when I pulled myself out of the pool.

  Glancing over to the pool house, I two timed it toward my shoes and the girls when I saw Jamison and Quinn moving my way. Time to go.

  I didn’t even bother to put my shoes on as I grabbed them and the keys inside, then announced to Cass and Novalee that shakes and fries were on me if they hurried. Even in their drunken state, they seemed to know my rush. They squealed again and rushed along with me through the crowd and out the front door. We made it to the car just as the guys from the roof came out of the house, along with a few others. This was almost just as fun as falling. I laughed, shoving the girls in the back, and jumped in the front seat, peeling away before any of them reached me. They were fast, but me, I was faster.

  I laughed, then shortly sobered. I missed my mom. I missed Trace. The feeling of dread came creeping back.

  A cry pierced the night followed by another, startling me out of my grief, and I recalled what the waitress had said at Nana’s diner. Wolves roamed here. Then Novalee and Cass giggled in the backseat before letting out a howl of their own which had my bones vibrating.

  “Enough of that!” I growled, flipping on the radio. “Sing to that.” And they did as I drove through a fast-food place and grabbed them their fries and shakes.

  “Love you, Hannah!” Cass laughed, hooking an arm around my shoulders to plant a kiss on my cheek.

  “Ugh, no, Cass.” I pushed her back. “Sit.”

  She yipped, and she and Novalee started snickering again.

  Chapter Four

  I woke up Saturday already thinking a
bout my next thrill. Novalee and Cass hadn’t shown their faces; I was sure they were getting over their hangovers.

  My car had arrived and we had unloaded the rest of the furniture, but now I had an itch that was calling to me. The ache was back. That party last night wasn’t enough. After unpacking all our pictures and seeing Mom in them, the dishes she used to use, and the throw blanket she had quilted, emotions ran deep. I was in need of a release. So I did the only thing I could.

  My blood pumped faster with the thought of what I was going to do. Dad went somewhere after we set up house, and with him gone, I could get away.

  I hopped in my car and drove to the same spot my dad and I passed yesterday and made a right turn into the bank parking lot beside the flowing waters of the river that ran through town. I parked facing the trees blocking the river from my view and unbuckled my seat belt.

  A jumble of emotions clouded my judgment as I unhooked my black pouch and jumped out of my car, locking it before hiding my keys under the back of a tire. This was a crazy idea but one I’d done many times before - like yesterday. The attention from everyone was worth it.

  The sun was barely up, and the noise of cars as they drove by was broken up by the sound of rushing water as I walked along the trail. I spotted a sign that welcomed me to Sportsman Park at Snake River. Amused by the name of the river, I wondered if the waters were full of snakes. That would make this jump all that more thrilling.

  Reaching the bridge and standing midway, I now realized the question was: to jump or not to jump? Well, not really. It was my clothes. Did I really want them to get wet? Did I want Dad to find me that way and freak out? I hadn’t thought about grabbing a swimsuit when I ran out of the house. Peering around at how central this place was - the hotel across the way, the bank on the other side where I parked my car - I realized this place wasn’t really meant for swimming. My hand gripped onto the cold metal beam that held up a section of the bridge and I shrugged. If I got back to the new house in time, my dad would never know I had risked my life once again.

  Thankfully, I left my black pouch in the car. In the pool, it was okay to wear. I knew it was clean with chlorine. Here, who knows what kind of parasites lingered. Plus, I could always hook back up to it after I climbed out of the river.