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“I like to think so,” I say, dropping my backpack on the ground by the tent. “No TV, Playstation or internet over here, but I like to sit back, listen to the sounds of nature and clear my thoughts. Sometimes, this is the only place I can do that and center myself. You know what I mean?” I look at her and again I don’t know why I brought her to my special spot or why I’m telling her any of this, but she is listening to me intently and hanging on my every word.
“What are you running from, Phoenix?” she asks.
“Life.”
She nods, not asking me to expound upon that, and I’m glad. I really don’t want to get into it.
She rubs at her arms again, and I unzip the tent and reach inside for two items. “Here, put this on until I can start a fire and warm it up a bit.” I toss one of my oversized sweatshirts at her, and she takes it and slips it over her head. It is like a dress on her petite frame, but it will do the trick until I can get the area toasty. She eyes the second item in my hand and laughs, taking one of the bean bag chairs from me and placing it near where the fire will be. She looks at me expectantly, like I have something else to say, but I have nothing. I don't know what to say to this girl at the moment. I can't even believe I brought her here.
“Tell me about you, Phoenix. Tell me your story,” she says, watching me build the fire.
“My story?”
“Tell me what makes you, you.”
That is all it takes for some reason. The next couple of hours, she and I sit around the fire I built, and I spill my beans. I've never spilled beans to anybody, but yet and still, this girl got it all out of me. I told her about my mother, my bastard of a demon father, my brothers who are out there somewhere. I even told her about the curse. She didn't blink an eye at me. She didn't judge. She just nodded like she understood it all.
Before I know it, I am doing exactly what she asked me to do earlier. I have a hand cradling her cheek, and she closes her eyes, nudging her face into my palm. I’m leaning in and kissing this girl like my life depends on it. She doesn’t push me away. She kisses me back like she is just as hungry. She moans into my mouth when I'm up her shirt and down her pants. I look into her eyes, waiting for her to tell me to stop, but she just nods and pants, urging me to continue. I’m inside her, taking her as she arches into me, clawing at my back as we lay on sleeping bags by the fire. I am filled with her essence as I fill her with mine. I feel like I'm alive for once in my damn life at the age of eighteen, and here I finally am, a man.
I feel connected to this girl for some reason and I don't realize why. I don't understand what is happening, but when I wake in the morning, while we were supposed to be back at the church, I am met by something different. There's a force I cannot reckon with a naked eye, but there is certainly something evil around us. My father is near; I just know it. I hear her whimper in her sleep next to me. We had made our way inside the tent during the night to help against the chill. I pull the covers up around her and she settles back down.
“Get some sleep while I investigate,” I whisper, kissing her forehead. She already has this effect on me in this short amount of time. I feel protective of her, and I don’t want any harm to come to her.
But as if I’d summoned evil with just the thought, my father is the one I see when I leave the tent.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” I hiss.
“There he is, my son, my son, it's been so long,” he sneers.
I look around the park, everything is how I usually see it, lush with fall foliage. I hear the sound of the river down the hill behind us lapping up on the stones. Some early morning fishermen are out, seeing if they can catch the last bite before winter sets in.
My dad smiling at me after all these years is a sick sight. “How you been, Phoe?”
“I’m going to ask again, what are you doing here?” I feel my blood pressure rising and the fire that burns inside is ignited. I feel it in my core and it’s radiating in my chest, rolling over my shoulders and down my arms.
He is only here to tempt me. I can fight this and keep Tamryn safe in the process. I glance back at the tent and notice she is gone.
I pull back the flap of the tent, but she is not where I left her only five minutes ago.
“Where is she!” I whirl around and storm toward my dad.
He inspects his nails and cuticles, totally unfazed by me. “Who are we talking about?” My dad glances up.
“Don't bullshit me, old man. I know you know who I am talking about! Where is she?” I demand.
“Oh, that little filly you laid up with last night? She was a nice piece of ass, Son, really good job. Chip off the old block.”
I grit my teeth. “You better not have hurt her!”
“Hurt her? Oh no-no, but I did take care of Tammy and that little seed you placed in her last night.”
“Seed...what are you talking about?”
“No need to worry, I took care of it.”
“Dad, don't play with me. Where is Tamryn, and what seed are you talking about?”
“You still have the nerve to call me ‘Dad’ after you left outta my house four years ago! Fuck you, Son and your seed. That girl was only sent here to distract you from your destiny...by your mother! You’re eighteen now, Boy! No more running, your time is up!”
