Through My Window(Hidalgos #1)(5)
He’s so handsome!
Clouds swallow the bright sun as practice ends, thunder rumbles, and, without warning, it begins to rain. Cold raindrops fall on me and I curse to myself, pulling the top of my hood tighter over my head. I run down the stands and quickly pass the parking lot. The guys are about to leave, and therefore the risk of Ares seeing me is high. In my rush to get out of there I crash right into someone.
“Ow!” I touch my nose, looking up.
It’s one of the guys on the team, a tall, dark-haired, tanned guy who looks like he’s straight out of a TV series. “Are you okay?”
I push past him, trying to get away as quickly as possible. And then it happens, I hear the voice of my enduring, frustrated love.
“What are you doing standing here in the rain?” Ares asks the boy behind me.
“I bumped into a weird girl. She was wearing sunglasses and a hoodie in this heat.”
“You’re the weird one,” I murmur and try to hear Ares’s reply through the rain, but I’ve already walked too far away. That was close.
I urge my legs to move faster, sighing in relief when I see the exit. I turn right to continue home. The rain is heavy, but I don’t see a place where I can take cover, not even a bus stop. I hear voices and instinctively duck into an alley. With my back against the wall, I dare to peek down the street. Ares is standing there, chatting with some guys from the team. They all have umbrellas, of course.
I should have checked the weather forecast!
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” the tanned guy I crashed into earlier asks insistently.
“No, I have things to do at home,” Ares says.
His friends walk away, and Ares just stands there in the rain, as if waiting for something. I narrow my eyes. What is he waiting for? Ares starts to move and, to my surprise, he doesn’t go in the direction of his house but instead turns the opposite way. Did he lie to his friends? My curiosity encourages me to make a bad decision.
I follow him.
It’s getting darker and darker, and we’re moving away from the downtown area into a neighborhood of lonelier streets. This is a bad idea. What am I doing? I’ve never followed him before, but I’m interested to know why he lied to his friends. Although, honestly, that’s not my problem.
Ares doesn’t slow down and it’s as if he knows exactly where he’s going. I pass a small wooden bridge, and a cool night breeze brushes over me as dark clouds swallow what sunlight is left. I hug myself and moisten my lips. Where is he going in the dark?
I can no longer see the road, only a dirt path that takes us into the forest. My confusion is growing. I know that there’s nothing here but trees and darkness. Ares jumps over a small fence to the place I least expected to see—the town cemetery.
What the hell? I didn’t even know you could get to the town cemetery by going this way. And what’s he doing here? Oh no. My imagination is running wild again.
He’s a vampire, and he comes here to reflect on whether or not to kill his next victim. Or worse, he knows I’m following him and brought me here to suck my blood dry.
No, no, no, no, I can’t die a virgin.
Hesitantly, I hop over the small fence too. I can’t believe I’m following him into the cemetery. To say that this place is spooky is an understatement. The clouds that are still covering the sky paired with an occasional flash of lightning make me feel like I’m in a horror movie.
Being the fool that I am, I continue to follow my crush as he weaves through the graves. I consider that maybe he’s going to visit someone, but there haven’t been any deaths in Ares’s family that I can remember. Believe me, in a small town you hear about everything, and everyone knows everyone.
Ares walks faster, and I struggle to catch up with him, all while keeping a safe distance. We enter an area of mausoleums, which resemble small houses for those who are no longer with us. Ares turns a corner, and I hurry to follow him, but when I round the corner, he’s gone.
Shit.
Staying calm, I cross the little path between mausoleums, but I don’t see him anywhere. I swallow thickly, my heart beating like crazy in my chest. A flash of lightning followed by a rumble of thunder startles me. This was a really bad idea. What was I doing following him to the cemetery? I turn around. I need to get out of here before one of these souls decides to come after me.
This is what I get for being curious, I deserve it. Another flare of lightning, another crash of thunder, and my poor heart is on the verge of collapse. I’m passing in front of a crypt when I hear strange noises.
Shit, shit, shit.
I’m not going to stick around to find out who or what it is. I hurry, almost running, and of course, because I’m clumsy when I’m scared, I trip over a tree root and fall to my hands and knees. I sit on the back of my thighs, shaking my hands when I feel it. Something, or someone, is behind me. A shadow falls over the path in front of me, a shapeless silhouette.
I scream so loud that my throat burns. I get up fast and turn to start praying in defense and then I see him.
Ares.
FOUR
The Cemetery
Ares stands in front of me, his black jacket partially covering the green T-shirt I saw him wearing at practice, an umbrella over his head, and his free hand in the pocket of his black shorts. He looks like what he is: a rich, athletic young man.