Talisman by S.E. Akers
My heart was still racing by the time we had reached the bottom of the mountain. I tried to pass it off as Mike’s jerky high-speed drive, but unfortunately, I knew the real reason why.
Ugh! I need to calm down! Though after considering who was sitting to my left—on top of every-freaking-thing else—that seemed like an unrealistic possibility.
The ride had been relatively quiet so far, with the exception of Mike trying to pick a song. I wasn’t the least bit interested in making casual conversation with my date anyway. I was content with quietly replaying the past few days over and over in my mind and brooding about how my simple, normal life had taken a terrible turn for the worse…and it all started after having that godawful dream!
I’d heard the thoughts of a strange man in my head as clear as a bell… I even doubted the blindness of a sweet old lady that I’d known for years who just today, had kept a gigantic rattlesnake from trying to have me for lunch… And that miraculous act paled in comparison to the falcon that had saved me from having my neck wrung by an unimaginable cloud of evil black smoke only two freakin’ days ago… I would swear Professor Tanner Grey was sort of stalking me… And if he wasn’t, Mr. Estell sure as shit was… Charlotte was screwing half of Welch behind my unsuspecting father’s back… My spoiled-brat-of-a-sister and witch-of-a-mother had conned me into going to the Homecoming dance with a complete jerk… And then to top it all off, I just found out that the bitch had purposely tried to wreck my college plans by sneaking out to the freaking mailbox and removing all of my applications before the daggone postman could pick them up…
Who does that kind of crap to their own daughter? UGHHH! How did things get so DAMN SCREWY?
Mike waited for a stream of cars to pass before turning onto the highway. I looked over at the mine. It appeared to be abandoned, except for my father’s navy blue truck sitting in the parking lot. The little girl inside me needed her daddy, but he had absolutely no idea what had been going on with me. I hadn’t divulged any of my problems to him because I figured he had enough on his own plate, what with the mine and his questionable job security.
I tapped Mike’s arm and pointed to the mine. “Daddy wants you to drop me off at the mine after the dance. He’ll take me home.”
“I can take you home, Shiloh. It’s no trouble.” Mike insisted, rather eagerly. In fact, eagerly enough that I got a sneaky suspicion he may have other reasons for wanting to “take me home”.
Oh, pleazzze, I groaned as I propped my head up against the window. “Daddy wants to see me all fixed up in the outfit he bought me. You know, before I go home and take it off.”
A funny-looking grin crimped the corners of Mike’s mouth as he sat there nodding, looking a little too rooted in his thoughts.
Maybe I should have phrased that better? I would hate to read his mind and see what sick mental image he’s just conjured up in that perverted head of his.
“Mike? Did you hear me?” I asked suspiciously. Since he looked like he wasn’t about to acknowledge my question anytime soon, I gave his shoulder an attention-snagging smack. “MIKE?”
“Oh, yeah. Sure,” Mike muttered as he emerged from his daydream. Then unexpectedly, my delusional date slipped the gear-shift into “park”.
“Why did you do that?” I quizzed.
“I need to get something,” Mike replied as he reached over, down towards the floorboard of my seat — right between my legs. My hands flew up and blocked him before he could lean any further. And needless to say, my fingers had already curled into two tightly clenched fists.
“What in the hell are you doing?” I demanded with a gruff glare.
“Sorry! Chill, okay?” Mike laughed and threw his arms up in the air. “Could you reach under your seat for me? Please? There’s something under there I need.”
I rolled my eyes as I felt underneath the seat. They soon narrowed when my hands located the item. I didn’t have to see it to know what it was. I shook my head and pulled out the container.
I held up the fancy whiskey flask and sneered. “Really, Mike? This is what you need?”
“I brought it because I wanted to catch a little buzz, but I think you’re the one who needs it,” Mike replied confidently, “to take the edge off of whatever just happened back there.”
I laughed. “You think liquor solves problems?”
Mike looked genuinely concerned. “No . . . But it’s been my experience that it sure can make you forget about them for a while.”
I had to admit his offer sounded very tempting, and I needed to relax. Everyone and everything around me had my nerves tied up in knots.
“Just take a sip or two. I promise I won’t let you get hammered. I’d hate for your Dad to kick my ass when I drop you off tonight.”
This was a side of Mike that I’d never seen before, but my skepticism couldn’t be denied. Is he genuinely trying to console me or does he just want to get me drunk?
“I swear,” Mike vowed and raised his hand like a Boy Scout. “We’ll just have a few sips before the dance, and then I’ll leave it in the car. Shiloh, my mom’s a chaperone. I can’t show up drunk to the dance — not with her there. I may act like I don’t give a crap most of the time, but I’m not crazy.”
With that taken into account, I found myself seriously starting to mull over the idea while I inspected the elaborate container. The intriguing bottle wasn’t made of glass. It was actually an ornate bronze flask featuring a label that had been carved straight into its metal and hand-painted in various eye-catching colors.