Save Me (Elk Creek) Read online

  SAVE ME : An Elk Creek Novel

  By Crystal Lee

  Copyright 2013 Crystal Lee

  Kindle Edition

  To my amazing sound board, you know who you are.

  Thank you for the encouragement and the late nights.

  You are all amazing.

  I love you.

  SAVE ME: An Elk Creek Novel

  Crystal Lee

  Copyright 2013 Crystal Lee

  All Rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any me ans, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Original and modified cover art by NaCDS and CoverDesignStudio.com

  Edited by Su san Miller

  Prologue- Taryn

  New Year’s Eve

  “Ethan, Dad is on his way,” I reminded my brother as he leered unsubtly at the two half-naked twits who seemed to have glued their bodies to his sides. I wondered, if he weren’t my brother, would I still find it so annoyingly sick to witness his flirting? Ethan didn’t seem to care that our Dad could walk in at any moment to see his son in what some might say was an inappropriate position. Ugh, nasty!

  “ETHAN! Come on, we have to meet him or he’s coming in! Not that I would mind seeing you get a crap load of ‘the sex talk,’ but we need to go, NOW. COME ON!” I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled until he finally looked at me, along with the two Barbie wannabes. Gosh, if ugly looks could really kill, I think I would have died on the spot.

  “What the hell, Tare? I’m coming,” he said with a scowl, before turning a charming smile to Twit One and Twit Two as he extricated himself. My brother didn’t know his effect on girls, and unfortunately for them, he really didn’t give a crap about them, either. It was sad, really, although with the stabbing glares I was getting, I was finding it hard to feel any sympathy for them.

  Ethan and I moved our way through the mass of highly inebriated bodies that Seth, my brother’s best friend, invited over to his house. This was supposed to be a small gathering of some of my brother’s high school friends, and I weaseled Ethan into letting me come by promising to do his laundry while he was home for break.

  Hey, what could I say, I was going to be sixteen tomorrow, and I wanted to see what a party was like. If it wasn’t my dad, it was Ethan—they wouldn’t let me do anything. I had never even been on a date before. I thought this would be fun, but after the third drunken idiot tried to grind his junk against my backside, I knew this was not my scene. So, I chalked this party up to experience.

  We made our way to the door when Seth yelled, “Hey Dalton, what the hell? You leaving?”

  “Yeah man, Dad’s on his way, I’ll call you later,” Ethan hollered as Seth gave him the finger. I rolled my eyes and started down the walkway to the street, clutching my coat as close to my body as I could. The freezing air outside nipped at my cheeks and fingers.

  “I told Dad we would meet him at the corner, I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate all the alcohol, or the fact there weren’t any adults,” I said.

  “Hey, I’m an adult, I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, Tare. Why do you think I didn’t drink anything?” he replied. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked a little put out that I didn’t think of him as a grown up.

  “I noticed,” I said. I couldn’t help but feel annoyed that he had thwarted all of my attempts to talk to any boy there. Although, it didn’t really bother me to have him on guard for me—but I wasn’t going to tell him that. Between him and my dad, I felt like I had a constant security team on my butt. All they needed was one of those cool wrist walkie-talkies with the crinkle wire going into their ears, and sunglasses. I inwardly snorted at the picture.

  As we both tried to skip over the patches of ice that lined the walkway, Ethan held onto my arm, as if he were afraid I would fall and break something.

  “Ethan, I’m not going to fall, you can let loose.”

  He simply replied with a shrug and a grin, then too quickly for me to stop him, he threw me over his shoulder so that I ended up on his back, piggy back style. I couldn’t hold in the screech of surprise that escaped my mouth, and I slapped him upside the head. “Stupid jerk, I hope you break something! I am not a lightweight you know.”

  He pinched my calf. “Well, you’re light enough for me, brat. Now hold still and enjoy the ride.”

  As we made it to the corner, Dad pulled up in our Volvo. I climbed down Ethan’s back and opened the back passenger door, pretending to give shotgun to Ethan. He smirked down at me, as if to let me know I wasn’t giving him anything, and he knew it. Jerk! The warm blast of the car’s heat hit me full on in the face, and I welcomed it as I scurried to quickly close the door behind me.

  “Hey guys, how was the party?” Dad asked us, while looking directly at Ethan.

  “Uh, you know, it was good to catch up with all the guys, and Tare had a great time with a couple of girls that were there… We just hung out, Dad.” Ethan said while glancing back at me, probably to see if I was going to go along with his little twist of the truth.

  “Yeah, it was fun, Dad. Can’t wait for the next one! Oh, that’s right, there’s a party tomorrow, right?” I asked, knowing my dad had made every effort to assure my sixteenth birthday would be the stuff of every young girl’s dreams.

  “Taryn, you know, if you would like to do something different, we can postpone and come up with something else. I want you to have a good birthday. I know your birthday isn’t your favorite thing to celebrate.” Dad’s voice sounded wistful, and I instantly felt bad that I had made him feel nervous about throwing me a birthday party.

  To be honest, my birthday wasn’t a big deal. I remembered when I was little and my Mom was alive, I loved my birthday. I loved getting dressed up in frilly party dresses, playing party games like pin the tail on the donkey with all the other kids in the neighborhood, and eating the homemade birthday cakes Mom made for the occasion—always pink strawberry cake with vanilla frosting, my favorite. I just think I lost interest after she was gone. It wasn’t that I harbored bad feelings about my birthday, I was just indifferent, I guess.

  “Dad, I really am excited about tomorrow. I just wish you would give me and my friends a little more freedom, maybe let us be alone?” I pleaded with big eyes while he scanned my face through the rearview mirror.

  “Ha, very funny, Taryn. There is no way I am letting loose a bunch of 15 and 16- year-olds to cause havoc on the neighborhood, or our house. Good God, I can only imagine what I would find in the aftermath,” Dad said mockingly.

  Really? Like we could do much. The bunch of 15 and 16-year-olds he was referring to were my two friends, who, believe it or not, may have been even more sheltered and nerdy than I was. There was nothing like overbearing male parentage to screw up a good party. It was a good thing for him that I loved him, or I could totally pull a 180 and be Super Diva Taryn, and get what I wanted. It could work!

  “Yeah, because, you know, Kim and Brandi are all about smashing mailboxes, lighting dog crap on fire on people’s porches, and teepeeing the neighborhood. They only come over to ogle Ethan and listen to his every idiotic word,” I replied with as much sarcasm as I could muster.

  “Hey, don’t even go there, Tare,” Ethan warned, grinning at me. “I tried to ward off your friends, I can’t help it if I am irresistible to the females.”

  “Nice to hear you don’t dispute that you’re an idiot!” I smiled back at him. I started laughing as he began to repeatedly lower and raise the back of his seat in my lap, attempting to smash me. I quickly scooted over to the driver side, and buckled up, still laughing at him. He gave me an unconvincing
glare, as my dad pulled out of his parking spot.

  “You know, I think you are really going to enjoy your party, and I have a few demos for you guys to try out, if you want,” Dad interrupted.

  My dad designed video games, and often tried to get our friends and us to try them out before they were released. It was fun, but could also be irritating. Not all teenagers enjoyed playing video games all day long.

  “Sure, Dad, we’ll test them out for you,” I replied. “Just don’t invite any of Ethan’s friends over, or else we might lose the TV again.”

  “You shouldn’t complain, we got a better TV after that happened,” Ethan said, looking over his shoulder at me.

  “Yeah, well, it wasn’t just the TV, it was an entire wall and part of the ceiling, which was over my bedroom! When you get to the point that you think it is a good idea to bring a trampoline into the house and try playing video games while jumping over other people, I think gaming has rotted what little brain cells you have left.” I glared at Ethan, remembering the stupid and careless charade he and his friends devised. Obviously, I was still not over that mishap. I had to sleep on the couch for two weeks while the house was repaired. MORONS!

  “All right guys, let’s not get into that argument again,” Dad said as the reflection of the light turning green bounced off his glasses and he started to accelerate through the intersection.

  “Yeah, yeah, those were some good times,” Ethan chuckled.

  I wanted to throttle him.

  “Hey Dad, do you mind if we make a quick stop?” I asked, shifting in the back seat to gaze out the window at passing headlights. “I’m starving, they had, like, no food at that party.” I could see the illuminated sign of a mini mart just a block away. There wasn’t much else open, and I was hungry enough to settle for snack food.

  “Yeah, I could use a drink too,” Dad replied, flicking on his turn signal to change lanes. “You want anything, Ethan?” Dad glanced over at my brother.

  “Um, yeah how about some chips…” Ethan mumbled without looking up from his phone. “Oh, and a Snickers…and a Mountain Dew, and some gummy worms.” He continued working his thumbs over the buttons. I just rolled my eyes. The boy was a bottomless pit.

  “Hey Dad, I bet I can get all my stuff and have it rung up before you even get your stuff to the counter,” I said with anticipation as he pulled into the parking lot. Dad, Ethan and I were all competitive with each other, and were always making bets on stupid things. It was all about the bragging rights. He glanced at me in the rearview mirror, and through the darkness I saw the calculating gleam in his green eyes and the white of his teeth as he grinned.

  Dad pulled up to the front of the store, and before he had it in park, I pushed open the car door and jumped out, racing to the front. I pulled one door open, not even worrying about the bang it made against the outside display case. I rushed to the cooler aisle for the soda, and had a root beer in my hand before I saw Dad make it through the door. I ran over to the chips and picked up a tube of Pringles, not even seeing what flavor. I was almost to the candy aisle when I saw my dad at the chips. I had to hurry. I grabbed two candies, not even sure what they were, and raced to the counter, my shoes squeaking against the polished linoleum.

  I was completely out of breath as I laid down all the junk food, and looked up to the clerk. She made no move for my items, instead standing there staring wide-eyed at me. Okay? I knew it might be a little weird to see people racing around a mini mart, but come on, it couldn’t have been the strangest thing this girl had seen. I slowed my breath and peered at her more closely. Fresh tears glimmered on her cheeks, like the path of a snail. One hand rested on the counter top, and I could see it shaking and twitching against the hard, smooth surface. What was wrong with this girl? It was as if she were frozen. I began to feel panic unfurl deep in the pit of my stomach. Maybe something was wrong with her, and she needed some help?

  I reached over the countertop to take her hand in mine. As I leaned over, I saw a pile of black rags heaped behind the counter at her side.

  Then I realized it was no pile; it had a hand pressed into her side.

  NO, it had a gun at her side.

  I tried to back away from the counter, only to let out a scream when Dad grabbed my shoulders. All I could do was shake my head back and forth and try to push back against him.

  At that moment, the man stood up and grabbed the girl by her hair hard enough to arch her back painfully, and held her in place.

  “Give me your wallets!” he yelled at us. His eyes were flashing wildly and his pale face stood out against the black hood of his holey, threadbare sweatshirt. The man was wildly shaking the gun in our direction, his hand moving erratically. My dad moved to pull his wallet from his back pocket, when the man shouted, “STOP, pull it out slowly, fucker. Don’t play me, or I’ll shoot these bitches right fucking NOW!” Beads of sweat rolled down his temples and dotted his forehead. His eyes met mine, and I saw no life there. Just black. Black as dark as his sweatshirt, staring out from his dirty, gaunt face.

  Dad slowly reached over the counter to hand him his wallet. He tried to slowly, cautiously step himself in front of me as the man rifled through its contents. Dad leaned to the side and whispered, “I want you to run to the car when I push you back.” I was astonished by how calm his voice sounded. For a moment, my pounding heart actually slowed. I looked in his eyes, and he didn’t wait for a response. I felt myself start to shake, and I was afraid that my body wouldn’t cooperate with anything I needed it to do.

  Sirens, oh GOD, sirens. I heard them, and was thankful they sounded close. The man jerked his head toward the window then to my dad, one hand still tightly grasping the clerk’s hair. “You motherfucker!” he screamed. “I said don’t play me. You called the fucking pigs, didn’t you?” Spittle was flying out of his mouth. The clerk shook in his grasp, like a fragile autumn leaf in a gust of wind.

  “No, I didn’t call anyone, man.” Dad’s voice was level and calm. “I just want to get my daughter home. I gave you my money, you can just take off and let us go.”

  “No, no! It wasn’t supposed to go down like this, you weren’t supposed to come in here!” His voice grew louder, his eyes darting wildly from side to side. “It’s your fault, you fuck! You ruined everything. Your fault!”

  POP. POP. POP. POP.

  My ears were ringing as Dad jolted back into me and we both fell to the floor. I was dazed for a moment, not sure what just happened. My dad’s weight was pressing down on me, and he was limp. The smell of copper hit my nose, and I knew he’d been shot. Trying to find traction on the slick floor, I wiggled my way from under him. Dark splotches of blood were quickly spreading over our clothing.

  I quickly got to my knees and looked down at my dad.

  “NOOOOO! NOOOOO! No.” I heard the words escaping my mouth on their own volition. Blood was spurting from his neck. With each the tick of the clock, more blood spurted onto the slick floor, pooling around his head and shoulder. I put one hand over the wound on his neck, hoping I was doing something that would help. I grabbed his other hand and leaned down over his chest, as I began to sob. “Dad, oh God, Dad. Please be okay. Please be okay. You have to be okay!”

  I slightly heard the sound of crashing glass, murmuring voices, and bodies moving around. Everything seemed hazy and all that I could see clearly was my dad’s face. His eyes were looking directly at me. I felt a light squeeze to my hand and a glaze started to take over his eyes.

  “NO, DAD! NO. NO. NOOOO!” I squeezed his hand over and over, and shook his head with my hand covering his neck. He just lay there. No response, nothing. Just a horrible blank stare in his beautiful eyes.

  Suddenly, arms were grabbing me, and pulling me away from him. I kicked and thrashed my body, trying to free myself from the strong grip holding me.

  “No, he needs me, don’t touch me!” I screamed while I continued to thrash. I was hoisted up and cradled like a baby as someone carried me outside.

  “
You’re okay now, you’re going to be okay,” a stranger’s voice said above me. My eyes were drawn to the flashing lights from the police cars that had filled the parking lot. I could see Ethan shouting at two police officers, who were corralling him next to one of the police cars.

  “ETHAN!” I screamed.

  “TARYN! Let me go, goddammit! That’s my sister!” I heard him yell at the officers as they looked back my way. Ethan broke away from the officers and ran past them toward me. I held my arms out to him as he reached me. He instantly grabbed me and pulled me to him, holding me much like the person before.

  “I’ve got her… thanks,” Ethan muttered and buried his face in the crook of my neck. My body was wracked with sobs. I was trembling so hard that my head jolted, clacking my teeth together. I grasped Ethan’s chest and wailed, sobbed, and screamed.

  “E-Eth-than, D-dad, Oh God! E-Ethan, he has s-so m-much blood, and h-his eyes, Ethan his eyes! H-he sh-shot him, H-he’s hurt.”

  Ethan squeezed me harder and I felt his tears falling on my chest, but he said nothing.

  I held onto Ethan as I blocked out everything around me. The image of my dad wouldn’t leave my mind. I couldn’t stop seeing his empty eyes, like everything that was my dad was no more. I thought my mind was starting to separate from my body, because everything was so fuzzy. The ruckus going on around me was muted. My side was beginning to ache, and I was too disconnected from everything to say or do anything about anything. God, I didn’t even know what I was saying anymore.

  I thought I heard Ethan calling to me, but it was so far away. Wasn’t he just holding me? “Ethan, you have to come closer. I can’t hear you,” I tried to say to him.

  I thought I could feel him shake me, but I wasn’t positive. Blackness was encroaching on my vision. I was pretty sure that I heard him yell.

  “Get someone over here NOW, I think my sister has been shot!”

  And then the blackness took over.