Choosing Sides
Chapter 1
“Hurry up, Gary. We’re running late. If I’m not home by eleven Mom and Dad will ground me until I’m old enough to run for president.”
Gary shoved his hands into the back pockets of his pants and gave his date the scowl only a put upon teen-aged boy can produce. “Hey, it’s not my fault we missed the last bus, Candy. If you hadn’t spent so much time in the bathroom after the movie was over we would have caught it. Now we’ll have to catch the 709 at Public Square.”
Candy returned Gary’s scowl with a pout. “Would you rather I peed while on the bus? When a girl has to go, she has to go. What’s so interesting back there anyway?”
‘Back there’ was a darkened segment of the city park the couple was crossing to reach the bus stop at Public Square. While the walkways and rest areas of the park were well lit, areas further out were poorly, or not at all, illuminated.
Gary held up his hand in a ‘stop’ gesture “I thought I heard something,” he whispered.
“It’s probably a couple having sex in the bushes. They won’t like it if you barge in on them.”
Gary shook his head in disagreement. “I don’t think so. It didn’t sound like that. It sounded more like footsteps headed our way.” He turned to face the direction the sound had come from, searching the darkness. “But I don’t see anyone.”
Candy gave Gary another pout. A gesture Gary missed in the dim light. “You’ve been watching too many bad movies. This is Ellison Park. Nothing scary ever happens here. Come on, we need to get to Public Square. We can catch a bus there and get me home on time.”
Gary shook his head again. “I want to check this out. I don’t like the idea of someone sneaking up on us. Wait here. I’ll be back in a minute.” He began walking toward the source of the sound without giving his date time to respond.
Candy waited, tapping her foot in annoyance, but after about five minutes with no Gary, impatience turned to concern. “Gary?” she called out. There was no answer.
“Come on, Gary. Quit playing games. We need to go.” Still no reply.
Concern gave way to fear. Telling herself her boyfriend was an idiot for trying to scare her and would get his ears blistered when she found him Candy started off in the direction Gary had gone. She had just entered the patch of darkness that attracted Gary’s interest when her foot encountered something. Looking down she saw Gary lying on his back motionless.
“This isn’t funny, Gary,” she said. “Get up.” She prodded him with her foot but her boyfriend remained still. At that moment a cloud covering the moon moved giving Candy a better look at Gary. The boy would never move again. Something had torn out his throat and half his face.
Candy’s scream of terror was cut short as a clawed hand found her throat