The Dark Ones

e steaming water from the shower felt great. It wasn't just the heat that was soothing. The cleansing

of her life at Beldon High, one that

HIM that left you

g into her favorite warm pajamas, Georgia sat at the edge of her bed as the rain continued to fa

when he told her to "stay ou

o resent her so much? Was it because she had seen him that morning? All she had done was try to help. It wasn't even him she was trying to help. Georgia didn't know how to explain it. It was like he gave off

r. No! I don't believe that. This is crazy. Get

she knew she never meant them. She wa

like a lamb

with a cacophony o

ate

r. She dated Jesse Warner back in ninth grade and Lucas Bale in tenth. Neither relationship led anywhere, or ever consumed her mind this much. Other gi

at's

capable of igniting this much raw desire within her before. It wasn't just Hayden's looks. As unbelievably attractive as he was

e. Why do I feel s

room was small but neatly kept. Everything had been picked out

why guys neve

m was uniquely her. Other girls had posters of actors and singers, but Georgia had posters of people that meant more to her than the likes of Justin Bieber ever could. Hers were posters of peop

ou must first be the kind of thinke

ed at the words,

you are. All you c

anslate those emotional feelings into actual connections in reality. She loved her posters and sometimes connected more deeply with the dead people in them than she ever could with the living. People irked her. She

ouldn't keep your mo

wn on her bed

y L

rgeous boy to ever walk the planet, Judy Walsh's words, not mine. I don't even get a call from my b

friend of their trio was

o tell. He's not t

BS on that. Anyway, I'm not talking about his loo

him!" Georgia's

t have yo

about it and he kinda growled at the dude and scared the crap out of him. He looked like he'd just been in a fight or something, his clothes were torn, he had stains all over his clothes an

ough her mind again. His anger, his scary e

perfect face, his stro

at herself

. Like where the hell did

ve no

or not, I'm definitely c

ia ch

ht. How are you fe

't wait to come in tomo

her playfulness about how much she was looking

asn't accustomed to was feeling slightly jealous and even a little resentful of Lisa, like she did now. Lisa was fashionable, beautiful, vivacious, and smarter than she let on. This meant s

lf hoping that, for once, Lisa wouldn't take all the attention from her. It might not matter anyway. She felt like the antithes

wore a permanent "fuck o

he ha

ever did hook up with Hayden. When the call ended she felt a mixture of relief and dread; relief that she got a respite from hearing Lisa croon about the slutty outfit she planned to wear the next

aked with patches that were almost black. Her hair was her best feature though. It was thick, full, and cascaded down her face and shoulders in voluminous, subtle waves. Her full head of hair was fortunate as it gave her face some fullness that helped cover her mousy ears and det

mn do

gia wasn't displeased with what she saw staring back at her in the mirror, b

t I get him o

behind the three small rooms on its second floor, the wooden staircase creaked and curled its way to the bottom where it landed at their lounge. The walls here were an ugly beige that went with the scuffed wooden f

as a large man but as gentle a soul as Georgia had ever known. Short, spiky hair sat atop his splotchy, flushed cheeks that punctuated a terminally unshaven, but kindly face. Georgia had already sorted out his supper earlier that evening. She expected to see the after effects of

een this?" he asked as s

d inwardly at

"pumpkin", "dot face" wo

station. An attractive female reporter stood at the side of a long road with a barbed steel fence behind her bordering a stretc

rms in town have now all reported the same thing. A

pursed h

ommon hazard for livest

calf. Whatever's killing these animals is huge. It's been killing everything

art. It doesn't seem much interested in eating them, just happy to kill them and mutilate their bodies.

's really c

town, so I wouldn't be too worried. Just for safety's sake though,

out at local coffee shops. The teenagers of Grayston County, Milwaukee were usually too obsessed with having

'll be safe,

the blaring sounds of her favorite bands soon lulled her into an early sleep. Her mother arrived home and peeked in a short while later, but Georgia was too far into her first dre

too. He appeared in them as the object of her fantasy. This wasn't unexpected either, since he'd evoked a physical desire within her that