“Come on,” he whispered. “Get up. Get up, Riley.”
Riley reached out an arm.
Nick saw shadows of animals emerging from the darkness and converging on Riley.
Nick took another step backwards, shaking his head.
“Get up,” Nick said. He nearly shouted when he backed into the car door. Then, without thinking, he slipped down into the driver’s seat and pulled the door shut. With his face pressed to the glass, he waited to see if Riley would fight his way back to his feet.
There was a light out there.
“No,” Nick whispered.
His hand found the key and the car roared to life when he turned it.
“I need help,” he told himself.
Five: Crisis
Aaron’s eyes flew open.
His hand reached to the nightstand and felt for the phone that wasn’t there. It took a few seconds for him to shake off sleep and remember—he had tossed the phone on the chair before he swept his bride into his arms and took her to bed.
But that wasn’t what had woken him up.
He remembered the sound when he heard the knock again. There was someone at the door.
“Jenn,” he whispered.
She didn’t stir.
Aaron slipped his arm out from under her as gently as he could. On his way to the door he picked up a robe and tied it around himself.
The person knocked at the door as Aaron pulled it open.
“Nick?”
“I need your help,” Nick said. A sour smell of exertion and fear was coming off of him.
“Hold on,” Aaron said.
He let go of the door and ran to grab a shoe. He put it in the gap between the door and frame before he stepped out to the hallway.
“What is it? I thought you left.”
“We did,” Nick said. He gulped at air and then swallowed hard as he composed himself.
“We got down the road and then,” Nick shook his head and started over. “Riley got out at the train tracks. Something attacked him or something. I don’t know. It was like these… I don’t know. These things just appeared and they attacked him. I just ran. I mean, I barely made it back here I was going so fast. I left his car out front and I…”
“Wait,” Aaron said, putting his hands up. “Is this a joke?”
“No, I swear!” Nick said with wide eyes.
“No, I mean is it a joke that he’s playing on you, Nick. You know how Riley is. Could this be something that he planned in order to freak you out?”
“I thought so at first, but, no. I don’t think it could be.”
“What did the police say?”
“Huh?”
“You called the police, right?” Aaron asked.
Nick looked confused and then he shook his head again.
“Come on,” Aaron said, rolling his eyes. “You’re serious? This is a joke.”
Aaron turned back for the door to his suite.
“There’s bad taste and then there’s waking me up and dragging me out of bed after my wedding, Nick. That’s beyond ridiculous.”
He pushed the door open and kicked the shoe out of the way.
“I’m serious, Aaron,” Nick said as the door clicked shut.
Aaron waited. After a second, Nick knocked again. This time, it was at least a polite tap.
“I’m not making this up,” Nick’s muffled voice said.
Aaron cracked the door open again and said, “If you’re serious, then go call the cops. But you won’t, because you’re not. Goodnight.”
Aaron closed and locked the door.
# # #
Nick paced back and forth several times outside the door. Approaching with his hand raised, he lost his nerve before he could knock once more. Aaron was right—there was a proper way to handle an emergency like this.
He should call the police.
“What would I say?” he whispered to himself.
Nick threw up his hands and let them fall to his sides.
Turning back for the stairs, he stomped off. There was no good solution.
Nick nearly screamed when the door he passed by popped open. His hands flew up and he stumbled backwards. When his feet crossed, he stumbled backwards into the wall. The woman who had opened the door stood there with wide eyes. Her hand came up and mostly covered her smile.
“Are you okay?”
“No,” Nick said. He pushed himself up from the floor. She looked familiar, but he didn’t know her. “Something happened to Riley and I don’t know what to do.”
She came out into the hallway and pulled her door shut behind herself.
“You’re friends of the groom?”
Nick nodded. He straightened out his shirt and jacket and flinched backwards when she reached out her hand for him to shake.
“I’m Amber. I’m friends with Jennifer.”
“Oh. I’m Nick.”
“I met Riley earlier. That’s right—you were with him. You rode together?”
“Yeah,” Nick said. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the floor. “He, uh, disappeared. That’s not true. I saw what… Something got him.”
“Something got him?” she asked. Her smile was returning and she tilted her head. The smile faded when Nick looked up again. “What happened?”
“We stopped because of the train signal and he walked down the tracks and then… I don’t know. Maybe it was an animal? I guess it was a pack of animals. I didn’t see them. I mean, I couldn’t see them. It was like they blended into the shadows or something. This is crazy. Aaron’s right—this must be a prank or whatever.”
“You couldn’t see what, Nick?”
“There were these things. And there was this swirling light. It was, like, hypnotic.”
Amber took a step backwards. Her hand went up to her mouth again, but this time it was shock that it was covering.
“So, now I don’t know what to do. Aaron said call the police. I don’t know what I would tell them.”
“You tell them that your friend was attacked.”
“Was he, though? Riley has this thing with pranks. I was totally convinced that this wasn’t a joke, but then Aaron…”
Amber shook her head. “If it is a joke, it’s incredibly bad taste. Either way, you need to call the authorities. If he gets in trouble
