Lena folded the last towel and dropped it in the basket by the washer. She'd been lounging on the window seat in her room when a black BMW had pulled into the driveway, Kara laughing and slurring her words as she'd led an older man to the door. She'd vaguely recognized him as one of the businessmen Jason and his grandfather had spoken to at the charity ball; she wondered just how many of those guests the woman had slept with by now, and how she'd even met them all in the first place.
She winced at the noise. Even two floors down wasn't safe. She'd made the mistake of waiting until they'd started going at it to make her way to the basement, having to block her ears against Kara's over-the-top screaming as she'd bolted past the locked doors to the master bedroom.
Lena tossed the dryer sheet in the trash and headed upstairs, sighing in relief when she realized they had finally stopped. She locked the door when she went outside; there was little chance Kara would check today, but she knew better than to make it obvious she wasn't home.
She stepped into the sunshine and took a deep breath—she loved how it smelled here, like maple trees and freshly mowed grass. Her smile grew when she saw Jason at his house up the street, tossing a duffle bag in the back of his car.
"Hey, Jason," she jogged to his driveway. "Where are you headed?"
"My grandparents' place," he tossed his keys on the driver's seat. "Promised I'd watch it while they're out of town this weekend. What about you?"
She shrugged.
"Kara's passed out, finally," she shuddered a bit. "Thought I'd sneak out and take a walk."
He chuckled.
"Why don't you come with me? There's something I've wanted to show you."
She blushed.
"Sure, sounds like fun."
The drive there felt shorter than usual, the time filled with the easy conversation she so rarely got to have. Jason was also unusually chatty, telling her about the time he'd set his aunt's back deck on fire while playing with matches when he was five.
"She was getting it replaced, anyway, but she made sure I knew how dangerous it was," he laughed and shook his head. "She still gives me shit about it."
Lena giggled, thinking how nice it was to see this side of him, instead of the reserved mask he kept on in public. She watched eagerly as the estate appeared on the horizon, surrounded by a brick and iron fence, the wrought-iron gates propped open as always.
Isola was even more incredible in the late spring sunlight. The trees and shrubs had been trimmed into neat spirals and spheres, the lawn lush and green. The new gravel drive was an elegant gray arch before the manor, the flower bed in the middle bursting with color—hydrangeas and tulips, his grandmother's favorites.
The house itself was simple: two long stories with spotless white siding, a slanted dark green roof and shutters, doric columns supporting a wide balcony over the wrap around porch. Lena spotted the corner of a chain-link fence past the garden as she climbed out, laughing at the cacophony of howling and barking. His grandfather owned a pack of Italian and English greyhounds, training and occasionally breeding them as a lucrative hobby.
"I almost forgot how gorgeous this place is," she pouted at Jason. "You're so lucky!"
He laughed, slinging the strap of his bag over his shoulder as he locked the car.
"Yeah, but it gets kind of old after a while, if you can believe it," he smiled warmly and took her hand. "But I want to show you something that never does."
<<<>>>
"Wow…"
It was all Lena could think to say. The clearing was smaller than the one behind their street, a gurgling stream running down a slight hill into a crystal blue pond. Wildflowers peppered the long grass with splashes of color as birds darted through the azure sky, their feathers shining in the sunlight. The gold champagne nickered as Jason pulled lightly on the reins, and he rubbed the colt's neck before dismounting with practiced ease.
"How did you find this place?" Lena couldn't stop gazing about as he helped her down, and she took a few wobbling steps before falling to her knees on the bank of the pond. He shrugged, tethering the horse to a low, thick branch.
"I was just riding one day," he rubbed the animal's nose fondly. "And Oro kind of brought me here."
The colt's ears perked forward; he shook his head, then started munching on the grass. Lena giggled.
"Why didn't we just walk? It's not that far."
Jason chuckled, patted Oro's flank and then sat down next to her.
"What good's being loaded if you don't show off once in a while?"
She laughed again, tracing the phoenix design on his shirt when he laid back. The afternoon sun shone overhead, a gentle breeze rustling through the trees. After a while, Lena smirked impishly, pressing herself against his side as she dragged a hand down his stomach, sliding one slim leg between his.
"I was thinking about asking Autumn and Heather to hit the pool," she traced a nail over the button of his jeans. "But I think I like this better."
She moved to kiss him, gasping when he grabbed her and pulled her on top of him. He kissed her roughly, keeping tight hold of her; he tangled his fingers in her hair, pushing his tongue past her lips.
"You and me both, babe," he panted quietly, then kissed her again. She straddled him, shoving him back when he tried to sit up, feeling her face burn as she tugged off her shirt and dropped it in the grass. He let out a shocked laugh when she pushed up his, slowly licking her lips as she looked him over. She couldn't decide where to put her hands first.
"Didn't see this coming," he commented, his breath catching as he gazed at her.
"Me either," she leaned down, her legs tightening on his hips as her breasts pressed against his chest. She bit his lip, groaning when he grabbed her butt. She froze as his hands traced up her sides, brushing the edge of her lacy pale yellow bra. He kept a hand on her back as he pushed himself up, running his thumb over a faded scar on her shoulder before he grabbed her shirt from the grass.
"You don't have to push yourself with this," he said. "Just being with you is enough."
She nodded, letting him help her to her feet, then keeping her back to him as she tugged her shirt over her head. He came to her side and tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear.
"You've been through a lot the last few months," he fixed his own shirt. "We can take things as slow as you need to."
She looked at him, smiling as she rested her head on his chest. He hugged her, kissing her hair.
"It'll be getting dark soon, how about we head back?"
"Yeah," she pressed closer to him, wanting to get lost in the feel of him. "Sounds good."
<<<>>>
Lena reached over and flicked on the bedside lamp, blinking away the spots as her eyes adjusted to the light. She'd spent the last few hours trying to get to sleep and had barely dozed. Jason had been antsy when they'd gotten back to the mansion, stopping to stare at every clock he passed and messing endlessly with his hearing aid. She'd heard a door slam a while after she'd gone to bed, and she wondered if whatever he'd been waiting for had finally happened. She kicked back the covers and went to the window, seeing light in the stable behind the garden. A speckled gray dog was pacing the chain-link fence beside it, and she could hear faint, frantic neighing.
What's going on out there?
She hurried downstairs, tugging on the muddy sneakers she'd left by the kitchen door, shivering when the dewy grass brushed her bare ankles. She hadn't expected to stay the night, wearing only one of his shirts and a pair of shorts left by one of his cousins.
The stable door was half-open, and three horses stamped restlessly in their stalls—Oro, the white stallion named Blizzard, and the dappled gray filly called Storm. The fourth, marked 'Ebony', was empty.
"Jason?" she came further inside, following the painful neighs to a larger stall at the back, looking over the wall to see him kneeling on the hay-covered floor. A beautiful black mare lay next to him, in the middle of giving birth.
"You're almost there," he said comfortingly, rubbing Ebony's sweaty flank. His gentle smile grew when the horse finished bringing her foal into the world, and he grabbed an old towel from the stall door to clean the fluids from its brown coat. It whinnied, nosing its mother when Jason laid it beside her. "You did it, girl."
He got to his feet, jumping a bit when he noticed her.
"You really need to quit sneaking up on me like that."
She laughed, opening the stall door as he wiped his hands on a clean corner of the towel. There was a small wireless camera rigged up near the ceiling, and she wondered just how long he'd been keeping an eye on the mare.
"Is this why you were acting so weird earlier?"
"Yeah," he went to a deep sink at the front of the stable and started washing his hands. "He was already a few days late. We're lucky it went this smoothly."
He cut the water and shook off the excess, then grabbed a smaller towel from the wall.
"We haven't worked out a name, though," he went on. "Any ideas?"
She blinked.
"Wait, you want me to name him?"
He shrugged.
"We're not exactly the most creative with that kind of thing," he nodded at the other stalls. "Obviously."
She laughed again, going back to the stall Ebony and the foal were in. The mare was already back on her hooves, and he was having some trouble trying to stand. His warm brown coat shone damply in the soft lights overhead, his little whinnies the cutest thing she had ever heard.
"I'm not good with names either," she admitted, resting her chin on her arms. The foal had black markings on his spindly legs and soft-looking nose, and there was a small white diamond in the middle of his forehead. "The most I can come up with is Chestnut or Cinnamon."
Jason came up beside her, still drying his hands, smiling fondly as Ebony nosed her baby, who stumbled sideways and tried to nurse.
"I like Cinnamon, what do you think?"
Lena sighed happily, feeling so peaceful as she laid her head on his arm.
"I think it's perfect."
<<<>>>
Heather drummed her pencil impatiently on the table. Autumn had been staring across the library for most of study hall, since Lena and Jason had taken an empty table at the end of the row.
"Something's up with those two," the redhead murmured. "I'm sure of it."
Heather rolled her eyes and tried to focus on her world history book; it was the last day to study for finals, and she needed at least a B to keep up her average.
"So what if there is," she asked in annoyance. "Why's it such a big deal?"
Autumn ignored her, the girl's eyes narrowing when Jason put his arm around Lena, smiling as he explained something to her. Heather grabbed Autumn's shoulder and snapped her back around.
"What is going on with you?" she demanded quietly. "Why are you so obsessed with them all of a sudden?"
Autumn stared at her, then huffed.
"Isn't it obvious? Something's going on with them, something that really shouldn't be!"
Heather scoffed.
"You were the one who wanted them to get together in the first place," she snapped. "They've been dating for weeks, and now you think something's wrong with it?"
Autumn shrugged off her hand.
"I didn't know what to think of Jason then," she sat back and crossed her arms. "But now I know he's just not right!"
Heather fought the urge to drop her face into her book. She'd hoped the redhead was finally past her unease about Jason, but it had gotten to where it was about the only thing Autumn could focus on.
"What's wrong with him?" she asked. "He's just about perfect!"
"I know, and that's what's not right about him," she glanced at the table again, but someone else had taken it. "He's hiding something, I'm sure of it!"
Heather grit her teeth.
"What could he possibly be hiding?"
Autumn's lips tightened, and she pulled in a breath through her nose.
"I don't know yet," she admitted. "But there's a reason he hasn't dated anyone since Emily, and now Lena comes along and they're practically married!"
Heather gaped at her.
"Emily practically killed herself in front of the whole school, remember? And Stephanie's obsessed to the point of trying to murder people, he's probably just excited that somebody normal is into him for once."
Autumn slouched in her seat.
"It doesn't help that Lena hasn't told me anything about it," she complained. "Why would she leave me out like that, after everything else she's trusted me with?"
"I'm sure it couldn't have anything to do with how hostile you've been toward him lately," Heather quipped sarcastically. Autumn snorted.
"I'm just trying to look out for her. She's been through too much already, I have to be sure he's not just screwing with her."
Heather groaned, then dug in her backpack for her last pack of gum. She tore off the paper and jammed the stick in her mouth, chewing forcefully before letting out a long breath.
"Jason's been through hell and back, too," she said. "He knows what it's like to be screwed with, he'd never do that to someone else!"
They jumped when the librarian cleared his throat, fixing them with a steely glare from a row of shelves.
"I'd appreciate it if you took this conversation elsewhere, girls," he stated flatly. "Or you're welcome to continue it in the principal's office, take your pick."
They nodded, grabbed their stuff and headed out to the front steps. Heather didn't bother trying to keep studying, knowing she'd never focus with Autumn around.
"Think about it, Heather," she didn't miss a beat. "There's always somewhere else he has to be, and when he does hang out with us, it's never too long before he has to run off somewhere."
"That's because he's a workaholic," Heather reminded her. "And he's always been more of a loner, you know that."
Autumn didn't answer, she was too busy rummaging around in her backpack; she pulled out a pen and her notebook, found an empty page and started scribbling like crazy. Heather leaned closer, her jaw dropping when she saw what was happening.
She can't be serious!
Autumn had divided the page down the middle and written out everything known about the Blackwood Slayer in the left column. She was copying several of those qualities to the other, headed by Jason's name.
"What the hell?" she snatched it. "Are you nuts?"
"You wish," Autumn swiped it back. "I can't believe no one's figured this out yet!"
Heather clenched her jaw.
"Figured out what," she demanded. "That Jason's not perfect? News flash, Autumn, nobody is!"
"You know that's not what I mean," she held the book tightly to her chest. "He's got to be the Slayer, it all makes sense!"
Her giggle sounded crazy.
"It all fits, and I'm going to prove it!"
Heather shuddered when Autumn turned to her, that unsettling grin just getting wider.
"But I can't do it myself, which means you're going to help me!"
Heather gaped at her.
"Hang on, I'm what?"
"Going to help me prove Jason's a murderer," she crossed her arms again. "And I know just where we can start."
<<<>>>
It wasn't the first time Jason had stayed late after his shift at his uncle's restaurant, or that he'd been stuck cleaning up the mess left over from his cousins' insane prank wars. It didn't help that the air conditioner had died the week before, the already hot kitchen becoming a sauna in the unseasonal heat. He tied the last trash bag and tugged off his apron, tossing it in the laundry bin by the back door on his way to the dumpster. It was a clear night, the full moon highlighting everything in silver; he stopped cold at a harsh laugh, his eyes narrowing when he saw the man leaning casually against a light post.
"You've really grown up, small fry."
Jason's fists clenched, and the light flickered. That damn nickname again.
"Who the hell are you?"
The man chuckled.
"You haven't figured it out yet?"
He shouldered himself from the pole, hands in his pockets like he didn't have a care in the world.
"But I guess that's not important right now," his wrist flicked, and a switchblade gleamed wickedly in his hand. "There's something else I have to talk to you about."
Jason inched a hand behind his back.
"And what would that be?"
The man smirked.
"I wouldn't do anything stupid if I were you, unless you didn't plan on living past tonight."
Jason scowled and crossed his arms.
"Just tell me what you want."
The man smirked again, still toying with his knife.
"Lena's pretty cute, isn't she?"
He went stiff.
"What does she have to with this?"
The man shrugged, trimming his nails with the tip of the blade.
"Think of it as a warning," he glanced up, his eyes glinting coldly. "If you even think of going AWOL again, she'll be the one paying the price."
The humid air crackled as Jason stormed forward, but he stopped in his tracks when a red dot flashed to life on his chest. He grit his teeth and held up his hands.
"This is your last chance, small fry," the man closed his knife and put it away. "And you know I'd rather not kill anyone I don't have to."
As if on cue, a black van with smashed headlights peeled into the lot behind him, the smell of trash and stale beer spilling out when the back door slammed open. The man pulled something from his pocket and let it flutter to the ground. Jason waited until the vehicle had gone before going to grab the slip of paper, his stomach dropping when he turned it over.
The photograph showed him and Lena in the greenhouse at Misuto Garden. It was crinkled, the corners burnt, their faces circled in red. He swallowed hard, and the air crackled again.
They're not getting away with this!