She Was His First

7

"Don't let them see you," Jack warned as he lured Charlie away.

His heart was pounding against his chest. Excited. They crouched down and ran behind bushes. Behind the wood pile. Up to the empty house that Greta and Isaac owned.

This was almost too easy. He didn't even feel bad that this girl was going to die for following him, because she had been dumb enough to follow. Not that he could really feel bad anyway. Not with all of his nerves tingling with anticipation the way they were. This was going to be way better than wasting time hurting stupid animals that couldn't cry or beg. Horrible things were swimming around in his mind. Disgusting things.

He glared around to make sure nobody was looking, then opened the door of the house. Greta and Isaac had changed the locks when they replaced the windows he'd busted last week, but Jack had a secret entry way. He had sneaked in and unlocked the door earlier when he devised his plan.

The hollow house might have frightened other kids. It's dark corners could have played tricks with their eyes. The thick silence could have set them on edge. Not Jack. Jack knew that the only thing to fear in this house was Jack himself.

"Hurry," he said to Charlie as they stepped inside. "Stay away from the windows."

He pulled her along a thin tan carpet that covered the room they entered and spread out down a dark hallway. She stumbled a few times and he ignored it.

"Where are we going?" she asked. "Aren't we hid enough?"

"Almost. I just don't wasn't them to see you and hurt you before I have a chance to talk to them," he said. "So we have to hide very good."

He stopped midway down the hallway and opened a door. Faint light from the tiny windows below made the stairs fairly visible. Jack peeked around again, then nudged her shoulder. Charlie hesitated.

"Go on," he urged.

"I-I don't like the dark too much. Can't I go in a closet?" she asked.

"No," he said frustrated. That wasn't the plan. "They'll look there first thing if they saw us come in. Do you want them to find you while they're still mad?"

"No," Charlie admitted.

"Go on, then," he said. "It'll just be a little while, then they'll be your friends again and you won't have to hide from them. It's okay, there's nothing down there. I go down there all the time. You aren't chicken are you?"

Jack started thinking that maybe he would just push her, when she took a deep breath and plunged down the dark staircase. Jack smiled cruelly behind her back, then followed her into the darkness. She was going right where he wanted her to be.