Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
The bat dropped in height as it flew… and it came right toward me again, or at least it looked like it did.
Later on, I’d be disappointed in myself, but then again it was a goddamn bat, and I screamed.
And after that, I’d be even more disappointed in myself for the fact I crawled down the stairs on my hands and knees, but I did it. Only after grabbing my keys and shoving them into my shirt. Fuck this!
And in a way that pretty much summed up my life, I opened the door outside and ran out in my socks, tank top, and underwear—totally and completely unprepared—and saw another bat fly right in front of my face, aiming back up toward the endless, dark sky… where it belonged.
I still ducked anyway.
I might have screamed again, and I was pretty sure I yelled, “Fuck off!” but I wasn’t positive.
What I was positive of was yelping my way over the gravel, holding my cell phone in one hand as a flashlight, clutching the blanket over my head but under my chin, and pretty much diving into my car the second I was close enough.
I was sweating, big-time. The shower I’d taken had gone to fucking hell. But what else was I supposed to do? Not sweat? There was a goddamn bat in the garage apartment!
It took way too long for me to stop panting, and I had to wipe my armpits with the corner of the blanket after locking the doors.
I needed some water.
More than that, I had to do something. I had more than a week left here. It wasn’t like the bat was going to open the door and let itself out.
Shit, shit, shit.
It was either do something or do nothing… and for now, the only thing I was going to do was sleep in my car because there was no way in hell I was going back in there. Not for water. Not for a bed. I’d pee in an old water bottle if I had to. Bats were nocturnal, weren’t they? God, I needed internet.
I shivered and tucked the blanket under my chin tighter.
Had Mom and I ever had bats at our house? Did she take care of them on her own? I wondered.
What in the hell had I gotten myself into?
Chapter 8
That next morning, I rolled up to the store and found Clara standing beside her car—a new Ford Explorer—and talking to a man a lot taller than her while Jackie stood off to the other side, messing with her phone.
It took me a moment to realize why his light brown skin and build seemed kind of familiar.
It was Johnny. Amos’s uncle.
Pulling in to park on the other side, I finally spotted the Subaru parked behind the store. I grabbed my purse from the passenger seat before getting out.
“…it’s fine. Just bring me the money tomorrow,” Clara said in that soft, steady voice of hers.
“Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, Clara,” Amos’s uncle replied. I could see he was smiling at her, this sweet, easy one.
Jackie glanced over her shoulder and smiled tightly. “Hi, Ora.”
She was one of the only people to call me that here. Even Clara only called me Aurora. Probably because it was my aunt and uncle who had started calling me Ora.
“Hi,” I greeted her. “Are you coming with us?”
She blinked, and her smile dropped just a tiny bit. “Is that okay?”
I smiled extra wide, hating that for some reason she’d think I wouldn’t want her around, especially since things were fine between us but just a little awkward for whatever reason, and nodded. “Yeah, it is.”
Her smile back was timid but brighter.
Johnny happened to glance over then and made eye contact with me.
“Aurora,” Clara called out over her shoulder. “This is Johnny, Amos’s uncle.”
I couldn’t help it, I said, “We met at the hospital.” I forgot I hadn’t told her about all… that.
I walked around the Explorer and came to a stop beside Clara who smiled at me.
“Nice to see you again, Aurora,” the man drawled.
“Nice to see you too.”
I wished I put more makeup on now. I hadn’t gotten around to it because I’d been so tired thanks to the chaos last night, I hadn’t exactly gotten a good night’s sleep. And it wasn’t like Clara—or Jackie—cared if I had bags under my eyes.
“Did Rhodes give you a hard time the other night?”
I grinned and shook my head. He had to be referring to the night I’d snuck over to see Amos. “No. He said thank you. I figured that was pretty good.”
The way he tilted his head said he thought so too. “Have fun on your trip. Clara said you’re going to Ouray; it’s nice up there. See you around?”
“Sure,” I agreed, figuring I’d probably see him around the store since I wouldn’t be at the apartment too much longer.