“Itold you, I need to see it,” I replied, pushing the point with too muchdesperation in my voice. “That doesn't mean I can't also be terrified. I've hadnightmares about that place since I got here.”
“I'vebeenhavin' nightmares about it my whole damn life,”he grunted, as if by saying so, he was winning a contest I wasn't aware I wastaking part in.
Still,his response surprised me, and I asked, “Really?”
“Yes.”
Iknew I shouldn't have asked; I didn't feel I had any right. But for the sake ofmaking conversation, I did.
“Aboutwhat?”
Hisjaw tightened and his fists clenched around the wheel. I listened as he took adeep breath andworriedI had crossed an invisibleline. I hated that the streetlamps had now disappeared altogether as we drovefurther toward the woods, and I wished I could see him better in the dark car.I braced myself to spend the rest of the ride in uncomfortable silence.
But,to my surprise, he spoke.
“Ihave a stutter,” Alec said in a low voice, like he was afraid to be overheard.
“Inever noticed,” I replied, just as quietly.
“Iknow how to keep it under control now, but when I'm in any type of distress, itbecomes harder to keep myself together,” he told me. “Thatwasnaethe case when I was aladdie. It was a constantthing, it never stopped, and that made me a perfect target for the arseholes atschool.”
Mystomach flooded with an uncertain type of dread, scared of where this story wasgoing, and I said, “That's horrible.”
“Oneday, a few kids asked if I wanted to play after class, andbein'desperate for friendship, I was thrilled to be invited by someone other thanRick.” He turned, and even though I could barely see his eyes in the dark, Icould feel them on me. “Rick was always my only friend.”
“He'sa good one.”
“Aye,he is,” he agreed. “Hetold me not to go that day,too. He tried to talk me out of it,sayin' thosefuckin' bastards wantednothin' to do with me, but Iwas a pathetic wee shite, and I went with them.”
Alectook another deep breath, and as he spoke, he sounded winded. Like telling thestory was a chore, and I wished he'd stop. But I didn't say anything. I justlistened and wished I could hug that little boy he once was.
“Theytold me they had a treehouse in the woods they wantedto show me, so off toCoilleFeannagwe went. We walked for … Christ, Idinnaeken how long,but I keptaskin' where this fuckin' treehouse was'causeI wasgettin' tired, and Iknew my dad would beworryin' about me. This was wellbefore mobile phones and hewouldnaeken where I was.But they just keptsayin' we weregettin'close, and I believed them.
“Allof a sudden, we stoppedwalkin' and this one fat fucknamed Charlie pointed upward to the sky, and said, 'Ye see it, Alec? It's rightup there,' and I looked, but of course, Ididnaeseeanythin'. And then, they wereputtin’a blindfold around my eyes and tyin' me up. And I was such a weak little fuck,Icouldnaedoanythin'about it. They prodded me with sticks, taunting me, and all I could do wasscream and cry for help, but we were too deep in the woods for anyone to hearme.”
“Holyshit, Alec,” I gasped, clutching a hand to my chest, to try and reach my painedheart.
“Theyleft me tied to a tree, and Icouldnaetell ye howlong I was out there. Felt like forever.”
“Whofound you?”
“Mydad called the police after Ididnaecome home. Theygot one of the arseholes to talk.”
“God,”I whispered into the car. “You could have died.”
“Ireckon that was their intent,” he murmured gruffly.
“I'mso sorry, Alec. That's fucking awful.”
“Hm.”
“Itis,” I pressed, raising my voice. “Nobody deserves anything like that to happento them.”
“No,”he grunted, as we turned into a dirt clearing, adjacent to the wooded dark.“And nobody deserves to be killed and left for the crows.”
***
Thewind carried with it an ominous chill as we stepped through the archway ofbowed branches and into the forest. Alec led the way, carrying a flashlight, asI kept my hand firmly gripped to his arm. With the cover of the trees overhead,the clear night had become the darkest shade of pitch black, and I wascompletely unable to see anything on either side of us. All that was visiblewas whatever the flashlight illuminated in its glow, and I had never been moreafraid in my life.
