 |
| All
Hannah needs is a nice and quiet vacation after her first year of teaching
French at a high school. She joins her brother Ben for the summer in their
mom's log cabin in Arizona. There, she meets Josh again, Ben's childhood friend
from the Navajo reservation. The little boy from the rez has grown up fast, and
Hannah can't help but feeling more for him than just friendship. But fate apparently has something else in store for her. And it's not peace and quiet. Night after night, Hannah is plagued by strange nightmares about the past of Navajo Nation and terrifying shadows chasing her. They seem to come closer - and why is Josh always present in her dreams? |
Chapter One -
“Come
on, car. Just a few more miles.”
Hannah Darson sighed so hard she blew the
strands of dark-blonde hair from her face that had slipped out of her ponytail.
She tightly gripped the steering wheel of the old, gray Datsun, trying to relax
her tense shoulders. Not to mention the rest of her body – she could almost
feel the frown on her lightly tanned face settle in on her forehead
permanently.
Hmm. She was probably just too tired to
unwind, having been on the road since early morning, driving from Las Cruces to
her mother’s log cabin close to Lake Powell. All this driving was beginning to
get the better of her – she was completely drained. And hungry. Even more
importantly, she was anxious – she was practically out of fuel.
And out of options. She hadn’t passed any gas stations for a while.
Hannah shot a nervous glance at the fuel
gauge on her dashboard. It had been in the red for some time now. The route
through Navajo Nation hadn’t exactly taken her through densely populated areas.
And still the empty road stretched out ahead. Come on. Local people had to get
gas somewhere too, right? Had she missed something?
The road curved to the left, and suddenly Hannah
spotted a small gas station next to the exit to Glen Canyon Dam. Hallelujah!
Danger of getting stranded without fuel averted.
“Whoohoo!” she shouted at the top of her
voice, gunning her Datsun to the entrance of the station. Nothing would rain on
her parade now. Summer had started, her first year of teaching – which she’d
survived without lethal damage – was over, and she was going to spend July and
August here, in Arizona. Ben, her younger brother, was already waiting for her
at the log cabin in St. Mary’s Port. She’d missed the place. The last time
she’d stayed in their cozy little cabin was four years ago, when she’d still
been together with Greg.
Her ex-boyfriend liked the buzz of the big
city, and he had never really warmed up to this place. Well, in the end, she
hadn’t liked him enough to stay with him either. She was a girl
with a feel for village life, about to enjoy the peace and quiet of St. Mary’s
Port once more. Endless days on the beach and sipping drinks in the shade of
umbrellas lined up on the deck of the local restaurant were awaiting her. Plus,
there would be countless trips to the Navajo reservation. Lake Powell was
bordering on Navajo Nation, so it was a given to explore the reservation again.
She and Ben even had childhood friends there.
Humming happily to herself, Hannah parked her
car next to gas pump number two. "It’s raining men!"
she sang-shouted, blaring along to the song on her car stereo.
The guy standing next to pump number three
was just done getting gas for his motorbike. He looked sideways and his mouth
curled up in a smile. The Datsun’s roof was down, so he’d caught her shouting
her lungs out.
Hannah bit her lip. Damn. Her neighbor turned
out to be a total hottie. She shot him a look that lasted a tad too long, then blushed,
rummaging through her bag to find her money and pretend she’d already forgotten
about him. As if.
Furtively, she looked him over again as he
was strolling off to pay, helmet in one hand and sunglasses on. Yup, this was
typically her – scaring off the local hunk by being a total retard. She rolled
her eyes at herself.
Okay. So here's the first part of Chapter One, sans crit. Later I'll add my thoughts and I hope you'll add yours.
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