UNTIL ANGELS CLOSE MY EYES
Chapter Four

Rose ran down the street, her fists clenched angrily. It was bad enough that Cal was such a jerk, but to have her mother defend him after she broke up with him—it was more than she could stand. Why did her mother like Cal so much, anyway? She hardly knew him. Could it have something to do with the fact that his parents were both very successful and well-to-do? Her mother tended to be influenced by such things, but to actually want Rose to continue a relationship with someone she couldn’t stand because of it was too much.

Rose darted around the corner, ignoring the dogs who barked loudly at her and a man who whistled and called out. She wasn’t in any mood to go home right now.

The street that she had turned onto—Cherokee—ended in a dirt road heading up into the hills. She paused as she reached the end of it, then shrugged, starting up the soft dirt road.

There wasn’t much light after she passed the church at the edge of the hills—there was only a thin sliver of moon visible, and the lights from the houses didn’t penetrate far into the dark brushland—but she kept going. She could have turned around and headed in the direction of Navajo road, which led to a shopping center and a gas station, but she really didn’t want to be around anyone right now.

Rose kept running, panting as the trail grew steeper, until she tripped in an erosion gully and pitched forward into the dirt, scraping the palms of her hands but fortunately not injuring herself further. She got to her feet slowly, looking around.

She remembered the trail branching off at one point, but didn’t remember exactly where. She was surrounded by dry brush, the steep ridge of the hills rising to her right. In the valley below, lights from the houses and strip malls sparkled, looking almost pretty in the darkness. She turned, ready to go back now, and then realized that she had no idea where she was or how far she had run.

In the starlight, she could see the trail branching off in both directions. She turned, then stopped, realizing that she didn’t know which way to go. She could see the lights of the valley in the distance, but that wasn’t where she needed to go. She turned and looked the other way, seeing some lights, but wasn’t sure if that was right, either. The house she lived in now was part of the oldest housing development in town, and the residents love for trees over the past forty-four years had made a virtual woodland of it. She looked to the side, seeing what appeared to be a similar neighborhood in the distance, but she still didn’t know which way to go.

Directly ahead of her was the high ridge of the hills. She stared at it, then decided to climb further, hoping that she would be able to see her way home from the top.

Rose was panting when she reached the top of the ridge—the trail was very steep—but when she looked around, she had no more idea of where she was than she had twenty minutes earlier. The lights in the valley still sparkled, and there were still faint lights from the older neighborhoods in the hills—and she still didn’t know which way was home.

She could have walked down the trail and followed it until it came to a road, and then followed the road around back to a familiar place, but she was tired now, and still upset, and more lost than ever.

Rose blinked her eyes against a sudden rush of tears. She had been under a lot of stress the past few weeks—losing her father in that horrible car accident in July, dealing with a boyfriend who seemed to grow more obnoxious each day, moving to a new neighborhood, starting a new school, breaking up with her obnoxious boyfriend, fighting with her mother. And now she was lost in the hills, and had no idea how to get home.

A howl sounded from a nearby hill, followed by another, and Rose shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. There were animals out here, animals who could see in the dark much better than she could, and she had no way to defend herself. Feral dogs, coyotes, mountain lions, bears, rattlesnakes…any of them could be nearby, stalking her, and she wouldn’t know they were there until it was too late.

Rose looked around, wide-eyed, as the tears started spilling down her face. She was lost and alone, and something would eat her out here. In fact, she was certain she had already passed one animal—she had brushed against something soft and warm on her way up the ridge. She didn’t know what it was, but maybe it was what had howled. Maybe it was stalking her now.

Instinctively, Rose moved out on top of a rock with a steep drop-off on the other side. Nothing could come at her from down below—could it? She would be safe on one side, anyway.

As Rose listened to the night sounds, to the wind in the dry brush and grass, she suddenly wondered if it would be so bad to be killed by an animal. Her life was in shambles, she missed her father desperately…would it really be bad if something happened to her? At least her mother wouldn’t lecture her about breaking up with her boyfriend.

Rose inched closer to the dark drop-off on the other side of the rock. What would happen if I jumped? she wondered, knowing even as she thought it that she had no desire to jump. She didn’t really want to die, and if she landed badly, she could break her leg and lie out there for days until someone came across her. By then, the heat or the animals would have taken care of her.

Still, the dark void below the rock seemed to be calling to her, tempting her to find out just how long a drop it was—until she heard the sound a small rock bouncing across the stone behind her and a voice broke into her thoughts.

"Don’t do it."

*****

Jack had ridden his bike out into the hills earlier that afternoon to put the finishing touches on the assignment for his art class. Mrs. Baldwin had liked his drawing but had offered him the chance to turn the rough draft into something a little more polished, and he had taken her up on it. He had taken her art class before and knew that she thought he had talent—and art was his favorite hobby. No matter how he was feeling, he still enjoyed it.

He had skipped basketball practice that day, going home right after school and laying down to take a nap. He still felt tired and achy, even after sleeping for twelve hours the night before. At four o’clock, he’d gotten up and headed out before his parents got home—his dad was an English teacher at Murrieta High School and his mom was a social worker in Riverside, so they didn’t get home until somewhere between five and six. His dad usually got home first, but he knew how Jack liked to go out in the hills sometimes, and if his bike was missing, that was usually where he’d gone.

He’d gone up to the ridge, leaving his bike in a stand of brittlebrush below—he hadn’t felt like making the effort required to ride it up the steep, narrow, partially eroded trail. In spite of his nap, he was still tired.

He’d finished his project, adding the finishing touches just after 5:30 and then sitting back for a while to enjoy the quiet—but the summer air had been warm, and the dry grass he was sitting in soft, and before he knew it, he’d fallen asleep again.

He didn’t awaken until something brushed against his leg. Disoriented, he sat up, wondering where he was for a moment. Then he remembered that he was out in the hills, realized that he’d fallen asleep—and knew that his parents would be unhappy that he hadn’t come home and hadn’t called.

He was eighteen now—his birthday had been in May—but his parents still wanted to coddle him and protect him. He resented it sometimes, but knew that a lot of their overprotectiveness stemmed from the illness that had struck him down twice in the past seven years.

Jack shook his head, not wanting to think about that. He was fine now, he assured himself—though he hadn’t felt as well lately as he would have liked—and the disease that had sickened him twice wasn’t coming back. He wouldn’t let it.

He stayed where he was, wondering what had brushed past him, until he heard a soft sob coming from a short ways up the trail. Someone was up there—someone very upset.

Cautiously, Jack got to his feet, walking quietly so as not to scare whoever it was he had heard. He stopped, alarmed, as the person walked across the steep rock at the peak of the hill, inching closer to the edge.

Setting down his notebook, Jack moved forward, accidentally kicking a small rock and sending it skittering in the direction of the person standing so close to the edge. She stiffened—it was a girl standing there, he could see now—turning her head slightly to see him.

"Don’t do it." Jack moved closer, hoping that his presence wouldn’t scare her into jumping off the rock. It was only about fifteen feet to the ground below—but it still made for a nasty fall, even a fatal one if a person fell wrong.

She whirled around, almost losing her balance on the edge of the rock. "Stay back! I mean it! Don’t come any closer!" She tensed, not sure what to do.

"Come on. Give me your hand. I’ll get you away from there."

"No! Go away! I mean it! I’ll—I’ll…"

"I won’t hurt you." Jack moved closer. "Come on. Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad."

"How would you know?!" she flared indignantly. "You don’t know me or anything about me. Stay—stay away from me!"

"I’ll leave you alone if you step away from the edge of that rock. That’s a nasty fall."

"Don’t tell me what to do! You could be some—some junkie or rapist. Just—just get away from me!"

"I can’t. I’m too involved now. If you fall, I’m going to have to rescue you, and that’s easier said than done out here in the dark. And I’m no rapist. As to being a junkie—I don’t take drugs unless I need them." He moved a little closer. "Come on. Give me your hand."

Rose looked at him, weakening. She didn’t recognize him in the darkness, but he didn’t sound dangerous. He sounded…like he cared. Like he really cared what happened to her.

Cal wouldn’t have cared. He would have been annoyed that she’d run off and gotten lost, and if he had rescued her, he would have told all his friends about it, making himself out to be a hero—and her to be a hopeless idiot.

Finally, she put her hand out, inching away from the edge of the rock. He took it firmly, pulling her gently towards the safety of the trail. Rose swallowed back a sudden sob of relief.

Just as they reached the edge of the trail, Rose stumbled over an outcropping of phenocryst and fell against him, knocking them both to the ground.

Jack cursed under his breath as Rose fell against him, rubbing his sore elbow where he had knocked it against the ground.

Rose scrambled to her feet, embarrassed. "Oh…I’m sorry. I tripped over something…" She leaned over to help him to his feet.

"Thanks." Jack rubbed his elbow some more, knowing that it would be another aching spot to add to the others by tomorrow.

Rose looked at him—even in the darkness, he looked vaguely familiar. "I’m sorry. Maybe I should introduce myself."

"Yeah. That would be nice." He stopped rubbing his elbow and put out a hand. "I’m Jack Dawson."

"I’m Rose DeWitt-Bukater…oh, now I know who you are! You’re my new neighbor…I live next door to you."

"Yeah…I saw you yesterday as I was riding by…and today at school."

"Well…um…thanks, Jack. I was kind of…I don’t know…lost, I guess."

"At school?"

"No…out here."

"What happened, by the way? Why were you standing on the edge of that rock?"

Rose sighed, not wanting to go into it at the moment. "It…it’s complicated." She looked around, then looked back at him sheepishly. "I…uh…I don’t suppose you know how to get home, do you?"

"Sure. I come out here all the time. Not usually at night, but…I did come here once to watch a meteor shower, so…yeah, I know how to get home."

"Why were you out here tonight?"

"Um…no particular reason. I just…was." He went to where he’d left his notebook. "I was working on an assignment for art class."

"In the dark?" Rose looked at him skeptically.

"Well…uh…I kind of dozed off…I stayed up too late last night and then went to school and basketball practice after school…" He didn’t like lying, but he wasn’t about to admit that he wasn’t feeling well. "Um…my bike is just down the trail from here…I’ll give you a ride on my handlebars if you like."

"Sure. Um…Jack…if you ever talk to my mother…please don’t tell her I got lost out here. She’d never let me hear the end of it."

"Sure." He grinned. "If you don’t tell my parents that I was napping out in the dirt."

Rose wrinkled her nose, then laughed. "That must be a guy thing. Okay. I won’t tell if you won’t. Deal?"

"Deal. Let’s go home."

Chapter Five
Stories