Pete returns home early from a weekend camping trip only to find his longtime girlfriend, Katrina, entangled in a passionate romp with another man. Unable to control his actions, Pete brutally ends the lives of both Katrina and her new lover. Shocked by what he has done, Pete stashes the bodies and escapes back to a small college town in Illinois to try to recapture normalcy for himself. The quest proves to be more difficult than anticipated, though, after he crosses paths with a breathtaking young freshman, Tali, who quickly falls head-over-heels for him. Add a strained friendship with Tali’s roommate, Jess, to his increasingly stifling inward struggle to forget the past and move on, and Pete can’t seem to catch the break he needs. He surprised himself in the past by releasing an evil that he didn’t know he had, but can he surprise himself again by conjuring up enough positive strength to escape the torment of his own mind and become the person that his new friends need?
Amber Dyehouse graduated from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in English with a specialization in creative writing. Her work conveys an understanding of the many levels of relationships that exist between family and friends by developing what she calls “a realness” of each character. Born in 1982 and raised in Southern Indiana, Amber now lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband and son.
I thought I heard footsteps following me on my way home from the bar. I don’t know if it was my guilty conscience or my half-drunken stupor that was causing my paranoia, but I didn’t know why I was nervous. I didn’t turn to see who the footsteps belonged to. I wanted to, but I didn’t think it should really matter to me. I got to my bus stop and couldn’t help but laugh. I was always afraid of killing someone if I drove home drunk. It’s ironic to me that I still take the bus home from the bar because I am scared that I might hurt someone.
I sat waiting for the bus for all of two seconds before it jerked to a stop in front of me. I couldn’t believe my luck. I’m always waiting for hours for my bus to come. As I stood to get on the bus, I finally saw my follower. She was beautiful, with brilliant blue eyes and curly reddish-brown hair that hung just above her shoulders. A solitary tear slid slowly down her cheek. She was looking at the ground, biting her bottom lip. I noticed one of her teeth was slightly crooked. The one imperfection made her perfect to me. She had a muscular body on a tiny frame, but not frail-looking. My mouth went dry and an urge started in my fingertips that surged swiftly through the rest of my body, which felt like pins and needles were jabbing all over.
The bus driver sneezed, and it made my head jerk back to the dilapidated bus with one headlight and a thick layer of dust covering it. Everyone but the tiny girl boarded the bus.
“On or off?” the bus driver queried.
I jumped on without a reply and went to the back of the bus. I was vaguely aware of the girl, who boarded after me, following closely behind. I took a seat on a chair with a torn cushion held together by a few pieces of duct tape, with thread unraveling all around it. A light above the seat was flickering on and off just enough to annoy me. I dropped my head into my hands. I had to figure out a way to make these feelings go away. I couldn’t help but think how all this started. It would be so easy to make it all her fault, but even I couldn’t do that.
Katrina Hunter and I had been dating for three years. We met in high school and decided to go to college together across the country to start a new life. She was incredibly smart. She got a full ride to Washington State. I followed her like she was a goddess, and I didn’t mind. She was my goddess. We were in the end of our second year of college, and things seemed good. I had been planning to propose to her and make her mine. We had talked about it, but she didn’t want to be that serious until after college. I figured it was just a matter of time. I didn’t put up much of a fight.