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    K.C.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Shepherd's Crook - 10. Chapter 10

Ethan watched from his rearview mirror as Tanner tumbled across the hard pavement. His blond head hit the ground followed by a tangle of arms and legs. Metal scrapping against asphalt split the night, grinding flesh and paint, forever unforgiving.

“How hard did you hit his bike?” Ethan asked, suddenly concerned when his friend didn’t try to get up. Slamming on the breaks, the car skidded to a stop in the middle of the road. Ethan and Amanda both turned and watched Tanner, still lying on the ground in a heap.

Silvery shadows from the moonlight cast an eerie glow over the limp body in the middle of the road.

“Mandy,” Ethan’s voice trembled, “I think you hurt him.”

A mixture of fear and anger flushed her face as they continued to watch him. “He’s probably just faking. You know how Tanner is. He’s waiting for us to get out so he can jump up and yell, ‘gotcha.’”

“No, I think you hurt him really bad!” Before she could stop him, Ethan threw the car into park and jumped out of the car.

Ethan raced over to where Tanner was laying. The closer he got, the more he could see Tanner twisting on the ground. His moans were ragged with desperate gasps for air. Blood dripped over his face, matting his blond hair to his forehead.

“Oh my god.” Ethan muttered, dropping to his knees, he watched Tanner struggle for each labored breath. “It’s okay…it’s going to be okay…” Ethan said over and over, trying to convince himself as much as to help keep Tanner calm.

“Amanda,” He shouted into the night, “Tanner’s hurt and he needs help--”

“Get up, Ethan!” Amanda demanded from behind him. Her voice was harsh and calculating as she waited for her boyfriend to obey her command.

Ignoring her, Ethan remained focused on his injured friend. “You hit him instead of the bike! We have to call someone,” Ethan cried.

“I mean it,” She said, giving Ethan a shove from behind that had him looking over his shoulder for the first time. The gun gleamed in the moonlight. She pointed it at his head before turning it back to Tanner.

Writhing in pain, Tanner gulped at the cool night air, trying to fill his heavy lungs. His scared blue eyes darted to Ethan. Tanner opened his mouth and tried to speak, but only gurgling sounds rattled his chest.

“He’s dying!” Ethan growled, still on his knees.

“He was going to get all of us in trouble…maybe even get us kicked out of school. How many colleges do you think are going to scout you or the twins once you’ve been expelled for cheating? Huh? What about Sunny or Bethany, do you think they’ll still be able to go to college

now? I don’t know about you, but life as a knocked-up cashier, making minimum wage at the Save-A-Lot on Main Street doesn’t sound very fucking appealing to me.”

Ethan fisted his fingers through his black hair while listening to Amanda’s twisted lies.

“He would have destroyed everything…and he still can. If we call someone, he’ll tell them that it was you that hit him. That’s what he wants, Ethan, can’t you see that? Tanner wants you out of the picture so he can have everything for himself. Your spot on the football team, your girlfriend, your life!”

She pulled Ethan reluctantly to his feet. His eyes nervously darted between her and Tanner’s broken body. Amanda’s eyes were hard and unremorseful. “Come on,” She shoved him back towards the car, “before someone sees us.”

“P-p-pleeease,” Tanner reached out to Ethan for help. His bloody fingers twitched as they stretched out towards his once best friend, but there was no use. Amanda led Ethan into the darkness and within moments, the only evidence that they were ever there was their taillights disappearing into the night.

***

“So, did you like the Chinese restaurant?” Jonathan asked Gibby as they made their way back towards Shepherd’s Crook. The night was brighter than it had been since moving here. The harvest moon cast a silvery glimmer that bathed the chilly night in an unnaturally radiant light. The sky was always so difficult to see back in the city, but out here in the valley, the moon and the stars filled the country night.

“Meh, it was alright.” Gibby shrugged his shoulder rather indifferent while his eyes watched the trees pass by the window outside their SUV.

Jonathan smiled. The Golden Dragon had been Gibby’s favorite restaurant back home and when the guys at the lab told him about an authentic little place near the mall, he hoped it would make his son happy. “Just alright?”

Gibby nodded his head, “Yeah, it was okay.”

It wasn’t a commitment one way or the other, but Jonathan chuckled at his son. Admitting that it was, ‘okay’ was as close as he was going to get to an approval.

Two white cartons holding leftovers were tucked into a paper bag along with a few extra fortune cookies the waitress was kind enough to slip in. Gibby tapped his fingers against the outside of the rough paper bag to the tempo of the rock music playing on the radio. He’d had a good night. Shopping at the mall made him feel like a normal teenager again.

They chatted and listened to the radio as they headed home. Passing the school complex, Gibby’s eyes darted to the empty bicycle rack on top of the hill near the main entrance. It was silly to think that Tanner could still be there at this time of night, but thoughts of catching a glimpse of the boy had his pulse starting to race.

Rounding a bend in the road, still on the outskirt of town, Jonathan suddenly saw red and white flashing lights. He slowed down to get a better view of the emergency vehicles blocking the road up ahead. Officer Blackfeather recognized Jonathan and waved him down.

“Evening Officer,” Jonathan’s eyes peered towards the ambulance parked in front of the patrol car.

“Dr. Robinson,” The tall officer tipped his dark head to Jonathan, who was craning his neck trying to see what was going on. “Do you mind giving us a hand?” He politely asked, “There’s something…there’s something we need your help with.”

Jonathan’s brows rose at the way the officer carefully phrased his request. With Gibby sitting in the car beside him, the man probably didn’t want to say anything that would be too disturbing to a kid. Jonathan had seen him around town a couple of times and knew that he had kids of his own.

“Sure,” Jonathan said while unfastening his seatbelt. He didn’t have to tell Gibby to stay in the car. He gave his son a quick wink since he knew his son well enough to know that if a car accident sat on the other side of the emergency vehicles barricading the path, Gibby wouldn’t want to see it.

The officer leaned in closer as he and Jonathan made a path through the cars before disappearing behind the flashing lights.

“Do you know what happened?” The unexpected voice from the backseat startled Gibby. He let out a bloodcurdling scream and tossed the bag of leftovers into the air. Thank goodness it was packed tight or Chinese food would have gone everywhere.

“Jesus, Tanner!” Gibby shouted at his classmate, suddenly leaning forward between the front seats of the SUV. Embarrassed by his high-pitched girly scream, Gibby’s cheeks flushed red, mortified that the cutest guy in school had just scared the living daylights out of him.

“What are you doing here?” Glancing around the darkness, Gibby expected to see the rest of Tanner’s friends lurking outside in the cold, just dying to get some juicy information about the accident up ahead. He didn’t see any of them, but Gibby rolled his eyes anyways, sure that they had put Tanner up to finding out what all the activity was about.

“Well, did you see it or not? Where you here when it happened?” Tanner asked keeping his eyes focused on the flurry of emergency personnel scurrying around ahead of them.

“What, you think that just because my dad’s a doctor and they asked him to help out, that I’d know what’s going on? Seriously? You guys are pathetic! You can go back and tell your stupid friends that, too. Even if I did know something, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell them…especially, not that heinous bitch, Amanda Grady!”

Tanner frowned. The ambulance suddenly gave several long beeps as it started backing up. His face looked paler than usual compared to the gorgeous suntanned glow of his normal complexion, actually Tanner was white as a ghost tonight.

Gibby nibbled on his lower lip, maybe the thought of someone getting hurt had really freaked out Tanner. The guy didn’t seem like a douchebag like the rest of his friends and Gibby started to feel bad for yelling at him.

“Look, Tanner, what are you doing here anyways?” Gibby softened his tone.

Waiting for him to answer, the sirens on the ambulance started to chirp, signally that it was ready for departure. Several bystanders still milled around. By the shocked looks on their faces, Gibby could tell that whatever had happened here, it wasn’t good.

“I think they’re going to start letting traffic--” Gibby was interrupted by the driver’s door suddenly opening. The interior lights instantly turned on with the door handle, chasing away the shadows of the night.

“Who are you talking to?” Jonathan glanced towards Gibby’s hands expecting to see his cellphone turned on.

“I was talking to a kid from school…” As Gibby turned in his seat to point to Tanner sitting behind him, he noticed that the backseat was now empty. That was odd. Gibby didn’t hear the door open when Tanner left and now that he thought about it, staring up at the bright dome light, the interior lights hadn’t turned on when Tanner had gotten in the car either.

“…I guess he left.” An uneasy feeling washed over Gibby as Jonathan put the car in drive and headed towards home.

***

Gibby wasn’t surprised when Jonathan told him that he had to go to the hospital after dropping him off at home. Letting himself in, Gibby turned on the porch lights before heading to the kitchen to put the leftovers in the fridge. There was no telling how long his father was going to be, so Gibby didn’t bother with any of the other interior lights; instead, he just made his way upstairs to his bedroom.

Swimming in the therapy pool the other night stirred his longing for the water again, so he settled for the next best thing. Grabbing a box of Epsom salt out of the medicine cabinet, Gibby started to fill the tub with hot water before dumping a generous portion into the clear water.

The water made a sudden sizzling sound as the salt contacted the warm liquid, instantly dissolving the granules. Steam rose from the water coating the bathroom surfaces with a moist sheen.

Gibby set a towel and washcloth on the edge of the clawfoot tub. It was one of his few pleasures since moving here, he secretly loved his private bathroom. The antique feel with the exposed piping and black and white checkerboard tiles made the room one of his favorite.

Turning off the overhead lights and leaving on only the single chrome dome over the mirror above the sink, Gibby waited for the water to reach the drain.

“Aaaah” Gibby purred as the delicious sensation of the hot water caressed his skin. He sank lower until his chin was at water level. With just his toes and the top of his head poking out of the water, he closed his eyes, enjoying the wonderful feeling.

The salt eased the tension in his muscles and loosened the scar tissue covering his body. Humming softly to himself, Gibby lingered on the edge of dreamland.

“Did your dad find out what happened?” Tanner’s voice ripped Gibby out of sleep.

“What the fuck!” Gibby yelled as his eyes flashed open and he saw Tanner leaning against the bathroom doorframe. His arms were folded over his chest while he stood there watching Gibby in the tub.

Water gushed over the sides of the tub, splashing to the floor with a crash when Gibby jumped out of the tub. Trembling, Gibby’s mind raced. “What are you doing here?” He demanded. Did he forget to lock the front door? Is that how Tanner had gotten into their house?

Effects of the soothing warm water while fantasizing about sexy guys on the school’s football team, one handsome blond guy in particular, had Gibby sporting a thick boner. Tanner’s blue eyes dipped lower over Gibby’s body and then grinned at his state of arousal. Embarrassed by Tanner watching him, Gibby snatched the towel from the edge of the tub and pressed it against his groin.

“Shit, Tanner!” Gibby growled as he stomped across the wet floor, angry and ready to confront the teenage boy. “I want you to get the fuck out of my house, right now!”

“Wait,” Tanner held up his hands, trying to stop Gibby, who continued stalking towards him. Rushing forward, Gibby wouldn’t listen to Tanner, even after their bodies collided. Icy chills blasted through Gibby’s chest when he passed through Tanner’s body.

“Oh my god,” Gibby gasped as he spun around on his heels, turning back to face Tanner still standing in the middle of the doorway in a shimmery white mist.

Tanner’s body pulsed for a moment before returning to a solid form. His blond hair made a golden halo around his head. Tanner stepped closer to Gibby giving him a weak smile he said, “I think I’m dead.”

I wrote this story as a screenplay a few years ago. I’m not sure if you all know or not, but my mom died 2 months ago and while reading her journals, I found some of her entries about my writing and this story:
02/02/2008 ~ I just finished reading KC’s story. It is very good. I thought I was reading a known author with experience. The story made me cry, but maybe I can talk him into changing it for a happier ending, I’ll try.
Copyright © 2012 K.C.; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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On 06/05/2012 09:05 AM, Terry P said:
Tanner getting killed was not at all what I expected. I was hoping that just as Ethan and Amanda were going to hurt him that he would be saved (by Gibby).

Normally I would be upset by this turn of events, but it is pointing to an interesting story. Will Amanda (and Ethan) get their due?

I'm lookng forward to the next chapter.

I know some people will be upset by Tanner's death, (my mom included) :) but he's still going to be a very active character in this story. There is still a lot more to come. I hope you weren't disappointed. Thanks for reading, Terry.

 

KC :D

Gonna to start by saying I hope she convinced you to change the ending because if not. I'm not going to bitch and say I'm not going to read. I want so badly for Tanner not to be dead, but if he is and that BITCH and her spineless boyfriend Ethan need to get punished to the fullest extent of the law. If not...just call me Annie because it on..... took down the hard extrior and balling my eyes out.....DAMN

PS: now begging...Please Please dont kill off Tanner....aleric-cry.gif

hehe well i'm the last person to give you a hard time about killing characters so i won't do that . man this chapter was sad but i have high hopes for whats coming next. especially with what you just told me...i can't wait to see what this means and i hope that amanda and ethan pay for what they did :( i want to beat their brains out with a bat hmmph. ethan thought she hit the bike, i mean really i don't think he wanted to hurt tanner, that was the vibe i was getting that he more or less wanted to scare him. great stuff KC. and its awesome that your mom read and loved the story even if she wanted you to change the ending. looking forward to next monday and more gibby visions

On 06/05/2012 10:03 AM, Naptowngirl said:
Gonna to start by saying I hope she convinced you to change the ending because if not. I'm not going to bitch and say I'm not going to read. I want so badly for Tanner not to be dead, but if he is and that BITCH and her spineless boyfriend Ethan need to get punished to the fullest extent of the law. If not...just call me Annie because it on..... took down the hard extrior and balling my eyes out.....DAMN

PS: now begging...Please Please dont kill off Tanner....aleric-cry.gif

I'm so sorry, Kimmy! I hate to see a girl cry...you need a hanky? :( Tanner will still be a huge part of the story. Now we see how far Amanda is willing to go to protect her secret...and yes the BITCH is crazy!

 

I hope when it's all said and done you are still satified with the story as a whole. Thanks for reading!

On 06/05/2012 10:30 AM, Jammi said:
hehe well i'm the last person to give you a hard time about killing characters so i won't do that . man this chapter was sad but i have high hopes for whats coming next. especially with what you just told me...i can't wait to see what this means and i hope that amanda and ethan pay for what they did :( i want to beat their brains out with a bat hmmph. ethan thought she hit the bike, i mean really i don't think he wanted to hurt tanner, that was the vibe i was getting that he more or less wanted to scare him. great stuff KC. and its awesome that your mom read and loved the story even if she wanted you to change the ending. looking forward to next monday and more gibby visions
Ethan just wanted to scare him and Amanda saw her opportunitie to take out her threat. Now we are going to see how this rocks the little town of Shepherd's Crook. Big things are still to come. Thanks for all your encouragment Jammi!

Welcome to Shepard's Crook where eerie things happen, and things are not as they appear. Gibby finds a handsome young man and before he can do more than crush on him finds himself haunted by Tanner's ghost. Anyone who ever yells at me for doing anything cruel to a character I am simply sending here to read your story. not that it isn't good, just that you are as cruel with your characters as a few other author's I know. Hmm. Damn it, I have to wait a week now like everyone else. I should have waited to start this. :lol: Nice job my friend. :hug:

This is a brilliant chapter! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif Loved the Ethan and Amanda scene at the beginning - Ethan’s concern and Amanda’s cold indifference - and the scene with Tanner in the back seat and the very final line, “I think I’m dead.” (Just ‘think’, you are not going to revive him, are you?) Just wonderful!

 

Last week I said you should feel free to surprise me any time you wanted – and you did just that – thank you, it was a great read. specool.gif It goes well with the how the story is unfolding, still it’s unexpected enough to hit the reader off guard. (Actually I had a feeling of ‘something’ otherworldly in chapter one, or maybe it was chapter two, I put it in the review I wrote back then, so it’s not just something I’m making up to make me look like a more insightful reader or dry.png an annoying, pretentious person. But when chapter followed on chapter and nothing more of the like happened, I wrote it off as something I had analyzed too much into.)

 

It must feel good to still have your mother's notes (take good care of them), and I understand her reasoning about the events in this story so far. It's sad. Although most of us want a happy ending I’m not sure it is necessarily what is best for every story. This chapter moved me more than any of the others, because it was unpredictable and darker, not everything in life is bright and happy, and not every hardship ends with a well-deserved reward, no matter how much we wish for it to do so, and not all villains get what they deserve. I don’t know all your writing, but this chapter shows me another KC than the one I’ve gotten used to, and I appreciate that, most of all I think the story can benefit from it. (Don’t worry I’m not going to cry if it do ends happily ever after … hmm there’s a thought, ever after … as in the afterlife …)

 

So this turned out to be something like magic realism, and you definitely have my full attention now. More surprises to come? smile.png

 

Some other thoughts on my mind: have you counted how many times the characters have either showered or taken a bath so far in the story? wink.png The cleanliness in the last couple of chapters is high above normal average. And what happened to Scott – remember him - the waiter from one of the early chapters? Was he just a passing or a recurring character? He has crossed my mind on and off for some weeks now.

I can't believe he's dead. Poor Tanner. I have many inventive tortures in mind for Amanda and Ethan. Ethan is a terrible person for letting his best friend die and Amanda just lost any redeeming qualities. I'm heartened that Tanner will continue to be a part of the story but I'm sad that they won't be able to continue their relationship.

 

Maybe Tanner should just haunt Ethan and Amanda forever. They'd deserve it.

Holy shit, what just happened? I had a feeling Gibby was hallucinating when he saw Tanner in the car, but this ending just totally threw me for a loop.

 

I can't believe Ethan is such a spineless fucking coward. He left his best friend for dead and didn't even call 911 or anything! What he did was totally unforgivable.

 

Please don't say Tanner is dead. Tell me they found him in time and Gibby's dad is working on him and trying to save him.

 

Shit, now I gotta wait a whole week??????? Shit.

On 06/05/2012 01:33 PM, comicfan said:
Welcome to Shepard's Crook where eerie things happen, and things are not as they appear. Gibby finds a handsome young man and before he can do more than crush on him finds himself haunted by Tanner's ghost. Anyone who ever yells at me for doing anything cruel to a character I am simply sending here to read your story. not that it isn't good, just that you are as cruel with your characters as a few other author's I know. Hmm. Damn it, I have to wait a week now like everyone else. I should have waited to start this. :lol: Nice job my friend. :hug:
Well, real life isn't always puppy dogs and rainbows...same with Shepherd's Crook :P Send them my way Mr. Waynie-poo! I'm glad you're liking my story so far. I hope the rest doesn't dissappoint :hug:
On 06/05/2012 07:31 PM, Kiltie69 said:
After a week of mixed emotions this was just what I needed to get it all out. Excellent chapter. Having read the other reviews and your responses Im going to have another little cry. Better be quick with the next chapter. :)
Awww Tom, the journal note is a happy memory. Thanks for reading, I like to hear when my story lets you escape from reality for a little while. Thank you! :D
On 06/05/2012 09:45 PM, sorgbarn said:
This is a brilliant chapter! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif Loved the Ethan and Amanda scene at the beginning - Ethan’s concern and Amanda’s cold indifference - and the scene with Tanner in the back seat and the very final line, “I think I’m dead.” (Just ‘think’, you are not going to revive him, are you?) Just wonderful!

 

Last week I said you should feel free to surprise me any time you wanted – and you did just that – thank you, it was a great read. specool.gif It goes well with the how the story is unfolding, still it’s unexpected enough to hit the reader off guard. (Actually I had a feeling of ‘something’ otherworldly in chapter one, or maybe it was chapter two, I put it in the review I wrote back then, so it’s not just something I’m making up to make me look like a more insightful reader or dry.png an annoying, pretentious person. But when chapter followed on chapter and nothing more of the like happened, I wrote it off as something I had analyzed too much into.)

 

It must feel good to still have your mother's notes (take good care of them), and I understand her reasoning about the events in this story so far. It's sad. Although most of us want a happy ending I’m not sure it is necessarily what is best for every story. This chapter moved me more than any of the others, because it was unpredictable and darker, not everything in life is bright and happy, and not every hardship ends with a well-deserved reward, no matter how much we wish for it to do so, and not all villains get what they deserve. I don’t know all your writing, but this chapter shows me another KC than the one I’ve gotten used to, and I appreciate that, most of all I think the story can benefit from it. (Don’t worry I’m not going to cry if it do ends happily ever after … hmm there’s a thought, ever after … as in the afterlife …)

 

So this turned out to be something like magic realism, and you definitely have my full attention now. More surprises to come? smile.png

 

Some other thoughts on my mind: have you counted how many times the characters have either showered or taken a bath so far in the story? wink.png The cleanliness in the last couple of chapters is high above normal average. And what happened to Scott – remember him - the waiter from one of the early chapters? Was he just a passing or a recurring character? He has crossed my mind on and off for some weeks now.

Thanks Sorgbarn, soooo where you surprised? :D I try to take each story that I write and make it unique and individual. One of my biggest peeves is when I fall in love with a story and search for other stories that author has written an suddenly feel like deja vu, that the I feel like I've read it before (Okay, I'm straying a little off topic) but I love to surprise the readerss. :D

 

My Mom had be keeping a journal for the last 10 years and reading all the special moments that my family shared, all over again has really been a blessing. I will treasure those words forever!

 

I have a few surprises still. Twists and turns make life exiciting if it was all plain vanilla how much fun would that be?

 

Thanks so much for reading! :D

On 06/05/2012 10:13 PM, LilyS said:
No way,why did you kill the sexy blond Tanner? aleric-cry.gifaleric-cry.gifaleric-cry.gifaleric-cry.gif Hope Mandy will go to jail or some psychiatric institution. And Ethan's not really stupid,I think he's rather scared of the psycho Bitch. Well I'm waitig for the next chapter and pleaaaaaase Bring back Tanner
Well the story is only about half over, so there is still a lot more to come. Tanner will be around still, so you still get to crush on the cute blond guy! (I do :lol: ) Monday will be here before we know it! Thanks Lily :D
On 06/05/2012 10:36 PM, Stephen said:
Wicked chapter! -Amanda's outa control! Does she really think

Ethan will love her after killing Tanner, and pointing a gun at his

head? On the other hand, she does really follow her own twisted

logic. Tanner appearing as a spirit is an unexpected tactic,

and I like it. I hope he develops better timing or he might

send Gibby over the edge too.

Thanks Stephen, Amanda only thinks about Amanda and how to benefit herself. I hope you like the twist of Tanner now being a ghost and yeah, he needs better timing, poor Gibby's nerves having him pop in and out on him like that. I have to admit it was one of my favorite parts in the chapter :D

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