Blood of Gold by Duncan McGeary Page B

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    Laura had wandered off from their hiding place without meaning to and without a plan. She just wanted to get away. She was tired of being ignored by the others. Simone had Rod to talk to, and Patty… well, Patty always had Patty.
    It wasn’t until she was walking north along the highway that she realized she wasn’t going back. No matter what, she was never going to be cooped up again, unless… unless it was because he wanted her.
    Thanks to Rod’s magical phone, Laura had realized that no one had even submitted a missing person’s report on her. She’d been thrown away, just like that. At least he desired her; at least he talked to her. He could even be nice sometimes. Like that time he’d brought her ice cream. Or when he’d let her lie in the backyard, staring up at the stars. He didn’t have to do that.
    They had called him the Monster; that was before he’d become a real monster. But Laura had never really thought of him that way. To her, “Monster” had become almost a term of endearment. She’d whispered it in his ear once, and he’d reared back and looked at her strangely, then had gone back to what he was doing. From then on, she kept her feelings to herself, but when she thought “Monster,” it didn’t have the same meaning as it did to the others.
    The outside world was bewildering, not only because it was different, but because it was so much faster, brighter and scarier than she remembered. What had happened to her body was frightening. She had desires that weren’t natural. Down in the basement, she’d been safe. She knew what to expect every day. Sure, she didn’t like… what he wanted from her, but that only happened once in a while. She could shut her mind off while he was doing those things to her.
    The hardest part was leaving her two friends. Well, she wanted to call them friends, but were they really? Had they chosen each other? Would they have ever hung out together if they’d met in the outside world? She might have gone out on the town with Patty a few times, but she doubted she would have exchanged two words with Simone.
    Simone called her “sister,” but Laura sensed that the other two had always kind of looked down on her.
    Because she was Monster’s favorite, that’s why. He’d always gone to her first. He liked her best. They were too old .
    She heard the horn only after the truck had already gone by, so close she could feel the wind of its passing. It was one of those enormous pickups that they had nowadays, as long as a stretch limousine and just as spotless. Coming from the country, she didn’t understand clean, unmarked pickup trucks. Pickups were supposed to be used, otherwise what good were they?
    The huge truck swerved as it came to a stop. A middle-aged man, tall and rangy, with a bald head and a bushy mustache, got out. He stood there for a moment, examining her, and then approached her. “You all right, girl? You shouldn’t be walking along in the dark like that.”
    He had his hand on a holster attached to his belt. He’d be wary of anyone out here alone, she thought, especially with all the chaos and danger of the last week. Still, he seemed genuinely concerned.
    “Sorry,” she mumbled. She tried to walk around him, but he grabbed her arm. It was all she could do not to snarl at him.
    “Why don’t you let me give you a ride to town?” he said. His voice sounded kindly. Then again, when the Monster sounded kindly, it was when he was most dangerous.
    “No, thank you,” she said politely.
    “Listen, you can ride in the bed of the pickup if you’re worried. I’ll be driving. You’ll be fine.”
    Laura peered down the road. It was pitch dark. The lights of the town seemed a long way off. “OK,” she said dubiously.
    “Good!” the man said, sounding surprised. “That’s good!” He walked back to the truck, put his hand on the door handle, then looked back at her.
    Laura surprised herself by walking past the back of the pickup