Free Fractured Eden by Steven Gossington

road. He pumped his fist in the air. “Yes. I think she likes me.” He drove down the road toward his house.
           “Yikes.” He jerked the steering wheel to the left and slammed his brakes as something darted in front of his car. He screeched to a stop at an angle in the road. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a figure disappear around the side of a house.
    Another near miss. I’m going to have a heart attack driving on these roads.
    He steered the car over to the side of the road and jumped out. Sprinting in the direction of the running figure, he rounded the corner of the house and spotted a man vaulting over the fence that bordered Grant Belkin’s ranch.
    He cleared that fence by several feet.
    Aaron stopped to catch his breath as the man bounded away, his hair flaring up in the air. Who the heck was that?
                                             
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
                                              Chapter 8
     
     
    Aaron awoke with a start early Sunday morning.
    He lay in bed for a minute but didn’t hear any unusual sounds. It was before dawn.
    After pulling on shorts and a T-shirt, he searched the house. Finding no cause for alarm, his jitters subsided. In the kitchen, he punched on the coffee brewer, walked to a rear window, and pulled back one side of the window blinds.
    Just outside the glass, two wide-open eyes stared at him.
    “Whoa.” Aaron lurched back and fell into a small dining table. He righted himself and stumbled back to the window, flipping the blinds open.
    The eyes aren’t there. Was it an illusion?
    His heart pounded as he slid into running shoes and peered out into the back yard. He strained his ears but heard only the hooting of an owl, so he ventured out into the dim moonlight. Standing still next to his fence, he sensed no movement in the yard or the pasture.
    A voice rang out, “Stay away from the Taggetts.”
    Aaron jumped and fell against a fence pole. He looked toward the source of the voice and saw glinting eyes, the same eyes that were at his window, and the silhouette of a figure.
    Aaron took a deep breath. “Why?”
    “You can’t help. No doctors can help us. Stay away or you’ll be sorry.”
    Then the eyes were gone.
           Aaron looked around the yard and walked back through the house to the front door. Noticing nothing unusual in the front yard or street, he glanced at the nearby tree grove and listened. The owl was quiet.
    He locked all the doors and windows of the house and sat in the living room until he spotted the faint glow of sunrise.
    After two cups of coffee, he ventured outside again and wandered around the house. Familiar objects emerged into view in the early dawn.
    Aaron dwelled on those strange eyes.
    That had to be Race Taggett, and he’s hurting.
    A shiver passed over him.
    He’s also one hell of a scary dude.
     
    Aaron spent the rest of the morning unpacking boxes and arranging his home. Despite the soreness in his leg muscles, a pleasant reminder of his jog the day before, he danced from box to box to the sound of country music from a small radio.
    Maybe I’ll take country-dance lessons with Marley.
    He nourished himself with a breakfast of juice and cereal with soy milk, then he decked out in blue jeans, a dark blue-and-gold cowboy shirt, and his new boots.
    He pulled into Marley’s driveway right at 1:00 p.m. She and Cristal walked out to his car, and Marley slid a picnic basket into the back seat.
    “A picnic. Great idea,” Aaron said.
    “We love picnics, don’t we Cristal?”
    In the back seat, Cristal raised her arms. “Picnics are fun.”
    Aaron turned to Marley. “I’ll drive, but you can be the tour guide, okay?”
    Marley smiled. “Sure, I’ve got a route in mind. Get ready for some interesting sights in the Big Thicket.”
    Aaron backed out of the driveway and headed out of town on a county road as