Scorpio Prologue

PROLOGUE

IT WAS EVENING AND THE AIR WAS COOL. ALONG A LONG, LONELY STRETCH OF ROAD A SINGLE FIGURE STALKED ITS SHADOW. THE young teenager, about 17 or so, walked slowly by herself. She enjoyed the summery air but she would rather have been driving as was intended--her car had broken down a ways back. The party she was attending that night was still quite a ways away, and she didn't enjoy the prospect of walking so far to call a tow truck. She knew hitchhiking was illegal in Cheboygan, as if the law were really enforced, but would have tried had any cars come along. This country road was pretty deserted. As she walked she was so lost in thought as to how the party must be going on without her that she at first didn't hear the engine noise approaching, until there was a honk.

Turning, she saw a black pickup truck slowing down. It pulled to a halt beside the road, and she could barely see the driver lean over and call, "Need a lift?"

"Sure!" she said. Don't ever get a ride from a stranger, her mother had said, but that advice was only for little kids anyway and, heck, he was probably going to the party too. [Note--"Don't ever get a ride from a stranger" should be in italics.] Why else would he be way out here? Without hesitation she opened the door and got in, and the truck started off.

The teenager turned her head slightly to look at the driver. He was blond and rather handsome--she could imagine her friend Trish saying how cute he would be--but had a mildly mysterious air about him. The mysterious guys are the best, she thought to herself. [Note--another line which should be italicized. In general, I now italicize most thoughts. I probably did originally but these were stripped from the formatting somehow. I'll stop pointing these out now.]

"Where to?" he asked.

"There's this party down the road," she said. "There's a big gate out front, on the right. You can't miss it."

The man nodded and said nothing.

There was a moment of silence. The girl finally said, "My name's Rebecca but you can call me Beka. Everyone does. My friends and I decided to throw this party for a guy we know. His name's Roberto and he's really great but he's moving away later this summer. So it's kind of a going away party. It's supposed to be real wild. Would you like to come?"

She saw the man smile slightly but he didn't turn his head. "I'm no gatecrasher."

"C'mon, you wouldn't be gatecrashing. I invited you. It's supposed to be real great."

He shook his head. "I don't think I'm the kind of person you'd like to invite to a party." He seemed to sense her puzzlement and added, "I have something to do myself tonight, anyway."

"That's too bad. This party's gonna be real cool. What are you anyway, some kinda night owl?" she giggled.

"I suppose you could say that."

"And I thought Rob's party would be the only thing going on on Saturday night," the teenager said.

"Lots goes on on Saturday nights," the man replied, half to himself.

The girl nodded. "I s'pose you're right. But I swear to God, I'd absolutely die if I missed this party. It's the event of the year." She noticed how he seemed to cringe slightly as she spoke and again fell silent, but only for a moment. [Note--I used to throw in "subtle" hints like Satanists cringing when "God" is mentioned; nowadays I find this lame.] Then, "Say, are you from around here? I've never seen you before."

"I suppose that's because I keep to myself and my own little circle of friends most of the time."

"I know what you mean. A lot of people can get annoying at times." She looked at his hands on the steering wheel, searching for anything to talk about. He wore a ring on his left hand, but it wasn't on the ring finger. "Are you single?"

The driver gave her a knowing glance and said, with a touch of sarcasm in his voice, "Are you looking?"

"No way," she laughed. "My mom would freak anyway with me going for older men. I've gotta finish school first!"

"That's the best way to go, I suppose."

"What's that ring you got? It looks like a star."

He put over his hand so she could inspect it. It was indeed a five-point star, like the kind easily drawn with only five intersecting lines. "Neat. My mom's such a cheapskate she doesn't get me silver rings. Real annoying." She sat back and watched the road. Then an idea struck her. "Hey," she giggled jokingly, "what's your sign?"

The man turned and gave her a strange smile, as if he'd been expecting her to ask all along. "Scorpio."

"Too cool!" the girl laughed. "I knew someone once--oh! Here's the place."

The truck slowed and pulled up to the gate. The teenager got out and called thanks, and, closing the door, started away. Before she could, though, the driver called out to her. She turned back.

"Listen to good advice and you'll live a long time," he said. "Stop accepting free rides from strangers. The next time you might not be so lucky."

The engine roared and the pickup went off down the road, leaving the girl outside the big cast-iron gate in the gathering twilight, alone.