Chapter 3
Pursued
Prim had been hoping to miss him, but lately it seemed that none of her trips to the dock would be complete without running into Rory. He lived on a boat that kept docked there, even though it was a small cabin cruiser, not really meant for habitation of longer than a day or two.
Brain worked at the north end of the bay, unloading barges that cam in. Because that side of Anthemusa Bay was used for working ships, it was less appealing to tourists, and most of the privately owned boats were moored down closer to the beach. Of course, there were a few locals who still kept boats at the working end of the dock, and Rory happened to be one of them.
The first time Prim had met him, she'd been on her way to see Brian at the dock. Apparently, Rory had woken up and decided to pee over the edge of the boat. She just happened to look up at precisely the wrong time and got a full view of his manly parts.
Prim had screamed, and Rory immediately pulled up his pants. That was when he had jumped down from the boat to introduce himself and apologize profusely. If he hadn't been laughing the entire time, she might have actually accepted his apology.
Today, as Prim walked by his boat - aptly named The Dirty Gull - Rory was standing shirtless on the deck, even though the air is chilled from the wind blowing across the bay.
He had his back to her, so she could see the tattoo that stretched across it. The roots start just above his pants, the trunk grew upward, over his spine, then twisted to the side. Thick black branches extended out, covering his shoulder and going down his right arm.
She held her hand to the side of her face, saving herself from looking at him. It wasn't until Rory shouted, "Watch out!" that she looked up, and a sopping-wet something smacked her in the face.
It knocked her off balance, and Prim fell back onto the dock, landing unceremoniously on her butt. Rory jumped over the railing on the bow and landed on the dock. Prim immediately ripped the something from her face, still unsure of what it was exactly, except that it was wet and came from Rory, so she could only assume that it was something horrendous.
"Sorry about that," Rory said, but he was laughing as he picked up the item from where she'd thrown it aside. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Prim snapped. He held out his hand to help her up, but she swatted it away and got to her feet. "No thanks to you."
"I really am sorry," Rory repeated. He kept smiling at her, but he managed to look sheepish about it, so Prim decided to hate him a little less. But only a little.
"What was that?" Prim asked, wiping her face with the sleeve of her shirt.
"Just a T-Shirt." He un-balled it and held it out to reveal an ordinary Hanes shirt. "A clean shirt. I was hanging my laundry up to dry, and the wind got a hold of it and blew it out to you."
"You're hanging your clothes up now?" Prim gestured at the overcast sky. "That's completely idiotic."
"Well, I was running out of clean clothes." Rory shrugged and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. Prim could never tell if it was dirty blonde or just dirty. "I know some ladies wouldn't mind if I ran around without clothes, but -"
"Yeah right," Prim made a disgusted sound in her throat, which only made Rory laugh again.
"Look, I'm sorry," he said. "I really am. I know you don't believe me, but you can let me make it up to you."
"You can make it up by not traumatizing me every time I walk by," Prim suggested.
"Traumatize?" Rory smirked and raised an eyebrow. "It was just a T-shirt, Prim."
"Yeah, it was just a T-shirt this time." Prim glared at him. "You're not even suppose to be living on these boats. Why don't you get a real place, and this won't be a problem?"
"Easier said than done." He sighed and looked away from her then, staring out at the bay. "You're right, though, I'll be more careful."
"That's all I'm asking," She said and started walking away.
"Prim," Rory said. Against her better judgment, she stopped and looked back to him. "Why don't you let me buy you a coffee sometime?"
"No, thanks," Prim replied quickly, maybe too quickly judging by the wounded expression that flashed across his face. But he erased it just as fast and smiled at her.
"All right." He nodded. "See you later."
Prim turned away from him without saying anything more, leaving him standing alone on the dock. She was actually taken aback by his invitation, but she wasn't tempted. Not even slightly.
Sure, Rory was kinda cute, in a grungy rock star sort of way, but he was older than her by a couple of years, and he didn't have his life together at all.
Besides that, she'd made a pact with herself that she wouldn't date until college. She was too focused on getting her life in order, and she didn't have anytime to waste on guys. That had been her plan all along, but she really recommitted to it after her dip into the dating world last fall.
Marvel had set her up with his friend, Cato Benfield, insisting they would be a good match. Even though they went to the same school, Prim had never had any classes with Cato and didn't really know him, but after much prodding from Marvel, she finally caved.
The only time she'd really see Cato around was when he was at Marvel's house for a Halo party or some other video gaming event. Prim didn't usually take part in those activities, so her interaction with Cato had been minimal before they went on a date.
The date itself went well enough that she agreed to go with Cato for a few more. He was nice and funny, albeit in an overly geeky manner, but in his own way, he was sort of cute. It was when they'd elevated their relationship to kissing that it had went sour.
Prim had only kissed one other boy, at a slumber party in the eight grade on a dare, but even with her limited experience, she was certain that kissing wasn't suppose to go the way it went with Cato.
It was slobbery and far too eager, like he was attempting to devour her face. Then his hands suddenly went crazy, and at first she wasn't sure if he was trying to feel her up or having a seizure. When she was certain it was the former, she decided to stop seeing him.
He was a nice enough guy, but there wasn't any physical chemistry between them. To break it off, Prim had told him that she needed to focus on her schoolwork and her family, so she didn't have time for a relationship. Still, things ended up being awkward between them the next time she ran into him.
That only solidified her views on romance. She didn't have the time or the need for all that drama.
Katniss leaned against the edge of the pool and took off her goggles. Coach Trinket stood over her, and she could already tell by her expression that she'd beat her time.
"I did it, right?" Katniss asked, smiling up at her.
"You did it." Coach said.
"I knew it!" She grabbed the edge of the pool and pulled herself up and out of the water. "I could feel it."
"You did great," Coach nodded. "Now just imagine how great you'd do if you didn't waste your energy on those nightly swims."
Katniss groaned and took off her swim cap, letting her hair fall free. She looked around the empty pool. Nobody else on the swim team practiced during the summer, but then again, nobody trained as hard as she did.
They rarely spoke of it, not in real terms, but both Katniss and the coach had their eyes on the Olympics. The games were years away, but she was determined to be in top form by the time they came around. Coach Trinket took her to every meet she could, and Katniss won almost every time.
"It's not a waste of energy." Katniss stared down at the water that dripped around her feet. "It's something fun I do. I need to relax."
"You do," Coach agreed. She folded her arms across her chest, holding the clipboard to her. "you need to have fun and kick back and be a kid. But you don't need to be swimming at night."
"You wouldn't even know that I was swimming if Prim didn't narc on me," Katniss muttered.
"Your sister is worried about you," Coach said gently. "And I am, too. It's not about training. The bay is dangerous at night. Another kid went missing just the other week."
"I know." Katniss sighed.
She'd already heard about it dozens of times from Prim. A seventeen-year-old boy had been staying at a beach house with his parents. He went out to meet some friends for a bonfire, and he never came back.
That story in itself didn't sound that bad, but Prim was quick to remind Katniss of the two other boys who had gone missing in the last couple months. They left one night, and simply didn't come home.
It was usually after Prim told these stories that she'd run into Brian and start demanding that he keep Katniss home. Brian didn't, though. Even after everything that had happened with their mom - or maybe because of it - he felt it was more important that the girls have a chance to live their lives.
"You've just got to be careful," Coach told her. "It's not worth throwing this away for some stupid mistake."
"I know," Katniss said, this time with more conviction. After all the hard work and sacrifice, she wasn't about to let any of this slip away from her.
"Okay," Coach said. "But Katniss, that really was a great time today. You should be proud."
"Thanks. I'll do even better tomorrow."
"Don't push yourself too hard," Coach said, but she smiled at her.
"All right." She smiled back and pointed to the locker room behind her. "I'm going to hit the showers now."
"Try to do something fun tonight that doesn't involve water, okay? Expand your horizons beyond the aquatic. It'll be good for you."
"Yes, sir." Katniss saluted her as she walked backward to the lockers, and she laughed.
She showered quickly, mostly just rinsing the chlorine from her hair. All the time in the water should've left her with crazy dry skin, but she used baby oil every time she dried off. It was the only thing that prevented her from turning into an alligator.
After she'd gotten dressed, she went out to unlock her bike. The rain had come back, pouring down twice as hard as it had earlier. Katniss flipped the hood up over her head, regretting her decision to ride the bike to practice, when a horn honked behind her.
"Do you need a lift?" Prim asked, rolling down the car window to yell out at her sister.
"What about my bike?" Katniss asked.
"You can get it tomorrow."
Katniss thought about it for a second before running over and hopping in her sister's car. She tossed her gym bag in the back seat and buckled up.
"I was on my way home from work, and I thought I'd swing by and see if you needed a ride," Prim said as she pulled away from the gymnasium. Practice lasted only a couple hours, but Katniss could usually grab lunch and then hit the weight room. She wasn't buff, but she needed her body in peak physical condition.
"Thanks." Katniss turned the vents so the heat would blow directly on her. "The rain gets pretty cold."
"How was practice today?"
"Good." Katniss shrugged. "I beat my best time."
"Really?" Prim sounded genuinely excited and smiled over at her. "That's amazing! Congratulations!"
"Thank you." She leaned back in the seat. "Do you know what's going on tonight?"
"With what?" Prim asked. "Dad's making a pizza for supper, and I was thinking of going over to Cashmere's to watched this documentary called Hot Coffee. What did you have planned?"
"I don't know. Nothing. I think I might stay in tonight."
"You mean like actually stay in?" Prim asked. "No midnight swims?"
"Nope."
"Oh." Prim paused, surprised. "That'll be nice. Dad will like that."
"I guess."
"I can stay home if you want," Prim offered. "I could rent movies to watch together."
"Nah, that's okay." Katniss stared out the car window as Prim drove them home. "I was thinking after supper I might see if Marvel wanted to come over and play Red Dead Redemption."
"Oh." Prim exhaled deeply, but she didn't say anything.
She wasn't thrilled about their friendship, but she'd already said her piece on it. Besides that, it was better if Katniss was at home playing video games with the boy next door than running around all over town in the middle of the night.
"There are only three," Katniss said, pulling Prim from her thoughts.
"What?" Prim looked over to see Rue, Clove, and Glimmer walking down the street.
It was pouring rain, but they didn't have any jackets on and didn't seem to mind. If it had been anybody else, she would've offered them a ride, but she purposely sped up as she drove past them.
"There's only three/" Katniss turned to her sister. "What happened to the fourth one?"
"I don't know." Prim shook her head. "Maybe she's sick."
"Nah, I don't think so." Katniss rested her head on the seat and leaned back. "What was her name?"
"Annie, I think," Prim said. She's heard their names from Cashmere, who'd heard them from Pearl, who usually was pretty accurate when it came to town gossip. "But her real name is Arista."
"Arista," Katniss repeated. "What a stupid name."
"I'm sure plenty of people think our names are stupid," Prim pointed out. "It's not nice to make fun of something people can't control."
"I'm not making fun of her. I'm just saying." Katniss turned around to watch the diminishing figures of the three girls. "Do you think they killed her?"
"Don't say things like that," Prim said, although the idea had actually crossed her mind. "That's how rumors get started."
"I'm not spreading a rumor." Katniss rolled her eyes. "I'm just asking you what you think."
"Of course I don't think they killed her." Prim hoped she sounded even more convinced than she felt. "She's probably sick or she went back home or something. I'm sure everything is fine."
"But there's something off with them girls," Katniss said reflectively, more to herself than Prim. "There's something not quite right."
"They're just pretty girls. That's all."
"But nobody knows where they came from." Katniss insisted.
"It's tourist season. Nobody knows where anybody's from." Prim rounded a corner and turned to her sister, meaning to admonish her for feeding the gossip.
"Watch out!" Katniss screamed, and Prim slammed on the brakes just in time to stop herself from driving over Rue and Clove.
For a minute neither Prim nor Katniss could say anything, not that Prim could hear anything over the pounding of her own heart. Rue and Clove just stood directly in front of the Sable, staring through the windshield at them.
When Glimmer knocked on the window next to Katniss, they yelped in surprise. Katniss glanced back at Prim, as if unsure of what to do.
"Roll down the window." Prim said hurriedly, and Katniss complied. She leaned forward and forced a smile at Glimmer. "Sorry about that. We didn't see you there."
"It's no problem." Glimmer smiled broadly, oblivious to the rain pouring down her blond hair. "We were just looking for directions."
"Directions?" Prim asked.
"Yeah, we got a little lost, and we wanted to go back to the bay." Glimmer leaned her slender arms on the car and looked down at Katniss. "You know how to get down to the bay, don't you? We always see you there."
"Uh, yeah." Katniss pointed straight ahead of them. "Just go three blocks down, then make a right on Seaside Avenue. That'll take you right there."
"Thanks," Glimmer said. "Will you be down at the bay tonight?"
"No," Katniss and Prim said in unison, and Katniss shot her sister a look before going on, "It's no fun to swim in all this rain."
"Why not? The water's still wet." Glimmer laughed at her own joke, but Katniss didn't say anything. "Oh. Well. I'm sure we'll be seeing you around anyway. We'll keep and eye out for you."
She winked at Katniss, then straightened up and stepped back from the car. Katniss rolled up the window, but Rue and Clove were slow to move out from in front of the car. For a moment Prim was afraid that'd she would have to throw her car in reverse to get away from them.
When they finally stepped out of the way, Prim had to fight the urge to floor it away from them. Instead she offered them a small wave, but Katniss stayed rigid in her seat, refusing to acknowledge the girls.
"That was bizarre," Prim said as they drove away her heart began to slow.
"And creepy," Katniss added. When Prim didn't say anything, Katniss glared over at her. "Oh, come on. You have to admit that it was creepy. Why else wouldn't you have offered them a ride home?"
Prim gripped the steering wheel and floundered for an excuse. "They seemed to enjoy the water."
"Whatever." Katniss rolled her eyes. "They came out of nowhere. You saw that! They were behind us, and then suddenly they were in front of us. They're like….. Supernatural."
"They took a shortcut," Prim argued lamely as she pulled into the driveway next to her fathers beat-up Ford F-150.
"Prim!" Katniss groaned. "Can you stop being logical for a second and admit that those girls give you the creeps?"
"There's nothing to admit," Prim lied. She turned off the engine and changed the subject. "Are you going to have dad look at your car?"
"Tomorrow, when it's not raining." Katniss grabbed her gym bag from the backseat. She hopped out of the car and ran into the house, and Prim hurried behind her.
As soon as they'd pulled up in the driveway, Prim had had the strangest feeling that they were being followed, and she couldn't shake it.
When she went inside, she locked the front door behind her, and listened to Katniss and Brian chat about the day.
The house already smelled like pizza, thanks to Brian's homemade sauce. But despite the cozy atmosphere, Prim couldn't help herself. She peered through the peephole in the door and scanned the street around them, but saw nothing. It took about fifteen minutes for her to settle into being home, and she still couldn't convince herself that they weren't being watched.