I don't own any American Gothic characters, this is a work of fan fiction. This story is a continuation of my previous stories and follows on from White Christmas.
It was a bright summers morning in Trinity South Carolina, although it was only 6am the sun was high in the sky and there was little breeze to provide comfort from the already rising heat.
Carly Jacobs turned up the volume on her portable mp3 player as she jogged casually and smiled to herself when Luke Combs belted out the chorus of her current favourite song. It had been a tough year in college, given her highly distracting now ex boyfriend who she had recently dumped after finding out about his many indiscretions and just like Luke, she fully agreed that long neck ice cold beer was the only thing that would never break her heart.
As the song continued to belt through her ears, she picked up her pace on the long deserted road and began to sprint. She loved being home, even if her Mother continued to voice her disappointed at Carly's decision to denounce any expectation of settling down to make a big family with some sweet hard working southern boy, rather than running away to college out of state. Carly always felt safe here and it was an added benefit that she could run to her hearts content without being bothered, allowing her to work off any excess baggage which was clouding her mind.
Carly held her face up to the sun and smiled, revelling in it's warm touch on her skin. This was the perfect time to be out, no cars or people in sight and the temperature just about bearable to allow her to push herself to the limit. College life was great; however, being here now in this peaceful place was nearly enough to make her consider her Mothers wishes.
As Carly took in a deep breath and pushed herself to her limit, allowing her legs to take over and try to beat her current record, she spotted a brown shoe poking out of the tall grass up ahead in the distance. Carly shook her head in disgust as she neared the shoe, who would go out of their way to litter this beautiful area? Trinity had always been well cared for, somehow avoiding being overtaken by the Walmart's, intrusive Malls and overwhelming technology which so often plagued other places. She hoped this small neglectful act wasn't a sign that Trinity had finally started to head down hill like so many other places, she couldn't bear the thought of her beloved hometown turning into a dump like the town outside of her college. She came back here to get away from all of that and enjoy the purity this place always instilled, she would be devasted if her safe place changed.
Carly shook her head as she approached the shoe and slowed her pace to enable her to rummage through her backpack for the small plastic bag holding her protein shake, choosing to do her part to keep her town proper and pick up the litter. She took in a deep breath when she stopped, taking in the clean air for a moment and allowing her heart rate to steady, then knelt down to pick up the large shoe. As she reached for it, she smiled fondly and recognised the brand as her Fathers favourite, she had spent many evenings stood on them as he danced around the living room with her on his feet while her Mother moped about in the Kitchen as though she had the hardest job in the world cooking for them.
Carly let out a small laugh, remembering how stubborn her Mother was even back then and gave the shoe a tug. Suddenly, a grey sock was revealed and Carly fell backwards with a surprised yell, staring at the large foot the shoe belonged to. She held her hand over her mouth in shock, expecting the foot to move; however, it just remained still. Carly bit her bottom lip nervously then gave herself a mental shake, clearly some drunken man had wandered too far out after a heavy night boozing and had just so happened to pass out here. He was lucky she had happened to be out this way, this road was usually deserted and God knows when anyone else would have stumbled across him.
'Alright, you've clearly had your fun and now it's time to get up ' Carly said softly, and reached into her bag for her bottle of water expecting the man to be very dehydrated.
No grunt, or even a slight stare.
'Seriously, come on. You can't stay out here, I'm sure someone's worried sick about you and I bet they'd forget about you stayin' out all night if you just went home' Carly tried, getting up and opening the bottle of water ready to give the man.
Nothing.
Carly took a sharp intake of breath, glancing around the area concerned and suddenly aware of how alone she was out here. 'Alright, you just stay there. It don't matter to me either way' she said trying to force a strong tone, giving the foot a little kick to rouse it's owner before she decided to leave.
Still nothing, no snores or even any protesting sighs.
Carly turned to leave, then bit her bottom lip nervously. Something wasn't right and she'd been raised better than to just run away from someone clearly in need. 'Please, just say anything' she whispered, praying for something to dispel her concern.
Nothing but the sounds of the insects came from the tall grass.
She closed her eyes and felt goose pimples begin to form over her skin. This was ludicrous, she should just leave the drunk to sleep it off as he certainly wasn't her responsibility, yet the lack of snores or heavy breathing would not stop plaguing her mind.
Carly took in a deep breath to centre herself, then turned around once more and stared down at the foot cautiously. 'This can't be happenin', this wouldn't happen...not in Trinity, it just can't' she tried to reassure herself, edging closer to the foot and forcing herself to part the tall grass to check on the man. When she spotted the glazed blue eyes staring up at her lifelessly, she let out a loud scream which felt like it went on forever then ran as fast as she could back home, sobbing in horror as the blue eyes burned their way into her mind forever.
Lucas Buck sat on the edge of the bed topless and watched disappointedly as his Wife began to dress, refusing to take the towel she had placed down for him.
'Oh please, I suppose you're so hard done by for only getting two releases on a school day huh?' Gail mocked sweetly, purposely taking her time pulling her white cotton vest over her breasts knowing how much he wanted to keep playing.
Lucas let out a long sigh and shook his head, biting his lip as her hard nipples poked through her vest mockingly at him. 'Remind me again, how much longer have we keep those bin lids in our house with us?' he asked sarcastically, ignoring her look of warning when he reached for her hips and pulled her playfully to his knee.
'Well, lets see-' Gail pondered, as she turned her head to the side automatically to allow his lips to brush over her neck. '- I'd say at least 5 years until the eldest is even remotely trusted to leave the nest, then another 15 before the other two can take flight...Are you missing your freedom Master Buck?' she teased, reaching behind her and squeezing his hard manhood softly.
'I'm missin' not havin' to be work my desires around a damn timetable' Lucas snapped more abruptly than he had intended, unable to hide his irritation at their recent schedule.
Gail could not contain her laughter and gripped his chin in her hand, then kissed him passionately before pushing off his lap while he was distracted. 'Few words of advice Sheriff, next time don't knock up your girlfriend twice when life was going pretty damn fine before' she advised, then grabbed a hair clip and rushed out of the room before he had chance to make her even more late than she was.
Lucas let out a small laugh at her comment, then stood up and stretched. She wasn't wrong, their relationship was burning strong before she got pregnant with Luke and then Gail Jr. Yes, they had their disagreements back then; however, they only led to a lot of entertaining games and even more opportunities to satisfy their desires in the most unusual ways. They still made the effort now to enjoy each other very regularly, but it was a shame that they didn't have more time alone to experiment like they used to.
'Maybe you should hang up your vest and retire then, I'd at least get to keep you to myself for the whole morning without interruption' Gail popped her head around the bedroom door and responded to his unspoken thought sarcastically, handing him the telephone which he had clearly been too distracted to hear.
Lucas took the telephone off her and nodded courteously, then grabbed her wrist to prevent her exit. 'If I retired I'd drag you outta here right now, throw you in the trunk of my care and drive out to my families cabin deep in the woods where no-one would hear you scream' he whispered in her ear with a sinister smile.
'What are you waiting for?' Gail asked seriously, closing her eyes when the sound of her children's incessant calls travelled up the stairs and invaded her ears.
Lucas narrowed his eyes at her willingness to allow him to kidnap her, then heard the children's cries and laughed. 'Don't worry Love, only 15 more years to go and you're home free' he smiled smugly, laughing when she rolled her eyes at him and pulled her wrist free to go perform her motherly duties.
'What?' Lucas asked into the telephone finally when she left, unimpressed that he was being bothered at home rather than being able to drag his Wife to a restricted area deep in their mansion to have some real fun. When Floyd stuttered and tried to explain nervously, Lucas shook his head and hung up the telephone. 'Guess it ain't retirement time yet' he sighed, pulling on his pants and hoping his Wife was too entangled with their children to realise his urgent exit leaving her tp deal with the little devils on her own.
-To be continued-