Shelter Read Online Free PDF

legends say, but our skin is especially sensitive to it.
    “Well, let’s go,” Kai said, standing up.
    “I… I should at least call home,” I stammered nervously.
    “I thought you didn’t have a curfew,” he stated.
    “I don’t, but I should let them know where I’m going,” I shot back.
    Kai took his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. Obviously, he was not going to let me get out of this trip to the beach. I sighed, and I dialed the phone. A few moments later, Will answered.
    “Will? It’s me,” I said. “I’m going to hang out with a friend for a while. I’ll be home late.”
    “Uh… okay,” Will said. He was obviously confused. I had no curfew, and I never called when I was out late. The “friend” thing should have surprised him, but either it didn’t, or he just didn’t let on.
    “I just wanted to let you and Mother know,” I told him.
    “Thanks?” he boggled.
    “See you later,” I said.
    I quickly hung up the phone. I’m sure Will was staring down at the phone like some crazy person had just called him. That was completely out of character for me, and he had to know something was up. I don’t even know why I called. Maybe I was stalling.
    Kai blew out the candles and closed the lid over the piano keys, and then he locked up the church. We got into his car and headed toward the beach. I’d lived in Savannah, Georgia my entire life, but I’d never been anywhere near the beach.
    As we drove, I got curious about the church. How, exactly, did Kai have the keys to this little old church? I didn’t think it was any of my business, but I was dying to know.
    “Kai,” I started. “I was wondering something about the church…”
    He cut me off. “You wanted to know why I have keys to it?”
    “Well, yes,” I admitted, hoping I wasn’t overstepping any boundaries.
    “My great grandfather used to be the pastor,” he explained. “The church has been in the family ever since it closed after he died.”
    “Oh,” I said, hanging my head in solemn reverence.
    “No one ever goes there but me,” he said.
    “Why do you go there?” I asked him.
    “Privacy,” he answered. “It’s the only place I know of where I can be absolutely certain I won’t be bothered.”
    “I see,” I said. “I have a place like that, myself.”
    “Really?” he asked. “Would you take me there sometime?”
    Whoa! I barely knew this guy and he was asking me to take him to the only place where I had any privacy at all. I felt a little invaded, but then I realized he’d just taken me to his private place. I was still a little befuddled as to why. We’d just met a couple of hours earlier. Still, our garden at home was my own private oasis. My mother and I were the only ones who ever went there, and it was rare when she went.
    We stopped by a gas station and Kai picked up two bottles of water. He handed me one. I hadn’t thought about it, but I was actually very thirsty. The dust in the church made my throat scratchy, and the dryness reminded me of how long it had been since I had human blood. I thanked him.
    When we got to Tybee Island, I noticed the place seemed deserted. I didn’t see anyone in the streets, and most of the shops were closed. It wasn’t all that late, but everything seemed dead.
    “Why is it so dead here?” I asked.
    “I don’t know,” he replied. “It’s near the end of the tourist season, but there are usually quite a few stragglers hanging out during the off season.”
    He stopped the car in the parking lot of a small restaurant, and he reached into the trunk for a blanket. He took off his boots and socks and tossed them into the trunk, waiting, apparently, for me to do the same. I obliged.
    We followed the road between what appeared to be two hotels, and moments later we were standing on the sand dunes near a large pier with a pavilion at the end. The sand felt warm and soft between my toes, and I was instantly struck by the sharp, briny scent of the ocean air.