Chapter
1
My heart reminded
me to breathe when it slammed against my chest, threatening to break
free. The sidewalk that offered me a way out of the Texas heat was
only a few steps away, but even that was too far away for my shaky
legs and nauseous stomach. I forced myself to pathetically lean
against a tree for balance. The violent throbbing caused beads of
sweat to trickle down my forehead, forming a damp trail to my neck. I
could barely stand- let alone walk. What the hell was wrong with
me?
I
snapped back to reality when Cecile grabbed my shoulders. I stared
into her honey-brown eyes which full with concern. “Rena what's
wrong? Are you okay?” What was
wrong
with me?
Cecile Christine
Richards, my best friend since kindergarten. It all started when we
joined forces to conquer the playground against all boys. She became
like a sister to me and still is the closest thing I have to family.
My voice was
unsure. “I don't know, maybe the heat?” I swallowed audibly. “I'm
sorry I worried you.” Giving a half grin and shrugging, I brushed
away strands of my chestnut-brown hair from my shoulders then pushed
off of the tree and led the way from the grounds to school.
We made our way to
first period which helped to calm me after the strange morning.
Cecile and I shared most of our senior classes. English was one of
them.
Cecile and I lived
together off of the money my parent's life insurance left me, on top
of a large savings account started for my college career. My mom made
sure a long time ago that I would be set for a while if anything were
to happen to them. The savings hadn't been touched yet, hoping one
day I would be able to figure out exactly what I wanted to be when I
grew up. Plus I wanted to leave this town and start a new life for
myself.
Cecile’s parents
didn’t keep track of her. She never had the best home life, with an
alcoholic father, and a mother too caught up in herself- they didn’t
seem to care whether she stayed or left. When my world got twisted
upside down she left them and stayed with me.
I whispered to her,
“lucky you, getting to spend extra time with me.”
“Uh,
no, I'm thinking more lucky you than me.” Cecile laughed loudly at
her own lame comeback.
“Yeah,
yeah. Did you finish the weekend reading?”
Cecile shook her
head. “I got halfway through, but was bored to tears, so I went
shopping for some new shoes instead.”
The
final bell rang, signaling the start of class. Mrs. Dawson pulled
down the projector screen and the beginning credits of Beastly,
a
new age take on Beauty
and the Beast,
rolled
across the TV. My mind wandered into the main characters'. With true
love's kiss, a curse being broken and a happy ending, I found myself
not caring if I ended up being the beast or the unsuspecting girl. I
wanted my happily ever after, like I'd read about all my life.
She
is here.
The whisper made
the hairs on my arms stand at attention. I surveyed the room closely,
assuming I was hearing things. I shrugged it off and gave all of my
focus to the movie.
Oh
god she is here. It has been so long.
My
thoughts paused for the whisper that startled me once again. I took
my time to look around at each student. Few eyes were glued to the
movie, others stayed closed as their owners napped. Not knowing where
the whisper came from, I thought of all possibilities the words could
mean, but that stopped when it
hit
me again.
My breath caught in
my throat, icy chills filled every limb of my body, and beads of
sweat formed on my brow. Breath wheezed its way out, barely crawling
past my lips. Gurgling noises bubbled from my throat. What was this?
Am I choking? Having a panic attack? Am I dying? Breathe, I told
myself. I only needed to breathe.
Mrs. Dawson paused
the movie and everyone turned in their seats. Even the nappers woke
to gawk at me while I inhaled loudly. Unable to escape awkward stares
from my peers, I gasped for air and filled my lungs up once again.
No one said a word,
they all peered at me until Mrs. Dawson started to walk toward me.
“Rena, are you alright dear?”
Cecile turned to me,
her eyes watched my every move.
Coughing, I
answered, “no ma'am. I think I'm coming down with something. Can I
go to the nurse's office?”
She nodded her
teacher nod. “Of course. I'll write you out a pass.”
Hearing small
murmurs from the other kids, I mashed my books into my backpack. Then
took the pass for the nurse's office and fled from the room, hoping
Cecile would come find me.
Lying in the dark
cave-like nurse's office helped.
I dozed off, and an
image snuggled behind my eyelids. The vision showed spiked raven hair
bristling through my thoughts. Glowing blue eyes stared through me,
not focused on anything in particular, only staring. The image didn't
scare me, I knew in my head that it was a dream, and it was better
than my embarrassing episode in Mrs. Dawson’s class.
I continued to enjoy
my sneak peak. Like looking through a video camera, the scene panned
out and I could see more of him. His full lips turned up into a grin
and swirls of emotions swam through my body at his gorgeous features.
I had the urge to reach up and stroke his beautiful face, so I did.
Slowly lifting my hand to brush my finger across his soft looking
skin, a knocking at the door startled me. I opened my eyes and sat
up, cheeks flustered.
Cecile came in with
a tray of food in her hands. “I brought you lunch in bed.” Her
voice enthusiastically squeaked.
“Aw
thanks. You didn't have to.” I scooted up into a sitting position.
“Uh,
yeah I did. You're sick. Plus it gave me a reason to get away from
asshole Jackson.” She sat down on a chair by my bed.
Jackson was Cecile's
ex and a complete douche. He had more than one opportunity to prove
that he could be a good guy, but he failed miserably every time.
“Douche. Sorry
I wasn't there to keep watch for ya.”
Cecile chuckled. “No
problemo. I was able to dodge him and get away.”
Typically I stayed
quiet and really only spent time with Cecile. I've always been like
that, but it became worse after the accident.
A little over a year
ago, I had been in the car with my parents, when a car swerved over
to our lane. My parents drove the speed limit but this guy had been
going around eighty. He hit us straight on-I was the only to survive.
I had a hard time
bonding anymore, out of fear of losing anyone else. But when it came
to screwy Jackson and the sadness that still showed in Cecile's eyes,
I opened my mouth and let him know where to stick his stupid
apologies.
Her
eyes looked so sad, I changed the topic. “What
the hell is wrong with me, C? Am I losing my mind or something? I’ve
never had headaches this bad. It’s like a hangover from hell,
except the fact that I didn’t drink anything.”
“You freaked me
out. I thought you might pass out or choke to death or something. Are
you feeling okay now?”
“Yeah,
my head feels a little better, but all the nurse could give me was
one lousy Tylenol- dumb-ass. Like I’m really going to OD on
Tylenol. Well, thank god you’re here. Now we can go.”
“Oh,
that sucks. You should've come and gotten the keys from me. I have to
stay for cheerleading practice tonight.” She fished the keys from
her purse. “Here you go, if you still feel sick later just text me
and I'll get someone to take me home.”
“Works
for me. Thanks C.”
“No
problem Ren. I'm going to head out. Get some rest okay?” She patted
my shoulder and gave one last glance before she closed the door
behind her.
Grabbing my
sunglasses and making sure the keys were in my purse, I ventured
outside and made my way to her purple VW Bug. I was glad we’d
snagged our parking spot closer to school this morning. I had a
feeling it worked out that way so Cecile could park next to her new
crush. I didn't complain since I didn't have to walk a mile through
the parking lot this time.
Climbing into the
bug, I felt like whatever had hit me before was gone, so I decided to
head to the book store. There is always a reason to go book shopping,
it makes everything better.
I
pulled into the parking lot of Books
on the Square, Granbury's
local book store, and headed inside to do some damage to my bank
account. I felt like being generous to myself after the craziness I
went through this morning.
The bell above the
door jingled as I walked into the building, and the smells of new and
old books wafted their way through my nostrils. This was heaven. I
perused through the aisles finding all the new supernatural and
fantasy ones. I thought about the large pile at home waiting to be
read. It was about to get larger.
I made my way toward
the counter to pay, when the pounding headache found its way back.
Immediately following, nausea clenched my stomach causing a few gags
to gurgle out of my throat. I couldn't catch my breath and my heart
jabbed against my rib cage.
Trying to walk, to
find somewhere to sit, I fell and took all of the books with me to
the floor.
When my eyes opened,
darkness surrounded me. One tiny light peaked from behind the black
drapes. Fear tightened its grip on my stomach.
I stood on legs of
jello and made my way toward the light, hoping it would wake me from
this odd dream. I stumbled across the dark path, and a figure draped
in night stood before me. A yelp escaped from my lips. I tried to get
away, but his sparkling blue eyes locked me in place. His midnight
hair spiked to a perfect point, and he watched me with pursed lips.
His toned body towered over me.
His eyes danced
along each portion of my body and I felt naked standing unguarded in
front of him. In his eyes there wasn't desire but a longing, and I
understood. I couldn't move, and didn't want to. For the briefest of
seconds we stared at each other.
Then he took a step
forward. With that one step, his body was drenched in light head to
toe. I could see every detail. With that one minor step forward his
whole appearance had changed. He went from being a dark seductive
stranger, to a hideous foul beast. His blue eyes changed to a deep
shade of red like blood coated them. His lips once so full and lush,
were now pulled back into a sneer as large protruding fangs slid from
his gums.
I screamed and
looked around for an escape, but where do you run to in the dream
world?
His hand clenched
against my shoulder. He spun me around and brought my back against
his tight chest. Hard stiff hands pulled my head to a tilt. I felt
hot steamy breath against the crevice of my neck. Sobbing, I tried to
break free from his grasp. Hoping that death in a dream was only
that, but this dream seemed so real, so alive; I didn't know what to
expect.
Thrashing about I
felt more hands on my shoulders, and I tried to fight back. When my
eyes opened, the room was bathed in beautiful luminescence. I found
myself back in the book store.
“What
the...” What was that? I felt relieved to be back in the real
world. That dream was frightening. So real. I could feel his hands
still on his body. His hot breath stuck to my neck even in the living
world.
Now, the hands that
held onto me now were the saleswoman's. Cecile, surprisingly, sat
with me on the floor.
She held my head in
her lap and hovered above my face. “Ren, are you okay?”
I blinked
repeatedly.
The saleswoman
leaned over where I laid. “I checked your phone miss, sorry, I just
looked for the last person you talked to. Oh and I also called 9-1-1.
I didn't know what was going on, but I'm definitely not certified for
anything but CPR.”
“No,
no, it's fine. Thank you, but I'm fine. I just need to get home and
rest. How did you get here C?” I asked huskily.
“Mason
from English class brought me.” Her large eyes were even wider now
with fear.
“I'm
fine Cecile, really. It's only been a few minutes.”
“Ugh,
no, you've been out for at least fifteen minutes. I made sure Mason
sped over here.”
A bonus about living
in a small town, it only took about five minutes to get anywhere.
Plus the high school sat next door to the bookstore.
I started hearing
distant sirens of the ambulance, on its way to check up on me. I
hoped if I stood up and acted normal, they would go away. Raising
myself off of Cecile's lap, my head rushed with blood but I forced
myself to stand.
“Hey
the ambulance is almost here, I don't think you should get up.” The
saleswoman put her hand on my shoulder.
I caught sight of
her name tag. “Darla, I'm fine. I just need to go home and relax.
C, will you please take me home? Seriously I'm better.” I did a
little jig in the middle of the aisle, only to prove I could without
toppling over, but the dizziness lingered. The room began to spin and
I quickly regretted moving at all.
“Okay
fine Ren, I will take you home, but I will be on your butt in two
seconds if I sense even one thing wrong with you. Got it?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah got it.” Turning, I said, “thanks for your help Darla,
and so sorry for the scare. I'll let them do their check-up before we
go home.”
She nodded.
I begrudgingly
waited to get checked on by the paramedics, and once they gave me a
clean bill of health we headed home.
I had hoped for a
little more from my senior year, but this pushed limits.
* * * * * * * * *
“Rena
come on. We're late.” The last one out the door as always, I
grabbed a strawberry pop-tart and bolted to Cecile's bug.
She peeled out of
the driveway and flew at a speed that caused the purple bug to growl
in protest.
Trying to mentally
wake up, I made an unintelligible comment. “I slept in, sorry.”
“S'kay, no big. I had told Mason and Jen we would meet them by
the fountain.”
“Oh, who's Jen?
And why are we meeting them?”
“We need to
decide on our presentation for Mrs. Dawson's class, and they offered
to be paired up with us. Most likely thanks to your super
brainpower.”
Rolling my eyes, I
mumbled, “oh okay. Sorry again. I had a rough night.”
“Is it the
headaches? Or are you still having those nightmares?”
“Its nightmares.
The headaches haven't come back since yesterday morning.”
“Wanna talk about
it?” she asked.
“It's
all the same stuff. Just the same awful scenes, C.” Tears stung the
corners of my eyes, replaying the images from last night's nightmare.
We
stopped at a red light and she turned to look at me.
I tried to blink
away the tears starting to pool around the edges of my eyes. “I had
hoped they would go away, but my counselor said they wouldn't for a
while. She said the guilt I feel definitely isn't helping.”
“Ren, you have
absolutely nothing to feel guilty about. I've told you that, everyone
has. It wasn't your fault at all.”
“But
I was the only one, Cecile. I must have done something different to
still be alive and for them to be dead. If I would've known what kept
me alive, I could have warned my family.”
She shook her head.
“It was that son-of-a-bitch, the one that fell asleep at the wheel,
who did this to you and your parents. It wasn't your fault.”
“I guess. Maybe
that's why I'm still having nightmares. I can't get my mind to wrap
around it, only around what I could have done to prevent it.” The
pooling tears spilled over. I couldn't stop them. No one could say
anything to make me feel any different.
Cecile wiped at her
eyes too. The memories were fresh in my mind.
Dark
clouds puckered with rain above us. Splashes of raindrops covered the
windshield, with the weather on the verge of becoming Spring. Driving
home from an aunt's house, my parents sat in the front seats singing
a duet of some lame rock song. I watched an alien crash through New
York in the movie playing on the DVD player. Out of nowhere blinding
beams of light shot through the car, followed by the sound of
squealing tires exploding all around us. Mom screamed.
I passed
out and then woke lying in a hospital bed, alone. One leg simply
bandaged, the other in a cast and throbbing with pain. It felt like
hours until a doctor finally stopped by to do a basic check-up. She
also broke the devastating news; my family was dead.
“We're
here.” Cecile's words brought me back. The sun shone
brightly in the sky. We marched through the grassy fields covering
the front of school. The heat showed its strength early this morning,
flexing its muscles by throwing large amounts of dry hot wind in our
faces.
We made our way
toward the fountain to meet Mason and Jen, and Cecile explained why
we had parked in a different spot this week. “Okay, so I've met
someone new.”
“I figured that
was the reason we parked so close now. Not that I'm complaining. Who
is he?”
“His name is
Drake, he's absolutely stunning. Bronze hair that he fixes into that
messy-just-got-outta-bed look, you know what I'm talking about?”
“Uh-huh, like
every other guy in this school. Is he a senior?”
“I think so.”
“Where'd he come
from?”
“Dunno. But he's
got amazing gray eyes, and he's tall. Plus he has a hot body.” I
could practically hear the slobber dripping from her lips. “And he
drives that completely hot looking blue mustang.”
“Have y'all
talked?”
“Nope, but I'm
working on it. I have all these awesome plans on how to catch his
attention.”
“Oh this should
be good. So what are your 'awesome' plans?” Without intending to,
sarcasm jumped from my mouth.
She ignored it.
“Okay, so what if I try the bend and snap?”
”That's
from Legally
Blonde.”
“So? It worked
for that one lady.”
“As long as you
can control your snap.” I stifled a giggle,as she continued.
“What if I knock
my pen off the corner of the desk in class as he walks by, and then
when he hands it to me we stare lovingly into each others eyes?”
“Seriously?
That's
Clueless.
You better hope he doesn't turn out gay for your sake. Don't you have
any of your own material?”
“That's it.
That's all I got.” She had stopped walking, and now stared at me
with her arms crossed, a pout forming on her lips. “What do you
suggest then, miss smart-ass?”
“I would go with
'Hi', or even 'Hello'. I know it seems strange and less cheesy but
lots of guys fall for it.” I laughed hard.
“Oh whatever. Hey
there's Mason and Jen.” She waved and jogged toward our friends.
Trying
to keep up with her, I made it halfway when I felt it
all
over again. The headache was back at full force.
“Not
again...”
I squeaked, before chills broke through my entire system.
I immediately felt
an arm wrapped around me from behind as I drifted to the ground. My
body was brought down slowly and my head laid comfortably on
someone's legs. The smell of pine trees filled my nostrils. I was
mildly aware of talking going on around me. My vision blurred and I
tried to clear it up by blinking, but it didn't work. A fog covered
my sight but a voice rang clear as a bell in my head.
Soft, yet
masculine. It whispered so close to my ear. “Oh my love, I have
waited so long for you.”
The voice sounded
familiar. “Wh...who are you?” Fear crept through me, but I was
too weak to do anything except lay there.
“Do not fear dear
one. I will take care of you.” The strange whisper shimmered
through my mind.
A cup touched my
lips. My dry throat screamed for whatever liquid filled it. Weakness
filled me and I lay too disoriented to object. A fruity scent drifted
toward me, causing my mouth to water and I drank the sweet flavored
juice that spilled into my mouth.
“You
will feel better once you drink.” The voice whispered once again.
The arm around me
tightened. The juice stopped flowing and the cup pulled from my lips.
In seconds, the fog
had lifted and my vision cleared. A face bent over me and I found
myself staring into a pair of sparkling blue eyes.
