by Wendy Cole
Justin reached forward, taking my hand. “Are you okay?”
No. I wasn’t okay. I was anything but okay.
Brady grabbed my arm, jerking it backward. Justin’s brow furrowed as he stared down at the broken contact.
“Sorry. My arm cramped.” God I’m lame. So lame. The world hates me.
“Oh. Okay.” He didn’t sound convinced. He sounded confused.
“What are you studying?” Good. That was good. I could salvage this.
Justin started to answer, but my mind shifted back to the man behind me. Brady ran a solitary finger down the back of my neck, and a lightning bolt of electricity spiraled down my spine. The air exited my lungs in a whoosh, and an inhuman sound came out with it.
“There’s a reason for that,” Brady said, his voice deep and even. “Do you want to know what it is?” He leaned forward again.
“No.”
“Yeah. I’ve had second thoughts about it myself. That’s why I’m taking the other classes. Sort of like a backup plan,” Justin said, taking my no as some comment on whatever the hell he was talking about, which I had no idea about, because—reasons.
Brady stepped around, blocking my view of the boy in front of me. I swallowed hard at his intense look. Blue electric once again filled his irises, glowing like the neon of a bar sign.
“I can’t play this game, Sweetheart,” he said, his voice growing deeper with each word. “It won’t end well for anyone.”
I tried to break eye contact, but couldn’t seem to look away. Like a magnet, he held me captive. Slowly, he reached forward, one hand coming up to rest against each side of my face. He was gentle. Too gentle.
“You want to be happy?” he murmured, then in an instant, his lips met mine.
The world shifted, gravity disappeared, and I felt it, a power that couldn’t be described. He made a noise, deep within his chest, and my traitorous body melted. My brain shut down, all conscious thought left me as I returned the kiss. Our lips moved together perfectly as if the action had been choreographed and practiced a million times.
It was nice.
Too nice.
I loved it.
Then, it was over.
Brady leaned back and took a long, hard look at me. His jaw clenched, and he seemed torn as he stood and took two large steps backward.
Justin cleared his throat. “What the hell was that?”
Shit! My eyes widened, and I looked at Brady.
He didn’t smile at my discomfort. Instead, he rolled his eyes. In one swift move, his hand came back then swung forward, smacking Justin upside the head so hard he almost fell out of his chair.
“Hey!” I shouted, but my mouth clamped shut.
Justin shook his head twice, then looked up at me. “What were you saying?”
CHAPTER TEN
I gaped at Justin, then back to the man towering beside him. Brady held a grimace as he glared at the blonde hair atop Justin’s head, looking as if he wanted to hit him again.
I couldn’t let that happen. “This was fun, but I should get going.”
Justin stood the same time I did. “We just got here.”
I chewed on my lip. We had, hadn’t we? My cup still felt hot as I wrapped my fingers around it, giving merit to the statement. I glanced at his face. He looked confused, and more than a little embarrassed.
While I was only trying to protect him, I didn’t want to snub him either. Truth be told, he was the first person to ever be genuinely kind to me. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just…first day and all, ya’ know?” Why did I suck so much at socializing? Surely, I should at least be able to pretend.
“What about later? The party?” Justin took my hand. He looked like a puppy begging me for a bite of food.
I looked around him, expecting to see Brady, but to my surprise, he’d disappeared. I searched the surroundings, going so far as to turn around.
Justin gave me a strange look as he too began searching. “What is it?”
“Where’s the party?” I asked instead of answering.
Justin blessed me with a wide triumphant smile, then reached into his bag and pulled out a piece of paper. It was a flyer, bright green with bold black lettering.
“Everything’s there. Do you want me to pick you up?”
I shook my head quickly. “No. No. I’ll meet you there. See you later.” I shot him a wave then hurried away, eager to escape before I managed to ruin things.
Coffee. I’d gone for a coffee one time and managed to make it through by a hair.
Unconsciously, my hand came up to my lips. The kiss. That kiss. He’d done something, used some sort of magic or power or—
I stopped walking and took a deep breath. Just thinking about it sent a ghost of the sensation shooting down my spine, pulling my stomach upwards and my chest forward.
I’m going to die. I don’t stand a chance. In my hand, the flyer was a crumpled mess. I straightened it back out, smoothing the surface as best as I could.
A party. A college party, official enough to have a fucking flyer. There’d probably be tons of people there. A huge audience to witness when I freaked out. Enough people to spread the word. Ruin my new start.
No.
I couldn’t let fear dictate my life. He didn’t get to do that, no matter how good he was at kissing, which was not good at all. It was awful. Sloppy. I wiped my lips with my arm. How gross.
My steps became angry as I walked through the lot, aiming away from the entrance and towards my car. My first day was a bust anyway. I’d be better off calling it and starting fresh the next.
The more I thought about it, the more my anger grew. I gripped hold of the feeling, fueling it, stoking it like a fire pit. I needed that anger. Anger was better than fear. Fear was what made me a recluse for the past twenty years. Fear built that version of me. No more. I wouldn’t be afraid. Mad. Pissed off. That was the new me.
I got inside my car and looked into the rearview mirror. “You can do this,” I said. “You can do this. It’s a party. It’s a genie. A fucking genie! You thought it was a demon. This is better. Way better!”
A motion caught my attention, and I looked over to see a pair of girls giving me strange looks.
I leaned back and jammed my key in the ignition.
I had a party to get ready for.
***
Naked. I’d never felt more naked than I did at this moment. The black slinky dress my mother had bought me fit like a second skin, ended mid-thigh and was completely opened in the back.
“You can do this?” My reflection grimaced at me in response.
I squared my shoulders and snatched the flyer off the dresser. The address wasn’t far. I’d Googled it the minute I’d arrived home. Brady hadn’t returned, but each moment that passed felt like the moment he would. I was jumpy, nervous, and most likely on the verge of a heart attack. If he chose to scare me now, I’d probably have one.
But he didn’t scare me, didn’t sneak up and murmur some phrase or make some gesture to send my pulse racing. Dead silence filled the drive to the large house. It was easy to tell it apart due to the bumping music and crowds of students spilled out into the front yard. I parked a bit away and walked up.
“You can do this. You can do this. You can do this,” I continued to chant as I made my way off the street and up the grassy hill.
No one seemed to pay me much mind. That was, until I ran into Justin. We spotted each other at the same time, and he immediately left the group of people he was talking with and approached me. “Wow,” he said as his eyes roamed over me. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks.” My face grew hot, and I pulled at the skirt a bit. He continued to stare, making me feel awkward as the silence grew heavy between us. “So…this is where you live?”
His head snapped up, and a sheepish smile curved his mouth. “Sorry. Yeah.” He motioned to the large house behind him. “This is it.” He jerked his head. “There’s a bonfire around back. Want to go sit?”
&nbs
p; “That would be nice,” I answered honestly. That didn’t sound so bad. Less socializing.
Justin led the way, placing his hand along the small of my back. The backyard held the same number of people as the front, but for some reason, it seemed much calmer. The music was quieter, and the conversations more muted. The fire fizzled and cracked in the center, and several lawn chairs sat spread out around it. Justin motioned to the only empty seat.
“You take it. I’ll go inside and grab another one. You want a drink?”
I thought about my last endeavor with alcohol and shook my head. “Just a soda maybe?”
“You got it.” He smiled, then turned and walked towards the back entrance.
I sat down into the chair, careful to keep my dress down and becoming slightly annoyed when it proved difficult. Why did girls wear these? How did they wear these?
I made a mental vow to never wear it again.
When I finally managed to get comfortable, I focused my attention on the flames in front of me. They danced, swirling and flickering, as if alive. I’d never noticed how beautiful fire could be until that moment. It was nearly hypnotic.
“Here you go,” Justin said, breaking my attention as he sat a chair beside mine and handed me a can of cola.
I took a sip and watched him get comfortable. “I’ve never sat beside a bonfire before. It’s nice.”
“Really?” He took a drink from a red cup. “We have them all the time around here.”
I looked back at the fire, not knowing what to say. The soda proved a good form of distraction, and nursing it gave me something to do besides the inevitable fidgeting I’d have suffered without it.
“You’re shy. Aren’t you?” Justin asked.
When I turned, he was smiling softly at me. “I guess.”
“It’s okay. I like it.” He leaned forward, then tilted his head up at me.
I giggled nervously, then cringed. Who needed Brady? I was perfectly capable of messing this up all on my own. I took a deep breath. “I haven’t been to too many parties.”
Justin took a long drink, and I did the same. He watched me closely over his cup, and something about it made me feel vulnerable.
This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have come here. I lowered the can to the ground beside my feet. “I’m sorry, Justin. This isn’t really my scene.” I tried to stand, but the moment I did, the world began to spin. Flopping back down, I held a hand to my head. My stomach rolled, and my brain filled with fuzz.
“Amelia? Are you okay?” He swept an arm around my shoulders, putting his face less than an inch from mine. Too close.
I couldn’t breathe. The heat of the fire seemed much warmer than it had—too warm. It flicked against my skin and caused sweat to bead along my forehead.
“I don’t feel so good,” I said, but with my tongue unable to properly move to form the words, they came out a gargled slur.
“Let’s get you inside,” Justin said, lifting me up.
He half carried, half dragged me towards the house, and all I could do was let him. My legs hung limply from my body, my feet dragging the ground behind us.
I tried to speak, to move, to make any sound at all, but it was as if I were dead. A dead body with a soul, screaming to be released, but unable to be heard with no lungs to propel the plea.
A mass of people filled every inch of space within the main room, and more than a few sets of eyes looked upon me with curiosity.
“Too much to drink,” Justin said.
My blood turned to ice, my brain scrambling to process and denying the truth of what was happening to me. He’d drugged me. The soda. It’d been opened. I hadn’t even thought about it, too focused on my constant threat to even think to watch out for any others.
“No,” I managed, but it was too low for anyone besides Justin to hear.
“Let’s get you somewhere you can sleep it off,” he said as he began climbing a staircase.
Inside, I was screaming for help. Fear. Fear wasn’t something I’d ever been a stranger to. But nothing I’d ever felt compared to that moment. Terror. Pure terror. Helplessness.
I wanted Brady.
For once, I needed him to appear. He could scare me, mess with me, make me look crazy. I didn’t care as long as he showed up right then to stop what was happening.
Justin opened a door and pulled me into a bedroom. His bedroom. He lay me down across the bed then retraced his steps to lock us in.
My heart, the only muscle I had that seemed to still be working, thundered like a drum inside my chest. Cool sweat coated my skin, alerting me to how exposed I’d made myself.
Justin slowly walked back and leaned over me. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured, running a finger along my cheek, to my neck, pushing the strap of my dress away as he continued down.
A single tear escaped me and followed the trail he’d made.
“Don’t cry. You’ll like it. I swear.” I felt his weight as he got closer. “I just wanted to loosen you up a bit.” His lips met my cheek.
Then, just when I’d given up hope, a burst of blue light blinded me. It filled the room, then fell away to reveal what in that moment was an angel. Relief flooded me, and for once, I couldn’t have been happier to see him.
With glowing red eyes and an enraged snarl, Brady gripped the back of Justin’s shirt and threw him across the room. The smaller man hit the wall, and a resounding crack filled the air as his skull went through the drywall.
Justin made a noise as he clutched the back of his head. “What the hell—”
Brady’s hand lifted, and as his fingers curled into a fist, Justin gripped his throat.
“Don’t say a word,” he said, his voice deep and even. His fist tightened and twisted, knuckles turning white as Justin’s face turned red. “You don’t deserve to speak.” He made an upward motion, and Justin lifted.
Brady used his power to pin the boy against the wall, high enough to put them level with each other. The whites of Justin’s eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight. I stared at them, watched as Brady stood in front of him, silent as a grave, hand lifted level with the lesser man’s head.
“You have a fear,” Brady hummed. His other hand came out, palm upwards. I watched as within it a black speck appeared. It morphed and stretched, growing in size until it was clear what it was.
A spider.
Justin’s head began to shake, and he made a mumbled plea.
“What’s wrong?” Brady asked. The sound of his voice chilled me. No playful edge lined his words. No teasing air surrounded his stance. “You don’t like spiders?” He moved his hand slowly towards Justin’s face, and the young man let out a cry. “C’mon? This little thing? This is nothing.”
Then, in a sudden move, Brady blew the spider off his palm. It burst apart mid-flight, forming hundreds… thousands. They covered Justin, spreading across his skin, coating him until he was nothing more than a jerking black outline against the wall, crying out a tortured sound that I knew I’d never forget.
A weak sound left my lungs, barely anything at all, but Brady heard.
His head whipped in my direction, and the glowing red that filled his irises faded back to dark. Justin fell limp to the floor, and the spiders disintegrated into ash.
Brady walked over and took a seat beside me. “Hey, Sweetheart,” he murmured, his tone completely changed. He stroked my hair away from my face, then lifted the strap of my dress back onto my shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.” His concerned eyes met mine.
So many conflicting feelings filled my chest. Here he was, my monster, my tormentor, the thing I wanted gone more than anything in this world. But, in that moment, if I’d have been able to speak, I would have thanked him. If I could have moved, I would have hugged his neck, cried into his shoulder, gripped onto him as if he were the only thing that could protect me from this world.
Brady slid his arms beneath me, and a flash of blue sent the world tilting. One moment I was in a nightmare, and the next, he wa
s gently lowering me onto my own mattress. He waved a hand, replacing the dress with a pair of sweats and an oversized t-shirt.
I’d never been more grateful.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said, his voice slightly rough. Then, just like it had before, his tone changed, sounding as if many people were speaking at once. “Sleep.”
Blackness took me.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Whatever drugs had been in that cola turned my blood into sludge and pissed off my brain. Although I had full use of my limbs when I awoke, getting out of the bed was still difficult. I thought about going to the hospital, the police but quickly dismissed both ideas.
Was Justin even alive? The thought made my chest tight and each breath harder to drag in than the last. Brady said he’d take care of it.
I’m gonna throw up.
I ran for the bathroom, making it just in time before the stomach acid came barreling up my esophagus. The skin around my skull tightened until I thought it would rip apart. I stood on shaky legs, grabbing the sink for support.
My reflection looked awful—runny eyeliner, pale skin, and messy hair. I grabbed my toothbrush and began removing the nasty taste from my mouth. I needed a vacation. A dark room with no entrances, a pillow fort in the center, and a TV that played nothing but happy uplifting movies.
Or maybe a padded room.
I rinsed my mouth then turned the shower on full blast. No amount of soap seemed to make me feel clean as I all but rubbed my skin raw. More bile threatened to escape as I thought over what would have happened if Brady hadn’t appeared to rescue me.
I had no idea what time it was, but something told me I was late for class. It was really hard to care. No way could I surround myself with people. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. What if he was there? What if I had to face him? Would Brady wipe his memory?
Or the darker question: what if he wasn’t?
I climbed out, wrapped the towel around me, and walked back to the bedroom for clothes. Once dressed, I stared between the bed and the doorway. I could lie back down, bury myself in the covers and pretend I didn’t exist, or I could venture out and see if a murder had taken place.
