by Rue Volley
We reached the door to the attic, and it was still moving from someone swinging it wide open. GG climbed the stairs, and I followed. When I reached the top, I could see Court checking the cushion in the window. Liv was running his hand along the shelf as if he was taking inventory.
“Court, what are you doing?” I asked.
She stood up and shook her head. “I thought maybe they might’ve left something behind.”
I licked my lower lip, promptly biting, then releasing it. “I doubt that they left anything behind.”
She stood up with a disappointed look on her face. I don’t know what she expected to find, but as I scanned the room, I did notice something. It seemed like nobody had been here at all. They had vanished without a trace.
My gaze lifted. I studied everything. It felt like it had been a while since I had spent any real time in the attic. It was once my favorite place in the whole house.
The walls are covered in flowers, small ones—roses, lilies, and lavender, intermixed with vines. Not too many, but just enough. My mom put up the wallpaper when I was little. I remember watching her do it. I used to be her little shadow, following her everywhere she went. Now I’m lucky if we spend ten minutes a day together. I know the twins keep her busy, and my dad. He can be a handful himself, hurting himself on this and that when he tries to repair things. He may be able to draw and plan with renovations, but he isn’t handy with a tool.
My mom told me that she wanted to plant a garden in the attic for me since she knew how much I loved to read. She’s just smart in that way—always thinking two-steps ahead when most of us are five steps behind.
This room is somewhat narrow with an angled ceiling on either side, but a large window sits at the end, with a cushioned bench built into it. The same one Court was digging around like some detective. That window was one of my favorite places to read. I could curl up with an oversized pillow and throw, and get lost in another world. It was slightly chilly, but the heat from below tended to rise, so the room didn’t need a fireplace.
One side of the room was full of books, with black bookshelves that ran the length of the wall. It also had one overstuffed chair off to the side. My mom read to me there, introducing me to magical worlds and dead boys.
“Oh, what’s this?” she asked as she retrieved a rolled-up map from one of the shelves. She unrolled it and held it high enough for everyone to stare at it.
“It’s Juniper Hollow,” GG whispered like we’d found a treasure.
“My dad made it,” I added as they narrowed their eyes and tried to study it.
Court bit her lip. “No—this looks old.”
I laughed. “He used old paper. He likes to do that because he loves old things, like this house.” I eyed the ceiling. This whole house was a direct reflection of my parents and everyone that came before us. Our house had been passed down for generations. I knew that someday it would be mine to protect and treasure. I most certainly wouldn’t be handing it over to my brothers. They’d accidentally set it on fire.
“Mmm,” she added like she didn’t believe me.
I titled my head. “My dad is an architect and has restored half the town.”
“I think those guys had it.”
Liv laughed. “No—you just love getting in other people’s business.”
Court grumbled, “Like you don’t?”
It was a fair question. I think between the two of them they could unearth anything they set their minds to. Court continued to study the map.
“So, why didn’t you know about Killian, then?” Liv laughed. “Or you?” I added. GG covered her mouth. I wasn’t sorry for asking since they decided to ransack my library cubby.
Court’s expression changed. She appeared confused. The fact that she didn’t know about Killian was odd. She knows about everything; it’s like her job or something. Her momentary pause gave me the opportunity to take the map out of her hand, but Liv snatched it from me before I had a chance to look at it again. He held it up and narrowed his eyes. “This does look really old. I mean, there are things on here that aren’t around anymore.”
“Well, then maybe my dad bought it.”
Liv’s eyebrow cocked. “From where?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Or—maybe it fell out of one of the books. We have a lot of them.” I scanned the room, and Liv lowered it in his hand. “Yeah, probably.”
Court took it back from him as he scowled at her. “All rolled up? I don’t think so.”
He snatched it back and handed it to me, so I placed it on the shelf.
Court turned to face me while GG wandered to the end of the room and took a seat on my favorite cushion. I was starting to regret inviting them over when I could be reading—but no, I shouldn’t feel that way. I had missed them, all of them, regardless of how annoying they could be at times.
The awkward silence crept into the room. Maybe I had been too harsh on them when I was the one who invited those two hunters to my house. We wouldn’t even be talking about this if I had just kept walking that night. I should have. I should’ve ignored them and went home, but something had changed. Something inside of me. I want to say it was Killian, but was it? Or was it me?
I cleared my throat. It was time to mention the whole reason why I asked them over in the first place, but suddenly it ached, nearly closing up on me. I coughed, tapping my chest. No one said a word. We’re all so used to sickness here. Everyone suffers in one way or another.
“So—I want to—” I said, finally getting to the point. GG stood up and stared out the window. “What’s that?” she asked while leaning in.
Darn it! What now?
Liv and Court joined her while I stood there, slightly annoyed that I still hadn’t had the chance to mention starting a club. They all leaned in and stared out the window. Liv reached up and wiped his hand across the fogged glass.
“Oh, my Goddess,” he said. I was forced to join them.
“What?” I asked while leaning in behind everyone. I narrowed my eyes until I could focus, and there he was.
That Middling!
He was standing across the street, in the mist, staring up at my house.
Liv looked at me and grinned. “You have a stalker.”
“Great, that isn’t creepy at all,” I whispered.
GG stepped back and smiled. I tried to ignore her. “You should go down and say hi.”
I shook my head. “What? No. I don’t want to encourage him any more than I already have.”
Court shook her head. Liv joined in. I may hate the three of them now.
I stepped back as they turned to face me. I felt outnumbered, but I wasn’t going to do anything.
“I am not opening my door and yelling across the street at some strange boy.”
Liv crossed his arms over his chest. “You could open the door as we leave.”
I pressed my hands against my dress and wiped them off. I was getting sweaty. I wished they’d stop pressuring me about this boy.
“Mayhem,” I muttered.
GG laughed. “If this is your idea of mayhem, then I don’t even want to tell you about my Summer, girl.”
I sighed and glanced toward the window. Court took GG by one hand and Liv by the other and passed me by, heading for the stairs. “It’s time for us to get home.”
I turned and called out to them. “But we haven’t had dessert, and I wanted to talk about—”
I hit the stairs just as they disappeared around the corner. I followed as quickly as I could, navigating stairs meant for someone less clumsy than I am.
I survived every step, but they rushed out the front door, waving and yelling goodbye loud enough for anyone to hear, leaving it wide open behind them. I approached it very slowly, glaring at the boy across the street. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, just gawking at the house. Liv, GG, and Court waved to him as they veered to the right and rushed down the sidewalk. I didn’t appreciate their sudden interest in getting me to date anyone, especially a
Middling.
Especially Killian Porter.
Did I say date? I felt my cheeks flush. Then he started to walk toward the house. I swallowed hard. Why was he heading this way? I hadn’t waved or said a single word. He stepped up off the curb and lifted a hand, offering a simple wave. It seemed innocent enough, but don’t they all seem harmless? Every boy in every book I had ever fallen for seemed innocent in the beginning, doing strange things, just like he does, showing up when you least expected it.
Looking all cute—like he does.
Harper, STOP IT!
He had invaded the cemetery, then my school, and now this!
Showing up at my house was a bit too much, and yet I’m frozen, staring like he’s holding me captive. His eyes locked onto mine. I parted my lips. I should say something—anything. I should ask him how he found me, at least, but all of that left me as he continued to close the gap between us. The wind caught his hair, shifting it over one eye. It didn’t help. My mind wandered back to the cemetery, where we first met. I could smell his scent—so clean, alive amongst the dead and dying leaves. He was brighter than any star in the night sky.
I blinked.
Snap out of it! What are you doing, Harper?!
I grabbed the edge of the door, and he called out to me. “I like your house.”
I like you, Killian.
Oh! I hope I didn’t say that out loud!
He rubbed the side of his neck. I hoped I hadn’t said that so he could hear me. My cheeks felt flush, and that strange fluttering began to swell in the pit of my stomach.
Annoying.
I acknowledged him with a nod. I shouldn’t have. I should ignore him from this moment forward, but he took one more step toward the house, and the light hit his bright blue eyes. My heart sped up. The more I saw him, the prettier he seemed to be. He hadn’t crossed over the line yet, onto the cobblestone. He was still on the sidewalk. There was still time to close the door and stop this from happening. But then he reached up, and I closed my eyes. The chilled breeze rushed across the side of my face and felt like fingers, gently stroking the surface of my skin.
I gasped. Wide-eyed and flustered.
He took a step just as a bright light hit him, nearly blurring his image. I squinted until I heard that familiar ringing of a bell. It was a bike. Gunn arrived first, stopping right where Killian had been standing, but now he was gone. Innis rolled up next to him, and then Dad caught up. His chest was rising and falling. They must’ve made a run for it. They’re known to do that.
My dad waved and added a nervous grin. The fact that they had bested him was slightly amusing but not nearly as interesting as trying to figure out where Killian had gone.
My eyes searched the road behind them, but I didn’t see him. He couldn’t be that fast, could he? My skin tingled at the thought of it. The mystery shrouding Killian grew deeper and deeper with each passing moment, drawing me in like a great story would.
I wanted to read more. I wanted to know more about him. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why he seemed to be so interested in me? But all of those questions escaped me every time I stared into his beautiful blue eyes. He silenced me.
Innis dropped his bike to the ground, and Gunn followed. They blew past me and toward the kitchen. I’m sure they’d raid the desserts that we didn’t have time to eat. My dad rubbed the side of his neck and shrugged his shoulders. “Are your friends still here?”
I shook my head, and he let out a sigh of relief.
He rolled his bike into the yard and let it go, then retrieved the other two, letting them drop next to his. He approached me with a skip in his step. “Did you have a good time?”
I smiled. I guess I had even though I didn’t accomplish much of anything. Still, it was nice to have Court, Liv, and GG back in my life. “Yeah, the stew was good, and there are—”
Innis came running out of the kitchen with chocolate all over his face, and a giant cookie held high. Gunn ran after him jumping in the air trying his best to get it away from him. Dad laughed and rushed in after them as they hit the stairs, skipping a step or two.
I watched them all disappear into the darkness around the corner, and then I turned back and stared at the street.
Finally, I closed the door, but not my heart.
Chapter Eight
I sat in my room and crumpled up the ninth piece of paper, tossing it off to the side. My bed was littered with failed attempts at making a proper flyer. I needed a distraction — something to absorb the thoughts of Killian rattling around in my head. His image haunted me. His wave, his ghostly touch on the wind.
I decided it was time to do something that could keep me from thinking about him every single moment of the day. I paused when I heard creaking boards outside my room. My eyes locked onto the bottom of the door. I expected to see a shadow—hear a knock—but nothing came.
It was just more strange noises in the house. But now, each sound seemed amplified. I felt uneasy, as if something, or someone, may be watching me. I had never felt that way here—not once in fifteen years.
I think my imagination is getting the better of me.
My attention was drawn back to the paper sitting before me.
I wanted to create something good, compelling—saying the right thing to attract the right people. Of course, Liv, Court, and GG were automatically in, but there might be other kids who would like to join us. People who love books and everything about them.
More people who love dead boys as much as I do.
As much as we do, because I know my friends are the same way. At least they were before the Middlings tried to tear them away from me.
I bit my tongue and thought long and hard about what I wanted to say, and then the words came. I was grateful. Tomorrow I’d hang it up in the library.
I leaned back and stared at the flyer. It made me smile.
Do you love books and the dead boys in them?
We are meeting in the library at 3:30 pm.
TODAY ONLY.
I think that’s intriguing enough. I hope. Then I got to work on a pledge. It took me longer than I planned and I ended up falling asleep with a pen in hand, but when I woke up it was the first thing I saw, and after a quick edit, I had a proper pledge done, and I was ready to execute my plan to spread my love for books.
I leaned back and held it to my heart. This was precisely what I needed. My eyes became heavy, but my heart did not. It fluttered along like the butterfly that nearly landed on me.
I woke up on the hard stone. I sat up and narrowed my eyes.
This again?
I slid from the side and felt the cold floor beneath my feet, staring down at the white dress. White. Always white. I only wear this color in dreams.
I walked to the door, and the butterflies swarmed around me. I pushed as hard as I could, but it barely budged. Then I heard movement on the other side. Once again the room was flooded with bright light and hand reached in. The shadowy figure was beckoning me out into the world — a bright one with blue sky and warm wind. Then I heard a voice, soft and sweet.
“Harper.”
I rolled out of my bed and hit the floor with a thud. I could hear running across the floorboards, and my door swung wide open. I grabbed the edge of the bed and waited.
My heart nearly beat out of my chest. I had to catch my breath and then Innis went running by my room, followed by Gunn.
UGH! I buried my face in the side of my comforter.
My brothers are the worst.
THE WORST.
* * *
Classes moved at a snail’s pace. It’s always like that when you’re excited about something. I tapped my pencil against the blank piece of paper. I was supposed to be writing a short story in my advanced lit class, which is something I love to do, but my mind wandered. I had placed the flyer in the library at the beginning of the day and wondered who would see it. I nearly ran up there to retrieve it on several occasions, almost abandoning my plans, but I didn’t want to do that.
I wanted a book club.
The lunch bell rang, and kids spilled out of the room. I wasn’t hungry. My appetite had slowly been disappearing since I met Killian. I knew why, but I wasn’t ready to admit it just yet.
Once you admit something, it becomes real.
I turned in my seat when I heard whispering, expecting to see a couple of girls gossiping behind me, but no one was there. I scanned the room, and I was alone, except for the teacher who was already busy grading papers.
I had never experienced anything supernatural in school, so it caught me off guard. I wasn’t scared, just intrigued. They say that sometimes spirits will attach themselves to people and follow them anywhere they go. Did I have that now? Did I have a spirit of my own?
I grabbed my books, nearly dropping them, but all my teacher did was adjust in her chair and reach out for her coffee cup. She grabbed at the air until she had it in hand. I craned my neck and could see she was reading. Could it be the same book that the librarian had that made her oblivious to her surroundings? If so, I needed it. I cleared my throat and walked past her desk, tempted to ask her, but I stopped at the door and glanced back as she looked up. She looked at me, or more like through me, with a blank expression on her face.
I know that look very well. She’s living in that world now and not this one. I’m a bibliophile. I understand. I didn’t want to disturb her, so I abandoned the thought of asking what book she was reading. I had important business anyway.
It was time.
I entered the hallway, looking for my crew and spotted Liv by his locker, along with Court. I headed toward them as GG stepped up, bouncing on her toes.
“Today is dragging, right?” she groaned.
My eyebrows shot up. “Yes! It’s terrible—the worst.”
We reached Liv just as Court turned and began to practice her cheer. She kicked high, so we had to lean back to avoid getting hit. She lowered her leg and winked at us. Court would never hurt us on purpose, but her kicks were dangerous.
