Pretend With Me (Midnight Society #1)

by Jemma Grey

  “I didn’t try to kill myself, Eric,” I whispered so low that it seemed like only my mouth moved.

  “Don’t lie to me, Jen,” he pleaded. “The very least you can do is be honest with me, you owe me that much.”

  “Eric,” I said forcing my voice to work, but it came out as a dry croak. “I’m telling you the truth. I didn’t try to kill myself.” I didn’t know what to say to make him believe me. “I told you that I didn’t want to fight anymore. I want this to work. I’m trying.” Every cell in my body wanted to go to him – to touch him, but the stupid tubes wouldn’t even let me stretch my hand out.

  I made a move to pull them all out and as soon as my hand touched it, Eric was standing at my side looming over me. “Don’t you dare take those things out, Jenifer,” he warned sternly, looking down at me with an expression that made me cringe. I grabbed his arm and pulled him down at the edge of the bed.

  “I've seen that picture millions of times. I'm okay with the picture, Eric… I was fine and then it was like the world was crashing down on me… I'm not lying to you Eric - I swear - I'm telling you the truth… please believe me.” He studied me for a silent minute that seemed to go on forever. I huffed out a breath suddenly feeling exhausted and drained; he was never going to believe me. I wouldn’t believe me if I was in his shoes, and what made it even worse was that I could barely remember anything. I could barely even remember having lunch with my friends at school. It was all blurred and foggy in my mind, with only seconds of bits and pieces, almost as if someone had punched holes into my memory.

  “What?” he asked, frowning at me.

  “I swear I didn’t,” I pleaded, grasping his hand.

  “No not that... you said you can’t remember being in school either?” he asked, his frown deepening

  I realized a second later that he was inside my head, hearing what I was thinking. Choosing to let it go, I nodded. “It feels like I was high... there are huge gaping holes that I can’t fill, but that’s just because I hit my head…” I trailed off as Eric continued to stare at me, his expression changing from doubt to knowing and then to hate in seconds.

  “What?” I asked at once.

  “Nothing, I believe you,” he told me, his voice chipped.

  “You’re keeping something from me, what is it?” I asked wondering if it had anything to do with the secret moment between him and his dad.

  “It’s not important. I think you should eat something.”

  “I’m not hungry,” I told him but he was already standing up.

  “Doesn’t matter. Don’t get out of bed, stay there,” he demanded seriously. I nodded, not wanting to piss him off anymore. “I mean it, Jenifer,” he warned and walked out of the bedroom.

  A minute later Eric walked back into the room carrying a huge plate and the smell of pizza filled my nose. In his other hand was a tall glass filled with what I guessed was Coke. My mouth began watering at once and as soon as he set the plate down on the bed, I grabbed up a slice of pizza, biting into it.

  My eyes closed and I heard myself let out a loud moan. I swallowed letting out a loud sigh and opened my eyes to find Eric staring at me. A small hint of a smile lingered on his face.

  “What?” I asked suddenly feeling self-conscious which was stupid, because normally I didn’t care what he thought.

  “I missed you,” he whispered.

  “I never left,” I replied and then chugged down the coke, finally soothing my throat. “Besides I’ve been asleep for what, some hours?” I asked frowning, but he was already shaking his head.

  “Jen, you’ve been out for almost a week… No one knew if you were ever going to wake up – there were times when I thought you… Don’t ever do that to me again,” he whispered, taking my hand in his.

  “A week?” I asked, my mouth dropping open.

  “Yeah, there was some swelling in your brain and my dad had to put you in a coma until it went down… After that we all waited for you to wake up… Christy has been in here every day, refusing to leave. My mom managed to pry her away this morning. A few of your ribs were broken and you’d fractured your skull,” Eric explained.

  I nodded slowly and then looked up to face him. “I’m sorry for putting you and your family through that…”

  “I forgive you,” he sighed. “But from now onwards... just take it easy for a while...”

  “Okay,” I agreed instantly. I would do whatever it took to not piss him off further. Unfortunately, I hadn’t known that taking it easy would be torture.

  The next few days passed excruciatingly slow and boring. I was forced to stay in bed and only allowed to leave it to use the washroom or shower. I felt like I was going insane being cooped up in here. My only company was Eric, his immediate family members and the TV. I had probably watched enough TV in the last few days to last me a lifetime. I was fed up and annoyed.

  Eric was driving me nuts. He was being too nice to me, fussing over every little thing and as sweet as it was, it was making me crazy. That and the fact that every time we were alone in the same room desire coursed through my body like blood. I wanted to rip his clothes off. The urge and feelings to do that was becoming unbearable. He only had to lock eyes with me and I got high. My mind would instantly go blank and all I could think about was him and sating the urge. I didn’t know how much longer I could fight this, it was becoming too much to fight. Sometimes I found myself not even wanting to fight it.

  Currently, I was sitting on the bed and he was on the couch, which he’d shoved at the far end of the room. The TV was on, showing Pirates of the Caribbean for what seemed like the hundredth time. I probably knew all of Tia Dalma’s lines by now.

  “You actually do…” Eric chuckled at me from across the room. He was reading a book and had spoken without looking up.

  “How do you get your ability?” I asked, realizing a second later that I’d phrased it wrong. “I mean, what decides what ability you get?” I tried again. Eric looked up to me then. He closed his book, stood up and walked over, dropping himself down on the bed. Instantly my awareness of him sky rocketed, and I clenched my hands into tight fists at my sides.

  “Our inheritance can either be active or passive. Each bloodline is known for being more attuned to one… Have I explained about the seven bloodlines?” He asked and I shook my head. “You’re going to love this,” he grinned. “Come on, time for a field trip.” His smile brightened as he stood up, holding out his hand to me.

  “You mean we’re going out?” I asked suddenly excited and over eager to get out of the house.

  “Not very far though.” At once I jumped out of the bed and Eric took my hand, leading me towards the door. Or so I thought, until he steered us to the corner of the room. I stared at him in confusion as he pushed aside a picture hanging on the wall to reveal a small hole, which he then stuck his finger into. For a second nothing happen, then there was a sound like air being released as the floor directly in front of us began folding down into itself, creating a hidden staircase. “Most of the bedrooms in the house is linked to this staircase,” he said, turning back to face me. “If anything should happen, you can get out through here.” I nodded as he turned back and began leading me down the stairs.

  It was old and made of stone that was chipped and worn out from time. The staircase was narrow, just big enough to fit two persons. The walls on either side went straight up to the ceiling and looked like it belonged on the set of an ancient Greek movie. The further down we went the mustier and closed off the place became and soon I began to feel trapped and suffocated.

  Just when I thought that I was going to have a panic attack, the staircase opened into a giant stone room, filled with hundreds of stacked bookcases rising towards the ceiling and glass showcases. I stood in the doorway for a second, taking everything in. It was overwhelming.

  “This is one of the remaining rooms from the original Wilson Manor. We’re a few feet underground, and it can withstand any attack – human or Thirdworld. Come on,” h
e said and once again took my hand leading me towards the largest glass case at the centre of the room. I didn’t know what I was expecting to be in the showcase, but it certainly wasn’t what I saw.

  There was a huge slab of flat stone, extending from one end of the showcase to the other. It was thick with smooth edges that were worn out. The stone itself wasn’t what caught my interest though; it was what was on it - a very old painting yet detailed and clear in every sense of the word. The painting was of six boys that looked barely into their teens. I supposed there was a seventh, but that piece of the slab had been broken off.

  Each person looked so alike that I knew they were related. They all had the same dark hair, strong bone structures and more than that, piercing blue eyes that seemed to stare right back at me. It was almost as though they were alive and watching us. I only had to take one look at it to know that this was the real deal. This was prehistoric, and at the revelation the small hairs on my body stood on end.

  “The seven bloodlines?” I whispered afraid to speak too loudly. I couldn’t look away from the ancient painting that seemed to be burning holes into my face.

  “Yes,” Eric nodded at my side. “From the left that’s Marcano, then Andreas, Lombado, Wilson, Dialio and De’Corvey… We don’t know most of their original names as they would have changed it according to their current time.”

  “What happened to the last brother?” I asked.

  Eric only shook his head at me. “No one knows… Not even his name is known. Some would have you believe that there wasn’t a seventh bloodline, except there are slight traces left throughout history of his existence,” he explained and then held onto my shoulders, spinning me so that now I was facing the wall at the far end of the room.

  It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the movement, and when I focused I saw that the wall held dark lines crisscrossing each other. I peered in closer and found that it wasn’t really lines. It was a family tree - Eric’s family tree.

  “It dates back to the very beginning,” he said as I continued scanning the names, slowly walking down the side of the wall. One name made me stop though and I reached out, trailing my fingers along the writing just to make sure that it was real.

  “This says Tutankhaten,” I said in awe as I turned back to face Eric. “That’s King Tut of Egypt?”

  “Yeah,” was Eric’s brilliant answer and I turned back to the wall studying the names that surrounded King Tut’s. Instantly I turned back to Eric.

  “But King Tut didn’t have children,” I frowned at him, “as far as they know.”

  “And as far as they know he died at nineteen.”

  “He didn’t?” I asked totally engrossed in this now.

  “No,” Eric shook his head, chuckling at me. “The Elders thought that his life was too public and they faked his death… I’ll tell you more later, but let’s get back before my parents get home and my dad gives me an extra hole to breathe from.”

  “Will he be mad that we’re here?” I asked, biting down on my lip.

  “No,” he took my hand, leading me back to the staircase. “But he’ll be mad that I have you out of bed,” he chuckled as we began walking back up the stairs.

  “So back to your original question,” Eric started once we were back in the bedroom. He was lying at my side while I was sitting crossed legged on the bed. “The Wilson bloodline is known for having defensive, passive inheritance. My dad is the only exception, but he wasn’t born a Wilson…”

  “Hmm…” I wondered, “so what do you think mine will be?” I asked. I wasn’t born a Wilson either, but I did have Wilson blood running through my veins.

  “Maybe you’ll be able to…” he mused as a bright, amused smile suddenly plastered his face and he looked at me slyly. “You are going to be able to drive people insane,” he predicted chuckling, “since you already do that to me so well,” he laughed and I smacked his arm playfully. “Or,” he continued, “you’ll be able to annoy another pureblood named Eric Wilson,” he pointed to the TV where the ending credits of Pirates of the Caribbean were scrolling up the screen. “You’ve made me watch that movie at least ten times already.”

  “Eric, I’m serious,” I said despite laughing along with him.

  “I don’t know, Jen,” he smiled looking at me. “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know either,” I frowned. “But it would be cool to fly,” I smiled, “or if I could think about something and have it appear before me.”

  “What would you think about?”

  “Cake!” I blurted out at once, and Eric burst out laughing. “A big chunk of chocolate cake.”

  “Okay,” he grinned showing a row of perfect, dazzling teeth. “Think about cake right now,” he demanded. “And I’ll know if you aren’t.”

  “Why?” I questioned my eyebrows rising.

  “Would you just do it, Jenifer,” he sighed.

  “Fine,” I grunted letting thoughts of having chocolate cake fill my head. I imagined a huge chunk on a white plate.

  “Jen, look!” Eric suddenly burst out scaring me. I opened my eyes not realizing when I had closed them and saw Eric sitting crossed legged at the foot of the bed, directly in front of me, pointing at the empty space between us. I followed his finger, and lying on the bed was a slice of cake exactly how I had pictured it in my head. “You made cake appear.”

  A brilliant smile spread across my lips, stretching from ear to ear. “I did! I did!” I cheered still grinning. “If I think about you naked… would you strip?” I asked biting my lower lip.

  “I would,” Eric smiled getting up from the bed and for a moment I thought that he was actually going to do it. “But you have visitors; Charde and Ryan are at the door.”

  Exactly a minute later one of the many housekeepers knocked on my bedroom door, announcing that Charde and Ryan were here to see me. About two days ago Dr. Wilson had allowed me visitors under the condition that Eric was always with me. I thought it was stupid, because the only people to visit me were my friends from school – as I knew no one else – and they weren’t going to hurt me.

  “Hello, my lovely,” Charde smiled walking into the room and dropping down on the bed at my side. She immediately hugged me. Ryan hung back at the door. “How are you feeling? Any better?”

  “Much,” I smiled. “Eric’s been very good, though he keeps threatening violence every time I attempt to leave the bed.”

  “Do you know when you’re coming back to school?” she asked and I looked to Eric, but he only shrugged.

  “No not yet… not until Dr. Wilson says I can. So where are Amelia and Emily?” I asked directing the subject away from me.

  “They’re still in school. The Ball is next week and they still have a lot of work to do,” she explained pulling out a small black plastic bag. “They did sent this for you though and said to get better soon.”

  I took the bag, peeping into it to find two packs of M&Ms. “Thanks,” I smiled.

  “So I was thinking, your wedding is in two weeks Jen, what are you doing for your bachelorette party?”

  “Right,” I frowned, looking down at the bed. “The wedding… Charde… I don’t want a bachelorette party,” I choked out.

  “Oh… well I had an idea. There’s a concert about two towns away and it’s over the weekend before you’re getting hitched… I was thinking that we could drive there, spend the weekend and be back for the wedding…” I opened my mouth to tell her that I really didn’t want this but before I could she said, “The band that’s playing is Linkin Park…” she trailed off grinning at me.

  I perked up at this. “You know what?” I asked staring at her. “I’ve decided that I want a bachelorette party after all,” I gleamed.

  “So we’re going?” she asked excited. I was already nodding. “Jenifer Carson soon to be Wilson, I love you,” she cheered hugging me again. “I’m hungry, please tell me you have food in this joint.”

  I smiled nodding. “Kitchen.” She instantly got up off the bed
and started for the kitchen pulling Eric behind her, leaving Ryan and I alone. Since Ryan had came, he hadn’t spoken a word to me. Instead he had hung back, staring at me awkwardly and as the silent moments dragged on, I got the feeling that I was going to have to make the first move. “Hey, Ryan,” I smiled, “what’s up?”

  “I’m glad you’re okay Jen… I just… I wanted to, um, tell you that I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would be upset over the picture.”

  “Its fine,” I sighed.

  “So um I err… I brought some of your homework and lectures,” he said awkwardly and gave me a bunch of papers that was stapled together in different bunches according to date and class.

  “Thanks Ryan, you just made my life a whole lot easier.”

  “Okay,” he nodded. “Well I should um… I should let you rest,” he mumbled turning to go.

  “Hey Ryan,” I called out and he turned back to me instantly. “Do you still have that magazine?”

  “Yeah, do you want it?” he asked but was already digging through his bag. He pulled it out, holding it to me.

  “Thanks,” I replied taking the magazine. I waited until he had left the room to tuck it under my pillow. Soon after Charde and Eric re-entered the room. Charde had a plate with cake and she dropped down on the bed. Eric stayed at the door though, as Charde and I started planning for the concert. We’d been at it for a while when Dr. Wilson walked into the room, to check on me.

  When he left Eric followed him out and Charde turned to me grinning. “You are going to think I’m crazy, but your father-in-law is hot,” she smiled. Instantly I burst out laughing knowing that both Eric and his dad was probably right outside my bedroom door and could hear her. “I mean have you seen his ass?”

  “I’m too busy checking out his son’s ass to notice anyone else’s.” I would hear about this from Eric later.