Pretend With Me (Midnight Society #1)

by Jemma Grey

  It got brighter and brighter as the seconds ticked by, until it was like having the sun shining inches away from my eyes. A blasting white light shot through the room covering every square inch. I along with everyone else instantly looked away, shielding our eyes from the blinding glare. I hadn’t realized until now that I had stopped crying and had turned to watch this unfolding with my body’s eyes and not my mind’s.

  The intense stinging glare vanished just as fast as it had brightened, leaving the room almost black and my eyes blind for a second. We all stood completely still, not sure how to react to what w e’d just seen. Katalin was the first to move. She walked up to Dean’s side kneeling down beside Jason. “It actually worked, there’s not a scratch on him,” she whispered amazed.

  “You didn’t think it would?” Jason blurted out, horrified.

  “Actually Jason, there’s only one other that can do what you just did. You’re the only incubus, the other is a succubus.”

  “What was that fucking speech about then?” he cursed standing up glaring at her.

  She turned to Jason with a light smile on her face. “Dean has been in my life for as long as I can remember… I had to try something. My life matters not where his is concerned.”

  “Katalin, it’s almost sunrise,” someone behind me said but I didn’t turn around to find out whom. I was too stunned by this new Katalin. I always thought she was cold and heartless - an emotionless blob that felt nothing and cared about no one; I had been so wrong.

  She nodded and stood up, tilting her head towards the line of kneeling guys. Slowly she began stalking towards them, stopping in front of a young boy with long blonde hair that covered his face, making it impossible to see any of his other features.

  Katalin motioned with her index finger for the boy to stand and instantly he obeyed, raising his head as he did. The first thing I noticed was his eyes and instantly my heart kicked off in my chest. The familiarity of his piercing grey eyes was so intense that it had me sweating and shaking uncontrollably. Hope stirred within me even though I was dreading that I was wrong.

  Three things happened then, things that could either destroy me or set me free. Katalin raised her hand and shot it towards his throat like a knife. I watched horrified as he closed his eyes, bowing his head not even attempting to stop her, and then I felt myself spring into action. I ripped out of Eric’s hands, shooting towards them using non-human speed. In a second, my eyes burned blue and I found myself standing between them. My back was pressing against him as my arms shot out to Katalin.

  “I’m not going to let you hurt him Katalin.” My voice came out stronger than I felt.

  “Really? You aren’t letting me?” she asked tilting her head. “You can’t stop me Jenifer, because of them Dean almost died.”

  I took a step back, pushing Brandon back as well. “Please Katalin. You got a second chance… do the same for us. Let him live, please,” I begged knowing that if she didn’t agree I would fight to death to save him. Her eyes raked over us for a second and then she turned on her heels and began walking away. I kept my eyes on her, not trusting her. Brandon was alive. I wasn't going to let anything happen to him. I had lost him once before, I had seen Zoryiaa shove a knife into his throat and I didn't know how it was possible for him to be standing behind me but it didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that he was alive.

  “Katalin what of the rest?” someone said at the back of me. She stopped turning to us slightly. Her eyes had gone back to their earthy brown.

  The strong stench of blood hit my nose then and not being able to stop myself, I took my eyes off Katalin staring back at the line of guys. Blood was gushing out of their faces from their eyes, nose and ears. Then one at a time, they each dropped to the floor lifeless. I turned back to Katalin as a mixture of fear and horror flooded me. If she could do this while her eyes were human, I didn’t want to know what could happen when she had pureblood eyes. “What of them?” she asked matter-of-factly and then vanished.

  As soon as Katalin was gone I spun around turning to face Brandon. New tears rolled down my cheeks now, but I wasn’t crying because I was hurting. I was beyond happy, it was almost too good to be true. Brandon was alive. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the thought. I was afraid to keep looking at him, afraid to reach out and touch him. It wasn’t that I was scared of him, I was afraid that he would turn to smoke and vanish. To have so much hope and certainty, only to have it all drain away would kill me.

  Then suddenly I couldn’t take it anymore and in a quick movement I wrapped my arms around him, pressing my entire body to his. I didn’t ever want to let him go. My heart began beating even faster as I realized that he was real. I was holding him and this wasn’t a dream.

  “How is it possible that you’re alive?” I sobbed into his chest, gripping onto his clothes with so much force that my knuckles were beginning to ache. “I saw them kill you - I saw her - I can’t… you’re here Brandon…” I cried.

  I felt his hands grab my wrists roughly and ripped them away from holding onto him. The movement was fast and hard, as if my touch had burned him. He then gripped onto my shoulders forcefully, shoving me away. His eyes ran over me for a split second and then just like that, without a word, he turned and began to walk away.

  I ran up to him, holding his arm and pulled him back to face me. Brandon spun around and I immediately found myself staring up at a pair of hard, cold almost dead, pale grey eyes. Instinctively I took a step back. “What do you want from me?” he sneered through clenched teeth and a tight jaw.

  “Don’t go,” I breathed out, my voice suddenly timid, almost inaudible.

  “If you knew all the things that I’ve done… you wouldn’t be saying that,” he said bitterly and began to turn away from me again.

  Before he could fully turn, I grabbed onto his hand with both of mine. He paused, but didn’t turn back to look at me. “Please don’t go Brandon… I just… just got you back - I saw them kill you - I can’t lose you again. For so long I thought you were dead… please… please Brandon… don’t go…” Tears slid down my face.

  “The Brandon you know is dead, Jen,” he spat at me ripping his hand away fiercely. I felt my heart squeeze in my chest as I realized just how different he was. Everything about him had changed; his entire body, his face, and mostly his eyes. He looked completely dull and lifeless, like there was nothing inside him but an empty void, as if he was carved from stone.

  “Look at me, Jen - I’m a monster. I’m not human anymore!” he screamed at me. “I’ve killed people! I don’t deserve to be alive!” he shouted, grabbing onto my shoulder roughly. “You should have let her kill me!” He began shaking me fiercely and I winced as pain shot down my arm from where his fingernails were digging into my flesh. “Why did you stop her?” he sneered through clenched teeth.

  “Because I love you. I couldn’t watch you die again.” He paused for a second and then dropped his hands, turning away from me.

  “I don’t care about you any more, Jenifer,” he said without emotion and began walking away. “Leave me alone.”

  “What about Kristen!” I shouted. “Do you care about her Brandon?”

  “No!”

  “She’s pregnant!” I screamed after him at the top of my lungs.

  20

  The second Eric unlocked the front doors and we were inside, I went straight for the fridge. I was so thirsty it felt as if my throat was about to go up in flames at any second. Once in the kitchen I got three bottles of water and then went back into the living room giving Brandon one, setting the second in the middle of the little table at the centre of the room for Eric, and then opened the third, drinking deeply. Before I knew it the bottle was empty and without thinking I opened Eric’s drinking from his as I dropped down on the couch, exhausted.

  Brandon was staring at me, his grey eyes so intense it seemed as if he was glaring into my soul. “Brandon…” I began, “that night Zane wasn’t looking for Kris… He was looking for me.
He thought that I was Red-”

  “I know the story, Jen,” he snapped with so much venom that I felt as if he’d slapped me. Automatically I recoiled, sinking back into the couch.

  “I’m sorry I got you involved… I never wanted anyone to get hurt. I didn’t know about any of this. Brandon, I’m so sorry-”

  “I already told you, Jen,” he cut me off again, but this time the malice in his voice had softened just a tinge. It was still there, coating his words and plastered on his face, but it was less harsh. “I know the story.”

  Eric entered the living room then. He walked straight up to Brandon and gave him clean clothes, nodding towards the stairs. “Up the stairs, down the hall, last door on the left,” Eric said directing him to one of the many unused bedrooms in the house. Silently, Brandon nodded taking the clothes and without giving me another glance, he shuffled down the hall quiety.

  “He hates me,” I muttered, sinking further into the couch. “And who could blame him... I did this to him. I’m the reason for everything he’s gone through. I hate me…” I trailed off, feeling my throat tighten.

  “He doesn’t hate you, Jen,” Eric shook his head, holding out his hand to me. When I didn’t make a move, he reached out taking my hand, pulling me up from the couch and then towards my bedroom.

  “How are you doing?” he whispered shutting the door behind him and turning to me.

  “What do you mean?’ I frowned confused. “I’m fine, Eric. I don’t have a scratch on me.”

  “No, I mean with everything else that’s happened tonight. Are you okay?” he asked.

  I didn’t answer right away, instead I closed my eyes pressing my head into his chest. “I’m fine,” I murmured. “It’s not all bad… I mean Brandon’s alive, and that counts for something.” He nodded releasing me and motioned for me to shower. I began walking to the bathroom, then stopped and turned back to face him. “Do you think he’s going to leave?”

  “No…” Eric whispered shaking his head. “No matter what he says or how much he’s changed he still loves Kristen. He’ll stay long enough to know she’s okay.” His voice was filled with certainty and authority.

  From what I had seen tonight, I didn’t think that Brandon would stay. At the first chance he got, he was going to leave, but I nodded and disappeared into the bathroom. I trusted Eric wholly, and only because he’d said Brandon would stay, I believed him. Had it been anyone else - even Daren maybe – I’d have been standing outside Brandon’s bedroom door to stop him from leaving.

  By the time I was finished in the bathroom, Eric and Brandon had already cleaned themselves up and was back in the living room. I knew because I heard them before I saw them, and at the sound of my name, I stopped in the middle of the staircase listening, afraid that if I walked into the room they’d stop talking.

  “Is anyone else coming after Jen?” Eric was asking.

  Brandon remained silent for a few seconds and he let out a long sigh. “No. Only Zane knew about her.”

  “And he didn’t tell anyone else?”

  “No,” Brandon repeated. “Telling someone else, meant he’d have competition…”

  “So what happened to you? What have you been doing all this time?”

  “Zane didn’t kill me… well he did, but he changed me before,” Brandon started and I felt my body lean against the wall, just wanting something to keep me upright. “Is Kris really pregnant? Or did Jen just say that to get me here?”

  “She didn’t lie… No one’s supposed to know, not even Kris knows yet, but she is…” Eric trailed off and when Brandon didn’t respond silence coated the room so thickly I could hear Eric’s controlled and steady breaths. “You know you can’t go back to her, right?” Eric then asked, and I could hear the frown in his voice. I knew then that he was reading Brandon and he responded to his movements and thoughts. “Kris needs to remain thinking you’re dead.”

  “What?” I snapped, suddenly finding myself standing in the middle of the living room, between them but facing Eric. I had moved so fast that I hadn’t known where I was until I found myself standing there. My movements weren’t important though, not now. I couldn’t understand how Eric could say that. There was no reason in my head that was good enough for Kris to keep thinking that Brandon was dead. “Eric, are you mental? He’s not dead, he’s alive! Kris needs to know he’s alive! You can’t just keep the truth from her. Are you mad?”

  “Jen…” Brandon whispered behind me and I turned to face him instantly. “He’s right… I’m dangerous. I’m not… human anymore. I’m a werewolf,” he grunted out through clenched teeth, his voice rising with every word he spat at me.

  “So what, Brandon!” I snapped back, stepping closer to him. Before I could take another step, Eric was at my side, my hand secured in his. I ignored him, focusing on Brandon. “Kris loves you... It’s not fair to do this to her... to keep something like this from her. She thinks you’re dead,” I spat at him coating my voice with enough venom to sting him.

  “Jen,” Eric said slowly, his hand tightening on mine as he pulled me back and away from Brandon. “Maybe we should talk about this later… after we’ve all calmed down a bit and slept…” he suggested, “after Brandon's not so angry...”

  “Fine,” I snapped, yanking my arm away from Eric. Without waiting for him or Brandon to say anything, I stormed out of the living room and marched up to my bedroom, slamming the door forcefully. I dropped down on my bed, letting my feet dangle at the side, forcing myself to keep the tears from spilling over the sides of my face as I stared up at the ceiling.

  I couldn’t believe Eric and Brandon. I knew and understood that Brandon was doing this so he wouldn’t hurt Kris, but what they failed to understand was how much he was hurting her right now. He didn’t know what he was putting her through. They didn’t know what the holes felt like… to feel absolutely empty inside… like everything had been scraped clean and only a shell of what we were was all that remained. I was so angry that they’d keep something like this from her, so mad and frustrated that it made me want to cry and break things at the same time.

  Just then, there was a soft knock on the door and before I could tell Eric to go away, he opened the door and walked in the room, silently sitting down on the bed beside me. “Are you okay?” His voice was so soft and gentle that it almost seemed to be a part of the silence.

  “I’m fine,” I snapped without meaning to.

  “Jen,” he whispered, laying back and then turned to face me, “don’t shut me out again.”

  My heart wrenched at his tone. There was something in it I’d never heard before, something like fear, but not quite as strong; uncertainty, yet not so mild either. It was as if he was afraid saying the wrong thing would make me lash out and treat him the way I did before.

  I hated that I made him feel like that. I loved Eric, I truly did, and because I loved him I forced myself to fight my most basic instinct when things got too close to my heart. Usually I would push people away, guard my heart and act like I didn’t give a shit when inside it tore me apart. But because I loved him, because he was asking me to, I chose to let him in.

  “What if it was us?” I whispered without looking at him. “What if Zane had turned me into a werewolf and you thought that I was dead? Would it matter to you?” I turned my head, staring at him.

  “No it wouldn’t…” he whispered so low his voice was next to inaudible.

  “How is it different, then?” I asked, my voice matching his. “How is it okay to keep the truth from Kris? She deserves to know that Brandon is alive…”

  “It’s different Jen.”

  “How?” I sat up on the bed, tears running down my face as I stared at him.

  “Because Kris is human… She’s fragile… and she’s carrying his child. Brandon can’t be controlled. Anything can set him off and if he turns, he will kill whoever is near him… What if he was around Kristen? What if he hurt her or their baby? Honestly, I don’t even want him around you…

&n
bsp; “When a werewolf changes it kills everything in its path. . . It’s like having a rabid animal on a bloodlust mission. Werewolves are so unpredictable and uncontrollable that by Thirdworld law, they’re not suffered to live. That’s why it’s called a curse, Jen,” he said in a hard, fierce voice, “because the person loses themselves. . . If Brandon were to shift around Kristen, he’d kill her.”

  “I still think this is wrong,” I whispered closing my eyes, as the insides of my head throbbed. “If Daren was alive… even if I couldn’t be with him, I’d want to know. I’d want to know that his life didn’t end because of something I did or because of what I was…”

  “I know,” he whispered back allowing the subject to fall flat. A short second of silence passed over us and then he let out a tired sigh, lying down beside me. He took my hand, pulling me down at his side, wrapping his arms around my waist. I didn’t fight him, instead I rolled on my side snuggling closer to him, burying my face into his chest.

  Sighing, I closed my eyes breathing in his scent. Already I could feel my brain cells shutting off slowly. I was exhausted, yet not tired enough to not want Eric. I wondered if someday we would get used to each other and this need; if this unbearable, almost painful feeling would fade… I hoped not.

  “Do you think he’ll ever forgive me?” I mumbled out, afraid of the answer I was going to get, because if the situation was reversed, I wouldn’t forgive me.

  “He will... it’ll take a while though... Just give him space, Jen...” Eric answered. “So,” he then whispered and from his tone I knew that he was going to change the subject. “The concert and your bachelorette party is coming up soon… Do you know where you’ll be staying yet?”

  Instantly I pulled away looking up at his face. “I thought you didn’t want me to go?” I asked, allowing him to switch the topic.