“I like this one, lady killer! This one's a fit bird compared to the others!” he howls from behind us. It sounds like Garrett. For a quick second I think of Ben – never learning when to shut up. “Oh! Addison will be pleased to know you’re back in town. Want me to tell her you said hi?”
Liam whirls around to face them and snaps me tightly to his side with one hard jerk of his wrist. My head is reeling of course, but I’m going to keep my mouth shut. Talks of what I understand to mean lots of girls for Liam, cars being lost and sold, debts owed, and menacing threats… I recognize why he’s stayed so vague about things from his past. There’s an entirely other side of Liam I have yet to know and I have to admit, that I am slightly afraid of what awaits there.
I put my hand on Liam’s shoulder. “Another time,” I say, repeating his words. Liam reaches up to squeeze my hand with his and when he manages to rip his threatening glare away from them, he looks down to me and nods.
“Let’s go,” he murmurs.
We head back toward the subway, more quickly now than when we’d first set out on our walk. Liam steps brusquely and with hidden purpose as he pulls me along with him. After our little ride on the train, Liam and I arrive back to the car, neither of us having said anything to each other since the crepe shop. I feel as if he were a bomb slowly ticking down to explosion as tension and sparks bounce around his uptight frame. He’d been shaken by our brief encounter with those boys and I’m sure that he doesn’t know what to say to me as I’d heard a lot more about his past than he ever intended for me to know. But I recognize that it doesn’t really matter. What matters is the here and now, and I’ve already promised myself not to dwell on the past.
“Breckin, those guys…th-they…” he stutters. Wow, Liam stammering over words. That’s usually my job.
“Liam, it’s not important.”
“No, it is. Look, I’ve done things that I’m not proud of. But it really isn’t as bad as they’d made it sound. I tried dating a few girls after I went back to school, but none of them ever worked out. They were just distractions, and I didn’t ever-”
“Okay.” I say, cutting him off.
“I’m sorry if… wait, what?”
“I said, okay. It’s obvious that it isn’t something you ever really wanted me to know. Or maybe you’re not ready to tell me. Either way, it’s okay. We have enough to worry about right now without adding conversations about your past whatever’s.”
Liam exhales heavily, relief flooding over him. “Okay.”
From where he’s parked, I see Big Ben’s massive clock face and it’s just now shy of midnight. My heart drops into my stomach.
“Liam,” I whisper. All thoughts of what had just happened evaporate, mystifying into little nonexistent particles of sea spray from a boats bow. My throat tightens.
He glances over to where my eyes are fixated – on the clock’s big hands. “We don’t have to do this,” he says quietly. “You don’t have to do this.”
“No,” I argue, shaking my head. “I do.”
That’s when Evie appears, standing toward the hood of the car. Liam has already opened my door for me and I was getting ready to get in, however her ice-blue eyes that are now completely rimmed in dark, black circles had caught mine. I try to brace myself for what will follow. Instantly, after she sees that I’ve notice her, she comes to stand next to the both of us, moving in a streaky-fast blur. She leans in toward me, her face uncomfortably close. I automatically flinch away from her glacial presence, pressing my back against the car to try and get away from her, but it’s no use. Evie cocks her head to one side – a motion that doesn't look natural as it contorts her neck sharply – as she leers at me, sending prickles of painful cold ice against my skin.
“What’s wrong?” Liam asks.
“Evie,” I whisper. “She’s right next to us.”
With a hiss, she jerks her head unnaturally fast toward Liam and pushes her face into his neck. “He smells so good, doesn’t he?” Evie purrs. “So sweet and yummy. Good enough to eat.” She licks her pale lips.
Liam tucks his chin, closing exposure to his neck almost as if he can feel what Evie’s doing.
“Can you hear her?” I wonder aloud.
“No. But I think…” I raise my eyebrows at him. “I think… she’s trying to make me feel uncomfortable. I don’t know, it’s weird,” he shakes his head as if trying to convince himself that idea is crazy. “Never mind.”
Evie huffs backward and then looks at me again. Her eyes are bluer now, but the dark circles surrounding them make her look sickly. And her once dewy looking skin now appears whiter, almost chalky. She looks over me, taking in my scared expression, very much appreciating what she sees.
“Relax, Breckin. I’m here for a peace offering,” she says in a lazy tone. I narrow my eyes. I don’t trust her, not at all. And something about the way she said it – too nice. I press my face into Liam’s chest, waiting for her to continue. “It is our anniversary after all, and I’m here to ask Liam if he would like to meet me – and well, you of course, too, being he can’t hear me without you – meet me at the place where we last saw each other. The place it all ended.”
“You want to meet him… where the accident happened?” I ask slowly and quietly. It almost seems too good to be true. Evie nods slowly, deliberately and places a cool and taunting smile on her lips. “Why?” I hiss. “Why there? Why now?”
“Call me sentimental. It’s time to say good-bye.”
And with that, Evie vanishes.
“What is it? What is she saying?” Liam asks urgently.
“She’s gone now. But she wants to meet you… us, at the place where you both were last together – where the accident happened.”
“The Hollow Site,” he gasps. “Breckin! This is good news! That’s one less psycho-banshee we have to worry about getting there!”
“I don’t trust her,” I whisper.
I feel colder on the inside now, colder than the frigid arctic air swirling around my skin as ice shoots throughout my veins and my head has become dizzy. Liam’s right; we now don’t have to worry about how we’ll get Evie to the Hollow Site, but still… I don’t trust it. It doesn’t make any sense. Just last night she was hell bent on making him miserable, possibly wanting him dead, and now she wants to say goodbye? And I’m supposed to believe that now she’s just so willing to leave me alone after all the times she’s threatened me? I reach into my pocket, grabbing the smooth purple stone Carling had given me. I squeeze it in my fingers, so hard my knuckles crack and I feel the skin taut over my bones, willing it to help me.
“What do we do about Joseph?” Liam asks, putting a long finger under my chin to bring my eyes up to his.
“I guess we go and just hope to high hell he shows up.”
“But…”
“What else do you want me to do, Liam? Joseph?” I call. “Joseph, are you there?” I’m being callous, but the reality of our situation is fast approaching and I’m beyond terrified. I don’t know how to summon a ghost or get one to follow me, so how am I supposed to figure out how to get Joseph to us? This is a question I’d never had answered by Sera or worked out on my own. I’m as clueless now as I was when Sera first told me of what I had to do. I feel completely exposed and vulnerable and impuissant.
“Amazing. You can still manage to be sarcastic under extreme pressure. Okay, then. Fingers crossed he’s there.” Liam agrees.
“I’m sorry,” I sigh. “I just…”
“You don’t have to say anything, Breckin. I know.”
The look in Liam’s eyes shows that he does know. He’s feeling all of the things I’m feeling. I see the fear and the anxiety behind his eyes while his face has lost any and all remnants of the smile he’d worn so much today. I put my glove covered hands up to his face, pulling him to me, and kiss him. He wraps his long fingers around my wrists, holding me there for a moment and then releases me. I climb into the car as Liam walks around to get into the driver’s side and
starts the engine.
“Breckin,” he says while staring at the ice covered windshield.
“Yes?”
“If something happens tonight –”
“Liam, don’t.”
“Let me get this out,” he snaps.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur.
“If something happens tonight, to you, you have to know that I’ll never forgive myself. And I’ll never forgive you. I shouldn’t be agreeing to have you do this. I understand why you’re doing it, really I do, but it’s selfish of me to have you go through with it. I should just turn this car right around and take us home.”
“It’s not selfish,” I answer, shaking my head.
“Breckin, please. I’ve witnessed firsthand what they’re both able to do to you and it drives me completely mad.”
Liam turns to face me head on and stares deep into my soul. There’s a curious light behind his eyes that penetrates deep into mine although his face is one of abrupt seriousness and complete worry. It shatters my heart to see him this way, and I know that I have to keep it together. I have to hide any signs of fear that are probably very well plastered all over my face. I need him more than I need air to breathe and I cannot and will not have Liam distracted by my own panic and apprehension. I will no longer be the weak little girl afraid of her gift. The girl who shies away from what she can do, who shuts it out. The girl who is overcome with a fit of panic every time something bad happens. I will be strong and confident. I’ll be the girl who owns the situation rather than allowing the situation to own me. I will do this, and I’ll do it for Liam. I compose my face as best I can and give him a very small smile.
“We can do this,” I reassure.
“Goddammit, Breckin,” he snaps. “I should be keeping you as far away as possible from these… these… these things! Protecting you. But yet here I am, against my better judgment driving you straight to them!”
He’s completely losing it. His well-placed facade of composed features have now morphed into a fit of unnerved rage, with nostrils flared and jaw tight. His chest is rising and falling quickly beneath his wool coat and I think this is the closest I've ever seen Liam to hyperventilating – usually I’m the one freaking out. He’s gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his hands are white against the bone with veins protruding like thick ropes beneath paper, shaking so hard the dash is rattling beneath him. I have to calm him down. Evie and Joseph are beginning to ruin our lives and I know deep down maybe that was Evie’s plan all along.
“We can do this,” I repeat. “And I promise, I’ll be fine.”
“You can’t possibly know that,” he whispers.
“Maybe not. But with you next to me I know I’ll be safe.”
“I can’t protect you. Not from this.” His words echo in my ears as I remember saying the exact same phrase to him what seems like lifetimes ago. His voice is almost inaudible when he continues. “I can’t lose you, Breckin. I won't.”
“And I can’t lose you.” I murmur.
His eyes squint with subtle confusion, but I still decide to keep it to myself that he’s in just as much danger with his spirit attachment. Hopefully very soon, it will no longer be an issue.
Tears fill my eyes even though I’ve promised myself that I wouldn’t allow it. But it isn’t panic or fear that has released these tears; it’s the realization that everything that’s happened is my fault and I hate seeing Liam this way. If it weren't for me, Liam would never even know ghosts and spirits and whatnot exist. I’ve turned his life upside down with all that’s happened and I’m responsible for everything that’s happened since. Now I need to fix it. I reach over to Liam and pull him close. We hold each other as tight as we can while I silently cry into his shoulder. Liam caresses my hair and there is a tiny part of me that feels like this is some sort of silent good-bye. As if this will be our last night together and knowing what I know, it terrifies me greatly.
Big Ben begins to chime, signifying that the hour is now midnight. The bells sound out in finality as Liam and I look into each other’s eyes one last time before he speeds away leading us to our fate.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The weather has turned very bad. It’s snowing, casting thick walls of white across the road and the wind whips furiously causing the car to shake as we drive. Liam remains unaffected by the bad weather as he navigates purposefully down the narrow roads. He does manage to slow a bit after we slide, hitting a patch of ice. We remain quiet – I, letting him focus on the road ahead and trying to keep myself calm, and him, well, I can’t be sure where his thoughts are now. Every nerve ending in my body has come alive from fright, my sensations on high alert, my stomach flipping with unease. I concentrate on breathing evenly, in and out, thinking and strategizing of what I am about to do.
“Just a few more minutes,” Liam announces, breaking the tense silence.
I nod to signify that I’ve heard him but remain silently staring ahead. Snow continues to whip past in front of us making it almost impossible to see where we’re going. But Liam doesn’t appear uneasy, at least for the driving part of our mission. I give him a sideways glance though, and see his jaw is still held tight with teeth grinding, nostrils remaining flared. His eyebrows are furrowed over his careful eyes and his lashes cast dark shadows over his cheekbones from the light in the dash. I automatically reach my hand over to his and squeeze his fingers just so that we can be touching in some way. The car slows and Liam pulls off into a shallow ditch.
“Is this it?” I ask quietly.
“Yes. This is it.”
I look ahead and see the road curving to the right, and there are massively broad trees all the way to the road line, effectively blocking our view of the bend ahead. All that’s visible in front of us through the white sheets of snow is about fifty yards of pavement and the enormous tree trunks now painted in wispy lashings of crystallized ice giving the appearance of an empty paint canvas covered in glass. I focus more closely and feel a prickle of wonder as I see what’s in front of us. I quickly zip up my coat, throw on my hat and open the car door.
I run, fighting against the wind stinging my eyes and skin. I haven’t run very far – only about twenty yards – but when I see that what I’ve discovered is not a trickery of the eye or from impaired sight due to the snow, I skid to a stop.
“What are you doing?” Liam shouts from behind me.
I stand in the middle of the road, looking all around me for an explanation as to why this certain section of pavement has not been covered in snow or drifts like the rest of the road. I can see where my boots have trailed snowy footfalls behind me, to the place where I’ve stopped, but all around in a wide oblong area there is black beneath my feet. It’s wet, appearing as though rain has splashed here instead of a wintery blizzard. I glance up, expecting to see trees or a bridge or something else that will explain as to why this certain area of road looks the way it does.
“Look at this,” I say, pointing down. “Why do you think the road doesn’t have any snow covering it here?”
Liam appears puzzled as he squints through the whipping wind to look at me. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you see it?”
“See what?”
“The road here is just wet and black without any snow. That’s so weird,” I say, looking around as if it might change before my eyes.
“Breckin,” Liam murmurs cautiously. “I don’t see what you’re talking about. The road is just as covered with snow as the rest.”
I wrinkle my eyebrows and blink against the biting wind. I look around some more to make sure that I’m not imagining it.
“You don’t see it?” Liam asks as he puts a glove covered hand to my face.
“No,” I whisper, shivering. Although I’m sure it isn’t the cold causing me to shudder; there’s something terrifying about this.. “It just looks wet here. And it goes all around.” I turn on my feet, pointing to the areas I can only see wet pavement and bare dirt and browned grass. It begins
to rain then, very heavily, and I feel the cold droplets soaking my clothes. Some escape down my back shivering all the way down the length of my spine. “Great, now it’s raining.”
“What are you talking about?” Liam sounds as though he thinks I’m going crazy. “There isn’t any rain here. It’s snowing like mad, but no rain.”
“Are you sure this is the place?” I ask warily. I know in my gut it is.
“I’m positive. Look over there,” Liam answers, pointing toward the bend in the road. There, I can see a small white cross with artificial pink flowers tied to its base. Across it, it reads: Forever Loved, Forever Missed. “Evie’s parents put it there.” He shrugs.
I swallow back the horror that has risen in my throat. This is definitely the place and that means Evie will be appearing any moment for her good-byes. Liam seems edgy and agitated as he stares at the monument meant to remember the once love of his life. I remove one of my gloves and reach up to caress his cheek as he continues to stare fixatedly ahead of him. When my hand meets his skin, he grabs hold of my wrist to stop me. His grasp on me is hard, almost to the point of pain, and the look in his eye has turned furious.
“Don’t touch me,” he snarls as he finally manages to look down at my confused expression.
“Liam, what’s wrong? Look, I know this is going to be difficult. But we have to do it. Please don’t be angry with me. I need you. I can’t do this without you.” His grip on me tightens further and he twists his fingers around so that my arm is now against my chest, constricting me from being able to move.
“I don’t want anything to do with you,” he growls. He’s brought his face within mere inches of mine, staring into the depths of my soul with eyes that depict nothing but a raging hatred I’ve never seen before.
“Liam, you’re hurting me.” I say calmly. I try to flex my fingers, but even those cannot move.
That’s when he backhands me. His hand had swung back and struck so swiftly and so suddenly that I have to catch up in my head to recall that it actually had happened. I hold my palm to my burning cheek, more in shock than from pain, and I see his eyes have gone completely gray - all the warmness and color of my two oceans gone.
Hollow Sight Page 61
