“I’m sorry.” He dropped his head in sadness. “Maybe we can start somewhere else?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s been a long time since someone has come around that I’ve wanted to spend time with. I don’t want to scare you off.”
“Well, I’m not interested.”
He nodded. “I can take it slow.” Even though he tried to hide it, I could see the twinkle in his eye that made my stomach flutter. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Black.”
“Obviously.” He grinned. “What else?”
“Purple, I guess.”
“Why’d you move here?”
“That’s a long story…”
Cade shrugged. “I’ve got time.”
“My parents got a divorce about six months ago then my mom died. After that, I stayed with my grandmother but decided to move here to help take care of my brother.”
“Your dad couldn’t do that?”
“Yeah, probably, but he’s got issues with everything that’s happened.”
“Don’t we all?”
I sighed. “What about you? You seem to have it all together.”
He laughed. “It’s just a façade. I’ve done some fucked up shit in my life. Nothing to brag about.”
“Like what? I bet I’ve done worse.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve got a nasty temper.” He smiled wickedly.
“I’m not scared of you.”
He leaned in closer to me, and I could feel the same passion I’d felt in the closet tingle in my stomach. “I’m not the one you should be afraid of.”
My mouth suddenly went dry as I pulled back from him. “Then who should I be afraid of?”
With a shrug, he sat back. “You wanna bet on who is crazier?”
“Yeah.”
“And if you win?”
“You leave me alone about my scars.”
“Deal. If I win, you have to tell me about your past.”
He held out his hand and waited for me to make a decision. As much as I wanted to tell him no deal, I enjoyed having him there. I hadn’t felt able to open up to anyone else that I’d met so far. Whatever was between us seemed normal and easy, or maybe I was just going insane in the house.
“Deal.” I shook his hand, and he squeezed it tightly before placing it on his leg.
He started. “I’ve drank underage.”
“So have I. I’ve smoked pot.”
“Me too. I’ve stolen random stuff.”
“Cade, that’s shitty!”
He shrugged. “Well, you wanted the truth!”
“I’ve snuck out at night.”
Cade moved closer to me and leaned in to whisper close to my ear. “I’ve had sex. Lots and lots of sex.”
My face flamed a bright red. “So? I have too.”
“Just thought you should know. When did you cut yourself last?”
“It’s been at least two months.”
“I’ll never understand it. Why’d you do it?”
“When I was a freshman, I survived a school shooting. That was the first time.”
His head snapped up to look at me and something unreadable passed behind his eyes. “Really?” At first he sounded intrigued, then his voice changed to concerned. “I mean, that’s terrible, what happened?”
What a weirdo.
I looked away from him. Opening up to anyone was a risk. Heartache was soon to follow that sort of thing.
“Come on, you can talk to me.”
I shook my head and sighed. Hadn’t I talked enough about my past enough with my therapist to feel better talking about it to other people? Shouldn’t all that hard work warrant talking to someone who seemed to care and try to build up trust? It might be helpful to have someone close by, at least have one person around that understood me.
“It’s…it’s kind of hard to talk about.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. “This boy was picked on pretty bad.”
“Yeah? Who picked on him?”
“My boyfriend at the time. He was an ass.”
He seemed shocked. “I would’ve never thought you’d date someone like that.”
“Sometimes you don’t really know someone until you’re with them and, well, that was how it was.”
“So, what happened?”
“I was sitting with my boyfriend in class, waiting for it to start when he walked in.”
“Holy shit. How did you get out?”
I shrugged. “Luck I guess?”
“I don’t believe in luck. Everything happens for a reason. Tell me what happened.”
Reaching down, I fiddled with the edge of my shirt. “He just walked in and shot the teacher.” The sound of a gun going off echoed in my mind, and I closed my eyes to block it out. I could still picture it clearly in my head.
“What happened then?”
My eyebrows came together in concentration as I recalled the memory. “When he turned on the students, the history teacher next door came in and tackled him.”
“So, he didn’t get your boyfriend?”
“No…but he killed a few kids wandering in the halls before he got to my classroom.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, and it was all my fault.”
“Why? It’s not like you did it.”
“No, but I didn’t stop my boyfriend from bullying him. And that kid was so smart. He was just odd and didn’t really fit in.”
“That’s not your fault.” He took my face in his hands. “All that is on him. On both of them. You couldn’t have known what would happen.”
“Maybe not…but I see looking back that it was wrong and I should have said something to someone.” I looked up at him. “Doesn’t that make me somewhat responsible?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve done some pretty fucked up things when I was messed up.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah…but you have to leave the past in the past, ya know?”
“I guess…I try to leave it all behind me and not react like I used to…I tried a lot of stuff after the shooting while I was trying to recover. I didn’t know what to do, other than look for a high or cut.”
“What did you do?”
“Long story short? We moved into a different town, and my parents forced me into therapy.”
“Did it help?”
“A little I guess. I’ve been able to ward off the nightmares for the most part.”
“That sucks. High school wasn’t great for me either, but nothing like that ever happened.”
“Did you go here?”
“Yeah, for my senior year and first year of college.”
“That’s cool I guess…”
“So, why did you end up cutting again?”
The question seemed to come out of nowhere.
“I don’t really want to talk about this anymore.” That was a fresh wound in my heart, one that hadn’t scabbed over yet.
“I know how you feel. You can trust me. I’ve been there, but you probably wouldn’t have agreed with my solution.”
That piqued my attention. “And what was your solution?”
“I don’t want to talk about it right now. Let’s just say that you wouldn’t approve. Right now, I’m worried about you.”
Don’t fall for that Briar, I begged myself. You are smarter than this. He’s just trying to get in your head. Remember, no boys. Boys just cause trouble.
“Well, if you can’t tell me about you, then I’m not telling you anything else about me.”
“Oh, come on, we can’t dwell on the past forever.”
I eyed him suspiciously.
“Briar, I know what it’s like to drown yourself in something. I’d get high and do all sorts of crazy shit because—”
“It made the pain go away.” I finished his sentence. I understood that part, but I just wished he would tell me what he did to cope. Maybe it was something I could try. Drugs were off the table because they didn’t really do anything but get me into
trouble. They didn’t help my mother either when she used them for the same reason.
“I’m so sorry something that terrible happened and made you hurt yourself like that.”
“When my mother died, I took a bunch of pills and ended up in the hospital. My dad freaked out and made me feel like shit.”
Cade reached out to take my face in his hands. “Please don’t do that again.” His voice sounded desperate. “I’ve never met anyone with such light inside of them. You shine with it. The world would be a dull place without you in it.”
What he said was sweet, and I felt a swelling in my chest, but I didn’t trust him. I forced myself not to believe him. “I’m kind of a downer, actually.”
“You’ll have to convince me of that, I don’t believe it. I can see the insecurity in your eyes. You try to be tough, but you’re not. You’re compassionate for your friends. And seriously, I would do awful things to your flawless, pale skin. Things that would make you blush.” He bit his lip and looked at me with intensity in his eyes.
I blushed. “Stop it.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere with me.”
“I’m not trying to flatter you; I’m trying to build you up.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Whatever.”
“Fine, don’t believe me, but you know you like it.”
“Good luck with that. You’re full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“No, Briar, I just know what I want, and what I want is you.”
Slowly, he leaned in toward me, pausing just before he closed the distance between our lips to see if I would stop him. When I didn’t, he pressed them softly to mine and closed his eyes. My own fluttered shut as I trailed my hands up his chest and around his neck. Kissing him was unlike anything I had felt before, and I couldn’t ignore the flutter of butterflies in my stomach.
It was an innocent kiss, and when he pulled back from me, he rested his forehead on mine. “I can’t get enough of that.”
“If you don’t stop stalking me that might be the last kiss you get.”
“I’m not stalking you!” He sat back in shock.
“Really now? Sneaking into my house? Watching me from your house when I moved in?”
“I prefer to call it admiring.”
I raised an eyebrow, not impressed.
“Is that what they call it these days?”
He shrugged. “I don’t want to freak you out, sorry; I won’t show up unannounced again okay? I just get bored and wander around until something catches my attention.”
“And I’ve caught your attention?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” He leaned in to kiss me again.
I moved back away from him. “Did you really used to live here?”
“Yes, me and my parents.”
“Where do you live now?”
“Down the road. It’s a crappy place, I’m embarrassed by it, so don’t expect to see it.”
“Why’d you move?”
He paused and looked away.
“Cade?”
“Because this house does awful things to people. Awful, awful things. It brings out the worst in them; it makes them do terrible things. That’s why I came to see you originally. I came to warn you, but then I saw your bright blue eyes.”
“Shut up,” I said and pushed him. “Stop saying that shit.”
“Fine.”
“So, what things does the house make people do?”
“Didn’t your Ryder friend tell you all that? I thought you were all impressed by him and shit.”
“He’s just a friend. Yeah, he’s cute, but someone else has caught my eye.” I couldn’t deny the attraction I had to him, but I was scared to admit it out loud.
“Who’s that?” he asked and wiggled his eyebrows.
“Don’t be so full of yourself.”
He shrugged as if he didn’t care and tried to kiss me again.
“Stop that.”
“Gah, you’re so hard to please!” He laughed. “All I’m saying is don’t think too hard about cutting yourself, or you might not be able to stop yourself from doing it.”
“That’s terrifying.”
“I know.”
“How do you stop it?”
He shrugged. “Well, you could spend the whole day locked in your bedroom with me. That might help…”
My stomach flipped. Excitement buzzed under my skin at his words. There were a lot of things we could do alone, though I wasn’t sure if that was wise. I tried to be nonchalant as I replied, but I couldn’t help the mischievous smile that crept over my face. “Guess so.”
“So, she does smile,” he said sarcastically.
“When it’s worth it.”
“It must be my lucky day then.” He leaned in to try and kiss me again.
I let him to remind myself of what it felt like. Maybe the last time was just a glitch in my senses. His fingers slid across my cheek and into my hair, pulling my face to him. He kissed me softly on the lips, leaving an otherworldly tingle as he pulled back from me. The darkness in his eyes was almost frightening, and I wasn’t sure what it meant.
“You have the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re almost black.”
“I guess that goes with my damned soul.”
I pushed him and tried not to laugh at his joke. He was so cute. He looked so innocent, even though I had a sinking feeling that he was hiding something from me.
“I think I might believe in ghosts no. You wanna hear my scary ghost story?”
“What’s that?”
“One of these crazy ghosts threw a knife at me the day of the party. That’s why I had the bandage on.”
The smile that had stretched from ear to ear faded, replaced with one I hadn’t seen before. It was angry, dangerous.
“What?” he demanded. It was almost as if the whole room filled up with something heavy; I felt like I needed to get up and run from the room. It was completely different from what I’d seen from him in the short time I knew him.
“I was helping my dad take down that awful wallpaper when the knife flew across the room and sliced my arm. You won’t believe it, though; the blood went into the wall! It was insane!”
He frowned and stood up from the bed with a growl. “I will fuck them up for this.”
“What? Who?”
“Those damned ghosts! Don’t worry about it. I will take care of it.”
“You really think it was a ghost?”
“It had to be. Knives don’t just fly across the room.”
True. “Well, Dad doesn’t believe me.”
“Listen to me,” he said as he came to stand directly in front of me. “I know how to deal with these things. I will make sure they leave you alone. No one is going to hurt you as long as I’m around. No one.”
Chapter Nine
“You missed it, Briar,” Ryder exclaimed as he sat in the seat beside me.
“What are you talking about?” I stifled a yawn. Cade and I had stayed up too late watching horror movies and talking about our favorite things. I was exhausted.
Celeste joined us and sat on Ryder’s desk. “It wasn’t awesome. Don’t listen to him. It was insane.”
Ryder smiled and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. “Apparently, the Ouija board awakened something from beyond the grave.”
“Don’t be too dramatic now,” Celeste said and pushed him playfully.
“That’s the only way to tell the story!” He looked over at me. “Okay, so, when you went into the closet, one of the girls at the party started screaming and freaking out. Her eyes turned into this weird creamy white color and—ah—it’s just so crazy. You have to watch it. I can’t do it justice.” He pressed a few buttons on his phone and handed it to me.
With a sigh, I clicked play on the video. I didn’t want to know what had happened while I was in the closet. The second the video started, shaky as Ryder tried to hold it up over people’s heads to see the girl, my stomach sank. Th
e random girl who had been sitting with us the night of the party stood there with blank eyes. Her head tilted left and touched her shoulder, right to touch the other, and then her mouth fell open, releasing the most otherworldly scream I’d ever heard.
Everyone in the room started to panic. They ran away from her as she lifted her hands to the sky and began to laugh manically. Her voice was deeper than it was when she’d spoken to me, and cuts appeared on her arms.
“You don’t belong here!” she cried as her body jerked back and forth. “Get out! Get out!”
No one even tried to help her; they ran for their lives as the poor girl continued to be cut up and possessed by whatever the hell demon had a hold on her. It was the scariest thing I’d ever seen in my life, hands down. It topped everything that I’d lived through, all the horrific things I’d seen firsthand.
I saw Meredith trying desperately to open the closet door on the other side of the room to get Cade and me out of there. When there was only Meredith and Ryder left, the girl fell to the floor unconscious.
“Holy shit,” I breathed and handed the phone back to him, trying to hide the terror from my voice.
“I have never seen anything like this, except for in movies,” he said.
“You’ve never even seen a ghost,” Celeste pointed out.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t expect to see this! She was freaking possessed!”
“Who was she?” I asked.
Ryder shrugged. “I dunno.” He looked at Meredith expectantly.
She shook her head. “I have no clue. I invited some friends who invited some friends who invited some friends. She could have been anybody.”
“Which is exactly why the party needed to be kept small, with just us,” I said. “Now some girl out there has been possessed and is going to start spreading even more rumors about my house!”
“It’s bad enough, Briar, no need to get all crazy,” Celeste said and stood up. “Besides, it’s all in good fun. You’ve got balls to stay in that house.”
“Or you could move out,” Meredith added.
“I can’t just move out, not right now.”
“If you wanna live, you might wanna do that.”
“Mer!” Ryder scolded before turning his attention to me. “Listen, if you ever need anything you let me know. I don’t want some ghost bringing you down like everyone else who has lived there. If you see anything, I mean anything out of the ordinary you call me. We will figure out what to do.”
Ghostly (Darkly Devoted Book 1) Page 6
