Coldhearted (9781311888433)

by Matthews, Melanie

  “What forces?”

  “I don’t know if it is fate, or the concept of soul mates, but Russell’s love for you almost seems…predetermined…like he had no choice in the matter. He can’t fight it.”

  She covered her ears like a little girl, who didn’t want to hear unsettling things. “I can’t handle this right now, Adrian. Besides I care for Mason and I want him back. I can’t do that until we get rid of Tristan, and I can’t do that until we talk to Arianna.” She removed her hands from her head and stuffed them into her coat pockets. “Now are you coming or what?”

  Instead of waiting for his reply, she started walking toward the woods, next to the house. After a few seconds, she heard Russell/Adrian’s footsteps trailing behind her. She kept her head down, minding the dips and jagged rocks, until she heard another pair of footsteps on the path, coming her way.

  Edie came to an abrupt halt, looked up, and shivered at the ghost, now standing still in front of her.

  “Arianna,” Edie greeted.

  The girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes gave Edie a sweet smile. She nodded in acknowledgement and did a slight curtsey, wearing an old-fashioned, white dress, and black scuffed boots.

  “It’s nice to properly make your acquaintance, Edie.”

  Chapter 23

  “You know me?” Edie asked, stunned.

  Arianna nodded. “A part of me has been with you ever since you left Lockhart Manor. It was a weak part, but I’ve been looking after you.” She gestured at Adrian, masquerading as Russell. “When you two met, I was able to block Tristan, to make him blind, as I’m doing now. He wouldn’t like it very much if he knew you were with us,” she told Edie.

  That’s an understatement.

  “I’ve been wondering why he hasn’t appeared, throwing a temper tantrum,” Edie commented dryly. Russell/Adrian reached out and touched Edie’s hand. “What is it?” she asked him.

  He wasn’t looking at Edie, instead scanning the woods, searching. “I can’t see her, Edie. I can’t find my Arianna, my love.”

  Edie turned toward the ghost girl. “By blocking Tristan, are you blocking Adrian too?”

  Arianna shook her head. Her face was sad, as she appraised Russell/Adrian, heartbroken. “The descendant of the Lockharts, this Russell Ballantine, doesn’t believe, therefore he’s blind of his own doing. If...if Adrian were to leave Russell...”

  “I only made Adrian possess Russell in case I couldn’t see you,” Edie informed Arianna, and then turned toward Russell/Adrian. “Adrian, did you hear what Arianna said?” He shook his head. “If you leave Russell, you can see her, talk to her. I’m sorry I’ve been putting you through this. Leave Russell,” she urged.

  “It’s not your fault, Edie,” he said with a warm smile. “Besides it’s been nice feeling alive again, but I’d rather give all that up to see Arianna.”

  Adrian left Russell. He must have liked Russell’s clothes, changing the three-piece suit for a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. Russell swayed, lost his footing, and then fell on the snowy ground. Edie got on her knees beside him and felt for a pulse. She was afraid that he was dead, not able to cope with having a ghost suddenly leave his body. Then again, Tristan had done it before and Russell had recovered. To Edie’s relief, Russell’s pulse was strong. He was just out cold. It was a blessing, really, because she had business to take care of and didn’t need him bombarding her with questions.

  “He’s okay,” Edie assured, and looked up.

  Adrian and Arianna didn’t seem concerned. They were kissing each other passionately, giving off not heat but chills. Edie felt like she was in a snowstorm and yanked her woolen cap further down her face. Russell’s body shook beneath her hand, feeling the abrupt change in temperature in his unconscious state, but it wasn’t enough to wake him. Edie zipped up his coat so he could stay warm.

  “Sorry,” Adrian apologized, when he and Arianna were done reuniting. They were holding hands and Arianna looked like she was on cloud nine, smiling. “Is he all right?” he asked, indicating Russell.

  “He’s got a pulse,” Edie replied. “We’ll just let him be for now.” She stood up and faced the happy couple. To Arianna, she said, “You’ve been with me. You know what I’ve been going through. You know what my friends and my classmates (she refrained from using the word “enemies”) have been going through. I’m afraid Tristan is going to haunt someone to death. I need him out of my life for good. Do you know anything that could help me?”

  “It’s worse than you think,” Arianna said.

  She let go of Adrian and advanced toward Edie. Edie tried to control her shivering. Despite Arianna’s good nature, she was still cold as ice, as was Adrian. Edie figured that was probably why Russell, after being possessed by Tristan, lost his short-term memory, and with Adrian, fell unconscious. His warm, mortal body couldn’t take being attacked by a frosty invasion.

  Arianna reached out and touched the bare hand that Edie had used to check for Russell’s pulse. The contact was brief and Arianna withdrew her transparent, cold hand. She’d retreated too soon to generate heat as Edie had done with Adrian. Yet Edie was sure her bond with Arianna wouldn’t be the same as it was with Adrian, considering Edie was attached to his blood brother.

  “Edie,” Arianna continued, “Tristan is becoming more powerful day by day. I’ve heard whispers, voices from the wind, other spirits warning me, telling me what must be done.” She glanced at Adrian, and then turned her worried face back toward Edie. “Tristan is trying to become corporeal, solid, and he’s succeeding. He feeds off fear. The more terror he can induce, the stronger he gets, and with that, the ability to appear as a living being, masquerading as a mortal, but dead and more powerful than ever before.”

  She held up her hand, palm facing Edie, and indicated that she do the same. Edie did and they hovered like that for a while, never touching, silent. Arianna broke the silence, saying, “If Tristan becomes corporeal, he has the power to kill with just one touch. And he will kill, Edie. He’s killed before.” Adrian approached Arianna from behind and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Arianna kept her eyes on Edie, and Edie thought that she could see a tear fall down Arianna’s cheek. “A murderer doesn’t stop being a murderer,” she told Edie, and finally lowered her hand.

  Slowly, Edie lowered hers too. She was speechless, processing what Arianna had just told her. Edie knew Tristan had been getting stronger, but she didn’t know he could, if given a heightened level of fear, become—what was the word Arianna had used?—corporeal.

  “Would only I see him?” Edie asked Arianna.

  Arianna shook her head. “He’d appear as a living, breathing human, but he’d have no pulse, no human need to eat, drink, or sleep. His only goal would be to achieve his ends at any cost.”

  “And what are his ends?” Edie asked nervously.

  “You,” Arianna said succinctly. “I know you’ve disregarded it, didn’t want to believe it, but Tristan, black-hearted as he may be, loves you.”

  Edie appraised Arianna’s blonde hair and blue eyes, so like her own features. “Perhaps it’s you,” Edie threw out. “He’s just obsessed with me because he could never have you.”

  “Perhaps,” she agreed, but her tone indicated otherwise. “Or perhaps he thinks he’s found his soul mate and will kill anyone who gets in his way.”

  Edie shook her head. “I can’t allow that. I’d rather die.”

  Arianna stared into Edie’s determined eyes. “I’m glad you said that, Edie, because that’s the only way.”

  Edie’s eyes became less determined, as they bugged in disbelief. “Wait, what?”

  Arianna looked sympathetic. “I’m sorry Edie, but there isn’t a weapon that can defeat Tristan. He’s attached to you, and he’ll never leave. There is only one way: you must die and restrain him inside Lockhart Manor, so he won’t have a chance to hurt anyone again.”

  Adrian took a protective step toward Edie, but he didn’t turn his face away from Arianna. “There isn�
�t another way?” he asked her, seeking a way to save Edie.

  Arianna briefly closed her eyes. “I trust what I’ve been told.” She held out her closed hand, and then opened it; there on her palm was a dark red petal, as if it’d been drenched in blood. “The Grimlock flower is poisonous, grown here only in Grimsby, even in the most frigid temperatures. Once inside Lockhart Manor, you need to place it against your tongue. Don’t worry, you won’t feel any pain. Lie down and you’ll go to sleep. When you awaken, you’ll be a spirit, fully capable of restraining Tristan. In death, attached as you’ve been in life, you’ll be bound to each other, never to be separated. He’s strong, but you’ll be stronger. His hatred makes him weak. You can use this vulnerability to keep him in chains for the rest of eternity, saving everyone from his dark designs.” Arianna gave Edie an encouraging nod, as she pushed the poisonous flower closer to her.

  Edie retreated and collided with a nearby tree. The jolt caused the branches to shift jerkily, bringing clumps of heavy snow down upon her head. She shook it off, as well as mentally shaking off Arianna’s plan.

  “No, no!” Edie yelled. “I didn’t mean what I said before. I don’t want to die! There has to be another way! There has to be!” Edie gestured wildly in the air. “Who are these voices, these whispers you’ve heard? How do you know you’re not being tricked by Tristan or some other malevolent spirit?”

  Adrian advanced toward Edie, still protective, despite the fact that she’d just lashed out at the love of his life.

  “Edie, I know you’re scared—”

  “I’m freakin’ out!” Edie countered, now lashing out at him. From all her shouting, Russell was starting to wake, stirring, but his eyes were still closed. “I have to get him out of here. I have to get out of here,” Edie added, trying to prevent a panic attack.

  Arianna’s hand closed around the Grimlock petal, defeated. She didn’t seem upset about Edie’s outbursts, her defiance. In fact, Arianna looked just as sweet-tempered as she’d been when they’d first met.

  “Edie, what about Tristan?” Arianna then asked. “You can’t let him become corporeal. He’s going to kill. You must prevent that,” she said softly, but with no less urgency.

  “You don’t know that,” Edie argued, but a bit less forceful, trying to be civil. “Just-just stay here,” Edie said to the pair of ghosts. “I need to be alone.”

  Edie was never alone, not with Tristan, but having three ghosts hovering around her, giving her hypothermia, was just too much right now.

  “Edie,” Adrian entreated, softly.

  “Please,” she returned his plea, just as soft.

  Adrian nodded in acquiescence and retreated a few steps. He turned toward Arianna and said something in too low a whisper for Edie to hear. Arianna hesitated, and then gave a submissive nod of her own. She opened her hand and the blood red petal dropped on the snowy white ground.

  “Take care, Edie,” Arianna said in farewell. “We’ll be right here if you ever need us.”

  Edie stifled the urge to cry. She was afraid that her tears would freeze to her face.

  “Thank you,” Edie told Arianna, and then said to Adrian, “I’m glad you’re at peace.”

  “I won’t be until you are,” he said with sad, dark, blue eyes.

  They were just like Tristan’s, only Adrian’s were more beautiful, because he was good.

  Edie turned away from him and the temptation to take the flower and die, just so she wouldn’t disappoint Adrian, thus giving him the total peace that he deserved. His life was gone. Hers, at seventeen, was just beginning. How could she die now when she had so many things left to do, so many people to say goodbye to?

  Mason, oh, Mason! If you only knew what was being asked of me, would you still hate me?!

  Russell stirred again and opened his eyes. Adrian and Arianna vanished, but Edie could still feel their cold, spectral presences.

  “Edie?” he said groggily, and then sat up. “I don’t feel so good.” He blinked and looked around. “Why am I on the ground? Why are we in the woods? Where are we?”

  Edie already had a story prepared, just in case.

  She helped him up, and said, “I broke down and you happened to be driving by, so you stopped and helped, but whatever was wrong with my car wasn’t serious, and it cranked right back up.”

  He accepted that. “Okay…but why are we in the woods?”

  “You thought you saw something and went to investigate,” she lied.

  “How’d I end up on the ground?”

  “You fell,” she said, which was true. “You must’ve hit your head because you passed out,” she said next, and again, not really a lie. He’d probably hit his head, although he’d fallen in the first place when a ghost had left his body after possessing it.

  Russell reached up and raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t feel a wound.” He rubbed at his temples. “My brain feels like someone churned it in a blender, though.” He shook his head, trying to put the pieces back together, and then focused on her. “Are you all right? You’re shivering.”

  She waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah, I’m fine. Can you drive?”

  Russell took a baby step, and then another, until he was able to walk smoothly toward his car. He got inside and turned over the engine. “Uh, Edie?” he called out, after he’d shut the door and rolled down the window.

  “Yeah?” She leaned in through his side, but kept a necessary distance. “Do you still feel bad? Do you need me to call someone?” she asked, concerned.

  He bridged the gap and brought his face closer to hers. “I don’t have anyone,” he said softly, and then gave her a chaste kiss. “That’s for not leaving me in the woods, all alone.”

  She’d retreated from the car, but she wasn’t running away. She cared for Russell very much, but she wasn’t in love with him.

  “I wouldn’t have left you.” She was appalled that he’d even think that she’d do something so cruel. “Why would you say that?”

  “Don’t you wish I was out of your life for good?”

  Edie advanced and rested her hand on his. “No, Russell, not at all. It’s just…well, what you feel for me, I don’t feel the same, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you. I want you in my life, but just as a friend, okay?”

  “It’s Mason, isn’t it? You love him.”

  She didn’t know how she felt, but her heart had been hurting at the thought of never seeing him again.

  “Mason broke up with me,” she said. “I lied to him and he’ll never forgive me.”

  Russell removed the glove from her hand and kissed her palm. “He’s a fool.” He kissed the inside of her wrist. “Edie...” Her name on his lips was full of longing.

  Gently, she removed her hand from his and retrieved her glove. “I have to go.”

  “To where?” He sounded like he’d follow her to the moon and back.

  “Home. I-I want to be alone.” She put her glove back on and deftly wiped away his earlier kisses from her palm and wrist. “I’ll see you at school,” she said firmly.

  He knew that determined voice of hers and didn’t try to sway her. “See you at school,” he returned, and then drove away.

  She really didn’t want to go home, not yet. So she stood in front of Lockhart Manor and closed her eyes. As time flowed, she heard the distinctive sounds of life, and when she opened her eyes, she saw the manor, as it’d been in past, full of sounds, lights, and people. There was joyous laughter, followed by a terrifying shriek. Sorrow, jealously, and pain erupted in her mind like an electrical shock, zapping the synapses, setting them on fire.

  She hurried to her car, turned over the engine, and sped away.

  Lockhart Manor was haunted and she never, ever wanted to step foot in there again.

  ****

  “Long time, no see.”

  Edie almost wrecked her car when Tristan appeared in her rearview mirror, and then slithered out to sit on the passenger seat.

  “Are you trying to get me killed?!
” she accused, shivering.

  It was a rhetorical question. She knew that he wanted her dead.

  “Someone’s been blocking me,” he said, ignoring the question of her imminent death. “I-I’ve missed you.” His voice was soft, melancholy.

  Obviously, he’s playing a trick on me.

  “Well, I haven’t missed you,” she said coldly.

  She slowly decelerated on the icy road, and then stopped at a red light, but refused to look at him, knowing that he was staring at her with those otherworldly lapis lazuli eyes. He may have looked like Adrian, but he was the sour and murderous version of his sweet and caring older brother.

  “Liar,” Tristan accused without emotion. “You were at Lockhart Manor. Why?”

  The light turned green and she accelerated, hard, as if she were embracing her inevitable death. “I was thinking of buying the place. It’s a fixer-upper, but I like a challenge.”

  Tristan laughed. It sounded so…normal. He seemed so…normal.

  It didn’t last long as the temperature in the car plummeted.

  “What did Arianna say to you?”

  She almost lost control of the car, again. She swerved back onto the road and almost caught a patch of ice, narrowly managing to avoid it, as well as her assured death, by flying through the windshield. She’d neglected to strap on her seatbelt. Of course that wasn’t the only stupid thing she’d done since she’d arrived in Grimsby.

  She found an abandoned road that led into the woods and parked there.

  She turned toward Tristan, who was eyeing her with suspicion. “Who’s Arianna?” she asked, trying to sound clueless.

  Tristan narrowed his eyes. “Don’t lie to me!” he barked.

  Edie winced in pain at his cold anger. “She-she, uh, just said ‘hello,’ that’s all.”

  Tristan wasn’t buying it. She was expecting another eruption, but he was contained, for now. “Did she appear to you?” he asked in a curious tone.

  She didn’t know what to say. Which answer was the right answer?