Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set

by Amy Miles

  “I wouldn’t have used it.” She shook her head back and forth while inching backward down the hall. She gripped her wrist, blood dripping onto the dark floors. “There are things going on you don’t understand.”

  No kidding. “Then tell me.”

  She opened her mouth to speak when a loud crack ensued. The front door burst open.

  I held my knife out, warning her not to move. I wanted to grab her hand, read her and finally have the answers I’d been searching for.

  Our eyes locked, her eyes going wide and I wanted to freeze time. To hold her there. To keep her with me. No matter what she’d done, she was my mom’s sister. They were twins. Surely, they had some kind of bond that could make this woman see reason.

  Her blood dripped to the floor and my stomach rolled. I couldn’t use the knife again and the look on her face told me she understood that. Her gaze locked on mine.

  A moment later, she darted away, her ivory dress floating up behind her as she flew through the back doorway.

  Shots fired outside as she fled and I dropped to my knees, the knife clanking to the floor. My hands flew to my mouth. They’d shot her. “Colleen!”

  Footsteps pounded against the wood floor behind me and a uniformed cop pushed past me and out the back door. I sat on my knees, motionless, waiting to hear if my mom’s twin was dead or alive.

  “Mama,” I said, memories of her flooding me. Pictures flashed in my head switching from my mom to Colleen, one after another.

  “Kylie? Thank goodness . . . ” The familiar voice came from behind me and then two strong arms encircled me, crushing me sideways into his chest. “I was so scared, kiddo. I heard a scream and thought it was you.”

  “She looked just like her, Dad.” My arm felt heavy as I pointed toward the back door where Colleen had been only seconds ago.

  “Are you hurt?” He released me from his bear hug, cupped my face in his hands forcefully, and stared into my eyes—his own brimming with tears. His face was urgent, desperate—in a way I’d never seen before.

  I felt a father’s love. No matter what happened in the past, this was my dad.

  Colleen’s words rang in my head. I wanted to ask him if he’d stolen me from Devin like she had said. I was desperate to know the truth but noticed the terror in his face. What he must’ve gone through not knowing where I was, not knowing if they’d killed me. My eyes burned. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

  He planted kisses on both my cheeks, all over my forehead and then squeezed me against him again. “What do you have to be sorry about?”

  My throat tightened. “For sneaking out. For not writing you a note . . . ”

  “You’re safe. That’s all that matters.” He squeezed me so hard, it pained my sore neck and I thought my head might explode. “Everything’s going to be all right now.”

  I shook my head and pried myself free. “But they shot her—”

  A cop came through the back doorway and walked toward us. “They got away.”

  Relief washed over me, which made no sense. The woman had held a gun to me. I shouldn’t feel anything for her. But, I did.

  The cop came closer. Blonde hair, pulled back into a tight knot. No make-up. Collins.

  “They went after them in the woods.” Blondie gestured to me. “Is she okay?”

  Dad encircled me with his arm and pulled me against him again. “She will be.”

  This time, I hoped he wasn’t lying.

  ****

  Collins drove my dad, Drew and me back to Sac and we arrived at Marmaduke Medical Center a little after six a.m. Lynn was waiting for us in the emergency room.

  Drew smirked. “Ah, this brings back memories.”

  “That’s not in the least bit funny.” Lynn pulled her into a hug and lay her cheek against Drew’s bright blonde, tangled hair. “You all right?”

  “I could use a cheeseburger.” Drew acted tough but her eyes closed the instant Lynn’s arms came around her and her brows knit so hard I knew she was trying not to fall apart.

  I stood next to my dad and Collins, fiddling with my hands. I mean, here we were in the same room with the family my dad had kept from me.

  Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer. “How is he?”

  Lynn gave me a small smile. “Not in the greatest of moods, but he’ll get through it.”

  My stomach coiled as I imagined what it would be like to see Trip. I’d already gotten the details through Collins—concussion, lacerations, and bulging discs. Thankfully, after a few days in the hospital and many hours of physical therapy, he should recover completely.

  Lynn looked like she wanted to hug me, but she hesitated and turned to my dad. “Hello, Stu.”

  My dad gave her a small nod, his brows coming together. “Lynn.”

  Nobody introduced Blondie and I couldn’t help wondering why she was still here. She’d done her civic duty by driving us back to town. Didn’t she have paperwork to fill out or something?

  But I kept my mouth shut. The tension between Lynn and my dad was so thick you could chop it with an ax.

  Lynn squeezed Drew against her. “I’m sorry for all the pain we’ve caused you, Stu. I can’t tell you that I regret Hernandez finding you, or what Kylie inherited, because it brought Amanda back to me.”

  My dad stayed quiet but his face was growing redder by the second.

  “I understand why you did it. Why you and Sandy left all those years ago.” Lynn’s voice was tight and her eyes hardened. “But, it was wrong to keep Kylie from us. I never even got to say good-bye to my baby sister.”

  That did it. I hunched my shoulders, bracing myself for my dad’s explosion.

  “You put my daughter in danger.” His voice was angry. He wasn’t even attempting the deep breathing. “How safe will she be now that Devin knows about Kylie? Because of you?”

  “Stu—” Collins put her hand on my dad’s arm.

  His fists balled. “How will she be able to go to school, walk across the street, live a normal life?”

  Okay, now he was yelling. And did Blondie just call my dad “Stu”?

  His face was beet red and he started gesturing wildly with his hands. “She won’t be able to brush her teeth without worrying about them finding her again.”

  Well, not now I wouldn’t.

  Blondie rubbed my dad’s shoulder. “Stu, your deep breathing.”

  Talk about beyond her civic duty. How did she know about his deep breathing? “Are you two seeing each other?”

  Everyone turned my way, looking surprised that I was still here when—hello?—the whole argument was about me.

  My dad gave me a look. “Let’s just stay calm.”

  Yeah, like I was the one who was losing it.

  “Now is not the time or place—”

  “It never is with you.” I marched away toward the hospital rooms.

  “You haven’t changed in sixteen years, have you Stu?” Lynn’s voice echoed down the corridor behind me.

  He was dating Blondie? Another secret, and also—gross. I knew there was a reason I couldn’t stand her.

  I tried the door handle but it was locked. Duh. In all the commotion I’d forgotten the front window. I rapped on the glass.

  The girl from the other night opened the window, her hair up in that same twist and she looked like I’d just woken her up.

  “Me again.” I figured we could skip the formalities. “Open up.”

  She looked confused. “Who this time?”

  “My brother,” I said, not in the mood to go through the Upland, Indiana charade. “Trip Williams.”

  She looked unsure for a moment, then she pressed a buzzer. “Room 235.”

  “Thanks.” Now, why couldn’t it have been that easy last time?

  I reached for the door when someone grabbed my arm. “Aagh!”

  Hysterical giggling followed. “You are a walking stress case, aren’t you?”

  Keeping the door propped open with my foot, I turned to face my cousin. “And you live to scare me
half to death.”

  She shrugged. “Got to get my kicks where I can. Here.” She held out my favorite bracelet. “I told you I’d give it back.”

  “Keep it.” The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. “You never know when you might want to send me a message.”

  She gave me a confused look. “For real?”

  “Yes.” I managed that word, but not the two others I should have said. Thank you. But, the words didn’t give justice to what she’d done for me. “Drew, I—”

  “Forget it.” We exchanged a meaningful look. Five seconds later her face drained of serious emotion and she smirked. “It’ll look better on me anyway.”

  She snapped the bracelet to her wrist, winked at me, then headed back to the waiting room where there was some serious yelling going on and I’m guessing not a whole lot of deep breathing.

  Pushing the door open, I slipped inside and watched the door click shut behind me. My family’s loud voices disappeared. Yes, I still wanted answers. About my new family. About mind reading. Even about Collins—well, maybe eventually.

  But, something more urgent needed my attention. The person in Room 235. The person who was there because of me.

  ****

  Upstairs, I passed the same desk on my way to Trip’s room. A different nurse worked at a computer and nodded as I went by. Room 235, the girl downstairs had said. I paused outside the door and did a double take on the placard with his name. The name read “Nathaniel Williams.”

  Same last name. Trip must be his nickname. Duh. Still not great at detecting.

  I took a deep breath, braced knuckles in front of the door and then heard voices coming from inside. I glanced at the nurse’s station but her eyes were steady on her screen. I leaned closer to the door.

  Male voices clipped back and forth. Sounded like some kind of argument and it was getting louder. I debated leaving when the door opened.

  A man stood there with his back to me and barked through the open door. “Don’t test me, Trip. Your stubborn attitude is getting to be more than I can take.”

  The guy turned and spotted me standing beside him. His green eyes flickered.

  I gave a small wave. “Hi, Sam. Er, Detective Williams.”

  “Kylie.” He stared at me like he’d seen a ghost. “I didn’t expect you here.”

  “Officer Collins brought me.” AKA my dad’s bimbo girlfriend, but I didn’t think it’d be appropriate to call her that since they worked together and all.

  He slipped his hands into his front pockets. “You’ve had quite the night.”

  The understatement of the year. “You could say that.”

  “I’d heard you were all right but it’s good to see for myself.” He reached a hand out and muffled my hair. “You’re one tough kid.”

  I crossed my arms. “I’m not a kid.”

  He smirked. “Okay, so what do I call you then?”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” I tapped my temple, pretending to think. “How about Kylie?”

  He smiled and nodded. By the look on his face, we were finally making progress on the kid thing. “I know what went down, Kylie. You can take a lot. You’re a tough cookie.”

  I smiled at the compliment. “Thank you, detective.”

  “Call me, Sam. It’s not like we’re on a case together.” He gave me a stern look, raised his brow, then turned over his shoulder to glare in the hospital room. “Not like either of you are on a case with me. Got that, Trip?”

  No answer.

  “If you’re expecting to have a civilized discussion with him, you’re going to be very disappointed.” He moved past me into the hallway. “Best of luck, Kylie.”

  Guess that was my cue to go in.

  I shut the door behind me and moved toward the hospital bed but it was . . . empty. The room was dimly lit and all was dead quiet except for a shuffled movement and my head snapped toward the left corner of the room.

  His chair was in shadows but I could tell by the outline of his body it was Trip. He was sitting in a chair, leaning forward, with his elbows on his knees. He wore jeans, a t-shirt, and shoes. Not what I’d expected.

  I swallowed. “Going somewhere?”

  His stared down at his hands. “To find you.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “What for?”

  He stood, but I could see him wincing in pain. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  My insides tore when I saw his face. Across his left cheek was a long gash and black stitches, his surrounding skin black and blue. That had to be from when Bishop hit him with the gun. I swallowed. “You don’t have to tell me again. I get it now.”

  He took a step toward me.

  The lump in my throat got bigger. “You were right. I distracted you from the case and this was the result.” I gestured around his hospital room. “You probably hate me and I deserve that. I was stupid and careless and—”

  “I knew who you were before this case started,” he said.

  My mouth hung open. “Um, what?”

  “You’re okay, right?” He stepped toward me and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. “They told me you were fine. That they hadn’t hurt you.”

  “No, they didn’t hurt me.” Not physically at least. My forehead, however, was still tingling from where Trip had touched it. “You were saying?”

  “Oh, man. It’s harder to get out than I thought.” His green eyes filled with emotion as he took a breath. “I moved in with Sam in August and transferred to Sac Valley High before the school year started. I noticed you the first day of school, sitting in the cafeteria, listening to your friend ramble on about something.”

  Would it sound lame to make him clarify what “noticed” meant? I was having trouble believing my ears.

  “When I was washing Sam’s car that day at the station, I had my earphones in and didn’t hear you guys come up. That’s when I threw my sponge and drenched you.” He inhaled audibly. “I was so embarrassed that I didn’t say anything to you, let alone apologize. Some first impression, huh?”

  An image of him with his shirt off popped into mind. “I’ve had worse.”

  He looked like he wasn’t sure how to take that. “I broke into Sam’s computer that night to find out what you were doing with him. Not because of the case. Because of you.”

  My cheeks flushed. “That’s when you found out I was a freak.”

  “That’s when I found a reason to come up and talk to you at school.” He reached for my right hand and traced my palm. “And you’re not a freak. You’re special.”

  My heart fluttered. “Last night you said you only cared about the case.”

  “The truth?” His green eyes pierced mine. “After what I saw in the coffee shop, you were obviously mad at your boyfriend.” He released my hand. “I’m nobody’s rebound.”

  My mouth dropped open. “You mean Joel? He was never my boyfriend. How could you think I’d use you for a rebound?”

  “You’re not exactly an open book, Kylie.” He lifted my hand again. “It’s not like I can read your mind.”

  It was quiet and I felt the unspoken question. He wanted to know what I was thinking. Okay, so I wasn’t that open. And maybe I could see how my kiss in the parking lot could’ve looked like a rebound. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  His forehead wrinkled.

  Too vague. But how could I begin to explain what I was feeling? I looked up at his beautiful, battered face. “You’d be stupid to want to be with me.”

  Well, he’d asked.

  “There are scary people out there who want to kidnap me. They want me to read some guy’s mind. Some guy who killed a woman who was probably a relative of mine. There is another man in jail right now who wants to stab me to death. If I ever actually get some sleep, I’ll have nightmares for life. I can’t even do therapy to help because my fears are true. He wants me dead. I saw it.”

  His green eyes stared into mine.

  I took that as a sign that he wanted more. “I have an infinity birth
mark that appears to run in the family and I have no idea what that means. Oh, and my mom had the power of telekinesis which means she was just as big a freak as I am. I’m also guessing it’s likely I’ll pass the freak genes on to my kids as well. Apparently when one family member dies, the next generation inherits whatever she could do.”

  “Kylie—”

  “Did I mention that I’m adopted? Yeah, just found that one out. My mom ran away with my dad when she was pregnant. They kept me a secret from her family and basically went into hiding. My real dad, Devin, pointed a gun at me several hours ago. To say my life is screwed up is putting it mildly. And we haven’t even talked about my mental telepathy. If I wanted into your private thoughts, all I’d have to do is hold your hand.”

  The corner of his mouth turned up. “You don’t like secrets anyway.”

  “That’s true. But you couldn’t keep any even if you wanted to.” I dropped my head in my hands. Some guys I couldn’t talk to, but with Trip I couldn’t seem to shut up. “You asked what I was thinking.”

  “One more question.” He gently lifted my hands away until my face was exposed. “Do you want me to kiss you? Tell me what you’re thinking, honestly.”

  My breath left my lungs and I felt dizzy. “I’m thinking . . . yes.”

  He leaned toward me.

  Just before our lips met, I straightened and stared into those gorgeous green eyes. “This won’t work.”

  His brows came together. “Why’s that?”

  I looked at his black stitches and gently touched his skin below them. “Those guys will come after me again. It’s not safe. You should stay away from me.”

  “Try to make me.”

  I stepped back and threw my arms out. “Do you want to get shot and killed? Is that what you want?”

  He slipped his hands on either side of my face, his fingers brushing my jaw line, his green eyes serious. “Things happen in life that we can’t control. Life can end at any minute. I learned that from what happened to my mom. It doesn’t mean we stop trying to do the right thing.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want you in danger because of me.”

  “There’s nothing you can do to stop me from working on that case. Neither can Sam. I may not be a cop yet, but I helped them get Miller and we’ll get the others.”