'Til Fear Do Us Part (A Grim Awakening Book 1)

by Michelle Gross

  I closed the book. “Killian.” I didn't know why I whispered it. I wasn't expecting him to be listening.

  “Melanie.” I jumped despite being the one that called him here. He stood at the end of my bed.

  “You scared me,” I mumbled, still a bit spooked. He shrugged his shoulders.

  “What do you want?” he asked. I rose from my belly and straightened my back. It popped a few times from being in that position for so long.

  “What makes you think I want something?” Of course, I did. Why else would I call his name?

  “You mean, you called me in your room this late for nothing at all.” He tested me, smirking.

  I went all defensive. “You are supposed to protect me, right?” I challenged, moving off the bed and closer to him. Once I was close, I pushed my index finger into his chest. “I was attacked today, where were you?” His grin turned to pure mischief. I was surprised at how young it made him look. And playful.

  “You mean your encounter with the ghosts at the cemetery?” His booming laughter filled the room, fueling my anger. How could he laugh when I had been so afraid? He stopped when he saw the murderous glare I was giving him. “Relax, you weren't in danger. They couldn't harm you.”

  “One of them touched me,” I argued.

  “Melanie, what did you really feel? Think about it, it was the chill of your body going through his. He reached for you, but could never actually hold you there.” I tried to think back to what happened, was I wrong? I was so sure he grabbed my arm. “You felt the pull of him trying, for him to hurt a human, he would need to become a poltergeist. He wasn't at that stage and he never will be.” I sighed. “But thanks for the entertainment, it was quite interesting watching you freak out when they went for you.” I opened my mouth to snap at him. “Answer me this, if you're so afraid of ghosts. Why did you go to that cemetery?” he questioned.

  I closed it back, pulling at a strand of my hair that trailed over my breasts. “I haven't seen any of the ghosts at school lately, I thought maybe... I couldn't see them anymore.” Big mistake. It sounded stupid now that I thought about it.

  “It's because of me.” He moved away from me and I followed him with my eyes.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Ghosts run from me.”

  “Why?” He flopped down on my bed and ruffled his hands through his hair.

  “Ghosts don't cross me if they wish to stay in the human world.” He started rummaging through my nightstand. Another invasion of privacy, I rolled my eyes. But I was also becoming a tad curious of him as well. I wasn't afraid of him as much as I should be. He oozed danger like it was a part of him. But there was something that felt human. I shook my head, erasing all thoughts of him. What was I thinking?

  “You're not going to tell me what you are?” I asked again.

  He pulled out a notebook from the stand and I reached out to grab it from him. “You will know soon enough.” Another blank answer. I bent over to grab the notebook as he raised it in the air. My foot slipped on the carpet when I rose too quickly to take it. His arms went out for me so that my head wouldn't hit the stand. Air rushed out of my lungs as he jerked me back. I fell onto him. My head hit his chin and he grunted. I moved my head rubbing it as I met his eyes.

  “Sorry.” My words got lost somewhere in the depths of his eyes. Our noses met, I realized I was practically in his lap but I didn't move. Not yet. Something about the way he looked at me stole my reason to. He wasn't human, but he was a male and I was being reminded of that as I felt the hard press of him underneath my hands as I held us apart by pressing against his chest. He was scary. He was...

  He looked different up close, I couldn't look away.

  Something stirred in my chest and that's when I chose to lean away. The room was quiet as Killian watched me move away. I turned my head, faking a yawn, trying to ease the weird tension in the room. Everything felt strange. “Is your head okay?” he asked.

  I remembered the reason for the fall and snatched the book from his hand. “All that for a notebook?” he teased, but something about the way he spoke seemed softer. Or maybe it was just me.

  “I scribble nonsense when I can't sleep. Nothing I want people to read.” Which was something I did a lot. Words were my comfort; with a good book, I could escape all my troubles. Somewhere along the way, I started jotting down things of my own.

  “I see.” The lamp started flickering.

  “Will you stop doing that?” I asked nervously.

  “The dark isn't so bad, Melanie.” He knew I was afraid of the dark. “I should go.” I frowned as soon as he said that. “You're disappointed.” He noticed, a hint of softness touching his lips. Maybe even satisfaction. “Why?”

  “Just...” I trailed off.

  “Sleep, humans need it.” He patted for me to lay down. He still sat on the bed. I gave him a hopeful nod and moved onto the bed beside him. I laid down turning my body in the direction he sat. “Are you comfortable?” he asked. I grabbed my favorite quilt and placed it over me before nodding. He twisted his body to face me better. The last thing I remembered was his palm touching my forehead.

  Chapter Eight

  My cell phone woke me up around noon. I lifted my head up. My hair covered a good portion of my face as I felt for it on the stand. “Hello?” I answered groggily.

  “Are you still asleep?” Tess asked, surprised. “When are you coming over? Just tell your mom that you're spending the night,” she added.

  “I know,” I grumbled. She was always lecturing me like a child, like I didn't know how to lie to my mom? I did it every day while pretending to be normal. But this was different and I never told a fib just to go to a party. I could probably tell her the truth and she'd be happy that I was doing normal teenage things.

  “Okay, don't take all day.” She hung up.

  I showered and ate a bite before leaving, arriving about two hours later. I told Mom I was staying at Tess's, which wasn't a lie. I just excluded the part about us going to a party. When I walked in, Tess was wearing a pair of shorts that barely covered her butt cheeks. It was going to be chilly tonight, I hoped that wasn't what she was wearing to the party. I wore a white tank top and jeans and brought a thin jacket to put on when it got chilly.

  While waiting to go to the party, we sat in her room listening to music. She painted my fingernails and toes. After a long argument about makeup, I finally gave in and let her apply a little on me. She always looked pretty, so maybe she could do some magic on me.

  “I'm leaving Tessa.” Her mom peeked her head in the door. “You girls be good and I'll be back sometime tomorrow night.”

  “We will,” Tess replied.

  “Tell your brother for me,” she said, shutting the door behind her.

  Speaking of Ryan, I glanced around her room. They were both unorganized and messy. She had a television in her room and a pink laptop sitting on a desk, hidden under a pile of clothes. Her iPad was next to her feet on the bed. I knew their parents were well off when it came to money but rarely where they home. “Where is your brother?” I asked.

  “He went with Mike and his brother to get the alcohol.” I arched my eyebrow and she added. “Mike's brother is twenty-four.” My mouth went up in a O. So, that's how they were getting it. I felt a little nervous about tonight. I felt like I was about to do something bad just because I wanted to drink alcohol at least once before something succeeded in killing me.

  “Will there be a lot of people?” I asked.

  “Probably a few from school and Mike's brother.” She shrugged, sliding off her bed and running to her closet. She rummaged through her clothes. “Found them!” she squealed. By 'them' she meant a pair of ripped jeans.

  ____________

  There were more than a few people. Ryan drove us, the drive took twenty minutes. It wasn't that the drive was a long one, but the bumpy dirt road going up several steep hills made it take longer. The strip job was no longer a mining place, grass covered the open field. It w
as surrounded by small mountains that held four-wheeler tracks going up and down. Everything was still the color of summer, but up here in the mountains, some of the trees were already beginning to change to fall.

  Once we arrived, I stepped out of Ryan's huge truck. There was a lot of people I recognized from school and there was even more that I didn’t. I wasn't a social butterfly like Tess or Ryan so I didn't know these people, even the ones I went to school with. I moved around the truck awkwardly. I was glad I chose walking shoes. The grass was spotted, missing some in spots while in other places it was high. I watched Tess skip through the grass in flip-flops.

  “I told you to wear tennis shoes,” I said as I walked behind her.

  “You know I don't wear any type of shoe unless it's flip-flops, boots, or flats,” she replied.

  I shook my head. Ryan met me at the tailgate of his truck with a goofy grin on his face. I smiled back. The sky was darkening and people moved their trucks into a circle, providing light while someone started a fire. Music blared, pouring out of the back of a truck. That was also where all the alcohol was. It was a lot, my definition of a lot and someone else could be different but I couldn't imagine everyone drinking that much.

  But...

  There were quite a few people here, some drinking and others already drunk. “Well,” I said. People bumped and rubbed against each other as they danced. The grass flattened where they danced, the steady movement of everyone's shoes making their own dance floor. Not only were there grinding as people danced, tongues collided, and other body parts meshed together as well. Girls humped each other’s legs, well they were dancing, but it looked entirely like humping. A few guys stood to the side, watching the girls and laughing at someone's joke.

  “What do you think? Too much?” Ryan asked in my ear. I met his eyes and smiled. I honestly didn't know what to think. I was out of my element.

  Tess pressed into me and grabbed my arm. “Let's go grab you a drink.” She smiled and led us to the tailgate of the truck that held all the alcohol. Ryan followed behind us. Tess picked up a bottle and cup, filling it up before handing it to me. “Here, drink up.” She grinned.

  I brought it to my nose and sniffed. Woo, it was strong. Smelt nasty. “What is it?” I hesitated.

  “Vodka.”

  They watched as I brought the cup to my mouth and took a drink. I sputtered, but swallowed it down. It burned my neck and stomach as it slid down. “That was horrible.”

  Ryan grabbed my cup. “Here, orange juice or Cola will make it better.”

  “Hello gorgeous.” Mike sneaked up behind Tess wrapping his arms around her. She leaned back and smiled.

  “Orange juice or coke?” Ryan asked. I sighed, did I have to choose either? This was what I came to do.

  “Surprise me,” I told him. He picked the orange juice. After pouring some into my cup, he handed it back to me. I took another sip. Much better. Not something I was in love with, though. I took another drink.

  “Better?” he asked, grabbing a beer and taking a huge gulp.

  “A little.”

  “Come on, Melanie. Let's dance.” For someone that wanted me with her brother, she loved taking me away from him. I laughed when I caught the desperate look on his face as she pulled me away.

  Then he caught me by surprise. “Not so fast.” He grabbed my arm and it caused me to spill some of my drink.

  Tess grumbled before she let me go. “Let's go, Mike.” She latched onto his arm and disappeared into the crowd of music and laughter. Someone bumped my back pushing me to Ryan. He caught my arms using the opportunity to pull me closer. I squeezed the drink between us and took another drink.

  “Do you want to dance?” I looked at everyone rubbing against each other and twirling. Some were acting ridiculous.

  “Um.” I hesitated.

  “Come on.” He pulled us closer to the others. He moved me to the rhythm of the music. I didn't know what I was doing, so I just followed after him. After picking up a few hip movements and random body jerking, I was starting to realize why so many people danced freakishly. I was smiling and took another drink. I felt free.

  Ryan pulled me closer, I let him. I went for another drink but there were none. “I need more.” I held my cup out to him. He grinned before he went to get it for me. He came back with more and we danced some more. My second cup was empty before I knew it. So, he got me another and I drunk it.

  The giggles started. Everything was suddenly hilarious.

  Wow, I tossed my head back and laughed. I didn't even care that some dude kept bumping into my back. Someone touched my butt. No... I was positive I was being groped. I wrapped my arms around Ryan's neck and laughed. “Did you touch my butt?” Ah, there again. Someone touched it again! I grabbed his hands and studied them intensely.

  Again! I held his hands and looked confused. “Huh?” Who was touching my butt then? I looked back, but we drifted a foot away from the others.

  He laughed. “Come here.”

  “My butt,” I said. He pulled me away.

  “You keep leaning against Brian's truck, no one's touching your butt. You're drunk and can hardly stand,” he told me. I looked back again. Sure enough, there was a truck.

  I grinned at it. “You ole' truck, you.” I was talking to the truck, trying to walk to it but staggered. I tried to stay still but funny thing, the ground kept moving. Or was it me? I just knew I was going to fall so I held my hands out as if I were swimming. Moving them around vigorously in front of me until I snorted.

  Woo.

  I leaned backwards. Ryan grabbed my arm. “Okay, I think you need to sit for a while.”

  I was still fighting the air, keeping myself afloat when I said. “Am not.” Then twirl-tripped into him trying to get up in his face.

  I caught his smile as he led me somewhere and sat my butt on something. I looked down. I was sure this was the truck that was getting all touchy with me earlier. I grinned. “Stay here for a second.” I was going to ask where he was going, but my words weren't coming out. I fell backwards in the truck bed and thought I was never going to pull my drunken-self back up. My head swam when I tried to make sense of what I was looking at. People dancing? That was some twisty moves I'd never seen before. Or nope, just everything's spinning because of the alcohol.

  Someone moved to me. I squinted hard, trying to make the person out. It was a woman. Pretty redhead. She was staring at everyone until I burped. It caught her attention. That was when I noticed the other half of her face was missing. How crazy looking, I laughed. I pointed at her face. Her clothes were old and worn down. She must be a ghost. “You only have half your face,” I slurred, her eyes widened.

  “You see me.”

  “Unfortunately.” I nodded, kicking my feet back and forth on the tailgate.

  “You see me.” She moved closer to me.

  “I see you're not very bright, missing half your brain and all.” I pointed at her head before grabbing my stomach. “That's what I said, didn't I?” I felt sick.

  “I shall possess your body.” Alarms went off in my drunken mind, but it took several more seconds after that before I realized I was in danger. I jumped off the truck only to crumble to my knees. It took a lot of work to figure out how my limbs worked. I looked above me as the redhead moved closer. She disappeared and I dropped my head. Boots appeared in my view and I looked back up to see a very angry looking Killian. I tried to smile, but it felt awkward—all goofy and wrong. I laughed.

  I was safe now.

  He grabbed my arms and forced me to stand on my feet. “You're a mess.” He glared. I gave him a snooty look back. I heard him mutter something about someone being a pain under his breath.

  Then an awful urge hit, I bent my legs inward and squirmed. “I have to pee,” I told him.

  “Why are you telling me?” he asked warily. Oh, I was going to burst if I didn't do something. I grabbed the button on my jeans. He grabbed my wrist. “What are you doing?”

  I looked at him as
if he were stupid. “I told you, I have to PEE!”

  Killian grumbled a few bad words while running his hand through that wild hair of his. Okay, I liked his hair. Pressure hit causing pain in my stomach. “There are people all around you. You want everyone to see you while you take a piss,” he asked, and I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. He sighed. “Never mind, you're drunk. I'd doubt you'd care but you would in the morning.” He scooped me up in his arms.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Finding you a place to piss.” I smiled. He was so sweet.

  “Thank you. My bladder and I really thank you.” I moved into his face to make sure he knew just how thankful I was. He smiled and looked up to the sky.

  “What the bloody hell am I doing here?” he muttered toward the sky.

  “Helping me pee,” I answered. “Obviously.” Even I knew the answer to that.

  He took us far from the party so that I could pee. It was dark, I couldn't see my own hand in front of me. He stood me on my feet and held my shoulders in case I was to fall. “I can't see.”

  “Which is a good thing. If you were sober, you wouldn't want people to see you.” I huffed at him before I unbuttoned my pants. I pulled my jeans down and squatted. I felt instant relief as the pressure in my stomach disappeared. I finished, but realized what I had done. “Uh-oh.”

  “What?” He sighed.

  “I think I peed on my shoes.” He let out a pleasant laugh behind me. I almost fell trying to stand back up, but he caught me under my arms from the back. I grinned in the darkness. A guy was standing behind me and my pants were to my knees. There was no way he could see anything it was so dark, but my mind was in the gutter. “Are you stepping in my pee?”

  “No.”

  I bent down to pull up my jeans and staggered back against Killian. My naked rump rubbed against him. I felt the cool touch of his jeans against my flesh. I quickly pulled them up before turning around to where he was. The action sobered me up some but not enough to shut my mouth up. “My butt rubbed against you.” When he didn't reply, I asked, “Did you see anything?”