Her summer sandals squelched uncomfortably as she splashed through the water. The rain began to soak her hair, and her skirt clung to her legs. She held her bag over her head as a makeshift umbrella, sprinting towards her car.
Rounding the corner to the small car park, she halted. The man from the other night leaned against her tatty blue Fiesta. The person Scarlet told her wasn't real. Lorelei dropped her bag to her side as the world lurched around her. She didn't need to get any closer, every fibre of her body shouted to her it was the man from the shadows.
And for the first time, she could see him in daylight.
Before he noticed her, she took a moment to study him. The rain dampened his dark blonde hair into curls around his ears, fringe falling casually over his face as he gazed at his shoes. His long legs were crossed at the ankles as he leant on the bonnet. Rain soaked through his nondescript blue T-shirt, hinting at a sculptured chest.
"Hello, Lorelei" He didn't look up.
That voice. It echoed through Lorelei's memories evoking an image of the one time he'd spoken to her as a child. How old had she been? Eight maybe? Back then it was soft, soothing. This time there was an edge of irritation.
A jumble of thoughts and questions flooded her mind, and she hesitated, wondering if she should turn and run. No. This was her opportunity after years of waiting. Lorelei hovered at the edge of the car park, a low wall separating them.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
The man stepped forward, pushing his damp fringe away from his brow before turning to face her. His eyes were the palest of blue, the darker circles around his translucent irises giving them an extraordinary uniqueness. He didn't reply.
"What do you want?" she said shortly, fighting the oncoming anxiety.
He said nothing, continuing to study her from head to toe. A deep crimson crept across her face. Of course—he was seeing her clearly for the first time too.
Lorelei sucked in a deep breath. This time she was in a public place. He'd have to deal with more than the frightened, confused girl he'd found outside the club.
"Talk to me! Who are you?" she said.
The man shifted his weight, glancing uneasily behind her as a young family rushed by, the mum pulling giggling children away from the growing puddles as she fumbled in her handbag for her car keys. For a moment she thought he would walk away, but he didn't.
"I'm Gabe."
Gabe. His name was Gabe. Why was that familiar? An image of herself as the small child sitting up in bed looking at him flashed across her mind. That's what he'd said to her, years ago when he spoke to her. And he'd looked exactly the same age then as the person standing in front of her now.
"I'm watching you to make sure you're safe."
"Yeah, well, Gabe, that's commonly called stalking." She summoned up as much bravado as she could manage even though her hands trembled. "And I don't think you're doing a very good job."
"There was a presence around you today, and I waited to make sure you got back to your car safely. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. I'll go now."
He turned away, starting to head out of the car park.
Lorelei stared at his retreating figure. She needed to stop him. He wasn't disappearing on her again, not without answering her questions.
"It's a bit late to apologise for frightening me now, isn't it?" she called after him. "I know who you are, and you've been frightening me my whole life!"
Lorelei closed her eyes, realising how insane she sounded, expecting him to be gone when she opened them. When she did, he'd paused and turned back, his expression dark.
"What do you mean? Frightening you?" he said sharply.
Lorelei's eyes widened—he didn't deny it. She stared back side-tracked by the sight of the rain running down his face. The face she'd spent years trying to picture in her mind.
"Why do you watch me?" She flinched as her voice cracked.
This. He had to answer this. There was one question Lorelei needed an answer to, an explanation of who watched her and why. He’d all but admitted he was the ‘who’—but why?
"You should go home." He gestured at her appearance, the rain pouring down her face.
"Don't ignore my question. If you won't tell me why, tell me who you are. Who Caleb is. You were there when Caleb attacked me. How did you know? Were you following me then?" The questions fell out of her mouth in quick succession—the more she asked, the more likely some would be answered. Surely. "Just explain what's happening."
A muscle twitched in his cheek. "It's raining."
She glared at him. "Very observant."
"I mean it's raining and that standing in the rain talking isn't a good idea." Gabe rubbed his face with his palms then wiped them on his jeans as if to confirm this. "Now isn't the right time to discuss this."
"A bedroom visit then?" she snapped, surprised at herself. "From the imaginary man that lives in the shadows?"
Gabe's eyes widened and then a crease formed on his brow. His expression was the final confirmation she needed. Without saying anything, he confirmed to her everything she imagined was true. It was him, and she wasn't insane. Sitting in the rain, in an ordinary street talking to someone all but admitted he was the embodiment of her imaginary childhood boyfriend. These things didn't happen in reality, not to normal people. But then she wasn't normal, was she? Normal people don't have their childhood haunted by men who live in the shadows and who one day become a reality.
"I need to talk to you. I need you to answer my questions," she said, voice choking with the emotions overwhelming her.
He pushed back his hair, water dripping down his shoulder. "Not now. Not yet."
"Why?" she demanded. "I know who you are now. You owe me this."
Gabe rubbed his face, carefully considering his response. "I can't get involved with your life. It's best we remain strangers."
She shivered, large drops of rain spilt down her nose and her clothes soaked against her skin. He was right about the weather, and she imagined how bedraggled she must look.
"How can we remain strangers now? Can you really go back to the shadows?" she asked.
"I'm certain you're safe now, so I'll leave you alone. I'm sorry for upsetting you."
"Of course, you are," she retorted, fixing him with the angriest look she could manage. "I should have known you'd run away again."
She got to her feet. "I'll follow you until you give me some answers—you're not the only one who can do some stalking, you know."
An amused smile pulled up the corners of his mouth as Gabe walked towards her and stepped over the wall. He'd kept his distance throughout the whole of their conversation and as he got closer Lorelei's heartbeat quickened.
Her fourteen-year-old psyche took over, gazing at him lips parted, desperate for him to reach out to her. She wasn't scared of him, not anymore, she wanted him close to her, to see him clearly. The strange blue eyes searched hers, and Lorelei's neck prickled, sure he could see all the thoughts and desires he evoked in her.
It was impossible not to stare back at his face, at the same perfect symmetry of features as Caleb's. His eyes held a mixture of wonder and of a sadness that made her want to reach out to him, touch his face. As that picture began to form in her mind, he hurriedly took a step back, shaking some water from his curling hair.
Whatever thoughts and feelings he held behind his look would be left unsaid.
"I'm sorry," he said in a voice that held a suggestion he had more to be sorry about than upsetting her that day.
She watched him turn and walk back into his world and out of hers unable to run after him. A calmness washed over her as she watched him disappear around the corner.
By the time Lorelei shook herself out of her daze and realised what he'd done, he was out of sight and too far away to call out to. She clenched her jaw—Gabe knew the effect he'd have before he approached her and somehow he'd managed to soothe her irritation. Cloud her mind to avoid answering her questions. Then he could
leave unhindered. How did he do that without her realising?
Lorelei stomped in a nearby puddle, and cold water sprayed her leg. Furious about missing the opportunity to pursue her questions. A knot twisted in her stomach. Is this the last time he would reveal himself because he apparently preferred not to see her?
But Gabe was no longer in the shadows, but in her world, revealed. The secrets he held were not. A shiver passed through Lorelei, Caleb was part of the secrets too.
Chapter Four
Lorelei held her breath as another tree lurched from the dark, and she hoped it wasn't too much further to the party. Trips to school in Scarlet's car were bad enough but driving down country lanes with no street lighting was even more nerve-racking. Scarlet didn't believe in taking anything in life slowly.
Three nights passed since Lorelei met Gabe in the rain, and she hadn't seen him again. After her challenge to him, she half-expected to see him in the shadows of her bedroom. He never showed. Dreams of Gabe and Caleb woke her each night. Unable to remember what the dreams were about, Lorelei was left with blurring images of herself with one—or both—of them.
The worst part of all was not telling her best friend. The subject hadn't been touched on since Lorelei stormed out of the cafe. The event hovered over their friendship like a black cloud ready to pour unwanted words between them. Lorelei preferred it that way. Following Scarlet's last reaction, it seemed better to keep everything to herself. What did she have to say, anyway? Tell her she met the same man again? If Scarlet suspected Lorelei was becoming unhinged, trying to talk to her about any of this no longer seemed like a good idea.
Scarlet was vague on the details of the party host, instead focused on the fact she received an invitation to an exclusive party. Most of the time, Lorelei avoided big parties, not interested in watching her friends drunk and stupid. This time her concerns about Scarlet getting home okay meant she agreed to drive her home. Now she wished she’d agreed to drive to the party as well as home.
Lorelei preferred to go rather than get to one of Scarlet's two am 'come and pick me up' calls. Now she found herself sitting in Scarlet's car, staring at her hands, in an attempt not to look out and see trees whipping against the window.
Scarlet’s car wheels crunched across the gravel as they drove through the ornate gates. Scarlet let out a low whistle. The old manor house hosting the party was hidden from the road by trees, surrounded by manicured gardens. Often used as a backdrop to lavish weddings, it seemed much more prominent than Lorelei remembered from the pictures she'd seen in online. They joined the growing number of cars parked in front of the house. Scarlet's little red hatchback looked out of place next to some large, expensive looking vehicles.
Lights from the front of the house shone down over the building’s brickwork, casting strange shadows in the growing dusk. In the dimming sunset, partygoers hung around by the small fountain near the entrance and scrutinised new arrivals. Lorelei stared at the floor, self-consciously pulling at her short blue dress, ensuring it was straight.
Groups of people milled around in the marble-floored entrance hall, chatting excitedly beneath dazzling chandeliers, drinks in their hands.
Lorelei's eyes opened wide at the room full of beautiful people. The painted, preened false beauty that she disliked so much. As she walked through the door, she passed impossibly skinny, tanned girls with highly painted faces. They giggled with buff, bronzed men over their brightly coloured drinks. Lorelei blinked, this wasn't what she expected.
“I thought you said this was a student party, not the young and the beautiful,” Lorelei whispered.
They weaved their way past a small group, near a doorway on the right.
“I’m sure there are some people we know somewhere,” replied Scarlet.
"Whose party is it?" asked Lorelei, continuing to gaze in awe at the people around her. "You never said."
"Friend of a friend of a friend, you know... There’s that rich girl, Tiff, in year ten. Probably trying to impress older guys."
This alarmed Lorelei. "But we were definitely invited?"
"Of course, silly. Most of this year’s school leavers are." Scarlet pulled a hesitant Lorelei by the arm into the next room.
Room after room held groups of people, none of whom they recognised. The whole ground floor filled with chattering and music. Many of the guests looked the same as the people at the party's entrance, with only a smattering of local teenagers, huddled in corners, nursing drinks. Scarlet greeted a few of them but didn't stop, marching from room to room.
They entered a quieter, dimly lit room with fewer people inside. A few draped themselves across large sofas, not speaking to each other. Some looked thoroughly bored; others like they were going to fall asleep.
"This place is so big that I can't find the kitchen," muttered Scarlet. "Wait here, and I'll find it and bring us back a drink."
“Don’t you think it would be better if we found some people we knew first?”
The occupants of the room appeared much older than her, and she struggled to recognise anyone from school, wishing she'd managed to drag Jamie away from his evening gaming with his friends. Lorelei knew Scarlet would disappear and didn't want to stand on her own.
“I think it must be this way, we've not looked there yet," said Scarlet, pointing to another doorway. "I'll be right back—what did you want to drink?”
“I’m driving you home remember?”
Scarlet grinned. “Water it is then, your boringness can be so useful sometimes…”
Lorelei opened her mouth to respond, but Scarlet had already disappeared. She sighed and backed up against the wall, trying to make herself less conspicuous. Lorelei wasn’t in the mood for guys approaching her, and she’d plenty of experience of standing on her own at every party she went to with Scarlet. Sometimes she asked herself why she agreed to come to them.
Gabe watched the girl intently from across the room, trying to keep himself hidden behind a group of partygoers. He sensed her straight away— before he saw the pale white light of Lorelei's aura shining around her in the midst of the crowds. Others couldn't appreciate what he saw. But Gabe could see what they did. A beguiling girl with pale blonde hair and green eyes, dress skimming her slim hips and cut low enough to see the top of her breasts.
She held herself tall, aloof, and many skirted around her cautiously without realising. Other men stared at her across the room, as captivated as Gabe, but with more purpose behind their eyes than his. Lorelei forced an air of confidence, betrayed by fingers entwined in her hair.
He breathed deeply, remembering his decision to wait by her car, still not understanding what possessed him to do that. Before he did, he'd told himself it was to be more conspicuous to Caleb. To warn him to keep away from Lorelei.
He'd lied to himself.
The sensation when he touched her hand was inconceivable, the jolt to his mind and body unexpected. He'd always avoided physical contact with humans. On the occasions he'd accidentally come into contact with one, it hadn't felt like that.
Something was wrong.
He would stay away.
What was she? He needed to know. His yearning to see Lorelei bypassed logic. He'd decided if he could see her in the light, see she was human, then he would be satisfied. But he wasn't. The moment he met Lorelei he knew it was wrong—wrong to step into the daylight and then not explain himself.
He hadn't been sure what to expect—but she was definitely human. A surprising human girl, challenging him. Telling Gabe, she knew him and demanding answers. Her awareness of who he was disturbed him.
He hadn't known what to say, mentally castigating himself for being so foolish. All he achieved was more unhappiness and confusion for both of them.
Being pulled into human circles was becoming unavoidable after years of hovering around the fringes. Accepting this wasn't a choice anymore proved uncomfortable. This fragile Host in front of him added enough difficulty to his role. The unusual attraction to Lorelei compl
icated things further and pulled him into her life. He thought back to his last charges—boys who'd grown into men, who lived and died unaware of what they held inside. Unaware of who Gabe was. Now there was Lorelei.
A man a little older than Lorelei approached her. Gabe straightened, watching carefully for any hint the man was a threat. Even though it was clear he wasn't, Gabe felt his need to protect remain, watching the smartly dressed man through narrowed eyes. He understood the man's attraction, something about Lorelei dazzled him too. Gabe had the same urge to walk over to her, wanted to touch her hair and feel the warmth of her skin. He wanted to connect with her again, properly this time. This situation was a cruel joke. So close to the end of his time here, and now this.
His shoulders relaxed as the man walked away and Lorelei smiled to herself, shaking her head. She glanced across the room, frowning, sensing him watching her. In the time it took her eyes to reach the spot where Gabe stood, he was gone.
Chapter Five
Gabe walked outside into the garden and the warm summer evening. The music and the laughter of the party faded into the distance as he walked across the large lawn, along a pathway bordered either side by a canopy of willow trees. A couple were sitting entwined on a bench under one of the trees, and he glanced at them with curiosity before moving on.
Taking a deep breath, he leaned against one of the nearby trees, looking up at the pin-prick light of the stars in the clear summer sky. He inhaled the sweet perfume of the jasmine climbing the trellises. Sometimes the human senses were bearable.
Hidden (Her Immortal Guardians Book 1) Page 3