Coma (Paranormal Romance)

by Lilly Mance

  COMA

  Paranormal Romance

  By Lilly Mance

  ~~~

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright © 2013 Lilly Mance

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

  Book and cover design: © Marraii Design | Marraii.com

  Cover images: © Valua Vitaly & Subbotina | Dreamstime.com

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this fiction: Coke, Vogue, and Wolverine

  SMASHWORDS EDITION, LICENSE NOTES. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  NEW ADULT PARANORMAL ROMANCE

  Summary:

  Zack is a ghost. He has no recollection of who he is, or why he lacks a body. He's not dead, of that he's sure. As soon as he gets to a certain distance from Lyra, he gets snapped back near her.

  Lyra just graduated, but is taking a break from further education. She's been able to see ghosts all her life, but they couldn't see her. Till now. She's attracted to Zack, and annoyed by him at the same time.

  Her world changes when she discovers that being a ghost is just as material as being alive. But, Zack is from the future, and his life could be ended by a temporal war at any moment.

  Together, they'll have to discover if love that transcends space and time is enough, or if there’s something more to it than meets the eye.

  Dedication

  To my daughter Rebeka.

  Imagination is only the beginning.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter #1

  Chapter #2

  Chapter #3

  Chapter #4

  Chapter #5

  Chapter #6

  Chapter #7

  Chapter #8

  Chapter #9

  Chapter #10

  Chapter #11

  Chapter #12

  Chapter #13

  Chapter #14

  Chapter #15

  Chapter #16

  Chapter #17

  Chapter #18

  Chapter #19

  Chapter #20

  Chapter #21

  Chapter #22

  Chapter #23

  Chapter #24

  Chapter #25

  Chapter #26

  Chapter #27

  A pen is neither good nor bad.

  It’s what you do with it that makes it

  a weapon of war or a tool of peace.

  Likewise,

  love is neither good nor bad.

  It’s what you do with it that makes it

  the ultimate punishment or the greatest reward.

  Prologue

  August, 2114 AD

  My name is Lyra. I was born in 1995, but now I'm a temporal guard in 2114. There's a temporal war going on, and I'm about to make the biggest sacrifice a person can make to end it.

  The love of my life, my one true soul mate, is about to be erased from my memory, and I from his. He will never know I have existed, and I will be returned to my time with no recollection of any of this.

  I've been taught that history is for learning, not changing. We've gotten ourselves into this mess by repeatedly changing history through time travel. But I've also been taught that one learns from one's mistakes, and I found the biggest mistake mankind has ever made. What I learned, however, is that in order to pay a huge debt, you have to make a huge sacrifice. Unfortunately, no sacrifice is huge enough unless it's personal.

  It all started with a coma...

  Chapter #1

  August, 2013 AD

  Seeing all those graduation caps in the air meant only one thing. School was finally over, and the longest summer was ahead of us. Helen and Maya, two of my best friends, made it clear they were going to make the best of it since I wasn’t starting college with them in the fall. Silly, but they took my decision to take a break from education a lot worse than my parents.

  Mom and Dad were supportive. They disagreed, definitely weren’t happy about it, but saw my reasoning. As long as I made my decisions based on mature arguments and not some whim, they saw it as a valuable life’s lesson. Their view of life as some big playground where we learned from our mistakes gave me a lot of freedom to work with, and I appreciated it. On the other hand, Helen and Maya thought I was making the biggest mistake of my life, and even tried to influence my mom into making me apply to college––force me, to be exact. The one they would be attending, that is––others weren’t an option.

  When I thought about it, I looked forward to having some time on my own for a change. I needed time to sort things out, to think things through without my phone ringing every half an hour. Past few months have been crazy; I hardly had any time to stop with all the studying and partying going on. I swear there were times the three of us resembled hyenas on meth––running all over the place, trying to be at as many parties as we could, while keeping our grades up, and laughing until our bellies hurt at attempts to cover that black circles under our eyes. Going to college would be only a continuation of it, and I couldn’t afford that. I had to stop. It was time to find that inner GPS.

  “Lyra, come on! We don’t have all day,” Helen snapped me back to reality. “Get that yearbook signed, and let’s get out of here!”

  I pressed my yearbook tighter against my chest, as if it was in danger of being stolen. Everyone I cared about had already signed it, the rest were not important anyway. I glanced around to see if I had skipped anyone, but ended being disgusted by seeing a long line of people waiting to have their yearbooks signed by the very person that abused them throughout high-school––Bea Henderson, better known as Queen Bee. Although the valedictorian speech was usually given to the best student in school, this year it was given to Queen Bee for her overzealous dedication to extracurricular activities. In other words, she was the principal’s daughter. Thank God for that, because instead of boring, presumptuous words, it turned up being a standup comedy. Poor Bea thought we were laughing at her witty remarks, but the reality was entirely different. Except for her parents, everyone else laughed at her. Someone must have told her the truth, because her long face, and occasional sour grins showed how much fun she was having signing yearbooks.

  Mom and Dad motioned for me to come over. Dad had to leave for a doctor’s conference, so he wanted to hug me once again before he left.

  Letting me out of his embrace, he said: “I’m proud of you, honey,” and kissed my forehead. “Mom's driving me to the airport. I’ll be back in two weeks, and then we go job hunting together.” I nodded, and squeezed him one more time.

  “The last one home makes lunch,” Mom winked at me, and grabbed Dad's hand.

  “Deal,” I replied a tad too late. They were slowly disappearing from my view, holding hands like a couple of teenagers. Sweet. Four arms grabbed me from behind, and I instantly knew who it was.

  “We've got outfits to talk about,” May
a poked me in my belly. “No time to mop around.”

  “I'm not moping,” I protested. “Why would I mop?”

  “If you say so––” Maya grinned. “Anyway, Helen has already agreed, and I need you on board, as well.”

  “On board for what?” Nothing kinky, I hoped.

  “Wardrobe conference call!” Maya squealed with excitement, jiggling her feet in place.

  “Oh, no. Not that again,” I slammed my forehead. This “we’re inseparable” thing two of them had going wasn’t really my cup of tea, but I always went along, because it wasn’t their fault I was damaged goods, and couldn’t feel the same. We hung out together all the time, I loved them as friends, we had tons of fun, but I like to pee alone, thank you. “Do we have to?” I whined.

  “Yes, we have to!” Maya said with determination in her voice, and Helen giggled behind her, knowing the agony that posed for me.

  “Okay,” I sighed. In my opinion, Einstein had it all figured out––a bunch of suits, exactly the same ones, and he never had to waste energy on what to wear.

  ~*~

  Post grad party was scheduled down at the beach, appropriately named “From Dusk till Dawn”. Surely, majority will look like vampires at day break justifying the name. Thank God it wasn’t a themed party where I’d actually have to wear a costume––a single detail certain someone neglected to mention to the geek team. I didn’t know how someone could be so cruel to get a kick out of fooling a bunch of gullible wallflowers into coming costumed. I could already see them with fake vampire teeth, white stage makeup, and that hopeful looks on their faces, only to meet ridicule. Argh, I wish one of them would discover some balls, and bring that mean Queen Bee and her minions down. I really hoped karma did exist, and would come back to bite her.

  ~*~

  One excruciatingly long wardrobe conference call later, and Helen and Maya were finally at my door, so I called out:

  “MOM! We’re leaving!”

  “Oh, my!” Coming down the stairs, Mom clasped her hands with visible adoration on her face. “The three of you look fabulous! Just like in that hair commercial.” She wasn’t far off. Each of us had thick, waist-long hair, but different color and texture. Maya’s was curly, honey blond, and cascading graciously down her back. Helen’s was wavy and light, platinum blond with darker shades closer to her scalp. Mine was straight as an arrow, dark brown, and couldn’t curl no matter what I tried. And tried, I did.

  “Totally commercial-worthy,” I replied with a smile, and yanked my hair back, raising my chin.

  “Let me take a picture. Who knows when I’ll get a chance like this again––” Mom said, going through a drawer in search of her camera.

  Maya gave me one of those looks that said “you can still change your mind”, so I frowned giving her “not that again” look. Being friends with someone for so long did have its perks––nonverbal communication was definitely one of them.

  After posing for Mom, we were out the door. Maya’s barely-driving-car gave its several huffs and puffs before it took us toward our destination. While Helen and Maya were busy plotting their final moves to capture Brad and Darren’s attention, and who could blame them––both guys were hotness incorporated, and competition was tough––I enjoyed my solitude on the back seat. Maya was into Brad for ages, and Helen went against her better judgment falling for Darren. Whenever they would get overly excited about guys or something, it would give me an opportunity to phase out.

  And there it was again! That strange feeling as if I were slightly out of pace with the world, going too fast or too slow, or maybe even having an out-of-body experience. As long as I could remember it was like that. As soon as I got immersed in my own thoughts, it would creep up on me. No matter how much I examined that feeling, I never got any closer to understanding it. It didn’t happen when I studied for tests, so concentration must have played a role. It happened when I didn’t pay much attention, when I was slightly daydreaming. I bet that was a reason why I got to see those pesky ghosts from time to time––I got stuck somewhere in between worlds. I’m badly tuned––that thought made me snort and exit my dream state, and then I noticed Maya and Helen watching me carefully. Apparently, we had arrived. When?

  “Seriously, Lyra, where do you go off to?” Maya pursed her lips as if she was annoyed, resting her chin on the back of her seat.

  “What? I don’t get to drool over guys and you do?” Attack is the best defense, or so I was told. What was I supposed to say? My body is here, but I don’t feel like I should be? Oh, that would surely get me a one way ticket to an asylum.

  “Now you’re talking!” Helen’s high-pitched voice went hand-in-hand with her excitement. “Who’s the protagonist?”

  Damn! That backfired. Um, let's go with, “Damien,” I sputtered to put a lid on that subject. Pff, like I cared for my ex boyfriend. Jerk.

  “Still?” Maya made a face. “I’m glad it’s not Brad, though.” Friends or not, she didn’t like me adding to the competition. The entire school was fangirling over him, and that irked her on its own.

  “Of course it’s not Brad! But the way you two talked about him and Darren...Um..It got me thinking about old days with Damien,” I forced a smile; a little white lie never hurt anybody.

  “Okay, let’s get this party started!” Getting out of the car, Helen made a poor attempt at imitating Pink's song, and the two of us followed as back vocals. The last rays of sun were touching the ocean making it glittery, creating a disco ball effect. The sound of music and crowd murmur flowed over the sand dunes in waves all the way to the parking lot, getting louder and more consistent as we were getting closer.

  The beach was lit up with colorful light bulbs arranged in a square to form a dance podium. Spread around it were familiar groups of people that usually hung together, kept to themselves, and rarely mingled. Their business was talking about other people's lives, since they had none of their own. Slightly farther away, closer to the water, we saw our group of friends sitting on one of the big blankets laid down for that purpose. One look at those blankets, and it was apparent they presented interest groups of sorts. Just like lunch tables––God forbid you should sit at the wrong one, or too close to someone that outranked your social status. Understandably, Brad and Darren's social blanket was quite near ours, giving Maya and Helen a lot to swoon over.

  Resting my back against Helen's, I watched an endless mass of bodies moving to the sounds of music. Lights reflecting on their bodies made it all seem magical. A group of girls brought whistles, and blew them to the sound of music, making the crowd go wild with excitement. My glance moved further toward the kegs where an interesting pair of eyes grabbed my attention. Now that one I could drool over! ––I thought seeing a tall, dark haired guy, possibly in his early twenties, and clearly not from our high school. Suddenly, I felt the need to fan myself. He was absolutely stunning.

  “I’ll get us drinks,” I said to my girlfriends, not revealing my ulterior motive––getting closer to that gorgeous set of eyes. Teen drinking wasn’t our game, but it would be a perfect excuse to talk to him, to ask him where non-alcoholic beverages were. Perfectly innocent...I snickered.

  My heart picked up a notch as I was walking over. Finally, someone new and possibly interesting. I wondered who he came with. Please God, not the Queen Bee. I crossed my fingers, inhaled deeply, and lifted my gaze. My heart was racing like mad. Looking at him sideways, he was absolutely gorgeous. Dressed in dark clothes, hands nonchalantly tucked in his pockets, glancing somewhere in the distance. Night breeze moved a few strands of hair into his eyes, and he blew them away with his breath like he couldn't be bothered. My mind kept repeating what to ask him as I was nearing him. That close to kegs, I had a clear view of his entire persona. He wasn’t looking my way, so I scanned him from top down as if he were my personal eye candy. Unfortunate for me, when I reached his legs, it was a major downer. Damn kegs! I cussed. My world came crashing as I watched his feet hovering slightly above the ground.
Pesky apparition! I growled internally. He’s a freaking ghost!

  Ghosts, or apparitions as I called them, never stood out much from the crowd. It was more the weightlessness of movement, and a hint of translucency that gave them away during the day, but when it was dark, it was really hard to distinguish them from normal people if their feet were not visible. It took me a long time to realize that I could see something others couldn’t. It would have been more apparent if they were typical ghosts, but looking so much like the living made it that much complicated. Over time, I started calling them apparitions, because I really didn’t know what they were, and judging from other people’s stories, ghosts were nothing like that, so I had to make a distinction. They never paid attention to me, leaving an impression that they couldn’t see me. That only added to my suspicion how I was perpetually stuck between the worlds. Besides, they always seemed somehow busy, driven even, making me not want to have anything to do with them, anyway.

  “Such a shame,” I said to myself, and went past the kegs to find those non-alcoholic beverages. I couldn't get back empty handed. Well, at least I could freely stare at the guy, feast the eyes, so not all was lost. Or so I thought.

  Watching the apparition guy as I went by, sure that he couldn’t see me, the strangest thing happened––my gaze was met! A combination of fear and thrill zoomed through me. As if stuck down by a lightning bolt, my feet stopped moving right in front of him. Someone must have sucked out all the air, because I couldn’t breathe. With mouth agape, I stared at him helplessly. Shamelessly, he stared back, straight into my eyes, without blinking. I’ve never seen more beautiful eyes on a man or a ghost, but I’ve never felt more scared in my entire life either. I sucked in a sharp breath, and swallowed a knot, feeling my lower lip quivering. He didn’t move or twitch. Breathing steadily, his eyes took their time examining every inch of my face with cat-like interest. Immobile, I screamed internally at my feet to move, but they wouldn’t. His head tilted to the side, his gaze holding. Taking cautious, shallow breaths, I felt life slowly returning to my legs, so I willed them into moving forward.