by Livvy Aarons
“What kind of baggage and what do you mean by somewhat normal?” I asked.
“Aidan is an orphan; his parents died in a plane crash about fifteen miles north of town. When the police found Aidan at the crash site both of his parents were already dead; however his brother and younger sister were never found. After weeks of searching the mountainous forest the authorities gave up, deciding that the children would have never survived that long without food. Aidan was put in a foster home here in Harper before being adopted by the current mayor; Mayor Mitchell. Coincidentally, Mayor Mitchell allows Tristan to live at his house as well. As far as the somewhat normal part, he is immune to Julie’s gift and I have not been able to find out why.” Aileen gently put her hand over mine. “McKenna you are taking this much better than I imagined. Are you sure you can handle the nightmares?”
“How—how do you know about the nightmares?” I stammered.
“I can see them in your eyes; you relive your mother’s death every day. It is a great pain that I have to ask you to open your heart to the same kind of creature that took your mother’s soul away.”
“You mean…Aidan …is…the same thing?” I could barely get my mouth to say those words. Aileen’s answer seemed to hurt at the very sound of it, “Yes McKenna, Aidan will become the same thing if you do not save him from that horrible fate.”
The blood in veins began to boil, the room was getting hotter and I could barely breathe. “I think I should be getting home.”
Her stare was lethal when our eyes met. “You will consider what I said and think it over? You will be condemning his soul if you don’t help him.”
I pursed my lips. “That thing torments my mind…he is all I see.”
Aileen melted. “Oh honey, I am sorry that you had to witness such a tragedy. You can’t let that one tragedy define your life. To wrap your entire life around such an ugly memory will cause your spirit to wither away. That monster will have not only taken your mother’s soul but yours as well. Don’t let him win, McKenna. ”
My brain felt like it was on autopilot. It was hard to process the whole circle of life bullshit. Silently I sat there trying to figure out what to do. Aidan was a stranger to me; I knew nothing about him other than he is any orphan and is going to become some soul harvesting creature. Thinking harder and harder, something still did not seem to fit. “Aileen, if this whole soul transitioning thing is just some job then why does it matter if Aidan becomes a reaper?”
“The problem is that this is not the destiny that Aidan was meant to have. Everyone has a purpose for their life, even if the purpose is not as grand as others. Unfortunately Aidan is fulfilling a contact on another person’s soul that was promised to the pit.”
“The pit?” I interrupted
Aileen chuckled, “The pit of fire; otherwise known as hell.”
“So basically someone sold their soul the Devil and Aidan is taking their place.” I said clarifying her answer.
“Yes but I know for a fact that this was not Aidan’s choice. Whoever the contact was originally for probably made a bargain for Aidan to work off their debt. Regardless of who or why, no one deserves to be sold into slavery.”
“I am sorry to say Aileen that I’m not sure if I can get Aidan to even go out on a date, much less love me if I agree to even try this whole screwed up mess.” I sank deeper in my chair pouting.
“McKenna stop your childishness, embrace your future and surrender yourself to the fighter that you were born to be. I can already see the seed of love planted firmly in your heart; all that is needed is for you to water it. Trust me, Aidan will love you. He is alone in this world just as much as you are.
I blinked hard staring at Aileen then sighed, “Fine, I will try my best.”
Aileen sprang out of the chair and gave me a hug. “That’s all I ask.”
Once she released me, she went to her desk and started to gather up her purse. “Now I want you to go home, get a good night sleep and release all of that stress out the window.”
I fetched my bag off the floor, “Easy for you to say. See you tomorrow.”
“Bye sweetie” Aileen yelled still stuffing her bag at the cluttered desk.
I left the classroom foggy, already cursing my decision to get involved. What in the hell am I doing? I don’t even know these people. They could be making this whole thing up as some crazy prank. I shook my head. No--this is not some prank; Aileen was telling me the truth. For the first time in my life my life had purpose and it felt right.
The parking lot was empty with the exception of my beater. I flipped my phone open to check to time and saw that it was almost five. My father would be home soon and the wonderful big sister prayed Ben made the bus. God knows the brat is going to run his mouth to daddy dearest but I had bigger problems to deal with. Almost to my car, I began to fish my keys from my bag when I felt someone was watching me. Nervously I searched the parking lot; there was no relief when I found him. Aidan was parked near the school sitting silently on a solid black motorcycle; his cold stare gave me goose bumps. I remembered passing the motorcycle on my way out but thought nothing of it since the operator was missing. Aidan slowly unhinged himself from the bike then started in my direction. Uh-oh this is not good. What was I going to say to him? “Hi, we don’t know each other but I am going to save you from turning into a soul harvesting monster. And oh, by the way we are going to fall madly in love.” Yeah, I should probably keep that bottled up. I needed to calm down. Guys want cool, friendly and sexy girls not someone who has diarrhea of the mouth. Great, I had to be sexy around a guy who takes my breath away; this was impossible. Aidan looked delectable in his tattered jeans and dark green t-shirt. Aidan was nearly at arm’s length now; I could feel a cool air radiate from his body.
“We need to talk.” This was the first time I had heard Aidan speak and it was magical. I had not noticed that I was staring at his lips until he cleared his throat, wanting my answer.
“Oh okay, sure I guess.” Wow, real smooth McKenna; next time add some drool to make you appear even more desperate.
Aidan looked down at his feet, struggling to find his words. Finally, he looked up with uncertainty in his eyes, “Okay here goes. I have to know who you are and why you have been tormenting me.”
For a second I thought I was hallucinating. “I-I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Aidan was not satisfied with that answer. “You are lying; I know that you are a witch or something. You put a curse on me two years ago and now Tristan has been having the same dreams.” Aidan’s face was red with anger.
A little stunned from the fact that the two of them have dreams about me I tried to pull myself together. “You can’t possibly believe that those things exist.”
“There are a lot of things I believe in that cannot be explained by science or reason. Despite what I believe you are, I want answers and you are not leaving until I get them.” Aidan snapped, and then folded his arms in determination.
Good gracious he is sexy all demanding and angry, maybe even more when he flexed his jaw muscles. My skin ached to touch his, so I turned off my brain and listened to my heart. I dropped my bag to the ground then glided to where my body was nearly pressing into his. “Aidan, I am not a witch. Look into my eyes and tell me that if I am lying.” His pale green eyes stared into mine then his body relaxed. I slid my hands up his arms and around his neck. Aidan did not retreat; instead he put his hands on my waist and pulled me tight to his body. “So do you believe me or should I tell you that I had a dream about you as well?”
Aidan swallowed hard, “I don’t want to believe you. Make me understand what is happening between us.”
From the heat blazing in his eyes, I knew my fate had been sealed. Giving in to all my inhibitions I pushed up on my tip toes and kissed the man who dreams about me. I was a beginner with this stuff and all too grateful to have Aidan reciprocate, taking charge full force. His soft lips wrapped around mine and ever so gentle, his tongue begin to
slip into my mouth. It was damn shame my brain switched back on, screaming for me to stop. I pushed him away. “I have to go.”
In a scramble I grabbed my keys and bag, slamming the car door in a panic. Once my car roared to life I glanced out the window to see Aidan still standing there, obviously hurt by my actions. Regardless of his embarrassment I had to get away from him. The dark visions of my past were still too fresh for me to forget. I put my car in gear then punched the gas hoping distance would drown out the screams of my own personal demons.
There is no escaping fear, just learning how to cope with the binding power of its crippling grasp.
Chapter 5:
The Lair, the Bitch and the Wardrobe
For the next two weeks my mission in life was avoidance; even to my father. I knew that my father would ask how I was adjusting to my new life and I would have to lie. It wasn’t that I minded bending the truth. The issue was that I would have to break the truth in half, smash it to bits then set it on fire. Plus I cannot make up a plausible cover story. I avoided Aileen as much as possible nearly running out the door at the dismissal of class. She never tried to stop me or even make an effort to talk to me.
Julie was impossible to avoid so I gave up trying on the second day. She somehow always knew where to find me. Surprisingly Julie didn’t ask any questions about what happened after I left her and Aileen. Instead, she gave her whole life story despite my efforts to ignore her.
Funny when I did listen to Julie about her life I found it interesting.
For example, Julie is an only child and both of her parents live in Alaska as research scientists. I think she said they were studying bacteria in the ice shelf but she might have been talking about the commons area ice machine. Julie also told me that she lives with her uncle, who owns a local bar right outside of town. I started ask why she wasn’t with her parents in Alaska but I could tell that she did not like to talk about them. She didn’t cross my boundaries, so I didn’t cross hers.
Tristan and Aidan took the top two slots on who to avoid. I wanted to erase them from my mind completely. Of course, neither of them would cooperate nor take a hint. I would purposely sit by myself to eat my snack, praying for them not to see me. God had me on mute for sure. Tristan would occasionally look my direction flashing a wicked smile; sometimes he would wave. Aidan on the other hand, stared at me with a continuous confused and hurt pout. I did not blame him for being upset with me. I was an inconsiderate bitch.
Today was Friday so I was looking forward to the next couple of days of no drama. Dealing with drama was not my forte. It was time for my break that I spent in the commons area and as normal I looked for an empty table as far from people as possible. Unfortunately, there were only two empty tables left; the one near Aidan’s regular table and one near Tiffany. The bitch was by far the lesser of two evils; at least she would halfway ignore me. I settled in before Julie found her way to my table and started her nonstop chatter. On cue, my personal chatterbox sat down but did not say anything to me. Silence was a precious commodity around her and I did not want to unleash a bear that I was in no mood to tame. As minutes ticked by, Aidan’s table remained unoccupied. As creepy as it sounded I knew his daily schedule like the stalker I am. It was then I remembered he wasn’t in class earlier either. I could only hope that nothing was seriously wrong. Well, besides the fact that I pathetically kissed him then acted like a total spasmodic.
“McKenna you didn’t!” Julie shouted, slamming her drink down.
“Shhh! Keep your voice down. People are staring at us.” I had been so careful not to think about Aidan around Julie; now she knew how I had freaked out.
Julie was bouncing excitedly in her chair. “I cannot believe you kissed him. The way you were acting I thought it was a hopeless cause for you to ever show anyone that kind of emotion. Hang on a sec… something is wrong.” Julie concentrated hard squeezing her eyes shut. When they opened she glanced at me, “Why in world did you freak out? And stop trying to block me! You are not strong enough to play that game with me.”
I shrugged, “It was just an accident, nothing more.”
“The hell you say. The way you linger on his face in your memories definitely does not scream accident.” The smug smile she gave me was beyond annoying.
“It doesn’t matter anyway; Aidan thinks I cursed him or some garbage.”
Julie rolled her eyes, “McKenna, trust me I see the way he has watched you for the last two weeks and he does not think you’re garbage. The problem is that you like him and you’re a typical girl that is paranoid that he doesn’t like you back.”
“No, it is more than that. When I kissed him, I could see my mother dying all over again only this time Aidan took her soul away. That’s why I panicked. I did not want him to see me have a major meltdown; so I ran.”
“I seriously think you should let people see that you have emotions or they will continue to think you’re a fem-bot.” chuckled Julie.
“Is that what Aidan thinks of me?” I asked curiously.
“I have no idea.” Julie snapped then looked down at her lunch.
“That’s impossible you are a telepath, you hear everything that goes on in my head.”
Julie sighed, “I can only hear Aidan in fragments but even that is fading; Tristan is completely silent. The only thing I can figure is that my telepathic abilities do not work with demons or angels. I can hear other supernatural beings but not demonic or angelic. Besides Aidan is a nice guy and you should give him a chance. The way Tiffany thinks about him should be illegal. She cannot stand the very sight of you.”
“Thanks Julie, that is very comforting. I have no idea of how to explain why I acted so weird. Everything is too awkward now. Do you think if Aileen talked to Aidan that it would help him understand my weirdness?”
“Of course; she already told me that if you held up your end of the deal that she would explain everything. He already thinks something is wrong with him and Tristan. I heard him talking to my uncle last week.” Julie went to take a bite of her apple but suddenly shouted “That’s prefect!”
I was terrified to ask, Julie answered my silent curiosity. “Aidan is in a band that plays at my uncle’s bar every Friday night; we could go tonight. Maybe if you see him in a more natural setting away from class you would fell less pressure and fear. We could finally have some fun together too.” Julie was excitedly clapping like a five year old.
How could I say no to a person who is excited to spend time with me or this damn annoying. “Fine but I don’t have my fake ID. They were…relinquished in Savannah.” I would try not to think about my previous indiscretions.
“That is okay, Friday night is for anyone eighteen and older. He tells everyone that he only serves non-alcoholic drinks but I know his servers don’t care. His band is awesome. They only do cover songs now that Aidan quit writing the songs.”
I imagine that Aidan definitely had that whole rock star vibe perfected. His beautiful dark hair dripping with sweat from the lights, those piercing green eyes singing to me as he skillfully strummed away at his guitar. I could even imagine that his husky voice was even more hypnotic with it amplified by a microphone. Just to think that those sensuous lips were once pressed against mine…
“So help me McKenna I will back hand you if you continue with that fantasy.” Julie was rightfully annoyed but it is her on fault for eavesdropping. “Under normal circumstances I can block out most of what I hear; however at the moment I am trying to eat. Aileen wants me to help her fill in your dark spots so can we not go all rated-R when I am eating.”
I rolled my eyes, “What can I say? I have hormones.”
“So does that mean you want to go tonight?” Julie asked sheepishly, already knowing my answer.
I answered anyway, “Sure.”
“And does this mean that you may like Aidan?” Feigning innocence, she batted her eyes. Reluctant to meet her gaze I gave her a silent answer since I knew she was listening very intently. “I am terri
fied that I may like him and scared shitless if I can’t forgot my past.” I made a grave mistake allowing Julie to sneak a glimpse of the creature that haunted me. Her eyes went wide with terror as she saw the evil man for what he was.
A nearby door slammed shut and I closed the lid on my Pandora’s Box. Despite her inquisitive nature, Julie did not pursue the meaning of silence nor did I offer any explanations. We dumped our trash still not speaking then headed to our last classes, walking in awkward fog.
* * * * *
The last couple of hours flew by without any hesitations and I was relieved when I found Julie waiting by my car after school. She had not spoken to me since our break and even seemed to avoid me while we were in chem lab together. Even though we were not lab partners, she always talked my head off regardless of who was around. Julie did not even walk with me to the one hundred building where I had Spanish and she had some philosophy class. Whatever was wrong must have passed because she was all smiles now.
“Feeling better?” I asked cautiously.
“Yeah, it was just—what’s the word…disturbing? I am over it now.”
“Welcome to my world, I’ve seen things that would blow your mind. It will not happen again. I just found it tempting that someone could understand my torment.”
Julie swiftly gave me a gentle hug, “I know. I understand why you are so scared now.” When she pulled away she was still clutching my shoulders with an enthusiastic smirk. “Would you mind if I came over to help you get dressed?”
Confused I took a step back and gave myself a once over; jeans, boots and a charcoal knit shirt. “What’s wrong with what I have on?”
Julie burst into laughter, “Maybe this-” she waved her hand in front of me then continued, “works in Georgia but it doesn’t here. I will pretend you said yes and ride with you to your house. I’ll text Pete so he knows to pick up my car. He won’t mind, that piece of junk he has doesn’t even have air.” Julie flittered to the passenger side door before I could stop her. Feverishly she tugged on the door. I could not treat Julie the same fashion as I had my brother. Julie and I shared a bond that few friends had. It was one of deep understanding and she simply was not the girl to make an enemy. The secrets she knew about me made me fearful of the power she had.