Spirits (Spirits Series Book 1)

by Destiny Patterson

  “I’ll just wait until he gets back.” I say stepping backwards, “It’s not that important.”

  “You were sure beating his door down like it was, come on Kadence you can tell me.”

  How does he know my name? Duh, everyone knows everyone’s business. Except me, totally feeling left out of the loop. Would Rouge even answer my questions? After all he’s avoided answering half my questions thus far. What could it hurt? “Do you ever do things but it feels like you’re being controlled by someone else… I think that’s the best way to describe it.”

  “Like you’re possessed?”

  “I don’t know, is that even possible?”

  He runs his fingertips down my arm as he tilts my chin up to him, “You have much to learn.”

  “So is that a yes?”

  An impish grin forms on his supple lips, “What do you think?”

  “Before I would have said no, now I’m not so sure.”

  “And why is that?”

  “After my… death anything seems possible.”

  “Hum, you are catching on quick.”

  “Who would have done that and why?”

  “Good question, unfortunately I don’t have the answer. Usually they prefer to jump living bones.” He grins slyly.

  “You mean possess.”

  “Yes.” He chuckles.

  “Why?”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you’re basically alive again when you’re here.”

  “True but you can’t eat or drink and your ‘body’ is only good while you’re on this land. Step foot off the property and you’re nothing more than an exhausted apparition.”

  So whoever it was either disliked Daelynn as much as I do, or they wanted to make me look bad. Both seem senseless but I’m going to bet it was the latter. Why, it’s not like any of them have anything to do with me anyway. They ignore the heck out of me. “It doesn’t make sense.” I shake my head.

  “Maybe not to you but I’m sure it seemed perfectly logical to whomever pulled that stunt.” Aiden shrugs like it’s a common thing.

  “What happens in the woods?”

  He smiles broadly, “Why not find out for yourself? We meet every week.”

  “I’m not a fan of social gatherings that no one wants me at.”

  “I’m positive you are more than welcome to join. Everyone would behave differently if you were one of us instead of an outsider.”

  “Is that why you all dislike Rouge?”

  He clinches his jaw, “Rouge,” he says with distaste, “will never be one of us.”

  “Why not?”

  He shakes his head, “He is a topic I’d rather not discuss.”

  I groan in annoyance, “You all are nothing more than bratty children. What a miserable existence you must have.”

  “Even the children here have more life experience than you.” He says sternly, his face matching his tone, “Judge not lest ye be judged. We all have our reasons. It’s a need to know basis and until you join you don’t need to know.”

  “Let’s say I join your club,” although it sounds more like a cult, “and I don’t like it, then what?”

  “Oh you’ll like it Kay.” He leans closer grinning. I step back to find I’m pressed against the building. He places his hands beside me blocking me in and presses against me, “I know what you want, I can give it to you.” He whispers in my ear. His closeness clouds my head as I gaze into his pale blue eyes, “What is it you think I want?” I ask finally able to collect my thoughts.

  He wraps an arm around my waist as he knots his fingers in my hair pulling my head back. I close my eyes not adverse to his touch. His lips lightly trail up my neck, “This for starters.” He whispers.

  I glide my hand up his muscular arm unable to keep them to myself any longer as I look up at him, “Then what?”

  A sly smile plays at his lips and I resist the urge to kiss him. “You’ll just have to wait and find out.” He says tugging at my hair.

  I groan in annoyance, “So not fair.”

  He chuckles and releases me. “Join us so you can see what you’re missing.”

  Oh Rouge would love that, he’d probably tie me up in his shack if he knew I was even considering going. I glance around having the feeling we are being watched, not that it’s uncommon, I just always hope to see who ever it is. Noah is standing in the shadows, an uncertain look on his face. Aiden turns to see what I’m staring at; Noah suddenly looks horrified and streaks off towards the house. “What’s his problem?” I ask.

  Aiden turns back to me grinning, “Maybe he saw a ghost.”

  “Very funny.” I playfully swat at his arm.

  “I thought it was.” He shrugs, “So where are you staying tonight?”

  “With Journey whenever she gets back from her date, I can’t wait to find out how everything went.”

  He looks displeased. “Oh.”

  “Why, were you going to invite me back to your place and finish showing me what it is you think I want?”

  “I know it’s what you want.” He says confidently, “However it’s not what I had in mind.”

  “Then why did you want to know?”

  “Just curious what your plans were. I must admit I’m glad you’re not waiting on him.” He tilts his head towards Rouge’s place. “Don’t believe everything he says. He’s been known to manipulate to get what he wants.”

  “What exactly does he want?”

  He shakes his head, “Not telling, just know he isn’t always truthful.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Blake puts the car in park, cuts off the headlights and turns the music down before unbuckling and turning to me, “I had a great time.”

  “Thanks, so did I.”

  “Carson is supposed to be gone for the weekend,” he smiles taking my hand, “I was hoping I, excuse me, Daelynn could kidnap you.”

  “Hum… your house all weekend. Don’t you think you’ll get tired of me?”

  “I highly doubt it but just in case I can always push you off on Dae.” He says teasingly.

  “Does she know about your plan?”

  “Not yet but I’m sure she’ll be all for it.”

  “And your parents, how are they going to feel about me being there?”

  “They wont care, my dad works this weekend and my mom has a big wedding event so I doubt we’ll even see much of them.” He peaks his brow, “On second thought maybe I should invite Drew over to keep Dae occupied. I don’t think you’ll be seeing anyone or anything outside of my room.”

  “Sounds like you have a massive DVD collection.”

  He tilts his head smirking, “Maybe, I guess you’ll just have to find out.”

  I’m sure we will watch some movies but I seriously doubt that’s what he had in mind to occupy our time… dare I say it but I think I might give in, maybe… What a freaking predicament I’ve gotten myself into. I’m supposed to go to Dae’s party with Carson, thanks mom and dad, and while I haven’t decided between them I can’t help but feel badly for how Blake is going to feel about it… Which means at this moment I’m leaning more towards Blake… Right? I think

  “Well what’s the verdict?” He asks interrupting my thoughts.

  “Okay, as long as our parents are cool with it.”

  He smiles triumphantly, “Good. I guess I better clean my room thoroughly after seeing yours.”

  “Huh?”

  “I don’t want you to spend the weekend organizing my room. I noticed you are a bit OCD, everything is categorized and in order.”

  So true, Mom must have given specific details on how to arrange things, especially my books, I’m a weirdo about that. “Not OCD just particular about certain things.”

  He snickers, “Call it what you want.”

  I quickly stick my tongue out and lightly shove him. His gaze falls heavy on me as he worries his lip. “What?” I ask curious about his mood change.

  “Just thinking.”

  “About?”

  �
��This weekend, how it will go, what the out come will mean for us…”

  My heart stammers, I hope he doesn’t expect much. “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

  He leans in, “I’m counting down the days.” He whispers then gently nips my ear.

  I quietly gasp surprised by his action as my pulse quickens.

  He sighs, “I should probably let you go, I’ll walk you to the door.”

  “Um, okay.” I say as he climbs out and I attempt to clear my head from the rolling fog he’s caused. What if he tries to kiss me? Should I turn away? Could I honestly reject him? I’m not going to lie, I don’t think I can even though I’m a nervous wreck and my sushi is threatening to come back up. I groan inwardly at the thought of leaning in for a goodnight kiss then making a mad dash to spill my dinner over the side of the porch. MORTIFYING!

  “Unless you want to go home with me now.” He says opening the car door.

  I carefully get out terrified I’ll trip and tackle him to the ground. Although he’d probably laugh and make some comment about me not being able to wait for this weekend. Instead of being embarrassed by the thought I feel a smile spreading. Sometimes it’s easy for me to laugh at myself.

  “What’s so funny?” He asks squeezing my hand as we walk up the steps.

  “I was thinking of how badly my exiting could have gone.”

  “I would have caught you.”

  “I know.”

  “So I guess this is goodnight.” He looks down at me as we stand at the front door.

  “Text me later?”

  “You know it. I really do like hanging out with you.” He smiles, “I haven’t felt this way in a while.”

  I want to ask him what he means but decide to save the questions for later. “I enjoy your company as well.” Did I just say that? It sounds like something and old person or Noah would say!

  “I make you nervous.” He grins.

  “Is that a question?”

  “It’s an observation,” he looks down at our hands, his finger on my wrist, “your pulse tells on you.”

  My face starts to burn so I avoid looking at him.

  “I’m not going to kiss you, not tonight anyway, you can relax.”

  I feel a bit torn by his statement, sure I’m relieved but surprisingly I’m also disappointed. Definitely kicking myself for that. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll let you get home. If you’re anything like Drew you’ll need plenty of time to clean your room.” I bite back a smile.

  “Hey, it’s not that bad. You can see a majority of the floor.”

  “Sure you can.”

  “I’ll send you a picture of it as soon as I get home smarty.”

  “I’ll be waiting, anything over thirty minutes will not be accepted.”

  “Deal.” He pulls me to him and wraps his strong arms around me, “Goodnight. Call me if you need me, for any reason.”

  Hugging him back isn’t awkward like I was worried it would be. “I will, goodnight.”

  Once his taillights disappear down the driveway I lean against the front door and sigh. Rustling in the bushes snaps me out of my surreal mood and puts me on edge. “Noah?” I whisper digging my keys out. Giggling fills the silence followed by hushed whispers. I really don’t want to turn my back to them but I have to unlock the stupid door. Tightly gripping the key I do it as fast as possible, promptly shutting and locking the door behind me. An uncomforting thought crosses my mind, like that’s going to keep them out genius. Peeking out the tall slender window a little girl no older than five stands at the bottom of the steps. Her blond ringlet hair falls past her shoulders, she smoothes out her black dress then looks up and spots me. She looks cherubic with her little round face, rosy cheeks and blue eyes. Then she smiles manically and starts up the steps quickly. My heart pounds, I backup unable to look away from her and scream as I bump into someone. “You okay?” Drew asks as I spin around.

  “You scared the heck out of me, I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

  “What were you looking at?”

  “Everything alright?” Mom calls from the second floor landing.

  “Yeah, I accidently scared her.” Drew says.

  “Okay, goodnight.” Mom shakes her head walking off.

  Drew looks at me worried, “What’s out there?”

  “A little girl.”

  He chuckles, “You’re kidding right?”

  I shake my head quickly, “No, I’m not. She’s not sweet and innocent like she looks, there’s something dark about her.”

  His smile fades, “How do you know?”

  “The way she looked at me, there were no friendly intentions in her head.” I pull him up the stairs with me, “Don’t leave me alone, okay?”

  “You don’t have to worry about that now, thanks.”

  “Sorry I’m not trying to scare you I’m just being honest.”

  “Can’t you get rid of them?”

  I cut my eyes to him, “I probably wouldn’t say things like that if I were you. They are always around and listening.”

  He nods and we continue to my room in silence.

  Placing my finger over my lips Drew and I stop shy of my door. It’s barely cracked open but I hear voices.

  “I’m not leaving, you go.” Kadence says aggravated.

  “I most certainly will not.” Noah responds.

  “She’s my friend and I need to talk to her.”

  “Some friend you’ve been,” Noah scoffs, “I’ve consoled her while you were busy doing God knows what with Rouge. I have every right to be here.”

  Seriously, they’re arguing over me? They’ve lost it.

  “Maybe I should call Aiden to chase you off again.”

  Though I can’t see her I know she wears a devilish grin just by her tone. Who the heck is Aiden and why would Noah be afraid of him? Could he be like Rouge? Doubtful, Noah didn’t seem scared more like annoyed by his presence. If this spirit sets Noah on edge I surely don’t want to meet him.

  “Go ahead, call him. I doubt he comes.” Noah calls her bluff.

  “What’s going on?” I ask quickly pushing the door open before Kay has the opportunity to summon this being. They both look at me surprised.

  “Not much.” Kay glares at Noah, “Just waiting on you, unfortunately not alone.” She finally takes notice to Drew, “Oh, hey.” She says uncomfortably.

  “Kadence.” Drew forces a smile before looking at Noah.

  “Nice to meet you, I’m Noah.” He holds his hand out.

  “Drew. I’ve seen you around.” He says shaking firmly.

  “Hopefully I didn’t scare you.”

  “Nah, more like surprised.” Drew shrugs.

  “So how did it go?” Noah turns to me smiling.

  “Fine.” Why didn’t he tell me about Carson when he knew all along? He could have at least insinuated something instead of just saying he didn’t like or trust him. It makes me very curious as to what happened between them.

  “Just fine?” Kay pulls me out of cognition. “I can’t believe it. You go out with this super hot guy and all I get is fine? That will not do, I need the dets!”

  “You’re rather demanding.” I purse my lips.

  “Since there’s no action to be had here,” she glances at Drew, “I’m living vicariously through you.”

  Drew seems incredibly uncomfortable. I’m not sure if it’s because of Kay, Noah or hearing about my date. Heck it could be all of the above. I don’t want to tell him to leave, since I freaked him out with the crazy child but I don’t want him to feel like he has to stay. “Who’s the creepy little girl?” I ask Noah.

  “Huh?”

  “Don’t play dumb. It will not slide, not this time.” I warn. “She’s about five, blond ringlets, blue eyes and looks like a little angel until she smiles.”

  “Molly,” he glowers, “did she bother you?”

  “If you count scaring the Hades out of me then yes.”

  Noah walks to the window and peers out but remains silent.


  “Is she evil?” Drew asks.

  Kay giggles, “Are you afraid of a little girl?”

  “I’m afraid of anything with bad intentions especially something I can’t see.” Drew crosses his arms.

  “She usually doesn’t come inside.” Noah says.

  “Usually? Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I walk over to Noah and look out. She’s playing hopscotch and she isn’t alone, another little girl and boy have joined her. They stop and stare up at us. Noah waves and I quickly yank his hand down as I step away from the window, “Are you nucking futs?”

  “I was being friendly. It’s not like I invited them up.”

  “Heaven forbid. I don’t want those little monsters running around the house.”

  “They’re not monsters, they’re children.”

  “Children don’t make me cringe. Those little… entities,” I can think of a few other things I’d like to call them but I’d have to wash my mouth out with soap, “scare the H E double hockey sticks out of me.”

  Apparently Kay is curious to see what all the fuss is about. She breezes past us and looks out the window. “C-RU-EEE-PY.” She backs away slowly.

  “Stop that.” Noah scalds. “They just want someone to love who will love them.”

  Kay smirks, “Smother with their love and possibly a pillow.”

  “Enough Kay.” I say. Not only is she freaking Drew out, she’s upsetting Noah.

  “Whateves, you know those little freaks aren’t sweet.” She crosses her arms and plops down in the chair.

  “I’d watch my mouth if I were you. Just because you’re dead doesn’t mean they won’t torment you if they so choose.” Noah grins.

  “Can we change the subject?” Drew asks getting comfy on my bed. Guess I’m stuck with him for the night.

  “That sounds like an excellent idea,” Noah nods, “and I know the perfect topic for conversation.”

  “Yeah Journey, what did you do on your date?” Kay interjects.

  They’re not going to give up until they get the scoop and honestly I’d much rather talk about this than those little creepers. “It was…” I settle in next to Drew before continuing, “rather nice. He took me for sushi, we talked a lot.” I cut my eyes to Noah, “Even about the past and Carson.” I watch his expression change and he looks away. That’s right buddy, I caught you in a lie. “He took me to the old theater where we watched an old black and white film. Then he brought me home.”