“After the things I've seen in life, this is hardly grotesque.” He unlocked his car and opened the passenger door for me, and I hesitantly walked to meet him. What happened to you, I wanted to ask but I kept my mouth shut as I slid inside.
An old woman approached us, walking at a faster than normal speed. She grabbed hold of Jaden’s arm and pulled him to her.
“It’s happening again, isn’t it?” she asked. Jaden’s eyes danced to mine and back to hers.
“It’s nothing to worry about Mrs. Sanders. There was something wrong with the ride.”
“The prophecies are true, you see. You’re just like your grandfather, rotten to the core. We will not stand for any more deaths by your family’s hand. You must renounce this.” She performed a cross over her as protection and whispered, “God be with us” while she walked away. I slid into the front seat and kept my mouth shut, afraid to upset him any further. Jaden didn’t take lightly accusations of murder.
By the time we drove away, I could see the rest of Jaden’s crew heading toward their cars. He sped out of there with a quick squeal of the tires and the rush of inertia felt exhilarating. I was feeling queasy from what happened so I rolled down my window for some fresh air. I kept seeing the woman’s lifeless body, hearing her screams ringing in my ears. I had never witnessed such a thing in any way, shape, or form. Even in the city with the murder rate so high, I never saw anything first hand.
“What was that lady talking about?”
“It’s nothing. Just old people being scared.” I rolled my eyes because I didn’t believe that for a second. Was this some sort of signal that only the people of Shadow Heights understood?
When we pulled up in his driveway, we could hear the sirens of ambulances as they made their way to the scene. I could see their flashing lights from the end of his driveway and wondered if I should go back to give a statement. Jaden placed his hand behind my back and led me to the porch, hoping to draw my attention elsewhere.
He went inside to grab us a drink and turned on the porch light. I sat on the porch swing and tried to clear my head. I kept hearing voices screaming and shouting like a crazy mob. Their erratic behavior in the moment made me remember mine and how calm I was. It had to be from Jaden. It was amazing how he could soothe me just by being in the same room. But still, I couldn't understand the panic. Yes, it was upsetting and they had a right to be upset but why run away like we were being attacked by a foreign terrorist.
I heard a phone ring from inside and Jaden’s voice followed. I looked toward the sky in hopes of a beautiful distraction but there were too many clouds to see anything. I took a gulp from my beer. It wasn’t very cold but it wasn’t room temperature so I was able to tolerate it. The backdoor opened and Jaden stepped outside, his shirt unbuttoned. I sensed his electricity pulsing out of his eyes as he approached me in the dark.
“That was Ryan. They’re heading to the bar and will be back later.”
“Oh.” I sighed from the guilt harboring inside of me.
“What’s wrong?” He took my hand.
“I feel like I’m holding you back. Every time I’m around, you don’t do things with your friends. You can go out and leave me here, I’ll be fine.” He stroked my hair.
“I've spent enough time with them in life but so little with you.” I continued to stare at the ground. “I wish you could understand how I feel about you. I wouldn’t leave you for anything.”
“That's very sweet.”
“I'd much rather spend time with you over anyone else, even if you're angry with me.”
His supple lips pressed against my cheek.
“I'm sorry our time together is always spoiled,” he said.
“It does seem that way. It's very frustrating.” He moved his thumb in a circular motion around my palm, creating a pleasure center that spread up my arm. His eyes glistened with the hazy reflection of the clouds and a sinister grin grew on his face.
“What’s that look for?”
He smiled slyly. “You like this, right?” he asked and I nodded in return. “We should see if it works as well in other places.” He kissed my hand and this made my cheeks grow lurid.
“Jaden, you’ve got a dirty mind.” We chuckled awkwardly.
“Only my desire for you could create such thoughts.” He slipped his fingers between mine, bracing my hand. A pair of voices grew in volume as they hurried down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the house. Chad and Eric then appeared from around the corner, slowly coming into view as they approached the light. Jaden pounded his fist on the armrest and exhaled with agitation by their presence. “Of course. Like nothing else could possibly go wrong.”
“I thought you guys went out with Ryan,” Jaden spoke loudly without looking over.
“He ditched us for Amanda and Logan went home with some brunette,” Chad complained and I could see his lit cherry in the distance.
“There’s beer inside,” Jaden said and they both went inside to get one. He turned to face me, his hand grasping my neck. He kissed me with delicacy but it ended sooner than I would've liked. “I promise. We'll find a way to be alone.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I was actually glad they showed up. I was starting to feel unsafe and unsure of my place in this new life. Jaden's behavior was all over the place and I was afraid to meet whichever personality was still hiding inside him. The attendance of his friends at least got me to forget my own fears and the horror-stricken scene we had all just witnessed, for the time being.
Chapter Twenty Eight
My mom did end up calling me around eight o'clock that night, wanting me to explain where I was. I insisted that I’d be back the next day, and I was staying at Greg’s. I don’t think she approved of me staying at his house but it was a double standard on her part. She didn’t protest Caylie staying at Trent’s and they were dating.
One odd thing she mentioned on the phone was the light bulbs. She wondered if I broke them, finding a few of them shattered in their lamps. I denied it. I had no idea what she was talking about. At least I knew that did happen. But this only added to my confusion in regards to my door, why that remained normal when I saw a metal ax swing through it.
At one point in the evening while we were all sitting outside, the local police paid Jaden a visit. He followed them around to the front so I couldn't hear any portion of their conversation, luckily for him. While I was scared to death over what was happening, his friends didn't seem worried, like this was a normal thing. I couldn't help but wonder why they felt the need to pull- him away for questioning since it was clearly a ride malfunction. After returning a few minutes later, Jaden refused to speak of it and acted like nothing had happened, and this aggravated me to no end.
Sometime after midnight, Ryan showed up with the blond girl from earlier. Soon after that, Jaden was pulling me upstairs with a couple beers for some much needed privacy. Since his roommate was home, he didn't have to play host to his guests any longer.
When we got into his room, he turned on a red light to soften the mood and locked the door, barring all intruders. He fumbled around in his dresser while I sat on the bed watching him. I took off my sandals and sat cross legged on the bed while he turned around and undressed in front of me, making it impossible for me not to watch. He pulled off both of his shirts and I swallowed hard when they were off. I drank slowly from my beer as I began to sweat. The thoughts in my mind turned erotic and I swirled my tongue around the end of my bottle.
He sat next to me on the bed, a freshly loaded bowl in his hand. He lit the green mound on fire and sucked briskly from the pipe. I could hear his friends' voices downstairs, music playing loudly, and I was happy to be away from all of that chaos.
“So, what happened this afternoon when you were with Chad?” He was a persistent man.
“Are you gonna tell me what the cops said?”
“I already did. They were just alerting me about the situation. They're shutting down the carnival for the night to clean up.” I
still wondered if he was lying, if that was really what they told him but I was glad he embellished something. “Now it’s your turn to answer.”
“Fine. I don't want to but I feel that I should because it has to do with your family.” His eyes were fixated on me as I spoke. “While we were at the library, I did a little digging around. I wanted to find out what happened in my house, why it is haunted.” He nodded, slightly irritated that I continued to nose into their business.
“What’d you find?” He was curious enough.
“To be honest, I didn't have much luck finding anything.” He seemed happy to know that my detective work was lacking evidence. “Articles were torn out, the only relevant ones anyhow. I did, however, find one article that was helpful. I found out who the boy in my dreams is. Remember, you told me that it was something new.” He nodded as he remembered. “I didn't realize this boy was a Laenzar until I saw the picture and Chad recognized him. He said—” I couldn’t finish.
“Go on,” he encouraged.
“He said it was your dad.” My eyes flickered to his but they were staring blankly at the wall. “Was his name Joseph?” He nodded and sucked in another hit. “I don’t want to pry into your life but you never told me. Is he still alive?”
“No,” he answered sternly. “He died when I was 13.”
“I’m sorry Jaden. I didn't know.” His eyes darted to mine and they were dull in the light. He snatched my hand and held it to his mouth, kissing it ever so softly.
“Don’t be.” He released my hand and finished his cigarette. “He was a dick.”
“Can I ask how he died?”
“I’m surprised you haven’t heard by now. He killed himself.” I stifled a gasp that was rising up my throat. He took a drink from his beer and belched loudly, apologizing for it afterword. “I was there, too. It happened right in front of me.” I got up from the bed and paced across his floor. I was finding it hard to sit still.
“That's horrible Jaden.”
“Nah. I’ve gotten over it.”
“But that’s not all that happened, is it?” He turned to face me, the brightness of his eyes scalding mine.
“No it's not. Does that make you feel better?” His bold reaction caused me to create further distance. I leaned away from him but continued to stare in his eyes. “Why do you have to know everything? You're digging deeper into a black hole that you will never get out of.”
“Why are you yelling at me?” I asked, offended he would speak to me this way.
“I don't know! I'm sorry. I don't like talking about my history. It’s not even my history but my family's. I'm forever hexed by a disease I never signed up for.” I ran my fingers down his neck and the tendons inside were tense.
“Wouldn't it help if I knew more about the situation?”
“Don't you get it?” He shouted. I fought back my urge to cry as I felt my eyes welling up with water in the corners.
“I would rather you be ignorant about my family. It's much better without you knowing. If you knew the truth, you would want nothing more to do with me. You would run for your life and never look back.”
“I doubt that,” I replied with a smile and he lightly chuckled with doubt. “How am I supposed to go on living a normal life after all that's happened already?”
“Do you think I've been able to live a normal life? How do you think I feel after seeing the things I’ve seen?” I suddenly felt remorseful for being so selfish. I know he had gone through far worse things than me. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m not in the right frame of mind to be talking about this. I'm stressed out over everything.” I reached my hand out hoping he would accept it. His warm hand slid into mine, our fingers meshed together.
“I hope you’re not upset with me,” I said while looking out his window. I could see a few others standing below and their laughter was muffled through the glass.
“I’m not,” he said in a calmer tone. “Even though it’s forbidden for me to do so, there are things I want to tell you.” My eyes rose to meet his. “I have immense trust in you. Somehow you manage to stabilize me, keep me centered. No one’s ever been that way for me. Most people bring out the rage in me.” His thumb rubbed the back of my hand and I closed my eyes, enjoying the passing feeling.
“Maybe that’s why everyone keeps warning me about you but I don’t see it. You are a little intimidating, I guess.” He smirked.
“This is going to sound unusual, considering we haven’t known each other long, but I feel closer to you than any of those guys downstairs. Everyone's always treated me a certain way because of who I am—my name, my history, my wealth. You’re the first person I’ve ever been able to open up to and the only one that’s ever made me hunger for life instead of death.” His eyes were burning like blue flames and I opened mine to meet them. “I will protect you with my life Mina.”
He placed my head between his hands and kissed me. His kiss was less chaotic, more emotional this time. His hand slowly moved down my side and hip, pulling me to his body. I turned from his face, trying to catch my breath, and he moved his mouth to my neck, his long hair tickling me as he brushed against my cheek.
“Fuck you man!” someone shouted in the hallway, a door slamming directly after. The noise jolted us both from our moment and reality slowly faded in. People. He sighed heavily beside me.
“Why is it that every time we're alone, there’s always an interruption?” His voice grew louder after each word. Jaden snarled in his chest and moved like a tiger, heading for the door on the opposite side of the room. His usual strut was absent, each step louder than the next.
“What the fuck is going on out here?” he demanded, his voice roared like a lion. The power that erupted from his vocal chords caused the lights in the room to flicker around me. Someone returned a yelling set of words from downstairs but I couldn’t make it out. He turned around and said with added frustration, “Stay here.”
“Where am I going?” I joked. He smiled back at me and went downstairs. I could hear him arguing with someone but their voices were barely audible below the floorboard. The door across the hall from his room squeaked opened and Chad stepped into the hallway. Crap.
I tried to move my body across the room so that he wouldn’t notice me but as I inched across, he caught me.
“Hey sweetness.” I sat up and looked him over but refused to say anything. When he entered the room, he sheltered his eyes. “Woah. That red light’s a trip.”
I chuckled. He walked over and stood next to me. He reeked heavily of whiskey and his color was off, a pastier white than I remembered. He was missing his darker than white Italian skin. I scooted a few inches away from him just to be safe.
“Are you feeling all right?” I asked, setting the ashtray on the nearby table.
“Oh yeah.” He burped but it was more of a wetness than air.
“Gross,” I complained as the vapor trail of intestinal juices made their way into my airway. It smelled awful and I plugged my nose just to get the smell out. He started to cackle when he saw my reaction but the motion of the laughter must not have helped his stomach because soon his color turned to a yellowish green. “Shit. You need to get out of here.”
I didn’t want him throwing up in Jaden’s room. He would be furious and we would both have to sleep with that smell all night. That was not my idea of a perfect evening.
“What?” he slurred out, his eyes were bright red and tearing up at the corners. I quickly grabbed onto his arm.
“Come on. Follow me.”
“You smell real nice.” He sniffed the ends of my hair while I tried to hold him up. He grinned through his words, slurring his speech. “Are you gonna take me some place private?”
“Yes, Chad. It’s real private and there’s porcelain everywhere.” His eyes glimmered in the light as he started to giggle. This made it harder for me to move him because he was shaking from laughter while standing in one place.
“Are you still feeling sick?” I asked, acting like
a concerned parent. His body stopped moving and he fell to his knees. I knew what he was doing.
“Shit!” I screamed. I ran for it, as far as I could. I didn’t want to get splashed. I heard the noises of his throat as he purged up the alcohol.
“God damn it! What the fuck is it now?” Jaden yelled. He came running up the steps, two cans of beer in his hands. I was standing in the corner near the stairway opening, covering my eyes in disgust.
“Mina?” He walked up to me as if wanting to console me. I pointed behind me at Chad. His eyes slowly followed my gaze and that’s when he saw the disgusting mess all over the floor. “Oh, man.” He handed me the beers and he went up to deal with the situation.
“I’m sorry bro,” Chad mumbled with his face pressed to the floor.
“Ryan!” The lights above us flickered but no one seemed to notice.
Ryan came jogging up the steps. “Yeah.”
“Grab me the mop, would ya?” Ryan headed back downstairs without asking any questions. Jaden shouted over him, “And some towels.” He spoke in a softer level to me. “At least it’s all liquid.” I let out a single laugh. Yes, thank god for that. I wouldn’t want to be cleaning up somebody else’s mess, liquid or solid.
“I tried to get him in the bathroom but at least I got him out of your room.”
“I’m eternally grateful for that.” He placed his hand over his heart. I could feel his electricity shoot across the room as his eyes made their way over to me and it made my heart go crazy in rhythm.
“Stop it,” I teased. He laughed and released his stare.
“Wait. Why was Chad alone in the room with you?”
“He just walked in and started talking to me.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek while staring over at his ailing friend. After seeing the condition Chad was in, he kept his words to himself. The hell his friend was going through was punishment enough for now.
Ryan came up the stairs with a handful of towels, a mop, and a bucket of water to go along with it. I watched them clean up the mess but changed my attention to Jaden’s body every few seconds to distract myself from the mess that they were cleaning. Ryan held a paper towel over his face, covering the smell and he nearly threw up himself while they were wiping it up.
Shadow Heights Page 28