Beyond The Mask (The Beyond Book 1)

by Hunter, Aubrianna

  She ran her hands gently over his chest, barely brushing his skin with her fingertips. She explored the ridges of his abdomen, his muscles still taut even in sleep. The tension he never truly let go of.

  Dipping her head forward she attempted to lick or kiss his chest. No reaction.

  She remembered her little adventure with the magazine earlier and decided she would try to blow on him. She could at least stir the air. Leaning a little closer, she lined up with his nipple, focused all her energy and blew out a small little puff of air. His nipple pebbled.

  Jade smiled, the soft secret smile of women everywhere. She leaned across him, giving the same attention to the other side, delighted when it pebbled as well.

  She moved up, tucking into his neck, blowing a steady stream of air over his collarbone, up his neck, and around his ear.

  This time when he moaned, she grinned again, glancing down to see his cock already hard. She might be a one trick pony, but it seemed to be a trick he liked. Between his imagination and her attentions, at least his dreams had become more... pleasant.

  After spending a few more moments on his ear, she started a slow journey south, breathing in and out, blowing air over every inch of skin she could see.

  When she reached his erection, she took a moment to attempt a few licks, testing to see if he could feel that. His shaft jumped, rising up off his belly, though he didn't seem to react any other way. No moans or even a deep breath.

  She took a deep breath, blowing out against his length, starting at the bottom and working her way to the top.

  As a tiny droplet appeared against the slit, Derek woke up, seeming a little bit startled by his own erection, which pulled a little giggle from Jade's lips.

  With a long groan, he took his cock in hand, sliding the moisture from the head down, lubing his hand with his own fluid. After a few tugs, he tossed his head back, this time groaning out her name. "Jade... fuck!"

  Deciding to help out in the only way she knew how, she bent over him, blowing between his thighs, against his balls, already pulled tight against his body. This wasn't going to take him long.

  His hand slid up and down with more pressure, more strength than she had ever dared to use on him. She moved up a little, this time blowing against the tip where another little droplet had already formed.

  Two more bursts of air, and several pulls, and he erupted, squirting all over his hand, his groin, his belly.

  With a last final sigh, Derek rolled over and immediately fell back into sleep. He would wake up to find that his dream had been a little more real than he expected tomorrow, but he seemed to be sleeping a bit more peacefully for the time being.

  She lay down beside him for a while longer, merely watching him sleep. His face was relaxed for a change, at ease. Something she rarely ever witnessed.

  After a couple hours, the dreams started again, although nightmares would be a more appropriate term.

  As his nightmares ramped up, his jaw clenched, his teeth started to grind. When his hands started to clench and unclench, Jade felt her own anger begin to rise.

  When she had heard Derek's voice earlier, she had run towards him, desperate to see him again, to make sure he was okay. All thought of vengeance, or even justice had been pushed aside by thoughts of him.

  Now, as she watched him suffering, even in his sleep, she remembered his words. He had been there to get revenge on her behalf, to find out who killed her and kill them. He had been there to defend her... something no one had ever done in her entire life.

  The least she could do was try to help him.

  She needed to go back there. She needed to find a way to make Nik pay for killing her. Either to expose him to the cops, or to simply kill him herself. Better she do it than Derek. No one could put her in prison.

  She rose, determination in every step. She would figure this out. She had moved a vase. She could blow air at will. It couldn't take too much longer for her to be able to move objects at will. And once she could do that... she would take a knife and kill that bastard.

  Marching out to the living room, she sat back down by the magazine. She pushed and pushed, focusing all her energy on the bound paper in front of her; she could move this thing, she just knew she could.

  After a while, she still hadn't accomplished her goal. In sheer frustration, she swung her hand at the magazine, screaming out "Dammit to hell!"

  All of a sudden, the magazine went flying off the table, moving so fast it hit the wall with a loud thud, before falling to the floor.

  She stood there, staring at the magazine, some blend of shock and delight pulsing through her.

  She had done it.

  It wasn't focus, not really, it was emotion; strong, concentrated emotion.

  Well, she had that in spades.

  She walked closer to the magazine, lifted her finger, focused for all she was worth, and jabbed.

  It moved again.

  Jumping up and down, dancing a little jig, Jade was thrilled beyond words.

  She ran to the kitchen, spying her mug of tea sitting on the counter. She focused all her energy again, poking the mug, delighted when it slid across the counter.

  She could do this... she could find a way to kill her murderer. Derek would be able to find peace, and maybe she would too.

  She started to run out the door, straight toward the mansion and revenge. Spying Derek's computer out of the corner of her eye, she stopped.

  I wonder...

  She turned and ran towards the computer, concentrated and pushed the power button.

  It worked!

  She sat at the desk, waiting for the computer to wake up, her foot tapping silently against the floor.

  As soon as she could, she pushed things around until she finally had a blank word document open.

  She was going to leave him a note. Something to remember her by. She didn't want it to be anything sad, no apologies, just something to make him smile when he woke up in the morning.

  Hey sexy...

  Just wanted to tell you how much

  I enjoyed last night...

  Keep your hands busy and

  your thoughts dirty...

  Laters!

  She smiled as she looked at her handiwork. Granted it had taken about twenty times as long as it normally would, but hey, it's not like she didn't have time to spare.

  Blowing a kiss back towards the bedroom, she left the computer on and headed out to door.

  Now that she was getting a handle on this touching thing, it was time she made proper use of it. She was a ghost after all. And ghosts... well, they haunt.

  * * * * *

  Derek awoke late in the afternoon with a dry mouth and extremely full bladder. Stumbling to the bathroom with his eyes closed he opened them to slits just long enough to aim. Letting his head fall back he sighed loudly as the pressure in his abdomen decreased.

  After pissing for what felt like an eternity, he flushed the toilet after a brief shake, and his hand rubbed something out of place. Looking down he could see dried drops of fluid upon the lower portion of his abs. A wet dream? Really? That hadn’t happened since he was twelve. How much had he drunk last night?

  Since he had apparently attempted to paint himself white the night prior, he jumped immediately into the shower to wake up. Clean and refreshed, if still somewhat groggy, he climbed from the shower moments later to get dressed. Pulling on some clothes, he quickly realized that he could not remember the last time he had eaten. Without Jade to remind him, he would have to try and keep better track of his meals. He missed Jade. Needed her.

  What the hell was he going to do all night? Not knowing how he would pass the time, he contemplated seeking out Gunny to play the game as he left the bedroom to go find something to eat. As he walked into the living room, his stomach growled at the thought of food, but all hopes of a meal were dashed in an instant.

  Across the room, upon his messy writing desk, the laptop was open and its screen was on. Had he turned it on last nig
ht? Did Gunny? Hell, did Gunny know what a computer was? How to use it? Derek doubted it. He must have turned it on himself.

  Crossing the room to turn it off once more, he glanced at the screen and noticed it was a note from Jade. Though a knot formed in his stomach, he fought back the tears and settled down into his chair. Last night he must have been lonely and pulled up the folder full of the little notes she would leave him. He loved her notes.

  Grinning, he read the note slowly, but then his smile faded to a look of confusion. He did not recall having read it ever before. Though it was an open document, it was not full screen and he could see the icon where it had been saved on his desktop. He never kept her notes there, even though that is where she always left them. She enjoyed last night? Derek had awoke covered in his own mess. Hands busy? Had he jerked off? Impossible.

  It had to be a note left from some time previous, either he found it last night while he was drunk and didn’t remember now, or the computer had been on all this time and he simply hadn’t noticed it. Yeah. That had to be it.

  Closing the note he moused over the icon in order to drag it to the appropriate folder on his desktop. The hover box appeared showing the document was last updated 12 hours ago. Maybe he had accidentally hit the same button on it last night? He began to breath faster. His heart beat in his chest. Why was he panicking?

  Right clicking upon the icon to bring up the menu, he selected properties. The date stamp for the document’s original creation was the same as the last update. It had been written last night. The walls of the room all took a step towards him. The ceiling dropped. This wasn’t possible. He wasn’t crazy.

  Shaking his head violently to clear it, the characters began to voice their ideas as to what had happened. Some thought Gunny had left it as a joke. Derek knew Gunny, and this wasn’t his style. There were only two answers to the riddle and neither of them made any sense.

  Derek opened the note again and read it a second time and then a third. Next he checked the digital date stamps several times as well. The characters all talked now, all at the same time, all shouting for dominance. Derek began to pound upon the sides of his head with his palms. Dead people couldn’t come back.

  “Shut the fuck up!”

  It simply wasn’t possible. Jade was gone. His inspiration was lost. Taken from him. Stripped away like so many clothes. Angry and broken, his emotions ceasing to work due to overuse, Derek rose from the chair and closed the laptop. The room moved and swayed, threatening to topple upon him at any time. He didn’t care.

  Forsaking food once again, Derek walked out the door content in knowing that he could drink yet another day away and no one would care. He hoped that tab gunny had left still had funds available.

  * * * * *

  Jade had left the apartment with the intention of rushing over to the mansion. Apparently early mornings and evenings were fine, but at midmorning, buses were at a premium.

  So, she'd entertained herself while she'd waited, using that time for both amusement and practice. There had been a few other people at the bus stop, and she had delighted in making the newspapers flutter, the empty coffee cups roll off the bench.

  She saw a gentleman sitting in the corner. He looked slightly dazed, a little simple maybe. Someone she would have easily over-looked, or possibly tried to avoid had she been alive. There had been much she'd overlooked when she was alive. Now, she had nothing to do but observe.

  Imagine her surprise when he looked straight at her.

  "You can see me?" she asked.

  He smiled a little and nodded.

  "Can you see all ghosts?"

  He nodded again.

  For a brief moment, she wondered if maybe societies version of “crazy” was really just a kind of gifted. How hard must it be to get along in this world, a world that bashed all that was different, when you could see and hear things others couldn't.

  Before she could continue the conversation, the bus she needed arrived. Climbing on, careful to avoid contact with the other people, an attempt to heed Gunny's vague warning, she turned and waved at him. He smiled as if greeting a long time friend and waved to her as well, completely oblivious to the people staring at him as they scooted further away from the crazy person. Jade sighed. It's a shame that living people, herself included when she had been alive, couldn't see what she was now seeing. She was learning that there was more in the world than meets the human eye.

  When she reached her stop, she hopped off and ran as fast as she could to the house. Jade strolled into the mansion, finally finding some comfort in her lack of visibility. It had taken awhile to get to the mansion, so it was already late morning, heading on to the height of midday.

  Trying to recall what day of the week it might be, she thought it could possibly be Monday.

  That would certainly explain the lack of activity within the house. It was as silent as a mausoleum. Everyone must be at work.

  Jade figured this was the perfect opportunity to poke around a bit. She could dig up some dirt on Nik, something she could direct the police toward. Maybe she could even locate a weapon of some sort, supposing she could figure out how to hold onto it.

  She wandered back to the office she had been in yesterday, found an armoire that seemed to be sturdier, more secure, than the rest of the furniture. It didn't look out of place really, just... heavier. It matched the furniture in the room, yet it still looked out of place. She tried for a few minutes to grab at the handle to open it. She could touch it, could actually feel it bumping her fingers in a weird tingly way. Yet, she couldn't seem to grip and hold onto it.

  That was going to be a problem even if she managed to locate a gun or a knife.

  Maybe she could simply peek her head in and look around? She could walk through doors, so it was possible. Would it hurt?

  Jade debated a moment, but only a moment. So far, nothing had hurt... she couldn't honestly feel much of anything. So, she would take a peek.

  Foolishly holding her breath, she closed her eyes and stuck her head through the door of the armoire. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find everything was still pitch black. Blinking a couple times, she finally realized it was because she was essentially inside a closed cabinet within a dark room.

  Okay, then... that wasn't her brightest move ever. Pulling her head back out she knew she'd have to find a way to open things if she planned on finding out anything useful. Surely any dirty little secrets Nik had would be kept behind a locked door.

  Moving on, she kept wandering through the house, peeking into all the different rooms and finding a kitchen that would have made any chef drool in envy. It was, of course, immaculate like everything else in the house. She had no idea what kind of cleaning staff Nik had, but they were highly efficient... and amazingly skilled at staying out of sight, considering she still hadn't seen a living soul.

  She was trailing down another hallway when recognition finally fell into place. This was the hallway by the library. The library where she'd been killed. When she recognized the double wooden doors, she slipped through them, looking around for any signs that she'd ever been there.

  There were none. Not even a trace of blood, a stray hair, nothing. Yep, that cleaning staff was a little too good at their jobs. Even if the police suspected Nik, even if they got enough evidence for a warrant, which was highly unlikely considering his status and the cops he seemed to have in his pockets, they would never find any trace that she'd been here.

  He would absolutely get away with it if she didn't find a way to stop him.

  Taking the anger she felt roiling around in her belly, and trying to focus that energy, she located a letter opener on Nik's desk and tried to pick it up.

  She could make it move, she could scoot it all around the desk, but she could not seem to get a grip on it.

  Time passed as she sat there, entirely engrossed in her task. She managed to get a couple fingers underneath the letter opener, lifting it into the air. A giant grin broke across her face,
excitement starting to flow in and replace the low burn of anger she'd been feeling all morning.

  Just as she began to celebrate her triumph, a bookcase swung open and Nik walked into the room.

  The letter opener fell onto the desk, making a soft little thud against the wood.

  Nik's head spun toward the sound, his eyes raking over the room, clearly looking for something... or someone.

  He walked toward the desk, so Jade backpedaled, standing near the curtains as he picked up the letter opener, looking it over. Imagine her surprise when the curtains fluttered against her back. Had she done that?

  In a flash of movement so fast she couldn't actually see it, Nik was standing right in front of her. If she'd been corporeal she would say he was pressed against her.

  "I know you're here darling. I can almost feel you. Which is... unfortunate. I was rather hoping for a different outcome to your death. Tell me, are you planning to stay awhile?"

  What the hell did he mean a different outcome? What possible outcome was there besides death? A burst of anger had her rushing through him, fleeing from his nearness.

  She turned, surprised at the strange rush it had given her to pass through his body. Just as she found him gasping, clutching at the curtains while he seemed to stagger where he stood.

  When he spun to face her, the expression he wore reminded her of one he'd had that night. Desire?

  She glanced around, looking for a laptop. She would gladly confirm that yes, it was she, and yes, she planned to stay. She would stay as long as it took to kill him. Rushing from the room, she headed back to his office. There'd been a computer in there.

  She may not be able to hold a knife just yet, but she knew how to leave a message.

  She typed her note, hearing Nik roaming through the house calling out her name. When she was done with her brief note, she tucked herself back in a corner, waiting for him to see her message. She wanted to see the look on his face.