Only I didn’t have time to think of that. People jumped and stopped in the hallway from the shock. The sound had caught everyone’s attention. Without thinking, I ran and bent down next to Ryan where he lay on the floor. I was about to ask if he was okay when I got that chill against my back and knew people were staring at me. I heard their chatter all around me and suddenly I was afraid to do anything.
I tilted my head around slowly and looked at everyone as they gazed down at me. What did they see? What did I look like to these people? I looked behind me to see Josh giving me a very strange and worried look.
The ancestor stood beside him and she curled her lip up at Ryan laying on the floor. “You’re a new ghost. I can tell.” She spat the words out. “Weakling.”
Ryan rose and looked around. “You’re drawing too much attention, Melanie. Everyone’s looking at you.” He didn’t have to tell me what I already knew. I stood up, all the while I could still hear the hushed voices around me. I was that girl again that everyone thought was weird… crazy.
“I’m fine.” Ryan shooed me with his hands to hurry and go. As I turned another chill ran up my spine. Tess was there watching me with a questioning look on her face.
I abandoned the hallway in a hurry and ran to the girls’ bathroom. I wanted away from all those judgmental looks. I took a deep breath and turned on the faucet. I began to repeatedly splash my face with cold water before finally looking at my reflection in the mirror.
You’re okay, Melanie.
I no longer had to worry if I was crazy. I wasn’t. Ghosts were real. Demons were real. Grim Reaper was real. Heaven and Hell and everything in-between existed. The Vessel made me a target, but Fear made me this way.
I was a normal girl caught up in some not so normal things.
I heard footsteps entering the bathroom and I looked over to see Tess coming toward me. I looked back into the mirror and I saw her come into view in the mirror. She crossed her arms and her perfectly round face looked at me for an answer. “What’s going on with you?” she asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Ghosts,” I told her, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough for her. That was the truth, but the big truth was her ghost brother was just slung into the lockers by another ghost.
Yeah…no, I couldn’t tell her that.
“Something else is going on lately.” She sighed, dropping her arms to her sides. I turned away from her reflection in the mirror so that I could face her. “Talk to me, Melanie? Something’s happening, I know it. You’re acting different.” She grabbed her forehead and leaned her hip against the sink. “And that guy from yesterday, you clearly didn’t like him at Ryan’s football game a while back.” She paused. “What changed?”
I grabbed my head. She was bombarding me with questions I didn’t want to answer. “He’s not as bad as I originally thought,” I told her. It was the truth. That was when I knew nothing about Killian. Which he never made it easy to trust him. And I still didn’t really know him.
She puffed her cheeks out. “What are you saying?” she asked, slowly.
I gave her a silly look. “I’m just saying he’s not a bad guy.” For the most part anyway.
Her eyes squinted in anger. “What about my brother.” Tess was angry. I could only stare at her confused. “You’re so quick to date the moment he’s gone!” I blinked, momentarily stunned. “He tried so hard to be with you.” I hated how broken she sounded.
I could see that she was on the verge of crying and I reached out to touch her, but she jerked away from me. “Tess, it’s not like that.” But my voice didn’t sound as convincing as it should be because I knew it wasn’t exactly the truth. Killian was growing on me like wildfire.
“It’s time for class.” She wiped her eyes and slipped out of the bathroom. My butt fell against one of the sinks, and I took a deep shaky breath.
_________
Lunch was extremely awkward. We still sat together at lunch because when it came down to it, we only had one another at school. I didn’t know what to say to make things better between us, but lying about my feelings wouldn’t be one of them. It didn’t help the situation that Ryan sat at the table with us as we ate in silence.
His eyes went back and forth between us. “What’s with you two?” he asked, and I shook my head.
I glanced back to Tess and saw that she was giving me another strange look. I looked back down at my plate. “What’s his name?” she asked, finally breaking the silence between us.
“What?” I looked back up.
“The guy, Melanie.” She sighed and took a bit from her burger. “Ya know, the one with the smokin’ hot ride.” Her words were muffled with the food in her mouth.
“Killian.”
Ryan’s eyes shot over to his sister. “What? Is she interested in the Reaper?” he asked, shoulders slumped.
I shook my head to answer him. A loud smack landed on the table and Ryan and I both jumped. We looked to see Tess glaring at me as her palm rested on the table from where she smacked it. “Okay, that’s it. I know you’re talking to one of them.”
“Uh,” was all I could think to say.
“See, you’re admitting it.” She brought her hand out toward me and I was trying to figure out how saying ‘uh’ meant I was admitting to anything. “You’ve never tried talking to them before.” She dropped her hand back down. She leaned in closer to the table. “I heard you scream my brother’s name in the hallway when those lockers opened on their own.” I think Tess caught on to more than I realized. Did she already suspect…?
“Just tell her, you can tell she already knows.” Ryan sighed as he looked at Tess.
I glared at him before I turned my attention back to her. “Your brother is a ghost.” There. I said it.
Her eyes widened. “You’re kidding me.” Oh, so now she wasn’t going to believe me?
“No, Tess. He’s right here.” I pointed at the seat he was in. She was already looking in that direction before I pointed as if she had seen me look in that direction enough times to know where he was.
“Are you trying to make me feel better by lying about him being a ghost? If you are, that would be super messed up—”
“No, God, Tess, I would never joke about something like this.”
“Tell her I said to stop looking at her phone every night and just call Mike and find out the truth. You won’t be able to move on until you figure out what it is that you want to know.” He was looking at her as he spoke.
“He told me to tell you to stop staring at your phone at night already and just call Mike. You won’t know what you need to unless you do.” Her mouth gaped open at my words. She looked to where he sat with tears in her eyes.
“Ryan, God, I miss you so bad.” My own eyes were watering because of Tess, I had to look away from her for a second. I looked around to make sure we weren’t drawing any attention.
He smiled at her. “Yeah, I miss you too, Sis.”
“I miss you too, Sis.” I mimicked his words back to her and her smile was so big. It made me wonder why I didn’t tell her sooner. I hadn’t seen a smile like that from her since before his accident.
_______
I was walking out to the parking lot after the last bell when I got a text. It was an unknown number but once I read what it said, I knew exactly who it was:
Come over.
Two simple words and I was blushing at my cell phone screen. I stored Killian’s number into my contacts before slipping my phone back into my pocket.
“Melanie!” Tess called my name from somewhere behind me. I turned just as she stopped beside me. She was smiling. “Is my brother here right now?” she asked, hopeful.
“No, I haven’t seen him since lunch.” I hated to disappoint her and watch as her smile dropped. “But, I will let you know when I see him again. He’s always popping up somewhere, believe me, he has the whole ghost thing down pat.” I smiled.
“Okay.” She nodded.
I had to pick up Alex from his elementary
school. He ran out the front doors as soon as he saw my car pull up outside. I smiled as he raced around the car and hurried into the passenger seat. He slammed the door shut. “Hey,” I said.
“Hey,” he replied. He looked at me as I pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the road. “You’re in a good mood.” I tipped my top lip up slightly. Apparently, I must be grumpy most of the time.
But I understood what he meant. I gave him a small smile before focusing back on the road. “Yeah, I think things are going to get better for Tess now.” That was enough to make me happy.
“Oh?” He tried not to sound too happy about it, but I knew he was. “That’s good.” He shrugged his shoulders.
“Say,” I looked over at him, “do you want to go grab a bite to eat at Deb’s?” I asked.
He turned around and said ‘yeah’ so quickly that I was glad I asked.
I grinned. “Okay, I’ll call and let Mom know.” He nodded.
Twenty minutes later, Alex and I were sitting at a back booth at Deb’s. We were looking at the menus when the waitress came to our table. “Hey, I’m Sally, I’ll be your waitress for the evening.” She was friendly. Alex lowered his menu as he looked at her. “What would you guys like to drink?” she asked.
“I’ll take a root beer.” He closed his menu and laid it on the table. I arched my eyebrow. Was he trying to make himself look mature?
I grinned at him. Look at him, acting all grown up. “I’ll take a Dr. Pepper.”
“Do you guys need a minute or do y’all already know what you want?” she asked as she pulled out her pen and a small pad.
“I’ll take a steak and fries,” he answered. “Well done.”
“Cheeseburger and fries, please,” I added.
She looked up after she was finish writing down our order and smiled. “All righty, I’ll be right back with your drinks.” Alex was drilling holes in her as she walked away.
“She’s so hot.” He was staring at her butt as he said the words. I snorted.
He raised a blond eyebrow, so much like mine. “Unlike you, I’m mature for my age. I love girls.” He made sure to point out. I hadn’t cared about boys at his age and by the time I did, ghosts were already a part of my life. Now I knew, though, I was coming out of that shell. Well, when Killian happened to be around, that is. But that wasn’t entirely true… Ryan had made me wish I was someone different my whole life… but everything was different now.
Sally brought our drinks out and not even five minutes later she was bringing out our food. Another reason why I loved Deb’s. They were fast about getting your food to you, despite always being busy. All the workers were friendly.
There was only silence while we ate, we only knew how to stuff our faces with delicious food. We were being pigs at the moment—I meant that in every way possible, ketchup all over my shirt and Alex looked no better. Mom taught us good table manners but they never really stuck. Sally came back to our table shortly after and placed two hot fudge cakes in front of us. I looked up from my plate and frowned at her. “Um, we didn’t order dessert,” I told her.
There was a twinkle in her eyes as she grinned at me. “This is from the man sitting over there.” She leaned back and pointed toward the bar. My gaze followed to who she was pointing at and I recognized the leather jacket—that broad, sexy back. I’d recognize Killian anywhere—any which way. He sat on a stool at the bar, elbows propped up against the bar as he leaned forward. As if he knew I was staring, he turned and met my eyes with a confident smirk.
I leaned back, hiding behind Sally as best I could. Which made me look extremely goofy since Sally was as thin as paper. “He already paid your bill and anything else y’all want,” she added.
“Who is that?” Alex scrunched up his nose at Killian. Sally walked off and Killian stood and headed toward our table.
“A friend,” I replied quickly when I knew he was coming this way. Without a word, he slid in the booth next to me, forcing me to scoot over so that he could fit. But he ended up just kind of cramming himself in there, leaving his long legs out and in every waiter’s way.
“Melanie,” Killian drawled, his arm rubbing into my shoulder.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.
“You didn’t come over like I asked you to.” I elbowed him in the stomach, but he didn’t even flinch. I motioned my head and gave him a look that said my-brother-is-right-there and that he needed to shut up.
“Yeah, I didn’t want to,” I said quickly, although it was a lie. I did and didn’t want to see him, I was very confused right now. “Now, how did you know I was here?” I asked because I didn’t think he could find me as easily now that he wasn’t Grim.
He lowered his mouth to my ear and his nose brushed against my hair. Pinpricks broke out over my skin. “You can’t escape me, Melanie, now that I know your scent. Just like I can’t escape you.” His words shouldn’t turn me to liquid like they do, but everything he whispered in my ear seemed to scorch me. I leaned away from his mouth and grabbed my ear, remembering that Alex was right there watching us. What did he mean? Scent?
“Sis.” Alex was giving me a strange look.
I coughed, straightening out my voice before I spoke. “Alex, this is Killian.” I motioned toward the both of them. “Killian, this is my brother Alex.” I introduced the two of them because I had no clue what else I should do.
“Hey, kid.” Killian moved his arm across my shoulder and leaned back. I had no choice, but to lean back with him since he was too strong to get away from.
Alex crossed his arms over his shoulder and glared at him. “Who is this tool, Sis? How do you know him? Isn’t he the one that came by the house a while back?” My eyes widened at the third degree my seven-year-old brother was giving me.
Killian only laughed. “Did you just call me a tool? I like you already.” I eyed the hot fudge brownie in front of me. The ice cream was starting to melt. I leaned up to grab a drink of my pop. I was sipping through the straw when Killian said, “I’m your sister’s boyfriend.” I spit what pop was in my mouth all over the table. I grabbed my chest as I coughed and looked at Killian like he had lost his mind.
Stop fluttering heart, darn you. Or it could be the fact that I was strangling, not that I was happy or anything. Definitively not.
Alex looked to me. “Is that true?” he asked.
I shrugged Killian’s arm away that kept lingering close despite the fact that I was leaned away from him. I gave him a heated glare. “No, he’s just a friend.” I was still looking at Killian when I spoke. “A very big, annoying one that I’m going to unfriend if he keeps it up.”
Killian’s eyes matched his smile, dark and dangerous. He brought his hand up to my ponytail and began to twist it around. “You hurt me with your words.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed some napkins on the table to clean up the pop I had spit everywhere.
Killian leaned forward, still twirling my hair as he scooted the hot fudge cake in front of him with his other hand. He started eating it and I kept wondering why I was letting him play with my hair. Another minute went by before Alex said, “Wow, I didn’t think anyone besides Ryan would ever like my sister.” Alex took a sip of his pop after he spoke before looking back at us. Killian’s hand stopped twirling my ponytail before he dropped his hand away completely. “I always thought Ryan would be my brother-in-law one day, I was so sure…” Alex’s voice trailed off as he took a bite of his steak. I looked at Killian and saw that his smile was gone and Alex’s words had tensed him up entirely.
Killian brought his hands up against the table as he looked at Alex. “I think there’s someone out there that suits your sister better. Someone that can make her happy and mean more to her than Ryan ever could.” His hand closest to me snaked out and grabbed mine. The warmth I felt was instant and spread across my fingertips. A small gasp escaped my lips as he brought our hands—linked together—and placed them over his leg underneath the table. I simply looked at him in awe. I continued to be amaze
d at how much I felt every time he touched me. Was that normal? His thumb lazily stroked over mine and it felt intimate.
“When two people are meant to be together, I think there’s no stopping it—or escaping it.” He then looked me in the eyes like it was some sort of promise. His eyes seemed to dance under the dim lights of the diner. “I think they call it fate.” I felt like he just gave away a big secret. Something that I was constantly running from.
I was quiet as Killian walked us to my car. Alex walked ahead of us at a distance and I found myself walking even slower like I was in no hurry to part with him. I hadn’t said a word to him since he had said those things in the diner, but then his hand was reaching out to mine—twining his fingers with mine as we continued at a slow pace. I looked down at our hands and the way they looked when together. My mind was in chaos and things were going to get crazy again, it was only a matter of time—but my heart recognized something through it all. This felt right.
I squeezed his hand and looked up at him so that I could see the expression he wore. There was something sweet and precious in those dark eyes, but it could never mask the burning desire rippling around him—around us.
I don’t want this feeling to go away…
“Are you sure you want to part?” he whispered softly. Alex was already getting in the car. I smiled because I had been thinking the same thing.
We stopped once we were in front of the car and I shook my head with a stupid grin on my face. “What are we doing?” I tugged at my hand trying to pull them apart, but he was reluctant to let go.
“Well, right now…” I loved that sexy grin he wore. “We’re holding hands and I’m trying really hard not to kiss you in front of your brother.” His voice wasn’t sweet, it was deep and husky—full of dark fantasies and promises that were sure to come alive in my dreams—and when I looked into his eyes again they were solid black. The color of black licorice candy, only more liquefied. Enchanting and almost scary.
“Come home with me.” His words had a mesmerizing effect on me. I felt my mind and body go lax, and I knew I wouldn’t turn him down. I would do whatever he wanted.
'Til Grim's Light (A Grim Awakening Book 2) Page 5