Haunted

by Sammantha Lewis

  I released what she meant and what she wanted. I also released what I needed to do. At that though I felt water well up at my water line and threaten to over flow. I do not know what came over me. I suddenly began moving towards him and as I did, he understood and did the same. He rushed to me and engulfed me in his arms as I buried my face in his chest sobbing.

  "And I do. I do trust you. I just need-" I said in a rushed tone. He cut me off in an effort to calm me.

  "What do you need?" He asked me in a calm voice. I went ridged and did not want to say what I truly needed. A part of me knew it would kill him, yet I knew it was exactly what I need. I need to think, to breathe, and to try to reconcile. With my mind made up, I said,

  "...time. That is what I need. I need time to just sort out my thoughts." I said in shaken voice. I felt him go stiff and then heard him say,

  "Alright."

  into the unknown

  Draft 4

  Jericho

  I heard the water turn on as I sat on my bed reading. I glanced up to see the door cracked just enough to where I could just barley see Avery washing her face. Her damp orange hair clung to her face and formed a curtain over her face blocking her from my view. She turned her head suddenly and looked at me. However as quickly as she had glanced at me. I turned away. She hasn't said a word to me. I just brought her here to clean up. she was covered with mud and leaves. Her dress was torn and she had several cuts and bruises.

  She gently knocked on the door which had caused me to looked up at her. Her eyes were unfocused and help a glassy haze to them, and she carried herself with a protective demeanor. I could tell her walls were slowly building back up.

  "Do you have some gauze? And... and a bit of rubbing alcohol?" My face fell when she said this. She had refused anyone's help to tend to her wounds. I then considered the possibility that she had been in a similar situation before.

  What hurt was the fact that Avery Crawford was a girl of solitude. No matter what I could never change that. She was almost fully independent as well as brave. She didn't want help. She wanted to handle everything on her own. Her nature of solitude was engraved in her just as her secrets dictated her. That was the truth and even the fact that she was my soul mate would not change that.

  I took a beep breath and studied her. Completely studied her. With that single outtake of breath I accepted her- all of her for the first time. Her secrets, her overly independence, and her bravery- every single thing about her- I needed to accept.

  "Sure thing." I told her. She nodded her head and disappeared into the bathroom. My heart sank when I heard the lock set in place. I was not sure if this was out of fear of me, or out of habit. Yet apart of me felt it was because she did not trust me.

  On the way here she would tell me nothing. I had pushed for her to tell me what had happened to her neck, but she said that " It has absolutely nothing to do with you. I can tend to myself just fine." After that i did not push. I could tell she did not want me to know.

  It was my fault. I am willing to admit to my self when I am wrong, however to her is a different story. I wanted her to find out what I was at my own terms. Instead I had lost control.

  I took in a jagged breath as I walk down the hall to to get the first aid kit. What was a simple thing, I was at practice, and they were there. They were talking about Avery in ways they should not have, yet the way they observer me and pushed me further, and challenged me told me they knew exactly what they were doing- they were ripping my wolf out of me. They did that perfectly.

  As I had stared at them, their voices seemed to fade into murmurs as they laughed about her pain. That was the most sickening thing of all. I saw red as blood blurred my eyes.

  He was going to hurt her.

  Before I could do a single thing my wolf broke free. My eyes glowed and he shoved me to the back of my own mind. Whenever he possessed me, I was forced into a black void. It felt as if my soul was levitating in a horizontal motion. I could feel and I could see the world around me However I was not in control. I could not move nor could I talk. I was now the continues of my wolf just as he was to me. Yet I had willed him to flee, which he did.

  He was going to hurt her.

  That was what happened, and that is why the now is. I needed to accept it, and work through it. Yet one thing echoed throw my mind.

  They did hurt her.

  It was a nasty thought but it was the truth. Even with all the supernatural abilities, the hexes, and all possible strength , it will never be enough. Everyone is mortal, everyone dies, and there's not a single thing I can do about it. I can not fully protect her to the point nothing could possibly harm her. There is still her self. There will always be her past and the horrible thoughts that linger within her. I can not protect her completely, but I can fight to do as closely as possible. I can defend her with my last breath, and comfort her when she does get hurt. Because the horrible truth is I am mortal, and so is she.

  I snapped to the present and noticed the open wooden cabinet before me. I reached in and pulled out the plastic red case with the white cross on it. I opened it up and retrieve what she had asked for. Then I closed the cabinet and made my way back down the hallway. Back to a girl I thought could love me. Back to the girl I was scared hated me....

  Back to the unknown.

  When I walked back into my room I knocked on the bathroom door and waited for her to open it. I could hear her heart quiken and I knew that she was hesitant to open the door. When she fianly did she craked it open and only reached out her hand to take the guze and rubbing achohol. She then slammed the door and my heart sank when I heard the lock click into place.

  She did not come out for another hour or so after that. After she did come out She asked Ashlin to drive her home, and did not even look at me or tell me she was going.

  When Ash came back she said "Give her time. She needs to think." Then I went up to my room and tried to sleep.

  I tried.

  into the unknown part 2

  Avery

  I dabbed the cloth soaked in rubbing alcohol over my wounds and tried to hold in my rasps of pain. I knew that if anything... he was waiting outside the door, and I never wanted him to hear me in pain. I didn't want him to see me hurt, vulnerable, and weak. I knew he would internalize my pain, and then I would have to see that horrid pained look in his eyes.

  I was not sure what hurt more... my wounds... or the distant agonized look in Jericho's eyes. I wanted to crawl away. I wanted to crawl into my dark little room with a ghost girl, and never come out. I wanted to forget about everything because now I was not sure what to think. Jericho was still Jericho. He was a wolf when I met him... I just didn't know it. He was that over barring, charming, and radiant guy I had gotten I know one of his greatest secrets.

  * * *

  Ash dropped me off in front of my house around 10:30. I used the back door and slipped in without making a sound. I knew the Paterson's were asleep, but I didn't want to risk it. By some miracle, I was able to make it to my bedroom door with very little noise. I slowly shut the door and locked it without nothing more than a slight creak. Looking down at the door knob, I thought about everything that had happened today. I leaned my head on door and sighed out.

  Jericho- it hurt to think about it. He had accepted me for what I was without hesitation, yet I couldn't do the same. That thought alone killed me on the inside and made me regret everything.

  "Avery!!" I was ripped from my thoughts by a whisper in the dark. Turning on my small lamp sitting on my dresser, I saw Angela staring at me with large, concern ridden eyes.

  "are you alright? I'm so sorry." She came up to me and wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace- granted I couldn't feel her , but the gesture was nice. When she pulled away her face was contorted with an overwhelming amount of emotions. Fear, worry, dread, and compassion... and so many more. She looked as if she was going to cry, but god knows she wasn't capable of that anymore.

  "It's not your fault- none of this
is," I told her. She shook her head while rubbing her eyes. "no-I-just wish I could do more, but I can only do so much. As your keeperI - I just keep failing you."

  "you being with me is enough." I tried to reassure her. She forced a smile and shook her head. "still you don't deserve this." She said in a whisper.

  I stared at Angela for a long time, and recalled her words from that one afternoon,

  "You need to trust him." her words echoed in my head as I realized something,

  "Jericho... did you know?" I asked here firmly.

  "honestly, I did. I should have told you, but it just didn't feel right. I don't think he'd want you to find out that way."

  "Well, I don't think he wanted me to find out like this." I said, referring to the events that conspired hours before.

  "I..." Angela let out a long sigh. She remained silent for a moment, as if she was gathering her thoughts.

  "I'm not sure what to say, other than I'm glad you're safe." She finally said.

  "yeah..." we sat there in a solum silence for what seemed like ages. I could tell there was a question, rattling around her head, but she looked hesitate to ask. Eventually she asked the words I dreading to here,

  "What are you going to do?" Her question scared me to be honest. Because in truth... I didn't know. I knew what I needed to do... but whether or not I was capable of doing so.... that was where I was unsure.

  Shaking my head at her I told her,

  "I'm not sure." I then watched as shock settled into her face.

  "You're not sure? Avery how could say-" Angela flew backwards away from me, her hair swaying in the wind only she could feel, as something that can only be described as distress washed over her. She cupped her face in her hands and tried to calm her self. In her frustration, she sent a wave of energy through the room, causing the loos objects in the room to momentarily levitate, only to come crashing back down.

  I felt the aura in the room become tense as I stepped towards her,

  "Ang?" I called out her, but she didn't look up at me.

  "There are things even you can't see, Avery." She whispered.

  "You need to accept him. It's crucial, other wise-"

  "I'm not sure I can." I said in a small voice. Angela looked at me as if I was mad, but before she could say anything I continued.

  "I try to pretend to be level headed, selfless, and mature- but I'm not. No matter how much I want to just be a grown up... I'm some 17 year-old kid, all I ever wanted was normality- a stable life- is that really so much to ask? To feel like an average teenage girl?" I felt my frustration boil down, and then my mind wander backed to Jericho, and I felt guilt make its home in my stomach.

  " with Jericho.... all I ever wanted was something that was normal. When he just walked into my life I though I had that, I thought that just for a moment- at least while I was with him, I was a normal teenage girl. But, choosing him means giving up any hope of every having a quiet life. God, I was so stupid-" I abruptly cut myself off when I realized something. I felt the lose of a presence . I whirled around in a panic. This wasn't like how sometimes she disappears, she's never really gone- I can always feel her presence. No, this felt as if she had vanished from existence, almost as if she was never there . Leaving the room as quiet as the night, and the only sound was my frantic heartbeat. This was complete and utter loneliness. I felt my self crumbling towards the floor as my emotions swept over me.

  "...Ang?" I whispered into the darkness. Yet I still didn't feel her presence. Then it sunk in that was really gone.

  "God i'm a fool!... I'm such a fool." I wept into my hands. I had chased Angela off and I had rejected Jericho. For a girl with no family- this was the most worthless and alone I had ever felt. I cried out my anger and frustrations. I let my vulnerability show. I wasn't strong. I wasn't cunning- I was absolutely unextraordinary Avery.

  I was awoken up by my alarm the next morning and realized I had cried my self to sleep on the floor last night. Confirming that the events of yesterday were not an elaborate dream. As I pulled my self up off the floor, everything flooded back to me. I realized Angela was still gone, and I had still hurt Jericho.

  I brought my hand to my face and groaned out a string of curse words.

  I had some how worked up the energy to school, I had managed to go unoiticed, which I was relieved about because in all honesty I don't think I could face any of them. Alan, Mavric, Terrence, Tyler, Taylor and even Jericho and Ashlin. Granted I tried my best to avoid the unfavorable three on a daily basis, but I didn't have the energy to face my friends.

  That is until I saw Ashlin leaning up against her locker. I came to complete stop as I stared at her. She was leaning against her locker, she looked exhausted and pale as Angela. Her curly blond hair , which she usually styled or pulled back, looked wild and disheveled. They way she looked at me told me she had been waiting for me.

  "you, we need to talk." She said as she grabbed my wrist.

  "we talked last night..." I said under my breath as she dragged me along.

  "Not enough apparently." She retorted back, making it obvious she had heard me.

  I swallowed my nerves and begrudgingly followed the spitfire of a blonde through the hallways, and eventually out of the building. I felt my breath catch in my throat when I realized we were behind the dumpsters at the same bench Jericho and I came to all those months ago. Ashlin sat next down next to me and lounged back as she sighed. She ran her hand through her unruly hair as we sat in silence for what seemed like forever.

  "So just in case you didn't know... I'm a witch. Well half any way but that's another story." I did not say anything I just nodded my head. She then let out a breath of relief and continued.

  "My mom... she was a witch too. One day a spell recoiled and she became sick... she died when I was about sixteen. By the time she passed, I was still getting use to my abilities. I always knew I was different from most witches, but I did not realize how powerful some of my abilities were- especially the ones controlled by grief and anger. I have never felt so alone" It was strange really, to see Ashlyn Powell show an emotion other than cheerful or full on rage. That was the first time I saw pain in Ashlin's eyes. The grief she felt from losing her mother so suddenly was still. I could feel her sense of desperation and abandonment from her aura; reminding me that some mental wounds never heal.

  "I'm part bane too-on my dad's side. My skin secretes an acid that's harmful to full-blooded werewolf's. As you can imagine, my dad didn't like werewolves very much, and they didn't like us very much. So when I found out Alan was a wolf... and I was his mate- it was difficult." Ashlin's hand unintentionally brushed against my arm, and then I saw it. The vision flooded through my mind as I saw fragments of her life. I saw her baby brother, her mom and dad, all with wide smiling faces. Then they slowly faded into ash and vanished forever. I felt her numbing loneliness as she cried herself to sleep. Her self-loathing from dreading what she was. But I also felt the warmth Alan had brought back into her life. Then the vision faded away, allowing me to come back to reality.

  "he's half so I'm able to touch him, but it still hurt when he almost rejected me." Never had I experienced a series of visions like that. So much had been missing, as if she repressing most of it. As if, her abilities only allowed me to see pieces of her past. However, those small fragments helped me to understand that Ashlin Powell was so much more then she appeared.

  "So, I understand what you're going through. I understand wanting to be normal, and having weird abilities, but no one there to teach you how to use them. Therefore, I know what it is like to feel like a ticking time bomb. I also understand about the werewolf thing. "Her brown eyes searched mine for understanding, as she rung her hands out of nervousness. Then I realized that just like me, Ashlin Powell, had experience more than her fair share of heartache.

  "I heard that you can see ghosts but that's about all I now about your abilities, and judging by the aura you're giving off, it's a lot more then that, isn't it." She said as she
let out a big breath of air.

  "Yeah... it use to be seeing ghosts, but then the visions started. After that I started hearing peoples thoughts, and I could see someones entire life- birth to death- with just one touch. A few years ago, I found out I was a guardian, and I'm suppose to help those who's souls are trapped move on. then a few days ago I.... " I stopped mid sentence and squeezed my eyes shut, not really wanting to admit what had happened. I felt my face become beet red as i remembered the incident, not truely sure how to say it.

  "I...made a pipe in the girls bathroom exploid." I said in a small voice. Ashlin's eyes widened and she leaned intowards me and said,

  "I didn't hear that last part." she urged me. I took a deep breath and said it one more time.

  "I made the pipe in the girls bathroom explode!" I brought my hands to my face and tried to hide the shame that rushed over me.

  "Shit that was you?t. If it makes you feel better I made a whole school bus crunch up like a soda can." The look on Ashlyn's face could only be described as pride. Beaming pride. Yet after a minute, she came back down to reality and took a deep breath.

  "but man... that must be exhausting. Are you sure you're a human? Not some half vampire of something like that?" She said in a serious tone- well half serious any way.

  "I think I would know if I a vampire."

  "Your right. but wow, I'm really sorry, it must have been lonely growing up... avoiding touch, constantly hearing others thoughts, random visions, and dead people as you're only company. I'm... really sorry. All those years I thought you were just sickly or something." She ran her hand through her curls for the second time. In that moment something washed over me.... this was real empathy. Ash was probably the first person to truly understand everything I've been through.