Page 23 of Women Love Wraiths

“Alex, no!” Jenna got to her feet and stumbled unsteadily toward us.

She grabbed Alex’s bent arm that held my shoulder and he elbowed her in the ribs. A squeal shook the trees as she fell to the ground again and my vision darkened around the edges.

“Rae,” I choked, as I began to fade. “Help.”

Just as my knees gave out, I was thrown to the ground, landing awkwardly on my arm. I groaned, struggling to sit up and right myself in case Alex came to deliver another blow. Instead, a blood-curdling scream rang out forcing my hands over my ears as pain lanced my arm at the movement.

Relief flooded my chest as I looked up to see Alex suspended in the air by Rae’s hand around his throat. She hovered higher off the ground than usual and her ashen arm suspended him out from her body like a rodent. Her face was stone as she glared at him, and his struggling unfazed her. I glanced at Jenna who stared, mouth agape.

“You, filth. You will never taint the earth with your scum again,” Rae hissed.

Alex’s eyes bulged like a flys. “Who…who are you? Please, I won’t touch them again. Just let me go,’ he begged.

Rae wasn’t phased. She’d heard it all before as people begged her not to let them die or make their exit painful.

“All your life you have mistreated people and tonight it fucking ends. You chose the wrong woman to put your hands on.”

My heart swelled as I stared in awe of my creature as her possessive voice sent chills down my spine. The malice dripping from her words was horrifying, and I couldn’t blame Alex for the tears that streamed down his face.

“Please. I’m sorry. I won’t touch her again. I won’t ever go near her again. Please just let me go.”

He was openly sobbing and screaming as I watched in silent celebration as the light left his eyes. Then it stopped. The only sounds were from the forest surrounding us. Alex went limp in Rae’s grasp as she threw him to the ground and Jenna screamed.

Chapter 18

Rae snapped her fingers and Jenna went silent.

“I’m not going to hurt you, girl,” Rae huffed.

It was like she’d put Jenna in a trance to stop her screaming. Rae swooped over to me and cupped my face, all while Jenna stared with eyes as big as saucers.

“Are you alright, love? Did he hurt you?” Her voice was urgent now, the anger completely gone from her tone.

I nodded. “Yeah, but I’m okay,” I wheezed. My throat was on fire from Alex’s hand and my arm twinged when I straightened it. Rae bent down and kissed my lips as she hovered over me with her body parallel to the ground.

Giving her a reassuring smile, I shifted my attention to Jenna. She’d just experienced her boyfriend trying to beat her to death in a graveyard on Halloween night, and now she was watching her best friend make out with a wraith. She was having one hell of a night.

I crawled on my hands and knees to where she sat in the dirt. “Jenna,” I cooed. “Honey, are you alright?”

“Jade?” she questioned, finally finding her voice like she’d been in a trance. “What the fuck is that?” she exclaimed, her tone growing frightened as she pointed to Rae who’d straightened to her full height.

“I asked if you’re okay. Did you hit your head when he slapped you? Why were you here? How did he get you in the woods?”

She didn’t look visibly harmed, but her hair was caked with dirt and leaves clung to her clothes. Her eye was already turning purple. Brushing strands back from her face, I gently tugged so she would look at me instead of Rae.

I willed her to answer with my stern gaze. “Are you hurt, Jen?”

Finally, she shook her head. “No. Just sore from the falls and running and my face hurts,” she stammered. Her voice had grown childlike, her lower lip trembling as if she was fighting back tears. “I’m sorry, Jade. I’m so sorry.”

She flung her arms around my shoulders. “I should’ve listened when you said he was an asshole. I’m sorry I got mad at you and I’m sorry I’m a mess all the time,” she rushed, sobbing freely into my shoulder.

I brought a hand up to rest on her head and encircled her with my other arm hoping to quell her cries. “Jen, it’s alright. None of that matters now, but can you tell me what the actual fuck happened?” I said, pulling her back to look at her.

“He…he said he wanted to play a game in the graveyard for Halloween. Like a sex game or something,” she sniffled. “You know me, I’m always down for shit like that, but when we got here he told me to run and he was going to chase me. I didn’t try very hard. I wanted him to catch me, but instead of fucking me he grabbed me by the hair and threw me to the ground. He was cheating on me. He found out I went through his phone and even though I didn’t find anything, he admitted it before you showed up.”

“What the fuck? Shit, Jen, I’m sorry. Fuck,” I couldn’t believe that asshole did that to my best friend. I was glad he was dead.

“Is he…is he dead?” she asked, glancing to where his body lay in a heap beside a tree.