AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sorina’s hair was wild, her erect nipples straining against her dress, the vein at her throat visible.
And her eyes were all black.
Inhuman.
When she spoke, she sounded older.
Ancient.
As if a demon had slipped inside her skin.
“Get out of my house. Now—” She ended her command with a name, but it was not my own. Her tone warped it, and theSwas violent and angry.Skull.
I didn’t waste a second, didn’t ask her what she’d called me. I left. Frightened and aroused and hungry.
Wondering who won the game this time.
SIXTEEN
The weeks following the fall festival dance moved at a sluggish pace.
At home, Valerie kept her distance and never brought up another dinner at the Deacon’s house. I wondered if the experience with the animal frightened her, or if she felt the same way I had on the hill.
Afraid.
I endured half a day of silence from Kyrie for ditching her and missing out on her crowning, but she quickly forgave me, as she did with everyone.
She’d stopped talking about Amber, her fears, and I hoped my life was curving back to an easier course, but I knew it was just wishful thinking. Though Kyrie wasn’t voicing her fears out loud, she seemed to be in her own world all the time. I hadn’t been over for dinner again, and I hadn’t asked her to eat with me at the café. I was playing at normal and had stopped walking the streets at night, hoping to see Sorina at school. Maybe a part of me was hoping if I wasn’t wandering at night she would meet me in the middle, show up in the day. But my hopes were dashed. She stopped showing up. And her name was never called for attendance. It was as if she didn’t exist.
In her place, others found me.
The blonde woman from the ranch came to me as I slept. I saw the blood, her red anger. I saw the dark-haired man next to her, his raised finger as he pointed at me, whispered to her. I heard her say words she hadn’t that night, but her deep otherworldly voice was the same.From their blood, a prophecy will be woken, no cycle broken, twin Princes of black beast. Treachery, the wolf who chases the bright bride of the sky.I would wake every time she said his name, the wolf.
I smoked in the cemetery with Billy to escape my insomnia. We talked about our lives, the town, and our plans for the future. He told me again I should get out of Hart Hollow and showed me his uncle’s truck on the grass by his trailer, telling me it was for sale.
He talked about his sisters, Jessica and Nicole, and he asked me to promise to look out for the two girls at school. I told him I’d barely spoken to his sisters, but he insisted I watch after them. He invited me for dinner at his house on more than one occasion, but I declined. I’d never had a male friendship, and I wanted to keep my friendship with him simple. Adding his sisters to the mix didn’t appeal to me. But what I wanted and what was in the cards rarely aligned. Our worlds were about to be shaken.
On a Wednesday after lunch, during our free period, Kyrie pulled me behind a curtain to the back of the stage in the old gym. The drama club was practicing on the old wooden boards that hour, but they didn’t mind us. They were all on stage or on the court, watching or running lines. Plus, everyone loved Kyrie and would deny her nothing.
Kyrie frowned when she looked at me, and I remembered how tired she had looked that morning at our lockers. “You’d never like, climb my roof, would you?”
My chest tightened. “What?”
“I heard someone on my roof again last night. Really late, after three a.m. Something woke me up. I don’t know if I heard something in my sleep or what but I was suddenly wide awake, and I heard something up there. It walked around a little, and then nothing. But I heard … like … this weird gust of air. As if it flew off.” She winced, knowing how her words sounded.
I nodded, deciding I needed to sit on the floor for this conversation. Kyrie joined me, stretching her legs out in front of her.
Her voice was low when she said, “I think I’m losing it. And I feel like everyone is watching me now, waiting for me to do something weird, something out of character. Like I’m a runaway waiting to happen. My parents won’t leave me alone in the house. I’m not going to climb out my window. I’d break my neck. And now I’m hearing these noises.” She sighed, rubbing her hands over her eyes. “Nicholas, I … I wanted you to love this town when you moved here, just the way I always have. But, after what you heard Eric say, I don’t know. My head keeps spinning. What if shewastaken by someone? It’s not the first time this has happened …”
I crossed my arms, leaning back against the wall. “You’re not the first person to say that to me.”
“Who else did?”
“Billy Clement. He lives in the trailer park. We smoked together the other night.”
Kyrie frowned. “You smoke?”
I let out a laugh, running a hand through my hair. “That’s what you got a from that? Not that someone else is sure girls are going missing, not running away. You landed on me smoking?”
