Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (13 page)
Read Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) Online
Authors: KaSonndra Leigh
At the end of the driveway
,
I stopped and leaned against a tree.
“
So handsomely beautiful
,
he is. Yet
,
so naive. I can see why she risked everything for you
,”
a girl
’
s voice said from beside me
,
filling my head with echoes of
its
last words.
I jerked toward the
sound
. The redhead from Gia
’
s group
,
the one they called Paige stepped toward me. A strange girl
that
hung
out
with a gang of
Walker
s
posing as humans showing up at my house can
’
t be a good thing.
“
What
’
s up
,
Paige?
”
I asked nervously. Something about the way she stalked toward me without saying another word bothered me. With her fiery red hair flapping in the wind
,
she kept her gaze locked on my face and held her hands out to the sides. The streetlights played on her pale skin
,
giving it a
weird glow. There was nothing normal about her
.
I walked backward until my backside hit the tree behind me. Next thing I knew
,
my body was pinned against it
. Some kind of invisible force
held me down. I couldn
’
t move an inch. My injured arm throbbed under the pressure.
I clamped down on my bottom lip
. Whatever she
did
was crushing me.
“
What the—what are you doing to me?
”
I wanted to slam my hands over my ears. There was this ringing in my ears that hurt like crazy. Not only did it echo in my mind
,
but the throb also made me feel like someone was shaking my head
,
turning my brain into mush.
“
I want you to remember tonight
,
Caleb. When you fall asleep
,
the things you forgot will begin to come back to you
,”
Paige said in what sounded like a
chorus
of demonic tones from hell. Seriously
,
I felt like somebody threw me into one of those stupid
Saw
movies that Kyle and Shani liked
to watch
all of the time.
“Can a get a little hint on what I’m supposed to remember?” I said through the pain.
She gave me a wicked smile. “I need to know a tiny thing—an insignificant little nuisance, really. I need to know the name of the one who watches over you.”
I made a light laugh, even though not a thing was funny. She was talking about Gia’s real name. I was pretty sure of it. “That’s easy. Her name is Gia.”
“That’s a fake human label, and you know it,” she hissed. The pull on my injured arm deepened to a dizzying level of pain. I cried out.
I liked it better when the
Walker
s
were quiet little spirits drifting through my room
,
minding their own business
,
and leaving me out of their issues. Now
,
here I stood with my body pinned against a tree and getting tortured by weird bell noises. Note to self: Gia
’
s got some real explaining to do tomorrow.
“
Caleb!
”
Mom called. Her voice had never sounded so sweet. And
this was coming from a guy who would never in his life
admit that
. Well, not out
loud
, anyway.
Paige scowled and hissed just before she jerked her face back
toward
me.
“
I
’
ll
return soon
,
handsomely one.
Get the name.
”
She moved real close to my body. I wanted to throw up because my stomach turned with nausea and my voice caught in my throat. This chick was bad news all year long.
“
Don
’
t feel
sa
d
. If she doesn
’
t want you
,
then I
’
m waiting patiently in the wings.
”
On that note
,
she kissed my cheek with her lips that felt like ice cubes. A strange odor
surrounded her. It
reminded me of salt water and some other strange smell.
“
Caleb!
”
Mom
’
s voice was more aggressive this time. It sounded closer
to me too
.
Crap!
She was headed down the driveway.
“
How sweet
, Mother’s on the way
,”
Paige said and giggled before she stepped around the tree
,
gliding away like a cat with red hair and a dark
body
suit on
.
Her
knitted
shawl flapped in the wind, making her look kind of like bat girl, or something like that.
Whatever thing had been holding my body against the tree released me in a flash. My arms and knees and even my abdomen loosened up as I fell away from
it
. The way I gasped to get air back in my lungs made me think that her mojo magic crushed my
windpipe
too.
Glancing around
,
I was all alone now. I didn
’
t want M
om to see me this way. So I
straightened
up and hurried toward the house.
“
Did you not hear me calling you?
”
Mom scolded
,
her all-seeing eyes scanning my face like an owl.
“
No. I
’
m sorry
,
Mom.
Is s
omething
wrong?
”
I asked
,
trying my best to control the nausea and to not fall over on my face. Plus
,
my ribcage and arm throbbed something crazy. Yeah
,
I was about as tough as guys
come,
but that Paige chick did something
strange
to me.
I held my breath and tried to talk at the same time. Mom
,
being the
super-
mom type
,
caught on to my distress right away.
She gave me the suspicious sideways glance before she
said
,
“
Erica called. She wanted me to remind you about the game after school tomorrow. Did you forget
about her
?
”
I shrugged.
“
No, I spoke to her a little while ago
.
”
The nausea rose up to my throat. Another second of standing here and I
’
d be barfing all over
my mom’s
orange Crocs.
“
Thanks for the reminder. Can I go in now? Need
to go drop a couple of rotten eggs
.
”
“
Oh. Yes
,
sure thing
,
honey
,”
she said
,
giving me a knowing smile for my off-beat joke. Underneath it
,
she hid her sadness. I wasn
’
t the only one dad neglected. He spent hours at a time with his friends at the
studio lab
,
while M
om entertained
her
yoga buddies
. Smiling through my pain
,
I walked around my mom
,
past
D
ad
’
s study
,
trotted up the steps
,
taking two at a time
,
and barfed in the toilet.
After I finished losing my dinner
,
I thought about Paige. It wasn
’
t like I could call Kyle to ask for his help. Something told me to keep my friends out of this mess. I wonder if Gia knew her buddy was attacking her friends. What did Paige mean when she said that I needed to remember? Was she
only referring to Gia’s name? O
r was she talking about something else?
Everybody was messing with me. The intrigue with my stalker
Walker made me feel frustrated.
Erica
’
s charade with Thorne
,
Gia
’
s ghostly act
,
my dad
’
s neglect
,
my mom
’
s sad smile: all of those mixed feelings swirled around in my head.
Heat flushed through my tensed muscles. My heartbeat raced. I stormed to my room
,
trudged over to the wall beside my window
,
and slammed a fist through the drywall
.
I stumbled backward
,
knocking over the books with my lucky red starfish sitting on top.
Man, I was glad it didn’t shatter.
Taps sounded at my bedroom door.
“
Caleb
,
honey
,
is something wrong?
”
Mom asked.
Oh snap.
My parents will disown me when they see this.
I won
’
t have to worry about moving away because I
’
ll be living
in
the streets.
“
Yeah
,
everything
’
s good. I dropped something
,
that
’
s all.
”
It wasn
’
t a complete lie. She hesitated. Mom
mostly
respected my privacy because of that one time she caug
ht me in an intimate moment with
a magazine.
“
Yell if you need me?
”
she said through the door. I could sense she wanted to
open it
.
“
Okay. Will do
,”
I answered.
She didn’t leave right away. Crap! She was about to open the door.
“I’m so dead.”
“You didn’t bring the file
I asked for
,” my dad’s voice said.
I let out a long, but quiet sigh. He came out of his work cave just in time to distract my mom.
“
What
’
s happening to me?
”
I blurted, feeling confused and a tad crazy in my head.
Whatever Paige did when she had me pinned up against that tree might
’
ve messed my head up
,
but something else
happened
to my body.
I just used m
y broken arm
,
the one that the doctors claimed would take weeks to heal
,
to mutilate the wall.
The funny thing was I didn
’
t feel one bit of pain.
Chapter Eight
The gym was filled with people
,
foam fingers
,
and school colors. Although basketball season didn
’
t start for another month or so
,
this teaser game brought everybody out in packs. I struggled to keep my attention on the girl I was supposed to be watching
. Erica ordered the other
members in
her squad to
form one of those
cheerleader
pyramid
thing
s
. There was no sign of Gia. Where was she? Plus
,
Kyle and Shani hadn
’
t arrived yet.
So I sat
on the bleachers all by myself
,
looking like the loner of the decade.
“
Where are you?
”
I muttered
,
studying the crowd and trying to keep my paranormally healed arm in the sling. My gaze drifted past Erica who smiled and waved her pom poms at me.
Nice, Erica! Go ahead and point out the loser dude who
doesn’t have any friends to hang
with
. Now everybody would see me sitting here looking stupid.
“
It
’
s all in your mind
,
Wave R
ider
,”
a girl
’
s voice said from beside me. My heart made about five flips in a second. I knew who
that voice b
elonged to before I even turned to face her.
“
Miss Gia Jones
. Aren’t
you afraid your boyfriend might see you?
”
I asked
,
trying to ignore the smug grin creeping across her lips.
“
Who do you mean? Raze? You couldn
’
t possibly be jealous
,
could you? Not
you
,
Mr. Cocky.
”
All right that statement kind of hurt my feelings this time. Why
were this girl’s words
always getting to me these days? Pansies
,
that
wa
s what they used to call the guys back in the day that acted
like me
.
“
No worries
,
though. They can
’
t see me right now
,”
she said
,
her smile fading.
“
Wait a sec. So
,
you
’
re doing that—that invisible thing
again
?
”
I asked.
She nodded and lowered her eyes. I glanced around.
“
Great. Now everybody will think I
’
m sitting up here talking to myself.
”
“
You
’
re probably right. But you don
’
t want Miss Insecure down there to see me
,
either. You think she follows you around now. Just wait until she catches you talking to me.
”
Her smile returned. She leaned in close to me.
“
We need to talk.
”
“
Got that right. Your little friend Paige visited me last night
,”
I announced.
“
I know.
”
“
Wait. Did you send her?
”
I asked
,
feeling heated.
“
Careful
,
hot
boy
. Remember what I told you about
getting all
worked up
that way
. Let
’
s go outside.
”
“
Hm. In my world, the guy usually says something like that to the girl,
”
I said
,
tilting my head a bit and then smiling at the frowning couple that glanced back at me. I held up my cell phone and said
,
“
Reception in here sucks.
”
The boy and girl smirked and turned back to watch the players warming up.
“
All right
,
so now—
”
I spoke to an empty seat. Gia was gone.
“
Seriously
,
she needs to stop doing that.
”
I hopped down off the bleachers and headed
for the parking lot
outside. The
early
Octo
ber nights were already turning cool. I pulled my jacket closer together and glanced around
at the empty cars
. I waited. A half hour passed. I stood outside a little while longer. Gia wasn
’
t coming back. I
’
d been stood up. Sighing
,
I turned and went back inside the gym to find my friends.
* * *
On Saturday morning
,
I drove down to Hatteras Island. The beaches there were more isolated than the hot spots further up the coast
,
giving me time to be alone with my mind. Plus
,
it was the place where I found my lucky starfish when I was younger. I even nicknamed it Ticky.
Walking along the beach
,
I tossed a few rocks with my bad arm tha
t turned good overnight and head
ed toward the old lighthouse in the distance. For the first time in days
,
I was able to control my raging emotions.
“
That lighthouse has a history like you wouldn
’
t believe
,”
her voice said behind me
,
my stalker
Walker
,
Gia Jones.
“
S
tories of s
hipwrecks
,
pirates
,
plagues
,
and
a lot of
other
spooky things.
”
“
Is that right?
”
I turned to face her and inhaled sharply. Today
,
she wore a long, light-
colored dress under a jean jacket
,
and her hair blew loose in the wind.
She always wore an
aq
ua colored necklace that
shimmered in the daylig
ht. The vibrant blue-green
colors in the stone were
perfect for her.
I can honestly say that she was the first official girl who ever took my breath away.
“
Something wrong?
”
she asked.
“
You stood me up the other night.
”
“
Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Something came up.
”
She shuffled in the sand and held her hands behind her back. Today she seemed so much younger than whatever age she pretended to be each day.
“
Your arm seems to be much better.
”
She moved closer to me. How long had she been watching me toss those rocks?
I shrugged.
“
Thanks to your red-headed friend. But then
,
I
’
m thinking you already know about her.
”
“
Paige isn
’
t my f
riend anymore,” she said quietly
.
“Why is that?” I asked.
A sad look crossed her face as she hugged her shoulders. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“
Any idea of what she did to me?
”
I asked.
“
No wait. Maybe you can tell me why she thinks you
chose
to watch over
me
.
”
She sighed and frowned.
“
I wish I could tell you more. I want to
,
but I can
’
t.
”
“
I don’t have time for this
.
Anyway, I came
here to be
by
myself and that doesn’t include you
. Sorry.
”
I moved around her and trudged toward my car.
“
Caleb
,
wait! Please don
’
t be mad
,”
she trotted to catch up with me and blocked my path.
“
Don
’
t leave like this. Please.
”
My determination melted. But I still wanted answers
,
so I worked hard to not give in too easily.
“
Do you remember the
words to the
poem I wrote?
”
“
Sure I do
,”
I muttered.
How could I ever forget something like that?
She placed her hands against my chest. Just like the other few times when we touched the warm current eased into my skin. Closing her eyes
,
she took a deep breath. It seemed like forever passed until she opened
them
.
“
Ask your questions. I can
’
t promise an answer for all of them
,
though
.
”
S
he
was giving in
.
“
How do you always manage to find me? It
’
s freaky
,
you know. One minute I
’
m all alone. Next second there
’
s your voice speaking behind me
.
”
I
started with the first thing that crossed my mind
.
“
My people can choose to walk along something called the veil. It
’
s
a
place between my world and yours. With our connection
,
it
’
s easy for you to see me.
”
“
We have a
connection? How?
”
“
A long time ago I did something incredibly bad. It put all of my people in a lot of danger.
That’s all about to change.
Trust
me
.
E
verything will
start to make sense
, soon enough
.
”
“
I trust no one
,”
I blurted.
“
Especially
weird girls
with friends who try to suck the life out of me.
”
She flinched.
“
I
’
m sorry about Paige. I didn
’
t know
she
’
d betray me that way.
”
Scoffing
,
I held my arm up for her to see.
“
It’s not like she hurt me.
I’d
say she helped me out. What do you think? That
’
s a heck of a lot more than I can say for you.
”
On those last words
,
her bottom lip started to quiver, and
she placed her head down in her hands.
“
I
’
m doing everything I can to fix things
,”
she muttered.
Seeing her
almost in
tears that way crushed the jerk inside me. I put my arms around her
,
something I
’
d wanted to do for the longest time. The frustration she caused me didn
’
t matter. I hated to see girls cry. I most definitely despised being the reason for the tears. She was in trouble. Maybe if I offered to help instead of picking at her then we could solve each other
’
s issues together.