Secrets Abound (Supernaturally Bound Book 1) (12 page)

We went out the doors, and Aiden bent down to relock them with the bobby pin. We strolled around the corner of the hall and saw Levi and a few other people standing around drinking. Levi spotted us.

“Oh, look everyone, Bridget K. spreads them, again.” Levi sneered.

Before anyone could even laugh at his comment, Aiden punched Levi in his eye. Levi tried to swing back, but Aiden easily avoided it and shoved Levi against the wall.

“Aiden don’t.” I put my hand on his arm.

He glanced at me and let Levi go. We brushed past everyone and were heading to the front door when Levi decided he wasn’t finished insulting me.

“It’s no wonder your mom abandoned you. She could tell the instant she saw you what a slut you’d grow up to be.” He spat at our backs. I slowly spun back around, and everyone in the room seemed to freeze.

I strolled back over to him and slapped him across the face. The sound from it was loud leaving a red mark on his cheek. Right as I was going to turn back around, he whispered, “Kyle always said you liked it rough.”

Without even thinking twice, I kicked him in the balls. He let out a wail as he doubled over in pain. I sauntered back over to Aiden with everyone’s eyes on us. At that moment, Vicky hurried back into the living room after hearing Levi’s loud moan.

“You throw one hell of a party. Let’s do this again, sometime.” I said, smiling at Vicky, and closed the front door behind us.

“Well, we certainly know how to make an exit, don’t we?” Aiden said as we drove home.

“That we do.” I laughed.

The next morning, I only had time to do a few loads of laundry before I had to leave for work. Since I was covering for Stacy, I’d have to work the earlier shift. She was one of the few full time employees, so I’d be there for a full eight hours which didn’t bother me. Actually, I needed the hours after Judy took my money the other night.

I was dressed and leaving the house by ten thirty. When I got to work, I strolled right into the beginning of the lunch rush. I hurried to the back to clock in and grab an apron.

“Good morning, Bridget.” Mac said as I passed back through the kitchen.

“Hi Mac.” I replied.

Mac was one of our day cooks. He was an older man around fifty or so. He had white hair with a matching beard and a pot belly. He was always super cheerful. He played Santa every year at the mall in Lincoln, but he didn’t have to change much to get into character. Honestly, if even a small part of me believed in Santa, I’d be demanding to see his flying sleigh that he surely had stashed in his garage.

The first three hours were busy because of the church rush, but by the time two o’clock rolled around, it had started to slow down. When Damon showed up to relieve Mac at three, the diner was empty, and I was in the kitchen helping chop vegetables.

“So, was the party as awful as you thought?” Damon asked once Mac had gone home for the day.

“Part of it was but part of it was okay. “ I smiled at the memory of Aiden’s lips.

“Ah, and does the okay part have anything to do with that guy that drove you to the party?” He asked, taking me by surprise. I hadn’t realized he’d noticed Aiden in the car.

“His name is Aiden and yeah, he might have had something to do with it.” I admitted.

“Now, what’s this about a party?” I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. I twirled around to see Chad.

“Chad! What are you doing here?” I asked, throwing my arms around him. He picked me up off my feet and gave me a tight squeeze.

“I have time off before we head out to sea again, so I thought I’d spend it in my home town.” He set me back down. “Wow, BK you grew up a lot in a year.” It felt odd to be called BK, again. Chad and some of the guys I used to hang out with called me that, but I hadn’t gone by it in a while.

“Me? Look at you. You used to be scrawny, and now, you’re a beef cake.” I laughed. Chad had the burr haircut that all military men had, and you could see muscles through his shirt.

“How’ve you been?” Chad asked Damon.

“Good. I haven’t seen you since graduation.” Damon said. Damon and Chad were both nineteen and had graduated together, but they weren’t from the same circle.

“Nobody has. I left out for basic training the day after graduation.” Chad said. Then, he turned to me and asked, “So, you went to a party last night? Are they still as fun as I remember?” He hopped up on the counter and grabbed a roll.

“Not this one. It was a party of jocks.
So
not your scene. Actually, I got into a fight right before I left.” I said.

“Do you go out of your way to spread sunshine, or does it simply follow you everywhere you go?” He asked, giving me a playful punch on the shoulder.

“What can I say? I’m a charmer.” I grinned at him. I was ecstatic to see him, again. I had missed him.

“Yeah, a charmer of snakes, maybe.” He teased.

I stuck my tongue out at him in response.

“Did you know the first time I met this girl we were at a party? And there she was, out drinking every guy there.” Chad told Damon. “That’s when I knew this girl needed some serious protecting.”

“Aw, you’re like my own giant condom.” I retorted. “Besides,
you
were the one that got me thrown in jail on New Year’s Eve.”

“That wasn’t my fault, and as I recall, we
both
got arrested that night.” He asserted in an amused tone. “Speaking of, how is the great sheriff of Lancaster County these days?”

“I haven’t been to the sheriff’s office in over a year, if you can believe it.” I told him.

“Ah, living on the straight and narrow, are we? Or is it you simply got better at hiding it?” He asked.

“Both.” I laughed.

Betty stepped into the kitchen, her blondish gray hair pulled back in a ponytail. Chad hopped down off the counter but not soon enough, and Betty gave him a glare.

“Don’t think that just because you’ve been gone a year, the rules don’t apply to you.” She told him.

“Love you, Mom.” He smiled sweetly.

“Love you, too. Hey Bridget,” She turned to me. “Kayla called in tonight, so can you stay until closing?”

“But I’ve been here since eleven.” I said.

“I saw that you put in a request to have Saturday off. If you stay, you can take it off.” She offered.

“Okay, deal.” I was actually glad for the situation. I had remembered to put in the request to be off for the concert kind of late, and it wasn’t looking like I’d get it off, but now I would.

“It’s a sad state of affairs when
I’m
the responsible employee.” I said after Betty went back to her office. Chad hopped back on the counter.

“You can say that, again.” Chad said, and I threw a dinner roll at him. “So, what’s Saturday?”

“A concert.” I explained.

“Oh, and are you going with Aiden?” Chad interrogated. I gave him a quizzical look, unsure of how he knew about Aiden. “I heard you mention him to Damon.” He added.

“Well, if you must know, yes I’m going with Aiden.” I replied.

“Okay, well, if you’re going to be dating this guy, then I’ll need to meet him.” He declared.

“Slow down there, I don’t even know if we’re going to be dating. Besides, it is too soon for you to be sticking your nose in our relationship considering I don’t know if there is one. You always scare guys away.” I argued.

“It’s my job to scare them away.” He smiled. I gave him a pointed look. He rolled his eyes. “Alright, well, just promise you’ll point him out to me if he breaks your heart.”

“Promise.” I lied and went to wait tables. Chad left not too long after that, giving me a brief goodbye hug.

It finally slowed down enough for me to take a break around eight. I decided I’d take it outside so I could get fresh air. I took a seat on the pavement and let the cold air fill my lungs. After a few minutes, I heard the back door open, and Damon sat down beside me. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered me one.

“No thanks. I quit smoking.” I said.

“How long have you gone without one?” He placed a cigarette between his lips.

“Two months, ten days, four hours.” I replied dramatically.

“Wow, good for you.” He said lighting his cigarette.

“Well, not actually in a row.” I admitted. I stared at it as he took a long drag.

“Are you sure you don’t want one?”

“Fine, just give me one.” I rolled my eyes. “Please.” I added.

He tugged one out and handed it to me. I leaned over so he could light it and I sucked in, savoring every last bit of poison as it entered my lungs.

“See, now isn’t that better? If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that you should never be a quitter.” He said with his lopsided grin.

“Hello square one, we meet, again.” I muttered, blowing the smoke out. After a few minutes of silence, I said, “Clarissa says hi.”

“Clarissa? How is she?” He asked.

“As good as anyone in our situation could be.” I frowned.

“Good.” His voice became distant.

“She told me what happened when you lived there.” I said.

“Yeah.”

“It’s incredible how you stood up for that girl.” I admired.

“Linda.” He said in a haunted voice. “That was her name.”

“Do you know what happened to her? Did she move out of state?” I asked.

“She’s dead.” He muttered and then cleared his throat. “She died last year, overdosed on heroine. After what that bastard did to her, she just couldn’t seem to numb herself enough. I tried to help her, but she was transferred to a home in New York.”

“Oh my God.”

“Don’t tell Clarissa, okay?” He begged.

“Okay, I won’t.” I promised him.

After our shift, Damon dropped me off at my house. Judy’s car wasn’t in the driveway, so I decided to use the front door, for once. I was silent as I twisted the doorknob so as not to wake anyone who might be sleeping. The living room was empty, but the television was on a late night show. I grabbed the remote and switched the TV off. With the living room now quiet, I could hear whispered voices coming from the kitchen.

I wasn’t sure why, but a sick feeling burrowed itself within my gut. My intuition told me to hurry as I darted for the kitchen door. My heart dropped when I barged in. Clarissa sat at the kitchen table, and Bill jumped away from her guiltily.

“What’s going on?” My voice was tight with anger.

“Late night snack, baby doll. You should go to bed.” Bill said.

“It’s late. We should
all
go to bed.” I asserted. “Come on, Clarissa.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. She rushed from the room like she was being chased by a pack of wolves. I glared at Bill as he disappeared to his bedroom.

“What happened?” I asked her as soon as we were in our bedroom.

“Nothing. He was just being weird.” Clarissa said, but she couldn’t look me in the eye.

“What do you mean, being weird?” My eyes narrowed.

“He just… always tries to give me back rubs. That’s all.” She asserted.

“Promise me you’ll avoid him, alright?” I insisted.

She nodded in agreement. The knot inside my chest relaxed. Her face told me she was still upset, so I decided to cheer her up.

“You want to see something cool?” I asked her.

“Sure.” She grinned.

I tugged out the ring I had bought at the antique store. This was the first time I’d even pulled it out since I got it. I placed it in my palm and held it out so she could see it. She grasped it with her thin fingers and inspected its design.

“Did you steal this?” She asked.

“No, of course not.” I declared.

“Then, how could you afford it?” She asked in awe.

“I got a great deal. I guess the store didn’t know its worth.” I told her.

“Even
I
can tell it’s worth a fortune.” She twisted it around between her thumb and index finger.

“Maybe they had it marked wrong. Either way, they sold it to me for five bucks.” I shrugged.

“Wow, did you luck out or what? You should sell it and make a profit.” She suggested.

“Yeah, maybe.” I wasn’t sure why, but the thought of selling it didn’t seem appealing. Maybe it was the fact that I’d never had anything as nice before, but I wasn’t quite ready to give it up.

I watched as Clarissa admired it for a few more seconds. Even though the ring would obviously be far too large for her fingers, she slid it onto her right ring finger. Energy dispersed through the room in an invisible wave. I blinked in confusion. What was that? My eyes went to Clarissa to see if she had felt it, too. She was staring down at the ring seeming to be in her own thoughts.

“Clarissa?” I whispered.

Her eyes lifted to meet mine, and I inhaled sharply. Her eyes were jet black. A crooked smile inched across her face. I didn’t understand what was happening, but something told me it had to do with the ring. But, how could that be? I had tried the ring on at the store and nothing happened to me. Without another word, I ripped the ring from Clarissa’s hand and she instantly went back to normal.