Secrets Abound (Supernaturally Bound Book 1) (13 page)

“It doesn’t fit.” She said in a dazed voice.

“I think you’re right. Maybe, I should sell it.” At least, now I knew why it was only five dollars.

I woke the next day with the ring on my mind. I thought about throwing it away, but that might be too dangerous. Whatever was up with the ring, I couldn’t just let it loose on some unsuspecting person. On the other hand, if I kept it, I couldn’t risk someone else trying it on, again. I needed to keep it on me at all times. Even though it had not affected me, I did not feel comfortable wearing it on my finger, so I slid it onto a silver chain and tucked it under my clothes.

Later that day, drama class was being held in the school’s auditorium so all the groups could perform on a stage. Aiden and I were in one of the dressing rooms backstage getting ready for our performance. I was already dressed in a brown friar robe (which was incredibly unflattering and smelled like cat piss) with a rope tied around my waist. Aiden had on a tight pair of black jeans (which apparently Vicky thought was “totally werewolf”) and that was it. He wasn’t wearing a shirt or shoes. You could tell Vicky picked out the costume.

I was helping Aiden glue on fake fur that we found in the make-up supplies. His usually smooth chest was now half covered in hair and we were working on the other half. I was trying hard to focus on the job at hand and not how hard his abs were (they were insanely hard, by the way). I was careful to cover up the exposed part of his tattoo with fur so he wouldn’t get in trouble for it.

“I’ve changed my mind. Let’s just ditch the rest of class.” Aiden said looking hot but extremely uncomfortable in the black pants.

“That’s tempting, but Mrs. Owens will kill me if I fail
drama
of all classes.” I told him. “But if you want to skip the scene, I’ll tell everyone you got sick or something.”

“No, it’s no fun ditching without you.” He said. My heart swelled in my chest. We heard a knock on the door and Michelle popped her head in.

“We go on in five minutes.” She told us and closed the door.

“Alright.” Aiden said, standing up out of the chair. “Do I look hairy enough?”

“Yes, very animal-like.” I grinned.

We sped to the right wing of the stage to wait for our cues. Aiden got his and waltzed out. He was a phenomenal actor. When it was time for the fight scene between Romeo and Paris, Aiden moved swiftly and realistically. I began to tense up as the kiss scene drew closer.

Aiden was standing over Vicky, reciting his lines, and finally he moved down to kiss her. I held my breath until I realized he was going for her cheek. I allowed myself to smile, but it immediately vanished when I saw Vicky turn slightly, catching the kiss on her lips. I clenched my fists at my side, trying to calm down. I still had to go onstage and perform. I couldn’t afford to let Vicky mess me up and cause me to get an F.

I relaxed my face to a neutral expression and sauntered onto the stage. The rest of the scene went precisely as we had rehearsed. Of course, I was distracted with how attractive Aiden was lying there playing dead. He was doing an eerily fantastic job of it, too. If I hadn’t known he was acting, I might’ve checked for his pulse.

After it was over, Aiden and I went back to the dressing room to clean up and change. The only thing I had to do was take off the robe which I had put on over my clothes. I grabbed a couple of rags and left to wet them down. When I returned, Aiden had already changed back to his jeans but was still shirtless. I handed him one of the rags and used the other to wash the hair off his chest.

I glanced up at him and noticed he had a bit of Vicky’s lipstick on the corner of his mouth. I reached up and began wiping it off with my thumb. He gave me an apologetic look but didn’t say anything, which was good. He didn’t have anything to apologize for. It’s not like he did it on purpose. Even if he had, it’s not like I was his girlfriend. In fact, I had no idea
what
I was to him, at this point.

Next period, Curtis was already sitting in the far corner when I strolled in. I slid down next to him. I stared expectantly as he dug around in his bag.

“Did you find something?” I asked him.

“Is it illegal to carry an ice cream in your back pocket in Kentucky?” He asked.

“What?” I asked. I never understood him.

“Yes, I found exactly what you needed.” He handed me an envelope. “This has proof that Vicky logged into the account first, and then, Cal logged into it multiple times, after that.”

“Which one uploaded the pictures?” I asked.

“Vicky uploaded the pictures, and Cal is the one who continued updating the statuses.” He explained. “And I emailed all this anonymously to the sheriff, just like you asked me to. You can take this to the principal, but you can’t tell him you got it from me. I could be arrested for the things I had to do to get this information.”

“Okay, I promise I won’t tell him it was you.” I assured him. “Will this be enough to get them in trouble?”

“Even if Principal Heckler claims it’s all phony, the sheriff’s department can easily verify all of it.” He said.

“Thank you so much, Curtis. I owe you tremendously.” I smiled.

“No, you don’t. I wanted to help Jenny. She didn’t deserve any of that.” He asserted. I gave his arm a gentle squeeze. It felt wonderful to hear that I wasn’t the only one on Jenny’s side.

Right after school, I went straight to the principal’s office with the envelope in hand.

“I need to speak with Principal Heckler.” I told Mrs. Clive.

“He was just leaving for the day, Bridget. Can this wait until tomorrow?” She asked.

“It’s important.” I told her.

“Okay, I’ll let him know you’re here.” She pushed a button on the phone and spoke into it. “Sir, Bridget King is requesting a moment of your time… She said it’s important… Okay, I’ll send her in.” She hung up the phone and turned back to me. “He’ll see you, now.”

“Well, if it isn’t trouble herself.” Principal Heckler commented. He was behind his desk gathering papers when I entered his office.

“Trouble? Right here in River City?” I retorted.

“Close the door and have a seat.” He frowned. I sat down across from him. He glanced up from what he was doing and asked, “What seems to be the important issue?”

“I have proof that Vicky and Cal were the ones who hacked Jenny’s Facebook and posted all those things.” I handed him the envelope. He opened it up and flipped through the pages.

“Who gave you this?” He raised an eyebrow.

“You know, I put a tooth under my pillow last night and when I woke up, I found this. If you ask me, the tooth fairy’s getting cheap in her old age.”

“Charming as ever, Ms. King, but what about this? If you don’t give me a name, then I’ll suspend you.” He said.

“You mean I wouldn’t get
to go to school? Bummer.” I said, calling on his bluff.

“Well, if I don’t know who gave you this, then there’s no way to tell if it’s legitimate. So, there’s nothing I can do.” He placed the envelope in his desk drawer. I was sure he was planning on shredding it, later.

“See, I thought you might say something like that. So, I had all this information emailed directly to the sheriff. I just thought I’d give you a heads up on the authority’s involvement. I wouldn’t want you to come across as an incompetent principal.” I told him. I stood up and marched out while he stared after me.

“Do you feel better?” Aiden asked when I met up with him at the front of the school.

“I’ll feel better when they’re being punished.” I bit the inside of my cheek.

I spent the rest of the day at work. The diner was extra busy for a Monday and I made an exceptional amount in tips, but I was exhausted by the time my head hit my pillow. I fell asleep instantly.

I snuggled in closely to Aiden’s body. His arms were tight around me as I pressed my face into his chest. I inhaled deeply, expecting to smell his woodsy smell, but I didn’t. He smelled more like burning. The only word I could think of to describe it was like brimstone. Something wasn’t right.

I lifted my head, expecting to see Aiden. My eyes widened and a guttural scream escaped my lips. I stared up at a man with jet black eyes. He appeared in his mid-twenties with wild, brown hair. My heart slammed against my chest as his hand flew to my mouth.

I wanted to ask who he was and what he wanted from me, but his fingers squeezed tighter on my face, blocking my airways. Horror pulsed through my veins in a painful stream of fiery waves.

His mouth opened into a crooked grin that revealed sharp, fang like teeth, as if each and every tooth had been chiseled into a point. His fingers dug further into my cheeks. I could see his nails were more like claws. This couldn’t be real.

I attempted to wriggle from his grip but was trapped in his arms. My eyes darted to Clarissa’s empty bed. He inched closer to my face

“Why can’t I possess you?” His voice was deep and rough, much like you might imagine a demon to sound like. Was he a demon? He just asked about possessing me. His eyes studied me. “What are you?” It was something I should have been asking him. Even though he was asking me questions, his hand remained over my mouth. His eyes moved to my chest where the ring was outlined under my shirt. “Give the ring to someone I can use or I’ll kill you.” He threatened before disappearing.

My breathing was heavy as my heart pounded in my chest. My hand flew to the ring on my necklace. He was the one who possessed Clarissa. He wanted me to give the ring away.
No way was that going to happen.

As I lay in bed, I tried to convince myself it had been a dream. It didn’t work. I could still feel his fingers on my cheeks. I could still see his razor sharp teeth inches from my face. I could still hear his evil voice. With his essence hanging around, my room no longer felt like a place I wanted to be, so I grabbed some clothes and headed out my window.

Once I reached Aiden’s house, I quietly knocked on his window, knowing he usually stayed up late. Aiden lifted the window with a questioning look but let me pass without comment. He allowed me to take over his bed while he slept on the couch, something he’d done for me a million times before.

The next day, I tried rationalizing the incident by telling myself it was only a dream. I pushed it out of my mind and refocused on the Vicky situation. The school day seemed to start out calm, and I was beginning to doubt that all my efforts were going to result in anything. I was in drama class, sitting next to Aiden, and I could hear Vicky and Mandy whispering on the other side of him.

“You did an amazing job yesterday, Aiden. I never knew you were so talented.” Vicky said, turning away from Mandy and toward Aiden. Hearing her voice, especially being directed at Aiden, caused my anger to start to build, again. It felt like it did the other day in chemistry, like a low thrumming in my stomach. I could feel it shooting through my veins.

“Thanks, but it doesn’t take talent to play dead.” He said, almost sounding short.

I smiled at his obvious lack of interest in speaking with her further, but it didn’t seem to be enough to dissolve any of the growing rage in me. Vicky seemed taken aback by his change in mood towards her. She glared at me like I was responsible for his attitude. There was a knock on the classroom door, and everyone turned to see who it was. Ms. Teal opened the door and the office aide handed her a note.

“Vicky, you’re wanted in the office.” Ms. Teal said.

Vicky gathered her books and left the classroom. The last twenty minutes of class left me stuck in suspense. I wanted to know what was happening so badly. As soon as the bell rang, I sprang from my seat and shot straight through the door.

Aiden was right behind me, but we got separated in the crowded hallway. He tried catching up with me, but it seemed like someone new was always in his way. I could tell by his expression that he knew something was about to happen, and it didn’t look like he’d be able to stop it.

As I stomped up to Vicky’s locker, I could see that she was busy cleaning it out. She glanced up and saw me walking over to her. She stood up from her crouched position and glared me down.

“I know you had something to do with this. Candy said she saw you leaving Principal Heckler’s office yesterday, and then today Cal and I are
expelled.
” She said dramatically, and all I could do was smile. The tension between us was causing the thrumming to turn into more of a buzzing, like my body was full of bees just dying to escape and sting Vicky.

“You did it to yourself. I hope you have fun being homeschooled.” I spat.

I was turning to walk away when I felt her grab my hair, and she yank me backwards. I stumbled for a second before I found my balance. She tried shoving my head against the lockers, but I was able to wiggle out of her grip. I whirled around with a newfound fury. I pulled back my arm making a fist with my hand and slugged her in the nose.

I grabbed her shoulders and I could feel all my built up energy release into Vicky as I shoved her against the lockers. I punched her once more, but this time in the eye. I felt someone’s arms grab me around my waist and lift me off of her. I tried to rip out of their grip, but it was solid like a statue. I spun around to see who it was and found Aiden staring down at me.

I instantly calmed down when I gazed up into his blue eyes. They had a remarkably serene effect on me. I relaxed into his arms as I tried to catch my breath. I glanced back over to where Vicky was. She was slouched over, holding her nose which was now bleeding all over the place. There was a dent in the lockers where I had shoved her body into them. Not only was I astonished that I had let out enough force to damage the lockers, but I was shocked that it hadn’t done more damage to Vicky.