Secrets Abound (Supernaturally Bound Book 1) (26 page)

“I had a wonderful time.” I leaned against his car, staring up into his dark eyes. There was a gleam in his eyes that wasn’t there before. He brushed a strand of hair out of my face and leaned in close.

“Yeah, me too.” He whispered close to my ear.

I felt a shiver pass through me, but I knew it wasn’t from the chilly air. I reached my arms around his neck and tugged him the short distance to me. I pressed my lips to his as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Ahm.” Someone behind Eli made a coughing noise. It was probably pathetic that I knew who it was simply from hearing that one sound. Aiden stood a few feet away. I felt embarrassed, but I refused to let it show. “Bridget, I need to speak with you.”

“Really, Mathews? You need to talk to her,
right now
?” Eli had turned but still had his arms around my waist.

“It’s important.” Aiden never moved his eyes from mine.

“Okay.” I shifted back to Eli, this time he was against the car.

“Can we have a moment?” Eli shot Aiden a glare over my shoulder.

I glanced back to see an expression flash across Aiden’s face before he whirled around and walked to his porch. I wasn’t sure if it was anger, jealousy, or both, but I told myself it didn’t matter. I’d spent most of the last year trying to discern Aiden’s thoughts and emotions, and I was tired. If he decided to open up and tell me what he was feeling, then great, but I was no longer going to search for it.

I was brought back to the present moment when I felt Eli’s lips on mine, again. It felt awkward kissing in front of Aiden, but I didn’t pull back. “I’ll text you later.” I told him when the kiss ended.

“Call me if you need anything.” He glanced back at Aiden. “I can be back here in less than an hour.”

“I’ll be okay but thanks.” I reached up and kissed him one last time.

Damn,
I really loved his lips. I spun and headed towards Aiden. The entire way, I could feel Eli watching me. Eventually, I heard his car door close and his engine turn on. I followed Aiden into his house as Eli’s car drove away. I set my purse down on the coffee table and stood behind the couch.

“What did you want to tell me?”

“Take a seat.” He gestured toward the couch, but I didn’t move.

“Aiden, just tell me.”

“Not until you sit down.” He folded his arms across his chest. I raised a brow but stayed put. I didn’t know why I was being so stubborn over something so stupid, but I just was. His expression told me he was going to stand his ground. “What did you guys do today? You smell like chlorine.”

“We went swimming.”

“In March and in a dress?” This time he raised an eyebrow as he stared at me.

“His pool is heated, and I didn’t wear my dress.” I didn’t realize how that sounded until Aiden’s eyebrows shot way up. “Not that I swam naked….Err… Never mind. What were you going to tell me?”

His expression turned poignant as he grabbed my hand and led me to the front of the couch. I let him do so without argument. I could sense this was serious, and I felt my gut clench up.

“I didn’t want you to find out at school, tomorrow. I thought you should hear it from me, first.”

“What’s going on, Aiden? You’re starting to scare me.” My eyes searched his face for any sign that this was a practical joke, but I knew he would never do something so mean.

“The police found Jenny’s body, today.” He wrapped his hand around mine a little tighter.

“I don’t understand. I thought she ran away.” Denial hit me harder than a wrecking ball. “It can’t be her. It has to be a mistake.” I could feel tears sting my eyes.

“It’s her. Her parents identified the body this evening. I’m so sorry, Bridge.”

Guilt rolled around in my stomach, stirring its contents. “I should have done something. I knew she didn’t want to move to Lincoln.”

“No, Bridget. You weren’t responsible for her in life, and you certainly aren’t responsible for her death.” When he said that, I could no longer hold back and the tears came hard and fast.

He drew me to him. I cried on his shoulder for a long time. Every time I’d calm down, I’d remember how crappy Jenny’s last few years of life had been, especially the last few months, and it would start all over again. Somehow, my head ended up on Aiden’s lap, and I was lying on my side on the couch. His hand stroked my back in a soothing a manner.

It was a rare occasion that I’d allow myself to be vulnerable enough to cry this much, but when it did happen, I wasn’t able to hold anything back. Everything I had bottled up from the last few weeks flooded my mind and made the tears fall more rapidly. The dreams, Jeremiah, the ghost, the guy with a scar, all of it.

The fear that I was losing my mind crept back into my thoughts. What if my mom had been schizophrenic and I’d inherited it? Was I hallucinating all these crazy occurrences? Was I simply delusional? I certainly was losing control of my body, so how long before I lost control of my mind? It all seemed so real, though.
That’s why crazy people never know they are crazy.

“Aiden?” My voice sounded shaky, but I didn’t care.

“Yes?” His voice was soft and filled with concern, which made my chest ache all the more.

“Do you think I’m crazy?” I couldn’t even look up at him as I said it.

“What are you talking about?” He sounded confused. I took a deep breath to gather the courage to explain.

“I’ve been seeing things that aren’t there, and I keep having these dreams. And my body wants to have sex without letting my brain consent.” The last part slipped out, and I could feel my face turning bright red. I couldn’t believe I just told him that. I could’ve convinced myself that he hadn’t heard that last part, but his body tensed up, and his hand stopped stroking my back.

“Did you and Eli have sex?” His voice was eerily calm but had the edge of another emotion I was too tired to pinpoint.

“No.” Part of me wanted to yell that it was none of his business, but I simply didn’t have the energy. His posture relaxed, and his hand started moving, again.

“What do you mean you’ve been seeing things?”

“Well, that guy with the scar, for one. No one else saw him and like you said, someone like that would have stood out to people.” I wiped a few tears from my face with a tissue. His hand stopped again, and I thought he was upset. He tugged me up to face him.

“You are not crazy, Bridge. I’m sorry I said that. I never thought it would have you questioning your sanity. I never meant for that.” Alarm filled his eyes as he searched my face.

“No, Aiden, it wasn’t you and it’s not just that guy.” My eyes fell to his chest. I didn’t have the strength to say this while looking into his blue eyes. “I keep seeing a ghost. She’s freaky as shit and probably all in my head.” I didn’t bother telling him about Jeremiah. That situation was over, so there was no point bringing it up. Plus, if that whole thing
had
been a hallucination cooked up by my mind then that would be too much. It had all felt far too real. If that had been a delusion, then I was way worse than I could’ve even imagined.

“Bridget.” He lifted my face with his fingertips so that our eyes locked. “I’m not sure what’s going on or what it is you’ve been seeing. The one thing I do know with one hundred percent certainty is that you are
not
crazy. You drive
me
crazy sometimes but
you
are not.”

I gave a laugh at the truth to how crazy I drove him. As for the rest of it, I knew there was no way he could actually know that I wasn’t crazy, but the sincerity that rang in his voice still made comforted me, somehow. I threw my arms around him in a hug. His arms quickly wrapped around my back and held me tight. Although it might’ve been wrong, it felt wonderful in his arms. His embrace wasn’t warm like Eli’s. Aiden’s was cool like grass, or like the cool side of the pillow. Equally as comfortable but different.

“Wait.” I moved back as a thought struck me. “How’d she die?”

“She…” He hesitated, brushing some hair out of my eyes. “She was murdered.”

I drew in a sharp gasp.

“By who?” My first thought was her hot tempered uncle, but could he have
killed
her?

“It was that serial killer in Lincoln.”

“How do they know that for sure?” Nausea rolled in my stomach, and I knew I’d be sick before the end of the night.

“I don’t know exactly, but there are details they haven’t released to the press. Certain things the killer has been doing to the girls.” Okay, now I was definitely going to be sick. I darted to the bathroom and hurled into the toilet. “Are you okay?” He asked me from the doorway.

“Yeah.” I got up and splashed water on my face. I brushed my teeth using the spare toothbrush I used last time I was here. Aiden simply stood by the door, watching to make sure I was okay.

“Do you want to stay tonight?”

“No.” I grabbed my purse from the table. “Thanks, but I just want to take a shower and go to sleep.”

“Okay, I’ll walk you home.”

“I literally live next door.” I argued, but he only raised an eyebrow and gave me a look that said he was going to whether I liked it or not. “Okay, whatever.”

The entire walk, Aiden held onto to my arm like he thought I might collapse. I wasn’t so sure that I wouldn’t, myself. When we were under my window, I turned back to him.

“Thank you…For telling me and everything else.” I tucked my hair behind my ears.

“You’re welcome.” He grabbed my hand. “And we will talk about that other thing, again.” I wanted to simply drop it, but I nodded knowing arguing wouldn’t help. No matter how mortified I was, I knew I’d have to tell him everything.

“I know.” He still had my hand. We stared at each other for a long time until my phone beeped from my purse, letting me know I had a text. I knew it would be from Eli. “Goodnight.” I drew my hand back and crawled through my window. When I glanced back out the window, Aiden had already disappeared. I tugged my phone out and opened the message.

Everything okay?

Yeah.
I wrote back.

What did Aiden want?

A friend of mine died. He just wanted to be the one to tell me.

I’m sorry. What can I do?

I’m okay. I just need to sleep.

Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow. Goodnight.

I felt a tiny amount of warmth spread through my aching chest. It wasn’t enough to overcome the pain I’d been feeling, but it made it more bearable. It was surreal having people who cared so much about me. The only other people I’d ever had care for me were the Cranes. The ache grew again at that thought. As a newborn, I’d been left on the doorstep of Mr. and Mrs. Crane. They were wonderful. They took care of me for the first five years of my life. They were dead now because of me. The pain in my chest sharpened and I doubled over.

I tried to never think of them and what had become their fate the moment they agreed to raise me. New tears sprung to my eyes and my vision blurred as they slid down my cheeks. I was glad Clarissa wasn’t home and that I was alone for my breakdown.

“What are you reading?” I asked Sylvia as I put a book on the shelf. My two weeks of detention had become two and half since I’d skipped a couple of days when Aiden and I had been fighting.

“Flowers in the Attack.” She pushed her glasses further back on her nose. “It’s pretty good so far.”

“Oh yeah, that’s a good one.” I smiled at her. “If you’re into child abuse and incest, that is.”

She rolled her eyes and closed the book. “Are you going to do that with every book I read?”

“Maybe.” I told her.

She shook her head in exasperation causing her strawberry curls to bounce. She pulled her jacket on tighter, bringing her legs to her chest. She always wore that blue jacket and jeans. She wasn’t much for change, I supposed. She was one of those girls who was pretty but tried to hide it. I slid down the wall and sat beside her on the floor.

“So, why are you always up here?” I asked her for the millionth time. She never gave me a straight answer and usually stared at me strangely. This time she turned to me with a huge frown on her face.

“Bridget, are you messing with my head or something?” Her eyes narrowed and her frowned deepened. “You and I both know I can’t leave here.”

“I don’t understand. Why can’t-.” I started but was interrupted by books flying off a nearby shelf onto the floor. I didn’t see anyone, but I could feel the hair on my arms rise.
She was here
. As soon as the thought formed in my head, I saw the flicker of light. I was lucky I was sitting because my legs would be jelly by now. The woman’s figure came into view, and this time, she appeared more solid than the last few times. Her skin was an icky grayish color, though, so there was no mistaking her for alive. She apparently wasn’t in a talking mood today because she let out a shriek right before disappearing. I glanced back to Sylvia. Her eyes were wide and glued to the spot the woman had just been.

“She was beyond creepy, even considering, you know.” Sylvia said, still staring off.

“You could see her, too?” My eyes widened in surprise.

“Yeah, duh. We can all see each other.”

“What do you mean?” I gave her a look of confusion. Before she could answer, the librarian called my name as she ascended the stairs. My head snapped toward her as her face appeared in the doorway.

“Who are you talking to?” She asked me.

“I was just-.” I twisted back to Sylvia, only she wasn’t there anymore. My heart skipped a beat as my eyes searched the area. Nope, she wasn’t here and all our conversations clicked into place. “Nobody.”

“Well, your hour is up for today.” She stopped and stared at me for a moment. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

If only she knew just how right she was. I could always say, “Yeah, actually, I just saw two ghosts.” Then again, that would probably land me in the psych ward. Or worse, they could make me have more sessions with Ms. Owens. The thought made me shudder in dread.

“I’m fine. You startled me, is all.” I lifted myself off the floor.

“Be sure to pick all this up before you leave.” She gestured toward the pile of books that creepy ghost had dramatically knocked over and headed back downstairs.

It’s vexing enough that Mrs. Creepy shows up randomly to scare the crap out of me, but now I’m getting stuck with her messes.
It took me an extra ten minutes to pick up all the books (t
hanks a lot Mrs. Creepy)
before I could leave
.
I took one last glimpse around to be sure Sylvia wasn’t hiding somewhere.
Nope.
She was definitely gone. With a sigh of defeat, I headed back downstairs. I had so many questions that would have to wait, for now. How could Sylvia be a ghost without me even realizing it? That brought another question that I was too scared to find the answer. Was she real or simply in my head?

Walking home alone left way too much time for my mind to flood with thoughts of ghosts. I wasn’t even sure I believed in an afterlife, so how could I buy into the idea that these were spirits? And even if it were true, that these were indeed ghosts I was seeing, then why was I the only one who could see them? And why was Mrs. Creepy following me around? It just didn’t make sense.

Suddenly, I thought about when she appeared in the woods at the party. She had said something bizarre that I hadn’t given much thought to. She had said I was in danger. And what was that other thing?
He is going to kill you. You have to kill him or he will kill you.
The memory of her gravelly voice made me shiver. She never told me who
he
was. Not that I actually
believed
anything she had said, but it still freaked me out.

“Bridget.” Aiden jogged over to me as I was passing by his house. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure.” I had known this was coming sooner or later. I had only hoped it would be later, but Aiden wasn’t one for procrastination. I followed him into his house and flopped onto the couch. Doing my best to avoid this conversation, I grabbed the remote and switched the TV on. Aiden sat beside me but didn’t say anything.

“Do you have plans tonight?” He asked.

“No. I’m off, and Eli is busy with his brother, today.” I flipped the channel, stopping on the news. After a few seconds, Jenny’s picture filled the screen. I took a sharp intake of breath, and Aiden hastily grabbed the remote from me, turning it off.

“How are you doing?” He shifted so he was facing me.

“I’m great.” I gave him my phony smile I always used to hide what I was feeling. He gave me a skeptical look, and my smile dropped. I should’ve known better than to try and pull that with him. He knew me too well. “I’m better than I was last night.” He studied my face for a long moment.

“We need to talk about what you told me last night.”

“It’s stupid. Can we drop it?”

“It’s not stupid. You asked me if I thought you were crazy. Something is going on with you.” He laid his hand on top of mine. I bit my lip nervously and stared down at it. “Please, talk to me, Bridge.” I took a deep breath before glancing up at him.

“Do you remember when I got obsessed with
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
?” I asked.

“Yes, that was the worst three weeks of my life.” He gave me a smile, and I let out a small laugh. He asked, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, do you remember that random episode where she wakes up in the mental hospital and her parents tell her everything she thinks is real is just in her head?”

“Yes.” He squinted at me, cocking his head to the side. He had no idea where I was going with this.

“That’s how I feel. Like one day I’m going to wake up and be told none of this is real.”

“That’s not going to happen.” He gently squeezed my hand.

“There’s something weird going on with me, Aiden. I’ve considered every option and the only one that makes any sense is that I’m going insane. Or maybe I already am, I don’t know.” I bit the inside of cheek.

“I’m sure everyone feels like that from time to time.” His thumb started moving back and forth, stroking my hand. It was oddly comforting.

“No, Aiden. I’m different. I can feel it. I bet my mom could, too. That’s probably why she didn’t want me, why she left me.” I bit down on my lip to stop it from quivering. “She knew how horrible of a person I’d be.”

“Bridget, you are not a horrible person. Why would you say that?” He grabbed my arm and made me face him. “You were only a baby. Whatever her reasons might have been, they didn’t have anything to do with who you are.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew everything.” I dropped my head. I simply could not look at him right at that moment. I felt his fingers guide it back up, but I kept my eyes fixed downward.

“Tell me.” He said. I opened my mouth but no words came out. “Please.”

I nodded. “I told you about how I lived with that first family for five years.” I gulped back the lump that had formed in my throat. “I didn’t tell you why I left them.” I was quiet for a moment, but Aiden merely waited patiently for me to finish. “They always told me to never climb the tree that was in our backyard. They told me it wasn’t stable, but I didn’t listen. One day, I decided to climb it and when I got to the top, the branch gave under my weight. I fell and broke my arm. They put me in the car and were rushing me to the hospital, which might have been okay but it was winter and the roads were slick.”

I felt my eyes start to water, but I kept going. “They slid on a patch of ice and skidded off the road. The car slammed into a tree and they died instantly.” There was a moment of silence, but Aiden could sense there was more. “They had another child. His name was Oliver and he was two years older than me. He hated me so much. He told me it was my fault. That I was the reason he didn’t have parents.” Now the tears were falling. “He moved in with his aunt and I went into foster care.”

“That wasn’t your fault. You can’t blame yourself for a mistake you made when you were five. They wouldn’t want that.” He brushed his fingers across my cheek, wiping away a few tears. He drew me into a hug and held me for a few minutes before moving back. “Tell me everything that’s been happening.”

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“Well, begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end, then stop.” Aiden grinned.

“Seriously? An Alice in Wonderland quote, Aiden?” I giggled.

“It made you laugh, didn’t it?” His blue eyes had a familiar gleam and I had the urge to kiss him.

I bit my lip and glanced away, breaking the momentary connection. I told him everything. I told him about my dreams that came true; of course, I left out the details of the drag race from yesterday. I told him about every time I’d seen the creepy ghost, leaving out her warnings, and how today I found out Sylvia was a “ghost” or whatever. However, I still couldn’t bring myself to mention Jeremiah.

“Why haven’t you told me any of this?” He asked.

“I didn’t want you to think I was crazy.” Until I said it, I didn’t realize how true it was. I cared so much what he thought of me, more than anyone else.

“Well, I don’t.” His voice was filled with certainty.

“Then, what else could all this mean?”

“Maybe, you should open yourself up to the possibility that you are seeing spirits.” His eyes showed me he wasn’t kidding, but that was the last thing I expected him to say.

“Maybe, you’re right. I guess I should be hoping that I am seeing actual ghosts, considering the alternative.”

“We’ll figure this out together, okay? Just tell me if anything else happens.” He gave my hand one last squeeze before letting go. His expression told me he was going to change the subject and I was right. “Are you still going to Lincoln for spring break? With everything that’s happening, I mean.”

“Yes. I need it now more than ever. Are you still coming with?” I glanced up at him.

“Yeah, I already booked a room. I’ll be right down the hall from you guys.” He grabbed the remote and flipped the TV back on.

We spent the rest of the evening watching old movies and hanging out like we used to before things got weird between us. A certain amount of relief had come with telling Aiden everything (well, mostly everything). As if he were somehow shouldering part of the burden even though I knew it didn’t work that way.

That night was filled with awful dreams. I saw Nicole lying on a riverbank. Her skin was blue and she was dead. Police were all around her collecting evidence. She was wearing a peculiar white dress with poufy sleeves. It looked like an old fashioned wedding dress. The most disturbing thing I noticed though was the fact that her ring finger had been cut off.

I awoke with a vicious nausea that tore through my stomach. I raced to the bathroom just in time to vomit into the toilet. That was officially the most disturbing dream I’d ever had. I only hoped it was an outcome of Jenny’s death and not a prophetic dream. I hadn’t heard any update about her, and I suddenly felt guilty for not even thinking to ask. I glanced at the time. It was two in the morning, but Eli would probably still be up.

After I cleaned up, I laid on my bed with my head covered up. My phone lit up the space under the blanket as I texted Eli.
Are you still awake?
I typed into my phone.

Yes, is everything okay?
He wrote back.

Yes, I was thinking about Nicole. Did she ever come home?

I don’t think so. Can I call you?
He asked. I glanced over at Clarissa’s sleeping body.

Hold on. I’ll call you.
I wrote back.

I got dressed as quietly as possible and crawled outside. I knew there was no place inside for me to talk on the phone, so I decided I’d take a stroll. I could use the stress release, anyway. The night air was cold and silent. I dialed Eli’s number on my phone and hit send.

“Are you okay?” He asked right away.

“Yes, I’m fine.” I sauntered around the side of the house and toward the back. Something seemed to draw me to the woods.

“It’s two o’clock and you’re asking about Nicole. Something is going on.” He asserted.