Secrets Abound (Supernaturally Bound Book 1) (27 page)

“Nothing is going on. I was only worried about her. Have you heard anything?” I watched my feet as they moved me closer to the woods. The ground was no longer covered in snow, but it was still icy.

“The last I heard, her parents thought she might be headed to California. Hail hasn’t heard from her. No one has, I don’t think. Where are you? You sound like you’re outside.” The wind breezed through my hair, and I knew that was what he was hearing.

“I’m walking around the woods.” I instantly regretted telling him.

“You’re what? By yourself?” Worry dripped from his words.

“Calm down. I do it all the time.” Glancing around the darkness, I let out a startled scream when I saw the tiny flicker of light that told me I was going to have a visitor. “Oh, shit. I got to go.” I hung up the phone without waiting for a response.

Okay, so if I was going to accept the fact that this was a ghost, then I was going to get a few answers. As her figure slowly appeared this time, I didn’t run away. I stood there staring at her, waiting for her to acknowledge me. Her eyes met mine and she shrieked. Okay, so she knew I was here. I didn’t back away or fall to the ground in fear, which seemed to surprise her.

“Who are you?” I figured I’d start with the basics and go from there.

I took a step toward her. She stepped backward as I did, and I realized she wasn’t floating this time. Her feet were on the ground. She appeared completely solid. She almost seemed alive, if it weren’t for the flaky gray skin, missing chunk from her cheek, and glowing eyes. Other than that, though. She regarded me curiously, allowing some of her blonde hair to fall across her face. Her mouth opened and closed like she was speaking but no sound escaped her.

“I can’t hear you.”

Her eyes cut to me sharply. “My name is…” It was almost like she was running on a battery, but it was almost dead. “Rosalie.” The last part came out in a whisper.

“Rosalie. Okay. Now, why have you been following me? What do you want?” This was what I desperately wanted to know. I needed to know why.

“Warning.” That seemed to be the only word she could muster.

“Warning about what? Last time you said
he
was going to kill me. Who is
he?
”

“Not
he. They.
They are getting closer. You have to kill them. Both of them.” That was the longest she had spoken, but her voice was gravelly like it had taken a lot of effort on her part. As the words sunk in, terror crept up my spine.

“Why? Why me?” My legs were wobbly, but I held them under me. I couldn’t risk her disappearing before I got my answers.

“You are a threat. You know too much.” It came out in a hushed tone. She started backing away from me. I followed, not wanting to end this here.

“But I don’t know anything. I don’t understand. What do they think I know? Who are
they?
”

My footsteps were shaky, but I couldn’t let her out of my sight. She sped up and so did I. She was no longer walking but floating again and becoming more translucent. I picked up my speed, remaining on her tail. I caught up to her, reaching out to grab her, but my foot slid on some ice and down I went, hitting my head on the ground. Everything went black, and I became unaware of everything.

“Bridget?” I heard a distant voice say, but I couldn’t get my eyes to open. I felt a pounding pain spread from the back of my head until it enveloped the whole thing. “Bridget, wake up.” The voice was gentle and filled with concern. Wait, I knew that voice. I felt a warm hand cup my cheek. I hadn’t realized how cold I was until I felt that warmth. I wanted more of it. I wanted to be wrapped up in it. But I
was
wrapped in something. A blanket, maybe?

“How could you let this happen right behind your house?” The voice was scolding someone else in the room. Room? How’d I get inside? Last I remembered, I was out in the woods talking to Mrs. Creepy, I mean Rosalie. What happened after that? I couldn’t remember, but I was definitely inside, now. I was lying down on something comfortable.

“I wasn’t home.” The second voice said, sounding regretful.

“What the hell? From everything I’ve heard, you’re supposed to be the best, but you can’t even take care of one girl? I had to find her outside on the ground, half frozen. This just goes to show you can’t believe everything you hear.” The first voice said angrily. The second voice didn’t respond, but the silence was thick and I knew the tension would have been visible had my eyes been open. “Damn it! She’s not waking up. That’s it! I’m taking her to the hospital.”             

“No, she despises hospitals. She’ll kill us both when she wakes up. Let’s just give her a few more minutes.” I heard the second voice say. Hospital? What was going on? I tried to open my eyes again, but they were too heavy, and I was so sleepy. I felt myself drifting to sleep.

“She could have a concussion. We can’t just sit here and do nothing!” said the first voice, which finally clicked as Eli’s. Concussion? That snapped me out of my sleepy state. The memory of slipping in the woods surfaced. I felt a pair of arms lift me up. The arms were strong underneath me as they carried me a few feet. “Get out of my way, Mathews, or I’ll make you.” I knew Aiden and Eli were going to fight, and I knew I had to do something to stop them. I tried to say something, but it came out as a soft sound. It was enough, though. I could tell I was being carried back to my comfortable spot. I opened my eyes right in time to see Eli setting me down.

“Bridget, are you okay?” Relief flooded Eli’s eyes as he stared down at me. I glanced around and saw that I was on Aiden’s couch. Aiden stood behind it, staring down at me with concern.

“What happened?” I whispered. The pain in my head seemed to be growing.

“I don’t know. I found you in the woods. It seems you fell and hit your head.” Eli explained.

“You found me? But I thought you were at home.” I said, still confused as ever.

“I was, but I was worried when you hung up on me. And then you wouldn’t answer the phone, so I drove down here to check on you.” He leaned closer to me and grabbed my hand. “Don’t scare me like that, again.”

“I’m sorry.” I smiled up at him apologetically. I was touched that he drove all the way to my house at two o’clock in the morning because he was worried for me.

“Bridget, why did you go out in the woods?” Aiden leaned over the back of the couch.

“I was on the phone with Eli and everyone was asleep.” I didn’t know why exactly I went out into the woods, but that was why I had left my house.

“Why did you hang up on me? What happened?” Eli questioned.

Oh, boy. I didn’t want to say anything about the ghost, and my brain was in far too much pain to think of a plausible scenario.

“I thought I saw someone, so I hung up and then slipped on some ice.” It was basically the truth, if not the detailed version. “My head hurts. Can we reschedule this interrogation for let’s say, never?”

“Okay.” Eli’s eyes turned sympathetic. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk later.” He kissed my forehead lightly. Aiden’s eyes narrowed on Eli, but he remained quiet.

It didn’t take long for sleep to steal me away. My sleep was heavy and dreamless, which was a great thing. I could go years without having another dream and I’d be content. When my eyes finally opened, it felt like I had been asleep for days. I shot up when I saw how bright it was outside.

“Alone with Eli all night, and you’re still alive.” I teased, seeing Aiden sitting on the armchair nearest to me. “Wait, where’s Eli?”             

“He’s fine.” Aiden rolled his eyes at me. “His brother called him away.” I eyed him suspiciously. “Call him if you don’t believe me.”

“No, I believe you.” I stretched my arms out in front of me. “What time is it?”

“Eight thirty.” He answered. I started uncovering so I could put my shoes on when Aiden’s hand stopped me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“School.” I tried pushing his hand away, but it stayed put.

“No, you’re not. You hit your head fairly hard last night. You’re staying home. Well, my home.” He covered me back up, but I threw it right off.

“I have to go today. It’s the last day before spring break. I need to talk to Sylvia and today’s my last chance. I can’t wait a week.” I attempted to rise, again. He seemed to consider what I was saying but still held me down.

“You can go in late, but you are sleeping for a few more hours.”

“But I feel okay.” I argued.

“It’s not up for discussion, so either you can sit here and argue with me for the next few hours or you can go back to sleep.” Aiden’s face told me I wasn’t going to change his mind. I let out a sigh of defeat and covered back up. It was easier to fall back asleep than I had thought it would be and when I woke up a few hours, later my head felt completely better.

“What time did Eli leave?” I asked Aiden as he entered the living room. I rose on the couch, testing my head’s state. It still didn’t hurt.

“Around seven thirty.” Aiden sat down beside me on the sofa. “You need to eat something.”

“I’m not hungry.” My stomach still felt raw from last night.

“Try to eat a little bit. Please.” He stood, grabbing my hand. He led me to the dining room. He grabbed a muffin from the kitchen and set it in front of me. It did not look appealing at all, but I took a tiny bite to appease him. Aiden sat in the chair beside me at the table. “Can we talk about last night?”

“What do you want to know?” I pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping an arm around them.

“Did you see her again last night? Is that why you hung up?” Aiden kept his gaze steady on me.

“Yes, I saw her. And I talked to her, sort of.” I continued playing with pieces of the muffin. Aiden noticed and shot me a look.

“What did she say? Did you find out who she is?”

“She said her name is Rosalie, not that it means anything to me. I asked her why she was following me, but she just said it was to warn me.” I stared at my muffin, but didn’t eat any more of it.

“Warn you of what?” He appeared alarmed. I knew I couldn’t tell him about how
they
were supposed to kill me if I didn’t kill them first. He would only freak out and get crazy overprotective.

“She wasn’t exactly clear. She started to run, or float, away. I tried to chase her and that’s when I slipped.” I was quiet a moment while I picked at the muffin. “It was like she was having trouble communicating with me. That’s why it’s important that I see Sylvia, today. I need to know more about ghosts or whatever.” Aiden nodded at me knowingly.

“If you go home and take a shower right now, we can make it to school before lunch. I’ll drive you.”

An hour later, I was sitting in the front seat of Aiden’s truck. “How are you feeling?” He asked for the millionth time today.

“I’m fine.” I tried not to let it sound too sharp because I knew he was only worried but damn. I was getting tired of being asked that.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…you really scared me last night.” His voice had a certain vulnerability to it that I had never heard before.

“I know. I’m sorry. I need to think before I do things.”

“
That’s
an understatement.” He smiled at me.

“Shut up.” I laughed at his teasing.

“I hope you aren’t still going to Lincoln, tonight.” His voice became serious, again. “You need to rest.”

“I’m still going, but I promise to rest tonight. No partying until tomorrow for me.” I guess he accepted my answer because he didn’t argue.

Time seemed to have slowed down for those last three hours of school before spring break and everyone could feel it. Every student’s eyes were glued to the clock. A few even commented that it had moved backward. When the final bell rang, celebratory shouting could be heard throughout the school. I wasn’t filled with excitement like the rest of the student body, though.

I hurried to the library and practically raced up the steps to the second floor. I felt disappointment wash over me when I saw that it was empty, but then, an idea struck me.

“Sylvia! I need to talk to you.” I spoke as loudly as I could without screaming and catching the attention of the librarian. To my surprise, she poked her head out from around the corner of a bookshelf.

“Hey, Bridget. What’s up?” She sounded casual like it was completely normal for a ghost to be wandering around the library.

“Oh, I don’t know. How about I just found out that you’re a ghost? As in dead, not alive, incorporeal. You are incorporeal, aren’t you?” I inched closer to her reaching my hand out to test it, but she backed away.

“Yes, I am incorporeal, but please don’t do that. It’s uncomfortable when people go through me.” She sat down in her usual corner with me sliding down next to her.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” I asked her.

“I assumed you knew. People usually can’t see me, so when you did, I figured you knew you could see ghosts and that I was one.”

“Why can I see ghosts?” I folded my legs under me.

“I don’t know. There’s something different about you, but I can’t tell what it is. All I can tell for sure is that you aren’t normal.”

“Well, that’s just great news.” I worried the inside of my cheek as I considered her words. I always knew there was something different about me, but what did this mean? “You said you could see that other ghost.”