Secrets Abound (Supernaturally Bound Book 1) (32 page)

Was it really so much to ask for a normal spring break, one that consisted of my boyfriend and friends, not dead bodies and inscrutable ghosts?
Apparently,
I thought bitterly. Well, if it hadn’t been obvious that this spring break had officially crashed and burned before, it certainly was, now. I decided it was time to pack up and check out.

Moving around the room, I gathered my things. I heard movement in Cassie’s room and wondered if she had just gotten back because there was no way she’d be up this early, otherwise. As I finished packing, I texted Eli telling him I was going home.

I’ll take you.
He sent back.

I set my bags out in the hallway while I did one last look over the room so I wouldn’t forget anything. Stepping out, I noticed housekeeping was cleaning Cassie’s room. Glancing inside, I could tell she wasn’t in there. She must not have even come back last night.
She was probably still with Tiffany.
I ignored the jealousy that tinged that thought.

Further down the hall, I noticed an older couple go into Aiden’s room with a couple of bags in hand. Aiden must have checked out last night. It was strange to be fighting with
both
Aiden and Cassie. I had gotten in fights with them before, but never at the same time and never this intense. It left me feeling lonelier than I had in a long time. When did I become one of those people who needed friends? I never used to depend on other people like this.

I met Eli outside of the hotel. Tossing my bags into his trunk, I hopped into the passenger seat.

“Did you find Grey?” I asked as Eli drove.

“Yes, he’s with his family, now.” He shifted in his seat. “I’m sorry about leaving you last night like that.”

“Don’t worry about it. Another time.” I told him.

“I’d like that.” He gave me a side smile.

Later that day, I called the diner to see if I could pick up any shifts and found out Samantha had quit, and they were short staffed. I volunteered to work extra shifts until school started up, again. Since my spring break sucked anyway, I might as well make extra money. Besides, the less time I had to think about everything, the better.

The first day back went smoothly. I was even able to joke around with Damon some. Things had gone back to normal between us since our kiss in his apartment. He acted awkward at first, but then he got over it. Chad even hung out for the last hour of my shift. Tom waltzed through the front door as I hung up my apron and clocked out.

“Thomas, it’s so great to see you.” Betty said when she spotted him. “But don’t even think about getting Chad into any trouble. I know how you two get.” Her face expressed great warning as she said it.

“Come on, Betty. You know me.” He gave her a sweet grin and his classic puppy dog look.

“Exactly.” She said, lifting her brows at him, but then a smile broke out across her face. She returned to her office to finish her nightly paperwork.

“Hey, BK. Are you coming with us, tonight?” Tom asked me as I slipped my jacket on.

“Where?” I asked with trepidation. Betty was right about these two. They always had a knack for getting into trouble, and I doubted too much had changed in the last year.

“The cemetery.” He whispered with a mischievous grin.

“Seriously?” I said skeptically.

We all used to go the graveyard and drink, but that was a long time ago. I didn’t think they’d be interested in something like that, now. Then again, it wasn’t like they were suddenly mature adults who didn’t like to party.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” He insisted. “Just like old times.”

“Well, it can’t be too much like old times.” I pursed my lips. “I’m still on probation.”

I knew it was a foolish idea to go with them. It was jail time just waiting to happen. However, the thought of maybe seeing a ghost or two had me too curious to pass up the opportunity. I might even see Rosalie again and maybe find out who wants me dead. Tom slid his arm over my shoulders and led me out of the diner. We rode over to the cemetery in Chad’s car, parking right inside the gate.

“Here.” Chad tossed me a flashlight. “You’re going to need this.”

We strolled through the graveyard along the winding path until we arrived at a large statue of a weeping woman. The party seemed to have started without us. Everyone was already sitting around, drinking beer, and goofing off. I glanced around the dark, fully expecting to see a ghost or
something
, but there was nothing. I plopped on the ground near the statue as disappointment filled me. Tom sat down on one side of me and Chad on the other.

“How’s your spring break so far?” Tom asked, handing me a beer.

“Not that great, to be honest.” I admitted, but not wanting to divulge any more details, I changed the subject. “So, what have you been up to? Since you’ve been back in the area, I mean.”

“Taking a break before I decide what I want to do next. I might start school somewhere in the fall.” He took a swig of his beer.

“So, you might stick around Nebraska?” I asked.

“Maybe, I haven’t decided anything, yet.” He gave me a grin. “Can I ask you something that I’ve been curious about for a while, now?”

“I guess.” I said.

“Did you and Chad ever hook up?” He asked.

“Ew.” Chad and I said simultaneously. Chad had obviously overheard his question and shared my sentiment on the matter.

“No, he’s like my brother.” I told him.

“Yeah, dude, gross.” Chad said from beside me.

“Okay, sorry. You two were always together. Everyone just assumed…” Tom said. “Well, anyway, that’s good to know.”

“Why is that?” I asked, lifting a brow.

“Well, bro code and all.” Tom winked.

“Quit hitting on her, dude. She has a boyfriend.” Chad scolded, being as overprotective as ever.

“Alright, alright.” Tom threw his hands in the air.

Just over a year ago and I would have loved for Tom to flirt with me, but now that I was with Eli, it wasn’t doing anything for me. Not that I wasn’t attracted to Tom, because he was definitely hot with his big, brown eyes, but I wasn’t drawn to him the way I was with Eli.

“I’ll be right back. I want to look for the grave of someone I read about.” I told them.

“Be careful. It’s almost haunting hour.” Chad said in his mock spooky voice, turning on a flashlight under his chin, causing shadows to fall across his face.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” I laughed as I stood up to leave.

I wanted to see if I could find Rosalie’s tombstone, or her ghost, whichever I came across first. I flicked on the flashlight and started down the path. I lit up each tombstone as I passed by, but none of them said Rosalie. I knew this was a long shot because Sylvia seemed certain that Rosalie’s body was in transit, somehow. I decided to forego the path and venture further down into the graveyard.

I zigzagged through the graves until I spotted a figure lingering near one. I couldn’t tell if the person was alive or a ghost from the distance, so I slowly moved closer, not wanting to startle it. As I got closer, I confirmed that it was translucent. It seemed oblivious to me as it gazed off into the distance. Once I was a few feet away, I spotted more ghosts over to the side. They all seemed dazed.

I heard twigs snapping behind me. It dawned on me that ghosts didn’t break twigs as they stepped and my heart began to beat rapidly. I slowly spun around, pointing my flashlight into the darkness, but I couldn’t see anything.
It was probably only an animal,
I told myself. I stepped closer to where I heard the noise. Suddenly, a figure came running straight at me, and I let out a scream.

“Boogedy, boogedy!” Chad yelled as he grabbed me around my waist and twirled me around. Tom was right behind him, laughing hysterically.

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious.” I said, but couldn’t help the giggle that sprung out of me. “Now, put me down.”

“I don’t think so.” Chad threw me over his shoulder and proceeded to carry me back to the party. I managed to have fun and forget about yesterday, for a few hours, anyway.

Eli stayed busy the rest of spring break with trying to cheer Grey up and doing things for his brother. I wondered what his brother could have for him to do that would keep Eli so busy all the time. With Eli’s time wrapped up in other people, I spent my time hanging out with Chad and Tom, which felt like old times, and I had to admit, I enjoyed myself.

By the end of spring break, I was able to somewhat suppress the images of Nicole’s body to a secluded space in my mind. Monday morning came with a vicious reminder that winter was not quite through with us. I had gotten so spoiled to the sixty-five degree weather that had graced us during the last week that I felt shocked by the twenty-eight degrees I awoke to. As I wiggled into my coat, I wondered if Aiden would try to walk with me today. I hadn’t heard a word from him since our fight, and I preferred it to remain that way. I was still livid with him for attacking Eli like he did. It was a side of Aiden I had never seen before, and it was one I never wanted to see, again.

I groaned at the sight of Aiden at the end of my driveway. His back was facing me, but I knew he could hear it. I didn’t even pause as I passed him by. I kept my eyes focused on the street below my feet as I heard his steps fall in line beside mine.

“I need to talk to you.” He asserted. I didn’t respond or even acknowledge his presence. “I’m sorry about how I reacted to Eli.” He only received more silence from me. After a few moments he said, “So, I heard through the grapevine that there’s going to be a pop quiz in chemistry, today.”
Of course, there was.
Only Mr. Reynolds would be a massive enough douche to give a quiz on the first day back from spring break.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not talking to you.” I frowned.

“You just did.” He pointed out, attempting humor but I shot him a glare to show I wasn’t impressed. “Fine, but you need to tell Cassie to call her mom.”

“I’m not talking to her, either.” I announced.

“Why, what happened?” He asked. I had forgotten he left before my fight with her.

“My friends seemed to have taken asshole pills that night.” I answered with a tight voice.

“I know. I’m sorry again, but whatever fight you had with Cassie was probably my fault. You should call her. Her mom called me yesterday. She said she wanted Cassie to check in with her before her flight, tonight.” He said.

I was surprised her mom had called Aiden, but I guessed Cassie had given his number to her in case of an emergency. What surprised me even more, though, was that her mom was actually trying to keep tabs on Cassie. That was new.

“I’m not Cassie’s keeper. Why don’t
you
call her?” I picked up my pace in order to decrease the length of this conversation.

“I did, but she didn’t answer. I figured she was mad at me, too.” He shrugged. “Could you simply call her and tell her? Then, you can continue not talking to her after that.” I rolled my eyes but grabbed my phone.

“She probably won’t answer to me, either.” I told him, pressing the phone to my ear. After a few rings, it went to voicemail. “Call your mom.” Without even a goodbye, I hung it up and continued walking.

Later that day, when Cassie didn’t show up to school, I texted Ryan and told him to have Cassie call her mom. He replied that he hadn’t seen her since the other day. I felt a small sense of paranoia but brushed it aside.
She was only trying to get attention
, I told myself. I wasn’t going to play into it this time. No, she had to learn that we weren’t all cast members on
The Cassie Show
.

The pop quiz in chemistry was brutal. I was fairly certain some of the questions were over material we hadn’t even learned, but considering my lack of focus lately, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was my memory that was faulty. The class’s average was a C, but Aiden’s lone A would have screwed up any curve we might’ve gotten. As if Mr. Reynolds would ever grade on a curve.

Aiden continuously tried conversing with me all day, but I gave him short answers when I answered at all. Although I told myself I didn’t care where Cassie was, I kept checking my phone for messages all day. After school, I decided to call the hotel.

“Luxury Suites, this is Amanda.” A perky girl answered.

“Hi, I stayed there with my friend last week. I was wondering if she checked out, yesterday.” I told her.

“What name was the room in?” She asked. I could hear her typing away at her computer in the background.

“Cassie Fields. We were in rooms in 817 and 819.” There was silence on the other end as the girl searched for my requested information.

“Actually, we have been trying to contact Ms. Fields, today. She never checked out, and her personal items were left in the room.” She explained.

“Her things are still there?” I asked, feeling suddenly less sure that this was a stunt.

“Yes. We will only hold her items for a week, so she needs to pick them up, soon. Otherwise, everything will be donated to Goodwill.”

“Okay, I’ll let her know.” I hung up the phone unsure what to do.

I dialed Cassie but her phone went straight to voicemail. I had a horrible feeling about this, but I was stuck at a wall. I would give it a few days before freaking out. There was still a chance that she had simply gone off the grid with some random guy.