A Demon's Kiss (Young Adult Romance) (12 page)

CHAPTER 17

When I pulled into our driveway, I didn’t know what to do. I stared over at Gage’s house. It was dark, empty. He’d said that he was going to the game with his family, as a distraction, since now he wasn’t going to the dance.

The dance. How weird. If I hadn’t stumbled on those nut-job pictures, I’d be at the dance right now. With a maniac.
Shivers ran through my body anew, making me shake all over.

“Chill,” I told myself.

But it didn’t stop the shaking. I’d never stop shaking.

You have until tomorrow.
What did that mean? Why did Logan say it?

My house was dark and empty too, just like Gage’s. I didn’t want to go in. But I had nowhere else to go. Izzie had said something about a wild art exhibit she was crashing with her art friends. She’d be there by now, definitely. I didn’t know where it was. If I did, I’d go there. I’d go anywhere. I was scared. I didn’t want to be alone.

But finally, I got out of Logan’s car. I went in the house and turned on all the lights. And the television. Then I went upstairs and crawled into bed. I threw the covers over my head, and willed myself to go to sleep. I didn’t want to think. Not about anything. But I had too much haunting my brain, too many questions screaming. Scary questions. Why did Logan have all those pictures of me? He was like, obsessed, deranged. A chill ran through me.
Too, too creepy
.

And what about that picture of me when I was a little girl? What about that? I couldn’t remember anything about my past. Nothing before I came to live with Beth. Nothing. But Logan—he was obviously part of my past. He knew me...before. A shiver ran through my body so violent I had to get up.

Keeping my comforter wrapped around me, I changed into a pair of sweats and a big sweatshirt, and warm woolen socks. Then I jumped back into bed. But it was no use. I couldn’t get warm. I lay in my bed, shivering.

What had he said about tomorrow? I had until sunrise? Then what?

***

I must have fallen asleep, I guess, but only for a second. It couldn’t have been much longer. But it sort of felt like a life-time ago. I had the most horrible, horrific dream. The Cloaked People—they were coming, hunting, calling my name. But they weren’t just looking for me. They were looking for a boy too. A boy named Logan.

It was too spooky. No way was I going back to sleep, not in this lifetime. I hopped out of bed and grabbed my diary. I used to write in it all the time. Writing my fears out—it always helped calm me down. But I hadn’t written in it lately, not in a long time. Only I needed to write in it now. Had to. I had so many questions, so many fears. I needed to write them all out.

But as I flipped through the pages, searching for the blank portion of my diary, I inadvertently skimmed stuff I’d already written. Stuff that made my hair stand on end. What the …?!

Horrified, I flipped back, reading more intently.

My blood ran cold.

It was the stuff I’d written at the beginning of the school year, stuff I’d somehow forgotten. Completely. It was as though it had been erased from my mind, totally blocked out, somehow.

But...I remembered it now. All of it. It was like suddenly I was living the nightmare all over again.

PART 2

THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 18

September 25

As soon as I got to school this morning I knew it was a big mistake. I’ve been out with mono. Believe it or not, I came back despite Beth’s orders for me to stay home. The thing is, it had been weeks since I left my house. I wanted to be around people again. But now that I was here, being swept along the crowded halls I knew I wasn’t up for it. Healthy people are loud. And the sun is really bright.

My head was throbbing.

I decided to just hang at the school’s library. There I wouldn’t have to be alone, but it would be quiet. Maybe I could sleep at a table. I decided to drop my books off first. But when I got to my locker there was a guy at it, fiddling with the combination. Seeing him, I took a deep breath. I’ve had my locker broken into a lot lately. I didn’t feel up to a fight, physical or otherwise. Still, what could I do? There he was, about to break in right in front of me.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked with a lot more force than I actually felt. The truth was, my world was dimming. I was going down, I was pretty sure.

The guy looked up at me, and I got a glimpse of his startling green eyes. For some reason, seeing them stopped my heart, cold, dead. Seriously. Then it took off, thundering like a horse on steroids.

What the...?

Staggering, I took a step away from the guy.

He seemed to notice. He grinned, seeming amused.

“Hi,” he said. “You Michaela Tolley?”

I nodded, not able to speak, just squinting up into his disturbingly familiar face.

“Yeah, I’m Michaela,” I finally managed to choke out, getting lost in his eyes, panicked and confused. “Who are you?”

Something about the guy terrified me, totally, wasn’t sure what though. He was good looking, gorgeous even—big with jet-black hair—he could be a model. But something about his eyes, his grin; they spooked me. They made me sense I’d seen him before. My head was reeling though. I couldn’t make myself focus on where or when. Still, I was positive this wasn’t our first encounter.

“I’m Logan Michaels,” he said, and even his name sounded familiar. “I’m your new locker partner.”

I blinked.

“Locker partner?”

The phrase wasn’t exactly foreign to me. I’d been assigned to share lockers with a girl back in the seventh grade. But I was a junior now. Juniors don’t have to share lockers. Still, that’s not what had me so distracted. It was the guy. There was something evil about him. Something I should know, but couldn’t make myself remember.

Logan shoved his black hair out of his face, eyeing me like I was a shiny new toy he was itching to play with, his gaze flicking quickly to various parts of my body, then back into my eyes, like I was a piece of candy and he was really, really hungry. Like it was taking great effort for him not to pounce.

But he went on talking as though he was an ordinary guy and we were having an ordinary conversation. “Yeah, sorry,” he said, still holding his hair out of his eyes. “The lady at the office, she said there’s not enough lockers—a shortage or something. She said to share with you.”

A shortage? I hadn’t heard about a shortage. Of course, I’d been out for weeks. Years, it felt like. Still, no way had things changed that much...had they? This wasn’t real. None of this felt real. Still, I went on talking:

“She said to share with me? Why me?”

Logan shrugged, obviously trying to appear casual, but his eyes were still on me. They looked ravenous. He moved in close, close enough that I could feel his warm breath on my neck, right by my ear. “You’re just lucky, I guess.”

My stomach fluttered. Fluttered! What the …?

I jumped away from him, confused and scared...and slightly turned on. A little bit. It’s just, he was so close, and gazing into my eyes all seductive and
I want you
like and murmuring in my ear all intense. Plus, for some reason, I was suddenly totally, totally aware he was yummy hot. I mean, I noticed before, kind of, slightly, but I was more keen to being terrified of him, as he was evil and somehow I knew it; his hotness didn’t really register. But his warm breath tickling my neck got it to register, register big time.

I gulped, trying to get my hormones in check.
Wake up, Michaela! The guy is scary.
He was, I knew he was. But why? How?

Where do I know him from? Where do I know him from?
Where
,
Where, Where?
The question kept rolling around in my head, bugging me, but it was no use. I couldn’t think. My brain was like oatmeal, all mushy and thick.

Logan leaned against my locker, gazing at me, drinking in my every move.

I took another step away from him.

He wets his lips, eyeing the space between us, then his gaze flicked back up to me, his eyes staring into mine, seeming to try to tell me something, but whatever it was, I wasn’t getting it, I wanted to run. Finally he wet his lips again. “The lady at the office, she said you were in a coma. Feeling better?”

Feeling better? I felt chilled. I felt as if a person were to touch me I’d crumble into a thousand pieces. But gazing at him, I got the feeling he already knew.

Logan wets his lips again. “You
look
better.”

My heart stopped. “What?”

His transparent eyes stared into mine. “I like the sun in your hair. It shines.”

I stepped further away, ready to run. “Who are you?”

The bell rang and he gave me a sad smile. The way he did it, so full of longing, hurled me into an attack of violent shivers. Suddenly I knew where I’d seen him before. Suddenly, I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Chills ran through my shaking body. He was the guy from my nightmares, the demon in the hooded cloak.

Only today it was different, totally different. Today I wasn’t in a cave. There were no symbols, no candles, no scary cloaked people. I was at school and it was bright and sunny. The only people were students—hordes and hordes of normal teenagers—pushing and yelling and laughing. This guy, this
demon
, didn’t belong here. It was daylight and I was awake…. Wasn’t I awake?

Logan’s smile broadened. “See ya Michaela,” he said, and then he was gone, vanishing into the crowd, and I was left shivering and sick, watching him go.

For a moment I simply stood still, unable to bring myself to move. Was that really him? Come from my nightmares? Or did I make that part up? I’d been so sick, I still was. Maybe my fever was causing hallucinations. Maybe he was just a new kid with dark hair and gorgeous eyes and I was just really ill. Maybe I was having delusional episodes. It was possible. I’d heard fevers can do crazy things to people’s minds.

But no. It was him. The guy from my nightmares. It was him and he’d come to get me. What was strange was, deep down I always knew this would happen. I knew they would find me.

Suddenly two hands grabbed me around the waist and I was hurled in the air. My heart stopped beating, I swear, I almost died from the shock. But it was only my friend Conner and this was nothing new. He was always picking me up and swinging me around. It was like I was his favorite rag doll.

“Conner! Geez, put me down. You gave me a heart attack!”

Looking pleased by my fright, Conner placed me back on the ground. But his round blue eyes sobered quickly when he saw how messed up I was. “Sorry Michaela. Seriously. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I was just glad to see you.”

Trying to force my lips into a smile, I mumbled that it was okay, that I was glad to see him too. He’s my friend, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. But I couldn’t stop shaking. I felt as though I was going to break apart, crumble into gravel.

Gage was suddenly standing beside me, his warm brown eyes full of concern. He put his hand on my arm, making me look up at him. “Michaela what is it?”

My heart was pounding. I missed Gage so much I suddenly ached. It was like I hadn’t seen him in a thousand years. Beth wouldn’t let me have company the whole time I’d been sick. Mono is really contagious, I guess. But seeing Gage now, it was crazy, I almost started bawling.

Being sick, it makes you vulnerable. You’re all week and emotional. And Gage had died. The last time I saw him, he’d been blue and bleeding, lifeless. Dead. Drowned at the bottom of the river. Frantic and crying, I’d saved him. I think that’s how I got so sick, using my powers. It wiped me out.

Gage was gazing at me now—saying something. I’m not sure what. But he was worried, I could tell. He wanted to know what’s the matter. I bit my lip. How could I tell him I’d just seen the boogieman from my nightmares? He’d think my fever fried my brain, caused long-term damage. He’d think I was nuts.

“Hey.” Gage brushed his hand along my arm. “Michaela?”

I was shaking really bad. It was weird, but I couldn’t make myself stop, my body was out of control.

“Michaela?”

Kind of awkward like, Gage put his arms around me, rubbing my shoulders as though I was cold. It was as though he’s trying to warm me. It was nice.

“Are you okay?” he asked in my ear. “Should I go get the nurse?”

I shook my head. I didn’t want him to leave. I just wanted him to hold me like he was.

I started to calm down a little, my shivering started to subside, but then Gage’s psychotic girlfriend, Addison, showed up. I could feel her anger at seeing Gage and me together. Her eyes were narrowed into slits and teeth were clenched. More than anything, I wanted to zap her away—send her anywhere, as long as it was far. And horrible. I probably would have tried it too if I was feeling stronger. Maybe. But as it was, I was sick and weak, pathetic. I just wanted to get away from her. Away from her hate.

“Michaela, what’s the matter?” Addison feigned concern, but I could still feel the hate raging inside her, throbbing.

“I think I’m still sick,” I mumbled. “I’m going to go back home.”

Gage’s arms tightened around me, defying the wrath of Addison. “Okay,” he said, sounding as though he thought it was a good idea. “I’ll drive you.”

“No, that’s okay. I’m okay.”

I tried to pull away from him, tried to get away. But he held me tight.

“I’ll just drive you,” he said firmly.

“No, don’t.” I pulled away. “I want to be alone.”

That’s not really what I wanted. It’s not what I wanted at all. I wanted him to come home with me, take care of me. Protect me. But he couldn’t do those things. Any of them.

Besides, there was a big crowd watching, everyone staring. If Gage walked me home, Addison would make a big scene. I wasn’t up for that.

Gage looked into my eyes. “Are you sure? Michaela, you seem really sick. I don’t think you should be alone.”

“I’ll be okay,” I told him and practically ran to get away from him.

His words “I’ll call you later,” followed me down the hall, but it hurt to know that he was already holding hands with Addison, assuring her that he and I were only friends.

As I staggered through the crowded halls, I remembered Summer gave me a ride this morning because my car wouldn’t start.

“Faaa,” I muttered, not really saying anything, just frustrated. And sick. And scared.

My thoughts were all jumbled:
I have no car. Doesn’t matter. I can’t drive anyway, not like this, all shaky. Where’s Izzie? No, she’s probably in the art room, across campus, upstairs. Too far. Okay, the library. No, not the library. Logan will find me. He’ll get me while I’m sleeping, drag me to hell. I’ll walk. It’s easier. Definitely quieter, all the shoving in the halls. Logan’s here? Really here? Maybe not, maybe not, maybe not.