The Prophecy (23 page)

He smirked and reached out to move a lock of hair behind my ear. Delightful little shivers broke out across my body.

“We'll see.”

I breathed out a sigh of relief as he turned away from me, releasing me from his gaze.

“You ready to get started?” I looked over at Rose. By her look of amusement I knew she wouldn't be any help. I leaned forward and grabbed a paper plate and a piece of pizza.

“
Yup, let’s do it.”

As the night progressed I found myself slowly making, err jumping, my way closer to Andrei, until I was practically glued to his side. He didn't seem to mind it much and I often felt his chest jump with silent laughter. He may have thought it was funny but I didn't. My love/hate relationship with horror movies was in full effect that night. Every time the creepy music would start I'd find myself pressing closer into Andrei. Everything made me jump.

As the credits rolled I went limp with relief and waited for someone to turn on the lights. There was no way in hell I was moving from that couch until the room was as bright as the sun. I winced at the brightness as Brandon turned them on. Scooting away from Andrei, I felt my face flush. I knew he was smiling without even looking at him. 

“
Yes! It's almost time!” I jumped as Rose practically shouted in my ear.

“
Time for what?” Amusement laced Andrei's voice.

“
We're going to initiate little Star here. It's time to test her courage.” I sent a glare at Rose, hoping to shut her up. She was having way too much fun with this.

“
What? You’re taking her to the graveyard?”

“
That's the plan.”

Andrei started laughing. I turned my glare onto him but he ignored it just like Rose.
“You can't be serious!”

“
I am. She may not be from here but she has to go through it all the same.”

“
I'm sitting right here, you know.” I crossed my arms over my chest and slumped back.

“
Oh, I know. There's no way I could miss you.” With a wink he turned back to Rose. “It's too bad I can't come with you. I would love to see how she handles it.”

“
I know, right? She made the couch move with how much she jumped during the—”

I had enough. I stood up and went to the door.
“Again, I'm right here. While I'm sure you guys will love to go on and on forever about how scared the movies made me, we've got other things to do, remember? So, it was nice having you over, Andrei. Don't worry about missing this because I'm sure Rose will fill you in on all the glorifying details later.” I opened the door and gestured for him to leave. He sat there for a moment, a small smile playing on his face. God I didn't know why he affected me so much. Even though I was determined for him to leave, I wanted to just crawl on top of him, and sink my teeth into him. Never letting him go. His smile broadened, almost as if he could hear my thoughts. I blushed and stood rooted to the spot, staring him down. With a shrug he got up and slinked his way over to me. He was way to graceful, too seductive, entrancing. I held my breath as he neared but couldn't look away. There was just something about his eyes that drew me in.

He stopped, barely an inch from me. I felt his heat suffuse my body as his scent enveloped me. His fingertips sent sparks across my skin as he gently ran them down my face, to rest them heavily against my neck.

“I look forward to seeing you again, little Tigress.” He lowered his face toward mine. My heart shot up into my throat. I barely resisted the urge to raise up and make our lips meet. Two inches, one. My God he was dragging this out. He rubbed his thumb against my bottom lip. They parted automatically as a small sound escaped me. I swayed toward him. I couldn't stop myself if I wanted to. My eyes drew down to his mouth, barely a breath from mine. He smiled, then turned and left.

I stood there, stunned and kept staring after him. What the hell was that about? Did I want him to kiss me? I shook my head and turned toward Rose and Brandon. No, no I didn't want that. Well, I did, but I shouldn't.

“Holy mother of all things hot and yummy.” I looked over at the sound of Rose's muttering. I didn't think I've ever seen her look that shocked.

“
What?” I snapped. Who does he think he is anyways? It's not like I was asking for his attention. You'd think that by how much I've been snapping on people that he'd take a hint. That boy must really like a challenge. Too bad he was going to lose.

“
Earth to Star! Jesus, you'd think she'd pay attention at least once every thirty seconds.” I snapped my attention back to them, jumping back as I noticed they were right in front of me.

“
Sorry. What were you saying?”

She held my jacket out to me.
“If we don't leave now we're going to miss the witching hour. Will you please pay attention so we can get a move on?”

I rolled my eyes and shrugged into my jacket, shoving my thoughts of Andrei to the back of my mind.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Moonlight filtered through the swaying trees. The shadows seemed to dance against them, creating scattered images of days long passed. My eyes scanned around frantically. The woods were different at night, a lot different. There seemed to be secrets hiding amongst the foliage, daring you to discover them. I didn't. I stuck as close to Brandon as I could without actually clinging to him, though I was tempted too.

He shrieked and jumped back, knocking into me. My returning scream could have woken the dead. That wasn't a pleasant thought considering we were almost to the graveyard.

“What the hell is wrong with you guys?” Rose tromped back through the underbrush, her agitation leading the way.

I stood up and wiped the dirt from my palms.
“Big boy over here scared the shit out of me. What the hell, Brandon? You're supposed to be braver than I am!” I was pissed. I didn't need to be anymore scared than I already was. Maybe I should have stuck to Rose instead.

“
God, seriously? Look, we're almost there. Can you guys refrain from pissing your pants until
after
we're done? What scared you anyways?”

Brandon looked between the two of us. I wasn't going to help him out. Besides, I wanted to know too.
“I thought I saw a bug.”

My jaw nearly hit the floor.
“Are you serious? We're in the freaking woods! Of course there's going to be bugs!”

Rose started laughing. Yeah, it was kind of funny, but I wasn't in the mood for hilarity. I just wanted to go up, touch the damn headstone, and go home.

“Whatever. Let’s just go.” He stormed away, leaving me and Rose to follow after him.

Silence ensued on the rest of our trek. I still couldn't believe that the original graveyard was technically in my back yard. I shuddered at the thought of all the bodies rising from the grave. They'd run into my house first when they went to go eat the townspeople. Freaking great.

The woods started to thin and I could make out a bath of moonlight in the distance. I swatted away low lying limbs as we broke free.

There were headstones everywhere. The moonlight bathed against the perfect circle that the woods created. It was like a natural border. The full moon hung full in the midnight blue sky, seeming to weigh over us. I huddled into my jacket, trying to shrink into myself. Rose stepped forward and looked expectantly at me. I thought about backing away and making a mad dash to the house, but I didn't want to become lost in the woods. At night. Alone. Plus, she probably would tackle me before I even made it that far.

I took a deep breath and stepped forward. Her smile broadened as I walked toward her. There was an almost malicious gleam in her eyes.

“
Alright, here's what you have to do. You see that statue in the middle of the graveyard?”

I looked around. We were at a
graveyard
for crying out loud! Of course there were going to be statues! “Which one?”

She rolled her eyes at me.
“The one directly in the middle! The angel, you see it?” I nodded. “Good. Now Merlo's headstone is right by it. Even you won't be able to miss it.”

I looked at her like she was stupid. What, was it supposed to glow or something? She shoved me forward. I shot a glare at her but she just waved me on.
“Go on. You've got to do it. It's tradition.”

I thought about how many stupid things people had to do because of tradition. This had to top the list. I weaved my way around headstones, my feet sliding seamlessly within the fog. I shivered, the oncoming winter chill in the air biting into my flesh. My breath puffed out before me to join the fog that was drifting around. It was creepy as hell. And silent. I thought my ears would rebel at the lack of sound.

I stopped as I made it to the angel's statue. Time hadn't been kind to it as I looked up into his hauntingly beautiful face. His hand reached down to me, seeming to want to help me, to offer something. A couple of fingers were missing and one of his wings looked like it was about to fall off at any moment. A sense of sadness overtook me as I looked closer at its crumbling form. He must have stood guard here for generations. Protecting and offering comfort to those who had passed to be beaten away by time and nature.

I caught myself reaching out toward him and jerked my hand back. I didn't know where that thought had come from, nor why I had the sudden urge to touch him. I shook my head and looked around. This was crazy.

Crumbling gravestones stood around in rows like sentinels. Each of them had signs of decay. Pitiful, hopeless. All except for one. I frowned. This couldn't be right.

It looked like it was just made, the obsidian still a pure black. No wear shown. No damage by nature. I stepped forward hesitantly. Confused.

Merlo. Deceased 1691-.
I squinted as I read it again. It didn't make sense. “Hey Rose!” I called, my eyes glued to the headstone in front of me.

“
You found it?”

“
I think so. Why does it have a deceased year then a lead to? I thought the dates were supposed to be from birth to death.”

“
Yeah, that's one of the weird things about it. It's like they're expecting him to come back or something.” Her laughter echoed throughout the clearing. I went cold at the sound. “Just touch it already so we can go home. It's freaking cold.”

“
Alright, just give me a minute.” I pulled my hand out of my pocket and reached forward, holding my breath as I prepared to touch the headstone. It's just a piece of brick. That's all. As soon as I do it I can go home. The reassurances ran through my mind. I groaned at myself. I was being such a chicken.

Determined, I reached forward. I expected the stone to be smooth, cold. What I didn't expect was to feel an intense energy to creep into my hand and to travel up my arm. I was transfixed as the sensation move through me. I knew I should be scared, running for the hills the minute I felt the warmth, but I couldn't find the strength to turn away.

The darkness inside of me flared. I felt it spread as it seemed to feed on the warmth the stone was generating. A pulsing sensation started to come from the stone, becoming stronger, faster until my body started shaking with the intensity. My eyes stayed locked on the obsidian in front of me, seeming to fall into the endless pure black like an abyss. It was calling to me, welcoming me.

“
Star! Are you done yet?”

My head snapped up and with an audible crack I flew backwards as the last of the warmth rammed into me. My head hit the gravestone behind me. Dazed, I raised my hand to my head only to come up short as I saw a silvery sheen. I peered closer and saw a long slash down the center of my palm. The moonlight turned the crimson flow silver, making it beautiful in its grotesqueness.
 

I turned at the sound of leaves crunching as Rose stomped forward, Brandon was swiftly behind her.
“Did you hear me? What are you doing?” 

“
I touched it.” I sighed out. I didn't feel right. Something was wrong, but I couldn't function enough to figure out what.

She looked at me, frowning, then looked back at the stone. Her eyes widened and she took a step back.
“What happened?”

She sounded shocked. Some part of me seemed to care about her tone so I slowly turned my head and followed her gaze. The headstone was still there, but barely. It was like three hundred years had passed in the minutes that I had touched it. Where once there was nothing but smooth obsidian, now there was a crumbled mass between gray spears where time hadn't touched yet. I frowned. That wasn't right either.
“I think we should go—”

“
What are you kids doing? Get out of here!” I jerked up at the sound of the enraged voice. Rose and Brandon quickly grabbed me, half-dragging me toward the boundary line.

“
Shit!” Rose screeched, pulling on me roughly.

“
Who is that?” My breath started to come faster, fogging up the space in front of us.

“
That's the groundskeeper. He keeps people like us away.” Brandon huffed beside me.

“
I thought we were allowed to go?”

“
No one's allowed to go, Star. That's what makes it so much fun. You've got to touch the stone before you're caught and he runs you off.” Under Rose's agitation there was a hint of excitement. I guess she would enjoy practically breaking the law.

“
What have you done?” The enraged yell seemed to follow us as we made our way into the woods. The farther we got from the clearing the more like myself I felt. I shrugged out of Rose and Brandon's hold and ran along beside them, clenching my hand to my chest.

“
Holy shit!” Rose panted as she leaned against the door frame to my room. “I swore he was about to chase after us!” Her laughter formed between her panting. She was thrilled. Brandon sat down on the floor, breathing heavily. She flopped down into his lap, a smile lighting up her face.

I sank wearily to the floor, completely worn out.
“I can't believe I actually listened to you guys. We could have gotten in so much trouble.”

“
Well it's worth it. You're one of us now.” Rose said with a shrug, her smile still firmly in place. I wasn't so sure I wanted to be one of them anymore.

I opened my hand and looked at my palm. The bleeding had almost stopped, leaving nothing but a small trickle. The blood had dried on my hand and the trails that ran down my arm. I grimaced. I definitely needed a shower. I sighed and leaned my head back.

“I still can't believe you did it, though. I thought for sure that you'd run off screaming ten feet into the woods, but you actually freaking manned up! Andrei's going to be so pissed he missed this!” She was practically bouncing now. God I wasn't feeling good.

“
Yeah, well I'm sure he'll hear about it soon anyways. You look too excited to hold back.” I rubbed my head where a headache was forming. “Look, I'm all happy it's done and everything, but I'm not feeling well. Can you guys leave now? I just want to go to bed.”

She frowned at me. Brandon looked like he was half-asleep on the floor but he perked up a little bit.
“You okay Star?” he asked, concern crossing his face.

“
Yeah, I'll be fine. Just tired.” I got up and walked with them to the door. “I'll see you guys on Monday.”

They looked at me for a moment. Rose's excitement had died down some, but she was still bubbly.
“Yeah, we'll see you.” I waved as they walked away and closed the door behind them. 

My head started swirling as I walked to my room, kicking off my shoes in the process. I started swaying drastically. It was like the pulsing from the stone was rampaging in my head, throwing off my equilibrium and thought processes. I stumbled toward my bed and fell face down to it. Within seconds I was gone to the world.