trouble,” Alex said as he stared up at the ceiling, reaching over and pulling at the waistband of my shorts with one finger, snapping it against my skin.
“Yeah, I don’t think sleeping in the same bed is going to be an option much longer,” I breathed as I rested my arms above my head. “You don’t even sleep anymore. What are you going to do all night?”
“Good question,” he said, his voice filled with wondering.
Even as he spoke, I felt edges of my consciousness starting to blur, sleep already pulling me under.
I had dreams that night of chasing Cole through the forest surrounding Lake Samish, begging him to stop, begging him to tell me how to save Alex. But as soon as I thought I was gaining ground on him, he would slip out of sight.
I woke with a hollow feeling in my stomach.
The day was a whirlwind of activity. Amber spent the majority of it on the phone, calling half of the population of Idaho Falls, Ucon, and the surrounding area that was between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one. Alex and I were sent out to get food for the party that night.
“I think we’ve got to try and talk to him,” Alex said as we walked through the aisles of the grocery store. We’d been discussing what we had seen yesterday, both agreeing it must have been the mystery angel.
“I don’t want you going anywhere near him,” I said as I placed three bags of chips in the cart. “If I get the chance, I’ll try and talk to him.”
“That really doesn’t seem like a good idea either. Angels have been trying to take you your whole life, what makes you think this one isn’t trying to do the same thing?”
I had to pause and think about it for a bit. Angels had been trying to take me for a long time. This one kept showing up, just as Cole had reminded me of how they should have received me by now but hadn’t.
“They won’t take me,” I said as I shook my head. “You made a trade.”
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea,” Alex said, his shoulders tight, his hands gripping the cart a little too tightly.
“Who knows, maybe we won’t see him again.”
“Somehow I doubt that,” Alex sighed. “We’ve see how persistent residents of the afterlife can be.”
I tried to place the man’s face, to match it to a council member but the only one I could recall was Cole.
Why couldn’t the afterlife just leave me alone?
X
The party was worse than I had expected. There had to be nearly one hundred people there, considering the population of Ucon was only eleven-hundred, it was a lot. The backyard was packed, people gathering around the food table, stuffing their faces full. I hung back against the wall of the house, Alex by my side, chatting with some guy. I was pretty sure I had gone to high school with his older brother.
I saw all the looks that kept coming in my direction, and in Alex’s. I saw the way the male eyes lingered on my skin, on the shape of my legs. I saw the way they licked their lips, heard the way their heartbeats quickened. Amber’s friends were practically drooling over Alex.
“Is that really Amber’s sister?”
“I thought she was in an institution or something.”
“Isn’t she that girl who ran away in high school?”
“Dude, she has a ring on her finger, this is a freaking engagement party. You can’t just go ask her out.”
The talk was flying.
My palms were sweating as I tried not to meet anyone’s eyes. I didn’t want to keep being reminded of how everyone from this town thought I was an insane insomniac. It had been bad enough facing my mother, it was so much worse to have to be facing the entire town.
“I’m going to go get some more ice,” I said to Alex. He met my eyes for a minute, his own sad and apologetic looking. He knew how hard this was for me.
I stepped in the quiet house, walking into the front living room where no one could see me through the back glass
“Yeah, I don’t think sleeping in the same bed is going to be an option much longer,” I breathed as I rested my arms above my head. “You don’t even sleep anymore. What are you going to do all night?”
“Good question,” he said, his voice filled with wondering.
Even as he spoke, I felt edges of my consciousness starting to blur, sleep already pulling me under.
I had dreams that night of chasing Cole through the forest surrounding Lake Samish, begging him to stop, begging him to tell me how to save Alex. But as soon as I thought I was gaining ground on him, he would slip out of sight.
I woke with a hollow feeling in my stomach.
The day was a whirlwind of activity. Amber spent the majority of it on the phone, calling half of the population of Idaho Falls, Ucon, and the surrounding area that was between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one. Alex and I were sent out to get food for the party that night.
“I think we’ve got to try and talk to him,” Alex said as we walked through the aisles of the grocery store. We’d been discussing what we had seen yesterday, both agreeing it must have been the mystery angel.
“I don’t want you going anywhere near him,” I said as I placed three bags of chips in the cart. “If I get the chance, I’ll try and talk to him.”
“That really doesn’t seem like a good idea either. Angels have been trying to take you your whole life, what makes you think this one isn’t trying to do the same thing?”
I had to pause and think about it for a bit. Angels had been trying to take me for a long time. This one kept showing up, just as Cole had reminded me of how they should have received me by now but hadn’t.
“They won’t take me,” I said as I shook my head. “You made a trade.”
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea,” Alex said, his shoulders tight, his hands gripping the cart a little too tightly.
“Who knows, maybe we won’t see him again.”
“Somehow I doubt that,” Alex sighed. “We’ve see how persistent residents of the afterlife can be.”
I tried to place the man’s face, to match it to a council member but the only one I could recall was Cole.
Why couldn’t the afterlife just leave me alone?
X
The party was worse than I had expected. There had to be nearly one hundred people there, considering the population of Ucon was only eleven-hundred, it was a lot. The backyard was packed, people gathering around the food table, stuffing their faces full. I hung back against the wall of the house, Alex by my side, chatting with some guy. I was pretty sure I had gone to high school with his older brother.
I saw all the looks that kept coming in my direction, and in Alex’s. I saw the way the male eyes lingered on my skin, on the shape of my legs. I saw the way they licked their lips, heard the way their heartbeats quickened. Amber’s friends were practically drooling over Alex.
“Is that really Amber’s sister?”
“I thought she was in an institution or something.”
“Isn’t she that girl who ran away in high school?”
“Dude, she has a ring on her finger, this is a freaking engagement party. You can’t just go ask her out.”
The talk was flying.
My palms were sweating as I tried not to meet anyone’s eyes. I didn’t want to keep being reminded of how everyone from this town thought I was an insane insomniac. It had been bad enough facing my mother, it was so much worse to have to be facing the entire town.
“I’m going to go get some more ice,” I said to Alex. He met my eyes for a minute, his own sad and apologetic looking. He knew how hard this was for me.
I stepped in the quiet house, walking into the front living room where no one could see me through the back glass
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