Dark Secrets (86 page)

“
Ara. Be smart.”
David dropped to his knees in front of me. “I can’t have you here,
lingering in a place I may one day return. That’s not living. You
have to go—you have to be far away so I can never find
you.”

“
But—”

“
No. I won’t do it. I
won’t return and ruin your life and, knowing how close you are—that
I could just drive to you—would be more agony than I could
bear.”

The tears in my eyes
turned to thick droplets as they spilled onto my cheeks and over my
lips. He was right. It would be selfish of me to wait around here
for him—to hope he might change his mind and become a fake human.
If he left his Set, he’d have nothing, and one day, I’d be gone
anyway. At least, for now, we suffered the absence in
union—desolate union.

“
Please, just don't
make me say goodbye, David. Go, leave me, but don't make me say
it.”

He smiled and sat
beside me on the piano stool. I tried to steady my pulse, pushing
away the memory of the first time I saw that dimple; how I wanted
nothing in the world except him—just him. Life or death or murder
meant nothing—I just wanted him. “This is not goodbye, Ara. Not
yet. I still have a few more days.”

“
I know.” I cleared
my throat. “Until the last red leaf falls, right?”

“
Until the last red
leaf falls,” he said with a grin.

I touched my
fingertips to David’s face, and he held my hand to his cheek,
closing his eyes. My heart picked up with the desire to lay against
him—safe in his strong, loving arms—held tight, like nothing could
ever bring me harm.

If only we could run
away—run from everything. Run from reality and the supernatural,
run from fate and tragedy. But we couldn’t.

“
Where will you
go—what will you do when I’m gone?” I asked.

He looked down and
then smiled as our eyes met again. “See the pyramids.” He shrugged.
“Always wanted to fly a silver plane, too.”

I managed a soft
smile.

“
Don’t you ever
forget, Ara, how much I love you.” He placed both hands on my face,
then turned my head slowly. “And you still, and always will, belong
to me.”

I nodded, rolling my
cheek into his thumb as he wiped a tear away. Then, he slowly
lowered his lips to mine, and like so many times before, they fit
to perfection, as if we were made for each other—but so cruelly
unsuited to each other. We’d kissed for love, kissed for lust, for
happiness and thankfulness, but this was a kiss of sorrow, of loss
and despair, yet so full of love—so soft and so gentle. Like a
beast handling priceless porcelain.

But even with the
warmth in my soul, weightless from his touch, the small silver
locket around my neck felt heavy under the pain of imminent
separation. It had felt that way for so long now, but only in his
arms, with his lips once again belonging to mine, I could finally
see that it always would—and I wasn’t sure I could bear
it.

I yanked the chain
loose and held it out to David as I pulled away from the kiss. “I’m
sorry. I just can’t do this.”

“
Ara?” His voice
overflowed with confusion as he held the locket in his open
palm.

“
It’s too painful for me. I can’t keep this as a memory of
you. I need to forget. I need to try to move on, and every time I
do,
this
is a
constant reminder that you’re no longer a part of my life.” My
voice broke—
shattered,
as I delivered the words I knew were tearing out his
heart.

His rounded eyes
burned through me, deep into my soul; he wanted me to feel what he
felt right then, but I already knew. I could feel it myself—in my
bones, breaking my resolve.

I looked away. It hurt
too much to see that on his face. It would only destroy me over and
over again.

The locket sat in
David’s outstretched palm, shimmering like moonlight on sand in the
soft, dull light of our eternal darkness.

Placing my thumb
against the heart, I closed his fingertips around it and held my
grip there for a second. “This is not goodbye,
remember?”

“
Not yet, anyway.” He
nodded solemnly as he placed my heart into his pocket, and then,
like so many times before, without a word, without a smile, the
darkness was the only thing I saw in his place.

Chapter
Twenty-Nine

With my back against
the wall outside Mr Benson’s class, I hugged my books—the books
David usually carried—and watched everyone pass. They didn’t talk
to me. They hardly even gawked at me anymore, and the horrid yellow
linoleum just seemed to be a part of the scenery, ironically, like
me. Didn’t mean it fit, though.

“
Hey, did you hear?”
Emily came bounding over.

“
Depends. What was I
supposed to hear?”

“
The benefit? We
raised enough to cover Nathan’s funeral.” Her lips practically
touched her ears. “And due to an anonymous donation, Mrs Rossi
won’t have to pay the hospital bill, either.”

“
Wow, that’s really
great.” We moved aside for Mr B to get into class. “So, who’s the
donor?”

Emily glared at me.
“Ara, the point of being
anonymous
is that no one knows who you are.”

“
Oh, right.” I closed
my eyes for a second. “Sorry. I’m just—I’m not really with it
today.”

“
Are you ever?” she
asked; I shrugged. “So, what happened to you anyway, after the
show? You just…disappeared.” She fluttered her fingers as if
throwing a handful of butterflies into the air.

“
I uh—”

“
Is it Mike? ‘Cause
you guys seem pretty friendly.” She paused for a moment. “Is Mike
taking you to the ball? Since David had to go New
Hampshire?”

New Hampshire,
huh
? “I haven’t asked him. But, I guess he
will. It’s been really busy around my place lately.”

“
Yeah, tell me about
it. We haven’t even gone shopping for my dress yet.”

“
Oh, my God. Emily.
I’m so sorry. I totally forgot.”

“
I don’t blame you,
not with a hunk like that hanging around.” She elbowed me softly,
hugging her books to her chest.

“
Can I make it up to
you?” I asked.

“
Yeah, okay.” She
lifted one shoulder and dropped it. “Hey, why don’t we go tonight?
Maybe have some dinner out?”

“
Yeah, you know—” I grinned, “
—
that may be just what I need. What
time?”

“
Six fine with
you?”

“
Sounds—great.”
Really great, actually.

We parted ways and I
suffered the trials of obligation for the next seven hours in
silence. It was during this desolate wandering I had a revelation;
school was so boring. I decided I wouldn’t be coming tomorrow and
probably not for the rest of this week, actually. I wanted as much
time with Mike as I could get before he boarded that plane next
Monday and, if I decided not go with him, disappeared from my life
forever.

It seemed to be the
way with people I loved; I’d get to hold them, love them only long
enough to realise I couldn't live without them, and then they were
gone. A blink of an eye.

There was no going
back to the simplicity—the uncomplicated rose-coloured glasses of
love. Love was not enough anymore, and if love were truly blind,
then I’d surely be running away with David.

But the heart must not
be allowed to rule the mind. At least, that’s what I kept telling
myself. Though, I was starting to wonder which one was
which.

* * *

Mike sprawled out
across my bed and sorted through the playlists on my iPod while I
fussed about in my wardrobe, choosing a dress to wear out. “So,
what’s this shopping trip for again?” he called.

“
Um. Emily needs a
dress for the ball. I was supposed to go with her last week, but…”
I shrugged to myself.

“
Ball?” The words
came from directly behind me.

I spun around, cupping
my hands over my bra. “Mike? Get out of here!”

“
Relax, kid, I’ve
seen it all before.”

“
No,” I scoffed,
shoving him. “Get out. You can talk to me when I’m
decent.”

“
You look pretty
decent, now.” His smug grin made me smile, but common sense took
over and I shoved him again.

“
Out.
Now!”

“
Okay, okay.” He laughed as he backed away, palms raised. “So,
are
you
going to
the ball?”

“
Well, I—” I looked
at the dress, hanging in all its glory on the hook beside
me.

“
Was David supposed
to take you?” Mike asked from right behind me again.

“
Hey. I said
out!”

“
Just answer me and
I’ll go.”

“
Don’t give me that
cheeky grin, Michael Christopher White. I said out. Now,
out.”

He grabbed the finger
I pointed in his face. “Make me.”

“
I shouldn’t have to.
You should give a girl some respect.”

“
I
do respect you.” He pulled me close, cupping his warm hands on my
bare waist. “I’m also just very attracted to you. So—” he grinned,
running his thumb from my rib to my hip, “—can
I
escort you to the ball, since the
flesh eater isn’t here?”

Flesh eater? Oh,
right, he was referring to the bruises on my neck. “Don’t talk
about him like that, Mike,” I said. “Besides, I thought you hated
getting all dressed up?”

“
Who me?” His eyes
flashed with mischief. “Ara, I would like nothing more than to
dress like a penguin and dance with the most beautiful girl in the
room. Besides, we both know I look hot in a suit.”

I glared up at him,
making my eyes small. His hands clasped together so tightly behind
me then that I couldn't really move. I wanted to tell him to get
out, but I also wanted him to stay. I just wanted it to feel right.
But it wasn’t right. Not yet.

“
So, what’d ya
say—will you let this lowly Aussie hunk escort his princess to the
ball?”

“
No, but I’ll let my
best friend do it.”

“
Great. I’ll go buy a
suit tomorrow then.”

“
Okay, thanks,
Mike.”

“
No worries, baby.”
He rested his head on mine, cradling me close, continuing his
welcomed intrusion.

“
Um, Mike,” I said
into his warm, firm chest, my lips practically eating his shirt
with each word. “Kinda need to breathe.”

“
Oh, sorry.” He let
me loose. “I always forget how fragile you are.”

I rolled my eyes.
“Okay, now, out. I need to get dressed.”

“
Ara?” Vicki called.
“Emily’s here.”

“
Send her up,” I
called back and glared at Mike.

“
Okay.” He laughed at
my ‘nose in the air’ stance, then turned around, but didn’t leave.
“Maybe I’ll take Sam to another movie.”

“
You two are getting
pretty close.”

“
Yeah. He’s a good
kid,” he said, leaning on the wall, forgetting he was supposed to
be looking away.

“
He’ll be sad when
you go.”

“
Maybe I just won’t
go then?” I could hear the question in his suggestion. He wanted me
to ask him to stay.

I shrugged instead,
buttoning my jeans. “I’m not having this conversation with you
right now, Mike. I have too much on my mind.”

He went quiet,
nodding, then wedged both hands into his pockets, took one last
long look at me and left with a cheeky grin on his face.

After a less than
successful shopping trip, Emily and I sat empty handed at the café
and ordered a burger. “Mike seems nice.” Her eyelids fluttered.
“You were definitely right about his cuteness.”

I nodded, swallowing
my mouthful. “He feels really bad for practically shaking you the
other day.”

“
It’s okay. Really. I
get it. He was worried.” Her smile subsided to a frown. “Really
worried, actually.”

I nodded, feeling
pretty awkward.

“
So, how’s David?”
she asked. “Have you two run up a huge phone bill yet?”

“
Nope.”

“
Oh.” She blinked a
few extra times, looking at her plate.

I placed my burger
down. “I uh...I actually haven’t spoken to him since he
left.”

“
Why’s that? Has he
lost his phone again?” She grinned.

“
Um, no.” My jaw
tightened to hold back the quivering lip. “We broke up,
actually.”

“
What?” she
screeched; everyone in the café turned to look at us. “What do you
mean? Why?”

“
He…he wasn't going
on holiday, Em. He...was moving away—permanently.”

Her face contorted—an
illustration of her thoughts. “But…he didn't even say
goodbye.”