Coma (Paranormal Romance) (3 page)

Every minute that passed seemed like an hour.
I dared to look at him a couple of times just to make sure he was
really observing
me
. No doubt, he was. There was something
in his appearance that was unnerving and enchanting at the same
time. I felt drawn to him, and scared at the same time. His face
was beautiful and serene, completely in harmony with his short
black hair––kind of odd looking haircut, with several longer
strands on his forehead, but it fit him perfectly. His full lips
would make Angelina Jolie eat herself. A set of striking green eyes
below thick, black lashes made me swallow too many times to keep
count. Dark-blue V-neck Tee with embroidered TGA letters revealed
muscular arms, and hinted a well defined chest underneath. Long
black cargo pants were tucked in a strange looking boots that went
hand-in-hand with the haircut strangeness-wise. If I had to choose
a personal paranormal stalker, this would have been the one.
God, why couldn't he be real?
There was nothing boyish about
him although he couldn't have been much older than me.
Drool-worthy, hot as hell, but damn, it was freaking me out.

Maya, Brad, Helen, and What’s-his-name pushed
their chairs back almost in unison, so I took it as a sign we were
finally leaving. Maya leaned over and whispered in my ear: “I can
see you want to go home, but Helen and Shawn might hit it off, so
we’ll go for a walk. Wanna take my car?”

“Sure. Brad will give you a lift?” I asked,
she nodded and added, “Come pick me up tomorrow, and we’ll have a
day to ourselves.”

I took her keys, and threw a quick glance at
my stalker as I was walking away. He was still there, firmly
positioned as a rock, and not following me to huff’n’puff.
Physically, that is. His eyes were glued to mine. He watched my
every move. I quickened my pace to get far away from him. My hands
slightly trembled while unlocking the car, but I managed quickly
enough, and locked the door behind me. One more glance at the
apparition––he was still in the same spot––
good!
I sighed
with relief.
I’ll have to avoid this place for a while, though.
Maybe he’s bound to the beach area
––I thought. Seeing him two
days in a row wasn’t a good thing.
Maybe this was all a
coincidence and I blew it out of proportions
––I told
myself.

~*~

For next couple of days, I made a whole lot
of half credible excuses to avoid the beach. Yesterday I even faked
being sick and stayed in. I wasn’t sure how long I could keep it up
without raising any bells, but today I was off the hook. Having new
relationships prompted Helen and Maya to go shopping, so they were
already at the mall. I said I would meet them there after lunch,
although I had no shopping aspirations of my own, but it was far
away from the beach.

“Honey, we have to go,” Mom called me,
urgency making her voice crack. “I’m gonna be late.”

“Coming!” One quick glance at the mirror, two
deep breaths, and I was ready to face the world.

“You look nice, hon,” Mom squeezed me, and
gently urged me out the door.

“So do you,” I smiled. White nurse’s attire
made her big brown eyes stand out more, emphasizing that always
present kindness in her gaze. They say doctors never marry nurses,
but whoever said that obviously never met my mom. She could melt an
icicle with her soft gaze. She melted Dads, alright. I giggled
internally.

Mom dropped me off and hit the gas to get to
work, saying bye with two swift honks. Pushing a glass door with
one hand, I entered the mall, and dialed Maya’s cell with the other
to see where they were. The phone rang a couple of times, and then
went to voicemail. I decided to look for them floor-by-floor. They
couldn't be far.

The ground floor wasn’t in their range of
interest, so I skipped it. The old escalator moved slowly, taking
forever to reach the first floor. I browsed around the shops in
search of my friends, but it was more than clear they were not
there, so I started toward the next floor.

Riding on the escalator, I tapped my fingers
on the phone, watching the second floor come into view. A familiar
set of strange boots standing on the landing platform caught my
attention—hovering to be precise. My heart skipped a couple of
beats. Dread washed over me as it dawned on me that it was my
apparition stalker. There was no escape; I was being brought
straight at him. Served on a plate! Hyperventilating, I locked my
gaze on the tip of my sneakers, watching with horror the escalator
stairs coming to an end. Against my will, the stairs pushed my feet
off of them, nudging me closer to him. Standing at an arm's
distance from his chest, fear deafened me, but I dared to look up,
and our eyes met. A bolt of electricity shot through me. His face
was expressionless, and that pushed my panic button even more. I
took pride in reading facial expressions quite well, but now that I
depended on it—zilch! His lips slightly parted, but something
bumped my back, and I winced.

“Miss, it’s the end of the road,” the man
said harshly. I turned around, and smiled apologetically.

“Sorry,” I said and took a step aside,
throwing a quick glance at my apparition stalker. He wasn’t there
anymore. I looked around, but he had definitely vanished. Further
away, Helen was waving me, so I picked up what was left of me, and
rushed toward her. My heart raced as if I had ran a desert
marathon. My mouth dry just as well.

“Look,” Maya couldn’t wait to show what they
bought. She pulled out a glittery top and pressed it against her,
“This is for Saturday. Helen got one, too!”

“Wow, it’s beautiful,” I wasn’t a glitter
fan, but Maya had a special bond with all things shiny. That’s why
I wasn’t surprised when she pulled out a matching pair of earrings,
and a set of equally sparkling bracelets, then pranced around like
a movie star. I must admit, all that glitter somehow suited her
personality, and didn’t look off at all. It looked natural. If I’d
put only one of those things, I’d look like a cow in a saddle. “Did
I miss a memo? What’s on Saturday?”

“Brad called Maya,” Helen said, excitement
radiating from her eyes, “and invited three of us to a posh
party!”

“Yeah, his parents are off for the weekend,”
Maya added, tucking the top in a bag.

“Will he get in trouble for throwing it?” I
asked, seizing the chance when they weren’t looking at me to check
out the perimeter. No stalker. I sighed with relief.

“They gave him their blessings! Apparently
they even encouraged him to do it,” Maya said, proudly. “He said
something about it being their family’s tradition. His older
brother will come, and so will his frat boys,” Maya and Helen
giggled, exchanging significant looks.

“Everyone that matters from our college is
gonna be there,” Helen added. “How we present ourselves this
weekend is how they’re gonna see us as freshmen.”

“We’re setting our social status,” Maya said,
hiding her anxiety with a nervous grin.

“Darn it. That sounds huge. I suppose I’ll
have to buy something to fit in, won’t I?” My closet was full of
casual, nothing posh, and I knew well how their minds worked. Not
going to college wasn’t gonna be accepted as an excuse.

“Yes! And don’t think you’ll get away with
inconspicuous. We won’t let you this time,” Helen threatened with
her finger.

“Okay, but no skirts,” I pleaded, pursing my
lips downward.

“Fine,” Helen sighed, grimacing as if I
ruined her girly dream, “But no veto on tight!”

Now I frowned. Tight, short, too
revealing—none of it fit my profile. Baggy, sporty, unisex—that was
my comfort zone.

Raiding store by store for an hour drained me
completely. Partially from all the walking and trying out different
clothing combinations handpicked by fashion-military-duo formerly
known as my friends, and partially from looking behind my back for
any sign of to-die-for-gorgeous paranormal stalkers. It all
resulted in a serious neck pain, and zero purchases. I agreed to
try one more glove-tight apparel in exchange for a neck massage
later on.

Stuffy air spreading from changing booths was
getting my stomach upset as I was nearing them. I put the clothes
on a chair, and turned around to close the booth door, only to face
my stalker up close and personal. Each hair on my body spiked up,
and a guttural scream fought to get out, but I pushed it down.
The hell with it!
I wasn’t gonna be bullied by a freaking
ghost!

“Who are you?” He said in a velvety voice
before I managed to say anything.

A slightly hysterical giggle escaped my
mouth. “Who am
I
? Really? You stalk me, and now you have the
nerve to ask
me
who I am? Who are
you
?” I hissed. In
an instant, my fear turned into anger.

“Yes,” he remained perfectly calm as if I
didn’t throw a temper tantrum at him. “I can’t leave your side, and
I want to know why,” he demanded, quite arrogantly.

Can’t leave my...what?
“That’s it!
You’re a psycho! Get away or I’ll scream!”
Way to go Lyra, like
that'll help
—I chided myself.

“Go ahead. I’ll wait till you get it out of
your system,” he leaned against the booth frame, casually crossing
his ankles.

That calmness he maintained was rather irking
me. “What do you want from me?” I snarled, and shot him a stern
look.

He tilted his head slightly, and looked at me
inquisitively, as if I were some strange, exotic animal whose
behavior was out of the ordinary. He cracked a smile, and shook his
head, melting my defenses with a set of pearl white teeth. Oh, it
was a God damn adorable smile. I grunted in my mind, and bit the
inside of my lip. I could feel my facial muscles preparing to smile
back. Quickly, I pushed my serious mode on by reminding myself
that, hot guy or not, I could be in grave danger with no-one to
help me out. No paranormal police to call.

“Maybe I should take a different approach—”
He bowed his gaze, and crossed his arms, shifting weight to one
foot. All traces of that smile were gone, and just like that, he
was back to soldier mode. Gorgeous soldier, but pushy, and
scary.

“You think?!” My snarky remark brought his
eyes back up. He watched me carefully, occasionally swiping those
remarkable forest green eyes with thick lashes, hypnotically making
it hard for me to concentrate. Such intense look pierced right
through me, causing shortness of breath. I had never seen such
peculiar eyes before. Dark green irises, encircled by a dark blue
band. Finally, he looked away, and I gasped for air, wishing I had
something to fan myself.

“I am trying to find some information, and I
need to spread my search area, but I can’t. Like I said—you’re a
magnet to me.” I would have laughed at that lame pickup line—if
ghosts could pick up anyone—but his expression was so
I-mean-business serious, so I cleared my throat to hide a grin as
he continued, “As soon as I get to a certain distance, I get
snapped back to you against my will.”

“Why do you think it has anything to do with
me?” I crossed my arms, and smirked. “We’ve never met, you have no
reason to be...
drawn
to me,” a thought of this guy, an
embodiment of self-control and male beauty, could be drawn to me
against his will caused an internal giggle. He must have been a
heartthrob when he was alive. That would explain his egocentric
attitude.

“Each time I was snapped back, I found myself
in your proximity,” he motioned my way with his hand, sending a
wave of a pleasant smell—vanilla-like.
Note to self: Do all
ghosts smell like vanilla?

“It’s not that big of a town. It could be
something else—” I protested, but he interjected.

“No. It’s you!” He said it so
as-a-matter-of-factly, narrowing his eyes on me.

“You can’t say that based on just a few
encounters!” I counted three in my head.

“Try hundreds,” he sighed, and flapped his
arms.

“What?!”
He must be joking.
“How
long...When...You mean—”

“Every day, and in the beginning, several
times a day.”

Shocked, I couldn’t utter a word. That was
way out of my league. This guy was practically stalking me 24/7,
and I didn’t notice him but a few times. What was I still doing
there? I should have ran like ten minutes ago.

“Are you okay?” He asked me, slightly bowing
his head to get a better look at my petrified face.

“No!” I hissed. “This is wrong on so many
levels. Please, let me go—” my voice got lost at the end.

“I thought I made it clear—I can’t! Believe
me, I’m just as annoyed,” he let out a long sigh, and turned
around, facing a mirror. Watching his reflection in the mirror, all
I could think was—
annoyed?
Here I was partly scared to
death, partly fangirling over him, and he was
annoyed?

“Let me see if I got this right,” I said
harshly, “I’m stuck with a dead guy on my back from now on?”

“I’m not dead!” He twisted around as if I had
offended him, and glared at me.

“You're not exactly living, either,” I
snorted. “What are you then?”

“I don't know, but I'm not dead!”

“Humor me for a minute...” I chuckled. “You
are not alive, so what makes you think you're not dead? What else
is there?”

“One doesn’t automatically imply the other,”
he sneered, those green eyes getting darker. “I've seen people die
in a hospital, and they don't end up here. Wherever
here
is,” he clenched his teeth.

“Not really 100% solid proof, but I'll buy it
for now.”

“There's nothing to buy! I spent days
watching dying patients until they passed away. A whitish haze
exits the body and flies away toward the sky,” his eyes darted
toward the ceiling.

“Pff, how cliché,” I said, receiving another
glare from him. “Maybe you're one of those ghosts that have some
unfinished business,” one cliché deserved another, I thought, and
numerous ghost movies came to mind.