Falling Darkness: The second book in the Falling Awake Series (3 page)

“If you say so.”

“What’s with the mausoleum, anyway?” I asked him. “It’s kind of a strange place to have a party. Aren’t we supposed to respect the dead?”

“It’s almost Halloween. It’s the perfect place, don’t you think?”

“I think it’s creepy. I mean, here in the mausoleum, it’s not so bad. But out there, in those woods, that’s what’s scary.”

“There’s no one out here,” Matoskah said.

“That’s exactly my point.”

“Do you believe in ghosts?” I thought about that for a moment. I’d never seen a ghost, but there was no doubt in my mind that they existed. “Yeah, I guess I do,” I said.

Matoskah smiled at me. “Me too.”

I sipped my drink. “So how do you like it over at La Conner?” I asked him.

“It’s alright. The girls don’t look half as good as you, but hey, I’ll survive.” I let out a small laugh. “How very original.”

“I try.” The cold was seeping into my coat and clinging to me. My teeth started chattering. “Want to take a walk?” Matoskah asked me. “Not far, just around the mausoleum.”

I looked out through the almost bare branches of the trees. Honestly, I didn’t want to go anywhere near that empty darkness. But I didn’t want to sit here, freezing my ass off either. The coziness of the spaced out candles, flickered around us and I figured as long as I stayed nearby, It wouldn’t t hurt to take a walk. “Okay, yeah.”

Matoskah held out his hand to me and helped me to my feet. I brushed my coat down and we walked down the steps and along the surrounding area of the mausoleum. I glanced nervously through the trees. I stopped walking, and a few steps ahead of me, Matoskah turned around. Burnt orange leaves rustled around my feet, rolling along the grass with the wind.

“Hey, you okay there?” He tipped my chin up and held onto my arm. “You look a little pale.”

I straightened myself up. “I’m fine. I just got a little dizzy that’s all.”

Matoskah looked worried. “Do you need to sit back down?”

“No, I’m okay.” I finished my drink and Matoskah took my empty cup from me.

“No more for me I think.”

“Are you drunk?” He found the question amusing. He probably thought I couldn’t handle my alcohol. Well he was right… I couldn’t.

“I’m not drunk, no. Tipsy, maybe.” I smiled. “This cold air should clear my head soon. Let’s just keep walking.” We walked side by side, skirting the edge of the wood. “Are you half Spanish or something?” Matoskah asked me. “I hope you don’t mind me asking. You’ve just got something a little different about you.”

“My mom’s native American,” I said.

“Ah, me too in case you hadn’t already guessed.”

“I kinda guessed.”

“Your mom must be very beautiful.”

I could feel the flush in my cheeks, despite the freezing temperature. “She is.”

I stole a quick look over at him. There was something about him that was hard to ignore. His crisp, turquoise-blue eyes creased at the corners and I quickly turned away when I realized I was staring. He was better looking than I first gave him credit for, and in a very unique kind of way.

“So, this boyfriend of yours. Where is he?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said. “And I don’t know where he is. Don’t care either.”

“Very convincing,” said Matoskah.

“It’s true.”

“How has someone as beautiful as you, not got a boyfriend?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe I don’t want one.”

“Or maybe you just haven’t found anyone that’s worthy of what you can do.”

I stopped midstride. “What did you just say?”

Matoskah slowed and turned to face me. He drew his eyebrows together. “I said, maybe you just haven’t found anyone that’s worthy of you. Are you sure you’re okay? You really don’t look okay.”

“Sorry, I thought you said something else.”

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” he said softly. “I’ll shut up.”

I felt the darkness pressing in on me, and I turned full circle when I realized the noise from the party wasn’t as loud, and the glow of the candles was gone. When had we come into the woods? I hadn’t even noticed. “I need to get back,” I said. “I never meant to come this far out. I thought you said we would stay next to the mausoleum?” I stepped forward to find a break in the trees, and a loud snapping noise held me frozen. It was so loud, it echoed through the wood. “What was that?” I whispered to Matoskah. He didn’t reply. I turned around to face him, but he was gone. “Matoskah!” I shouted his name loud his time. Oh my god, he had just left me. I stumbled backwards as my vision blurred around the edges, and the image of the trees in front of me distorted in and out of shape. I felt like I was going to be sick. I hadn’t even drank that much. I doubled over and gripped a nearby tree trunk, holding onto it for support, until my vision swam back into focus.

I straightened up and called out again. “Matoskah!” Nothing. It was silent. How far out into this wood was I. Had Mellissa noticed I was gone? I turned around, facing the way I was sure I had come from, and broke out into a run. The debris on the floor cracked under my feet and paired with the heaviness of my breathing, the noise was deafening. I kept on running, but the darkness was never ending. Every turn was the same. More trees, more narrow trails, more blackness.

I looked up.

I couldn’t even see the sky, the naked, leafless trees reached so high. If it was even possible, the darkness was only getting darker and more suffocating. I was struggling to separate objects from the dense night air. Everything was blending into one solid black hole.

SNAP!

There it was again. Someone was here. “Matoskah,” I called out meekly, afraid to draw too much attention to my position in case it wasn’t him at all.

SNAP!

I cried out. “Whose there?” I turned around in every direction frantically, my eyes searching through the darkness to seek out whoever was approaching. I let out a whimper as my head became foggy and nausea crept back up on me. I clawed my way along the tree trunks, one after the other, keeping myself upright, and then I saw it. A shadow just in front of me, slipping through the trees.

I blinked. It was gone.

I didn’t dare move. I heaved, and the bitter taste of my last two drinks projected itself from my mouth. I heaved again and emptied the last of what was in my stomach. I wiped my mouth and the tears from my eyes. I was shaking from being sick so aggressively, and from fear. My eyes darted across the narrow dirt path in front of me as another shadow flitted across it and disappeared behind the trees. I took in a deep breath. The cold air was raw in my throat and I stood, until my eyes adjusted once again to my surroundings. My head felt like it was packed with cotton wool and I had drunk about ten times more than what I actually had. It was now or never. I had to see what was ahead of me before I passed out in this place.

I carefully put one foot in front of the other until my steps became more steady, and I bolted forward to where I had seen the shadow. The smoky, charcoal mist materialized from behind a tree on my left, and I screamed. The mist expanded, until it took the shape of a human form. I clamped my hand over my mouth as the mist became so big, it towered over me, crowding me, making me feel impossibly tiny.

It was going to swallow me.

I closed my eyes and sunk down onto the ground, pulling my knees up to my chest and I covered my ears with my hands. A deep and low moan emanated from the shadow creature and it grew louder and louder until I couldn’t bear it anymore. The sound was crushing me from inside. It was excruciating.

Just when I thought the sound would surely shatter me, it stopped, and the only noise I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.

I sat there, hugging my knees for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, I opened my eyes. They were sore from having them shut so tightly and the beginnings of a headache hung just above my eyelids. I slowly peeled my hands off my ears and listened to the thumping of my chest.

I was alone.

I crawled up onto my heels and directly in front of me was a folded up piece of paper. I leaned forward and picked it up, shoving it clumsily into my pocket.

“She’s here,” A voice called out through the wood from behind me. A pair of arms slid in around my waist and pulled me up off the ground. My brain still wasn’t functioning properly and it took me longer than normal to acknowledge that it was Drake holding me upright. He loosened his grip slightly when I leaned over and retched once more, with barely anything coming up. I groaned and slumped into his chest. There was a quick exchanging of bodies and I was passed over and pressed firmly against someone else. Rough hands cupped my face and I looked up into Caleb’s green-grey eyes. “Have you been drinking?” he asked me, but my body was turning lethargic and like melting goo in his hands. I was losing control of myself.

“…drugged.” I heard Drakes voice travelling like he was at the other end of a long and hollow tunnel.

Caleb slapped my cheek gently. “Pria, wake up.” He shook me. “…sleep…were you with?” I closed my eyes and let my head fall onto his chest. I would have to answer his questions later. I was too sleepy.

***

My eyelids cracked open and I was surrounded by darkness. I bolted upright, instantly panicked and gripped the sheets tightly. I could feel the sharpness of my finger nails biting into my skin through the thinness of the linen. The glow of a light burned out the darkness and the room was filled with a soft golden glow. Caleb sat at the edge of the bed, with his hand on the switch of the bedside lamp. I was in Caleb’s bedroom. I wiped away a thick strand of hair that was plastered to the side of my sweaty face. “What happened?” I asked Caleb.

“You were drugged.”

“Drugged?” My voice sounded gruffer than normal, and excruciatingly dry.

“Drugged,” he repeated. “Who were you with?” I cast my mind back to last night. The memory was fractured, with bits and pieces missing. “I don’t know… Mellissa?”

“Wrong. She was sitting flirting with some guy all night.” He looked angry and I couldn’t help but feel guilty. Should I not have let that happen? It was up to Mellissa what she done at the end of the day. I wasn’t her mother.

“Then I don’t know,” I said. “I can’t remember. I just remember feeling really weird.”

“What were you doing just going off like that? Did you know Mellissa lied to Drake? She told him you were over at her house. Was that so I wouldn’t come looking for you? It was a really dumb move.” His features hardened. “Were you with Nathan? Was this his idea?” He was talking too quickly and my brain was lagging behind.

“Shut up will you?” I said. I felt groggy, like I was hung-over, and he was only making it worse. “It had nothing to do with Nathan. I don’t even remember seeing much of him.”

“What were you even doing with him?”

“That’s none of your business,” I said.

“It’s my business when you go off into cemeteries with him at night, and end up drugged and passed out. What do I have to do with you? Tie you to the bed and lock all the doors? What can I do to knock some sense into you?” His fists gripped the sheets under me, and I cut him a look of pure hatred. I slid out of the bed, now aware that I was in only my underwear. I didn’t care how I ended up like this, I just needed to get away from Caleb.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he barked at me.

“Home.”

“No you’re not.”

“What are you going to do to stop me, Caleb? Tie me to the bed?” I snapped. “It’s my choice if I go home.” He stood up and came around to my side of the bed. He grabbed me by my upper arms. “You’re not going home.”

“I’m going home,” I said calmly. His gaze slid over my shoulder.

“What is it?”

He was quiet for a moment, and then he said, “Nothing.” His grip loosened on me and he took a step back. “You’re clothes are in the wardrobe.” He sat back down on the bed with his back to me and I went over to the wardrobe and slid myself into my jeans, and pulled on my black top. I felt more confident now I was fully clothed, and less vulnerable. I couldn’t help myself. I went over and sat next to Caleb on the bed. He looked tired.

“I didn’t mean to put me or Mellissa in danger,” I said to him. “That wasn’t my intentions. I just wanted to have fun, away from you, away from everything.”

He looked over at me and cocked his eyebrow. “Away from me?”

I didn’t feel like explaining away my jealousy of Tamara, so I didn’t. “I don’t know what’s happened to us, Caleb. I feel like you resent me sometimes. You treat me like I’m a nuisance and I’m sure I am. I wouldn’t like to have someone’s back twenty-four-seven, but I never asked for any of this. I never asked for your help. We used to be close, we were happy. Do you remember that?”

“You’re not a nuisance.” His expression was closed off. This wasn’t going to go any further, so I stood up to leave. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back down. He let out a loud sigh. “Sometimes I want to kiss you.” Okay, that was a surprise. He never acted like he wanted to kiss me, more like he wanted to kill me. He lifted his fingers up to my diamond earrings. “When I bought you those, all I could think was how they were so tiny in comparison to how beautiful you are.”