Howl - Brieanna Boyce (free novel 24 TXT) 📗

to my resume of oddities.

“Skylar, I said we should go.”

I nodded even though I inwardly squirmed at the dominant tone in his voice, I did not like it at all.

I thought of my body lying back in my bed at the apartment, I envisioned it and somehow found an invisible road guiding me back to my own body. I felt as though waking up I was fighting a current threatening to be pulled under once again by sleep. I struggled and then finally slowly my eyes fluttered open and I felt myself vault up in a sitting position and gasp for air.

I looked around blinking, everyone was crowded around my bed and all the expressions were extremely diverse so I couldn’t tell what was going on. Kale looked concerned then relieved, Meg looked confused, Derek looked amused, Gerard looked apathetic, and Jason looked thoughtful.

“Uh guys why are you all around me?”

Kale sat next to me, “it’s 7:00 o’clock.”

“And?”

Meg replied, “Its Thursday.”

“You fell asleep Tuesday night,” Jason added.
“Really,” I looked around shocked then muttered, “Jesus Tristan you could have warned me.”

“What’d you say?” Derek asked.

“Oh, oh it’s nothing.”

Meg tilted her head to the side, “where’d you get that dress?”

“What dress,” I said then looked down and squeaked. I was wearing the long white dress from my dream. “Oh I uh was wearing this out and must’ve forgotten to change.”

I looked over to Gerard who narrowed his eyes skeptically, knowing that I did not wear that dress on our “date.” But thankfully he said nothing I had known that he would ask me about it later but for now I was safe.

“Yeah I remember you were wearing that to the restaurant we went to.” Gerard said. I could’ve kissed him; he totally just saved me I looked around hopefully to the others who all seemed to believe Gerard except that is for Meg.

“I haven’t seen you two kiss yet.” Meg said skeptically.

Gerard shrugged nonchalantly, although inwardly I could tell he was excited by her interest. “We aren’t big on public displays of affection.”

Meg crossed her arms, “well I don’t believe you,” she said sounding like a two year old. “I made you I doubt anyone I made would like HER.”

I glared at her, “You know Meg I have a name.”

“Skylab or whatever, not the point,” She was looking at Gerard, “you’d never kiss her.”

Kale glowered at her too, “her name is Skylar you know that.”

Derek shrugged, “Meg makes a valid point, we haven’t seen you two kiss and you are dating.”

Kale shook his head, “You guys don’t have to prove anything to us.”

Gerard shrugged and sat next to me, “Looks like we have to prove ourselves to them babe.”

I looked at Kale then Gerard, “I uh, I have morning breath.”

Gerard chuckled, “I don’t care, you’re cute when yourself conscious.”

Wow, Gerard was really hamming it up I sighed and Gerard put his hand on my cheek and rubbed his thumb against it. He leaned in and kissed me, it wasn’t terrible I closed my eyes, and kissed back; it wasn’t a passionate kiss it was an almost empty one it held a little warmth. It reminded me of the sensation you get when you close your eyes and lie down outside during a summer day. You feel the warmth on your eyelids and see the sunlight through them.

Finally, I pulled away and turned to the others, “see?”

Kale was gaping, slowly but surely he fixed his expression into a cold, blank one did a slight nod as if to confirm to himself what he just saw and left. Meg looked shocked then huffed and turned sauntering away with her nose held high in the air. Derek shrugged “proof enough for me.” I thought I heard him whisper to Jason as he left “gives me ideas,” but I wasn’t certain.

Gerard went to get up but then I pulled him down beside me, “hold on honey,” I hissed under my breath.

Gerard smiled, “Sure babe what is it?”

“What the hell was that?!”

“What was what?” Gerard said looking around.

“That stunt you just pulled Gerard.”

“You mean kissing you?” Gerard said raising an eyebrow smirking.

“Yes, that’s what I mean Kale would’ve made sure we didn’t have to kiss.”

Gerard rolled his eyes, “if we didn’t they would’ve been more suspicious. Trust me it was necessary”

I didn’t like the superior tone he was taking with me and the haughty expression wasn’t helping. I liked him much better when he was cold and indifferent. It seemed that with change in attitude his looks changed too, he no longer looked pale and half dead belonging to the shadows. Now he looked like a star, blazing and almost too bright.

Gerard faked a sympathetic look and pinched my cheek “Aww, how cute Skylar’s trying to protect her virtue.”

I leaned away, smacked his hand away, “knock it off, I have half a mind to tell everyone.”

Gerard shook his head “I have a lot more on you then you have on me if Kale finds out our dates are just excuses for you to run around the city you’ll never be aloud out of his side again.”

I sighed, “Fine alright. I won’t tell.”

Gerard nodded and left the room with a haughty air about him, and then Meg returned shortly after glaring at me.

Meg sat on the bed across of me and pulled out a cigarette.

“Want a smoke?”

I shook my head, “I don’t smoke.”

Meg shrugged, took a lighter out and inhaled deeply then slowly exhaled; the smoke curling through the air gray shadows dancing in the midst of it. For awhile I had just watched the smoke waiting for Meg to tell me what she wanted. We sat in silence for awhile I shifted my feet over the side and began to stand up but Meg pushed me back onto the bed.

“So you are using Gerard to sneak out, interesting.”
I gulped; I wonder how long she had been standing there without my knowledge.

“What do you want Meg?” I sneered.

“Oh nothing at all really I have what I want to know but I only have two questions, why is it you need to sneak out so badly and what is in it for Gerard?”

I saw the anger flare up, the betrayal, it was understandable after all. I was a newcomer and everyone here knew almost nothing about me. Yet it seemed the longer I was here the more secrets I absorbed from them.

“I will tell Kale if you don’t answer me,” she hissed her blue- silver eyes narrowing.

I hesitated for a moment and then shrugged pretending to feel much more nonchalant then was actually the case. “I will tell Kale that…” I hesitated for a moment, I was about to say I would tell Kale about how she drugged and raped him but then thought better of it. I couldn’t keep my blood drinking a secret any longer; after all if I would have to stoop to Meg’s level to keep this secret it wasn’t worth keeping. Would they banish me? Would they kill me? “I will tell Kale that myself.” I finished I quickly stood up and glided out of the room.

I looked around the kitchen, the living room, I felt a panic rising I whirled my head around, I turned and Derek’s muscled chest was in my face. I craned my head back and sure enough there he was, wearing a huge grin his black and green hair a mess his charcoal eyes dancing.

“Easy there short stuff, what are you in a hurry for?”

“Do you know where Kale is?” My voice came out more anxious and high then I’d expected it to and I inwardly cursed to myself.

Derek smiled, “Yeah he’s up on the roof, I’d ask if you knew your way up there but with your knack at sneaking around I’m sure you can find it.”

I knew he meant me to take it as a joke but he was right that’s what I’d been doing this whole time, sneaking around. The worst part was that I was sneaking behind Kale’s back and I owed him the most. After all, if it weren’t for him I’d be dead… or a vampire, I shivered at the thought of that.

I made my way up all the stairs, going unusually slow considering my capability of going fast. I tried to think desperately of what I would say once I got to Kale how I would tell him that this whole time I was the monster he didn’t think I was. The monster he tried his hardest from preventing me to be… was the monster I was. I collapsed onto the last stair and began to cry. It poured out of me violently, every death I’d made playing through my mind, every heart I’d ripped out, how I’d betrayed Kale every step of the way, when on that first night he saw they’d bitten me, he offered me an escape. Oh god mom what would you do? I need you I can’t do this by myself.

Suddenly I felt my body getting lurched forward down the stairs, my body smashing against the hard edges of the stairs and the banister. I looked up and saw Kale tumbling after me my body quickly reacted, I slammed my foot into the wall and reached for the banister; grabbing it tightly. Kale tumbled over me and with the other hand I reached out and gripped his arm. He blinked our faces only an inch or two away his body blanketing mine. Then his dark golden eyes softened and a wide grin spread across his face.

“It’s nice bumping into you,” he got up and held his hand out for me, he seemed to radiate warmth. Like the first time I had met him. Even as he was a wolf he comforted me. I couldn’t in words express my gratitude or my shame in my recent actions.

“Skylar.”

“I was looking for you.”

Kale looked surprised at that, “Really?”

I nodded, “but I want to talk to you alone.”

“Alright, Oh Skylar, your leg looks bad.”

I looked down and saw that my leg had a large gash on it. “Oh yeah look at that,” I wasn’t being strong or tough, it wasn’t like I was fighting off any pain I honestly felt nothing I didn’t even notice it until Kale mentioned it.

Kale shook his head and without a word scooped me up and ran me downstairs, by the time we had made it down the stairs (which took no time at all) my leg was completely healed.

I smiled and tried to wriggle out of his grasp, “See? Nothing.”

He entered the apartment his arms tightened around me, he didn’t say anything. Derek, Meg, Gerard, and Jason were all in the living room and saw us both enter.

“Hmm Gerard seems like Skylar is having a fling.”

Kale growled menacingly, “I accidentally tripped over Skylar and we both were falling down the stairs she managed to stop us both from falling and sustained an injury from it. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

I looked at Kale shocked, he didn’t outright threaten them