Dead End: Midnight Hollow by Penn Cassidy (free novel 24 TXT) 📗

“Raising the dead and all that jazz,” I said, trying to be nonchalant. “If I’m going to prove I have this handled and I’m not a bad person or that I can live in peace without having to run from this town like my dad did, then I need to do it.” I fiddled with the book in my hands, unable to make eye contact.

“I’ve always thought you were amazing, little goth.” He raised my chin with his finger so I had no choice but to look at him. “What do you need from me?”

What did I need? I needed someone to tell me it was going to be okay, that I’d never be alone again and that they wouldn’t leave me.

“Why are you being…well, not a douche canoe to me?”

He stared at me hard for a long minute, his head tilted to the side, as if he was trying to figure me out. He opened his mouth to tell me, but we heard a door close with a bang outside the morgue door.

“Shit! I can’t be caught in here! They’ll think I’m trying to raise an army!” I frantically searched for a hiding spot as the sound of footsteps could be heard clicking on the tiled floor outside the door.

“Quick! Get in here. Don’t worry, I’ll be with you the whole time in this dark, closed box.” I glared at his grin.

He snapped open a cooling box, his bicep flexing when he lifted me up as if I weighed nothing. I crawled inside, my breathing already picking up in panic at the small space and the thought of getting caught. I probably flashed some panties along the way, since my ass was practically in his face.

He quickly slid in after me with ease, covering my body head to toe with his own, and grasped the metal door, closing it with only a small crack to keep it open. Enclosed in the dark, I gripped his waist as he held himself over me on his elbows, his minty breath fanning my face. Me and dark enclosed spaces didn’t do so well.

“Well, this is cozy. Come here often?” His teeth gleamed white in the shadows as a smile stretched his smooth, wide lips. He started playing with my hair in a soothing manner that somewhat eased the scream wanting to crawl its way up my throat.

“Not really, but you never answered my question. Why now?” I whispered softly, loving and yet hating the feel of him over me, of having the chance to skim my fingers along the hard ridges of his eight pack.

Suddenly, with a snap of his fingers and a “quia ignis,” under his breath, a single flame appeared from the pad of his index finger. He grinned smugly at my upturned face. Didn’t know he could do that. He must’ve been practicing every night.

“Who are you, October?” he asked softly. “And think really hard about your answer.” He waited patiently as I tried several times to think of anything intelligent to say to that. We were getting off topic, but I felt like he had a point to make.

We had to whisper because of the mystery person on the other side making a racket, metal banging on metal. I wondered how long we’d have to hang in the death box.

Don’t think about what’s all been in here, or you’re going to freak the fuck out.

“I’m just a girl who doesn’t know what the heck I’m doing half the time,” I answered truthfully and watched in confusion as he shook his head, his upper lip curling as he leaned down towards my face.

“You're wrong,” he whispered tightly. “I watched you push everyone out of your life after your parents died. I watched every single day as you fell further and further apart, becoming an empty shell. How do you bring someone back who doesn’t want any help dealing with their own pain?” he asked. I blinked at him as he said, “You make them live. You get them angry enough that they wake up every morning with the need to prove everyone wrong. You're a survivor of horrible pain, October, and you're the girl that’s finally trying to live again.” He glided his fingertips over the bridge of my nose and down over the slope until he reached my lips, tracing them with a small grin tugging his wide lips.

I maneuvered to repeatedly smack his chest in suppressed anger. “Yeah, I heard about your dumbass plan from Jason, and now I’m mad all over again. How could you put me through that shit after everything?!” In the small box, my love taps barely registered.

Tears gathered in my eyes as I stopped beating him up, and I weakly rested the palm of my hand over his fast beating heart. “Thank you for taking care of me when I couldn’t do it myself,” I rasped out, admitting that I wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t made my life a living hell. “I hadn’t realized it was that bad…”

“Anytime, little goth, but don’t fucking do that to us again. It killed me seeing you like that. And I held onto my own anger for a while too, when I had to hear about you going behind our backs. I hated having to hear it from their mouths and not yours.”

He pushed the door open, surprising me, and wrapped his arm around my waist with his palm spread out over my lower back. He slid out with me plastered to his body and hopped us down gracefully for a man his height. I looked around but realized the danger of getting caught had passed because the assistant was gone again. Must be on lunch break? Who the fuck cared, because my heart was about to bust out of my chest as sweat coated my palms.

“I-I couldn’t choose. I wanted you all.” I walked over to the clean,