Ghost Child - Chapter Two
I yawned and tumbled from bed. It had been almost two weeks or so since living in the Ballingdon Mansion. Somehow, I easily adjusted to living with immortals. I still hadn’t gotten rid of the glance from my memory, but life was looking good. I got dressed in yellow skinny jeans and a dark blue camisole.
I’d worn nothing but camisoles for tops since I came here. I tried to match my clothes oddly. Like a couple times I had worn a red cami and peach sweatpants.
I wandered into the kitchen and sat down. I turned and noticed Heath lying on the large sofa, eating cereal. He always ate one type of cereal: Doggy-O’s. I sat next to him and he smiled at me.
“Hey, beautiful.” He pulled my waist so I was lying next to him.
“Hey.” I looked at his cereal, “Can I try some?”
He laughed and handed me the box. I tried one and spit it out, “Gross! Tastes like dog food!”
He grinned and took the box back, “It is.”
Oh, werewolf, of course he would eat dog food. Ha-ha. I sat up when I heard Lex come in the kitchen. Heath and Lex flirted with me constantly but Lex was more passionate and protective, which I liked a lot more. I knew that liking a vampire seemed dumb and cliché, but liking a werewolf wasn’t all that better. Except one of the two sucked my blood.
I jogged to the kitchen and gave Lex a hug. He smiled and kissed my forehead, “Hey, I know this great place with an amazing view to take you. Want to come?”
“Sure!”
“We’ll be back whenever,” Lex called out as we walked to the door. I heard Heath grunt and Brad called out, “OKAY.”
He took me to the beach that was behind the house. A blue blanket was on the beach held down by rocks, like he intended for us to come here. That made me smile. We sat down and enjoyed the view of the ocean. Lex cleared his throat after a few minutes and took my hands into his.
“Rina,” he kissed my hands. I laughed quietly and he continued, “Tell me Rina, do you like me?”
“Lex. What do you want me to say? We’ve only known each other for about two weeks or so.”
“Feels like longer,”
“I guess. I will admit, though, that I like you more than the others,” I giggled.
“Darn. I’ll have to break the news to Heath, which won’t make him very happy. Brad could care less though.”
“Heath likes me?” What a dumb question to ask.
“Of course. You haven’t noticed? But I know someone who really likes you.”
I leaned forward and he did too. He was only inches from my face and I whispered, “I might just really like that person back,”
“Good.”
And I kissed him. Gently, out lips moved together. He kissed back but with more force. We kissed for a little longer and he lay down, pulling me on top of him. I wanted this moment to last forever. He groaned and I knew he would pull back. He did after a couple more seconds and he rolled me off him. He sat up and rubbed his temples. I tried to hug him but he turned away. I’d started the kiss and he pulled away. That didn’t sound good, but he kissed back right?
“Lex?” I whispered.
“Just give me a couple seconds, okay?” He said harshly.
“Fine.” I crossed my arms.
A little later he looked up and breathed deeply, “I’m sorry. I need a couple seconds so I didn’t…” he paused, “snap at you.”
I just nodded weakly. He leaned to me again and held my face in his hands, “Where were we?”
I pushed away. My mood had been ruined, “Not now.”
Lex pulled back, “I’m sorry Rina.”
I just stood and said, “Let’s go back to the mansion.” He ruefully stood and started walking with me; leaving the blanket on the beach.
When we entered the mansion, you could hear Brad and Heath yelling at each other. But wait, Brad yelled? Since when? I mean, Heath could certainly yell but Brad? Lex and I ran into the kitchen, yelling at them both to shut up. I grabbed Brad and Lex grabbed Heath.
“Shut it!” Lex yelled. The both quickly quieted, “What’s going on here?”
The both started talking at the same time. From there rambling, it sounded like they were talking about me!
“Whoa, wait up.” Lex held up a hand, “Don’t talk at once. Now, Heath, what’s the problem?”
Heath eyed me and said, “Rina.”
I had gone into a shock mode but my head snapped up.
Heath continued, “The IAL called. Well, actually intruded into the mansion but still. They wanted to have Rina; they knew she was staying here. Brad said she should go with them but I said she might be killed. Brad snorted, then I did and then we started yelling after they left and told us to think about it.”
“IAL?” I asked.
Brad answered me now, “Immortal Association League.”
“Why would they want me?” I gulped, “I’m mortal.”
“About that…” Heath started but Lex clamped a hand over his mouth and said, “Ri, we can worry about this later. Go to bed, you look tired.”
I looked out the window. It was darkening. Could it be evening already? Time was messed up here. I yawned and said, “Okay, but you WILL tell me about this,” and I stormed upstairs.
* * *
“Ghost Child.” The voice startled me, “It is time.”
“Time for what?” I called into the darkness that enveloped me. A single light shone above my head. It slowly lowered into my palm. The most beautiful diamond fell into my palm. It was attached to a string as though meant to be a necklace.
“The power of Death lies in your hands,” out from the darkness stepped the man from my old ream or memory. All I could see were his pale lips and bony white hands. He reached out a hand to take the necklace and slung it around my neck, “Never underestimate your gift. When combined with Xander, you are free.” He turned to go but I called out,
“Wait!”
He turned my way as he waiting.
“Who are you?” My voice sounded surprisingly even.
“Grim.” Was all he said. I gasped, he was the Grim Reaper. He walked to me and touched my diamond, which turned black but I knew it had turned into coal.
I sat up in bed. Another dream. Or nightmare. I touched my neck and the necklace was on my neck. The Reaper’s words lingered in my mind.
“When combined with Xander, you are free,” echoed along with, “You have the power of Death in your hands.”
Did he mean I could control where someone went after they died? Since this was the grim Reaper, I bet it meant I could send someone to Hell. But who or what was Xander? And why would I be free? Free of what exactly? I tried to push the millions of questions from my mind. It was barely morning looked at my clock next to me: 6:27 a.m. Wow. If Brad wasn’t up or Heath wasn’t, I’m sure Lex was. Now would also be a fun time to explore the rest of the mansion.
I peeked into my closet and grabbed light gray sweats and a lemon yellow cami. I opened my bathroom door and quickly threw my hair into a messy bun. Leaving my room, I walked down the hallway and little bit.
Pictures of halos and sings saying things like “In God we trust,” hung outside a room. It must have been Brad’s room. Fallen Angel. Ha-ha.
Next were posters of dogs and cats and sports signs. Heath’s room. Last was Lex’s room. I stopped outside it and my breath caught. There were no posters or signs around the door. A light flipped on in the room and I froze up. I decided to be brave and opened the door.
“Lex?” I whispered.
“Rina? Come in.” Lex was sprawled on the bed. Shirtless. Thank goodness he was wearing jeans though. I closed the door behind me and sat on his bed, staring out his open window. He grabbed my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. He breathed in heavily and let out a shallow breath. That didn’t sound normal to me.
“You okay?” I asked.
He sat up, “Of course. That just helped me take in a breath so I could filter your scent from my thirst level in my lungs. I’m better now though. Anyway, what brings you here?”
I twisted around so I was on his lap and shrugged, “Nightmare and I woke up. But no one else would be up, except you of course.”
His eyes softened and he hugged me, “Sorry.” I heard someone start to crack but it wasn’t a bone. I quickly pulled away and Lex’s eyes locked on my necklace with the coal shaped like a beautiful black diamond.
“Where did you get that?” His voice was strangled. So I told him my dream and how I keep having dreams about my other’s ghost taken away and now it all seemed like a memory.
“What does it mean?” I asked when I was done.
“It means that I know your past I think I ought to tell you about it.” Lex sighed, “Rina can you handle the truth?”
What was so bad about my past? The thought made me shiver but I nodded,”Of course,” I placed two fingers on his lips. He breathed in my scent again and out and removed my fingers but kept them in his hands.
“Rina, you have a very dangerous past and I only know the basics because we’ve talked about you at IAL.”
“You talk about me at the meetings?” I stuttered.
“Yes. Brad and Heath are going to a meeting there tomorrow and I’ll look after you.”
“Oh okay,” something made me feel uneasy.
“Let’s start with your basic past. Your mother did marry your father, but he isn’t your actually Dad. Your mom tricked him to making him think that you were his daughter. The timing was too perfect. So, you are…” He paused, “The Grim Reaper’s daughter.”
I did not read the first chapter but I am sure it was pretty good. I don't have much to say about the stay I am not a really good critique but add me as a friend and reply to my story which I will be updating SOONER or LATER cause i just made my profile like yesterday and I really liked your story a lot it was very interesting and it made you feel like that you were actually in the story and i like that about stories so...good JOB!