Veiled (8 page)

Warmth floods into my limbs and I take a step toward him, able to move.

He doesn’t answer.

I keep walking, slowly across the room. I’m about a foot away and his features are coming together. Even the smell of him is familiar.

He stiffens.

“Who are you?” I repeat, making out his sharp jawline, thick neck. The swoop of long hair. “Jay?” I whisper.

He sucks in his breath and the pause between us deepens. “I’m your—”

“Ada?” Perry’s voice shatters the room.

The door opens and once again I’m jumping from fright and whirling around to see her shadow at the door, the hall light on behind her. “Ada are you okay? Who are you talking to?”

There is panic in her voice and she fumbles for the lights.

They come on, too bright and I wince, covering my eyes, before looking back to Jay.

He’s gone.

I’m standing by the bed, facing the wall, and no one is there.

“Ada?” Perry comes in voice higher now, quietly shutting the door behind her. “What happened?”

“I . . .” I stammer, blinking at the place Jay was. He was here, I know he was, just as I’m sure that some being went into the closet.

Even now, the closet seems to pulse and hum with its own kind of malevolent energy.

I look over at her with wide-eyes, my heart sinking because I know what she’s going to say. “Didn’t you see him?”

“See who?” she asks, frowning.

“I was talking to a man,” I say quietly, pressing my lips together.

“You were sleepwalking,” Perry says.

“I wasn’t,” I tell her sharply. “You weren’t sleepwalking when this happened to you.”

“Ada,” she says. “It’s the middle of the night and you’re suffering from a sleep disorder.”

I march over to her, the blood in my face hot with anger. “You of all people should know that these things can’t be played off that easily! You should know nothing is so easily explained with us. I wasn’t sleepwalking Perry. There was a man here and before that, there was something on my bed.”

Her eyes dart to the bed and back to me.

I go on. “I had a terrible dream about mom. I woke up, paralyzed. You know, like the syndrome sometimes does to you. But there was someone else in this room with me. Something. I could hear it breathing. I could feel the weight on the end of the bed.”

A flash of fear comes across her eyes but she quickly buries it, raising her chin. “You know that the sensation of having someone at the foot of your bed is part of the syndrome, it’s common.”

“And then it
got up
. The thing, the person, whatever it was got up and I felt it. It touched my foot! And then I saw it. I saw that it was
real
. The closet door opened wide all by itself and the, the being walked inside. Perry, it had a fucking
tail
.”

She swallows, her jaw tense and she looks over at the closet, staring at it in a strange way, like it’s compelling her.

“I got up,” I tell her. “I went over to the closet and it was almost like it wanted me to open it. I heard mom’s voice again, Perry. Just like in my dream. Telling me to find her, help her, that she wasn’t alone. In my dream she told me that the Michael demon died with her. It’s with her now.”

“It was a dream,” Perry whispers, voice shaking. Her eyes are still focused on the shut closet door. “You said so yourself.”

“So I almost opened the closet door. Then a man told me not to. I turned around and there he was.” I gesture to beside the nightstand. “He told me I wasn’t dreaming, that I shouldn’t go inside.”

Perry nods absently and starts walking toward the closet.

“Perry,” I warn her.

She shakes her head, gingerly raising her hand to shush me. She stops just outside the door and closes her eyes.

I come over to her, keeping a safe distance, watching curiously.

“Perry?” I whisper, wondering if she’s asleep on her feet.

Her eyes snap open and she leaps backward, her hand at the Kyuss logo on her faded band t-shirt. “No,” she cries out softly.

The skin on the back of my neck prickles, my fingertips numb.

“No what?” I ask her, afraid. Because when she’s afraid I have more of a reason to be.

“I don’t know,” she says, voice shaking. She looks at me, her brow creased. “I don’t know, but this is bad. There is something very bad about all of this.”

“No shit!” I yell, unable to keep it to a whisper. “There was a creature who went into my closet and then a strange man appeared in my room right afterward!”

The door to my room opens and both of us yelp in unison, jumping in place.

“What the fuck is going on in here?” Dex asks as he pokes his head in, brow furrowed as he takes us in.

Perry brushes past me to him and points at the closet. “There’s something in that closet. I don’t know if it’s there now but it was there. And that isn’t a closet. It may have been when you looked last but it’s not anymore. I don’t know what it is but I can feel it all the way in my bones that this is very, very bad.” She looks over at me. “Ada, I think you should come back with Dex and I tomorrow to Seattle.”

“What?” Dex and I say at the same time exchanging a glance.

“I’m serious,” she goes on, rubbing her lips together, her eyes darting back to the closet. “I don’t think you should sleep in this room anymore Ada, let alone this house. All those feelings I had before I was possessed. I’m having them here again.”

“Are you sure?” Dex asks, grabbing her hand.

“I think so,” she says, looking to me. “I believe you Ada. Whatever is here isn’t good. Whatever went in that closet might come back.”

“Wait, what?” Dex says, raising his hands. “Can you ladies catch me up to speed here?”

“Ada woke up with something in the room with her. It got off her bed and went into the closet. It had a tail . . .”

Dex eyes me, raising his brows. “Well holy shit then.”

“I also saw someone else in the room. I was talking to him. And he was real.”

I think.

Perry eyes him and I can’t read what she’s thinking. “When I walked in here she was talking to someone. I never heard another voice.”

I frown. “That doesn’t mean there wasn’t someone here with me. I’m telling you there was.”

“Regardless, that closet is a fucking slice of horrors, and that I can feel,” she says. “Whoever you were or weren’t talking to I can’t say but I can comment on
that
.” She points at the closet with a shaking hand.

“What did the guy look like?” Dex asks me and I’m forever grateful that at least someone is interested in the strange man in my room.

“Well actually,” I say. “The guy from my dreams. The guy from your wedding.”

Perry purses her lips in surprise. “That Jay guy?”

I swallow. “It was him. I’ve seen him before you know. In real life.”

“What? When?” I catch a twinge of hurt in her voice for not filling her in on it earlier.

“When I was at Sephora,” I tell her.

“So he’s a metrosexual ghost as well?” Dex asks.

I glare at him. “No. He was outside of the store. But I saw him. We looked right at each other. Then I lost sight of him and he was gone.” I pause. “I wasn’t dreaming then.”

Dex scratches at his sideburns. “Well I suppose that’s better than being haunted by a guy that shops at Sephora. You know you’re more than welcome to come stay with us till your school starts.”

“More than welcome?” Perry repeats, coming over to me. She grabs me by the elbow and looks me deep in the eyes. She’s nothing but determined and when she’s determined, I feel safe. “You
are
coming with us. And tonight, you’re sleeping with me in your old bedroom. Dex you can sleep in here.”

“Delightful,” he comments dryly. “Okay, in Seattle can I at least sleep with my wife?”

Perry leads me out of the room and I eye my father’s door down the hall.

“What about dad?”

“What about him?” she asks as we get into my old bedroom, the bed in the middle of the room, the window beside it illuminating all my extra dressers and rolling racks full of clothing.

“We can’t leave him here all alone,” I tell her.

“Dad will be fine,” she says. “He’s not like us. He’ll always be fine. You know that.”

But I didn’t.

“I’ll make sure to talk to the Knightlys before we go, let them know he’s alone. I’ll talk to Debbie down the street too, I’m sure she’d be more than willing to keep an eye on him.”

“Do you trust the Knightlys?” I ask.

She bites her lip, thinking as she goes around to her side of the bed. “I’m not sure. Sage was nice, even if he was keeping a lot of things close to his chest. But I think we have to trust them for now.”

I wasn’t sure either but deep down I felt they were just older versions of ourselves. If we went on to have a badass rock star career, of course.

I get into the bed, the room strangely cold despite the persistent heat wave. I know it’s kind of silly to be sleeping with my sister for the second night in a row, like a frightened child, but I’m grateful for it all the same.

“Is Dex going to be okay in there?” I ask her softly after a few moments, the night settling back around us. “I mean, if it was Michael in the closet . . .”

Two years ago, Dex, Perry, and I were sitting here, in this house. They’d just come back from filming their last episode of their Experiment in Terror show. Dex was upstairs editing. I was doing a workout video in the living room. Perry went for a walk. My parents were out somewhere. Then a man showed up at the door, claiming to be Michael, Dex’s estranged brother, and all hell broke loose.

I mean Hell
literally
broke loose.

Michael made me black out and when I woke up, he was gone and so was Dex. Only Perry and I remained. We immediately hopped on a plane to New York to get Dex back, who we figured had been manhandled by Michael. And my parents, once they learned where we’d gone, did the same. That brought everyone to Manhattan like one big happy family. Except we weren’t happy—we were being used and manipulated by a demon that had possessed Michael a long time ago. Me, my mother, Perry, Dex, and his friend Maximus all ended up in the house that Michael and Dex grew up in, a place that wasn’t a house at all but a portal to Hell, existing in its own horrific reality.

My mother wasn’t the only one lost thanks to Michael’s demon. Maximus died as well. And we were all forever changed.

Look, I never said my backstory was easy.

Or normal.

“If that is Michael, or whatever demon it was who possessed him,” Perry whispers, “Dex has nothing to fear. He has defeated him once, he could do it again.”

“Perry, Dex died,” I point out, even though I’m sure she never needs reminding of that horrible moment when she found him lifeless on the floor in the house of Hell. “He made the same sacrifice that mom made, only you were able to go in and get him out, bring him back to life.”

She falls silent and I feel I’ve hit a nerve. “Not that you would have been able to do that with mom,” I quickly add.

She just nods, swallowing thickly. “Dex will be fine. But you, you won’t be.”

Normally I would protest over something like that, get defensive or find it belittling, but in this case Perry is right and I’m not about to argue.

I’m not fine at all.

And I don’t fall asleep, no matter that Dex is in my room, no matter if I’m safe here or not. I just can’t.

My mind keeps playing it all over and over again. The dream, the pond, my mother’s words. The thing in my room. The closet.

Jay.

He could be a ghost, I could be going insane.

But there was no doubt he was in my room.

A dream brought to life.

CHAPTER SIX

I don’t know how long I lie there in the bed beside Perry, praying for that first show of dim morning light, the sign that you’ve made it, that you’re going to be okay.

It doesn’t seem to come, though. I can hear Perry’s soft snoring, and if anything the room grows darker as the night wears on.

Finally I get up, wanting a glass of water.

I slowly ease of bed, careful not to wake Perry. I stand there, trying to figure out whether I should go to bathroom or kitchen, both equally creepy on nights like this, when a light illuminates my face.

I glance at the window that looks straight into the upstairs window of one of the Knightlys’ rooms.

A man is staring right at me, backlit by sickly fluorescent lights.

Jay.

We stand there, gazes locked, before he breaks the spell, turning around quickly and disappearing into the depths of the house.

Oh no he fucking doesn’t.

I don’t even think twice. As quietly and quickly as I can, I head for the door and down the stairs until I’m bursting out onto the front lawn. I’m about to head straight over to the Knightlys when I see a man walking down the street away from the houses. He’s wearing a dark jacket, hands shoved in the pockets, taking long strides, his head down.

I’m barefoot in just a skimpy white t-shirt and my boy-short underwear (with sugar skulls on them, naturally) and yet I couldn’t care less because I hustle over to the street and then start running down it after the man.

“Hey!” I call out, my bare feet echoing on the pavement.

He stops, the glow of the streetlight illuminating him in dim orange. He doesn’t turn around.

“Look at me,” I tell him, stopping a few feet away. “Tell me what’s going on. Who are you? Why were you in the Knightlys’ house?”

“I’m a family friend,” he says, his voice low.

“That’s what they all say,” I tell him, taking a step closer. Whatever fear I had is gone. I want answers above all else and I want them now.

“Turn around,” I tell him.

He doesn’t. A hot breeze whistles past, ruffling his hair, making it glint blood red in the streetlight.

I put my hand on his arm, somewhat surprised to find him solid, and pull back, turning him around.

He stares down at me and I’m suddenly very aware of how real he is, how tall and well-built, like he’s about to pull up a tree by the roots. The sharp bones of his face create shadows in this light, his eyes looking deeper, darker, the hollows beneath his cheekbones carved out.

He’s eyeing me warily, not quite afraid just . . . unsure.

I’m not sure how I look to him, standing here in my underwear. Probably a little of the same.

“Are you a ghost?” I ask him.

Though his face remains stern I see a spark of humor in his eyes. “Your first question is if I’m a ghost? Usually most people leave that conclusion to last.”

“You appeared and disappeared from my bedroom,” I tell him, surprised at how easy it is to talk to him in real life. “You appear in my dreams. And you should know by now I am not
most people
.”

He raises his chin, not breaking his gaze. “Definitely not.”

“So,” I go on, “are you a ghost? Because believe me, I wouldn’t be surprised. It would be the only thing lately that makes any sense.”

His mouth quirks up in a wane smile. “No. I’m not a ghost.”

“Did I really meet you at the wedding?”

He nods. “Yes.”

“Was I the only one who could see you?”

Oh god, was I walking around talking to myself the whole time?

He gives a slight shake of his head. “No. People could see me. See us. I’m not invisible.”

“Except when you want to be,” I point out.

Just then I hear a door close and Dex’s voice. “Ada?”

I turn around to see him jogging across the lawn to the road. Though he’s distractingly shirtless, at least he had the sense to pull on some pajama pants.

“What are you doing?” he asks, his voice in a hush down the quiet street.

Oh shit, this whole thing in the bedroom is going to happen again. Jay is going to disappear and I’m going to look like I’m talking to no one.

But when I turn around, Jay is still standing there, albeit a bit stiffer now, on alert.

“Are you okay?” Dex asks as he comes closer, brows lowered as he takes us in, like a prowling dog. Which is a good thing because for once I know he sees him too. And from the edge to his voice I know he’s about to go nuts on Jay if I don’t say something. “Who is this?”

“I’m fine,” I say quickly. “This is Jay.”

Dex stops, peers at Jay with a brow raised. “The metrosexual ghost?”

“Not a ghost,” Jay corrects him quickly.

“Just a guy that shops at Sephora, then? That’s okay, I get it.”

I would tell Dex to shut up but the fact is we’re both up to speed. He knows about as much as me now.

“No,” Jay says, clearly unamused.

“So,” Dex says, folding his arms and looking between the two of us, “what is this? I mean, why are you standing in your underwear and talking to a stranger in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night?”

“None of your concern,” Jay says, his jaw firmly set.

Dex flashes him a caustic smile. “Oh really? None of my concern? Right.” He looks at me. “Just say the word, Ada.”

I roll my eyes. “You can’t just go around beating up every boy who talks to me.”

Dex scoffs, gesturing to Jay with his chin. “This ain’t a boy, sister, this is a man. And a ginger one at that.” A strange look of clarity comes over Dex’s eyes as he says the words.

“What?” I ask him.

Jay is watching Dex carefully and I feel like something is transpiring between them, I just don’t know what.

“Maybe you should run along,” Jay says.

Dex stiffens, his eyes taking on this round, half-crazed look that I’ve seen way too many times before. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

Jay takes a step closer, his height dwarfing Dex, his eyes boring into him. “I said, this is none of your concern. So turn around and head back into the house and go back to bed.”

A vein pulses on Dex’s forehead beneath a messy swoop of hair. I eye his fists as they clench and unclench, the muscles popping on his arms, his chest.

This isn’t good. Dex fights like hell. Dirty and mean.

But Jay. Well, aside from his height and bulk, he also can disappear into thin air, so that’s something.

I’m about to step between them like some girl in a fifties greaser movie, trying to keep the two rivals apart, when I hear, “What the bloody hell is going on here?”

We all turn toward the English accent. Jacob, wearing slippers and a pair of pajamas that look like Hugh Hefner crossed with an old polyester couch from the ‘70s, comes marching toward us.

Jay mutters something under his breath, taking a step back from Dex.

Dex stares at the infamous Jacob “The Cobb” Edwards as he stops in front of us all, glaring at us with an air of authority, like we’re a bunch of petulant schoolchildren and he broke up a playground fight.

Jacob brings his eyes, even more orange and vivid in the streetlight, over to Jay and shakes his head mildly. “I really thought you were going to handle this in a more, well, subtle way.”

Next he looks to me, eying me over. “And you, love, you’ve got a thing or two coming, running after a man you don’t know in your underwear. I said courage belonged to the young but I guess so does stupidity.”

My mouth falls open and he turns to Dex, extending his hand out. “And this is the infamous Dex Foray,” Jacob says smoothly. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Now Dex’s mouth is open for a moment until he gains his composure and shakes Jacob’s hand. “Infamous?” Dex repeats, looking pleased as punch. “That’s a new one.”

“Well don’t let it go to your head, boy,” Jacob says, withdrawing his hand. “Another inflation of your ego and your head might just float away.”

I frown at Jacob. “How do you know of Dex? Because I know him well and honestly he’s not that special.”

“Hey,” Dex chides me, looking hurt. “Easy there, BJ.”

I curl my lip. “BJ?” I repeat in disgust, ready to throw down at him despite what’s going on.

“
Bleach
job,” he explains slowly, eying my hair. He tilts his head back at Jacob. “But if anyone should be infamous, it’s you. I mean, forget being one of the world’s best band managers back in the day. You’re . . .
dead
.”

“Obviously you can see I’m not,” Jacob says in a tepid voice.

“Right,” Dex says. “Because you’re either a ghost or you faked your own death. Good job on that, by the way. Dying in a crypt, buried by a pile of bones in Prague? Legendary death for a legend like yourself. You know we talked to Sage about you but couldn’t quite seem to get a straight answer.”

Jacob exchanges a glance with Jay and for a moment I’m struck by how similar they look. In fact, seeing them together makes me think they might even be related.

Before I can say that though, Jacob gives Dex a levelling look and displays his palms. “I’m not a ghost but I did die. One hundred per cent. Went straight to bloody Hell.”

“And how did you come back from that?” I ask, suddenly fearful, hopeful that this is something that could actually be done. Never mind the fact that Jacob went to Hell, which is a concern of its own since that place isn’t usually reserved for good people.

“A friend got me out,” Jacob says, looking Dex squarely in the eye.

Dex frowns at him.

“A friend got you
out
?” I say, not happy with the vague response.

“I believe you knew him,” Jacob says then beams at both of us. “But I’m getting far head of myself here. I’m not of importance right now. What is of importance is Jay and Ada. Or
Jayda
, if you like cute nicknames. I don’t.”

Dex and I both look at Jay, who is staring off into the distance, determination still set in his jaw.

“Dex,” Jacob says, “why don’t you go inside, back to your wife. Jay and Ada have plenty to talk about.”

“Right now?” Dex asks. He gestures to me. “I’m not leaving her.”

“Dex, you of all people should know that we mean no harm.”

Dex squints. “Who exactly are you?”

Jacob sighs, tilting his head back and looking up to the stars. “Once upon a time I was just a man. Before that I never knew who I was. Now, I’m not too sure either. But I always have your best interests at heart, even before you do.”

Dex stares at him for a moment, blinking, before he says, “Well that’s the weirdest shit I’ve heard all week. I’m not sure what’s going on in Keith Richards’ house over there,” he jerks his thumb at the Knightlys, “but you should really lay off the ludes and the pot brownies. Also, I’m not leaving her.” He crosses his arms, legs wide in an assertive stance. “Not only do I happen to care about Ada’s wellbeing, but you can bet I don’t want the eternal earful from Perry after she finds out I let her sister walk off with a bunch of gingers, both of whom she doesn’t even know and one who admits he went to hell. Though it totally proves my theory that the lot of you are soulless.”

I’m torn. I don’t feel fear with Jay or Jacob. I want to know what’s going on. I feel like I’m on the cusp of something great, something life changing, something that will give me purpose in this life.

On the other hand, I know Dex would never leave me alone. I’ll always be fifteen to him, too young to make sound decisions, even if my instincts and gut are guiding the way. I should be flattered, and I normally am, but right now I wish he’d go away.

“Dex,” I say softly, trying to find a chance. “Go back to Perry. I’ll be okay.”

“Even if you would be,” he says, “have you not seen your sister’s wrath? I know you haven’t been around her a lot lately, but I’m telling you she has gotten
fierce
with marriage. I always thought it would mellow her.”

“Well she’s married to you, what did you expect?” I sigh, rubbing my hand over face. “I just want someone right now to tell me what’s going on.”

“Fine,” Jay says and before I know it he’s at my side, grabbing my hand and pulling me backward.

There’s a great popping sensation, like all my bones are hollow and clicking in and out of place and the scene in front of me, Jacob’s face furrowed in disapproval, Dex’s one of shock, starts to shimmer and warp like I’m passing through liquid.

Suddenly everything is grey, Jacob and Dex are gone, and my ears are filled with immense pressure, like I dove too deep, too fast.

It’s enough for me to grab my head and fall to my knees, groaning at the pain, begging for it to stop.

I feel a warm hand at my back.

“It will pass,” comes Jay’s voice, softer now, like he actually cares. “Just breathe.”