Phantom Touch Box Set Read online

  "Nope," I told her. This was going to be a long night, and boy was I ever right about that.

  The rest of the party had me sitting out on the porch. I quickly noticed there weren't any pillows on the wooden chairs. I thought maybe they'd been put away for the season, but Ashley set me straight when she noticed me shifting uneasily atop the planks of the seat. "Sorry about having no cushions. Someone's been coming by for years and swiping them at night, so my parents always hide them inside."

  "Oh, no problem. I'll adjust." I grimaced. My butt was going to need adjusting later, too.

  Ashley made periodical trips into the house just to make sure things didn't get too out of hand. Her parents would have killed her if the partiers had wrecked the place. Brent was useful in scolding people to quiet down or stop drinking. They didn't stop doing what he asked them to stop doing, but it slowed them down before they did some seriously stupid things. Well, all except for Rob. He did the stupidest thing of them all by bringing up that spooky tale just before midnight.

  "Anybody wanna go with me to the graveyard?" he shouted to the group. Even from outside I could hear him loud and clear, and Ashley was right beside me when he did it. She got so pale I thought she was going to faint. "Come on, let's all just ride out there and see if we can find that ghosty."

  Ashley slipped her hand into mine. "Please tell him to stop," she whispered to me. Her eyes were big and her lips trembled. "Nobody's allowed up there at night, especially so close to Halloween."

  "I'll try my best," I promised her. I patted her hand and slipped my own out of hers so I could stand. Through the window I saw Rob by the door with a beer in one hand.

  "Come on, guys, stop being such pussies," he yelled at the others. They were all standing in the middle of the room with uncertain expressions.

  I stepped inside and tapped him on his bare shoulder. He swung around so fast he nearly clocked me with his arm. "Could you lay off on all the noise and beer? You're acting like an idiot," I told him. He probably heard what he wanted to hear because a stupid grin slipped onto his face. He leaned in and breathed his beer breath all over my face.

  "Come on, Jess, you wanna go see the ghosty with me, don't ya?"

  I waved my hand in front of my face to brush away the smell. "All I want to do is get out of here before you make a bigger idiot of yourself." I held up the keys and jingled them in front of him. "And since I'm in charge of the car, I say we go now." That got his goat.

  "Whadda ya mean trying to take my car?" he slurred at me. I didn't like the dark look that crossed over his face and I took a step back. He stumbled toward me and thankfully tripped over the welcome mat. I stepped out of the way and watched him teeter forward. He fell through the open door and face-first into the porch boards. The crack of his head against the wood made me flinch, and Ashley and I ran up to his side. The party inside stopped and Brent stepped out just as Ashley was checking his pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief, which meant I could start breathing again.

  "Well, the good news is it knocked him out cold," she told us.

  "And the bad news?" I asked her.

  "He's still alive."

  "Hardy-har-har," I replied, and glanced up at Brent. "Think you two can help me drag his worthless corpse to the car?"

  With their help we got Rob into the backseat. After that much fun the party was called off on account of stupid, so it was time to leave. Everyone got into their cars and drove off, but I stayed to help with the cleanup. Brent was nice enough to stay for that, too, and I think it was because he liked Ashley.

  "You two don't have to stay here just for me," she scolded us. "I've just got to vacuum the place up and do some rearranging, and then my parents will never know I had a party."

  "Did they know you had one to begin with?" I asked her, and she shrugged.

  "Kind of. I said I was going to invite a few friends over and they all came, but that's beside the point. You two need to leave, especially since that jerk could wake up any minute." She took hold of both of us and marched us to the door.

  "After that much beer I don't think he's going to wake up until next week," I pointed out.

  "Then you need to take Brent home. His ride left and he doesn't have a car," Ashley countered.

  "You wouldn't mind, would you?" Brent spoke up for himself as we were pushed out onto the porch to our awaiting car.

  "I guess I don't really have a choice." I weaseled my way out of Ashley's grasp and turned around. "But you're sure you don't want us sticking around for a bit? I mean, you're going to be all alone here." All around us there was only silence and darkness. Only the soft lights from inside the house made me stop thinking about that graveyard.

  In reply to my question, Ashley gave me a big, fake grin. "I'll be fine. Besides, I've got my dogs out back I plan on sleeping with." Brent jerked a little at the thought and I couldn't help laughing. Ashley covered her mouth as she giggled. "They're too big to sleep on the bed, so they're usually on the floor beside it."

  "Oh, yes, well, I knew that." He pushed his glasses up against his nose hard enough to leave an imprint. "But we should be going. I have a test tomorrow."

  "Don't we all?" I asked him. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around Ashley in a great big hug. "Now you take care of yourself."

  "No problem there. I'll see you in class Monday," she promised as we pulled apart.

  I gave her a smile and got into the car. Brent was already in the passenger's seat, so we headed off down the road with sleeping beauty in the back. It was quiet in the vehicle as we drove through the woods, and I glanced over to my quiet companion. He was just staring straight ahead, but his eyes were far away. I smirked.

  "You thinking about Ashley?" I teased him. He actually blushed and turned away from me.

  "I-I was just thinking about stuff," he countered.

  "I don't think you're the type of guy to be thinking about stuff," I argued. He was the epitome of the geek, stuff just wasn't a description for all the comics, video games and science info he had floating through his mind. "Besides, she is really cute-"

  "Ahh!"

  I screamed when Rob grabbed me from behind and wrapped his strong arms around my neck. The car swerved across the road as Brent jumped to help. He managed to get one arm off me so I could breathe, and I got one hand to control the wheel. The boys battled it out between the seats while I slammed my foot on the brake. It must have been a washboard spot because the car rumbled over the ground and the back suddenly skidded while the front went the opposite way. We were all flung to the side and the car came to a stop perpendicular with the road. My eyes widened when I saw where the headlights were pointed. Up the road to the graveyard.

  Unfortunately, I didn't get much time to panic about that because Rob was making me panic about him. He tried to grab me again while Brent was picking himself up off the passenger side floor. I was too fast for him and sank my teeth into his arm. He screamed and his arms slithered back, which gave me plenty of time to open the door and jump out. I turned around in time to see him kick his door open and stumble out onto the ground.

  Brent followed suit, but not before Rob picked himself up and staggered toward me. That's when I saw something in his hand reflect off the clear sky above us. He was holding my knife, the one that went with my costume.

  "Come on, Rob, knock it off," I pleaded with him. "Just put the knife down and get back in the car so we can go home."

  "You tellin' me what to do again?" he slurred. I backed up the road as he stepped toward me. "You wantin' to control me like I'm some pet or somethin'? You're just a worthless whore!"

  "No, that's not what I'm trying to do at all. I just want to go home." My foot caught on the incline of the road and I went tumbling backwards.

  Rob stopped at the driver's side door and his eyes looked inside. I heard Brent yell when Rob dove into the car waving the knife in front of him. The passenger side door flung open and Brent scrambled out. He fell on his side and crawled away, eluding the kn
ife-wielding maniac that was once my boyfriend. Rob pulled out of the car, but paused at the wheel for just a second to grab at something. When I caught sight of his hand I saw that he was holding the car keys. He meant to keep us here.

  "What the hell are you doing?" Brent shouted at Rob. His eyes were wide and he kept on the other side of the car.

  "You damn assholes," he mumbled. He clumsily stuffed the keys into his pants pocket and the flashlight hung out. If I could only grab it we'd have a good chance of getting out of there.

  I held out my hands toward him to show I didn't mean to harm him, even if he meant to harm me. "Come on, Rob, you don't know what you're doing." I'd never seen him so drunk and angry before. His blurry eyes glanced between us, and I understood what he was thinking. He thought I was cheating on him with Brent. "It's not what you think. I was just taking him home. The party's over, so we have to get you back to your apartment." I took a step toward him. Bad move.

  Rob stuck the knife out toward me, and his lips turned up in a sneer. "You think you're gonna fool me with that shit? I got some brains in this head and I ain't gonna believe nothing you're saying."

  "But it's the truth!" Brent spoke up. Rob took a threatening step toward me and I noticed Brent glance around the ground. He dove for a large branch on the side of the abandoned path, and hurried around the car to confront Rob. "Come on, Rob, just put the knife down and we can all go home."

  "Not gonna listen to you!" he shrieked.

  Rob rushed Brent, who swung at him with the branch. He connected with Rob's face and the big boy went down. His back slammed into the ground, but that didn't even knock the air out of him. He was too drunk to notice. Rob scrambled up with the knife still in his hand and turned his fury on me. I was unarmed and definitely much weaker than him. He gave a roar and charged at me.

  I admit it; I screamed like a girl and turned tail. There was no way I could doge his slashes, and even if I did he'd slam into me with his much heavier body. I ran up the old road and reached the low gate. It was one of those old panel ones where there were bars that ran from one end to the other. I grabbed the top and swung myself over the top. Not a small feat considering it was about four feet high and I was a hair over five feet.

  I hit the ground running and in a few seconds heard Rob clambering over the gate. Brent was in the background yelling at both of us, but I wasn't going to be stopping for anybody, not even the devil. The road climbed up a small hill and on both sides ancient trees sprouted from the ground. Their branches hung heavy over the path and the tombstones that pushed up from the thick layer of leaves. My feet pounded hard against the tough ground and I slipped a few times on the wet leaves and weeds that littered the road.

  Rob huffed and puffed right behind me. He was in decent shape, but his being drunk gave me the advantage. Besides that, I had a shit load of adrenaline at my disposal and was using all of it. The leaves flew up in my wake and I crested the top of the hill to find myself in a grove much larger than I ever imagined the place to be. The road stretched out and disappeared behind a curve past a large boulder. To the left and right lay the scattered monuments of the dead. Mausoleums, tombstones, weeping angels, everything imaginable lay on this forsaken plot of dirt. To add to the creepiness, most of it was covered in a thin layer of fog. It slowly floated over the ground, slipping between the graves and in and out of the tree branches.

  I didn't have too much time to admire the spooky scenery because Rob wasn't that far behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Brent was struggling to catch up, what with that big branch in his hand, so that meant I was on my own. I got off the open path and ran along the bumpy ground between the graves. Rob had a harder time keeping his already impaired balance, but I didn't dare look back. All I saw was the way in front of me as I dodged beneath branches, around bramble bushes and across the beds of the dead. It felt like my lungs would burst, but still I kept running. The graveyard felt like it had no end.

  I didn't even notice I'd managed to lose him until my foot kicked a tree root. I stumbled forward and caught myself before I fell head first into a pile of rotting leaves. I thrashed on the ground for a few moments before I rolled over onto my butt. That got me looking around. Brent was nowhere in sight, but thankfully neither was Rob. I was alone.

  "Hello?" I croaked out. My throat was dry from all the harsh breathing. "Brent?" No answer.

  Then I froze. I thought I'd heard something creak. I slowly, stiffly turned around and my eyes widened when they fell upon a large mausoleum. It towered over me with its white walls covered in dying and dead vines. Trees grew up from beneath the foundation and their trunks hugged the sides while their branches loomed over the roof. The entrance was likewise encased in the shadow of those limbs, and I noticed the door was made out of old, half-rotten wood. It was also ajar. Not by much, but enough for me to notice a dark void between the door and the frame.

  The wind picked up and cast a breeze along the ground. The door got hit and creaked a little. I breathed out a sigh of relief. That's all it was, just that stupid door getting pushed around by the wind. That's when I saw something move near the door. My heart and breathing stopped as I twisted around to see what it was. No good, I had to swing my body around to face it. I wish I hadn't. I wish I'd just ran back the way I'd come and not been so god damn curious.

  When I turned around all I saw was shadows. Not just any shadows, though, these moved against the light from the sky. They crawled down from the roof of the mausoleum, onto the wall and turned toward the far corner away from me. A tree had nestled its trunk against the side of the low building, and the shadow slunk between the half inch-wide space between the rotting vegetation and the wall. I waited breathless for the shadow to creep to the other side of the tree, but I wasn't prepared for a man to step out from behind the trunk.

  He was tall, about six foot, with dark black hair slicked back but for a few short strands that brushed across his forehead. His face was definitely handsome, with pale blue eyes and a chiseled nose like those you see on Greek statues. His face was thin but not pointed, and his lips were a luscious red. He wore a black, plain shirt with buttons down the center, and his pants were clean and fancy, like dress pants for a wedding except they were black. His shoes were simple and also black.

  I would have been glad for him to be looking at me if he didn't give off such a creepy vibe. It was unsettling the way he stood so still staring at me with those eyes that were so pale they almost glowed in the dark. I jumped back when he swept his arm out in front of himself and bowed at the waist.

  "Good evening," he greeted me. His voice held a hint of an accent. Not foreign, just old-fashioned, like he was speaking the words in a way that wasn't used any more. Clearly and concisely.

  "Um, h-hi," I replied.

  "You are a long time in coming," he continued.

  "What?" My end of this conversation wasn't exactly intelligent, but his was just downright confusing. I glanced around hoping to see any of the others, even Rob, but nobody was there. We were completely alone. "I know this sounds crazy, but my boyfriend chased me in here and I've sort of lost my way. Could you tell me how to get out?"

  "Why would you wish such a thing?" the man asked me.

  I pulled my arms up against my chest as he eyed every inch of my body with his careful, unblinking gaze. He never made a move that wasn't necessary. Heck, I couldn't even see him breath. "Because I have to get back to my dorm. I have homework to do tomorrow and-"

  The man took a slow, careful step toward me and that shut me up. I likewise took a step back to keep my distance, and he stopped. Those pale blue eyes looked into mine, and suddenly the world changed. It wasn't that everything stopped, but that I was pulled out of the world. I no longer felt the breeze against my cheeks or the crunch of the leaves beneath my shoes. Even my arms and legs were no longer a part of me as their weight was lifted from my commands. It was both a freeing and terrifying sensation. The burden was lifted, but so was the control.

>   Then I stepped forward. I hadn't commanded myself to move. I should have been terrified and trying to scream or shout, but I couldn't. Correction, I just didn't want to. His eyes had me, all of me, body and mind, though there was a deep fear inside me that tempered my eagerness to follow his will. My feet led me forward and stopped me in front of him. I gazed up into his face, captured by those eyes, and he smiled down on me. He reached up a hand and cupped my chin between his fingers. For all my numbness I could still feel him, and my lips parted in a quiet gasp. His fingers were cold, as cold as the grave.

  "Are you afraid of me, little one?" he whispered to me. He leaned in to where his lips brushed against mine. My body trembled against the touch. "Do you shake with fear, or something else? Excitement, perhaps? Eagerness?"

  I couldn't reply, but he wasn't expecting any. Being so close to his smoldering eyes, I felt myself falling into a dark place filled with shadows and whispers. Inside such a place I was alone, and yet not, because he was there with me, guiding me through the darkness into a world I couldn't fathom. His voice came to me as though echoing down a long passage.

  "So lovely. I have lost so many, but you are here now, and I will not let you leave me."

  Through my dark daze I watched him lean closer. Our lips touched, and then pressed against one another. The kiss was deep and forceful, but not rough. He parted my lips but his tongue didn't come to play. Instead I felt a tingle through my mouth as a wisp of something slid down my throat. My body took in the wisp and responded with a flush of heat. A blush danced across my cheeks, and when he finally pulled away he mischievously smiled down at me.

  "That is only a taste of what I offer," he told me. He reached up one of his hands and softly brushed his fingers along my cheek. "Would you like to feel more?"

  I didn't have the power or will to refuse, and he swooped in for another deep, passionate kiss.

  "Jess! Jess!"

  Somebody was calling my name. That broke the spell. I gasped out when I felt the weight of the world rush back to me. My limbs were my own, the leaves crunched beneath my feet once more, and the breeze chilled me to the bone. The man snapped his head up and looked over my own. His smile turned to a scowl, and the expression twisted his face into a mask of hatred and annoyance. I cringed back from such a face and tried to free myself from his grasp. He looked back down to me, no longer the lover but something different, something not of this world. It both frightened and excited me.