Caspian approached the bottom of the ladder and looked up at me. Wind tickled my ear.
“He’s scary,” the ghost whimpered. A whispered secret from a dead little girl who should no longer know fear.Who was scary?
I got to the bottom of the ladder and rubbed my arms. Caspian cocked his head at my freaked expression and pulled me into him right away, rubbing my back in soothing circles. The lump in my throat finally started to relax away.
“Why were you up there?”
“I thought my aunt and the crew were up there. Come on, I’m not staying in here.” I pulled back, begging with my eyes for him to follow me out. Caspian peered up into the attic then looked back down at me.
“Did something happen?”
“Of course not,” I said quickly. He looked me in the eyes and I could tell he didn’t believe me. “Can we leave?” I pressed, feeling desperate to get out of this house. I shouldn’t have let myself get led in here.
“We can do whatever you want,” Caspian said, cupping my face and brushing his thumb over my jaw. “I’m sorry I wasn’t with you,” he whispered as he leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. Except his lips brushed too close to mine, hitting the corner of my mouth, making me suck in a startled breath. He pulled back smiling in pleasure at my reaction then grabbed my hand and led me back down the hall.
My face tingled where he had kissed. I touched my fingertips to the corner of my lips when he wasn’t looking and felt uneasy by the strong reaction such a small thing had on me.
I was in trouble with him. Here I was, feeling half breathless from an innocent peck. Caspian was just so…alluringand his eyes were always glimmering with flirtation.
I knew his peck meant nothing but some part of me didn’t want to agree. Which made me feel nervous. I didn’t want to nurse an unrequited crush.
I tugged my hand from his. He looked at me with a frown then put his hands in his pant pockets.
A slamming noise came from behind us, startling me enough to scream. Caspian grabbed me immediately, pushing me behind him as he jerked around to face the noise.
“What is it?” I asked, peering around him, my body shivering from the sudden jolt of adrenaline. My gaze traveled down the long, dark hallway and I realized what was wrong.
I tilted my gaze to the attic door. It was closed, the ladder suddenly gone despite being down a moment ago.
The sounds of people moving fast down the hallway had me sliding beside Caspian. I didn’t want to be found shivering and scared behind him. I wasn’t supposed to believe in these things.
“What was that?” Aunt Maria asked, her eyes wide and face open in excitement.
“The attic door closed on its own,” Caspian said and my Aunt’s face screwed in confusion.
“The attic has been sealed shut for decades. No one has been able to open it," she said. My mom came walking up behind my aunt, her eyes heavy on me and a satisfied look on her face.
“You can’t run from it,” she said to me.
“Watch me,” I ground out in frustration and anger, grabbing Caspian’s hand. I stomped to the stairs ready to get out of this damned house and away from my family’s never-ending pressure.
Ghosts scared me. The paranormal scared me. Yet time and time again my family tried to force it on me. They didn’t get it. They never would.
My mother was one hundred percent right that I had this damn curse more than the rest of them.A blessing, she would always say but she didn’tlivewith it. With the voices whispering through the night. With the strange things always going on around me.
No one understood the foreboding sensation that it was only a matter of time before some type of monster captured me.
“Ava,” Caspian said as I tugged him outside the house, breathing in the fresh air like I’d just come up from the water. I ripped the mic from my shirt and he quickly did the same, leaving them on the porch for someone else to deal with.
“What?” I snapped and he took control, pulling me around the side of the house, away from the curious people left outside during filming. Their eyes followed us intently and I was reminded again how famous Caspian was becoming.
At the side of the house, it was dark and quiet. Goosebumps popped up on my arms as I spied a cellar door and I tried to pull up short but Caspian just held my hand tighter and pulled me a few more feet before we stopped.
He suddenly got in my space, hands going on either side of my head as my back hit the brick. His head dipped down, dark eyes peering into mine. My heart sped up and I uncrossed my arms, pressing my palms to the wall behind me.
“What are you doing?” I asked, sounding breathy. He held my gaze and the seconds stretched, anticipation growing in my gut. Finally, he sighed and pulled me into his arms. I felt myself still trembling from before. I hadn't even realized.
“It’s okay, Ava,” he said calmly, squeezing me in his arms and I felt my girded tension melt from my body as I clung to Caspian. I was taken back to high school, the reason Caspian knew that I was hiding my fear.
