Coldhearted (9781311888433) Read online

  “You’re speculating,” Diana said, after being silent for so long. She wasn’t convinced.

  “You’re right,” Mason said to Diana, and then cut his eyes at Edie. “What if two, three, hell, a dozen ghosts attach themselves to you at the sanatorium?”

  Edie shook her head. “I don’t think he’d let them. He thinks he owns me.”

  She shivered, feeling a cold presence beside her.

  “I do,” the ghost affirmed in her ear.

  Mason reached out and grabbed her arms, his eyes wide with alarm. “It’s him, isn’t it? What’s happening?”

  Edie hesitated, and then said, “He said he owns me.”

  Mason pulled Edie to him, crushing her against his chest. “He can’t have you.” Mason held her tight, as she did him. “You’re mine.”

  A loud growl reverberated around the room, and then suddenly, Mason was torn from her embrace. His feet left the floor, as his body was being hoisted up by unseen hands, and then he flew across the room, before landing with a crash into Diana’s bean bag chair.

  Edie rushed toward Mason, panicking. “Mason?”

  “He’s afraid,” the ghost said in her ear, and then chuckled. “So are Diana and Madelyn. They taste so sweet.”

  Edie ignored him and held her boyfriend’s hand. “Mason?”

  He winced as he got up, being helped by Edie and Diana. “Sorry about your bean bag, Di,” he apologized.

  Diana waved a dismissive hand at the beans falling out on the floor. “I don’t care about that. Are you all right?”

  Edie was the only one holding onto Mason and she didn’t want to let go. “Mason?” she said. “Don’t be afraid. He likes that.” She turned toward Diana and Madelyn. “Y’all too. Be strong. That’s what he likes: people who are afraid. It’s like a drug to him.”

  “I’ll try,” Madelyn said. She tucked her red hair behind her ears in perhaps a nervous gesture. “It’s kind of hard, you know?”

  “We have to,” Diana encouraged, putting an arm around Madelyn’s shoulders.

  Madelyn smiled, now confident, and wrapped an arm around her friend’s waist. “You’re right.”

  “Aw, how touching,” the ghost said, insincere. “They’re so brave, yet, so stupid.”

  Edie let go of Mason and clamped a hand on each side of her head, shielding her ears from his cold, heartless voice. Mason gently held her wrists, saying something—Edie didn’t know what—because the ghost was talking over him. Actually, he was inside her mind, his voice carrying across the synapses.

  “You can’t be rid of me that easily, Edie. Your little schemes won’t work. The other ghosts don’t know me, can’t see me. Going to the sanatorium with Jules is futile. You’ll accomplish nothing. Give up. Surrender. Surrender to me.”

  Despite his words, Edie had never felt happier than she did in this moment. When she let go of her head, Mason let go of her wrists, and she looked up at him, smiling.

  “What is it?” Mason was probably wondering what had brought about her abrupt, slightly manic, change in demeanor.

  “The ghost,” she said, beaming. “He doesn’t want me to go to the sanatorium this Saturday.”

  “And?” Mason said, not understanding her train of thought.

  “He’s scared,” Edie said. “I can tell it in his voice. The other ghosts know something, I’m sure of it.”

  Diana asked, “But why the sanatorium? Couldn’t you just as easily go to a graveyard”—she turned toward Madelyn—“or what about that old Civil War battlefield at the edge of town?” Madelyn nodded in agreement, and then Diana turned back toward Edie.

  “Lots of ghosts there, I bet.”

  Edie shook her head. “No, it’s the sanatorium.” She was beyond excited. “He’s afraid of that place, I know it.”

  “Then how about we go now?” Madelyn suggested. “Get this thing over with.”

  “Yeah,” Diana chimed in, approving.

  “No,” Mason said, waving his hands around in dissent. “How do we know this ghost isn’t playing some trick on you, Edie? Trying to lure you to some unsafe, abandoned loony bin?”

  “He’s not,” Edie argued softly. “I know him. I sensed his fear about the sanatorium.”

  Mason clenched his jaw, and then loosened it, saying, “So…you’re just that close?”

  “No,” Edie defended. “I-I just…I can’t explain it. I just know.”

  Diana stepped forward to ease the tension. “Maybe we’ll just wait until this Saturday,” she suggested, “just in case it is a ploy by your ghost, yeah?”

  “He’s not my ghost,” Edie said through clenched teeth. When Diana’s face fell, upset, Edie immediately apologized, feeling horrible. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just…I’m so tired of him, of this situation. I want it to end. Now.”

  Soon, she was being embraced in a smothering hug by Diana, Madelyn, and Mason.

  “I’m sorry,” Mason apologized, finding a space on her back to rub, competing with Diana and Madelyn. “I’m just…jealous, I guess.”

  Diana and Madelyn separated from Edie and quietly left the room.

  “There’s no reason for you to be,” Edie told him. “I’ll never choose him. It’ll always be you, Mason. I’ll never leave you.”

  Mason had been holding her face in his hands, listening to her speech, and then suddenly, he swooped down, and smashed his lips against hers. They kissed as if they were about to die; raw, passionate, wet.

  Then they were interrupted, as someone cleared her throat, coughing.

  Edie and Mason broke apart, and Edie turned to see Diana and Madelyn, standing at the threshold of Diana’s bedroom door.

  Diana said, “I’ve already talked to my parents and Madelyn’s called hers. They said it was all right.”

  Edie furrowed her brow. “What’s all right?” she repeated.

  Madelyn skipped to Edie’s side, giddy. “Di and I are going to spend the night with you at your house.”

  “Sleepover!” Diana sang, excited.

  “Am I invited?” Mason asked, showing a bit of a seductive smile at the prospect of bunking with three girls.

  “No boys allowed,” Madelyn declared, playfully pushing him aside. “Tonight’s all about Girl Power.” She raised her fists and Mason backed away, acting scared.

  Edie wasn’t so confident. “I don’t know y’all. You’ve seen the damage that he can do. Rochelle and Ravenna have both been hurt, and they weren’t even my friends.” Edie shook her head. “I can’t even imagine what he’d do to y’all.”

  Diana and Madelyn smothered her in another hug.

  Diana said, “Don’t worry about us. We’re tough. I’m the older sister of a one-year-old boy. Believe me, I’m tough.”

  Madelyn added, “Yeah, and I know karate. I watched an instructional video on YouTube, once.”

  Edie laughed. “I don’t think a chop to the back of the neck would help.”

  “Well, how about a knee-kick to the groin?” Madelyn offered, grinning.

  “You don’t need a black belt for that,” Mason commented wryly, shielding himself.

  “I got pointy knees,” Diana informed. “And elbows,” she added, exposing them for everyone to see.

  Edie laughed again. “Okay, okay, y’all are tough.” She sighed, happy. “Okay, gather your stuff ladies while I call my uncle and get his permission.”

  “Oh, I didn’t think of that,” Diana said with a worried grimace.

  “I’m sure he’ll be fine with it, but I should ask anyway.”

  ****

  Edie thanked her uncle and ended the call. She’d been right. He was fine with Diana and Madelyn coming over. The four of them then decided what to do: Edie would drive Diana over to her house. Madelyn would arrive at Edie’s after she’d gone home and packed. Madelyn would drive Diana to school in the morning. Mason would pick Edie up and take her to school in his truck.

  Madelyn left, and as Diana packed, Edie and Mason talked, while admiring the Halloween decorations. He
said because they’d had never went on that first date at Fabrizio’s, he wanted to make up for it. So after school, they’d go to the movies. Boy Meets Ghoul was playing and apparently it was the must-see movie of the year by the way everyone had been talking about it at school.

  “It’s scary, but funny,” Edie had heard Candie tell Quinn in the hallway between classes, trying to entice him to two hours of sitting in the dark. Quinn had mumbled something about “being busy” and “maybe another time.” When Edie and Quinn had brushed shoulders, passing each other in the hallway, he’d smiled and said “Hey,” before moving on.

  At least he doesn’t think I’m a witch. Or he didn’t care, finding that sexy or whatever. Edie knew that he’d only joined GPS at first to get with “Goth chicks,” but then, after being possessed once, he’d taken ghost-hunting for real.

  As she was wondering if he’d been possessed by a ghost or a demon, Mason squeezed her hand.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” Edie said back.

  They were sitting on the front steps of Diana’s house, waiting while she continued to pack. Edie had wanted to wait inside, but Danny had woken up, crying his little head off. It’d happened when Mrs. Christensen had urged Edie to say “goodbye” to the little tyke. He’d taken one look at Edie and went off like a bomb.

  I’m the only one who he doesn’t like. I’m the only one who he’s scared of.

  Back home, down south, she’d used to baby sit all the time and the kids had loved her. Edie figured Danny wasn’t scared of her, but what was attached to her; her ghost-admirer. She didn’t know if Danny could see the ghost, but he’d sensed his presence, his evil nature, and had responded the best way he knew how: by screaming. That was smart. Maybe she should be screaming too. Although she didn’t know what good it would do. She assumed screaming and showing fear was exactly what the ghost wanted.

  “What are you thinking about?” Mason asked, squeezing her hand again.

  “Life and its constant surprises,” she replied vaguely.

  “Surprises,” he repeated. “They can be good or bad.” He sighed, his breath visible, as well as his anguish. “I wish you weren’t going through this. I wish this damned ghost would just leave.” He shook his head. “I’m not possessive, you know? I mean, back in Diana’s room, I said you were mine, as if I were claiming you. I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. It’s just…I want you all to myself. Selfish, huh?”

  Edie shook her head. “No, it’s not selfish, and I didn’t take any offense when you said it. I know you’re not one of those bullies, who’ll bark at every guy who looks my way.” Edie squeezed his hand. “I’m yours and you’re mine.”

  He kissed her cheek and whispered, “Forever,” against her skin.

  She’d been freezing, but now his kiss and promise set her on fire. She snuggled against him, seeking to keep the flames going. She realized in this moment that he was the counterbalance to her ghost, who embodied everything cold and harsh and mean and violent, whereas Mason embodied everything warm and gentle and nice and passive.

  Who would win? The bad guy or the good guy?

  As an answer to her unspoken question, an unseen snowstorm erupted, blanketing her in chills again.

  “Edie,” a familiar, haunting voice called out. “Look.”

  She refused to submit and laid her head against Mason’s shoulder, trying to reheat herself.

  “Look or I’ll be very, very naughty,” he warned.

  She had no choice and gave in, turning her head toward the seemingly fake gravestones in Diana’s yard. Before, they’d looked unreal, obviously made of Styrofoam or some other material that wasn’t stone, but now they looked very, very real.

  Each one had a name: Landon St. John, Mason Fenwick, Russell Ballantine, Quinn McDermott, Diana Christensen, Madelyn Corrigan, and Julianna Desantiago.

  Curiously, there wasn’t a gravestone for her, but she didn’t take any pleasure in this. It seemed that he’d run out of markers. She was traumatized by the very fact that he was threatening the only family she had left, her friends, her acquaintances, and even those who’d rather drop dead than be her friend, Rochelle Lafayette and Ravenna Gallo, whose names were etched onto two gravestones beyond.

  Obviously, as the rational part of her mind debated with the paranoid part of her mind, these weren’t real tombstones, and considering, she was a hundred percent certain she wasn’t psychic, the ghost was playing tricks. He was trying to scare her, break her down, so he could feed off her fear.

  Well, she was afraid all right, there was no doubt about that, but as she’d told Mason, she knew the ghost. Not entirely. Not enough to realize that he didn’t want her going to the sanatorium. He was afraid, so that made her want to go even more. But she’d wait until Saturday like Mason wanted. She’d do that for him. And she really didn’t want to break in and be caught by the police. She didn’t want to be imprisoned with a ghost. There was no telling what kind of tricks that trickster would do and jail was scary enough.

  Instead of melting into a puddle of fear, she summoned up some courage, closed her eyes, and said the Lord’s Prayer. When she opened her eyes, the gravestones were back to being slanted decorations, with RIP, as the only marks upon its surfaces. The hands reaching out of the ground were still and non-threatening.

  “Is he talking to you again?”

  She looked over at Mason. “What?”

  “You were reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Were you hoping he was a demon or something and trying to rebuke him?”

  “Oh, I didn’t realize I said that out loud.” She didn’t want to tell him about the gravestones, so she informed him of a truth. “Whenever I would have bad dreams, my mom encouraged me to say the Lord’s Prayer.”

  “Did it work?”

  She nodded.

  “Did it work this time?”

  She shook her head. “No, I can feel him. I don’t think he’ll go away that easily.”

  “My preacher says sometimes it takes the combined efforts of many, of all Christian voices, crying out to the Lord, asking for his help.” He caressed her hand. “I’ll pray for you. I’ll pray for all of us.”

  He leaned forward to kiss her, but pulled back, when the front door slammed shut.

  “I’m ready!” Diana sang. She was holding a suitcase in each hand, and a backpack was secured behind her.

  Mason stood up and pulled Edie beside him, keeping their hands clasped. “It’s just for one night,” he said.

  Diana rolled her eyes. “You’re a boy. You don’t understand.”

  “You’re right, I don’t.” He’d been smiling, but now it faded into a worried frown. “Watch after my girl, all right?”

  Diana let go of the suitcase in her right hand and gave Mason a salute. “Maddie and I will protect her to our last dying breath.”

  Edie sucked in air, distraught at Diana’s declaration. “Don’t say that, Diana,” Edie insisted, but it sounded more like a scolding.

  Diana’s hand fell. “Sorry,” she apologized, looking upset.

  “It’s nothing you did,” Edie explained, speaking softly. “I just think it’s wise to not talk like that around him, okay?”

  Diana nodded and smiled. “Understood.” She picked her suitcase back up. “Well, are we ready for Operation Sleepover?”

  Edie answered by giving Diana her keys. “Load your bags in, then start the engine, and blast the heat, if you don’t mind.” As Diana was getting the car ready, Edie said her goodbyes to Mason. “Don’t worry,” she told him, as he held her in his arms.

  “I can’t help it,” he said, massaging her back. “I’ll worry because I care about you so much. Call me if anything happens, all right?”

  “Nothing will happen!” Diana yelled out the passenger window, obviously overhearing. She flexed her arm at Mason. “Girl Power!”

  Mason just smiled at Diana, shaking his head. He turned back toward Edie, but his smile disappeared, showcasing his worry. “I’m serious, Edie. Anyt
hing.”

  Edie nodded but she hoped that she wouldn’t have to call him, even though she knew that she’d miss him terribly, until they saw each other the next morning. He gave her a passionate kiss on her lips, and then he was gone, his truck’s taillights getting smaller and smaller, as he disappeared from Hawthorne City.

  Feeling like she’d been hit by an Arctic blast of wind, she ran to her car, hopped inside, and let the heat melt away the ice from her skin.

  Diana strapped on her seatbelt. “Can Maddie and I sleep in your bed, or are you one of those people who have to have boundaries?”

  “Of course you can sleep in my bed. I wouldn’t put you two on the floor. And if I had boundaries, I’d be more hysterical about this whole ghost business.” Edie strapped on her seatbelt too. “Will you be all right sleeping with a poltergeist?”

  “As long as he doesn’t hog the covers,” Diana joked.

  Edie couldn’t help laughing.

  Chapter 15

  Edie’s uncle had welcomed (rather, shyly) Diana and Madelyn, and then he’d retreated into his study, glad to be back on familiar ground.

  Edie had given the girls the grand tour of the downstairs (it’d been rather boring), and then they’d retreated to her room, where they’d changed into their pajamas.

  Now they were sitting cross-legged on her floor, gossiping and giggling.

  So far, the ghost hadn’t said one word to Edie, or thrown something across the room, but she knew that he hadn’t just detached himself from her. She could still feel him.

  She was shivering with a blanket wrapped around her. Diana and Madelyn weren’t feeling the same effects as she was. They were wearing nightshirts, exposing their bare legs, sans socks. Edie was glad that the ghost wasn’t affecting them, but she wished that she could enjoy the sleepover as well, without dealing with chattering teeth.

  “Do you want to get on the bed?” Diana asked, noticing Edie’s frigid state.

  “I doubt it would help, but okay.”

  They settled atop the comforter, but Edie got under, and when she did, she felt a little better. She was sitting near the headboard while Diana and Madelyn were sitting across from her. They wrapped blankets around themselves too, Edie assumed, out of show of support, so she wouldn’t look out of place.