Whispered Darkness by Jessica Sorensen Page 0,14

I say. “But I get you’re worrying. Trust me; I’ve stressed about it myself. But I’ve also searched and searched and searched, and this person is the only one who seems to maybe know about this whole dying and coming back to life thing.”

He lowers his hand from my face. “Can I see the emails?”

“Yeah, sure. I don’t have my phone with me, but you can come to my house. Or I can just pull them up on your phone now.”

His gaze sweeps the forest around us and the shadows creeping around in the distance. “Actually, can we just go to my place? Being out here is creeping me the hell out. And I’m kind of worried that if your mom finds out I was at your house, she might call the police on my ass.”

“My mom doesn’t think you tried to kill me,” I explain. “I told you that already.”

He picks at his fingernails. “I know, but she’s not a huge fan of me, either.”

I wish I could tell him he’s wrong, but the lie won’t leave my lips, so all I can do is nod and feel the guilt that comes with it.

4

Harlynn

We remain fairly quiet during the drive to Porter’s house where Kingsley has been staying. Or, that’s what I thought. Eventually, I realize he’s not driving in the direction of Porter’s house.

“I thought you were staying with Porter?” I ask, glancing at the neighborhood that we’re driving through.

“I was,” he replies as he turns into an apartment complex located about five miles away from my house. “But it was only until we got our own place. There wasn’t supposed to be an apartment available at this place until a few more days, but one opened up earlier than the landlord thought, so we moved in this morning.”

“Oh.” I peer around at the apartment complex lit up by porch lights and moonlight.

Hardly anyone is around, and the forest is close, the taunting shadows reminders of what is hiding in those trees.

Kingsley parks the car then shuts off the engine, but he doesn’t take the keys out of the ignition. “If you’re not comfortable being here, I can take you home, and we can do this in the morning.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that …” I chew on my bottom lip. “The forest makes me nervous.”

“I know. It makes me nervous, too, but I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,” he assures me.

“I know.” I reach over the console, take the keys out of the ignition, and hand them to him. “Let’s go inside so we don’t have to look at it anymore.”

He wraps his fingers around the keys, takes them from me, and nods. Then we climb out of the car and make our way across the grass, walking side by side. Our arms brush, touching just enough that I can feel his warmth. It feels like it’s not enough, though, and I have the strangest urge to reach over and hitch my pinkie with his. I almost do, but then we reach the stairs and he motions for me to go first.

“It’s the top one on the left,” he tells me.

I start up the stairs, wondering why he asked me to go first. When I glance over my shoulder, I see he’s walking close behind me, his gaze skimming across the parking lot and forest.

“Is everything okay?” I ask as we reach the top of the stairway.

He nods then moves by me to unlock the door. “I just get a little uneasy when the shadows are out.”

“Me, too.” I chew on my thumbnail as he turns the doorknob and opens the door. “How long have you been able to see them? Has it been since you …?” I bite down on my tongue, unsure if he wants me to talk about this aloud.

He reaches inside and flips on the light. “The first time I saw them was the day after … while I was in the hospital. I had just woken up, and one was hovering over me.”

My eyes go huge. “Holy crap, one got that close to you?”

He nods as he steps inside and motions for me to come in. “It was the only time it happened, and while I’m not sure, it kind of felt like maybe, if I hadn’t woken up that moment, it may have done something to me.”

As I step inside, my gaze skims across the leather sofa, the coffee table, and the flat screen propped against the