Whisper in the Rain

Chapter Two

The familiar voice caught me off guard and I stumbled as my head snapped up to see if I was hearing things. I wasn't.

On the other side of the net, Miles O'Fallon was clapping. His vibrant green eyes glowed happily as he widened his stance and readied himself for the next serve. When he combed a single hand through his thick, disheveled hair in an attempt to get it out of his face, I hid my flushing cheeks and took my place on the court. Something about the way he looked at me had my heart thundering wildly in my chest, and that was something I needed to avoid.

"Whose team are you on, homo?"

Damn, Anthony...

Miles should have kept his mouth shut. The last thing I needed was Anthony taunting someone else because of me. However, when I lifted my eyes toward the net, Miles was smiling, completely unperturbed by Anthony's remark.

After that, I shut out the opposing team, focusing only on the ball volleying back and forth across the net. I was able to lose myself in the game, something I hadn't been able to do in a long, long time.

Aside from Anthony on the other side of the court, no one made a jab at the way my shoulders hunched forward while my hair thrashed freely in front of my face. No one commented on the way I ran as if I were running from something instead of scurrying across the court to bump a ball over a net. And no one said a word about how I didn't call the ball when it came sailing my way.

It was easy. Fun. The way a high school gym class should be.

That should have been my first clue right there that things were about to go dreadfully, horrifically wrong.

The ball sailed over and I got into position- knees bent, arms stretched out in front of me, ready to bump the ball so the blonde in front of me could set it in motion for shaggy hair to spike back over.

"Grace has it!" Blondie called, hands already outstretched for the next hit.

And then, before I could make heads or tails of anything, my world came to a screeching halt. I sucked in a breath as my eyes blinked furiously, trying to clear the haze obstructing my peripheral vision. My limbs went cold as they lifted up in an instinctual defensive pose. Before I could stop them, my feet tangled beneath me and I fell flat on my backside, barely registering the pain shooting through my pelvis as terror threatened to choke the breath from my lungs.

"Grace!" Someone yelled in the distance.

The ball sailed past my head, whipping my hair out of my face with its speed. But I didn't even flinch. Instead, I braced myself as two pale blue eyes and lips smeared with dark red lipstick obstructed my view. There was no escaping. Not this time. She was too fast, too close.

"Help me! Please, make it stop!" The distraught woman cried, spraying spit in my face as I used my legs to propel myself backward, away from the apparition.

Her wild, lost eyes never blinked, never wavered. The darkness surrounding her threatened to engulf me and I held my breath, scared to look away. My entire body trembled at the sight as adrenaline took hold of my heart.

No! Not now! Not here!

"It hurts!" She cried again, a string of red drool exploding from her mouth as tears leaked over her cheeks. "It hurts so much. I just want it to stop!"

"I... I'm sorry," I stuttered as my back hit the gym wall. There was nowhere else to go. No escape. I was trapped.

She slapped both hands against the concrete wall above my head and I coughed to keep from gagging as she leaned in close. The scent of rotting flesh and mildewed earth snaked its way into my nostrils and my stomach soured.