Haunted Rayne

13 - Library Research

It was only supposed to be one night. That was all he promised her.

But one night turned into two. Then three. Then four. And suddenly, before Lucas Abbot could even blink, he and Rayne had spent every night together for an entire week. They no longer slept in separate beds. Instead, they shared the sofa, cuddled into one another for warmth and comfort from the restless whispers. Lately, the shadows that surrounded them began to morph; they stretched, shaping into bipedal silhouettes, like an entire crowd of people had been summoned from pure, unmitigated blackness.

Last night, one of the whispers took shape, too.

Lucas could've sworn he heard one of them whisper his name . . .

On Saturday evening, the boys met up in the shack for a few hours to smoke and play cards, and Lucas hoped evidence of their sleepovers wasn't palpable. He studied Cole as he lit the wood-burning stove, searching for any sign of recognition in his features. When none came, he studied his movements, committing each step to memory as Cole set fire to the stove and closed the iron door. Lucas wasn't comfortable with fire, nowhere near as comfortable as Cole was, but he was determined to figure it out. Something in him knew that he and Rayne would be staying in the shack every night now. At least until winter came, forcing them back into their dorms.

The following morning, Lucas stumbled upon the crew gathered in the Dormitory stairwell. Cole and Pierce wore faded jeans and cotton tees—Pierce's gray and Cole's navy green—while David had on his favorite gym shorts and a matching muscle shirt, probably gearing up to do an intense bodyweight workout after this. Lucas walked up to them, dripping with sweat from a co-ed soccer match he'd just had with some kids from Biology class.

To Pierce, Cole said, "You think Jackie has something Rayne can borrow?"

"What're you guys talking about?" asked Luke, using a towel to wipe a heavy fall of perspiration from his neck and forehead.

Pierce nodded to Cole. "He doesn't think Rayne has anything to wear to the dance."

"She's going?" Lucas sounded more surprised than he'd intended.

"Yeah." Cole furrowed his brow. "Why wouldn't she be?"

"I don't know. I just didn't realize it was her scene, that's all." Lucas paused. "I mean, did you ask her?"

"What, you don't think she'll say yes?"

"I didn't say that."

"That's what it sounded like."

"How could I know something like that, Cole?"

"Okay, so, what's the problem?"

Lucas bit the inside of his cheeks. "I just think you shouldn't jump to conclusions and make all these assumptions. You can't keep treating her like Bianca and expect her to like you." He suppressed a flinch, bracing himself for what he assumed was an inevitable blow, as he said, "You've gotta be different this time, man."

Surprisingly, Cole stood very still, the fold in his brow growing deeper and deeper until suddenly, it relaxed. "You're right," he said, surprising both Lucas and the boys. "No, you're right." He looked to Pierce. "If Rayne says yes, then let me know what Jackie says about that dress."

"You got it," said Pierce.

Tension eased from Luke's shoulders only to crawl right back in and intensify tenfold. He didn't know why. Cole and Pierce were laughing now, arguing and betting over how many muscle-ups David could accomplish with a hangover, but for some unknown reason, Lucas's apprehension festered.

He wasn't sure what he was feeling or why, but if he had to describe it, he would have said it resembled the violent descent of an aircraft: Lucas was alone on that plane, gripping flimsy armrests as turbulence rattled him. Diving nose-first, the cabin would deploy oxygen masks, nearly a hundred of them, countless streamers for his party of one. But Lucas wouldn't be able to reach for any of them. Because if he let go of those flimsy little dividers beneath his arms, then his seatbelt would deteriorate, and Lucas would fly up—way up high and into the ceiling. No, he would fly through the ceiling and into the sky, only to plummet back to Earth and meet his dreaded end, kissing the pavement and falling straight through to the Hell that awaited him down below.