Catching Temptation (In Darkness She Fades (Book 1) Read online

  Aunt Sally hauls her thick luggage into the kitchen, while the boys run upstairs to find the largest bedrooms. The floorboards moan overhead. Particles of dust twinkle when falling through the rays of sunlight penetrating the windows. Aunt Sally sneezes in the other room. “We’ll have to clean the ceilings, too.”

  I halt at the mantel. Mesmerized by the pearl-white mask, I run my fingertips along the silky feathers. Tiny diamonds outline the cutout eyes. “Gorgeous.”

  My black fingernails grip the mantel. Lint-like dust and a tiny spider twitch in an attempt to escape my fingers. Lifting my filthy hand to my face, I grimace, and wipe it on my torn jeans.

  I reach for the mask, but then halt. As I observe the mask’s unique artistry, a disturbing fact troubles me. Not a speck of dust lies on the mask. Gently raising the mask to my eye-level, I wonder if someone broke into the house and left it. My nervous laughter echoes off the walls. No. Shaking my head of the stupidity of the idea, I decide the Real Estate agent might have left it here or possibly the last owners. The images of my stalkers resurface. Shaking my head, I growl. “Get a grip, Temptation. Nothing’s in here. I’m starting over.”

  I abandon the mask back on the mantel and stroll into the kitchen. My coined hip scarf pings across my hips. Mahogany cabinets, tile countertops, and modern stainless steel appliances instantly crush my negative attitude toward the old home. An antique red stove with gold trimming stands in the corner and adds character to the kitchen, along with the multi-toned stone flooring.

  “How do you like it?” Aunt Sally asks, holding her hands together in a prayer-like motion against her red lips. “I am, of course, going to have granite counter-tops installed, but the rest of it only needs cleaning. Outside needs a little work. The broken windows will be replaced this week. Your uncle said someone should be out this afternoon to cut the grass.”

  “That’s fast.” I amble around the room in awe of the beauty of the ancient house. “How can you and Uncle Jack afford this place? The outside needs some work, but most of the appliances are worth a lot of money.”

  “Actually, we were lucky.” Aunt Sally bustles around the kitchen, opening cabinets and searching for abandoned treasures. Her high-heels click every time she takes a step. “After your uncle received his new position in the company, they awarded him with a small bonus, and well...we entertained the idea of living in a small town. Not as much crime and you’ve more of a supportive community. This house had been empty and on the market for years and the seller wanted to get rid of it for almost any price.”

  My eyebrows arch, causing the tiny crystals, and bindi tattoo on my lower forehead to rise. “It didn’t strike you as a little odd?”

  Aunt Sally picks up an old figurine and begins rubbing the dirt off with her thumb. “The agent assured us it wasn’t selling because of the real estate market. I suppose they don’t get many new townspeople often and when they do, the newcomers aren’t seeking a huge house to settle into. A colleague at your uncle’s work said it’s a wonderful place to raise a family.”

  “Who was the colleague?”

  “Alfred Blare, I believe.”

  Footsteps stomp down the staircase, causing the cameo-style paintings on the wall to shake. Daniel and Nathaniel jump down the last few stairs and sprint into the kitchen.

  “We found our rooms and they’re awesome!”

  “Wonderful!” Aunt Sally claps her hands together. The motion reminds me of valley-girls on Hollywood reality shows. “Why don’t you go find your room, Temptation?”

  “We already found it and you’re gonna love it.” Daniel yanks me toward the staircase.

  “Joyness.” While ascending the stairs, the railing feels sleek and wavy under my palm like the spirals on a unicorn’s horn. At the top of the stairs, the two boys lead me into a cobweb hallway. I cringe at the sight of twitching spiders. They dip up and down from the ceiling, using their threads like bungee cords.

  “Why’d you stop?” Nathaniel crosses his arms over his printed T-shirt. He rolls his head backward and stares up at the ceiling. Hundreds of tiny eyes gleam across the ceiling and walls. They sparkle like stars in the darkness – beautiful from far away, but dangerous up close.

  “Temptation’s afraid of spiders! Temptation’s afraid of spiders!”

  “Shut up.” I maneuver my body around the cobwebs. The fat spiders twiddle their barbed legs an inch over the top of my hair.

  Daniel thrusts out his arms to try and trap me in the hall. I shove his freckled arms out of the way and hurry to the door at the end of the hall. I wait for the boys to catch up.

  Daniel opens the door and steps inside with Nathaniel glued to his side.

  I follow through the doorway and brace myself. A click comes from behind. Light illuminates the bedroom.

  “Ta-da! You get the smallest room in the house.” Daniel retreats into hallway. Nathaniel snickers and follows behind him. Their echoes dull.

  The narrow shape of the room makes it appear small to the eye. All the furniture is hidden beneath white tarps. A few paintings lean against the Victorian wallpaper which is a deep shade of red wine. Dust-bunnies collect on the floor, in the corners of the room, and on the tarps. I sigh at the amount of work to be done. Allowing my head to drop backward against the doorframe, I gasp. A magnificent chandelier hangs overhead, sparkling from the rays of the artificial sunlight.

  “Temptation!”

  I jump at Aunt Sally’s scream. “What?”

  “Start bringing your boxes up to your room.”

  “In a minute.” A covered object, about six feet tall, catches my eye. Arm outstretched, I tug at the cloth. “Creepy.”

  The painting portrays a grand ballroom with hundreds of people dressed up in elaborate shades of violet, crimson, and gold. The people wear skeletal masks.

  It must be a coincidence.

  In the middle of the dancers, a man in a white mask gazes out of the painting. His skin shines like bronze and his pool of black hair flows to his shoulders. “Hmm,” I stoop down to study his arched smile and handsome features. “He’s kinda hot in a freaky sort of way,” I mumble, taking note of his eyes, black as coal, shining through the mask. Maybe it’s part of the mask.

  I absorb the whole painting one last time. It looks so Gothic. Like a morbid masquerade. Reaching for the edge of the painting, I uproot the heavy canvas.

  “Weird.” Behind the canvas is a closed door. Wonder if this is the closet? Grasping the cool doorknob, I push, and then grope the wall until the light switch pokes my hand.

  For a moment, I forget to breathe. A bathroom with marble floors ends at a claw-foot bathtub. Lavish curtains shimmer in the light, even with dust and cobwebs. A decorative oval mirror hangs above a golden sink.

  I stare at my mirror image. I do not like viewing my reflection for very long. It is too painful. Though my skin is not as dark as moms, my features favor mom.

  “Miss you, Mom.”

  The lights black out.

  Crap. Why is the electricity going out?

  The bedroom door squeaks. I take a step. It slams shut, abandoning me to complete darkness. “Dammit Daniel, can’t you leave me alone for two freakin’ minutes?” At the bathroom doorway, I blindly ambled into my bedroom. I fumble to find the light switch. The small bump flips up.

  Nothing happens.

  “Crap.”

  Using the wall as my guide, I find my bedroom door. I turn the cool knob. It will not open. “What kind of house has the locks on the outside of the door? Those drapes must be as thick as denim to keep the room so dark during the day.” I attempt to maneuver my way across the room, but stub my toes against the bedpost in the process. I curse and limp closer to the draped windows.

  A pair of eyes shines in the darkness.

  A cold hand captures my scream, while an arm seizes my waist. I never met a monster who takes on the physical body of a man. The creatures stalk, mock, and threaten me, but they never touch me like this except for the monster in my drea
ms.

  The monster removes his hand from my mouth.

  “Get away from me!”

  He does not heed my command. The arm gripping my waist remains strong, but gentle.

  Shivers travel over my body. “Are you with the masked monster I saw in the forest today?”

  “Monster?” His voice hikes, creating a rich, deep tone full of amusement.

  I heard his voice before in the past. The smell of pine wafts from his skin.

  “Is that what you think we are?” He strokes a stray hair away from my face, proving his spectrum of sight in the darkness. I despise the loss of my vision. The urge to run generates a prickling sensation over my entire body.

  “What do you want?” My coined hip scarf clangs when he tugs me harder against his chest. The aroma of wet earth fills my nostrils when the strong creature bends his head to whisper into my ear.

  “Do not fear me, Temptation. I’ve been watching you. Only you can help me. Save me.”

  “Temptation!”

  The arm uncoils from my waist. His fingertips linger on my neck. The next second the chandelier lights illuminate my bedroom once again. I blink at the place where the monster’s eyes had appeared. He is gone. The drapes billow as if a breeze swept through the room. Chest shuddering, I back up until I hit the bedpost. He had been watching me. At my vanity, I gaze at my shaken reflection. Save him. Save him from what?

  “Temptation Belladonna Falls, quit being lazy, march your butt down here, and grab your boxes!”

  Aunt Sally’s voice jogs me back into reality. Irritation allows my muscles to work. “I’m coming!” I growl and then mutter, “Hold your stampede of horses.” Abandoning my thoughts, I escape with one fearful glance at the empty room. Karma is so going to freak out.

  Chapter Two

  Rosewood High

  “I can’t believe it either,” I declare into my cell phone. “To think Rosewood is a place and not a person. I feel stupid.”

  Karma laughs on the other end. “At least you found it, right? Wish I could be there with you.”

  “Least we can still talk. What do you think I should do?” Karma and I discussed on numerous occasions what questions we would ask Rosewood, but that plan is dead.

  “I guess you’ll have to try and find your dream monster. Ask him what he needs saving from. You’d better be careful. These creatures sound different from the ones we’re used to.”

  “They are different. I thought he was going to laugh at me when I called him a monster.”

  “So you have another question; what is he? Make a list. I’ll think up a few more questions. You sound like you’re out of breath. What are you doing?”

  “Crunches.”

  “Seriously? I thought you stopped doing them before bed.”

  “It’s the only thing that helps me sleep. If I wear myself out, I won’t have nightmares of the accident.”

  Our flow of words pauses.

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “That’s what I hear.”

  “Mom’s calling me for dinner. Call me when you start school. Hope it goes well for you.”

  “Me too.” I do not want Karma to leave, but I say, “Bye.”

  Karma hangs up.

  I collapse on my four-poster bed and toss my cell phone on the comforter; exhausted from carrying box after box into the 3000-square-foot house. “Maybe Aunt Sally buying such a huge house wasn’t a good idea after all.” A thick baseball bat rests against the bedpost. I keep sweeping over the area where the monster man vanished. Shivers, similar to the feeling of carbonated liquid on my tongue, roll down my back and sizzle. The thought of demonic creatures attacking me whenever they pleased deeply disturbs me.

  As I lounge on the newly made bed, the scent of the fresh linins wafts through the air. White tarps still cover the furniture. I have been so busy helping Aunt Sally with cleaning I did not have time to finish my room. A framed photograph of my parents lies on top of the veiled dresser. I stare at dad. His facial features mirror his twin brother. This fact makes it difficult for me to look at Uncle Jack. Mom, on the other hand, looks like a princess from an Indian fairytale. Away from the photo, a tower of boxes blocks my bedroom door. No way are those fat, freaky spiders going to invade my room while I’m sleeping.

  Disgusting things.

  Speaking of freaky. I stare at the drapes capturing the darkness so well. Those needed to be open.

  Naked legs off the comforter, I amble over to the bulky drapes and tug on their drawstrings. The drapes part and give me a grand view of the front lawn. The shadows of the night devour most of the yard, except where it touches the gravel road. The streetlights flicker when hypnotized bugs ram into their intoxicating glow. Closer to the window, I stumble – almost falling. “What the heck?”

  A dusty tarp covers an object in front of the half-circle of windows. I lift it. Dust clouds the air like baby powder, sparkling with flecks of silver when the streetlight from below hits the particles. Swiping the dust away, my other hand rests on a window seat decorated with a couple of lavish pillows in different hues of purple. “Wicked! My room freakin’ rocks.” The drapes billow, reminding me of my uninvited visitor. “Well, kind of.” His feral eyes enter my thoughts. Those eyes, shining in the darkness, possess a frightening promise of abduction.

  Still enraptured with the unexpected treasure and foreboding memories, a sharp howl of the wind derails my attention. My head snaps up at the faint cackles of children’s laughter. The frost from my breath spreads out across the glass. Forehead pressing against the cool glass, I stare down at the road and expel an uncontrolled shriek. Out in the middle of the street are five teenage boys on motorcycles. Their blank stares shine in the streetlight like an animal’s eyes. They are not human, nor are they monsters.

  The pale boy at the front of the line grins like a devil with a contract. He inclines his head to me in a mock bow. His bleached hair glows as if it were a spiked halo.

  He never blinks.

  None of the boys do.

  Revving up his engine, he speeds off in the direction of town. The other boys follow and the unsettling laughter dissipates along with them, abandoning me to the music of crickets.

  The bedroom door flies open. The empty boxes guarding the door sail across the room, hitting me like dodge balls. I jerk around, knocking my head against the window, and emitting another horrifying shriek. Dammit, is everyone trying to put me back in the mental institution.

  “What’s the matter, Crazy? Did the big bad spider – whoa!” Daniel spots the luxurious window seat. “I didn’t know this room had one of those.”

  A trickle of pleasure rolls down my spine at Daniel’s covetous gaze. “Guess what else I have, genius?” Away from the fogging window, I stroll over to the bathroom door. “Ta-Da,” I say, mimicking Daniel’s earlier choice of words.

  “I don’t have my own bathroom. This is my room.”

  “Nope. Too bad. You had first choice and you graciously gave it to me.” Fluttering my eyelashes, I ruffle his hair as I would a puppy dog. “You’re such a sweet guy.”

  His freckled lips part to protest further, but Aunt Sally strides into the bathroom.

  “Wha–?” Aunt Sally touches her mouth. “This is beautiful! I had no idea this room came with a bathroom.”

  “I found it when I moved a few things around. I also have a window sea–”

  “Mom, it’s not fair. Me and Nathaniel should have this room!” Daniel stomps his foot.

  My hands ache to slap him. Sometimes I wonder how he ever made it into high school.

  “It’s Nathaniel and I – and why are you complaining? You boys have the largest room in the house and there’s a perfectly fine bathroom across from your room.”

  “But–”

  “Leave your cousin alone. It’s time to go to bed anyway. It’s almost midnight and Nathaniel is passed out on the couch.”

  Daniel’s glare weaves an invisible tale of murder. Aunt Sally places a hand on his shoulder a
nd steers him out of the room.

  Contentment swells in my chest. Though I dislike Aunt Sally, she does not act like a wicked stepmother from a fairytale. The covered furniture teases my curiosity. I grasp the cloth nearest to me and slide it off.

  “Wow!” A wooden dresser, hand-carved with angels and demons, has luminous mirrors on each drawer. They glitter in the chandelier light. A mirror lay across the top of the red-mahogany dresser. Though the carvings are beautiful, the carved demons kill the mood of the whole room. Beneath a separate cotton cloth, reveals a vanity with the same carvings and mirrors as the dresser. It is awesome compared to pressed wood bookcases and cheap dressers that I am used too. I stare at my reflection. My hair stops at my waist and matches my bohemian tank top and jeans airbrushed with tribal designs similar to henna tattoos.

  A smile forms on my blood-red lips. The jeans, a gift from Karma, warded off many impish creatures in Urbanna. Hopefully it will keep working in Rosewood.

  A burly object in the shadow-laden corner catches my attention. I move away from the vanity. The object draws me nearer like a magnetic pull. I yank on the cloth. A wardrobe, matching the rest of the bedroom furniture, almost touches the ceiling. Its doors creak. I grip the sleek knob and peer inside.

  Shining eyes leap out.

  Too startled to invoke any sound, I shut my eyes and lift my arms to ward off my predator.

  Nothing.

  No roaming hands or even breath caress my tingling skin. A tiny sound, similar to the beat of a ceiling fan, stops at the window. The small creature spread its’ wings, desperate to escape the bedroom.

  I relax. “Crap, I’m going to have high blood pressure before I even turn twenty.” I march over to the creature cowering next to the window. As I open the window, it flies off into the night. “Stupid bats.” I kneel on the window seat and lean against the frame. “Guess they’re better than spiders, though.”