Intertwined

“I hope you don’t mind, but I promised Sha

“A new kid?” Her brow puckered. “I hadn’t heard we’d gotten another.”

“Yeah, just today. His name’s John O’Co

“Wait. What?” Her nose wrinkled in bewilderment. “Did you say John…O’Co

“Yeah, why?”

Rather than answer, she said, “Describe him to me.”

O-kay. “Blond hair, brown eyes and his skin looks like he slathered himself with glitter. It’s really weird.”

Her frown deepened. “Except for the glitter thing, that sounds like the John I knew. But someone was clearly playing a joke on you, because John died of a drug overdose last year.”

Aden massaged the back of his neck, his muscles knotting in anger. “A joke.”

“I’m sorry.”

He wanted to punch the wall as he imagined the laugh everyone was probably having at his expense. “Sha

Mary A

A few minutes later, he found himself parked at a table with Mary A

He was very aware of Pe

Overall, it was an uncomfortable ordeal. He much preferred the isolation of the forest, and that surprised him. How many hours had he spent daydreaming about friends and normalcy? But maybe, in the woods, he would have found Victoria. If only.

Finally the bell rang, signaling it was time to head to their next class. Chairs were scooted back, footsteps began to pound.

“W-wait for me after school,” Sha

Aden met Mary A

Sha

Sensitive as she obviously was to others’ feelings, Mary A

“Oh. Okay.” Sha

“See you then,” Aden said, trying to mask his disappointment, and strode to his next class. Looked like his talk with Mary A

Would they be able to talk in the morning? Or would something stop them then, too? And tomorrow after school was out; Sha

Determined, he used his next three classes to write. About himself, his past, the things he’d done, the things he’d witnessed and the things he needed from Mary A

I have a bad feeling about this, Elijah said when he finished.

Aden groaned. Not another one. But it didn’t matter; he wouldn’t let it matter. He was still giving Mary A

CHAPTER 12

Later that day, Mary A

I have to find a way to free them. For them. For me. I’m not mental. They’re people, not just voices. But I don’t know what to do. Getting them bodies of their own is all I can think of, but that seems impossible, you know? And if I do manage to find bodies—someone who recently died maybe? — how would I pull them out of me and put them inside? Hell, as I’m writing this I’m wondering if I AM mental. You’re the only person I’ve ever met who can cancel out what I can do. I figure you know things I don’t, even if you don’t yet realize it. Do you? But I’ll understand if you don’t want to help me.

Mary A

Did she believe all of that? She didn’t want to, and honestly hadn’t the first thousand times she’d read his letter. Then her doubts had begun to give way to curiosity. The curiosity had given way to uncertainty, and the uncertainty had finally given way to acceptance.

A week ago, she hadn’t known werewolves and vampires existed. Now, there was no refuting it. Why couldn’t there be a boy with people trapped inside him, as well? People who could time travel and wake the dead. Predict the future and possess other bodies—the last of which she’d seen firsthand.

How was she able to stop them? Why her? She was nothing special.

She nibbled on her bottom lip, no answers sliding into place, and peered up at her bedroom ceiling. It was smooth and white, a blank canvas just waiting to be colored on. I can reason this out, she mused, pepping herself up.

Okay, so. Aden thought the best way to free the souls was to find them bodies. She thought, drastic as it was and impossible as it seemed, that should be a last resort. Until they reached that point, it made sense to figure out exactly who the people inhabiting his head were. Or maybe who they’d been. He’d mentioned that while they didn’t recall any life but the one they shared with Aden, they did have moments of déjà vu and recognition. That had to mean something.

Maybe they were ghosts and Aden had unintentionally drawn them. With that thought, she found herself eyeing her room for any sign of a spectral being, hands clutching her comforter, breath emerging shallow and heavy. Werewolves and vampires were real, so why not ghosts, too? Were there any around her? People she’d known, perhaps? People who had once lived here?

Her mother?

Mary A

“I love you, Mom,” she whispered.

There was no response.

Concentrate, Gray. You have a job to do. She cleared her throat and quashed her disappointment. Where was I? Oh, yeah. If the souls trapped inside Aden’s head were actually ghosts, wouldn’t they remember their lives fully?

Good point. Either their memories had been wiped when they entered his body or they were something else. Angels? Demons? Were there such things? Probably. But they probably weren’t the souls trapped inside Aden. Again, they would have remembered their own identities. But again, their memories could have been wiped.

Ugh. This was getting her nowhere. Could the four be talking to him like Wolf talked to her? Perhaps they weren’t truly inside his head but were tethered to him and simply projecting their voices.

She immediately discarded that idea, as well. Aden heard them—if they weren’t actually inside him, wouldn’t he see them, as well?

Mary A