Dark Prelude Read online

  “Charlie…”

  The spell broke suddenly, and he glanced down and backed off. “So, what were you so deep in thought about that you somehow missed a magnificent specimen like me anyway?”

  I exhaled the breath I’d been holding, and took another one, rolling my eyes. “Weird morning. Weird enough to make me miss a ‘magnificent specimen’ like you.”

  Charlie laughed and crouched down to pet Shadow, who sat perfectly still. He never responded to Charlie like a friend. No tail wags, no licks, but he never growled or responded defensively or aggressively either. He did lock eyes with him every single time and refuse to look away. It was like he was undecided about Charlie, for some reason, and wanted to make sure the guy knew he was watching him. I guessed it was some sort of weird, cross-species, alpha-male bullshit. But I got the feeling Shadow understood that Charlie would protect me when he wasn’t around and, therefore, considered him an acceptable evil.

  “Your dog hates me,” Charlie said, looking up at me, and I shrugged.

  “If he hated you, he wouldn’t be so calm. He just doesn’t particularly like you. To be honest, I kinda see where he’s coming from.”

  Charlie shot me a dirty look that was only mildly convincing, then he looked back at the dog. “You don’t have to like me. We have a common interest.” He regarded Shadow thoughtfully for a moment, then he sandwiched the dog’s face between his hands and met the animal’s eyes. “I’ll never hurt her, Shadow. Nor will I let anyone else. You have my word.”

  Shadow’s tail thumped. It was only once, and he didn’t break eye contact, but Charlie did, turning to look at me like he’d just witnessed a miracle.

  My eyebrows shot up, and I smiled and nodded at him. “Progress!”

  Charlie laughed and gave Shadow one more pat before standing up and facing me. “So, what was so weird about your morning?”

  “There was a guy messing around in the woods behind the house this morning. About the time Shadow and I usually run.”

  “What do you mean messing around?” Charlie asked, his expression taking on a serious undertone I didn’t often see from Charlie.

  “Well, we were about to leave, and Shadow just went nuts right as I was about to open the door. He started nosing the curtain, so I peeked out. At first, I didn’t see anything, but as I started to close the curtain, I saw this guy in all black slip out from behind a tree. Shadow went nuts again, and the guy in the hood turned and looked our way, then he just took off through the woods.” I felt a chill as I recounted the early morning events to Charlie, and I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to get warm again.

  “Did he see you, Dani?”

  “What?” It wasn’t what I expected him to ask, so it took me a second to process, and he repeated himself.

  “Did he see you see him?”

  “I… I don’t know. I didn’t really think about it.”

  Charlie looked deep in thought for a moment, then looked down at Shadow. Reaching down, he gave him one last pat on the head and said, “Good dog.” Then he looked up at me and said, “Be really careful, okay? That’s more than a little weird. The timing and him looking at your door, and Shadow… Maybe don’t go anywhere alone for a while.”

  “Yeah, I think it’s a safe bet I won’t be jogging out back, but I can’t never go anywhere alone, Charlie.”

  “Dani—”

  “I’ll be careful, Charlie. I promise.”

  “Okay,” he said, nodding, then he pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “Listen, I’ve gotta go get ready for work, and so do you, but how about I give you a ride today?”

  “You don’t have to do that. It’s midday and I’ll be on a busy street. Nobody’s going to jump out and grab me in front of a bunch of people.”

  “Humor me. Please.”

  Charlie looked genuinely worried, almost on the verge of panic if I denied his offer again, so I didn’t. “Sure, okay. That’ll buy me some more time to get back and get cleaned up too.”

  “Good idea. I can smell you from here. Hate to have you running off customers…” He trailed off and dodged as I swung at him again, giving me that never-quite-innocent smile that made me wish my knees would go weak. “See you later?”

  “Yep, see you in a bit.”

  Charlie waved and headed off toward his house. I tugged at Shadow’s leash, and we turned and headed back home. I needed a shower and some fresh clothes. And maybe a lobotomy. God, my life would be so much easier if I could just switch on the broken part of my brain and fall in love with Charlie.

  Being around Charlie was getting harder and harder. We’d met two summers ago when Charlie moved to town and got a job at the bookstore where I worked, Bookworm. Once we figured out that we were both taking classes at the local college starting in the Fall, we’d decided to carpool. We’d been riding to school together three days a week plus working together almost every day for two years now. I saw Charlie more than I saw my mom.

  We were really close now too, though I didn’t really understand why. Every girl in town was suddenly an avid reader, and I wasn’t sure most of them could even read in the first place. It was hard enough to navigate our friendship and his feelings for me, but watching him completely ignore every other girl was worse. I felt guilty all the time. Even I could see he was perfect for me, and I wanted to want Charlie, but something just felt off.

  Maybe I was broken.

  3

  Dani

  I stepped out of the shower and stood in front of the foggy mirror. With one hand, I reached out and cleared away some of the steamy condensation and stared at my blurry reflection. My mom always said I was pretty, and Charlie seemed to think so too. Most of the time, I thought that was ridiculous. Every time I looked in the mirror, I saw a frail, weak, useless girl looking back at me. I had nothing to offer Charlie or any other guy. He was better off finding someone else.

  Downstairs, Shadow woofed twice. Mom must be home. I heard the deadbolt on the front door click open, and the knob rattled lightly as a key engaged. Shadow ran to the front door, and I heard Mom greet him as she stepped through the door and closed it behind her. It was a small house, so it was hard not to hear everything.

  “Hi, baby! I’m home!” Mom called.

  “Hey, Mom! How was your shift?”

  I heard footsteps on the stairs in response, and a moment later, Mom tapped on the door.

  “You can come in,” I called, tucking the edge of my towel in at my chest.

  The door swung open and she shuffled in, kissing me on the temple as she passed me. She put the toilet lid down and took a seat, yawning widely.

  “Mom, you need more sleep. You look awful.”

  She fixed me with a dramatic glare. “Gee, thanks.” Then she laughed. “You don’t look so hot yourself, smarty-pants.” Mom’s smile faltered, and her face took on a more serious expression. “More nightmares?”

  “Some, but not bad.” It was mostly the truth. They hadn’t been as bad last night as they had been most nights lately, but I also didn’t need her worrying about things she couldn’t control. They were just nightmares. “This is the result of a book I couldn’t put down,” I clarified, chuckling as her smile returned.

  “Ah, so I should hide your books so you can sleep.”

  I turned and fixed her with a deadly glare. “You wouldn’t dare,” I said, barely holding back a grin, and we both laughed.

  “You work today?”

  “Yep. Shadow woke me up early, so I went for a run. Just getting ready now.”

  “Cutting it a little close, aren’t we? You need a ride?”

  “No, thanks. Charlie’s picking me up in a bit.”

  “Oh, really?” she asked with a double bounce of her eyebrows.

  “Don’t, Mom.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You didn’t have to,” I clarified, pulling out my makeup bag and unzipping the top. “You say the same thing every time anyway. We’re just friends, Mom. Accept it.”

  �
�Has he?”

  “What?”

  “Accepted it.”

  “Stop.”

  “I’m just saying, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. And I know how much you care about him.”

  I took a deep breath and continued applying makeup to keep myself calm and steady. “Things with Charlie are… complicated, okay. You wouldn’t understand.”

  “I wouldn’t understand? I know I’m ancient and all, but I am a woman, you know. I have dated.”

  “Mom, you haven’t dated in my lifetime, which is a long time.” It was out before I realized what I’d said. Every time the subject of my father came up, Mom suddenly looked like she’d been stabbed in the gut with a hot poker. All this time and she still loved him so much the thought of his absence seemed to be killing her all over again. That’s what was missing with Charlie. “I’m sorry, Mom, I didn’t mean to bring it up.”

  “It’s okay, sweetheart. We should’ve talked about this stuff way before now.” Mom took a deep breath and steeled herself against the onslaught of emotions I could see just below the surface. “And you’re right. I haven’t dated in your lifetime. But I’ve got news, Sweetheart, neither have you, so between the two of us, I’m still the expert. I had quite a few ‘complicated’ relationships. I fell in and out of love, had my heart broken, had sex—”

  “Oh, Mom… No…”

  “Baby, it is what it is. I was young once. Sort of. Try me? You might be surprised what I can relate to.”

  I took another deep breath. I didn’t even understand it myself. How the hell was I supposed to explain it to someone else?

  “Charlie’s my friend. I know he likes me, though I have no idea why—and do not interrupt me, just listen… It just doesn’t feel right. I don’t feel the way I think I should. Trust me, I wish I did, but it always feels like there’s something missing, something off. It doesn’t feel fair to try something that might ruin our friendship when I don’t feel the way I should about him. Plus, he’s got all these other girls chasing after him. Popular girls. Girls who are pretty and fun and—”

  “Girls who aren’t sick?”

  Her words struck a chord. There was a part of me that feared exactly that, that my own self-hate—though it was more like self-disappointment—was holding me back. Deep inside I knew it was likely that was part of it, but that wasn’t all of it.

  “In my experience, when you meet someone you want, especially someone you’ll love, you know. Your heart will race and pound so hard you’ll be afraid they can hear it standing in front of you. You’ll know something special is happening, and there won’t be a damn thing you can do to make yourself not want them. But fear does terrible things to our minds, and it makes it really difficult to listen to your heart. Just don’t hold yourself back from giving in to something that might be wonderful because you’re afraid. There’s nothing wrong with you, Dani. You’re not broken. But if you don’t believe you’re worthy of love, it’s gonna be damn hard to find it.”

  “Is that how you felt with Dad?” I asked quietly.

  Her eyes widened, and I saw her throat flex as she swallowed. An empty expression stole across her face, but as I watched, it was quickly replaced with a warmth and a glow I hadn’t seen in my mother ever, save when she looked at me.

  “Yes. It was. We weren’t supposed to love each other. Our… families wouldn’t allow it. Very Romeo and Juliet,” she said, smiling at some remembered joy. “But we did anyway. Nothing could stop us once we gave in to what we were feeling. We stole tiny moments of joy, knowing that it couldn’t go on forever, but it was worth it for those few. And after everything, I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything in the world.” A pained look stole the warmth from her expression and her voice faltered. “And when he… when he died… Well, there’s just never been anyone else who could compare. I still love him, even if he’s gone. I always will.”

  I dropped my makeup into the sink and bridged the gap between us, sinking into her arms. Mom had rarely spoken so openly about my father, and never about their relationship. She simultaneously looked like she might either burst with joy or shatter from the pain, even after all this time. As horrifying as it looked from the outside, it partially confirmed what I thought I felt about Charlie. Love like that existed. My parents had it, and that was what I wanted.

  Eventually, we released one another, and she stood, kissing me on the temple again. “You finish up. Charlie will be here soon.” I nodded, and she smiled and left the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

  I stared in the mirror for a good long while and wondered more and more whether that was the problem all along. Maybe it was something missing between Charlie and I and not something missing inside me. Maybe it was a little of both. All I knew was that Charlie never felt real. He always felt oddly distant, almost pretend.

  I finished with my makeup and blow-dried my hair, pulling it back into my normal loose bun. Then I dressed quickly and headed downstairs. Mom was already mostly asleep on the sofa, so I walked over and nudged her awake.

  “Hey, Charlie’s here, but there’s something else I need to talk to you about before I go. Don’t freak out, okay?”

  “No promises,” she murmured, looking at me from beneath heavy lids.

  “Okay, so, this morning, when I was about to leave with Shadow, he went nuts and started trying to tear apart the back door and nosing at the window. There was some guy messing around in the woods, hiding behind a tree. When Shadow went nuts, he saw us and took off through the woods.”

  Not remotely asleep anymore, my mother sat up on the sofa, watching me anxiously.

  “Kim says he’s been barking a lot lately when we’re not here. She even asked me if he was sick or something. It doesn’t feel like a coincidence.”

  “There are no coincidences.”

  The chill that ran down my spine gave me a full-body shudder. “Way to be creepy as fuck, Mom. I know you always say that, but this feels connected. Just don’t run in the park, and please, keep an eye on Shadow. He seems to be far more aware of it than we are.”

  “That goes for both of us, and you don’t go anywhere without me or Charlie to drive you until we’ve figured this out. Nowhere alone. I mean it.”

  I nodded and hugged her. “Please don’t freak out. If we see anything else, we’ll call the cops. Okay? We just need to be vigilant.”

  “I’m not freaking out. I promise,” she said, relaxing her grip and pulling back to look at me. “Can you and Charlie stop by Cassandra’s after work and see if my tea is in?”

  “Sure,” I answered, standing up from the couch as she released me.

  “Thank you, sweetheart.”

  “No problem, Mom. Have a good day. Be careful, okay?” I added, heading to the door and snagging my bag from the floor on the way.

  “Dani?” she called just as I swung the door open, and I leaned back to look at her past the now open door. “Just… if anything should ever happen, if you need anything and I’m not here for whatever reason, you can always go to Cassie. Even if you think you can’t. She’s the closest thing we have to family. Okay?”

  “Mom, are you okay?”

  After a brief but distinct pause, she answered, “Yeah, baby. I’m fine. Just feels like a day to say the things we don’t say enough. Or ever.” She smiled with a tiny chuckle. “I love you, Dani.”

  I returned her smile with one of my own. “I love you too, Mom.”

  I slipped out the door and pulled it closed behind me, locking it as well, just in case she forgot. I doubted that would happen. She looked really spooked by this morning’s events, but she was acting weird too, so I didn’t want to chance it. Worst case scenario, Shadow would die to protect her. Of that, I had no doubt.

  Turning away from my increasingly strange house, I waved at Charlie, who was leaned back against the passenger’s side door of the little red sports car he drove, waiting patiently. He looked like every girl’s dream in his non-fitted white tee that still hugged his biceps and ches
t unforgivingly and jeans that looked like they were tailored to fit him. The car itself was probably every guy’s dream. I didn’t know what kind of car it was, nor did I care. It was old—a classic, according to Charlie—expensive, and it seemed to be really important to him.

  “Your chariot, m’lady,” he said as he opened the door for me.

  “Why, thank you, kind sir,” I chuckled, rolling my eyes and climbing in as he smiled. I settled into my seat, and Charlie closed the door behind me once I was safely inside. Though safe was beginning to feel like a very relative term.

  Charlie climbed in the driver’s side door and closed it behind him. We both pulled our seatbelts across and locked them into position, then he looked up at me.

  “You ready?”

  Having no better answer for him, I simply nodded, and he threw the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway.

  4

  Dani

  The day passed just like every other day. Uneventful and unremarkable. We shelved books from the day before and helped customer after customer find what they were looking for just to have eighty percent of them leave the book sitting somewhere and not buy anything. I hated the way most people treated books. I thought it was a pretty understandable emotion, but Charlie didn’t get why it bothered me so much. Maybe it was my connection to books in general.

  Being sick all my life, I hadn’t really gotten to experience life, but I desperately wanted to. Books were my compromise. I could experience things through the eyes and mind of another, almost as if I were there. I enjoyed stories that showed me what it was like to be a part of this world. To experience the things that I never would.

  I spent a great deal of my day reading at work. Once the books were shelved, and there were no customers, there really was nothing else to do, so I curled up in a corner with my book while Charlie played on his phone.