Beyond - Volume 1 (YA Paranormal Romance) (30 page)

Damian leans against me
, and I pull him closer, embracing him with my other arm so he can rest his head against me. We just sit there, crying without making a sound, hoping no one will hear us. Until we have no more tears to shed.

“We can
stay here until we know what we’re going to do,” Damian says, opening the door to our motel room.

We got a key from the manager under the condition that we’d call one of our parents and let him hear their consent. We’re only sixteen
, and we shouldn’t be together in a motel, but we have to be. It’s way too late to get a way back home now, and we have to find out what to do with this situation. Damian had decided to call his foster mom, because she’s kind of easy with that sort of stuff and would probably give us her permission.

Damian walks into the room and inspects the neighborhood by peeking through the window. Probably to see if there’s anyone who can spot us up here, because he’s keeping the curtain very close to his face to mask it.

We walked into the first motel we could find and asked where we were. Portland, apparently. That’s about one and a half hours away from Piney Hollow. The manager gazed at us with a suspicious look in his eyes when we asked that question, but luckily he didn’t dig deeper. I think he experiences much stranger things as a motel manager.

Portland. How did I ever end up
here?

It’s almost unbelievable
, what’s happened the last few days, especially the last few hours of today. Sam brought us to Portland to kill Damian and to take me, though his plan failed, and we escaped unseen. Still, it haunts me that they’re looking for us. That we have to keep running.

We have a history together now, Damian and me. Both attacked by ghosts that want to snatch me and kill him.

“What do we do now?” I ask.

“I … I’ll keep going after Sam. Someday
, I’m going to get my revenge.” He sighs. “My whole life I’ve been hunting him down, and now he’s hunting me too. One of us is going to die eventually.”

“You have to win, Damian. You just have to. I don’t
want to lose you. You hear me?”

His fing
er caresses my cheek. “I know.”

I heave a sigh of relief.

“What are you going to do now, then?” he asks.

“I don’t know, Damian. Going home doesn’t feel okay. Nowhere do I feel safe. And my mom … she lied, about everything
, and God knows what else she’s hiding from me.”

“Of course you can go home,” he says. “Your mom did it for good reasons
. Tomorrow we’ll go to your house and try to get things going for you again. I’ll protect you; I promise. I’ll make sure Sam won’t go after you. Even if I have to stay dead forever to accomplish it.”

“No,” I say bluntly.

“I know Sam. I hate him, but I know him all too well. After all those years of hunting after him, there’ve been a few conversations between us, you know. He wants to get me. I think he’d rather kill me than live. He puts everything aside just for that, even though I have no clue why. It’s just the way it is. Just trust me on this, please. He won’t come after you as long as I’m still around, that I’m sure of. He said it himself: he wants to kill me because I took you away from him.”

“Alright, I believe you, but I don’t want you to be in danger. My
mom doesn’t understand me, and I’ve finally found someone who does, someone I can share everything with. I only have you, Damian. I want to stay with you, be with you. You’re the only one who really gets me. The only person who’s just like me.”

He looks at me
, and a cute, sly smile appears on his face. “Alright. Looks like you’re head over heels about me.”

I blush. “I made my decision. I want to fight with you, together, for our future. Sam will pay for what he’s done
, and we’ll do it together,” I say and twine my fingers through his.

Damian comes closer, kisses me softly on my lips and says, “Together.”

###

End of Book 1

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Featured Music Playlist

“Illusions” by Thomas
Bergersen

“Reborn” by Thomas
Bergersen

“Salvation” by Two Steps From Hell

“Dream Within A Dream” by Hans Zimmer

“Dream Is Collapsing” by Hans Zimmer

“160 BPM” by Hans Zimmer

“Black Heart” by Fired Earth Music

“Lifespan” by Zack Hemsey

“That Which You Seek (Finds You)” by Zack
Hemsey

“Into The Rushes” by Nicholas
Hooper

“
Kuroi Light Theme” by Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi

“Stefan’s Theme” by Michael
Suby

“1864” by Michael
Suby

“E.T.” by Katy Perry

“Running Up That Hill” by Placebo

“Undisclosed Desires” by Muse

This is a list of songs that are very dear to my heart. I’ve listened to these songs while I was writing. They have been a big influence and help during scenes.

Talk with me

I’d love to hear from you! You can find me on the following websites:

Website:
http://www.spvanderlee.com/

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https://twitter.com/spvanderlee

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/SP-van-der-Lee/169653009829310

Google+:
https://plus.google.com/112216851781088149698/posts

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http://www.pinterest.com/spvanderlee/boards/

Acknowledgements

First and foremost I want to thank the love of my life for being such a great support. He’s always been the first to criticize my book, helping me make it perfect.

I wish to thank my mother for being my supporter through all these years, and my father for helping me find the words I was looking for. I’m thankful for my sisters’ kindness and their belief in me.

Thank you to my proofreaders who’ve done such a rigorous job of sifting through the pages. I love your nitpicking and I hope you’ll all continue to do this. Thank you, Jolie Teigeler, for being my first fan.

I’d also like to thank my editor, Cherise, for doing such a wonderful job.

Of course, many cheers go to my fantastic street team: Jolie Teigeler, Tanya Johnson, Trisha Stow, Sabrina Govender, Laura McCoy, Hope Clippinger, Katie Topchishvili, Kelly Smitherman, Stacie Butler, Alyssia Sampson, Yvonne Bressani, Chelsea Hunter, Katey Pierson, Maia Correa, Jacinda, Chuckles, Amy, Olivia, Poecilia, Susan, Jonathan & Sharon! Thank you guys so much for your support. I couldn’t have done it without you.

And last, but not least, I want to thank you for reading this book. You are the reason I wrote Beyond, and I hope I can continue writing for you.