Captivate Me (Book One: The Captivated Series) (7 page)

“What’s with Dawson?” Anna
whispered.

“Shape-shifting takes a lot out of
him,” I replied. “Last time it took him two days to recover. He’s
probably been sleeping all day.”

“Oh.”

“Sarah says he has to build up his
stamina – he’s pretty new at it.”

“
He’ll get there,” Levi
added.

“So what’s going on tonight?” Ronnie
asked as he pushed away the tray he’d been hunched over the past
fifteen minutes.

Levi stood to get seconds. “I think
they’re playing a movie in the rec-room… it’s supposed to rain
tonight.”

I scowled inwardly. So
much for visiting the woods later. Or the courtyard, for that
matter. Now
that
would be a good place to make out. We hadn’t been caught so
far. But if it rained all night, I wouldn’t be going
anywhere.

“I think they’re playing Titanic again
for the seniors.” A mixture of squeals and groans filled the air –
squeals from the girls who loved a good romance, and groans from
the guys for obvious reasons. I guess even the opportunity to see
Kate Winslet’s boobs wasn’t enough incentive to sit through the
entire thing.

“I say we have a ping pong match!”
Ronnie suggested. “Couples against couples.”

Anna beamed like a five-year-old girl
at the suggestion that they were a couple.

I nodded my agreement. “Sounds good to
me!”

* * *

Rain washed over our school in heavy
sheets, and an occasional crack of thunder shook the windows. After
awhile we didn’t notice as all of our attention was focused solely
on the game. Going against Sarah and Dawson was an easy win – he
wasn’t on his game tonight – so now it was me and Levi against Anna
and Ronnie. Lucky for us, I had played many a ping pong match with
my older brother Micah and his wife Rae who had a ping pong table
in the basement of their house.

At a quarter ‘til ten, fifteen minutes
before curfew, Levi and I won the last game, making us the champs
of the night. Sweaty and panting, we celebrated by jumping into
each other’s arms and kissing. We must have gotten carried away,
because a teacher cleared her throat pointedly. Levi begrudgingly
sat me down.

“Get a room you two, will ya?” Ronnie
teased.

“Good game,” Anna said, giving me a
side hug while Ronnie and Levi shared high-fives.

“Good game.”

Another teacher flicked the light
switch by the door. “Ten minutes until lights out!” she
warned.

I looked around for Sarah and Dawson.
They must have already snuck away. Dark corners and seedy thoughts
assaulted my mind. Levi grabbed my hand, running his thumb over my
knuckles. “Ready? I’ll walk you to the stairs.”

“Ready,” I beamed, looking at his
kissable lips. We should have snuck off too so we could have had a
few more minutes for a proper farewell… or improper, according to
the teachers.

* * *

Luckily, I had just enough time for
another quick kiss with Levi before stealing away to my room. Oh,
if we ever got more than a few minutes in private, it would be
epic. I made a mental note to start scoping out some hiding places
tomorrow.

After dressing in my pajamas – a pair
of plaid shorts and a grey tank top – I settled onto the stool in
front of my painting. I had no desire to sleep. Anna, however, was
already snoring in the uniform that she hadn’t bothered to take
off. Poor thing would need to get used to being in constant motion
here. Between Sarah and Ivy, Ronnie and the boys, we never
stopped.

Looking over my painting, I pulled my
tresses into a low ponytail and cracked my knuckles. Where to
start? I glanced out the window. A post-rain veil of fog had
settled on the ground and blocked what little of the woods I could
see at night from the floodlights. I could always use my
imagination. No, I’d rather capture the woods in their true
form.

A new idea swept through me, making my
heart go aflutter. Deep inside the recesses of my soul, I felt that
familiar, nagging pull. Biting my bottom lip, I studied the wood
line again and glanced at Anna. Should I? I couldn’t ignore it
forever, and tonight was as good a night as any. Better, even. With
the fog, I had an even greater chance of no one seeing
me.

A secret smile tugged on my lips.
Tonight it is.

Quietly, I slid on a black hoody and
jeans over my flimsy shorts and tank top. My heart raced faster.
Why, I didn’t know. I should have been thoroughly terrified to
venture into dark woods by myself. Maybe that’s why my heart raced…
I was scared shitless but didn’t want to admit it. But I also
couldn’t deny there was something else that excited me about it –
like I wasn’t just going into the woods; I was venturing into some
weird, foreign destiny.

Or maybe Sarah had been right – I had
been smoking something.

I grabbed a flashlight, burrowed my
feet into my sneakers, and was out the door.

* * *

I made my way through the door that
Levi had discovered the alarm sensor didn’t work on anymore – our
only means of leaving during the night – and skirted around the
illuminated circle of grass from a nearby floodlight. Between the
darkness, the fog and my dark clothes, surely I wouldn’t get
caught. I would have to wait until I was safely hidden inside the
trees, though, before turning on my flashlight.

Once past the tree line, I slowed to
keep from catching my feet on a log or exposed root. My thumb
itched against the flashlight’s power button. Not yet. What little
light from the building that had made it past the mammoth trunks
served as only my guide. When I couldn’t see anymore, I’d use
it.

A slow and steady ten minutes passed –
at least I assumed it was ten minutes; it could have been longer –
and the last fragile beam of light from the floodlights was gone. I
paused, my skin prickling, acutely aware that I now was in the
deep, dark belly of the forest. Alone. And the air hung still.
Eerily still. No breeze or breath except my own.

I punched the button, and a beam of
yellow light sliced through the darkness. I swept it back and forth
in front of me. Only an open space and bushes with white flowers
awaited. Although I wasn’t exactly expecting anything to greet me,
I was somewhat disappointed.

And there it was again – the pull.
Except now, it didn’t plead with me to travel anywhere. It
encircled me, wrapping me in an odd blend of warmth and awareness.
Like I should be seeing something that wasn’t there.

I sensed a pair of eyes on me, and I
froze.

I wondered if I should be afraid, but
it wasn’t fear that I was feeling, strangely enough. I felt comfort
and a bizarre sense of belonging. I mustered the courage to speak
to the owner of the eyes that were boring through me. I swallowed
hard. “Hello?” I asked in a hushed voice.

No one answered.

I pulled my hood over my head. The
rain had brought with it a blanket of cooler air, and my ears
stung. “Hello?” I asked again.

Nothing answered, only an owl hooting
in the distance.

I sighed. Maybe I should head
back.

A crunch of leaves
startled me.
A footstep.
I yelped and dropped my flashlight. The beam
flickered off.
Crap!

Frantic, I knelt to the
ground, my fingers searching for the cold metal of the
flashlight.
Please!
I prayed, and suddenly, coming out here by myself didn’t seem
like such a bright idea.

After what felt like an eternity, I
found the flashlight and gave it a good whack. The light flickered
back on. I stood, my pulse pounding in my ears, my breath heavy and
ragged. Still, there was nothing.

Another crunching footstep
made me flinch.
Should I run?
I wanted to; my body had already turned for the
school, but something inside me wouldn’t let me leave. My feet
stayed firmly planted.

Shakily, I raked the beam
of light over the pine-straw-covered ground. Another footstep
crackled, leaving a ghostly indention in the earth.
What?
My pulse thudded
harder.

The infamous disappearing silhouette
entered my mind. Was this him? If I could see him, would he look
like the boy in my dreams? Despite every warning sign imaginable
flashing through my mind to run, I turned around,
intrigued.

The footsteps continued in
my direction, and I held my breath, waiting to see what would
happen next and hoping to
God
my instincts to stay hadn’t failed me. If this
person were bad, they would have already harmed me,
right?

The footsteps stopped in
front of me, a tense step away, and a rush of heat and energy
washed over me.
Good
energy. A soul-stirring energy. It stole my breath away, and
my muscles relaxed.

A bush beside me rustled,
and I lowered the flashlight, coloring the leaves and white petals
in yellow. A branch with a lonely bud lifted into the air. I
gasped. Was
he
doing this?

The bud trembled, and slowly,
magically, its petals opened and spread wide, shifting and blooming
into an open flower all within a matter of seconds. To witness it
brought a curious smile to my face. Cautiously, I held my breath
and reached out with my finger to touch it.

The flower detached from
the bush and floated into thin air. I jumped back, my hand flying
to my chest. Seeing it suspended in nothingness shouldn’t have
scared me, I had the gift of telekinesis for heaven’s sake, but
this was all too weird – the footsteps, the energy, the
mysteriously blooming flower.
I should
go,
I thought, but my body didn’t seem to
care.

I watched with wide eyes as the flower
floated toward me and stopped an inch from the hand against my
chest. Did he want me to have it? “For me?” I asked.

Waiting, it hovered.

I opened my palm, and the flower
rested gently inside. As I stared at its curved petals, I thought
of this morning – the flower on my pillow. A surge of excitement
and shock surged through me. Was this invisible boy my
admirer?

The words tumbled out without my
permission. “Show yourself,” I said, in awe. I wanted to see him.
Just like I had wanted to see the boy in my dreams, I desperately
wanted to see him.

He didn’t respond.

I found myself pleading. “Please! I
want to see your face.”

And with that, the footsteps walked
away.

“Please!” I cried again,
my frantic voice echoing through the quiet woods. I tried to
follow, but the footsteps disappeared altogether. I swept my
flashlight through the air, hoping to see something.
Anything.

Nothing.

Inexplicably crushed, I looked back
down to the flower in my hand and curled my fingers around it. My
trip to the woods had given me way more than I’d bargained for, and
yet, sadly, nothing at all.

* * *

Once I arrived back at our room,
shaking but exhilarated, I stripped down to my shorts and tank top
and slid into bed.

I laid there, gnawing my lip, twirling
the flower between my fingers and thinking of the invisible boy who
had given it to me. I moved to lie on my side. Would he bring me
another tonight? I should still be thoroughly horrified at the
thought of someone sneaking in while Anna and I had slept, but I
couldn’t bring myself to feel the same repulsion. If it was, in
fact, the boy from the woods, I knew he wouldn’t harm me. And in
all truth, if he came again I hoped I would wake so I could feel
his presence – his warm, soul-stirring presence. The kind of
presence that kept me there with him when any normal person would
have run screaming for the school.

With a longing sigh, I closed my
eyes.

Despite my excitement, sleep came
swift and sweet, scooping me into its arms and carrying me back
into the darkness of the woods. I stood in the same spot as before
– the open space with its flowery bushes. Another form
materialized, and I jumped. Black shirt, fair skin – the silhouette
from the woods. My invisible admirer.

Except this time, he didn’t run from
tree to tree; he stood exposed, allowing me to soak in his beauty,
saturating my spirit. He towered over me, which didn’t happen often
at five feet, nine inches tall; I wasn’t a short girl. His eyes
twinkled icy blue, the angular attractive lines of his face a
divine masterpiece. His chestnut hair had been cropped close on the
sides but left longer on top, reminding me of a trendy rock star
haircut, but flattering and oh-so-complementary to his porcelain
features. And his lips, his supple lips drew into a knowing,
heart-stopping smile as he plucked another flower from the bush and
placed it into my waiting palm.

Honestly, I could have
cared less about the flower this time, I wanted to feel
him
– his flawless skin.
I reached out for his face with my other hand, and he stepped back,
his smile wavering. Persistent, I tried again, and he took a bigger
step back. Why couldn’t I touch him? I could see him, feel his
presence… but I wanted to experience more of him.