Coldhearted (9781311888433) (28 page)

She rolled her eyes. “I was being
sarcastic.”

“
I know.” He spread out his
hands. “I know you so well, Edie. And I know you’re still thinking
about your teacher, or more precisely, his lips.”

“
Am not,” she
refuted.

“
Are too,” he argued
back.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “If I
were it was only to reflect on the huge mistake I’d made. What’s so
special about Russell? Why do you possess him, and not Mason, or
some other guy? What kind of game are you playing?”

Tristan smiled. “A game only I can win,
Edie.” He raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of games: would you like to
see a magic trick?”

“
If I say ‘no,’ will you go
away?”

“
No.”

Edie sighed. “Fine. Whatever.”

Tristan
tsk
ed. “You have such a poor attitude,
Edie. I’m going to have to do something about that.”

She watched and waited but nothing happened.
Tristan didn’t move a ghostly inch, but then, the air changed in
the room, plummeting to subzero. She could see her breath escape
and hugged a blanket around her body. Tristan winked, then smiled,
and finally, he moved out of the mirror.

He stepped over the frame, and then planted
one foot on the floor. The rest of his body came until he was
standing in ghostly form inside her room. She could see through
him. It was weird but mostly frightening. And this was just the
reaction that he’d wanted.

Slowly, he made his way to the side of her
bed, and sat on the edge, a few feet away from her. “See?” he said,
smiling. “I can be a good boy.”

Edie retreated all the way against the
headboard and barricaded herself with all the pillows.

Tristan chuckled. “Defensive, are we?”

“
I have every right to be,”
she said in a cold tone.

“
I’m not going to hurt you.”
His lips lifted into a half smile as he made an X motion over his
chest. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“
Very funny,” she said, not
laughing.

He grinned. “I’m a funny guy.”

“
Oh, yeah, you’re
hilarious.”

Tristan patted the space next to him. “Come
now, I won’t bite.”

Edie shook her head so much in refusal that
she was surprised when it didn’t fly off.

Tristan’s smile faded. “Your uncle’s right
down the hall.” He cocked his ghostly head to one side. “Do you
know what your uncle fears the most? Hmm? I’ll tell you: writer’s
block. The very idea cripples him.” Tristan gestured down. “He’d be
a puddle on the floor, unable to function, if oh, I don’t know,”—he
snapped his fingers, which actually made a noise, despite his
incorporeal form—“Landon St. John were to suddenly forget all those
ghouls, goblins, and ghosts that swirl inside his dark mind. Going
blank like that, well…it’s tantamount to full-blown amnesia. He’d
probably end up killing himself,” Tristan said without emotion.

“
All right,” Edie fumed, and
pushed her pillow fort apart.

She slid down the bed toward Tristan at a
snail’s pace. When she’d finally stopped scooting, they were about
a foot away from each other.

Tristan appraised her red flannel pajamas. “A
bit conservative, aren’t they?”

“
I’m not going to sleep in a
negligee,” she said bitingly. “Not for you to gawk at me all night.
And it’s cold all the time. I need to be covered from head-to-toe
to prevent dying of hypothermia.”

“
You really can’t take the
cold, can you?”

“
I can’t take you,” she shot
back.

“
Ooh, touchy.” He raised an
eyebrow. “Speaking of touching...” He raised his hand in a halt
motion, palm facing her.

“
What’re you doing?” she
asked, confused and shivering, holding the blanket around
her.

She noticed that Tristan was fading in and
out, but he didn’t seem to notice, never taking his lapis lazuli
eyes off her.

“
See if we can touch,” he
suggested.

“
No way,” she
refused.

“
Edie,” he warned, growling.
Her fear skyrocketed. “Don’t make me angry.” His voice was soft but
no less menacing.

He’d been fading in and out, but now he came
through on a strong signal. He was getting stronger. And I’m to
blame. Or rather, her fear; the fear that he’d induced. Before,
when he’d been in and out of focus, she hadn’t been afraid because
as much as she hated to admit it, being in his company wasn’t that
bad. He was handsome, charming, and witty—when he wasn’t
threatening someone’s life.

Edie shoved her fear deep, deep inside and
actually gave Tristan a warm smile, as she lifted up her hand to
meet his. She didn’t want to do it, but if she went along, then
hopefully he’d disappear.

She shivered when his hand went through hers,
trying to clasp and interlace their fingers. He couldn’t maintain a
grip, despite his concentrated attempts to do so. She was cold and
in pain from this experiment. Shocks of ice traveled at super
speeds along the veins of her hand, and she was afraid it would
freeze solid. To save herself, she jerked her hand back and warmed
it with her other.

“
Did I hurt you?” he asked,
genuinely concerned, lowering his hand.

Edie tried to feel only pain and not fear.
She wanted him off her bed and out of her life, as soon as
possible.

“
No,” she lied. “The cold
was just a shock to my system.” She forced a smile. “Remember? Me
and cold don’t mix.”

He was starting to fade in and out again.

Almost there, Edie, almost
there
.

“
I’m sorry,” Tristan said.
Again, he sounded genuine. Now she wondered if Tristan Lockhart had
a split personality. “I wanted to see how far I’ve come.” He shook
his head and stood up. “I still have a lot of work to
do.”

Fear and pain were replaced with curiosity
and concern. What work? How far did he want to go? And what did
that mean for her, for her friends, for Grimsby?

She watched as Tristan began to fade, and
then he disappeared. She turned toward the mirror. He wasn’t there,
either.

“
Tristan?” she called out,
hoping that he was gone for good.

“
I’m here, Edie,” his cool
voice said in her ear.

Her shoulders slumped. Well, better luck next
time.

“
I’m getting close, Edie,
very close,” he continued. “Soon.” It was a promise. “Soon I’ll be
more than just a phantom in the guise of who I once was. Soon I’ll
be as real as you are, and I’ll want much more than to simply hold
your hand.”

She was shivering and pulled the covers up
and over her, hiding in the dark. A cold finger trailed down her
cheek. She contorted into a fetal position and pretended she was on
a tropical island with the sun’s rays beaming down upon her. As she
recited the Lord’s Prayer aloud like her mom had taught her, the
chill started to fade, and then it was completely gone.

Soon I’ll be rid of you and
your cold, dark soul, Tristan Lockhart
.

****

The rest of the week had gone by in a blur
and before Edie knew it, Saturday was here. Of course during that
time, Tristan had haunted her, haunted others, and generally had
been a poltergeist. He hadn’t been much a chatterbox. Instead he’d
made objects move around her room, the school, Jack’s, and at
Diana’s house when Edie had visited.

He’d appeared in mirrors but only Edie had
seen him. Once or twice when enough fear had been invoked, he’d
been able to step out into the living world, to yet again only be
seen by Edie. She’d stifled her fear, told her friends to do the
same, and eventually, he’d faded away, but with a promise to
return.

Edie knew that he’d keep his promise. Even
though he was free, he was still restrained in many ways. He had a
plan and it was frustrating Edie that she couldn’t figure it out.
He was cunning, a great trickster.

She’d almost backed out of going to the
Grimsby Sanatorium with Jules and her GPS buddies. Well, she’d
wavered for a millisecond, actually. She’d told herself it was one
of those opportunities in life you pass up and regret later.

She didn’t want to pass up such an
opportunity even though a little voice inside her head—not
Tristan’s—kept telling her that entering an abandoned asylum at
night was a bad, bad idea.

Yes, they were going there at night.

She’d told Mason that they could do something
Saturday evening, but that was when she’d thought that she’d be
going to the sanatorium during the day. She’d failed to realize the
GPS would want to investigate at night.

“
Higher level of paranormal
activity,” Jules had told her at school when they’d met up in the
library on Friday morning.

They’d gotten together to discuss who would
be joining them. There would be Quinn, who Edie already knew and
wanted to dislike, but couldn’t given that he was a believer in the
paranormal. And four college students who’d grown up Grimsby would
also be there: Gunnar Templeton, co-founder, who’d inherited a
bunch of money and was basically funding the GPS; his friend, Rory
Edgecombe; and twin sisters, Bree and Amee McFadden. Jules had
assured Edie that they were all “very cool.”

Jules was glad Edie was going, thinking Edie
had changed her mind. Edie had told Jules that it’d been Mason’s
doing; he didn’t want her to go. But Edie had made up her mind. She
was going. She had to go even if it was a mistake. In the library,
Edie had told Jules to keep it a secret. Mason couldn’t know. Not
even Diana and Madelyn. Jules hadn’t questioned why and just
nodded. Edie had told her to pass the word along to Quinn, as well.
Edie didn’t need him blabbering about how he’d spent an entire
tonight with her in a creepy, abandoned mental asylum. She was
assuming it was creepy. Abandoned places rarely were homey. And
abandoned mental asylums just screamed, “Boo!”

After Edie and Jules had said goodbye, Edie
had run into Russell—literally. He’d held her gently by her arms,
keeping her from falling. Saying it’d been awkward was an
understatement.

“
Miss St. John,” he’d
greeted.

“
Mr. Ballantine,” she’d
greeted back.

When the bell had rung, he’d quickly let go
of her, before the students had rushed out of their classrooms.
Edie had known then that he’d been Russell and not Tristan. Well,
not fully Tristan. Russell still had some clarity, some sense of
right and wrong. Tristan hadn’t corrupted him…yet; however Edie had
seen that look in Russell’s eyes, that longing, that lust. She’d
never submit, but she knew that his desire would only grow, not
wane; so it made her more and more determined to cut Tristan away
from Russell. She only hoped that by removing Tristan, she wouldn’t
damage Russell. She didn’t know how ghost attachments worked and
feared that she’d irreparably hurt Russell in her desire to help
him.

Well, she didn’t have much of a choice. It
was her fault. She’d set Tristan free. Now she had to correct her
folly and restrain him for good. How was a ghost restrained? She
didn’t know and hoped the other, wandering souls out there would
tell her. If not, then she was in for a world of trouble.

Speaking of trouble, Rochelle had returned
early from her suspension to the disappointment of many. Apparently
her mom had fussed and fumed to the superintendent. Edie guessed
that Mrs. Lafayette had some sort of clout, but she didn’t know
what.

Fortunately Mason’s ex had avoided Edie and
hung out with her friend, Ravenna, who’d recovered enough to attend
classes. Ravenna had acted even more scared of Edie than Rochelle,
but she’d had good cause, thinking Edie was a witch, who’d gone all
Hogwarts on her bedroom. Obviously she’d told that to Rochelle,
who’d taken to wearing a large cross around her neck, as if Edie
were a vampire that she’d desperately wanted to ward off.

If Edie were to come to school unshaven and
exposed her legs, Rochelle would think she was a werewolf too.

****

“
Yeah, I’m not feeling
well,” Edie lied to Mason on the phone. She had it on speaker while
she was getting dressed inside her room. “Sorry about tonight, but
I think I have the flu or something. I wouldn’t want you to catch
it.”

“
Oh, that’s okay,” he
said.

Edie was happy that he accepted her lie so
easily, but sad that she had to lie. It wasn’t a great way to begin
a relationship. Although they’d begun under extraordinary
circumstances; circumstances that two seventeen-year-olds rarely,
if ever, encountered.

“
Just stay in bed and rest,”
he continued. “Or do you want me to come over? I can make you some
soup.”

Edie almost fell trying to get her thick
boots on. “Uh, no, that’s okay.” She coughed, really playing it up.
“I don’t think I could eat anything. In fact, I’d probably just
throw it back up.” Yuck. But she hoped that the image of her
spewing up vomit would keep him away.

“
Well, then, I guess I’ll
let you rest, alone. If it gets too bad have your uncle take you to
the hospital. A flu bug can turn into something far worse. I-I
wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. I care about you,
Edie.”

She’d been adjusting her coat and scarf, but
now stopped to pick up her cell phone. She took it off speaker and
held it against her ear. “I care about you too, Mason. Thanks for
everything.”

“
I remember when we first
met and you kept thanking me. Do you remember what I said? That one
day I’d do something to truly receive your thanks?”