Kiss Of Death (Are You Afraid Of The Dark)

18

The walls felt like they were closing in on Rachel. She was trapped in the hotel suite with Gavin and Sardo as they all reeled from Jai's disappearance. All their food sat untouched on the desk because none of them had an appetite after what had happened. There was no way they were going to finish this curse before it got the two of them. They were all going to disappear for good. That was the worst thing that could happen -- waiting for the disappearance to happen to them.

She glanced between her hands and Gavin, wondering which one was going to disappear first. It was between her and Gavin now. They were the last two to make it. It was only a matter of time before one of them disappeared. And Rachel hoped it was going to be her. She wouldn't want to be the last one to disappear because then she would be all alone. Well, as alone as a person could get with a strange man they did not really know that good. It was devastate her to be alone because then her deepest, darkest thoughts could finally catch up with her. She desperately didn't want that to happen to her.

The thing was, she had no idea how to get the Land of Scary Stories to suck her in. It felt like it was very easy to get taken to the other side, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on what to do. She had already tried to close her eyes and whisper the spell they had tried last night. That did nothing. She tried to put all the pictures of her friends together in different orders to try to open a portal or something to get to the other side. That didn't work, either. She couldn't come up with anything else that would make sense to get to the Land of Scary Stories.

A haunting melody wormed it's way into her brain as she stared at the photos in front of her on the coffee table. She recognized the sound; at first, she couldn't place the melody at all. But she slowly realized it was the song that played on the phone call when she first met the other Midnight Society. She leaned back against the couch, resting her hands on Gavin's legs that were draped across her lap, allowing it to wash over her. Exhaustion rolled through her body, and she felt like she could just fall asleep right where she was.

The sharp rise and fall of the piano melody lulled her into a trance. Her eyes were half lidded as she listened to the melody in her head. For some reason, a face was forming in her minds eye. At first, it was fuzzy, but as the song picked up, she could almost see who it was.

Rachel let out a scream when she heard the sharp knock on the door. The melody that had been playing in her head was quickly silenced. Sardo nearly fell out of his chair at the desk while Gavin on shifted in his position on the couch, his legs still draped over Rachel's lap. He didn't bother comforting her like she thought he would have. He barely looked like he was alive right now.

"I guess I'm getting the  door," Sardo grumbled to himself.

"That's the responsible thing to do since you're the adult," Gavin said. His voice sounded so empty and hollow. "Do you want the teenagers to get the door to find a kidnapper there?"

"Why would there be a kidnapper out there?" Sardo asked, frowning. There was silence outside of the room, like the person was waiting for someone to answer the door. "We're not in a kidnapping situation."

"You don't know that."

Sardo sighed, scrubbing a hand across his face before pulling open the door. Rachel couldn't see around him, but she knew Sardo didn't recognize whoever was on the other side of the door because his whole body stiffened. "Who are you?" he asked.

Rachel pushed Gavin's legs off her lap and stood up. Her heart dropped in her chest when she saw the dark hair and even darker eyes that had been following her ever since he started school in Argento. Quinton Morris stood on the other side of the door, a dark grin on his face when he saw her standing behind Sardo.

"What are you doing here, Quinton?" she asked, frowning deeply. "And how'd you find us?"

"I have my ways," he said mysteriously.

Rachel felt Gavin standing behind her because she could feel the angry glare on the back of her head. She had no idea why he seemed so angry. He should have been confused like she was.

"Do you two know him?" Sardo asked them with a glance at them.

"Yes," Rachel said while Gavin said, "No."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"Yes, we know each other from school," Quinton answered before Rachel or Gavin could.

"But how did you find us?" Rachel asked again, her voice shaking. There was something scary about him right now.

Quinton didn't answer her. Instead, he stepped into their suite, slowly shutting the door behind him. Sardo glanced at Rachel with a frown on his face. There was something in his eyes that told her that he was afraid of this boy. If Sardo was afraid, then there was something seriously wrong with Quinton.

"Rachel, can we go talk in one of the bedrooms?" Gavin asked her, grasping her elbow. "I want to talk to you."

He didn't give her a chance to answer. Rachel was pulled into her bedroom with Gavin, who shut the door behind them. He dropped her arm and swept into the room. She stayed near the closed door, terror running through her veins. For some reason, Gavin was directing his anger at her.

"Why did you invite him here?" he asked her, his voice low.

"What?" she asked him. She was absolutely confused as to why Gavin thought she told Quinton where they were. She hadn't even turned her phone on since she turned it off when her mother kept trying to contact her. "What in the world are you talking about?"

"There's something going on with you and Quinton."

"No, there isn't. I barely know the guy."

"Rachel, please don't lie to me."

Rachel had no idea where any of this was coming from. Was that why Gavin had barely talked to her since their friends started disappearing? She thought it was because he was losing hope and was sad. Apparently, she was very off with her guess because he was staring at her with angry eyes, something she had never seen before. She had never seen anything like that on him before. It scared her.

"Gavin, I'm not lying," she said quickly. She tried to reach out to grab his hands, but he dodged her. "Why would I invite him here when I could disappear literally any day now? Plus, my phone has been off for days."

"Whatever, Rachel."

"Gavin, what's going on?" The look in his eyes made her not want to continue talking to him. However, she needed to get some answers from him before their relationship deteriorated. "Talk to me. Please."

"It's so hard for me to trust people," he said, his voice so dark. "I thought you were different, Rachel. I thought I could trust you. But trust is something that has to be built, and once it's started to get worse, it's so hard for me to trust someone again. I'm scared to open up to people because I know it's going to come back around and hurt me, just like what you're doing to me."

"But --"

"I'm terrified to open up to people, Rachel. That's my greatest fear. And now you're telling me that trusting people is the wrong thing to do."

Rachel closed her eyes to stop the tears from forming. She couldn't believe that Gavin was saying those things to her. Didn't he know that she cared for him deeply? Didn't he know that she loved him? He could only see the hurt right in front of him, though. He couldn't see the good he had in front of him.

When Rachel opened her eyes, she gasped. Gavin wasn't standing in front of her anymore. Instead, there was a letter sitting neatly on the bed. He had disappeared. It was just her left. Rachel was the last one.