Beyond The Veil (A Paranormal Romance)

Chapter 15

"What..." Emily stuttered, trying hard to comprehend his presence. "What are you doing here?"

His smile was disarming. "I was looking for you. You left without a note. I was worried."

Suspicion rose in her chest. She glanced up at him, though avoiding his black irises. "And you just happened to know that you would find me here? Of all possible places in town, you decided to look for me..." She motioned to the sinister landscape around her. "...here?"

"Well, yes." He tilted his head slightly. "After exhausting the many other options."

"Did you," she sputtered. "Did you see the owl?"

Raphael frowned. "What owl, Emily?"

"The... the owl. It was here, right before you came."

His confused look told her that he had no idea what she was talking about, so she figured it would be best to drop it. "Never mind," she mumbled. "So, you were looking for me. Why?"

"As I said," he responded in this soothing deep tone. "I was worried. You can't blame me after what happened last night."

"I'm fine." Emily sat down on the root of the oak tree and stared into space.

Raphael followed her, resting right beside her, but making sure to keep an appropriate distance. "Emily, I can tell that you are not fine. I don't know the whole story, but the things that I do know are enough to crush anyone. Believe me, I..."

She didn't let him finish. His words struck the wrong chord with her. Too many times she had listened to people assuring her they knew what she was going through. Yet, they never even came close to understanding her situation; not that they actually intended to anyway. It was all just polite small talk, which she despised with a vengeance.

"You don't know anything," she hissed. "So just let it go. Besides, I think it is rather unfair to hide the fact that you have a girlfriend."

Oops! Did she say that out loud?

"I have... What?"

Well, yes, it appeared she had said it out loud.

"...a girlfriend?" she asked, intimidated by her own boldness.

Raphael sighed. "No. I don't have a girlfriend. I had a fiance."

"Oh." Emily felt so embarrassed for bringing it up. It was not her place to be nosey like that.

"Yes," he grunted, looking at her in frustration. "She died."

She wanted to punch herself so hard for being so insensitive. What had gotten into her? Trying to make up for her idiotic accusation, she whispered, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't aware... I can be so stupid."

He smiled half-heartedly. "Don't worry, it's okay. How could you have known?"

Emily bit her lip, still wanting to punish herself in some form for her rudeness. "If you want to talk about it..."

Raphael, however, didn't seem to hear her. Absent-mindedly, his eyes roamed over the headstone right in front of them.

"Cassandra Snow," he read aloud and turned to face Emily. "A relative?"

She nodded sadly. "My mom."

A warm hand searched for hers, holding it in a comforting embrace. "I'm truly sorry, Emily."

Shaken up by the unexpected touch, she breathed, "It's been a long time. But I miss her every single day."

"I know. Losing someone you love is nothing you can ever recover from."

Unlike before, his statement this time didn't seem hypocritical at all; she knew he really meant it, for he had experienced a similar tragedy. Feeling understood for the first time in so many years, everything she had kept inside for far too long made its way to the surface, erupting out of her.

"It was an accident. At least, that's what my dad always told me. He never explained how and what happened, though. It was a Tuesday. I was in school when my science teacher, Mrs. Greene, called me out of math class. I will never forget. She said that something terrible had happened and that my mom was in the hospital. Dad picked me up fifteen minutes later and we rushed to see her. He drove like a maniac. I think he ran several red lights, and I was just praying that we would make it safely to the hospital, and that my mom would be okay. But the minute we arrived, one of the doctors told us that there was nothing they could have done to save her. She was gone. She passed away a few minutes before we even had the chance of saying goodbye. I wanted to see her one last time, but dad wouldn't let me. He simply did not allow it. I wish I could have told her how much I loved her, and how sorry I was for that stupid argument that same morning before I left for school. I will never get that chance. Never. And it's killing me."

Swiftly, Emily jumped up, unable to keep still. She had to do something, she had to move, even if it meant just aimlessly pacing around in circles, in order to shake the torturous pain that threatened to mutilate her heart beyond recognition.

Two strong arms caught her before she could run away.

"Ssshh," Raphael hummed into her ear. "It is okay. Everything will be okay."

"No," she sobbed, burying her face in his black dress shirt. "Nothing is okay. She is gone, and he is responsible. I know it. As much as I know that he hates me because I remind him of her. He is so violent. It is just a matter of time before he loses it completely and kills me."

The arms that held her pressed her closer to the man's chest. "No, Emily. He will not hurt you anymore. As long as I'm around, he won't. You're safe."

She lifted her head in surprise. "How..."

Raphael let his index finger touch her lips, making her hush. "I'll keep you safe, I promise."

His voice was so soothing; it trickled over her senses like the waters of a cool runlet, washing away any worries, making her almost feel dizzy. She closed her eyes and succumbed to the calming sensation in her mind, only acting on instinct.

Without even consciously taking note of what she was doing, she stretched up towards him, taking in the faint floral scent his body emanated, and allowed her lips to find comfort in the warmth of his.

She could hear a muffled moan as Raphael's arms tightened around her waist, pulling her in to deepen the kiss.

Instantly, the heat she had felt at the first contact dissolved, and something sinister and dark took hold of Emily's throat, paralyzing her senses. The blood that was pulsating rapidly through her veins seemed to gradually freeze into immobile chunks of ice. She was unable to command her body to move; it just did not obey. Her arms and legs began to sting painfully, as if she had bathed them in artic waters.

Realizing that there was something wrong, Raphael withdrew from her and took a step back.

"Emily?"

His voice was so faint that she wasn't sure whether he had actually spoken to her, or whether it was all in her head.

"Emily?" She heard him again, this time more clearly, for he had raised his voice, deeply concerned by her lack of responsiveness. "Emily!"

She looked around, doing her best to find the source of the voice that was calling her name so frantically, trying so hard to focus on the man she had just kissed, but all she could see was a blurry outline of a black shadow, standing in front of her mother's grave.

As lifeless as a rock, Emily hit the ground.

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