Of Darkness (Supernatural Mates Book One)

|028| Mysterious Visitors

Song of the Chapter:  Catfish and the Bottlemen — "Tyrants"

|Mysterious Visitors|

     His eyes were still closed as he lay motionless. Everyone but Jerrod and I had left...just waiting for him to wake up. I knew that it wasn't Aspen's time yet, but a little nagging voice in the back of my head made me have my doubts.

     The doctor said he was fine—overexerted and tired, but fine nonetheless. Said Aspen merely tired himself out and needed some bed rest to feel better. But doctors said things like that all the time, and then some weird freak medical anomaly happens to kill someone.

     I wasn't going to leave his side until I was absolutely sure he was all right.

     I love Aspen and I need him. I can't afford to lose him. Not yet. If he left me now, I don't know what I would do. I've been holding off—stalling—on accepting he was going to die soon. Because knowing and accepting it were two totally different things.

     His eyelids fluttered and he shifted in his bed a little. I leaned closer; clutching his hand close to my heart in both of mine like it was my lifeline. But it was a false alarm. He settled into his bed again, sleeping soundly and breathing deep.

     I let out a sigh and released his hand after placing a kiss upon it. I was used to being awake—not getting enough sleep because of the spirits always haunting me...but lately I knew what it was like to feel rested. Aspen helped calm my soul, and now that he was unconscious it was restless again.

     It made me feel tired—something I didn't know I could feel. But I wasn't going to risk missing him wake up.

     Coffee.

     I needed coffee to keep me up, and lots of it. I was already an avid coffee drinker so one or two cups felt like nothing to me. I needed at least five to feel like it was affecting me in any kind of way.

     So with one more fleeting look over my shoulder at Aspen's sleeping form I left to search for a vending machine. It took me a few minutes, a couple of wrong turns and misdirection's from staff members, but I eventually found one. One of those fancy ones that made hot chocolate and lattes.

     I just hoped I wouldn't get lost on the way back...

     I stood there for a moment, blankly staring at the vending machine. Part of it was lack of knowing what I wanted, but the other, bigger part of it was worry for Aspen's safety.

     When I first met him I swore I wouldn't get too close. He was better off not knowing the girl who found dead bodies. And I was protecting myself too. I wasn't sure if he was talking to me as a joke. I didn't want my life to be a real life version of the movie Carrie just for other people's miserable entertainment.

     But with each passing day that I got to know Aspen, through his sheer determination and will to befriend me (despite my lack of interest at the time), I grew to care for him. And then I made myself yet another promise I didn't keep.

     I promised nothing more than friendship. I'd keep my heart at arm's length and not get too involved, especially since he was going to die, but then I had to go to that stupid party at Roman's house, and fuck everything up.

     In hindsight maybe I shouldn't have gone to Percy to figure out what really happened that night. Maybe then I'd still be ignorant to Aspen's feelings and my own, and none of this would've happened.

     My hands curled around my crumpled bills at the thought. Aspen was already in danger enough as it was with the classic case of mistaken identity. Everyone thought he was this all powerful Revelation that could make their species of supernatural stronger. But being with me, with my uncontrolled abilities (heightened more by Aspen's bizarre Amplification ability) put him in just as much danger.