Chapter 1
A regular of the library, I was sitting at my normal table in the back of the room. Surrounded by books and sticky notes that only made sense to me. My finger quickly skimmed over the words on page 393 of my biochemistry textbook. It was the ninth time I had read it, but Dr. Hayes was a real hardass when it came to tests and I knew he wasn't going to break the semester long tradition for his final exam.
After having to push my hair out of my face for the umpteenth time, I finally gave in and grabbed a handful of my auburn mane. Styling it into a messy bun on top of my head, I went back to memorizing facts about double-stranded RNA's.
That is until I caught a glimpse of my watch.
"Dammit," I cursed under my breath. I'm supposed to meet my sister at the restaurant across town in ten minutes.
In my hurry to gather all of my books and notes, I ended up snapping the book I was reading closed. The echo brought the eyes of my fellow students right to me. After managing what I believe was a successful apologetic duck and nod, I made my way to the front door.
It's amazing how you never realize how quiet everyone and everything is until you are walking in a hurry and suddenly the sound of your heels clacking against the marble floor sounds like a troop of soldiers stomping down the hallway. I hated bringing unwanted attention to myself and I viewed ALL attention as unwanted.
Attention seeking was my sister's forte.
I was about to pull open the door, when I was forced to stop after noticing another pop-up thunderstorm had decided to make an appearance. The rain was coming down hard enough to provide a curtain. I was barely able to see the trees bending in the wind up ahead.
A sharp pain started on my right side. I figured it was my muscles way of saying, "You need a break from sitting hunched over."
Rotating my shoulder, I took another look at my watch and I had to decide if I wanted to wait it out or risk making a run for it.
Who was I kidding?
The stack of reading material in my hands made the decision for me. Being a true bookworm, I prided myself on the condition of my books. In fact, I was once given detention in fourth grade for pushing Rodney McAllister when he returned my copy of Harry Potter that I had lent him with bent pages. What kind of savage didn't use a bookmark?
Plus, my sister was never on time so there was a chance I would still get there before her even if I did wait it out.
"It is not letting up out there is it?"
To my embarrassment I let out a startled squeak, as I was unknowingly joined at the door by a man.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
Risking a quick look to my right, I saw a very tall man staring out the windows beside me. He looked at the rain with the same impatience I was.
I have a long list of things I'm not good at and, like most introverts, eye contact and talking to strangers was at the top of that list.
"It's alright," I somehow managed to mutter. It was my fault after all. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed a giant of a man standing beside me.
After mentally scolding myself for not staying aware of my surroundings, my mind went back to planning the best route to the restaurant while tapping my foot and waiting for the storm to pass. Our coastal town has always had storms, some worse than others, but recently it had become an everyday occurrence. Each day they were lasting a little longer and I couldn't help but think they might be leading up to a bigger storm -it was hurricane season after all.
"So, Atlas of the Human Body huh?"
"I'm sorry?" I had thought our brief conversation was over and had already congratulated myself on talking to a stranger, so I was really confused by his sudden comment. It seemed out of place and I had to wonder if it was some weird pickup line. Of course it wasn't. He nodded toward the books I had stacked in my arms. Sure enough, when I looked down, my copy of Atlas of the Human Body was right on top of the large pile. "Oh yeah, I was just studying." I was already starting to rearrange the books in my arms. When I get nervous I fidget. My mom used to hate it.
"Nursing?"
"Actually doctor, hopefully pediatrics."
"Oh sorry I just assumed."
"I know. I'm a woman, I should be a nurse."
"That's not what I meant." I was able to see his reflection in the glass door. I admit I kind of enjoyed watching him look down at the ground in embarrassment and run his hand through his hair. It wasn't something I was able to accomplish often.
I was usually the one embarrassed.
"Relax. I'm joking." No one was ever able to tell when I was joking. Apparently it was something about my delivery. My facial expressions always remained the same.
The sound of his deep chuckle made me smile. This was by far the longest conversation I have had with someone who wasn't family or part of my study group. I had to take a step back when he brought his hand up. It was almost directly in my face, but considering his height this made sense. "I'm Sam, by the way."
"Grace." I took his offered hand and shook it.
Of course it wasn't long before my tendency to overanalyze everything kicked in. I started to worry that I was holding his hand too long. Then when I pulled away I thought I pulled it away so suddenly, it probably looked like I couldn't stand his touch.
My brain was screaming at me to abort. It was only a matter of time before I did or said something I couldn't come back from. "I uh -I'm going to see if the librarian has any plastic bags that I can put these books in."
"Good idea. I'll go with you."
Great. Awesome.
As we approached the desk, I noticed the middle aged woman look at me and roll her eyes. It wasn't until she caught a glimpse of Sam that she deemed it worthy to remove the headphones from her ears and sit them on the desk in front of her.
"Can I help you?" It was like I wasn't even there, she was only looking at Sam. I couldn't help but huff at her blatant disregard for subtlety.
"Hi Judith." I tried to put on a friendly face even after she shoots her eyes at me. Like I had the audacity to pull her away attention away from Sam.
You could tell by looking at her that she was once beautiful. Actually she still had that classic southern beauty look about her. If I had to guess I would say she was on the wrong side of her forties, maybe even early fifties, but that was only because her skin had the signs of age. Deep wrinkles were set around her eyes like she had spent the majority of her life squinting at people in disgust. I also noticed there are not as many of those fine lines around her mouth which led me to believe she didn't smile much.
"Grace." She finally acknowledges me and the nod seems friendly but the woman does not like me one bit. It doesn't matter because she goes back to staring at Sam.
Maybe I should tell her that she has lipstick on her teeth? Nah. I'll let her figure it out.
"Do you have any bags that Grace and I can use for our books? It's raining pretty bad out there."
The sound of Sam saying my name with such familiarity was weird. I'll admit I didn't get a good look at his face yet, but, if Judith's reaction was anything to go on, he was out of my league.
I pushed my glasses further up my nose. I was completely aware of how stereotypically nerdy that move was but they were falling down.
"I'm sure I can find something for you." She stood and I believe it was the first time I had ever seen her from the chest down. The woman was always sitting at the desk. She was even brave enough to give Sam's hand a reassuring pat before she walked off. I watched as she moved with the grace of a ballerina, her heels barely made any noise.
I turned around so my back was leaning against Judith's desk. She would hate it if she saw me doing it, so I viewed it as a personal rebellion. I let a breath of air out and watched as it lifted the stray hairs that hanged down in my face.
"She a friend of yours?" I could hear the sarcasm dripping in his voice. It was obvious Judith wasn't my number one fan.
"Yeah. I have a feeling it has something to do with my sister, but I've never asked."
"I know how that goes. I have a brother that seems to make enemies for the both of us wherever we go."
I pushed off the desk when my phone started to vibrate. I was startled by the buzzing and gasped, which earned me a raised eyebrow from Sam. I gave a small shrug hopefully playing it off. Then I was back to being awkward; trying to shift the books that were still in my hands so that I could reach my phone in my purse.
However, the weight was quickly taken away from me. Looking up, I saw that Sam was now holding my books which left me both hands to dig around my purse.
"Thanks," I managed to murmur as I continued to fumble around clumsily. My purse wasn't huge, but whenever I needed something it suddenly became a damn Mary Poppins bag. "Aha" I pulled out my phone and expected to see a picture of my sister on the screen. Maybe she was seeing where I was, but instead it was a number I didn't recognize.
"Hello?" I answered hesitantly which was ridiculous. It was a just a phone call.
A deep voice asked on the other end, "Is this Grace Rider?"
"Yes it is."
"Ms. Rider, this is the sheriff's office. You were the emergency contact for a Ms. Harmony Rider."
My heart stopped. They didn't call emergency contacts for non-emergencies did they? Whatever was going to be said wasn't going to be good. Best case scenario: maybe my sister had finally gotten arrested for her stupid antics. Worse case….?
"Ma'am? Are you still there?"
"Y-Yes officer I'm here." I took a step forward.
"I think it's best that you come over to the station."
"Okay." I started to absently nod to the person on the other end of the phone, "Wait. Is she alright?" My voice was starting to rise and I had to remind myself that I was in a library. Clearing my throat, I forced myself to sound calm as I repeated, "Is she alright?"
"No ma'am I'm afraid I have some bad news..."
I listened as the man with the deceptively comforting voice finished his sentence. I put my phone back in my purse without another word.
"You okay?" A deep voice asked and I felt a hand on my arm, but I was replaying what was just said to me over the phone.
"I-I uh…I need to go." I was talking more to myself than to anyone else. I took another step toward the door.
Someone was blocking my path. I blinked. It seemed impossible to draw air into my lungs and for some reason the room was spinning around me. I succeeded in looking up and I was able to figure out that it was Sam blocking my way. His mouth was moving, but for some reason my ears weren't able to pick up what he was saying.
Everything sounded muffled.
I closed my eyes hoping to regain my senses, but the room wouldn't stop moving. It wasn't long before I welcomed the sea of blackness that wanted to take over and passed out.
Kneeling in the graveyard dirt, for once I didn't care that my jeans were getting dirty. I was actually taking comfort in feeling the cold dampness spread as the knees of my jeans started to soak up the combination of freshly disturbed earth and the rainfall from earlier.
At least I was feeling something other than that numbing pain.
This morning had been the hardest day in my life. I had to say goodbye to the only person that had always been there for me.
My sister.
It was official. The hope of Harmony calling me on the phone or ever seeing her walk through the front door of our apartment again was gone.
It still felt unreal.
It felt so unreal that I had checked several times back at the funeral home just to make sure that it was in fact my sister laying in the casket. It was. The mole that had resembled a music note was on her hand, right at the base of her thumb. It was the only thing that had separated us. Everything else was identical.
It was her. Not some doppelganger like I had wanted.
Being with someone every day since the womb, you develop a special bond. When you are a twin you have a connection and it's one that others don't understand. That is mainly because there was no way to describe the bond that twin's share.
And we had a strong bond. Not a day in our entire life had gone by that we didn't see each other.
Well that was true -up until Harmony died.
Even now there was no way to define that empty spot in my chest. I can only say that I felt like half a person right now; a shard of what I was last week. Unbalanced. And it is all because my other half was buried six feet beneath me and I couldn't get to her.
I had refused to cry at the funeral. I had refused to stand up there, in front of all those strangers, and speak on behalf of my sister. The entire day had been me absently nodding at people even though I hadn't heard what they were saying.
I figured they were condolences or empty attempts at comforting me. I didn't want to hear them.
As I ran my fingers over the letters of her name carved in the slab of marble, it didn't seem like enough. This would be the only proof future generations would have that Harmony had ever existed. Maybe I should have gotten a statue or something flashier. Harmony always lived big; she would want more than this. It seemed so mediocre.
It's been three days since that phone call and I was still numb for the most part. The hurt was still there, but I don't think I have made it past the denial stage even after confirming it was her being buried.
What was the next stage in grief? I had to think and look back to my Psych classes…Anger. Anger is the next step.
I try to force that anger to rise up so that I can make it through all five of the steps. If I get to the last one, then everything would be better right?
That's not how it works and I know it, but God dammit I can't deal with another day of being a shell. If one more person asked me how I'm holding up, then there was no doubt in my mind that I would be committed because I would lose whatever sanity I had left.
I'd never felt so alone. The new feeling was so overpowering that I tried to reach out to Harmony. Placing my palm over where my sister was resting, I attempted to find that invisible thin string that had always connected us. I was searching, but somehow I wasn't able to find it.
I know she wouldn't go where I couldn't follow her. She was always bugging me to tag along, which is why I knew there had to be something still there. What we had couldn't be over just like that.
Yet I felt nothing.
It's funny how something as simple as a phone call somehow manages to mark a new era in your life. My life could now be classified into two major events: before Harmony died and after Harmony died. The latter was completely foreign and something I wasn't sure I wanted to explore.
Then it hit me. I was at a complete loss of what to do next which was completely unlike me. I always planned ahead, but somehow I managed to overlook this particular scenario unfolding in my life.
Suddenly the emotions that I had managed to keep at bay for the last few days came rushing forward. Hitting me with a force that literally took my breath away. I could hear a whimpering sound start to drown out the crickets and I looked around trying to find the source. It took me a few moments before I realized it was coming from me.
"Miss?" A somewhat familiar deep voice was registering, but I couldn't seem to catch my breath long enough to respond. Let alone bother to look up.
"Hey lady, are you alright?" A different voice this time.
I made myself focus, at least long enough to move my head toward the two strangers. It seemed like a herculean feat forcing my eyes to concentrate and overlook the blurriness from un-spilt tears
I recognized one of the men. It was the same man who had been looking down at me when I woke up on the cold library floor that day.
"Grace?" he asked. I nodded. I wasn't in the mood for talking.
"Are you okay? Do you need help?" he continued.
"No." I answered, but then I realized that he wouldn't know which one of his questions I was responding to. "I'm fine. Thank you Sam."
It was a lie, but I didn't feel like keeping company so I was willing to say whatever it took for them to leave.
"You sure?" I could see he was hesitant in taking my words at face value.
"Come on Sammy. She said she is fine. Let's go."
"Look at her Dean."
I stopped listening. I didn't care that they were talking about me like I wasn't there because I really wasn't. My mind was elsewhere.
At least it was until a pair of boots came into my line of sight. When I looked up, I found the owner of the boots was Sam's mystery companion. The first thing that grabbed my attention was his leather jacket and I only took notice because it was summer in Georgia. Even with the sun starting to set, it was well over eighty degrees and humid. I had worked up a sweat just walking here from the car less than twenty feet away.
Wait.
My mind started to realize the situation I was in. Both of these men were basically strangers and there I was sitting on the ground completely vulnerable. I wasn't exactly tall at 5'4", but I was at even more of a disadvantage sitting on the ground.
I didn't live up to my name as I scrambled to my feet.
For some reason, when I looked down at the mud on my jeans it started to bother me. Actually I knew the reason, my sister had given them to me. Combine that with fact that I tend to focus on minuscule problems when faced with larger more pressing things, so my full attention went to the blemishes on my pants.
I tried to brush the dirt off, but all that managed to accomplish was me smearing it deeper into the fabric. Suddenly I started to scrub with my wrist. My movements became frantic and desperate, like the state of my jeans was the biggest problem in my life at that moment.
"Jesus." I hissed to myself, "It's only getting worse."
"A little club soda will take that right out."
I had been so focused on the stupid pants that I hadn't even realized he was standing right in front of me again.
Way to be aware of your surroundings, Grace. It's not like you're alone in a cemetery with two strange men or anything.
On instinct I took two quick steps back which earned me a smirk from…What had Sam called him? Dean? That's it. Dean.
Feeling completely out of my element, I looked down.
That was when I noticed Dean was standing on Harmony's grave. Didn't he have any respect? Her grave was clearly marked considering it was a mound of fresh dirt.
Rage was the only thing that made me brave enough to retake those two steps forward. It almost putting me face to face with him.
"Don't stand there."
He looked down and shrugged, "Trust me sweetheart, she doesn't care."
How dare he! Didn't he know that a part of me was down there?
I made myself take a deep breath before I rephrased.
"Please." That was a good start; manners were important. "Get off my sister."
I was surprised to see him back off her grave, but I was more confused when he did it with a smile.
"If I had a dollar for every time I was told to get off somebody's sister. Right Sammy?"
"Shut up Dean." Sam was starting to sound just as annoyed as I was starting to feel.
"Listen guys." I tried to act like this wasn't the weirdest encounter in my life. "I'm fine and I would like to be left alone. Thanks for the concern."
"That's the thing. You can't be here."
"Excuse me?" I bristled. "Dean, is it?"
He gave a smile and a nod like I should already know who he was. I had dealt with guys like him enough back at college to know that he was one thing: a jackass.
"Well Jimmy, the caretaker, said I could stay as long as I wanted."
It was another lie. I had no clue if there even was a caretaker and Jimmy was a name I had just pulled out of my ass. It was completely unlike me; this was something Harmony would have done. All I was doing was just taking a wild guess that these two idiots had no affiliation with the grounds and had no right telling me I couldn't be there.
I watched as Dean looked toward Sam. The look of uncertainty was all over his face and I instantly knew when he turned back around anything he said was going to be a lie.
"Well that's the thing, uh, Jimmy is sick. Yeah. So he asked us to take care of things tonight. You know keep the kids out. Make sure the dead stay dead. That type of thing."
I raised my eyebrow.
"Right." I drew the word out so my disbelief shined through. Then an unfamiliar sense of bravado overcomes and I got brave. The bravest I had ever been in my life. I called his bluff with another one of my own. Taking out my phone I hit the second number on my speed dial. "Well I should call him to make sure he doesn't need anything then. Like soup."
"No." Sam shouted and raised his hands up in a way that looked like he was surrendering. "He was pretty out of it, said it was some kind of 24-hour stomach bug. He is probably sleeping."
"The runs."
"Dean." Sam said through clenched teeth. It was obvious he was trying to get his friend to shut up.
In all of my bluster, I had forgotten that I had dialed a number on my phone. The muffled sound of, "Hello. Thank you for calling China Wok. Is this for delivery?" was coming from my hand.
I quickly ended the phone call. I'll admit that it was a little embarrassing having the second number on my speed dial be a restaurant that delivered. Harmony was number one.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I hoped to fight off what I could tell was the beginning of a major headache starting up behind my eyes. This already bizarre day was getting more so. Here I was arguing a lie I had made up with two idiots who made up their own lie to counter mine. I felt like I had landed in an Abbott and Costello movie.
"You know what? I don't feel like dealing with this right now." Turning on my heels, I just wanted get out of there. I hadn't been able to find what I was looking for here anyway.
The sound of the two men arguing with each other behind me started to fade as I made my way to my car. The closer I got to my beat up sedan, I started to feel an unexpected chill to the air. By the time I had my key in the door ready to unlock it, I was able to see my breath leaving my mouth on a cloud.
That wasn't right.
Thanks to the combination of sweat and being dressed for a Georgia summer my limbs wouldn't stop shaking and my teeth were chattering. It was the type of cold that seeped into your skin. I looked around hoping to find the explanation as to why the temperature had dropped fifty degrees.
What the hell was going on?
Suddenly it was silent. No crickets, no katydids, nothing that made up the sounds of a southern night. It was like someone had flipped a switch and managed to turn off nature itself.
The streetlights overhead flickered several times before the beacons of light shut off, taking any sense of safety with them.
I suddenly felt like I was thrown into a campy horror movie where the moon was the only source of light. It was even complete with a cemetery setting backdrop. It was taking a while for my eyes to adjust, but I thought I saw a silhouette of a man standing ahead of me.
Squinting my eyes, I was clearly able to see an outline of a man standing next to a dead tree. My mind immediately made the connection to an old western movie. I couldn't be certain but it looked like he was wearing an old jacket, maybe a duster. The brim of his hat was large and reminded me of one a cowboy would wear. A new shiver ran down my spine and I didn't think it was from the cold. Either way, I was getting the hell out of here.
With a new sense of nervousness, I kept my eyes on the unmoving outline until I was seated in the safety of my car. Without any hesitation I shoved the key into the ignition and turned.
I waited for the familiar rattle of my car coming to life. Instead I heard nothing but a soft click.
After three more attempts with the same outcome, my fists slammed against the steering wheel out of frustration. It was just my luck. When I looked out the window where I had last seen that stranger's outline, I was relieved to see he was no longer standing there and started to think he hadn't been there to begin with. It was clearly just my imagination working overtime.
There was no one to call to come help me and I was kicking myself for foolishly letting my AAA membership expire last week. Three years I had that thing and never once used it. Maybe Sam could give me a jump? I didn't trust him, especially after tonight, but he had seemed genuinely concerned about me and I was desperate.
A thin layer of frost was starting to coat my windshield and windows. I was more than half tempted to stay in the car, but I didn't want to risk Sam leaving and me being stranded in the graveyard overnight. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I opened the door and looked around for the two men that I had left standing next to my sister's grave.
They weren't there.
"Sam?" I took a few steps away from my car and tried to penetrate the darkness. "Sam? Dean?" I tried again.
The sound of a twig snapping was the only response I received. Spinning around, I was met with the same unknown outline from before.
Except he was no longer standing next to the tree, but was now standing directly in front of me.
My grandfather had always taught me to trust my gut and right then my gut was telling me, "Move. Run. Get away. Danger!" I wanted nothing more than to follow that advice but my feet were frozen, actually everything was frozen.
I couldn't lift my arms, move my head, or blink my eyes. I was no longer in control of myself.
He moved closer, his fluid movements suggested that he might be floating rather than walking.
Soon he was standing in front of me, but I wasn't able to see anything. He was cruelly masked by the shadows that seemed to bend to his will. A hand reached forth and I sensed rather than knew it would be cold and clammy. It hovered over my cheek but never touched.
This wasn't a man. His skin was giving off a faint glow.
I couldn't be certain but I had the feeling that whatever was in front of me was tearing into my mind ripping whatever thoughts it wanted from me. I was left with only feelings of hopelessness and desperation it was like everything that had kept me warm and happy was being sucked out of me.
So this was it? This was where I was going to die.
A tear managed to escape my eye but was left frozen on my face before it could fall.
The thing cocked its head and I heard as it took a deep breath and inhaled my scent, "Such pain."
My skin instantly felt like it had thousands of insects crawling beneath it, making my stomach roll. That was not a human voice. It felt like hundreds of different voices layered on top of each other and it rolled like thunder inside my head.
I wanted to scream, but my vocal cords were just as frozen as the rest of me.
"Hey asshat!"
The sound of a new voice, a voice that wasn't just inside my head seemed to break whatever hold that thing had on me. Falling to the ground, I was left on my hands and knees trying to draw air into my lungs. I managed a few choking breaths before someone was lifting me up. I wasn't much help being no more than dead weight, but I made my feet move.
With my right arm over Deans shoulder, I was able to see Sam standing behind that thing. He was looking at a book and reciting words in a language I didn't recognize. I wanted to tell him to run. This was no time for reading, but all of my attention was diverted to staying on my feet.
Dean was trying to keep me upright, his arm around my waist was doing most of the work. If Sam was supposed to be doing something useful, it wasn't working. The air was getting colder and I could see the frost spreading on the grass. It was making a circle and in the center of that circle was the John Wayne wannabe.
"I don't think it's working Sammy!" Dean shouted. His free hand was holding a gun. Normally I was hesitant around guns, but right then I wanted to know why he hadn't already shot that thing. "Time for plan B."
I watched as he raised the gun and aimed, flinching each time a bullet left the chamber in a loud bang.
I opened my eyes expecting to see a dark form lying on the ground, but he was still standing.
"So much for plan B. Can you stand?" Dean asked me.
I managed to nod and slowly stood up straight.
"You're going to run. Do you think you can do that?"
Sam was still flipping through the book while taking quick looks up. It was like he was expecting it to attack, but it just stood there. I didn't want to find out what its master plan was, so I started to follow Dean's directions and ran.
My feet were heavy and clumsy but the knowledge of what was behind me kept me moving. Sam was still reciting and it sounded like Dean had abandoned his gun approach and moved onto throwing insults at it.
Good luck with that. For some reason, I didn't think "your momma jokes" were going to hurt its feelings.
"Where the hell did it go? Can they just disappear like that?"
"I don't think we are dealing with a buruburu, Dean."
Taking a quick glance back, I saw Sam and Dean talking to each other. The third man was no longer there. Darting my eyes around I tried to find him. One second there was nothing, then the next he appeared in front of me.
"SAM!" I screamed, but I wasn't sure they were going to make it in time.
"Such pain." Its words brought the same reaction it had before. However, this time I wasn't frozen in place and took a few steps backwards.
Its hand raised, the glowing of its skin was no longer hidden behind the black cloak.
In the same motion, I was being shoved behind someone and a bright light filled my eyes. A pain like nothing I had ever felt before was radiating from my chest. I couldn't breathe, but I could scream.
Then it was over.