Chapter 16

"Oh, okay." I say holding a negative pregnancy test in my hands. I'm leaning up against the bathroom wall in Paul's house. I bite on my bottom lip and toss it in the trash can next to the sink.

"What it say?" He asks leaning up against the doorway. Even with his abs bluntly in my face, I don't feel like answering. "It was negative. I'm not pregnant, Paul." I don't want to be. I wanna go to college, graduate, and get a career. Knock. Knock. Someone is knocking on the front door. He leaves the doorway. I follow just to be nosey. His friends are half-naked men.

The front opens to his cousin Sam. "Good morning." I say curving into the kitchen. "Morning, Mary-Ann. Paul tells us that you talk in your sleep." I frown in shock. I talk in my sleep. "Did he? I didn't know." I say feigning shock. "Who is Clyde?" "I don't know a Clyde, Sam. What is this, Paul?" I don't like being blinded. "Trying to figure out how you know the name of a serial killer. He's very wanted."

"I'm unsure, Sam. Just a name in a unconscious state. I don't know." "If you know his name in an unconscious state, what does that mean?" "That i know of him, Sam. I really do not." "Can you see the future?" "No, Sam. Clair spoke that out of nowhere. She went crazy and caused the accident." I walk out of the kitchen and take a seat on the couch.

"Is this man after you, Mary-Ann?" "No! How would I know? I mean I have nothing to do with what Claire has going on. I'm not in it." She most definitely won't drag me down with her. "Speak later." He says to his cousin and leave out of the house. Paul closes the door behind him and take a seat next to me.

I place my legs on top of his. "Admit it. I'm being hunted by a serial killer." "Because you can see the future." "A complete confusion, Paul. Trust me when I tell you that I would be rich. I'm not going to hide it." He place his fiery hand on my lap.

I bite my bottom lip. Do I confront him about his body temperature or not? I won't. His supernatural secret is his. "How about lunch? We can go for the diner o-" "I'm not leaving." Okay. I get up from my seat and walk down the hall. I go into the bedroom and flop on the bed. Paul's bed feels like concrete. I'm surprised his back is not killing him.

Ring. Ring. Ring. my cellphone rings from the floor. I grab it out of my pants and answer it. "Hello." "I'm inviting you to my birthday party. This Saturday at the cabin." Corey says. "Cabin? Since when do you have a cabin?" "I don't have to tell you all about my life."

"Okay. I'll go text me the address." "Alright. Bye." "Bye." I hang up and get off the bed. I walk back into the living room to find Paul on the couch. "Corey does not have a cabin, Paul. I know his family and they have nothing. This is obviously a set up." I sit next to him. "Perhaps I'm too happy while Claire is in a coma." "Her friends don't like you." I figured that much. "A black girl surrounded by white people is not going to end well."

Corey told me his party was cancelled. After I got in his face, he spoke the truth in how I was not wanted. I'm still being blamed for Claire's accident. I didn't care. it gave me time to hang out with Paul. Well, only for a few days. A girl named Rachel came home from college, and my phone calls are not being answered. Just like Corey, I had to confront him. Pretty situations won't stay pretty for long.

"Thanks again. Jacob, right?" I ask as he totes my bike up the small hill. The rain is pouring down but here he is without a shirt. "Jacob. You shouldn't be hanging around in the forest." "I'm wearing a yellow raincoat." "Makes you noticeable and eatable." I laugh. "Serial killer still on the run?" It has been almost two weeks since I last seen Sam. "He is a reason you shouldn't be biking in the rain." "Just wanted to see the flower passway or whatever. Have you heard of it?"

"Burnt down." I laugh. He is such a liar. "Let's go this way." He grabs my wrist and lead me elsewhere. His hand is hot like Paul's also. Howl! Howl! "Jacob, is it the yellow?" I ask terrified. He laughs. I'm serious. After a few more walking, he leads me into the road. "Oh. Good job, Jacob and Mary-Ann. Thanks, Jacob." I try to take the bike but he moves back. "Can't have you biking off. Where you going?" "Home."

I put up the fists ready to put him down. "I'll take you to my house until the rain stop." He grabs my wrist again and leads me down the road. I'm not supposed to walk with strangers, but I follow. as time flies by, we walk up to a red house with a wheelchair ramp. He sits my bike up against the house and lead me in. A small tv is playing in the living room. "Sorry about the mess."

"It's okay. A home is a home." I take off my raincoat and take a seat on the couch. He walks down the hallway and into a room on the left. "It was a guy who hel-" "Quil." "Yeah! I guess that was his name. I wanted to thank him for checking on me. I have yet to run into him. Tall, muscled, and got the vibe of a nerd." "That's Quil." Quil is his name.

As the minutes pass me by, I cannot help but be nosey of all inside of the living room. Only a few pictures hang up on the wall. It seems to mostly be Jacob and his father. Only two pictures are of twin sisters. Jacob finally walks out of his room dressed in drier clothes. "What made you ride through the forest?" "To clear my thoughts. Finally realized that my chirpy attitude in school is hated. The friends I thought were mine are no longer for me." "Choose Claire?"

"Yep. Now I see how you truly are because you are more for her than me." "You did cause the accident and your father ha-". "Lies. My parents spent thousands to have children. Faced miscarriages. Stillborn children were born. All of sudden, you are pregnant with his child. another have fertility issues and she is out of her mind." She is crazy. "Well, you move on." He heads into his kitchen. I guess he's hungry.

"Your home is beautiful. Rainy days has nothing on the snow." "Up and down." He opens his fridge door. I take my raincoat off and hiss in pain when my left forearm bandage is touched. "Jacob, what is done on the tribe besides the beach? I notice the tribe has slowed down on the events lately. I was for the clean-up three years ago."

My school helped clean the forest. "Not at the moment." I see. The front door opens to a drenched Paul and Sam. Both are shirtless and wearing jean shorts. "Body heat will cool under the rain. I interrupted something because of Jacob." "What happened to your arm?" Sam asks. "Fierce panic attacks, Sam. Los-" Paul walks over, grab my arm, and snatch the bandage off revealing the long-stitched wound.

"Are you out of your mind?" "At least a day old, Sam." Jacob says closing his fridge door. "Bullying got a little bit wild. Ended up being pushed into a glass cabinet of trophies. He ended up being expelled. I'm not into that serial killing bullcrap, Sam. I ain't trying to get killed. Take it over to Claire." I point right behind me. She can take it whatever is bringing forth evil.