Page 18 of The Hallows Boys

Ifeel light as a feather, the combination of the alcohol and the thrill of the night making my limbs tingle and my veins pulse. The chill of the October air is almost erotic, making my heated skin feel exposed. I leave my jacket on the bench when I stand up again, downing the rest of my beer before I click my tongue at Juliet. “Going to get another, you want one?”

She tips her can to me, signaling she’s not empty. “I’m good.”

My sneakers crunch the earth with every heavy step, and I do my best to avoid any grave markers once again –just in case.

When I finally reach the coolers, I flip open the top to the one we got drinks from before, but frown when I find the icy water empty. I hum between closed lips, flipping the lid to the next cooler, but that one’s empty too. “Crap.”

“Need some help?”

My eyes flare at the voice – gravel and seduction laced with malice. I swallow hard as I stand up straight, my heart picking up pace as I turn to eye the person standing too close for comfort behind me. His eyes are darker than the first time I saw him, his pupils blown out wide as he grins at me.

I stare at him, words escaping me, searching his face for answers to a multitude of questions that flit through my mind. He’s gorgeous. His bone structure is something you’d find in a magazine. As I admire the features of his face, my mouth goes dry and my mind goes blank.

He was built for the sole purpose to lure women in, his thick and puffy lips are pillows of flesh that curve at the edges, asking to be traced with my fingertip. There’s something dark and vicious behind his eyes, though – pain or demons waiting to be released.

“Sage?” He chuckles, bursting through my thoughts. His lips spread into an amused grin, as if he knows I was drooling over him, and my gaze snaps to his.

“What?”

His brows pull down, and he points behind me to the coolers. “I was asking if you needed some help?”

“Oh.” I blink, laughing at myself a little. “They’re empty.”

He walks around me, bending down to open up one of the coolers I hadn’t checked yet. When he straightens again, he turns and holds out a little can of flavored hard seltzer. “Hope you like cherry.”

“Oh.” I take the can from his hand, opening it. “Thank you, Kaiden.”

I take a drink from the lip of the can, grimacing a little at the sugary sweet flavor. His gaze is stuck on me when I lower the drink, the expression on his face unreadable. I swallow thickly, feeling a little spark of nerves make their way down my spine.

He grins. “Have you checked out the rest of the grounds yet?”

The question has me looking over his shoulder and past his head to study the graveyard. Nerves swim in my belly, and I don’t know if it’s from him or from the overall creepiness of this place.

I shake my head when I meet his gaze again. “No, I haven’t.”

He tilts his head a little, the gesture feeling almost intimidating in this setting. “Would you like me to show you?”

It’s deep into the night, shadows casting over every inch of the area as the moon starts to shift farther down the sky. The only thing illuminating the cemetery is the bonfire that’s sat right at the back, and the rare moments that the clouds have shifted just right to let the moon shine through. Groups of people have started to thicken as drinking games have started, and the spaces in between different clumps of people feel dim and empty.

Part of me screams to run as I study Kaiden’s darkening gaze, but the other part of me – the part that’s so curious about this boy that I feel crazy – wants to follow him into the darkness and discover what’s hiding. I find myself considering the idea more when I imagine this monster of a boy ravaging my body in the thickness of the woods, and when courage and excitement take over for fear, I nod my head at him. “Sure.”

He holds a large hand toward me, and I grab it before I can change my mind, wrapping my fingers around his palm as he starts to lead me away from the crowds of people.

“The cemetery has been here since the 1800s,” he starts to tell me, walking me deeper into the clusters of headstones. “It can be dated back to the town’s founders – the original Blackmores.”

His voice is a low grumble, seeping into my veins and making my heart pick up pace. His words seem more sinister in the dark, especially as we start passing headstones that are dirty and covered in moss.

“Most of the headstones you see are from the 1900s, though.” He continues. “The older ones are about a mile out, and we don’t party out there.”

“Why not?” I find the courage to ask, turning to look at his shadowed face.

God – he’s beautiful. Like an angel who had his wings plucked for sinning.

He grins devilishly. “That’s where the crypts are. Super old, and super creepy. Most of our classmates are too frightened to go out that far.”

I bite onto my lip as I study the way his face moves as he speaks. “But you aren’t?”

He shakes his head with a maniacal laugh. “I’m not afraid of what’s hiding in the darkness, Sage. I welcome it with open arms.”

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