Human

33.

            I pulled away suddenly hyper aware that someone was watching.

I looked all around us but there wasn't anyone on the street or out on any of the porches in the neighborhood.

"What's the matter?" Garrett whispered as he leaned in to chew the bottom of my ear lobe gently.

I backed away from him slightly, still having the lingering feeling. "I'm just...I don't know."

"We don't have to go fast, Cade." He said softly. "I'm not pushing you to make a decision right this moment, ok?"

He totally misread that. "I wasn't thinking about that at all, but thanks for putting that in my mind." I took a deep breath and started to continue to walk in the direction I had been before Garrett stopped me.

"Where are you going?"

"I told you I wanted to get some air and some space."

"Still?"

I rolled my eyes at his puppy dog expression. "Yes, still." I groaned. "I need to even more now than I did before." I thought I had a lot on my mind an hour ago. There was twenty times more on it now.

Garrett stepped forward and cupped my face with one hand. "Don't be gone long." He whispered as he leaned in to kiss me gently again.

"An hour, tops." I lied.

Garrett stayed in place and watched me walk away.

As soon as I was sure I was far enough out of his sight, I took off in a run. I wasn't one hundred percent sure what I was hoping to accomplish, but I knew it needed to be done.

I wouldn't usually ever condone hitchhiking. I mean, the list of scary movies about it alone are usually enough to deter me, but I really needed a ride, and I knew that no one back at the house would be willing to let me do this alone. I found a nice older woman who was willing to drive me right up to my front door.

I thanked her and walked up my front porch steps. The feeling of nostalgia from it was ridiculous considering it had only been a couple days since the last time I was here, on top of the fact that I'd only lived her a couple of months.

I stood on the porch, hesitating with my hand on the doorknob. I gasped when I felt something cold on my shoulder.

I whipped around quickly but there was no one there. That's when I noticed the chill in the air.

"Whose there?" I asked.

"What are you doing here, Cade?"

Of course it would be Stephen. I might be able to sneak away from everyone else in my life, but Stephen would never let that happen, not even in death. "I need answers." I told him.

"That's a copout and you know it." He called me out like he always used to. "If you just wanted to know about them, you could have asked me, or mom. You already knew that though."

I mentally rolled my eyes. "Is it so crazy for me to just want to see them again?"

"No."

"Then what's the problem?"

"We already told you not to trust them, Cade."

"Ok, so I won't trust them."

I turned quickly for the door before he could say anything else and I swung it open, stepping inside. "Mom, Dad?" I called loudly as I closed the door behind me.