ROSE POV
I can't sleep.
I feel awake, alive, buzzing.
And so I climb out of the single bed and walk across the threadbare carpet of my private dorm. I grab my tanned leather jacket from the back of the chair, give a dark look to the big stack of library books on my desk, and head out into the corridor.
I tiptoe down the hallway - careful not to wake any of the other students - and slip into the stairway. As I do I'm sure I hear the click of another door closing down the corridor behind me. I pause, peer through the little window in the door, see nothing but shadows, shrug, and head down the stairs.
When I get outside I take a moment to feel the cool air brushing against my face. It's the summer semester and even at night the breeze brings with it all of its scents; pine, flowers, suntan lotion, the memory of grilled burgers. I don't know why but my senses seem so attuned to everything right now. Like everything before was just a dream.
I feel a grin spreading across my face.
Well, I'm awake now.
I start to walk the dark path through the grassy area that leads across campus. I'm heading to the place I always head to – the place where I'm sure I can get the answers I so badly desire. Tall trees line either side of it and the walkway is littered with debris from them plus the odd soda can. I pick one up and toss it into the nearest trash can.
Behind me I hear the snap of a twig.
I spin around.
There's no one there.
Yet I feel it– the burn in my skin, the prickle in my neck. There are eyes watching me.
Slowly I turn back around and continue my night time walk. Now I'm consciously listening though – waiting for any sign that I'm not alone.
It comes in the sound of a footprint.
I stop, my eyes still fixed straight ahead.
"I know you're there."
Silence.
Then...
"You do, do you?"
A male voice. There's amusement in it, arrogance too. It stirs a feeling inside of me that I cannot place.
I turn around.
Stood about a metre away from me is a guy, shrouded in shadow. He's tall – just over six foot, I'd say. What looks like a leather jacket hangs casually open from his broad shoulders.
"Don't be that guy," I say.
"What guy?"
I raise an eyebrow.
YOU ARE READING
THORN | a paranormal romance
FantasyFairy Godfather Jack must deliver a sleeping curse to college student Rose. But he thinks he's falling in love with his target. Rose has forgotten who she once was. But she recognizes the mysterious new guy on campus. From a dream, or another lifet...