Moonlighter

6 Life of the Party

Kye's eyes were piercing into my soul. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I backed away from him until my hands felt the cold wood of my dresser. The thud of my hands hitting the wood caused Joey to stir. He looked up at me staring past Kye. The turmoil in my face was evident when I realized Joey could not see the man right in front of him. I let out a deep breath when Joey turned over and fell back to sleep.

I turned my focus back on Kye. He was undisturbed standing in the same position I had backed away from him in. The hand that had caressed my cheek lingered under his chin. Kye's gaze was intoxicating. I looked down quickly even though I knew there was no hiding my reaction. I could see my knuckles turning white as I dug into the dresser.

He finally broke the silence. "It's the enchantress's curse." I looked up without thinking. He was staring out of the window with a little hesitation in his voice.  "Her lover came back to life because of her love for him." I turned my head to the side trying to figure out what he was trying to say when it hit me.

He looked at me then and he took a step towards me. I felt my knees buckle.

As if it was possible I pushed back against the dresser even further. "I don't understand." I blurted out quickly.

"Neither do I," he admitted as he made his way towards me. His hand raised as if to caress my cheek when it quickly changed direction and he ran it through his hair instead. "But I want to find out." I gulped when he quickly tore my body from the dresser and leaned me over. My lips quivered when his breath sent chills down my cheek. He smiled sadistically when I let out a small whimper.

"Grace! Where is Joey?" My eyes widened when I heard my mom's voice. In a flash he set me up right.

He raised his eyebrows, "My cue to leave?" He had already headed towards the window and turned to me, "Do you want me to come back?"

"Grace?!" She was down the hall now.

"Yes, yes, I want you to come back." The words came out so fast I could not stop them.

"Tomorrow night then?" I could have been wrong but I felt as if he was pleading.

"Yes." My heart was racing as I watched his body slowly disappear into the wall of the night. If I had not believed him before, the sight of his body disappearing into nothing might have

"Grace?" My mom asked as I stared out of the window at absolutely nothing.

I jumped when my mom put her hand on my shoulder. "Grace what is going on with you?"

"Nothing. I just thought I saw something. Joey's asleep mom." We looked over at the small form cuddled with Grover. His mouth was open and little spit bubbles were starting to form at the corner of his mouth.

"My poor baby." My mom squeezed my hand tight before she walked out of the room. How could Kye give him such a peaceful sleep. Kye...

I ran over and looked out the window. He was gone. I closed the blinds and finally laid in bed. I went over everything that had happened that night. Had it even happened at all? Was I delusional? I tried to piece it all together but all I could picture were Kyes eyes as I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up to the smell of pizza and the glare of the sun shining through my window. I reached over and felt the block of my phone. I blinked a few times to make sure I was reading the time correctly. It was already noon. I took the covers off and felt the chill of the hardwood floors as I made my way to the living room. Mom and Joey were sitting down on the couch. Joey was pulling a slice of pizza with oozing cheese from the coffee table. 

"Grace we've been up since 5 this morning unpacking. You have been sound asleep." My mom laughed as she chewed her food.

"Yeah I was tired." I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking.

"You keep staring out that window Grace what are you looking for?" My mom asked as she had seen me for what was probably the hundredth time glance out the window.

"Oh just wondering if my friends would come by." I was not very good at lying.

"I'm so glad you already have friends." She yelled from the living room. She would not feel the same way if she knew about Kye. Mom was always the cautious type. Dad would say that mom's life didn't start until the fun arrived. The fun being my dad. He always brought out the best in her. In all of us really. He was always the life of the party. I watched my mom work hard unpacking everything she could. As she wiped the sweat off her brow I knew if dad were here he would grab her and twirl her around. They would dance to no music at all. "You are working too hard." He would say. The reality of the situation was that dad was not here anymore. Those times were done. I had to accept it.

I waited patiently, or as patiently as I thought possible, for the sun to go down. The sun had been gone for almost an hour as I sat on my bed reading. The wind was blowing hard enough I could hear a whooshing sound. I lost count of how many times I had peeked outside my bedroom window. I finally shoved my book to the side. What's the point you know you are not reading it anyways. I stood up and walked over to my mirror. I gave myself a long hard look. I'm going crazy, how could this be happening? Had I really dreamt everything from the night before? "You are delusional." I said out loud to myself. I pointed at myself in the mirror. "He doesn't exist. He was just a dream." I nodded at myself as if it would assure me I was right.

"So now you're dreaming about me?"

I gasped as I saw him leaning against my bedroom door staring at me. My heart was racing. I could feel my palms start to sweat and my face became crimson red.

He smiled his perfect devilish smile. He was more handsome than I had remembered.