Coldhearted (9781311888433) (5 page)

Mason shrugged. “I guess it’s a logical
explanation.” He kept his voice low too. “I don’t know much about
people who are depressed. Well, people who are so depressed, they
need to be on medication,” he amended. “Do you think…do you think
she still has self-image issues? I mean, she told us that she was
made fun of in high school for being overweight. Now she’s so thin,
it’s unhealthy. Maybe she’s anorexic. She looks in the mirror, and
even though she’s starving herself, she still sees that big girl
from a long time ago.”

Edie agreed. “If that’s the case, then she
doesn’t need to be on depression medication. She needs to be in
some sort of support group with others like her, who can encourage
her to maintain a healthy lifestyle, an ideal weight, and not
starve herself.”

“
There’s no support group
around here,” Mason informed, sounding displeased. “Everyone just
deals with their problems on their own.”

“
That’s sad. Do…do you do
that?” Edie gave him a small smile. “Or are you one of those lucky
people who don’t have any problems?”

He returned Edie’s smile. “No one’s that
lucky to not have problems. But as far as major ones, no, I don’t.
Well...” He held up his hand with the gauzed finger and bent it at
the knuckle, twice. “It was a shock, but my finger still works, so
that’s something.” He placed his hand by his side, near Edie. “Did
you happen to grab the book?”

“
That ghost
book?”

Mason nodded.

Edie shook her head and shivered. “No way.
That’s like a book from a horror movie, and if you read from the
pages, you’ll release some curse or something.”

Mason chuckled. “That sounds like a story
your uncle would write. Maybe you have a bit of horror in you too.
And I mean that in the nicest way possible because there’s nothing
horrific about you,” he added with a smile.

Edie blushed. “Do I really look like
Barbie?”

He furrowed his brow. “Did I say that?”

“
Yeah, before we saw the
nurse.” Edie gave him a crooked smile. “You’d lost too much blood.
You were obviously hallucinating.”

“
Well, I don’t remember
saying that, but it’s true.” The smile on his face was genuine. “In
fact, you’re prettier than Barbie.”

Edie lowered her head, embarrassed.

“
So,” Mason said, “a guy has
never given you his number, nor has a guy given you a complement?
Is that about right?”

Edie nodded, keeping her head down, but then
she felt warm fingers under her chin, lifting her head up. Her eyes
met his.

“
Chin up, Barbie.” Mason
smiled and removed his hand. “You have to be ready in case Ken
comes along, wanting a kiss.”

“
You’re not Ken?” she dared
to ask.

He stared into her eyes. “I could be.” He
leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss on her cheek. Then he pulled
back, but kept a small distance between them, and said, “I’m really
glad you’re here, Edie.”

Edie found herself leaning forward, toward
his lips. Mason was mimicking her movement, but just when they were
about to kiss, the nurse reappeared. Mason and Edie scrambled
apart, each to the opposite ends of the sofa, hands in their laps,
trying to look innocent.

The nurse didn’t seem to notice. “You can go
now,” she said, indicating the both of them with a wave of her
hand. “Your excuses are at the front desk.”

Edie glanced at the clock. Time had flown by
so fast. It was already near the end of third period.

When they picked up their slips of paper,
Edie asked Mason, “Where are you going next?”

“
American government.
You?”

Edie checked her schedule and fought to
suppress a disappointed moan.

“
History,” she informed. She
loved the subject, but she wanted to be with Mason.

“
Why don’t we meet up at
lunch?” he proposed. “Seniors have a pass to leave. Jack’s is
nearby. The food will probably kill you but it tastes
great.”

“
You’ll give me
directions?”

He smiled. “I’ll do one better. I’ll drive
you there. My dad should have my truck back in the student lot by
now. So…what do you say?”

Edie beamed, unable to hide her excitement.
“Sure.”

He grinned back. “Great.” He gestured at the
school’s bulletin board, announcing the upcoming Halloween dance.
“Meet me there, okay?”

She nodded. “Okay.”

He leaned in like he was going to kiss her,
but then backed away, deciding against it.

He smiled to take the sting away. “I can’t
wait, Edie. See you soon.”

They waved goodbye and she watched him leave
down the hallway. They were taking things slow. That’s okay, I
guess. For now. She’d never a boyfriend before, and she couldn’t
help imagining her and Mason, holding hands, kissing, talking about
movies and music and silly stuff. She felt completely at peace,
until a cold finger traced a line up and down her spine, making her
shiver.

Fear of the unseen
overwhelmed her and she bolted, running down the hall. She halted
at the end, and then busted through a set of double swinging doors,
finding herself inside the library again. She hid in the very spot
where Mason had hurt his finger. The book,
The Ghosts of Grimsby: Thirteen Tales to Scare the Sh!t Out of
You
, was still lying open on the carpeted
floor with blood soaked on the page, and the grinning Grim Reaper,
seemingly alight with maniacal delight at her return.

She picked it up and held it very carefully,
as if it were alive and about to bite her. Mason’s blood was
suddenly too intense, too pungent. She snapped the book shut and
placed it angrily back on the shelf. This caused it to dislodge the
equilibrium of every book that’d been aligned, tipping them all
over like falling dominoes. There was a gap at the end, where the
last book wobbled a bit, and then gave up, falling against the
shelf. The crash echoed throughout the library.

“
Edie
,” a voice called out, summoning her.

Edie panicked, thinking she was in trouble
with the librarian, but when she spun around to face her and that
beaky nose, the old woman wasn’t there. In fact, there was no one
around, except for a lingering chill that Edie thought, eerily,
could easily be an unseen, human presence.

There was a long stretch of
silence, until the voice called out again, saying,
“
Eeedee
,” in a
haunting, sing-song tone.

She went up and down the aisles, trying to
find the culprit, but the library seemed utterly deserted.

Until…she found someone.

Chapter 5

“
Are you playing some sort
of game? Because if you are, it’s not funny,” Edie
scolded.

The girl was sitting on the floor. She looked
up at Edie through thick glasses, holding a book in her hands.
“What the hell are you talking about?”

She was Hispanic with mahogany hair pulled
back in a droopy ponytail. Edie thought that she might have passed
for pretty if she’d stop wearing that scowl on her face. Then
again, Edie did have some blame in that, accusing her of something
she hadn’t done.

“
Sorry,” Edie apologized. “I
thought I heard someone calling my name.”

The girl looked around, darting her magnified
eyes back and forth. “There’s no one else here.”

“
Yeah, I gathered that,”
Edie muttered, frustrated.

Suddenly, the girl leapt up, dropping her
book. “Wait. You hear voices, don’t you? In your head?” she asked,
tapping a forefinger against her temple.

Edie took a step back, annoyed. “What’re you?
The thought police?”

The girl huffed. “Do. You. Hear. Voices?”

“
No,” Edie immediately
lied.

“
It’s okay,” she said
softly, as if Edie needed gentle coaxing. “You’re not alone. Lots
of people hear voices, and they think they’re crazy, but they’re
not.”

“
Who are you?”

She smiled. “Julianna
Desantiago, paranormal investigator, junior, and all-around
believer in anything and everything.
The
truth is out there
,” she added in a
conspiratorial whisper. She reached into her pocket and withdrew
something, handing it to Edie. “Here’s my card.”

Her card?
Edie refrained from rolling her eyes.

Edie took it and read the
script:
Julianna Desantiago, co-founder of
the Grimsby Paranormal Society. We investigate what goes “bump in
the night.” Call or email.
Below was her
cell phone number and email address, along with a black skull,
frozen in laughter—or grinning in proud hatred.

“
You can call me Jules,” she
said.

“
Edie St. John,” Edie
introduced herself.

Jules gasped. “Oh, you’re
Edwina St. John, Landon St. John’s niece! Can I meet him? I’m a
huge fan! I’ve got all his books:
I,
Ghoul
;
A Vampire’s
Vengeance
;
The
Zombie Wars
;
The
Jinni and I
...”

Edie let her ramble on like
Mason had done. Jules was counting off a nonstop list of Edie’s
uncle’s works—
I’m afraid we’ll be here
until midnight
—so Edie held up her hand,
shushing Jules.

“
I get it,” Edie said. “Big
fan.” Edie waved the card in front of Jules’s face. “I’ll call if
my uncle’s up to company, but don’t hold your breath. He’s a very
private man.”

Jules looked disappointed, but forced a
smile. “It’s okay. I’d rather hang out with you.”

“
Me?” Edie asked, raising an
eyebrow.

“
Yeah. You hear voices.”
Jules beamed. “That’s incredible!”

Angry, Edie tossed Jules’s card back at her.
Jules caught it against her chest, looking bewildered.

“
I’m not hearing voices!”
Edie declared.

She stormed out of the library and to her
relief, heard no one calling after her, seen or unseen.

****

Edie had missed third period entirely. It was
now time for lunch.

While she was waiting for Mason near the
front doors, she kept shivering. Seniors were leaving through the
front doors, happy, smiling, not knowing that with each push of the
door, a blast of wintry air flew back into her face. She wished
that she could come to school tomorrow with a ski mask on her face,
but she was sure that’d raise alarms. Even though the students were
wearing coats and sweaters, they seemed comfortable; they were used
to this weather. As Mason had said, she’d get used to it too. With
him, it seemed possible, but without him, Edie doubted it. Besides
she didn’t plan on sticking around after graduation. Most
definitely, she’d attend college down south, where the chance of
snowfall was next to nil. Afterwards…well, she’d think about that
later. She had plenty of time.

Speaking of time…Mason was late. She was
worried that she’d been stood up. He didn’t seem like that type of
guy, but she’d been having an awful day so far...

“
Hey.”

She turned and saw Jules. Her hair had fallen
out of her ponytail and hung down her back. She wiped her classes
on her sweater and returned them to her face.

“
Hey,” Edie returned. “Sorry
for being such a…you-know-what back in the library. I’ve just been
going through a lot.”

Jules smiled and waved Edie’s apology away.
“S‘kay. No worries.” Then her smile faded. “I know about your
parents. Sorry.”

“
Thanks,” Edie said,
fighting back tears.

Jules nodded with her chin at the front
doors, where the seniors were leaving.

“
Are you heading out?” she
asked.

“
Yeah, I’m just waiting for
someone.”

“
You’ve made a new
friend?”

Edie smiled. “Uh, yeah, a new friend,” she
confirmed, yet remained cryptic.

Jules winked. “Seems like more than that.
You’re blushing.”

Edie gave a shrug. “He’s nice, that’s
all.”

“
Who?”

Edie hesitated, and then said, “Mason
Fenwick.”

Jules eyes got even wider behind her glasses.
“Oh, every girl in the school has a crush on Mason.”

“
It’s hard not to,” Edie
said, not jealous. “But…why doesn’t he have a
girlfriend?”

Jules shrugged. “It’s probably because he’s
just got off from a bad break.”

“
Oh?”

Jules lowered her voice. “He used to date
Rochelle Lafayette.” She shook her head, obviously not a fan. “I
don’t know what he ever saw in her, but…anyway, they were together
ever since middle school, I think.” Jules resumed her normal tone.
“Have you met her yet? She’s a senior.”

“
I haven’t had the
pleasure,” Edie said with cautious anticipation. “So…what’s so bad
about her?”

Jules sighed. “You’ll know when you meet her.
Hope and pray you don’t.”

“
Hey, Edie!”

Edie looked over Jules’s shoulder to see
Mason approaching with a smile, exposing his dimples. Edie smiled
back, unable to contain her glee.

He stopped next to Edie, and then turned
toward Jules. “Hey, what’s up?” he greeted Jules.

Jules was speechless for obvious reasons.
Then she found her voice. “Hey,” she squeaked.

Mason turned back toward Edie. “Ready?”

“
Yep.”