Expectation Vs Reality

I went back home, hoping more than anything that my mom would be there. I needed her now more than ever. But it wasn’t surprising when she wasn’t around. Earlier, she’d texted to let me know she was at Bill’s company—he’d said he needed her for something. Of course, he always needed her for something. And between him and me, she was always there for him. Love makes people selfish. I understood that.

I was still reeling from everything that had happened. I sat on my bed, staring at my phone through blurry eyes. My face was soaked with tears, and I was trying to be strong, but I kept breaking down. Emily’s actions hurt, but Carter not even giving me a reasonable explanation hurt even more. He told me he loved me—as if that was suddenly going to fix everything. Emily had spoken terribly about me, and Carter hadn’t even tried to defend me. He let her kiss him, and he kissed her back. Now I was wondering if kissing was all they’d done back there. They might’ve even slept together, and I wouldn’t know. God, I hated my life.

To think, this was the same guy I had pushed Silas away for. My brother had been right all along. I should’ve listened to him. I should’ve stuck with someone who actually cared about me.

How do you even know he cares about you? He might just be trying to get in your pants. You know how determined he is when he wants something, but the moment he has it, he won’t hesitate to toss it aside. An ugly voice in my head whispered. This only made me cry even harder.

I was alone in the house, so I didn’t have to worry about anyone overhearing me. Honestly, I didn’t even remember how long I had been sitting there, crying my eyes out. At one point, I was so tempted to call my dad. I had his number, of course, but I’d never tried to reach out to him. Mostly because he’d never called me. Mom had said all kinds of mean things about him, telling me he didn’t care about me and that he wanted to start his life over. I was young then, and I believed her. I chose to stay with her after the divorce, probably the biggest mistake I’d made. But if my dad really cared about me, wouldn’t he have tried to contact me all these years? So maybe he didn’t care about me. At least Mom hadn’t lied about that.

Find something better to do with yourself, the voice in my head said. There was no point in crying myself to sleep. That would be pathetic. If Carter and Emily wanted to be together, fine. They could do whatever the hell they wanted—as long as they left me out of it. I decided I wouldn’t get involved with them anymore. Not after Emily’s stunt. Now, everyone in school thought I was some kind of slut. Hypocritical. The pictures meant nothing—well, not nothing, but still. Even I didn’t know what the hell was going on. If someone had told me before that I’d get involved with not just one supernatural creature, but four of them, I would’ve called them insane. How ironic. Me, who thought I would have nothing to do with vampires, let alone a sexually starved incubus. He might’ve been good-looking, but pretty weird. My life was a mess. Maybe what I needed was an escape.

Yes, that was the perfect idea. No, I wasn’t planning to run away from home, because where would I go? I wasn’t even done with high school yet, and I knew Bill would track me down wherever I went. Silas would probably lock me in the house and never let me step outside, and he’d have Mom’s full support. Bunch of weirdos. Anyway, I still needed to clear my head, and I needed the perfect place for that. I could be gone for a week, and it wouldn’t make much difference. Bill would understand if I told him I was feeling depressed. He might even try to get me a therapist. I shuddered at the thought. I was overthinking this.

With a sigh, I grabbed a backpack and stuffed it with clothes—just enough to get by for the week. I had some cash, mostly from Mom, since she knew I wouldn’t ask Bill for anything. 5,000, not enough to run away, but enough to get by for a few days. Alright, I was ready. I’d call Mom when I got to the beach house. Hopefully, she’d understand. It was an hour's drive from our place. Bill had wanted to spend the summer there—it had a beautiful view and was close to nature. Maybe I’d be able to pull myself together. By then, I’d hopefully have gotten over my feelings for Carter. Probably not, but a girl could dream.

After packing, I went to my cabinet to grab my charger. A chill ran through me when something cold brushed past me. I looked up, startled, and nearly fell. “Holy shit!” I gasped, staring in disbelief at the transparent figure hovering above me. This was the first time I’d seen Terry up close, even though I’d known the ghost for years. “What the hell? Is this real?”

Terry blinked at me, his figure misty. He had dark, tousled hair, and he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. His piercing blue eyes held a hint of mischief, and his smile was both captivating and haunting. As he glided through my room, inspecting my things with curiosity, I could only watch in disbelief. For a ghost, Terry was pretty damn fine. And he looked normal too—apart from the fact that his feet never touched the ground and he was see-through. But aside from that, he looked like an average teenage guy. A handsome one. Stop it, Kerry. Don’t simp for the ghost.

“Um… I don’t think it’s very polite to look through my stuff,” I said. Terry gave me a smirk and edged closer, signaling that he wouldn’t continue rummaging through my things.

“Why are you here? Get tired of the neighbor’s house?”

“Nah, just checking up on you,” he replied casually.

“Holy shit! You can talk?” I was in total shock.

“That should be obvious. I can sing really well too. Wanna hear?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. I never imagined I’d be having a casual conversation with a ghost, but then again, my life was too weird for words. And I certainly didn’t expect Terry to have such an attitude. A sassy ghost.

“How come you never said anything before? It’s been five years, and you’ve never once spoken to me.”

“How’d you expect me to do that? Yell from your window? I didn’t want to scare you. Besides, I barely noticed how much time has passed. Feels like it’s only been a couple of days since I last saw you.”

“Terry, you see me every night. I wave at you.”

“Sure,” he rolled his eyes. His gaze flicked from my backpack to my face. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but I could swear I saw a worried look flicker across his face. “You’re going to run away?”

“I’m not running away. I’m just going on a short break. I’ll be back soon.”

“Why were you crying?”

“I wasn’t.”

“Your eyes are red.”

“You sure ask a lot of questions for a ghost, Terry.”

“Alright. I won’t ask anymore. Like I said, I was just checking on you. It’d be troublesome trying to find you again if you ran off.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, confused. Terry shook his head and moved toward the window. I knew he was heading back to the neighbor’s house. The fact that a ghost was worried about me made me feel flustered, and a little creeped out. That wasn’t something you see every day.

“Thanks for worrying about me. Enjoy your time haunting the neighbor’s house.”

“I don’t haunt the neighbor’s house,” he replied. “I haunt you.” Then, just like that, he was gone.

I stared out the window, stunned, not sure what to think of that. Was I really going crazy? Was I supposed to deal with vampires, incubuses, and ghosts now? Maybe I need Therapy fterall.

* * *

I couldn't recall a single day when luck was on my side; it seemed like I was constantly running into one mess after another. I hadn’t seen Silas since yesterday—Bill had called to tell me that Silas was staying over at a friend’s house, which meant I had the place all to myself. But of course, my luck was so bad that the second I stepped outside with my bag, Silas’s car had to pull up right in front of me.

I gripped the strap of my bag tightly, my eyes shifting from Silas, who had just gotten out of the car, to the animals moving toward me, and then to the path I’d planned to take. I was ready to run at any moment. It wasn’t likely I’d get far—Silas’s super speed and all—but I’d try. Why did he have to come back at this exact moment? Did he have a tracking device on me? How else could he know when I was trying to get away?

"Kerry," Silas said, his eyes flicking from the bag slung over my shoulder to my face, his smile chilling. "Going somewhere?"

"I don’t think that’s any of your business. Just leave me alone."

"Why don’t you get in the car? I’ll gladly drop you wherever you need to go."

"You must be busy."

"I always have time for you."

"Stop saying weird shit! Honestly, I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions. If I say I’m going somewhere without telling anyone, then I’m going somewhere without telling anyone!"

"I know, and if I say I’m giving you a ride wherever the hell you’re going, then I’m fucking giving you a ride. So either you get in the car, or you turn around and go back home."

"You know something, Silas? You’re a possessive piece of shit. You leave me no choice but to do this the hard way." I reached into my bag, pulling out something I thought might make my situation easier. Maybe I had plans to survive on fish at Bill’s beach house, but what better way to cook fish than with garlic? I grabbed a few cloves from the kitchen before leaving and now waved them threateningly at my stepbrother. Because, you know, I’d seen enough movies to know vampires couldn’t stand garlic. "If you don’t stay away from me, I’m throwing this at you."

Silas raised an eyebrow, his eyes narrowing at my "weapon." He laughed so hard that I thought he might get stomach cramps. "What the hell? You seriously think that’s going to work? A piece of garlic? What do you think will happen? I’ll burst into flames? Because I’m Dracula? Blah blah blah. Ha ha ha."

This fucking asshole…