Read I Belong to the Earth (Unveiled Book 1) Page 5

  Part of me was shrieking that something was very, very wrong. The tiny part not having hysterics was gibbering ‘he's here.’

  He's here?

  What the hell did that mean?

  I snagged the latch in stiff fingers to pull the window closed.

  Something grabbed my arm. Something that wanted in. Two small, bone-white hands encircled my wrist. My mouth fell open, hard won air rushing from my lungs. It wasn't just the cold. It was a dark, oily feeling. Cloying revulsion. Not real. Can't be real. Wake up. Wake up now. Oh let go! Get off! Get off!

  My heart thundered in my ears. Scream. Call for help. Quick!

  Pathetic, wounded little “hmm! hmm! hmm!” whines were all I could force through my blocked throat. I threw my weight backwards, trying to yank my arm away from the window but I was pulling the cold, pale figure inside with me.

  It mustn’t cross the threshold! A small, gibbering part of my mind, that just knew things, flashed.

  Let me in! Oh let me! I can't find him. I've been wandering so long. Let me in!

  The voice vibrated through my bones. Disgust and fear made me want to lash out. To hurt the thing…hurt her. I smashed my wrist against the window frame again and again. The hands were knocked away. Free! Gasping for breath, I slammed the window shut and latched it. The glass rattled in the frame. I leapt across the room to my bed and switched on the lamp.

  Nothing here. Nothing.

  The room felt warmer. My breath no longer hung frozen on the air.

  I pulled all my blankets into a heap and burrowed into them, shivering. I couldn't get warm. There was something…familiar in what just happened. Not being grabbed. None of the Dead had ever touched me before. None of the weird things I could see or sense had even been aware of me before. No, something else.

  What if she comes back?

  The room tilted and then righted itself. I swallowed hard. Was it good I hadn't been able to scream? Maybe. How would I have explained it, when no one was able to see the girl at the window? If she was really ever there. I clung to that thought. Maybe I was imagining things. Maybe I was sleep walking? Maybe… it was no good. I knew it was real.

  I sat shivering and wide eyed in my blanket nest until pale sunlight painted the room grey with dawn.