Page 2 of Possession
He was strange, from a different era. Forever stuck wearing a pristine tailcoat suit, with the top hat to match. The only colour to him was a beautiful ruby brooch, the shade of running blood. Though, even that was subdued by the fade of his transparency.
His most distinguishable feature was his face—he didn’t have one. The undefined features shaped a rough silhouette. However, the empty echo of his expression did nothing to stop me from absorbing the emotions he wanted me to feel.
Unperturbed with my silence, he laced his cool, nonexistent fingers with mine as he lifted my hand to the vicinity of his mouth. The featherlike pressure of his kiss hardly registered.
“Ada, darling. Why did you go to the priest?” he asked, his voice smooth and sultry. But I could hear the underlying threat. “You left me no choice but to take matters into my own hands.”
“You didn’t have to possess him,” I whispered, my voice low so the driver up front couldn’t hear. The last thing I needed was for the help to report I was deranged and afflicted with self-made hallucinations. “You didn’t have to burn the church down.”
“Oh, but I did, darling.” He rubbed his thumb over my palm in rhythmic strokes. “You were trying to get rid of me.”
My chest concaved.I can’t breathe.
I couldn’t see his face, but I could sense his proximity all the same. “You should know there’s no escaping me.”
My ghost stole a kiss by pressing his invisible lips to mine, the pressure light and barely there. And as he ripped the last remaining air from my lungs, he whispered the same vow he always did.
“You are mine in every lifetime.”
I slammed my belongings down on the single bed, contemplating how I had gotten there. I’d done everything within my power to steer clear of that stuck-up cesspit, yet I ended up there anyway.
Bartholomew University. Known as the most influential and prestigious teaching institute on Earth, with the sole purpose of shaping and moulding the next generation of world leaders.
And I was now considered one of them, expected to stake my claim in the superior realm of infinite money and corrupt players.
I should have been counting my lucky stars that they even accepted me as one of theirchosen.Instead, my sudden presence was an ingenious form of punishment from my pompous mother to atone for my sins.
My only reprieve and fail-safe was thathewouldn’t be there.
My overbearing stepbrother, Greyson, was commanded to return to the family estate for the infamous Carmichael Halloween party. I, on the other hand, was ordered to stay put and rot in the ancient, haunted castle that happened to be my new abode.
There was no way my dear mama would risk her pyromaniac daughter returning home and distracting the guests with sordid tales of ghosts and nightmares.Couldn’t have that.
Considering my circumstances, I at least had the long weekend to bolster my courage until I had to face him again. Greyson was the sole reason I had treated that place like it was contaminated with an incurable disease. Yet, I had found myself forciblyinfected to wither and fucking perish under the watchful eye of my worst enemy.
A gasp alerted me to new company. As I turned towards the doorway, I found a blonde-haired female, sporting tight jeans and a singlet. Despite the simple clothing, each piece was designer.
She swaggered into our joint dorm room and grasped my hands between hers, excitement lighting her dimpled cheeks. “I’m Florence, your roomie. And you must be the latest addition to Bartholomew.” She didn’t phrase it as a question, so I didn’t answer.
My gaze dragged over her shoulder to the flowery pinks dominating her side of the room. Everything was set in regimented fashion.
My bag, on the other hand, had slipped off the bed, the contents spilling all over the floor.I give this girl a week before she’s stabbing me in the eye.
I retreated to collect my belongings—all black, to match my midnight hair. “Ada,” I said, introducing myself, so as not to be a total bitch.
Florence sat on the edge of her bed with an eager air. “Is it true you burnt down the church at your last boarding school?”
I pitched a brow at her forwardness and tilted my head to examine her further. “Let’s just say the priest wasn’t asgodlyas he claimed.”
Her head bounced with a vigorous nod as I unceremoniously yawned in her face.
“Ah, silly me. You must be exhausted from all the travel. How about you get some rest? Later, we can get ready together.”
“Ready for what?”
I paused at her expression, which darkened before me, the innocent persona dropping to display pure menace beneath. “Halloween.”
Chapter 2