Shadows of the Past by Kayla Stiles (buy e reader txt) 📕

Holly stands and hugs her mother. “We made it out together. I think that’s all that matters,” she whispers softly.

 Her mother nods and wipes away her tears. Then, in a foggy, tear-stained voice, she says, “You’ve got school today, dear. You should finish getting ready. Your school starts in about an hour. And I know how you like to be able to spend some time with your friends before classes.” Ms. Newnan shoos her daughter off with a slight flapping motion of her hands. Holly quickly refills her glass of milk, downs her ADHD medications, and hurries to finish getting ready.

Racing up the stairs, Holly quickly goes to her bedroom and rushes into her bathroom, ready to brush her teeth. Looking in the mirror, she suddenly sees a familiar face behind her right shoulder. The color drains from her already-pale face. Turning around slowly, body frozen, a silent scream trapped in her throat, she looks into the eyes of her long-dead best friend, Salene McQuier.

“Salene,” Holly murmurs, tears in her eyes.

Suddenly, without a word, Salene reaches out and grabs Holly’s throat in her single right hand. Holly’s hands shoot up and grapple with Salene’s. She tries to push her dead friend away. But to no avail. Salene was always stronger than Holly and death has only seemed to make her stronger.

“Salene.. I’m… Sorry!” Holly manages to choke out. Reaching in her pocket, she pulls out her black-handled switchblade and stabs at Salene. Just as Holly is beginning to lose her breath completely, she opens her eyes again and begins to cough spasmodically. Salene has disappeared as suddenly as she appeared. Holly looks down at her switchblade, the handle of which shows an image of a great-winged green serpent, soaring through the clouds gracefully. Her grandfather had given it to her on her 13th birthday, just a mere couple of weeks before he… Holly shakes her head. She still doesn’t want to face what happened that day, still would rather defy the memory’s wish to come back.

“Holly! Ten more minutes and then we have to go!” Ms. Newnan calls up the stairs.

Holly jumps, then, getting her bearings back in order, she calls back, “Ok!” Quickly, she brushes her teeth and finishes getting ready. Throwing on her usual black eyeliner and dark lip stainer as a finishing touch, she throws her backpack over her right shoulder and rushes down the stairs, stopping just in time to prevent colliding into her mother.

“Well! Look who’s excited!” her mother exclaims.

“I’m just ready to get back to Mrs. Dwayne’s creative writing class and get back to writing my poems and short stories,” Holly replies, a smile on her face.

20 minutes Holly hops out of the car and walks up to the school. She waves as she sees her group of friends by the main office. The Outcasts wave back. That’s what every one at the school calls their group: The Outcasts. It’s only because they’re different from everyone else. They dress different, act different, and even speak different. The Outcast consists of 5 girls and 3 boys.

One of the girls suddenly runs up to Holly as Holly approaches the group and throws her slender arms around Holly’s shoulders.

“Holly!” she cries happily.

“Carine!” Holly replies, wrapping her one free arm around Carine’s small waist. Her other arm holds an Algebra 2 text book.

As Holly’s mother smiles to herself and drives away, Carine and Holly release their embrace.

“So. How’ve you been Raze?” Carine asks Holly in a hushed voice. “Still having that nightmare?” She flips her long black hair over her bare shoulders. Today she wears a strapless black corset that pushes up her breasts, accentuating their fullness, as well as a flowing black skirt that’s long in the back and mid-thigh length in the front, matched with a pair of knee-high black boots.

Holly looks at this beautiful figure walking beside her. After living in this place for 4 years, Carine is the closest thing she has to having a best friend again. Carine was the first person to become friends with Holly after she moved to the little town of Fire Creek. It took Holly a month to get situated in the new school, it being a Jr/Sr High School. After about 3 weeks of no one talking to Holly because of how drastically different she was from everyone else, Carine came up to her at lunch and asked if she could sit with her. Holly had agreed, staring intently at the holes in the table. At first Carine and Holly didn’t talk much, but after a couple days of hanging out, Holly began to warm up to Carine and started to talk about anything that came to her mind. Shortly after that, these two became good friends and began to hand out all the time. About two weeks after they started hanging out, Carine invited Holly to come sit with her at lunch and Holly was warmly welcomed by Carine’s friends.

Thinking back to the present, Holly replies to Carine’s question, “I’m alive and that’s all that matters. And yes Star, I’m still having that nightmare.” Carine just nods.

Reaching the rest of the group, Holly smiles weakly at the others.

“Hi Sin, Tremor, Spike, Life, Chaos,” Holly murmurs softly. Then, looking out of the corner of her eye at Alina, she says quietly, “Hi Rose.”

Everyone says hi back.

Brittney, enveloped in Seth’s big arms, says in her small voice, “Morning Raze. Did you sleep well?”

“Not as well as I would have liked to, Life,” Holly murmurs.

Brittney nods sympathetically and then squeaks as Seth pokes her in the side and tickles her. Brittney “Life” Soul and Seth “Spike” Rodriguez are both 15 and have been going out for a few months now. They are the youngest in the group. Brittney is short and a little chubby with short spiky blonde hair and hazel green eyes. She’s a little pale in all of her 4’10”. Seth “Spike” Rodriguez is a different story. He has long brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He too is pale but is slim and muscular and 5’10”.

Denise speaks up then from her place on the floor in Jerry’s lap. “You should really get those dreams checked out,” she says softly. Holly looks up at Denise “Chaos” Turner is pale and slightly chubby with brown hair cut in a pixie cut and brown eyes. She’s shorter than Holly by only an inch, yet she is intimidated by Holly. Hell, they all are.

Jerry “Sin” Ettiene is Denise’s boyfriend. He’s younger than Denise by about 6 month. He has long blonde hair and bright blue eyes and is slightly chubby. All of his 5’7” is tanned to a light bronze.

The rest of the group is single people. Carine “Star” Leona wants Zack “Tremor” Phillips, but he just doesn’t seem to notice her.

“If you want, I can go with you to the on-campus psychologist,” Alina says in a hushed voice, staring at the ground.

Holly gazes at Alina longingly. She is so caring and gentle, Holly just wishes she could be given a chance.

Alina “Rose” Smith is the one in the group that’s truly beautiful, inside and out. Her hair is dyed black, with her long bands hanging down in front and her short and spiky buzz cut in the back. She has brilliant green eyes and a slim figure. She’s a pale 4’11” and is beautiful in every aspect. Her smile lights up Holly’s dark days and her gorgeous emerald green eyes never cease to put Holly in a dazed stupor. Looking into those brilliant eyes is like looking into a box full of puppies that are all yours. When Holly stares into Alina’s face, she loses all coherent thoughts and feels like she’s looking at an angel that Heaven has accidentally dropped to Earth. She’s a gorgeous girl and is the sweetest, most gentle and caring one in the group. Hell, in the whole world! No one can surpass her beauty.

The oldest of the group is Zack. He’s a muscular 19 with bright green eyes and dyed long black hair with red tips. He has a golden tan about his body and is a tall 6’5”. He’s the one that Alina likes and Holly is envious of Zack for his ability to woo the girl that Holly wants so desperately.

This day seems like any other. Holly goes to her classes, hands out with her fellow Outcasts, and does her work. Today, however, she feels especially tired. By the time she reaches her 7th period Spanish class, she’s dragging her feet and struggling to keep her eyes open. She plops down into her seat and lays her head on her outstretched arm. Before the late bell even rings, she’s fast asleep. Then the dream starts back up, but this time, it’s different.

She’s running down that long, dark hallway. It seems almost never ending. There’s glass and blood everywhere. She doesn’t know what exactly she is running from, all she knows is that she’s got to hurry and get away from it. Someone is by her side. Stealing a quick glance over to her left, she sees Alina running by her side, clothing and milky skin spattered with blood.

Suddenly, the floor gives way beneath their feet. Holly hops to the side just in time to avoid falling into the hole that’s now in the floor. Alina, however, slips and begins to fall in. Holly quickly lies down on her tummy and grabs Alina’s hand. Looking past Alina, Holly sees with horror, the gaping mouth of a giant beast, teeth all sharp and pointed. Above the mouth, in the creeping darkness, is a pair of demonic red eyes. Those eyes tell a tale of pure hatred and murder.

“Don’t let go!” Holly cries to Alina.

Alina grips on tighter, but begins to slip into the hole.

“No! You will not have her!” Holly screams at the monster.

He begins to pull Alina in, however, and Holly’s grip on Alina starts to slip.

With tears in her eyes, Holly gives one final heave on Alina’s arm. But to no avail. Alina falls to the beast below.

“NO!” Holly screams.

Then, she is being shaken awake and she finds herself lying on the classroom floor, tears pouring down her face. Opening her eyes, she looks up to see Alina herself sitting next to Holly, a look of worry in her eyes.

“Are you ok?” Alina whispers.

Holly looks around and notices the other classmates huddled around her. “Help me up,” she says gruffly.

Alina takes Holly’s hand and pulls her to her feet. Her hand is so soft and gentle, Holly is not surprised when her hand tingles still after Alina’s already released Holly’s hand.

“I’ll take her to the nurse and make sure she’s ok,” Alina tells the teacher.

The teacher agrees and Alina puts an arm around Holly’s waist to steady her as she walks to the nurse’s office.

“Thank you,” Holly murmurs softly.

“What happened back there? I heard you say my name and then you fell to the floor and started screaming in the class. What was it about this time?” Alina says softly.

“Umm… Well…” Holly falters.

“You dreamt of me this time, didn’t you?” Alina utters quietly.

Holly hesitates and then nods her head. “Yes,” she whispers.

“It must have been bad if you were crying like that,” Alina says softly.

“Yeah. It was terrible. You kinda… well I lost you to the monster from my nightmares,” Holly says, almost whispers.

“Why is that such an issue?” Alina says hedgingly.

“Because…” Holly sighs. Might as well get it out, she thinks to herself. “Because I like you. A lot,” she murmurs. “I’ve liked you since the day I met you and I’ve loved you since the day I first laid eyes on you. That’s why it’s such an issue.”

Alina stops walking then and turns to finally look