Prologue

"Don't. Move." 

 

His voice cut through the silence like a knife. I froze, but my heart didn't. My pulse shot up and pounded against my skin so forcefully I thought it was going to tear through my neck. The frigid October air circulated around me and chills slithered up my spine. I heard his footsteps and waited for the warmth of another body next to mine. Except when his hand touched the back of my neck, there was no warmth. Only icy fingers. 

 

He inhaled deeply and sighed audibly. "You smell so good." 

 

I turned slowly and faced him. His eyes were shockingly blue, the same colour as his cheeks and lips. I didn’t recognize him, but I’d seen enough of his kind to know what I had to do.

 

I took a tentative step away. “I have to go.”

 

The boy grabbed my hand and I yelped at the touch of his frozen skin. “No. You must stay.”

 

I wriggled free. “I’m so sorry, but I’m not equipped to help you.”

 

His eyes blazed red. It took maybe a whole second for the colour to transition. “You are the only one I have seen for years.”

 

“I’m young and not trained.”

 

“Better than a worthless human.”

 

Before I had a chance to flinch, he grabbed my shoulders and thrust himself into me. His lips landed directly on my racing pulse and he bit in. Pain enveloped me and I started seeing black spots. I let out an ear-splitting scream as he gulped in a huge swallow of my blood. The world fizzled away and I was left in the in-between of life and death. The familiar white world was still creepy even though I’d been there at least ten times. I was alone except for the boy.

 

“Stop!” I cried. “Stop drinking! You could kill me!”

 

A sadistic smile crept onto his lips. “Would that be such a tragedy?”

 

I lunged for the boy, but he disappeared before my fingers could curl around his neck. The ground beneath me gave way and I tumbled into the abyss of nothingness.

 

 

The ground was cold, even compared to my skin. I checked my pulse and found nothing. I rolled my tongue over my teeth and felt the fangs that shouldn’t have been in my mouth. I sat up and saw my body on the ground, bleeding bite marks on my neck.

 

“Hey!” I yelled. “Wake up!”

 

My body twitched. I crawled over to it and punched it hard in the face. The eyes opened, a deep red. The boy had done it"he’d transferred himself into my body.

 

The boy jerked away from me when he saw that he was staring at himself. “Did it work?” he asked in my voice.

 

“Yes,” I growled. “You have two hours before the magic reverses. Use your time wisely.”

 

The boy in my body hopped up and took off without looking back.

 

I angrily watched him/me leave. The coppery taste of blood in my/his mouth was unbearable, since I knew it was mine. I spat a few times, but there was still an aftertaste. I rubbed my eyes with my cold, cold hands that weren’t mine at all, and sighed.

 

Why did the ghombie have to find me tonight of all nights? I was supposed to be meeting up with Chase tonight, and now that was all ruined. If ghombies could cry, I would’ve started then. But since they were two types of dead, they couldn’t cry, and since I was stuck inside the body of one, I couldn’t either.

 

Ghombies are ghosts and zombies mixed together. People who die once and come back as a zombie, then are killed again, and come back as a ghost, are called ghombies. I’m a ghombie-whisperer (as Skye would say), meaning ghombies can contact me and ‘possess’ me by drinking my blood. But only for a limited amount of time. Which is what happened tonight.

 

I’m not trained to un-possess myself if something like this happens, and now I have no control over the situation. If I was trained, I could keep the ghombies from drinking my blood. My mother has the responsibility to train me, but she’s an alcoholic, so my grandma has taken over. Theoretically. She hasn’t ‘found the time’ to train me.

 

So now I’m stuck in a ghombie body until time runs out.

 

 

 

After two hours of wandering around aimlessly in circles, the boy in my body appears out of the blue. I touched his arm ever so lightly and instantly feel the awful pull. I was literally being pulled out of his body.

 

The white world returned. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like the real world’s colour melts away in seconds and all that’s left is white. It’s like standing in the middle of a sketch.

 

“One more hour. Please.” The boy begged, but he was already being ripped from my body.

 

“No! You already stole two hours from me!”

 

His tears glistened on my cheeks. “Please. You have no idea how beautiful it is to be normal again.”

 

“Maybe if you’d asked instead of stolen, I would’ve given you more time.”

 

That was a lie. I had no idea what I was doing.

 

There was a giant clang and I was dragged out of his dead body. Everything went black.

 

 

When I opened my eyes, I was looking at his body, not my own.

 

“Thank God,” I murmured.

 

I stood up, brushed the dirt off my jeans and started to run away. But the boy grabbed my hand just seconds before I took off.

 

“What is your name?” he asked.

 

“Andrea.” The one piece of advice my grandmother taught me was to never show fear, and never back down. It didn't seem the wisest choice at the moment, but what do I know? 

 

“Andrea,” he repeated slowly, as if tasting the name. “Greek, meaning strong and courageous.”

 

I stepped away. I was named after my great-great-grandmother, who gave her life to save her father. I was always uncomfortable with people knowing why I am named what I am. Don’t ask me why. It’s just awkward to me.

 

The boy smiled, but it didn’t reach his blazing eyes. “I do not mean to frighten you, Andrea. I am merely telling you the origin of your name.”

 

I took another few steps back. “Yeah. Look, this has been fun and all, but"”

“You lie. You didn’t enjoy this experience.”

 

I stopped talking. He knew I wanted to leave.

 

“Your right. I lied. Goodbye.”

 

“Wait!”

 

I didn’t wait. I ran out of there as fast as I could and didn't look back. 

Author's Note

Reviews are always welcome! Criticism especially!

*awarded First Place!!! in the Just a Peek... contest*
*awarded Very Cool, just a bit more! in the Part of a book contest*
*awarded BESTEST!!!!! in the Bookworms!!!:) contest*

Reviews

[EndlosenRegen]

This is an amazing introduction! I can't wait to read more! My sister has been practically obsessed with this over the past 2 days (:

[Eversea]

I love the Ghombies! Well, actually they kinda freak me out a bit...or a lot. But the idea is awesome as long as they don't come after me! Read ALL the chapters!

[Jennifer]

AWESOME!!!! I love books about vampires!

[TheKaylaPup]

*is dying* Okay, totally glad I decided to read this. I also want you to know that because of you I probably won't sleep tonight (because I'll be up reading). I do find the whole "ghombie" thing to be totally weird, but, yet, it's so compelling to read, I'm not sure I care. Great job, you better not delete this book!

[Jack Isaac]

Hey, anyone who writes about "ghombies" is alright in my book! A mixture of ghosts and zombies --what a concept! This is good writing and very interesting --invites the reader and keeps attention going. The flow works well but I got stuck at the italicized text --not sure how to interpret this, but if it represents thoughts in the Abyss of Nothingness, this could work in your favor. Good writing!

[Lily]

This was wonderfully, beautifully written!! I want to read more! I want to read more of this amazing, wonderfully writter book!!! I love, already!! :D

[BloodyMary]

OHMAGAH

[Kitty<3]

wow. i feel like i just started reading a published book. I found no issues or anything needing improvement. I could even imagine what this story would look like in a movie....... you're very talented.

[Death Girl]

I just want to keep reading. it is so interesting

[Robbie~xoxo~]

Wow! Love it!!! Very original... your writing is superb. This has an easy flow. Love your story!~so far...can't wait to read the rest! :)