Chapter 10 - An Unlikely Hero. Sort Of.

A scream tore it’s way out of my lungs and through my lips. It echoed off the grimy brick walls of the alleyway. The ghombie tackled me and laughed in my face. It was another girl. She had a greenish liquid on her blue cheeks, and she smelled so bad I wanted to puke. Her teeth were a sickly green and her breath was wretched.

 

Her red eyes glared into mine longingly, like she couldn’t wait to steal every aspect of myself away from me. And that’s when she embedded her teeth in my neck, despite my desperate thrashing and screaming. Unlike the last girl I’d dealt with, she wasted no time and gulped a swallow of blood greedily.

 

Agony sizzled through my whole body. My toes, my fingers, my veins, everywhere. I felt my world start to drain away and again was transported to the white world. I looked down sadly at my hands and watched as they transformed from a tanned colour to white.

 

The ghombie was there, in all her sick glory. Even in the white world she emanated a sort of dark vibe.

 

“Please, let me go,” I whispered to her, not wanting to let her hear my tears.

 

She seemed to ponder my beg. “Uh, no.”

 

She grabbed my hand and clutched it tight. “You feel so alive. Even here.” And then everything vanished.

 

 

 

I heard his voice first.

 

“Andrea! Oh my God, Andrea!” It was Nate’s voice.

 

My eyes shot open and I saw him running over to my unconscious body with the ghombie inhabiting it. I hopped up and hid behind an icky garbage can that smelled like feces and rotting food. I watched as Nate touched my face gently, saying my name over and over again until, finally, my eyes opened.

 

“Are you okay?” Nate asked in a hushed voice, as if he were scared to speak too loud.

 

The ghombie said nothing. She started stroking Nate’s cheek softly and they seemed to share a real moment. The weird part was that Nate thought he and I were having a moment. I shuddered. And then the ghombie started leaning towards Nate, puckering her/my lips . . .

 

Oh no.

 

Without thinking, I leapt out and rushed at Nate and the ghombie. I tackled the ghombie just seconds before their lips connected. In the tumble, my lips landed on the ghombies wrist. Something bumped me from behind, and I snapped my mouth closed on impact. The ghombies fangs slid into my wrist and a drop of blood touched my/the ghombies tongue.

 

An awful yanking gripped my chest. Every second the world lost more and more colour, until everything was black.

 

 

I looked up into Nate’s scared gray eyes. I recoiled, startled, and he let out a shaky breath.

 

“Holy crap, are you okay? Someone just came out of nowhere and attacked you!”

 

I gasped half-heartedly. I glanced around frantically for the ghombie, but she was nowhere.

 

“Where’d they go?” I asked Nate, who I just noticed was leaning over me and was very close. I tried to will myself to move away, but I couldn’t.

 

“I don’t know. I was too busy seeing if you were okay to see where they went.”

 

“Oh.” I looked away, not wanting to look at Nate for some reason. “Where’s your posse?”

 

“Oh, they went the other way when I followed you down here. It was kind of your lucky break, because no one would’ve saved you if it weren’t for me.”

 

Oh, great, did he think he was my hero or something? Just as I opened my mouth to tell him off, something registered in my mind . . .

 

He’d seen the ghombie. But ghombies were invisible to mortals. Could he . . . could he be a ghombie whisperer?

 

He couldn’t. That was preposterous. He just . . . couldn’t. I shook the thought from my delirious mind. But how had he seen the ghombie if he wasn’t a supernatural of some sort?

 

I realized that he was waiting for me to say something. I panicked and said the first thing that popped into mind.

 

“Did the person have blue skin?”

 

“Yeah. It was werid. I just thought maybe they were out of breath or something.” He shrugged it off as if it were no big deal.

 

I almost laughed. No big deal? This was huge! Nate was some sort of supernatural. I had to keep prying.

 

“Nate, does the term “ghombie” mean anything to you?” I finally turned back so look at him. His face was inches from mine. I took a sharp breath and pushed myself away from him and backed against the alley’s brick wall.

 

Even though his face fell, he answered. “Yeah. My grandpa used to tell me stories about zombie-ghosts--ghombies--and how he was always fighting them off. Said he could talk with them. We put him in an old folks home last winter.” I didn’t think it was possible, but Nate looked even sadder than he had before.

 

I took a plunge and prayed it would turn out well. “Nate . . .” Well I tried to take the plunge, anyways.

 

Nate rolled his eyes. “What? Are you going to say my grandpa wasn’t crazy and zombie-ghosts exist?”

 

I spoke quietly. “Yes.”

 

Nate shot me an annoyed look. “Seriously, Andrea? Cut the crap, okay?” He stood up and started to walk away. Then stopped and said, “You’re so hot and cold! One minute you say one thing, the next you say another.”

 

He walked away, completely forgetting about his duties as my “hero” and left me all alone. I had to really struggle to stop my tears. I guessed that our topic had shifted from ghombies to his almost kiss with the real ghombie, who had been in my body.

 

I hugged my knees to my chest. Jeez, I needed to learn how to defend myself.

 

 

When I got home, I collapsed and told my grandma about the attack. I left out everything about Nate, so the story had some holes, but she was quite surprised that my drinking the ghombies/my blood reversed the possession.

 

“Are you sure? I’ve never heard of anything like that,” she said, puzzled.

 

“Yes, I’m sure.”

 

“I’ll have to look into that.”

 

“Or you could spend your time more wisely and teach me how to defend myself against ghombies!” I was starting to yell, and a guilty feeling settled in my gut.

 

My grandma gave me a sad look. “Andrea, I may be too old to teach you properly. I can’t show you defense moves or anything. Your mother is supposed to do that.”

 

“But she obviously can’t!”

 

“Andrea.”

 

“Grandma!” I was crying and yelling now. I couldn’t control myself.

 

My grandmother gave me a sad look. “Honey, why don’t you go cool off for a bit, then we’ll talk.”

 

I stomped upstairs, tears spilling out of my eyes, and slammed my bedroom door behind me. I screamed into my pillow in frustration, and the tears started coming harder. Sobs racked through me, and I finally thought, why am I even crying?

I honestly didn't know. This was my life. I'd always dealt with the unfair, always put up with the pain. So why was today any different?

Author's Note

props to Sarah E. Pearson, who figured out that Nate was going to follow Andrea. Am i that predictable? anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter. it was a fun one to write, anyways. thanks for all the tremendous reviews! :)

Reviews

[Sarah E. Pearson]

WOOO!!! Ha! I got props. No you aren't that predictable, it's just...how do i put this....like in all books you can tell which two fall in love at the end. it's...idk. how do i explain this? eh you probably get what i mean. anyway. EFFING AWESOME CHAPTER!! I totally didn't expect him to be a ghombie whisperer!

[selkietales]

Gah. Am I the only one who can't stand her grandma? Anyway, great chapter! Love this story :D

[Jasmine Thousand]

LOL yes you are! The way she talked about how "cute" he was was a PRETTY BIG hint! XD
~jasmine thousand~

[Eversea]

*heart stop* Nate...Nate...huh?
That girl needs some karate DVDs or something!

[TheKaylaPup]

loving the chapter, loving the book. she NEEDS to get Nate to believe her. I am sure you have some great plan going, the problem is, i can't for the life of me figure it out. Over all, great job. AS good as your book is, it's after 11:00 pm here in Iowa(USA), and i am getting tired.

[Death Girl]

I cannot wait to read more. this is getting so awsome. I love it. I wonder why she didn't tell her grandma about Nate. I thought that she would have told her grandma. That would be so cool if he was a ghombie whisper and they ened up togther and skye and chase end up togther. I am loving it.

[BloodyMary]

NATE! BEST CHARACTER!

[TWISTED NIGHTMARE]

so freaking interesting ...i just love this book and each chapter just makes it better and better...cant wait to read more and really cant wait to see more nate

[Ness of Love]

Tremendous! I'm even more into this then before (if thats possible XD), this chapter was amazing!