Midnight Whispers (The Midnight Duology #1)

Chapter 15

15

Between Finn being a freaking vampire and now Parker being dead… I’m kind of freaking out internally. I’m not sure my mouth could hang open anymore. I can’t process anything that’s being said or happening. The room begins to spin and focusing on anything isn’t helping the sickness rising in my stomach.

Parker cannot be dead.

Like… He's just gone forever. I stare at the sheriff, but I don’t think I’m really seeing him. My mind feels like it’s spinning, but the room is standing completely still.

“Lillia? Are you okay?” Cyrus adjusts his belt. “I know it's a lot to take in.”

“Uh… Yeah. I think I'm okay. Do we know what happened? Where was he? I just saw him last night,” I responded in disbelief.

“Well, it is known he was intoxicated at the party. We have a few witnesses who claim to have seen him throwing back copious amounts of Jack at the bar. We did have witnesses see Flora and him have a tussle, but everyone saw her go back in after he left so she isn’t a suspect.” Cyrus takes a deep breath before continuing. “But the coroner doesn’t think the way his neck was snapped is consistent with just falling off the cliff.”

My stomach drops.

I think I’m going to be sick.

Flora sucks in a deep breath.

“Wait he was in the ocean? He… he, what, just washed up onto the shore?!” I imagine Parker floating in the ocean. His skin fading to a grayish blush, the space beneath his eyes developing into a dark purple circle. Bile rises higher in my throat, and I instinctively put my hand over my mouth, resting the other on my stomach and debating on if I needed to run to the bathroom or not. I push it back down and decide to try and handle any other news this conversation brings.

Cyrus nods slowly, and by the color his face is turning, I know he’s seen Parker’s body.

Parker’s body.

This just can’t be happening.

Cyrus clears his throat before firmly stating, “I want to make one thing clear: you are not a suspect, Lillia. We just know you and Parker had a history and we wanted you to hear it from us before word got around.”

“Thank you, Cyrus. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No ma'am, but once we hear more, we will let you know. After his family of course.”

“Of course,” I nod. “Thank you again.”

I open the door and wave at them as they leave, turning to Flora as soon as the door is shut behind me. She runs her hands through her hair and releases the breath she must have been holding.

“What in the actual fuck?! Are you okay Lil?”

“I think so. We went through so much shit I don't feel sad, but I feel sad.” I sit down on the couch and put my face in my hands. “That doesn't make any sense, does it?”

“I think it makes perfect sense babe. Grief doesn't have to look a specific way. You can mourn however you see fit. Parker put you through a lot of shit.”

“Do I have a right to mourn him though? I broke up with him.”

“Absolutely you do. You guys dated most of your teenage years and well into adulthood. I mean you were going to get married eventually. We both know he was a total piece of shit.” I give her a look, and she shrugs. “I know it’s awful to speak ill of the dead and I’m sorry, but it’s true.”

“It’s still not nice.” I wasn’t even sure if I responded that out loud or not.

I had in fact given Parker most of my teen and adult life. He was the first person I shared a lot of things with, so love had to have been there at one point. The vision of him floating in the ocean once again flashes through my mind. Quickly, I closed my eyes in hopes to wipe the image from my thoughts.

I walk out of the living room in a fog.

“You want me to cook you something? Your skin looks like it’s gone, green babe.” Flora’s voice is thick with concern.

“Uhm. No, I think I'll just have some tea.”

“Lil, you should try to eat something, even if it’s little.” I nod and give a small smile. I know she won’t let up if I don’t just eat something.

Flo goes to the fridge and gets out the carton of eggs and sets them on the counter next to a bowl. One by one she cracks the eggs, and the sound of the shells cracking against the porcelain holds my attention as I zone out. She pours just a dash of heavy cream, seasons the contents with salt and pepper, before whisking everything together and pouring it into the skillet she put on the stove only moments prior. The egg mixture sizzles as it hits the hot cast iron. She adds chopped up bell peppers and onions and gives everything another stir to combine it. Before I knew it, I had a plate of steaming eggs in front of me.

“Thank you, Flo.”

“I'd do anything for you, Lil. I know you well enough to know you don't always take care of yourself. I will always do whatever I can to lessen your load. We're soulmates, remember?” She winks at me, turns and pours herself some coffee and sits in the stool next to me.

The silence hangs heavily between us, the tension so thick you could easily cut it with a knife. I know she will wait for me to break it, respecting the boundaries she believes I have established. Except the truth is… I don't know what to say. How could I possibly put into words how I’m feeling at this moment? On one hand, I’m sad that Parker is dead, but on the other, all I want to do is talk about Finn with my best friend.

I listen to the sound of the silverware clinking against the porcelain and the occasional tooth scraping against the metal fork, which would typically make my ears hurt but right now I can’t process anything at all.

We both come to the last bite or two of the food on our plates. I stand and look at her for confirmation that I can clear her plate off the counter, she nods, and I move them both to the sink. Her eyes are glued to me, burning a hole deep into my back as I rinse the remnants of the egg mixture off the plates and whatever she had used to prepare.

“Are we going to talk about it?” Flora scrunches her brow. “And I mean really talk about it?”

I turn the water off and turn around, resting my lower back against the counter. If I don’t continue this conversation, I know she will never drop it.

“I don’t think there's much to talk about, Flo. I’m not even sure how I feel about it right now. I’m sad, of course. I’m no stranger to losing someone, but he wasn’t mine to lose anymore.”

She arches her brow. “Well, I won't push you,” Flora offers. “I’m here though, when there is something, you want to talk about.”

My stomach flipped in anticipation of what I knew I was going to say next. “Would it be incredibly tacky if I talked to you about the man I met?”

“A man you say!?” She practically jumps to her feet. “Please. Do tell.”

“I don’t know a lot, yet. His name is Finn. He and his, erm …”—Shoot what do I say?—“cousin live in that house on the top of the hill.”

”Ohhhh. So, they're rich, rich.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“I mean, I guess so. He’s coming over tonight, so when he knocks, please be nice.”

Flora squeals. “You’re going to have a gentleman caller, Lillia Jane Alcott?!” I cringe at the use of my full name.

“Why do you have to make it sound so formal ?” I groan.

“I need the details, woman! Start with what he looks like.”

“Well, remember the guy with the hot back of the head? It’s him.”

“Whaaaaat!?” Her mouth drops open.

“Well, he approached me at the Halloween party, and I don’t know…” I shrugged. “We just kind of hit it off.”

“Okay. But the front of his head, Lil. What does the front of his head look like?”

I let out a laugh and began to describe his appearance and before I knew it I was telling her everything I could, leaving out everything that had to do with him being a vampire.

Flora’s eyes sparkle through my entire story. “Oh, so you love him already is what you’re saying? ”

“I barely know him, Flo,” I scoff. She looks at me and I find it hard to hold her eye contact.

”Lillia Jane. Have you had sex with him!?”

“No,” I say quicker than I mean to. “Not yet, but we have kissed.”

“ And?! ”

“I could have jumped his bones the second his lips touched mine.” I laugh and hide my face.

“You little slut!” Flora exaggerates a gasp and slaps my arm. “So, you need me to leave when he gets here is what you’re saying?”

“I don’t need you to do anything, babe.”

“Maybe not, but I don’t want to hear your dirty hot guy sex.”

“I didn’t even say that I was going to be having any dirty hot guy sex.”

“I will make myself scarce, but like do you think he has a friend?”

“What happened to your mystery man at the party?”

“He came by the bar to visit me at work a couple of times, called me a couple of times, but it’s like he’s obsessed with me or something. He always asks about coming to see me, and he gave me a fucking nickname Lil.”

I raise an eyebrow. “That’s a bad thing?”

“I don’t want something that serious, not yet anyways. I’m still so young!”

“Because of your parents?” She nods and looks away. “I won't pressure you, but just because your dad was unfaithful to your mom doesn’t mean all men are like that.”

“Realistically I know that, but I think knowing they got married so young and he felt trapped.” She takes a deep breath. “I don’t want to go through the same thing.”

“I know, babe.” I walk across the kitchen and wrap her in my arms. Hugging is foreign to us because even after a lifetime of being friends, we have only hugged maybe five times.

“Wanna veg on the couch? Catch up on some shows or something?” Flora asks, her voice muffled into my shoulder.

“Yeah. Let me just call over to the shop and make sure they're okay without me.” I release her from my hug and walk to my room to get my phone. Elliot answers the phone, and we chat for a moment. He assures me he doesn’t need help and demands I take a break to take care of myself today, which means news of Parker has most likely gotten around.

Relief washes over me when I learn I wasn’t needed at Alcott’s today, but guilt sits heavily in my chest. Flora and I spent the rest of the day wasting away on the couch catching up on House of Dragon . We sat there in silence, just existing in one another's presence. It was exactly what the both of us needed. I don’t have many friends, but my friendship with Flora has always been my favorite for this reason. We can just be with each other, but there’s no need for fake conversations and I have no reason to unnecessarily drain my social battery.

After we fully catch up and go our separate ways, I retreat to my room. I busy myself by making my bed, cleaning up my room, and showering before Finn gets here. I’m unsure what time to expect him, but the clock reads just after eight. If he comes over this late, isn’t it just a booty call? I sit down on the edge of my bed as the disappointment settles in my gut.

Is that all I am?

There had to be more to us than that, right?