Of Fate & Forbidden Desire (The Gatekeeper Duet #1)

2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Beware of the monsters in the dark, they’ll prey upon your soul - Charleene.

T ingles chased each other down my spine as a cold breeze blew through my thin shirt, making me shiver violently in the queue. I was currently rethinking my life choices as I waited to get inside Salvation with Lily, Meghan and Gillian. Why I’d let them convince me to come out after work was beyond me. I was knackered. Trying to stifle another yawn, I allowed a small gap to grow between me and my coworkers. Tonight's shift at the restaurant had been brutal; we’d been slammed from start to finish and the last thing I needed was to be here in the cold. I should be going home to my comfortable bed and sleeping, I told myself silently as another shiver ran down my spine. I had that tingling feeling, you know, the one you get when someone unseen is staring at your back. Letting Lily’s voice drift off into the background I tried surreptitiously glancing around. I watched drunk students milling about, some smoking, others wrapping their arms around themselves in the cool air, but no one was paying me any attention as they went about their own lives.

“Charleene?” Lily asked, drawing my attention back to them as they moved closer to the bouncers.

“Yeah,” I answered distractedly, searching for whoever I could still feel watching me. It was strange, like an irritatingly itchy feeling that I couldn’t shake. I'd felt it before plenty of times and it was always followed by some horrific accident or tragedy. I dreaded feeling it.

“You’re still coming in with us, aren’t you?” she asked, repeating her question and looking at me with her wide blue eyes .

“Yep, I’m right behind you,” I said with a small smile. I knew it didn't reach my eyes as I shook off my foreboding feeling and closed the distance, just as they reached the bouncer, and followed my friend into the heaving club.

The thumping bassline of a new song rattled my bones and set my teeth on edge, as I paid the entrance fee, before we weaved our way through the crowd to the packed bar.

“What you having?” Meghan shouted, leaning in close to me so I could hear her over the music and giving me a whiff of the sickly sweet perfume she’d doused herself in.

“Just a coke.” I replied, listening to the song playing. Castles In The Sky pounded through me, making my body move to its beat. I hadn’t heard this song in years and was slightly surprised that it was even playing, but then a good song never lost its appeal. Nodding my head along, I took the cold glass from Meghan before we moved further into the club. If we found a table at this time of night it would be a miracle but we looked anyway, hoping that there’d be one free. There wasn’t. So I had to make do with placing my cold glass down on a thin ledge that bordered the dancefloor. The others went to dance as I swayed my hips to the music.

An hour later I drained the last drops of my coke and smiled at the girls as they gyrated against each other, their laughter lost under the pounding music. Inching my way slowly over, ducking around a stray dancer, I tapped Lily on the shoulder and leaned in close to shout in her ear, “I’m heading home.”

She pouted, pushing her lips out in an almost comical way before nodding her acceptance. Waving to the others I slipped away leaving them to enjoy the rest of their night.

Smiling, I pushed through the heavy doors and almost sighed in relief as they shut behind me, muting some of the heavy bass from the music that still had my eardrums vibrating. I knew I’d hear about slipping out early from Meghan and Gillian at work tomorrow, but my feet hurt and my bed was calling my name as I walked out into the night .

Shivering, I regretted not having a coat with me as the frigid air caressed any skin it could find, making my teeth chatter as I walked. On nights like this you either needed a thick jacket or to have drunk enough alcohol so as not to feel the wind howling through the streets. I had neither, so opted for wrapping my arms around me and hurrying my steps. I was a few streets from the club, when my back stiffened and tingles raced down my spine again. With another shiver—this one having little do with the cold— I hugged my arms tighter around me and told myself I was being ridiculous as my hurried steps sped me towards home.

I was just about to scream like a mad woman, when I finally turned onto my one way street. I’d been throwing glances over my shoulder since crossing Ouse Bridge and now my spine felt like it was about to snap, and my neck had a crick I wasn’t sure I’d ever get rid of. It took me several tries to slip my key into the lock with my shaking hands, and when the click of it unlocking came, I let out a grateful sigh.

Slipping silently into my shared student house, I made sure not to slam the door behind me. I never knew if anyone was going to be in, but then I also didn’t really care. My housemates kept themselves to themselves just like I did, however we did try to respect each other and that meant being quiet in the hallways. It was why we made the perfect housemates; we didn’t pry, hardly saw each other and that’s the way I wanted to keep it. I was here to go to university, not make friends after all.

I was older than almost everyone in my classes after enrolling in my early twenties, but my youthful face let me fit in with the eighteen year olds, not that I could tolerate their enthusiasm for all things drinking, drugs and just their overall enthusiastic energy for long. I was here for one thing, and one thing only: an education. Quietly, I sat on the arm of the two seater sofa and slipped my ballet flats from my aching feet, before tiptoeing up the stairs to my bedroom.

Sliding my door closed softly behind me, I barely refrained from running to my soft bed and flinging myself down on it. Screw getting changed I thought, letting my eyes close as exhaustion washed through me and my tired body sagged in relief.

It's dark. ‘Why’s it so dark?’ I wonder, as my feet stumble. Someone grabs the top of my arm in a vice tight grip, startling a scream from me. ‘Why can’t I see anything?’ I think again as I’m forced to move. My left shin slams into something hard and I whimper, ‘why can’t I move my arms?’ I question silently when I attempt to reach down to rub the sore spot that’s now throbbing. My heart is pounding against my ribs, as the hand wrapped around my arm tugs again forcing me to fumble through another series of steps.

“Sit!” a familiar voice croons in my ear as he forces me to bend at the waist. I know what’s coming, I’ve been here before. The bed is hard and the sheets are coarse under my fingertips as they brush it. ‘They’re not my sheets,’ I tell myself as fear slices at me like a knife. "You're a pretty thing, shame you have to die." He says. ‘Who is he?’ I wonder briefly, as a familiar sharp pain slices into my neck and I let loose the scream trapped in my chest.

My eyes snap open as I gasp and rub the side of my neck, while my other hand taps furiously against my leg, attempting to calm my racing pulse. Another sodding dream , I think angrily. I'd been having them since about a week after I'd turned twelve. Nothing I'd done ever made them stop, sometimes they’d go away for months at a time but they always returned, costing me numerous families over the years. Why would anyone want to adopt, or even foster, a child with such bad night terrors that she could wake a street with her screams.

However, the dreams were becoming more frequent; small parts of it differed but that voice was always the same and the pain in my neck also never changed. Whoever the unseen man was, he’d creeped me out from the first time I'd heard his voice in my ear when I was twelve. I shivered just thinking about it.

“Today’s going to be a very long day,” I mumbled aloud, rolling over and staring at my alarm clock, which declared it was only five in the morning. Blooming heck , I thought realising I wouldn’t be going back to sleep now after that dream. I just had to hope that they wouldn’t interrupt my sleep for too many nights this time.

It was too early for a shower and nervous energy rolled through me, making my thumb tap incessantly and repetitively against each of my fingers. Glancing around my bare room, I needed something to calm myself and my eyes landed on my running gear as it poked out of a drawer.

Why not? The city would be quiet this early, and when I got back it would be a much more reasonable time of day and I could jump in the shower. Smiling I slipped on the thin, too tight top that would stop my boobs from bouncing about. Who needed such big boobs anyway? I complained to myself, shimmying into the matching bottoms which hugged my legs like a second skin.

Standing outside on the empty street I ignored the cold nipping at me and rolled my shoulders, before starting off at an easy jog. I’d warm up soon enough. Music blasted through my headphones as my scalp still ached from the savage pull of scraping my hair up into a ponytail. I'd made the stupid mistake of cutting it short over the summer. But it was slowly growing back in. Losing all track of time and space, I focused on my music as Evanescence sang about an imaginary world and my feet pounded the pavement as a small smile grew on my lips.

Finally after an hour of racing along the pavements, I felt my anxiety calming down enough that I could think about heading back home, as I faced York St John Uni. It was a strange building; half modern, with its steel and large windows, and half stuck in the past with the yellow, rain weathered bricks and tiny single paned windows, but I loved it all the same.

The modern parts housed a massive library, where I practically live when not at work, and some classrooms, but my lessons mostly took place in the older quad. A square, uneven set of buildings with a central courtyard. The floors were uneven, with aged ceilings that if you were taller than 6ft you'd have to stoop to pass under, and so higgledy piggledy that when you went down one staircase you got lost. I enjoyed the history of the building, as it was the remains of the old hospital teaching college that hadn't been lost as time moved on.

Running through the recently unlocked quad I slowed my pace, so as not to accidentally bump into anyone who might be around this early, before lengthening my stride again as I flew past the student union, past the small Chapel and back out onto the streets that would lead me home. I'd just passed the small black gate when a shiver ran down my spine. I was being watched again.

It was the same feeling from last night. Keeping my face unchanged I upped my pace, feeling thankful that I was only five minutes from the house.

Reaching the blue door to what was slowly becoming home, I glanced back up the street and froze. At the top stood a figure, with dark hair. Shuddering I looked away, slipped my key into the lock and turned it. I smiled at the familiar click as the Yale lock opened , before another shiver ran through my body as I forced myself to glance again at the now empty street.

Shaking my head, I stepped into the dark hallway, and released a small sigh, shutting the door behind me. It's ok, you're safe. I reminded myself silently. It was probably just a passerby being nosey. I justified the stranger and with one last shiver I went to get ready for my nine o'clock lesson.

Smothering another yawn behind my hand, I stared at the lecturer who stood before the massive interactive whiteboard, explaining a new teaching method. I tried to comprehend what she was saying but found my mind wandering. I'd wanted to be a teacher since as long as I could remember. The urge to help others had always driven me, and teaching was a good way as any to help the younger generations.

I knew I should be listening and taking notes, but between my late night and interrupted sleep, I just couldn't force my mind to focus. Giving up entirely I resolved to look up the lecture notes online later as I doodled patterns onto the blank page before me. Intricate spiral patterns began to take shape as I barely concentrated and forced my eyes to stay awake when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Slipping it out and placing it on the desk next to my notebook, I tapped open the new message.

Do you want to join us for George's leaving drinks tonight? X

I smiled while reading it, Lily was always optimistic—a trait I feared I was also picking up—when she invited me out. I almost responded that I wouldn't and then realised how lonely I'd let my life become. Other than work and going to uni, I did nothing and the thought of spending another night alone in my room just wasn't as appealing as it usually was.

Yeah, what time and where?

I text back with a small smile still playing on my lips. Why shouldn't I try and have some fun? I was supposed to be a carefree student after all, even if I turned twenty-one this winter. Her response came back quickly.

7pm at Society ;)

Society was a smallish bar across from where we'd been last night. It would be busy but if we were getting there early enough we should be able to snag a pretty big table.

Ok, I'll see you there.

I let my smile widen as I returned to my doodles, and a warm fuzzy feeling grew in my chest at the thought that maybe I'd managed to make a friend here in York after all. Always being the weird foster kid, I'd never had a proper friend before.

The rest of my day had passed steadily. I’d caught up on the lecture notes from this morning, had a little nap and taken a long soak in the bath since the house seemed deserted, and now I was standing in front of my wardrobe, staring at my clothing options. What the hell am I supposed to wear to a co-workers leaving-do? I didn't know George very well, he'd done my induction at Nando's, but other than that we hadn't worked together much. Shrugging I grabbed some clothes, trying not to think too much about them.