Chapter 4

Kellan

S he walks through the crowd, her head bowed as they all comment about her under their breath, things nobody should ever have to endure hearing. It wasn't her fault, yet they make it seem like it is.

She doesn't want to draw any attention to herself, which is ironic considering who she chooses to spend her time with. She could have picked anyone, but she ended up with the quarterback of the football team. It was only a matter of time before he did something to bring this kind of negative attention to her. He can't resist the urge to make everything about himself. His time is growing near. I can feel it.

A familiar but strange, angry feeling eats at me when I think of what he did to her. He is trying to pull her back to the darkest pits of her mind. I have to find a way to make sure she doesn't go there. I'm not ready for our time together to be cut short. He should just let her go. It would all be so much easier if he would spare her the humiliation.

I watch her in my human-like form, disguising myself in the crowd as if I were another one of them. Nobody here will see the true me, not any time soon. I'm not allowed to intentionally show humans my true shadow self unless I am there to transport their soul. It's a stupid rule.

I've never had a desire to linger amongst them for as long as I have been lately. I've found myself spending more and more time in my human form to be near her. She has been slowly shifting something inside me from the moment I first laid eyes on her.

After the video exposed her to the majority of Thorn Grove, I feel more protective of her. It's another feeling I've never previously felt with this fiery level of intensity. It's a problem. I'm not unfamiliar with emotions. I've just never had the need for them until my broken beauty crossed my path. Anything I've felt before her was nothing more than a fleeting moment through time.

She gets through the first part of her day without any major issues. They make comments under their breath, but she avoids gazing at them. She keeps to herself, walking with her eyes glued to the ground.

Just as she gets ready to get her lunch, at the same time she normally does, I feel myself being called away. I pause momentarily before giving her one last glance and shrinking into the shadows to disappear. Stupid work.

I'm away for a good portion of the day, leaving her to fend for herself. If I could shield her from their torment without risking the very purpose of her being, I would. I'm starting to realize I would do just about anything for her, and I haven't even been granted the satisfaction of a simple conversation. She knows nothing about me, but I know as much as I can about her.

By the time I'm able to get near her again, my pet is asleep in her bed. I had to see her, so I let myself into her apartment and I'm currently watching from the shadows. There was a mass casualty event today that took up more of my time than expected. Every time I finished leading one soul, another was calling out for me. On days like today, I consider how helpful it would be to have a partner to assist with the job. My eyes roam back to Lena. What if she could be by my side to help me? I shake the thought from my mind. It's not possible. It would never be allowed. Death doesn't get a partner. Death is meant to be alone, final.

She twitches in her sleep. Maybe she can sense me in her unconscious state. You're not as alone as you think you are, pet. Her loser boyfriend is out partying, surely finding another way to cause her pain. I wish I could intervene, but I'm left in the shadows to observe as the only person I've ever developed feelings for feels nothing but pure anguish.

Feelings. They have been slowly growing stronger since the moment I first saw her. I'm not supposed to let things get out of hand like this because it complicates things—like right now. She twitches again, almost as though she is having a bad dream, and all I want to do is pull her into my grasp to coax her into a restful sleep.

I watch the rise and fall of her perfect chest. The blanket has gathered at her waist, and her shirt is plastered to her skin, revealing her hard nipples. They are aching for me to reach out and touch them. A moan leaves her lips, and I stop breathing. I'm frozen in place from the most glorious sound that I've ever heard. She's not having a bad dream at all.

She shifts again, and one of her legs frees itself from the blanket. Another sweet whimper falls from her. It takes everything in me to not step out of the shadowed corner and force her to make more of these sounds. I'm intoxicated by them.

Even with the pull I've felt toward her, I've always tried to give her privacy when she is in the comfort of her home. I pop in to check on her and leave. I've never heard her make these sounds before, mostly because I don't like seeing her with her boyfriend. This is the apartment they share, and he sours my mood. I wish I could end him, but that's not allowed.

I'm glad he wasn't home when I appeared here. I don't want to see him anywhere near her. I haven't seen the video, but when another whimper leaves her lips, I find myself wondering if these are the same noises she made in it.

A familiar bell rings inside my mind, indicating someone is ready for me to help them cross into my realm. I have to go, and for the first time, I consider not leaving. If I leave, I could miss the way her face scrunches up when she makes more of these whimpering noises. I wonder what she is dreaming about. Who is giving her the sweet pleasure as she rests?

Reluctantly, I vanish into the night to appear in front of the person I am here to collect. It is an older woman, and I find myself hoping this moves along swiftly so I can return to my pet. The wrinkles along the old woman's sagging cheeks tell a story of her life, similar to the crow's feet that spread from her eyes and lines across her forehead. She looks up at me from her hospital bed with nothing but acceptance in her eyes. These ones are the easiest. The ones that seem to have lived a full life.

I step forward and reach out my hand to prompt her to take it, and she does so without a single question. I walk her hand in hand to my realm where she can fulfill her purpose. I don't know what her path will look like. It could be years full of turmoil and challenge or mere moments of joy and acceptance. The old woman looks up at me as I release her hand, giving her a silent nod. She smiles and nods back. With that, I disappear from her sight.

I feel nothing for the old woman. I feel nothing for anyone except for my raven-haired pet. I long to return to her. When I reappear in the shadowy corner of her room that I previously occupied, I am startled by the sight in front of me.

My perfect Lena is spread wide open for me to see. Her feet are planted on the bed with her legs bent at the knee as she uses her fingers to rub at her center. She arches her back off the bed and uses her free hand to grope her breast. I want to reach out and wrap my shadowy tendrils around her throat and ask what she's thinking about. What is making her so needy? Who is on her mind?

Her fingers dip inside her glistening cunt, and I know this is going to change me in the most unexpected yet glorious way. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to continue as a neutral bystander. Am I even neutral at this point? I crave her taste on my tongue. I want to feel the way she writhes beneath me as she arches her back, begging for more, similar to what she is doing now.

I should leave to prevent this feeling from deepening, but now my breathing is heavy, and all I want is to be here with her. I reach down to grip my aching shadow cock. Slowly, I stroke myself, keeping my eyes on her the entire time. I don't want to miss a single second of this moment. It will be burned into my memories so I can play it on a loop for all of eternity.

The way the center of her brow creases as she parts her lips and lets out another moan has my breath catching. She moves her fingers faster in and out of her pussy as her other hand slides down to find her clit. Her eyes squeeze shut as if she inches closer and closer to her orgasm.

I yearn to touch her. I stroke myself faster, picturing what it would be like to sink inside her walls. Her slick pussy would stretch around me so perfectly. One of my shadowy tendrils moves from my corner of the room. It inches closer to where she is positioned on the bed, with a mind of its own at this point. I don't have the willpower to stop it.

"Fuck," she cries out while curling her toes.

The pressure builds inside me, growing nearer and nearer to bursting at the seams. I won't crest that hill without her. The tendril slides up the side of the bed just as another moan falls from her delectable lips.

"Yes!" She screams and pushes herself to climax .

I imagine her tight pussy gripping onto my cock as she rides out her blissful high, and I find mine with her. Come shoots from the tip of my shadow cock, coating my hand just as the tendril wraps itself around one of her wrists. She is still coming down from her orgasmic bliss and doesn't notice; however, I quickly collect myself and retract it.

This was far too much of a risk. If she saw me, it could ruin everything. I try to center my thoughts, but my mind continues to race. She looks so beautiful right now. The deep pink on her cheeks accentuates her normally pale skin. She takes one more deep breath and sits up in the bed. I glance at her one last time before disappearing into the night, hoping she didn't catch sight of me. I'm getting careless, and it's a problem.