Unleashed

UNLEASHED

A Novella

JANAE MITCHELL

Unleashed

Janae Mitchell

Smashword Edition

Copyright 2015 Janae Mitchell

www.JanaeMitchell.com

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Curiosity

Brad

Chapter 2: S-T-E-V-E-N

Chapter 3: Accidents Happen

Chapter 4: More Than Waterfalls

Brad

Chapter 5: Until Next Time

Chapter 6: Close The Door

Chapter 7: Casualties

Brad

Chapter 8: Taken

Chapter 9: Scars

Chapter 10: Fear

Brad

Chapter 11: The End

Epilogue: Two Years Later

CHAPTER 1

CURIOSITY

When Prestley came in and laid the box on her bed, I heard my mother’s voice in my head, warning me against things like this. Where’d you get that? I asked apprehensively, hoping she didn’t actually plan on using it.

It’s Connor’s. Connor was her cousin, who didn’t care if he went to hell or not. Actually, he’d probably split hell wide open if he did.

You think this is a good idea?

Yeah, she replied as she pulled the Ouija board out of its box. I’ve heard these things really work.

That’s what I’m afraid of.

Oh, come on, Jailyn. It’s just a game.

I’d only seen them on TV… right before someone usually died or got attacked by some unseen force. And you think this is a good idea because…?

It’ll be cool if it actually moves by itself, don’t you think?

She laid the board between us in the middle of her bed and placed the planchette, which is the thing that slides around and is supposed to communicate with… well, whatever resides in these things, in the center of it. Okay, you ready?

Are you kidding me with this? Seeing the sun and moon in the corners, along with the alphabet scattered below them, seemed harmless enough, but the big ‘Good Bye’ across the bottom came across a little more ominous.

What? she whined.

You want me to help you open up a portal to hell in your room? I shook my head. I don’t think so.

Come on, Jailyn. Please? She clasped her hands together and stuck her bottom lip out. Pleeease?

A little part of me wanted to know if it’d really work, too. I don’t know.

They sell it at the toy store, so how bad could it be?

They say curiosity killed the cat, which I had a bad feeling I was about to prove. All right.

She cheered and clapped her hands as she turned the board so we could both put our hands on it. Okay, what do you want to ask first?

I hesitantly put my hand on the left side of the planchette as she laid her hand on the right. As soon as my fingers touched it, it slowly slid to ‘yes’.

I jerked my hand back. Did you do that?

Her eyes looked as wide as mine felt. No, did you? I shook my head. Cool. Here, put your hand back.

You moved it, I argued, knowing it couldn’t have moved on its own.

No, I didn’t. Now, come on. She put my hand back on it and asked her first question. What is your name?

It slowly moved across the board and spelled S-T-E-V-E-N.

"Steven?" She repeated, causing it to quickly go to ‘yes’.

I don’t like this, I admitted.

It’s okay, she tried to assure me. It’s just a game. She tossed her long, dark hair behind her shoulders and smiled. Okay, Steven, how old are you?

It slowly moved from 1 to 8.

Eighteen?

It quickly moved to ‘yes’ again.

It could be lying, I said, which was stupid. What was lying? The board?

It slowly spelled out N-O-T.

No freakin’ way! Prestley said.

Okay, I want you to shut your eyes and ask a question. I know I’m not moving it, so I want to prove that it’s not you.

All right. Prestley grabbed her pillow and covered her face before putting her hand back on the board. When did you die? She asked, her voice muffled by her pillow.

To my surprise, it started to move to a letter. L-O-N-G A-G-O

I glanced at Prestley, who still had her face mashed into the pillow. You’ve gotta be kidding me with this.

She jerked her head up. What did he say?

Long ago. I took my hand off the board. I’m not doing this anymore.

The fact that it spelled out something on its own left a sick feeling in my stomach. Or maybe the sick feeling was something else entirely. Either way, I was done with this ‘game’.

Jailyn, you’re being silly. She put the board back in the box and threw her pillow at me. "This Steven may have been cute at some point in time."

"Or he may be some kind of demon who isn’t a Steven at all and he’ll be watching you while you sleep. I threw her pillow back at her. Now, go get ready so we can leave."

One of the local clubs had a teen night ever so often and tonight was one of those nights. We’d only gotten to go a few times, but had a blast when we did, so I convinced my mom to take us. Unlike most teen nights, this one would turn out to be the best one yet.

It ended up being extremely crowded, which made it hard to dance without touching people, which I didn’t like to do, especially sweaty, touchy-feely people, so I spent most of my time watching from the sidelines. Unlike my awkward self, Prestley was the kind of girl that people gravitated towards. We had been best friends since forever and I loved her like a sister. We were like yin and yang, making the perfect duo. She says people flock to me, too, but if they did, I’d never noticed. I’m not a people-person, so if they did flock, I fled.

I noticed her dancing with a dark haired boy who was several inches taller than her, which meant he had to be close to six feet. Prestley wasn’t a giant, but she was taller than most, including me, who was barely average at around five feet. She caught my attention when she smiled and waved, causing her dance-boy to look in my direction. He then turned and said something to the guy behind him, who looked my way and smiled. Were they really talking about me? When the guy behind him came towards me, I knew they were.

Hey, he yelled over the music as he sat down next to me. Why aren’t you dancing? Even though he was sweating, he smelled good.

Too many people. I don’t want to embarrass them with my swag moves.

Swag moves, huh? He laughed. I’d like to see those.

Join the club. Sometimes my mouth spouted out words without my permission, and apparently this was one of those times.

So, do you live around here? Even though the light was dim, I could tell his eyes were a light green when the lights reflected off of them.

Yeah, about ten minutes. This guy was cute, but I still wasn’t gonna tell him where I lived. Even cute guys could be psycho.

Me, too; over in Glendale.

I nodded, still not about to give out my 411. Cool.

A slow song came on, and as soon as I heard it, I knew what was about to happen. You wanna dance? he asked.

Sure, why not.

I never did like slow dancing; it was like hugging someone for way too long while you sway awkwardly back and forth. Luckily, he was cute, which made it more tolerable. I proceeded with the usual dance stance—arms wrapped around his neck while he held my waist. Even though my shirt wasn’t short, it still managed to come up just enough when I raised my arms for his fingers to graze the bare skin of my lower back. This slow dance just got a little more interesting.

He lowered his head to my ear and said, My name’s Brad, by the way.

I’m Jailyn.

He smiled, showing off his straight, white teeth. Nice to meet you, Jailyn.

As we continued to sway to the music, his thumb gently slid back and forth across my back. Who knew such a small movement, which he probably didn’t even realize he was doing, could send heat coursing through me like a wildfire.

The next couple of hours flew by and before we knew it, it was time to go. So, can I have your number? he asked as we started to leave.

Sure. Not having anything else to write on, I pulled a receipt out of my purse, wrote my number down on the back, and handed it to him, regretting that I’d used a heart to dot my ‘i’.

He smiled. I’ll text you so you’ll have mine, too.

Okay.

When he leaned toward me, I thought he was going to kiss me, but instead, he put his lips to my ear. I like your red hair. He twisted a small curl of it around his finger and let it go before walking away to join his friend again, who was still entwined around Prestley.

Realizing it was time to go, Prestley finally untangled herself from dance-boy. Oh, my gosh. Did you see him? she asked as we walked out to find my mom’s car. Tall, dark, and getting his groove on, she said as she popped her chest.

Pres. I elbowed her in the side. I’m gonna have to get you a leash.

His cousin was cute, too. She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

They’re cousins? They don’t look anything alike.

No, but they do share the cuteness gene. 

We finally found my mom, who thankfully was parked off to the side and away from the bright lights. I couldn’t wait until my car was fixed so she didn’t have to chauffeur us around anymore. It’s like learning how to ride a bike, only to have training wheels put right back on it—it was just awkward.

We dropped Prestley off before heading home, and to my surprise, Brad texted me before I walked in the front door.

Hey, it’s Brad. I had fun 2nite & would like to see you again. As I walked into my room and sat my purse down on my dresser, another text came through. If you want to.

I got ready for bed and told everyone goodnight