Page 69 of Waysider
There was one question she could try, at least. A hint of frustration showed in Cass’s voice as she asked, “Why are you here?”
Michael hesitated. As the silence stretched, he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Cass had sat in that chair a hundred times; she knew it should’ve creaked at the movement. It was a stark reminder, as if she needed one, that Michael wasn’t part of her world. No matter how alive he seemed.
He still hadn’t answered her. Cass was about to ask again when Michael admitted, “I felt your fear.”
It felt like Cass’s heart stopped. Wait. He could feel her fear? That had happened with Cal once, but she hadn’t given it much thought. She’d chalked it up to the twin connection. What did it mean that Michael could sense her, too? Suddenly Cass remembered the last time she’d seen him, when he’d randomly shown up at the mansion.
“Is that why you came to the Haunting?” she breathed.
He nodded. This revelation brought on a slew of brand-new questions, and Cass still didn’t have any answers to the old ones. She fought another wave of frustration and frowned at Michael.
“Look, either there’s something you’re not telling me, or we’re connected for some reason. Something that goes beyond accidentally attaching. I don’t believe in fate, or any of that stupid shit… but then again, I never believed in all of this before, either.” Cass made a vague gesture. “Maybe I’m supposed to help you… move on.”
Michael’s eyes lowered, and his dark brows drew together in thought. “Maybe.”
He didn’t say anything else. Cass waited, expecting him to pull a disappearing act. But Michael stayed where he was, looking all broody and worried. He must’ve driven the girls crazy while he was alive, Cass thought reluctantly. Even in death, he was beautiful. Michael didn’t seem like the heartbreaker type, though. Maybe he’d had a girlfriend.
Cass felt a surge of curiosity. Michael may have forgotten his past, but he was different from the other revenants she had encountered. He’d managed to hold onto his humanity. Cass gave in to the impulse to ask, “What do you even do when you’re not here? How do you pass the time?”
Michael refocused on her. If he thought her question was weird, he didn’t show it. He shrugged and said, “I read, mostly. Walk through the gardens on campus. I can’t go very far from you. It gets… uncomfortable.”
“It does?” Cass frowned, wondering what that meant. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. And he could pick up books? Was that normal for a revenant?
“I have something I need to tell you,” Michael said.
Something in his voice caught her attention. Cass straightened instinctively, and her racing thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she saw the expression on Michael’s face. She searched his gaze. “Okay. I’m listening.”
His lips thinned, as if he were fighting an internal battle. Then he said, “The hospital room wasn’t where we met.”
Cass’s brow lowered. “What do you mean?”
“I followed you there. Because I felt something, just like I did a few minutes ago. Usually I tried to stay away, but that night, I knew you were in danger. I had to come. Then you woke up in the hospital, and for the first time, you could see me. That had never happened before. Nunca.”
Even now, Michael’s voice was tinged with wonder. Cass frowned at him again. Something about the way he said that last part made her heart slowly pick up speed.
“Wait. How long have you been… connected to me?” she demanded. Michael’s gaze lowered a second time, and he didn’t answer. Cass’s voice rose. “How long, Michael?”
A small voice inside her worried about waking someone up, but Cass barely heard it. She stared at Michael and waited for an answer. She would wait as long as it took. Michael’s shoulders tensed as if he knew it. His chest rose and fell in a deep breath. The gesture was so human that Cass felt a faint, unexpected pang of sadness.
Finally, after a small eternity had gone by, Michael lifted his head and looked at her. “I’ve been connected you for as long as I can remember,” he said.
At first, Cass’s mind stalled. She stared at Michael, speechless and numb. For as long as I can remember. For as long as I can remember. The words kept replaying in her brain.
This went back so much further than her NDE, Cass thought, still slow with shock. She had no clue what any of it meant.
Cass raised her gaze back to Michael’s, uncertain when she’d looked down. He hadn’t moved from the desk chair, and Cass studied him. In that moment, he didn’t feel like someone she was connected to.
He felt like someone who had been lying to her for months.
“And you waited until now to tell me this?” Cass asked.
Something in her expression made Michael’s jaw clench, and even in the moonlight, his brown eyes looked black. His accent was thicker as he said, “You had enough to deal with. There were days I wasn’t sure you’d survive, Cass.”
There were days she hadn’t been sure she would, either. The thought softened Cass’s sense of betrayal. She sat there silently, trying to process everything. But it was all too much. Cass moaned and leaned forward. She held her head in her hands, muffling her response. “This is so weird. Okay, what is the first thing you remember, exactly? No, wait. Did you, like, see me in diapers?”
“Only once. I told you—I stayed away, mostly.”
This is so weird, Cass thought again. It felt like there were a dozen emotions ripping into her. Fear was definitely one of them, and some anger, too. He should’ve told her sooner.
