Pillow Talk

Prologue

I had tried for over a week to convince my family that I was hearing something in the attic. All five of them had insisted it was in my head as I only heard it early in the morning and late at night. A state of delirium my oldest brother, Colin, liked to theorize. Given that I'd been spending most of my free time with my head in textbooks, it could have also been the product of my exhaustion, not that I'd ever let him know he was right.

It was on the night of my brother, Caleb's, eighteenth birthday that I heard the footsteps. Before tonight, I was able to brush it off as scurrying mice as the steps had never been heavy footed or made the floorboards creak. But the moment I heard the loud thud directly above my bedroom, I jumped and threw my legs over the side of the bed.

"Colin!" I shouted, knowing that of my three brothers, the oldest was sure to play protector tonight. Caleb was likely still out with his friends, probably drunk in a ditch somewhere, and I had no idea where Steven had disappeared off too after the party.

Despite having three brothers, Colin was the only one of the three that took the whole over-protective older brother thing to a whole different level. He lived and breathed making my life a miserable hell, and not allowing guys at school to even come within five feet of me-and that was with him in college. I wasn't sure how he was able to scare the boys at my school away from afar, but I wasn't sure I really wanted to know either.

"What?" Colin appeared in my doorway, his old baseball bat positioned ready to swing, eyes raking my room. "Why are you screaming like that? Is someone in here?"

"I heard them again." I pointed directly above us. "This time it was louder. I was able to make out footsteps."

His bat fell limply to his side and he all but rolled his eyes at me. "Congrats, sis, you have super sonic hearing and can hear the little rat family living in the walls of the house."

"I'm serious, Col." I huffed, crossing my arms. "I heard something in there."

To appease me, my brother raised the bat and knocked it against the roof of my bedroom three times, head tilted to the side as we listened for a response. When nothing came, he shot me a pointed look, and said, "Nobody's been in there in ages, Scarlet. Stop worrying. It's probably just like a branch against the roof or something."

"You're the one that made me sit through over eight hours of horror movies with you a couple weeks ago, Col." I pointed out. "It's not my fault I think there might be ghosts living here."

He chuckled, shaking his head in amusement, "Alright, Scar, if you see any little ghosts, make sure to give them a whack for me. Get some sleep, seriously, it seems like you need it."

Against his better judgement he handed over his bat and stepped back out into the dark hallway. I sighed, falling back on to the edge of my bed and staring at the bat in between my hands. Not even five minutes after Colin's bedroom door shut down the hall I heard the footsteps again, almost as if they were screwing with me.

"Who's there?" I asked, raising the bat as I stared up at the popcorn ceiling. "I'll. . . I'll call the police."

Because I wouldn't look like a complete lunatic stating that I was the only one in a house of six people that heard the footsteps.

"If it's you, Caleb, you're so dead!" I snapped, creeping out into the hall, bat still ready to swing at any given second.

It could have been Steve, but this was far too immature for him.

"Shut up, Scarlet!" Colin yelled from his room.

Irritation overpowered my fear and I yanked the attic stairs down and started to move up them, muttering under my breath. "You're so dead, Caleb. I'll tell Mom and—"

I trailed off the second I stepped foot in the dusty old attic, swatting cobwebs above my head. I felt a few bugs-or what I hoped were insects-scurry across my feet and I rushed across the small space and toward my old twin mattress with an even older Cinderella comforter. It was then that I noticed the lump that was beneath it and I took a step back, lifting the bat once more.

"Caleb." I whispered, not sure if I should poke at the lump or turn and run out of here and back to my room. "Caleb, I'll scream for Colin if it's you. This isn't funny."

Deciding to stand strong and prove to my brother's I wasn't slowly going crazy, I poked at the lump and within seconds a figure darted out from the spot, discarding the comforter on to my feet, and to the other corner of the attic. I pulled my phone from the pocket of my sweats and turned the flash light on, my heart racing as I slowly lifted it and pointed it toward the figure hunched over across the room.

The boy before me was most definitely not my obnoxious older brother, but someone I unfortunately would have recognized in a crowded room.

"River?"

He stood in nothing but a pair of dark boxers, his hand up in surrender as he eyed the bat swinging back and forth at my side.

It'd been years since I'd seen my brothers ex best friend. River Moore and my brother had let a girl come between them and it had become a dumpster fire for months leading up to my brother cutting off all communication. What he was doing in my attic was beyond me, but I sure as hell wasn't going to just stand and let him get away with it. This was my proof I wasn't crazy. Walking, living, and breathing proof.

"Hey, Scarlet." River whispered.

Though there were millions of questions threatening to escape me at once, the one that mattered most was the first to leave my mouth.

"What the hell are you doing in my attic?"

***AN***

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~ChasingMadness24