Page 4 of Origins
Hopefully Damen would be here.
Now, I needed to muster up enough courage to enact the next stage of my plan.
I certainly hadn’t intended to stalk Damen Abernathy’s mentor when I fell asleep last night. But when I woke up and saw that the dishes in the kitchen had been stacked neatly by some unknown source during the night, I just had to do this. Ifthatwasn’t an actual physical sign of a haunting, I didn’t know what was.
But clearly, Finn would be no help. I had no other choice but to take matters into my own hands.
Even so, this probably wasn’t my most brilliant plan. I had never even met Damen before. Finn had only complained about his estranged brother. They rarely interacted—each parent deciding to raise their boys separately outside of holiday visits.
All I knew was that Damen was interested in the paranormal—something Finn had negative feelings about—and that Damen was a few years older than the two of us. Damen, to my understanding, had graduated college early, and was back at his Alma Mater. He had an internship in forensic psychology, and worked with the local police when he wasn’t student teaching.
I braced myself, still unable to move toward the door. Even if he did have an interest, would he believe me? I could be opening myself up to a whole new level of ridicule by talking to him.
And the talking… This would be difficult. I had no idea how to interact with people. But I supposed I needed to get over it. Damen waspracticallyfamily—or he would be, once Finn and I got married. Plus, if I wanted to be technical about this, he waskind ofa professor. And they weren’t so bad.
Of course, if Finn ever knew I had come here…
Well, he would be livid. But that wasifFinn ever found out. If Damen and Finn didn’t interact, then maybe Damen helping me with a haunting would never come up. I would take my chances—I’d do anything to not be haunted.
But first, I needed to work up the courage to knock on the professor`s door.
My heart pounded, as my mind mentally screamed out encouragements.Please lord, please don’t let him be ugly.
But then I caught myself, wondering why the absurd thought even crossed my mind. Him being ugly would onlyhelp. Perhaps only slightly.
Wiping my sweaty palm against my thigh, I raised my hand to knock. I could do this. With a deep breath, I moved my closed fist toward the door, only to stop myself.
Please don’t laugh at me.
Closing my eyes, I raised my hand again.Come on, Bianca. Knock.
My eyes flew open. What if he wasn’t here? What if I’d done this all for nothing?
My heart thundered, feeling as if it would pound out of my chest.
Actually, it was unlikely that he was here, come to think of it. There was a staff meeting, but Damen wasn’t really a staff member. And the noise that I heard coming from the office could just be audio feedback. He probably went back home, since it was a Saturday.
I’d just come back another day.
I spun around to leave and hadn’t made it three steps before the door opened behind me.
“Who the devil are you?” a sharp, stern voice demanded. It sounded abrupt and unfriendly, and stopped me in my tracks. It was just my luck that Damen was meaner than I expected—and older.
“Turn around, girl, and talk to me,” the voice demanded. “I haven’t got all day. I’m not allowing any new transfers into my classes, if that’s what you’ve come here about.”
My mind screamed at me to run away, but my body obeyed the rude command. It was too late to hide now. He had seen me, and the secretary had my name. There was no escape.
“Mr.… Abernathy?”
The tall, elderly man narrowed his eyes as he touched his wire-rimmed glasses with a manicured finger. “Damen Abernathy is not here; this ismyoffice. What do you need? I have a consult to attend, so make it snappy.”
This must be Dr. Stephens, then. But weren’t professors supposed to be kindly?
“I’m sorry to interrupt…” I pulled at my sleeve as I focused on his brown loafers. “I need to talk to Damen Abernathy for a minute, if that’s at all possible. My name is Bianca Brosnan, and I’m friends with Finn. The secretary told me…”
“Finn?” Dr. Stephens interrupted me, his voice curious.
I glanced up, and noticed that he appeared to be deep in thought.
