In my bones
959 Words
The bell above the door jingled again.
I didn’t even bother looking up this time. My heart couldn’t take it. Every single time someone walked in — tall, broad-shouldered, dark hair — I’d whip my head around so fast it made me dizzy. And every single time, it wasn’t him.
Never him.
But still, my stupid heart jumped, like it wanted the nightmare to come walking right through those doors. Like some twisted part of me wanted to see those golden eyes lock on me again and make the world fall away.
I scrubbed at the counter like my life depended on it, even though it was already clean. My hands were shaking. My skin felt too hot, but my chest was cold — like there was ice wrapped around my ribs, squeezing tighter every hour that passed.
And then the smell hit me.
Leather. Smoke. That sharp, woodsy cologne that made my stomach clench before I could even stop it.
My head jerked up before I could stop myself — breath caught in my throat — but it was just some random guy in a biker jacket, ordering a black coffee like every other tired soul in this dead-end town.
My heart crashed back down, leaving me dizzy and breathless.
Get a grip, Aria.
Get. A. Grip.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, making me jump.
A message from Luca:
“Meet me out back. Now.”
I muttered some excuse to my manager and slipped out through the back door into the alley, sucking in deep breaths like I could breathe out the chaos spinning inside me.
The sun was bright overhead, but I felt cold. Cold in my chest, in my bones — like something dark and hungry was creeping closer. Like I was standing right at the edge of something I couldn’t see but could feel closing in on me.
Luca was already there, leaning against the brick wall with his arms folded and his phone in his hand. He looked up, his eyes sharp as they scanned my face.
“Girl,” he said flatly. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or like you’re about to pass out.”
I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to steady my breathing. “I’m fine.”
He raised one perfectly arched brow. “Liar.”
I swallowed hard, looking away. “I just… I keep thinking I see him. I keep… hearing him.”
Luca’s face softened, just a little. “Honey, that’s called trauma. Or obsession. Or maybe both.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “It was just one night, babe. Yeah, it was hot and intense and whatever, but you gotta snap out of this. You’re scaring me.”
But he didn’t get it.
It wasn’t just in my head.
It was in my body.
In my bones.
Like I’d been marked.
I closed my eyes — and instantly, the flashbacks hit me again.
His hands gripping my wrists, hard enough to leave bruises.
His breath on my skin, hot and rough as he whispered in my ear: “You’re mine now. No one else. No one ever.”
The way my body had burned for him, like I’d never be satisfied again.
My knees went weak. I reached out, grabbing the wall to keep from sinking.
Luca cursed under his breath and grabbed my shoulders. “Aria. Hey. Breathe, okay? You’re freaking me out.”
I forced my eyes open, my vision swimming. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst out of my chest.
“I feel… weird,” I rasped. “Like something’s… changing.”
Luca frowned. “Changing how?”
I shook my head, trying to find the words. “I don’t know. Everything smells stronger. Every sound feels like it’s drilling into my brain. And my skin… it’s like it’s on fire half the time.”
His mouth opened, then closed. He stared at me, like he wasn’t sure if I was losing my mind or telling the truth.
“Girl,” he said finally, “are you pregnant or turning into a vampire? Because either way, I need a warning before you start biting people.”
A laugh choked out of me — sharp and shaky — but then it turned into a sob.
I covered my face with my hands.
What the hell was happening to me?
Later, when I went back inside and tried to finish my shift, it only got worse.
Every time the door opened, I flinched. Every time a man walked in, tall and broad, my body tensed like I was waiting for him to come back and pin me against the wall again.
And the flashbacks… God, they wouldn’t stop.
I kept seeing gold eyes in the corner of my vision.
Kept feeling phantom touches on my skin.
By the time my shift ended, I was wrecked. My body ached, my head pounded, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was stalking me — watching me from the shadows even when I was alone.
I caught my reflection in the mirror behind the counter before I left.
Pale face.
Wide, haunted eyes.
And there, on my collarbone — just barely visible — a dark mark.
Faint now, but still there.
A bruise shaped like teeth.
I yanked my bag over my shoulder and stormed out the back door again, gulping in the cold air like it could wash him out of my system.
But it couldn’t.
Even out here, in the bright daylight, I could still feel him.
“You’re mine now. No one else. No one ever.”
And deep down… some wild, broken part of me wasn’t sure I wanted to forget.
- Writer
