Indwell (Chasing Natalie's Ghosts) Read Online Free PDF

morning, my little angel,” he said, brushing my hair off my face.
    “How do you feel this morning?” I sat up a little, leaning on my pillows. My face gave me away, when I squinted at the jolt of pain from my side.
    “Your mother will be up soon to check on you. I better make like a ghost and vanish,” he joked. I squeezed his hand as he stood. He walked out the door, looking back at me he whispered, “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
    He was there, day and night as I began to heal. He reluctantly gave me some room when I had to go back to school and visit with my friends. He was never far from my thoughts though and he always came to my room to kiss me goodnight. I never really thought about how he never saw my parents or my brothers on his way in or out. It was like he was invisible to them. When I look back on it now, I realize I was just in denial, wanting to believe that I could have a real, normal relationship.
    “I will meet them someday Natalie. Some sooner than others, but they’re not ready yet. Besides, they’ll probably just say I’m too old for you. You don’t want that do you?” he had explained once.
    “No, I don’t want that. I like having you all to myself, for now anyway. If anything, they would say you’re too beautiful for me,” I said staring into his eyes again.
    “Natalie, you don’t have any idea how beautiful you are, do you? You’re like sunshine when you’ve been in the mist for days. You’re like a fuzzy little kitten, all curled up sleeping in my lap. You make me feel more alive than I’ve felt in a very long time. You’re my best friend. I told you, you belong to me now. You’re perfectly lovely to me,” he soothed my thoughts, his voice so soft and smooth. His words were so sweet.
     

4. REVEAL
    In the spring we began to head further away from the house every chance we could get. He loved to take me out onto the trails. He didn’t like being on the street with me, even though there was barely anyone in this town. He would hold my hand and pull me close to him, almost like he was trying to hide the fact that my hand was wrapped in his. He never wanted to talk either, until we reached the seclusion of the trees. As soon as we reached the shelter of the woods he would always swing me around, kiss me and carry on, leading me deeper into the wilderness.
    We would walk for hours, usually leaving any man made trails far behind. His steps seemed so light on the paths we wandered. Sometimes he would carry me over the rough patches, so I wouldn’t fall. On a very warm spring day he told me to wear my swim suit and to meet him by the river. He was standing beside a canoe at the shore waiting for me.
    “Where did you get that?” I was shocked.
    “I borrowed it from a friend. He’s away for a while so it’ll be alright.”
    “Do you even know how to paddle?” I asked, feeling a little leery about it. I knew they tipped easy. It was May and the water would still be very cold if we fell in.
    “Of course I know how to paddle. How can you live on a river and not know how to paddle a canoe,” he asked, feeling pretty confident. He held it steady as I climbed in. He pushed it into the river and swiftly jumped in, not even rocking the canoe. He was so graceful with every move he made. I felt like such a klutz with him sometimes. He told me to just relax he would do all the work.
    “You’re such a man,” I said, joking. He smiled and started paddling faster, like he was being chased.
    “Is everything okay Adam?” I was feeling a little nervous about his extreme paddling.
    “Everything is fine. I just want to get to a secluded part of the river that doesn’t have any backyards looking out onto the water,” he explained. I knew he just didn’t want anyone to see us again. That’s when I grabbed the other paddle and started to help him. He smiled at the fact that I thought I could really help him paddle faster.
    His muscles were starting to flex beneath his white tee