In The Dying Light

By Angela Carling

Winter Merrill knew it would be difficult when she took on an ancient curse to save her family, but couldn’t have imagined the isolated existence she would inherit.When her long-time boyfriend’s demanding college schedule competes with her needs, Winter is left completely alone to fight the dark secrets she bares. At her breaking point, a stranger enters Winter’s life, one who understands how she feels and more importantly knows how to eliminate the curse. Will his friendship be a new beginning for Winter or will it prove to be her demise?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angela Carling
• Release date: Mar 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9780996893411

Angela Carling

Angela Carling was raised in Palm Springs California, but lives Arizona with her husband, three kids and five felines. After years of denial she finally admitted that she is a hopeless romantic which led her to write her first Young Adult book Unbreakable Love. Since then she’s published three more books, Shackled, Becoming Bryn and The Secret Keeper. Shackled won the silver IPGA award in 2012 and has been optioned as a screenplay. She always eats the frosting off her cake and leaves the rest, and can be caught singing in public bathrooms just for the acoustics. When she’s not writing YA novels, she’s mentoring teen writers, making pizza with her family or dreaming of taking a nap, not necessarily in that order

Book preview

Chapter 1

Sometimes, the biggest secrets you can only tell a stranger.

Michelle Hodkin, The Evolution of Mara Dyer

Winter

I knew he had a secret. After six months as a secret keeper, I could always tell. Usually their eyes gave them away. This time it was his body language: his shoulders slumped and his hands hung low, barely touching the sides of his pressed business suit. I wasn’t fooled by his expensive clothes. Rich people do stupid things, too, and this was going to bad one, one that would break hearts and destroy lives. It might be infidelity or a business deal gone wrong. Whatever it was, his confession was going to be painful to me.

He was the cocky type, bound to do something stupid again. He might even come back to me. I could entice him to make a final deal, and I would be free of the secret keeper curse. I pushed aside my own despicable thoughts.

He plodded along, inching ever closer to me. He knew I was his savior. I didn’t know who’d told him, but he was sure I could make his secret go away. I leapt up from the park bench and ran. My bare feet made almost no noise on the long sidewalk that pushed me deeper into the city.

Wait! he called, his footsteps pounding overly-loud like angry blood coursing through my veins. I ducked behind a one-story building and slid my body against the scratchy stucco wall. My shirt snagged and tore, leaving my tender skin vulnerable.

He kept in pursuit. I have to tell you my secret, he screamed into the long alley that bridged the distance between us. You have to fix it!

The word it reverberated off the walls like an odd, taunting echo. I turned, and the man behind me was inexplicably next to me. He grabbed me, pinning me to the wall with his whole body. He smelled of rot, stinky wet forest rot, of life breaking down and disappearing forever. I hated that smell. It was the scent of the secret keeper before me. Now, because I bore her curse, it would become my stench.

I thrashed against him, but he held me firm. Every muscle in my body tensed. I closed my eyes and braced myself.

I killed my partner so I could have control of everything, he confessed.

Words sank through my porous skin and into my defenseless soul. I arched my back in pain as I absorbed and erased his unthinkable crime. A scream tore through me and out into my dark apartment.

I sat up, abruptly woken from my nightmare, gasping for air. My hand went to my face to find it sticky with sweat, and my heart raced as if I’d actually been attacked.

The dreams were getting worse. The longer I was a secret keeper, the more real they felt. Now I wasn’t just taking on secrets during the day, I was reliving them at night with unforgiving clarity. Is this what my secret keeper experienced? No wonder she hid herself in a forest so no one could find her. No wonder she was willing to let me suffer so she could be released.

I blinked my burning eyes and tried to focus. With fumbling fingers, I reached for my phone. It was a gift from my boyfriend Liam so that I’d never have to feel alone. Once I’d become a secret keeper, no one, not even my parents remembered me.

My heart rate was slowing down, but I still struggled to push the right buttons. I hit send, and my eyes darted to the clock. I’d been in such a fog, I hadn’t considered the time. It was 3:00 a.m. Liam would be sleeping, exhausted from his classes and work. I quickly mashed the glowing rectangle with the words End Call. The screen went blank, and then a picture of Liam and I standing in front of a sign that read Welcome to ASU filled the dark space.

I ran my hands down my face as if I could wipe away not just the bad dream but the last six months of my life. I let myself fall back on the bed. On my unclad arms I felt the dampness left by my sweat. I’d have to wash my sheets again tomorrow. I’d do it after I met Liam tomorrow night.

Chapter 2

Liam

The phone on my nightstand buzzed, rousing me from a restless sleep. With my other hand, I felt around for my reading glasses. Before I could put them on my face, the vibrating stopped. I squinted at the small screen, hoping the light and movement didn’t wake up my roommate Talon. He was a tyrant if you disturbed him before 8:00 a.m.

I’d missed a call from Winter. I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling it sticking up in all directions. Why would she be calling in the middle of the night?

With my phone in hand, I crept out of the room and down the brightly-lit hallway to the bathroom. The place stunk like dirty basketball socks and years of male college students who still hadn’t learned to aim when they peed. At least it was empty this time of night. I edged my way past the toilets to sit on a faded wood bench near the showers and dialed Winter’s number.

Hello? she answered, sounding a little breathless.

Are you okay?

The uncomfortable silence on the other end answered before she did.

It was so real and terrifying, she said. Her feelings spilled without restraint.

My shoulders tensed and knotted like the gnarled branches of an old tree. Her words hit the raw nerve of my greatest fear. It wasn’t that she couldn’t kill someone with the snap of her fingers. She had so much dark power coursing through her it was ridiculous, but I knew she’d rather die than use it to harm someone else. She’d sworn to be different than her own secret keeper, and she fought to keep that promise to herself in a daily battle with the evil mantle she bore. 

What was real? I asked, hoping no one had broken into her house and hurt her.

It was a nightmare, but it felt more like a vision or a premonition than a product of my fears.

I breathed a sigh of relief and let my shoulders relax. It was just another bad dream.

Do you want me to come and stay with you? I was already standing up ready to respond. A contemplative silence followed. Winter? I heard her fall back on the bed with a soft thud. No, she finally replied. If it’s still bugging me, we can talk about it tomorrow at Pete’s.

I love you a ton, I said, worried she could still hear the apprehension in my voice.

I love you more than a ton, she replied in our playful way. I knew she was trying to make me feel better. It worked well enough that I sat back down.

The line fell quiet, and I tiptoed back to my room. In bed with my covers pulled to my chin, my thoughts returned to Winter. I couldn’t help but wonder if my relationship with her was going to give me a heart attack before my twentieth birthday. In his dark corner, Talon murmured something about failing a final and went silent again. Finally, after my heartbeat slowed and my thoughts of Winter became fuzzy, I drifted off.

Chapter 3

Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.

Andre Malraux

Briggs

I knew by the faint gray coming in through the windows that morning was near. Most of the students had gone to bed or were sleeping on scratchy industrial-grade couches in the dorm lobby. One overachieving bloke sat with his head propped up, staring at a thick textbook. His glazed expression made me wonder if he was sleeping with his eyes open.

A girl with a tear-stained face and a long, unraveled braid pushed through the glass doors for the fourth time that night and sank onto a wide cushioned chair. I’d been watching her all evening as she made phone call after phone call and stared at the ceiling as if it might speak to her. She was my favorite kind of girl—a girl in trouble.

I hesitated for a moment. I rested my hands on my knees and rubbed my aching joints. My body’s deterioration seemed to be picking up steam with each new secret I took on. I glanced at the girl. She looked naive. How bad could her secrets be? Besides, now that I’d found another secret keeper, it wouldn’t be long until I could be free of my painful burdens. In a couple of weeks I’d be released from the curse and on my way back home to England—that is, if everything went smoothly with the young secret keeper.

Decidedly, I stood and made up the distance between us. She was so distracted that I sat down right next to her before she noticed me. Up close she was even lovelier. She had a young face, soft undamaged skin, and brown doe eyes. Definitely a freshman. Certainly ready for help.

Are you alright, love? I touched her arm lightly with the tips of my fingers.

Girls responded to gentle. Girls trusted gentle. Most importantly, the pheromones that came off me in waves would put her at ease, even if I was a stranger. The aura of calm was part of the curse, but also a gift to the secret keeper, who often dealt with stressed-out remorseful people. Just like every other part of the curse, I’d learned to use it to my advantage.

The girl slowly turned to me; her eyes were red and swollen. I counted to three in my head to steel myself for the rubbish I’d deal with before I got what I wanted.

My roommate kicked us all out because something of hers was taken. She says no one comes back until someone confesses.

I scooted the wood armchair a little closer. This was my favorite part . . . the time just before they spilled the beans. I’d made it a game in my head. I got three guesses about their secret. If I got it right, I asked for a bigger reward. If I got it wrong, I had to take less.

Something was missing in a girl’s dorm, something so valuable that she’d gone bananas and thrown everyone out. Guess one, money. Money is king to poor college students. Guess two, tampons. When you need them, you need them. And finally, guess three. I studied the girl’s face. She was lost on the huge ASU campus, trying to find her place. She wanted people to like her. She’d taken her roomie’s clothes.

What was taken? I asked, nearly salivating.

The freshman turned to me and buried her head in my shoulder. Her favorite black dress, she said. I’m the one who stole it, but I can’t tell her. She’d never forgive me.

Bingo! I thought. I’m taking full prize.

I pursed my lips to subdue a grin and patted her on the back. Well, I began. You’re talking to the right person. I can make your secret go away, and it will be as if you never took that dress.

You can? Her agony-filled voice was muffled by my shirt.

With one finger, I lifted her chin. Her eyes pled with me. Yes . . . but you screwed up and have to pay for it, even if you’re roommate never knows.

I’ll do anything, she whispered as her eyes darted around the mostly empty lobby. I just want things to go back to the way they were.

Like taking candy from a baby, I thought, amused by the American idiom I’d picked up during the five years I’d been in The States. With the back of my hand, I stroked her delicate cheek. She was soft and inviting. I wouldn’t even bring up money as an option.

You’ll stay with me tonight then, and in the morning when you return home, your secret will be gone.

Nervously gnawing on her lip, the girl nodded yes. With my arm around her waist, I pulled her from the chair and guided her toward the door. As we walked, I whispered so that only she could hear.

I am a secret keeper, and there are some rules that you need to understand if I’m going to help you.

Okay, she said, her voice getting stronger.

We walked through the door and stood in the pale light of the receding night. I pulled her close and held her so that I could talk right into her ear. With my head bent down, I explained, You get one secret and no more. You will remember, but no one else will know. And the next time you have a secret, you will not be able to tell it . . . even if you want to.

Her breathing was steady, and she stood a little taller in my arms. I understand, she said. I knew she didn’t, but I’d done my part. I’d told her the rules of the curse. Taking the girl by the hand, I led her to my car.

My name is Carly, she said.

I smiled reflexively while blanking out her words in my mind. I didn’t want to know her name. Like all the others, she was a means to an end and nothing more. I tucked her in the car and, with a self-satisfied grin, drove her for the first and last time to my apartment.

Chapter 4

Winter

I stepped through the large glass door and into Pete’s Pizza. The smell of greasy cheese and pepperoni filled the air, overpowered only by the varied scents of dozens of twenty-somethings. On several large TVs, the ASU vs. UCLA football game blared over the social chatter. Every table was packed, so I systematically scanned the room looking for Liam. I spotted him leaning against a table in the corner. His hands were animated as he talked to two gorgeous brunettes with flawless skin and the kind of hair that probably looked good when they woke up in the morning. I ignored the tightening in my chest and reminded myself that he loved only me. He caught my gaze out of the corner of his eye and grinned in my direction. My heart fluttered.

I rarely went out in public with Liam. We worried that one of his friends would spill his or her guts to me. Then I’d be compelled by the curse to take the secret and risk everyone finding out what I was. I’d already been forced to move apartments once because I stood too long next to the mailboxes and some student decided to bear his soul to me. Unfortunately, his soul was full of things he’d been hiding from the rest of the world.

I watched Liam cross the room with the social buzz behind him like a foreign backdrop.

Hi, Liam said, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. His bashful demeanor was adorable. It reminded me of how things were between us on prom night, tentative and hopeful. That was before everything spun out of control.

This place is nuts, I responded, but my words were drowned out by a loud collective cheer as the Sun Devils scored a touchdown.

Liam leaned in again and talked directly into my ear. "I’m sorry, I don’t