by Wendy Cole
My eyes darted around the room, waiting for him to pop up in a new place, but he was gone. I could feel it, and for once, it pissed me off.
***
Three days.
For three days, no occurrences.
No Brady. No oddities. No ghosts that went bump in the night. Nothing.
In three days, I’d successfully become an expert in all things paranormal.
For instance, I knew that reports had been made in numerous countries of sightings of shadow people. Most describing a dark outline similar to a man. I’d researched that first, seeing as that was the first time I’d actually seen him, but something told me that wasn’t right. Mainly because, none of those people reported seeing anything other than shadows, and I’d definitely seen much more than that.
Poltergeist have the ability to move objects and are, more often than not, reported to have violent tendencies. It was an asshole, but it never did get violent, and once again, there were barely any reports of those shadow people taking an actual form.
What was he? A vampire? A werewolf? A ghost? An angel? The last one was out of desperation. I didn’t believe for a moment that Brady was an angel, and if he were, the world was in serious trouble.
Every possible explanation as to what he was had been thoroughly and completely studied, memorized, researched, and still, I had no idea.
If he’d show up, I could test out some of my theories. Like the garlic now in my kitchen.
It would have to wait, however, because it was time for me to focus on the real world. I had an hour to get to college, an hour and ten minutes until my first class started. Mythology. I felt prepared to say the least.
I’d be lying if I said getting a leg up on my future was the only reason I was anxious to start the day.
If I ever wanted Brady to truly go away, I needed to figure out what he was, then how to get rid of whatever the hell that was. As much as I hated to admit it, I was at a standstill. I needed to see him, to communicate with the beast himself; something told me my first day of school was too important for him not to show up.
So I drove with purpose, no longer paranoid or worried. My eyes didn’t dart around in fear, but rather in anticipation. The garlic I’d purchased rested inside my jacket pocket, a silver spoon sat in the other. I was determined to have an answer by the end of the day and ready to do whatever it would take to get one.
No sign of him in the lot, no glimpse throughout the hallways, nothing in the sea of people drifting in and out of classrooms. I made it to my first class and searched the multitude of students already seated in the auditorium style seats. Nothing.
I climbed the steps, feeling far too disappointed for what should have been a dream come true. Almost to the top, I found an empty row and moved all the way to the farthest seat back. I kept my eyes glued to the entrance, watching every new face that entered, but still, no luck.
Then a guy took the seat beside me. “Hi. I’m Justin.” He shot me a smile, a really nice smile actually. White straight teeth, rich brown eyes, tan skin, and bleach blonde hair. The combination was something I’d never seen before, and it caused me to stumble a bit with my own greeting.
“Amelia,” I finally managed to say, my voice low.
“Nice to meet you. Are you new? I haven’t seen you around before.”
“I am.” God. Why did I suck at this so much? Oh yeah, because I was a pariah, a hermit, me and people didn’t mesh.
“So…where are you from?”
“Redbird Falls.” I cleared my throat. It felt as if the ceiling were about to collapse on top of me. At any moment, someone would say something. Something would happen. I knew this wasn’t high school. I knew he didn’t know me, that none of them knew me, but still, the fear lingered.
“That’s close by. Are you making the commute, or are you staying here?”
“I’ve got a house.” I turned to him, taking a deep breath in through my nose and trying to dispel my unease. “It’s nice here so far. Are you from here?” That’s good. I managed to converse. Go me!
“All my life. It’s a small town. That’s how I knew you weren’t from around here. I’d have remembered you.”
“It’s that small?”
He smiled, a lopsided smile that made his cheek dimple. “Not too small, but you, I’d remember.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. Was he flirting? He winked. Oh shit. He was flirting! Every circuit inside my brain went haywire. How was I supposed to act? Should I giggle? The girls always giggled. I tried, but it came out sounding more like I was dying.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his smile dulling a fraction.
“Yep. Sorry. I just had a tickle in my throat.” I’m an idiot. I should get a cat. A few cats. Maybe a dozen. I’d need them, considering I’m never going to get married.
“Attention everyone!”
My eyes shot to the front at the sound of his voice. Of fucking course. Brady stood at the front of the class, behind the podium. His eyes met mine.
“I’m Professor Black. I’ll be teaching you this semester.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
There he was, in the flesh, and I was powerless to do anything. A room full of eyes prevented it, and I wanted to scream at the injustice.
“Today, I thought we’d have a little exercise to get to know one another better. We’ve got an hour. How about we go around and introduce ourselves?” he spoke to the room, but his eyes kept cutting in my direction. No one else seemed to notice, but each time it happened, I made sure to glare at him. “I’ll point you out, and you can tell everyone your name,” he paused, tapping his chin, “and since this is a mythology class, how about your favorite and least favorite mythical being.”
He pointed to a girl in the front tow, and she stood. “My name is Beth. My favorite would have to be a unicorn. My least favorite—”
I stopped listening. I didn’t have a favorite. I hated them all. I had a least favorite. I just didn’t know what it was yet.
“There’s a party tonight. You want to come?” Justin asked, pulling my attention back to him. Brady’s sudden appearance had made me completely forget the gorgeous boy beside me.
“A party?”
“Yeah. It’s at my fraternity. You could be my date.” He leaned forward, giving me a billboard-worthy smile.
A date. His date. My eyes shot to the front of the class. Brady’s gaze was honed in on the two of us, his mouth set in an annoyed line.
I thought about how that could end. If I said yes, if I took the chance, it could spell disaster for this poor innocent boy. No. I couldn’t. I needed to get rid of my problem first. “I don’t think I can make it. I’ve got a lot going on tonight.”
“Is it because it’s a frat party? I promise, we’re not so bad.”
“It’s not that—”
“How about,” he cut me off. “You go get some coffee with me? After classes today? Then, you can answer about the party.”
I thought about it. Coffee could be okay? It wasn’t that big of a deal, and we’d be in a public place. Justin was looking at me expectantly.
“Alright. I guess that would work.”
“Sweet.” He smiled. “I’ll meet you out front around one? Will you be done by then?”
I nodded, and he smiled.
We both turned back to the front, and Brady was now glaring at the man beside me. “You there!” he called, pointing to Justin. “How about you?”
Justin stood. “My name is Justin.” He waved at the room. “I’ve always been fascinated by Greek mythology. It’s the whole reason I took this class.” He sat back down, and Brady looked to me.
He pointed and nodded his head. “And you beside him?”
I didn’t want to do this. Why did I have to do this? Everyone was staring at me. I moved to stand and almost fell. Justin reached a hand out to me and grabbed my wrist to steady me.
“Thank you.” I stood, feeling each and every pair of eyes like sun rays warming my skin. “I’m Amelia.” I clea
red my throat, then tried to sit back down.
Brady held a hand up. “Wait. You didn’t answer the question.”
“Question?” I looked around. People were starting to laugh. I looked like an idiot.
“Do you have a favorite myth? Legend? Why did you take this class?” He wasn’t letting up, and I hated him even more.
“I guess.” I racked my brain, fighting to come up with anything. “I’ve always thought genies are kind of dumb.” That was good. Okay. That would work.
“Why?” He sounded annoyed.
I jerked my head up. He looked annoyed. My chest jumped into my throat, and my brain went into a frenzy. Genies. Genie? Really? I didn’t know shit about genies, apart from Aladdin. I’d only said it because of that reason.
Brady was still waiting for an answer. I needed to test this theory. “Genies are dumb,” I blurted out. Nice. Real smooth. “I mean, it’s kind of dumb when you think about it. They live in lamps? How do you even do that? Trapped in a lamp? That’s not very impressive for something that’s supposed to be magical.” I watched his face, watched the continued annoyance.
“Well, you know, that brings up a good point. Most of the Western culture perceives jinn from one story written a long time ago. If you research, you’ll find—”
“Please don’t assign that. I really don’t care.”
The room fell silent apart from a few gasps at my rudeness and quiet laughter.
“Is that so?” He studied me.
That was it. I knew it. It had to be. “Yes. That’s so.”
If I thought people were staring before, it was nothing compared to now. Only, I no longer cared. I’d figured it out. I could get rid of him.
Brady looked challenged as he continued to stare me down, but eventually, he broke eye contact and addressed the class. “We’re all done today. You didn’t leave early. You’ll spend the next twenty minutes wandering the halls. If anyone asks, you’ll tell them what a great teacher I am.”
I watched as each and every student stood up in unison, eyes glazed, looking like a scene from a zombie flick as they all began to shuffle out of the room. Brady had a look fixed on me that made all the little hairs along my neck stand up. Predatory. Intimidating. A million and one oh fucks raced through my mind.
When the last student exited the door, he took one pointed step forward and crooked a finger. “I’d like to speak with you, Miss Snow.”
“I’m good.” I gathered my things and slowly made my way down the aisle. “I’ve actually got to go. Maybe later?”
I hurried to the bottom and made a sharp right, hoping his absence of movement meant he wouldn’t stop me.
I wasn’t so lucky.
Brady appeared out of nowhere, materializing into my path so abruptly my face ended up pressed into his chest.
“You made a friend today?” he asked.
Justin. Is that what he was upset about? Of course. So, did that mean I was wrong about the genie thing? I let my eyes roam from the top of his head to his black leather shoes. He didn’t look like a genie.
“I did.” I reached a hand into each of my pockets, letting my fingers curl around the hidden items.
Brady took an intimidating step forward.
I took a step back.
He matched the motion.
I pulled out the garlic and the spoon simultaneously, like a gunman drawing his pistols, then I slammed them into his chest.
His eyebrows furrowed as he looked down to see what I’d just hit him with. He looked at the slightly crushed garlic, then over to the spoon. “Are you making spaghetti sauce?” His eyes met mine, dancing. His lips turned upwards as his dark look vanished. “I love Italian.”
Okay. Not a vampire. Not a werewolf. “You’re a genie.”
His smile dulled. “It’s pronounced jinni, Sweetheart.”
My mouth fell open, then curved into a smile. “It’s true! I figured it out!” I dropped my hands, letting the garlic and the spoon fall to the floor.
“Congratulations,” he said, sounding bored. “Now let’s talk about this boy.”
“Let’s not,” I replied, already walking away. “See you later, genie! Try not to burst into a song and dance too much! Might lose your job.”
He didn’t reply, and I didn’t wait around for one. The moment I exited the door, I broke into a full-blown sprint down the hallway. The smile remained stretched across my face, my spirits lifted with hope.
CHAPTER NINE
While the professor in my next course was much less distracting, I found myself still very much distracted. My laptop sat open in front of me, and no math graced its screen. Jinn really weren’t like the genie in Aladdin, unfortunately, and the more I read about them, the more I became certain that they were not only real, but Brady was one of them.
Tricksters. Beings of light with free will that lived and died the same as humans. One particular phrase kept popping up no matter which site I visited God created angels from light, men from clay, and jinn from the tip of a smokeless flame. Whatever the hell that meant.
While Western civilization had our sweet Robin Williams voicing the character, Eastern civilization seemed to take beings like Brady much more seriously. Jinni, not genie. Most of the things I’d read pointed towards the belief that all occurrences could be linked back to a jinni. Aliens, angels, demonic possessions—that one made me grimace, hauntings, all of it, just jinn entertaining themselves.
I was his entertainment.
I closed my laptop just as the students around me began to stand. A whole class wasted. I needed to end this. All of my searching, an hour’s worth, and I’d only managed to learn a bit more about him. Not once had anyone said take this pill, and they’ll go away.
When I exited the door into the hallway, Justin stood waiting for me. “Hey. Still up for that coffee?”
Without thinking, my eyes darted through the crowds, searching for it.
“There’s a Java Jane’s right on campus.”
I turned back to him. Why was I worried about Brady? This was my life. My new start. I wasn’t about to let it be ruined just so some mystical fucking asshole could have a laugh.
“That sounds great. Lead the way.”
Justin held out an arm, smiling, and I took it. We worked our way through the crowds of students and out the main doors. The sun was bright, but the breeze was cool. A perfect day. A sign that things were going to get better now.
I cast a glance over at the handsome boy beside me. College was nothing like high school. I knew, if I could just make it out of that town, things would get better.
Java Jane’s was a small shop with a bright blue roof. The same blue colored the umbrellas shading the outdoor tables. My mood lifted even further. This was nice. Normal. A normal guy. A normal setting.
Justin led us over to one of the tables and pulled out a chair for me. “I’ll go wait out the line. What kind of coffee do you want?”
Never having tried it, I said, “Surprise me.”
Justin smiled. “You asked for it. I’ll be right back.”
He walked away, and I let my eyes roam the setting. Groups of young people chatting and laughing, taking in the other tables. I wanted that. I wanted friends. I wanted to be normal.
“Hello, Sweetheart,” Brady suddenly said into my ear from behind.
I jumped, then tried to cover up the action. He wouldn’t get enjoyment from his interactions with me anymore. Maybe, if I ceased to be entertaining, the problem would fix itself.
“Go away.”
Brady stepped around and dropped down to kneel in front of me. Each of his hands gripped an arm of my chair, caging me. I swallowed hard.
He looked up at me with an innocent expression. “Shouldn’t you be back there,” he pointed, “learning.”
“I’m on break, Professor Black.”
His lips twitched. “You like that one, huh? Turns out, I didn’t even need a degree for it.”
Justin chose that moment to return. I started t
o explain, to make some excuse as to why our mythology professor was currently squatting in front of me, but my mouth clamped shut. Justin didn’t seem to notice the god-man before me. He reached forward to place my drink on the table, smiling. “Hope you like caramel.”
Brady maintained eye contact with me, his look almost devious.
I forced myself to look away. “Thank you,” I said, picking up the cup and taking a slow sip of the hot liquid.
Brady stood so swiftly, I choked. My coffee almost fell as I rushed to put it down, preparing to transform into a human shield to protect the poor boy beside me if needed.
Brady looked over at my startled reaction and lifted an eyebrow. He didn’t make a move towards Justin. Instead, he stepped around and positioned himself behind me.
What is he doing?
“What are your plans after college?” Justin asked, pulling my attention back to him.
Something about having an extra-large magical presence at my back was very distracting, and I had to run his words over a couple of times before I could register what he’d asked me. “Oh!” I finally managed. “I want to be a pediatric psychologist.”
“Really? You must be really smart.”
I started to shrug, but two massive hands prevented it. Brady’s fingers splayed out, almost reaching my collarbone, while his thumbs rested against the back of my neck.
I couldn’t react. If I did, I’d look like a psycho but not reacting was hard. His thumbs moved lightly, barely a touch at all but somehow enough to send electric tingles coursing down my spine. I shuddered involuntarily, then leaned forward in an attempt to escape.
Justin, unaware of my discomfort, continued on. “What made you decide to do that?”
Brady lowered his chin to my shoulder. “Why are you here, Sweetheart?
“None of your business.”
“Huh?”
I jerked my head up, and Brady let out a chuckle as he straightened back away from me.
“Not you. I mean, sorry. I was just thinking about something else.” Dammit. Now I looked crazy. He was looking at me like I’m crazy.