by Emery Skye
Hmm… If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Hunter is…nervous.
"What do I owe the pleasure, Hunter?" she asks quizzically.
He fidgets under her stern gaze. "I drove Lexi, ma’am" he says calmly.
She smiles. I know that smile.
"I understand that, Hunter. Why?"
He rings his hands. "Umm... because she--"
"Wanted the company," I interrupt. He's not as smooth a talker around Nana.
She nods. "Will you two sit, please," she gestures toward two industrial chairs. Sitting on the floor would be more comfortable.
"I’m fine standing, ma'am," Hunter says, staring at the chair like it might bite him.
"You will do no such thing," she argues. "Sit," she repeats.
I internally laugh. Hunter takes his seat without another word. I take mine too.
Grandma asks how school is going: grades, whether or not I'm making any friends, yada, yada. I assure her I'm doing fine. She doesn't accept my short responses with ease, but she does accept them. Then, she asks about Caity and finally Pierce: how is he, how's his family and why he didn't come.
Hunter is quiet through the conversation.
“Hunter,” grandma rotates toward him. “Thank you for getting Lexi here safely.”
Hunter smiles. His scars are brighter under the florescent light. Grandma doesn’t mention them.
A nurse walks in. She takes my grandma’s vitals and writes some words on the chart.
“Excuse me, have you heard anything about my discharge papers?” Grandma asks.
The lady shakes her head.
“Can you tell me when you will?”
The lady shakes her head again. “I’ve already told you that the doctor will be in today to discuss discharge with you.”
“Well, it’s noon. Is he sleeping or something?” grandma sasses.
The nurse backs away. “Can I get you something?” she asks. Her tone is anything but friendly.
“Anything my grandma needs, we can get. Thanks,” I tell the nurse.
She rolls her eyes before leaving. I want to smack her for being so rude to my grandma.
Hunter chuckles.
“What?” My grandma and I say in unison.
Hunter’s face straightens.
“Nothing,” Hunter stares up at the TV screen like he’s watching an episode of “How to save the world.”
"Grandma," I say sternly. "We're here about you. What's wrong? Why are you in the hospital?"
She fiddles with all the buttons on the remote.
"Lexi, how are you?" she clearly enunciates the last word.
"I'm fine." I tell her in bewilderment. We went over this. Does she know about the fainting spells, dizziness and body pains? I mentally smack myself for being paranoid... again.
"Are you sure?" she asks cryptically, like she knows something I don't.
"Yes, I'm positive," I repeat with more authority.
"Hunter," she starts and I jump from my chair.
"Oh, no, you don't," I put my hand on my hip.
"Nana, you tell me right now, why you're in this hospital!" I demand.
She sighs. I watch the slight rise of fall of her chest under the thin blue hospital sheets. "The house was broken into. I bumped my head and fell down. You know with this old age, every time I fall, it's a mortal emergency. It's ludicrous." She throws her hands in the air dramatically.
"Nana," I say calmly and Nana quiets.
Hunter’s rigid as a board. His knuckles have blanched and he's clutching the armrests like they're his lifeline.
"Did you say the house was broken into?" My blood boils. Someone tried to hurt my Nana. This is unacceptable.
She nods.
"Why? Did they take anything?" My investigative skills kick on.
She shakes her head. "No, not a thing. That's what's so odd. They tore the whole place up and didn't take a single thing, that I could tell."
"Are you absolutely positive they didn't take anything," Hunter asks seriously. He leans forward.
"Not a thing," she tells us.
We chat for a little while longer. I worry about her going home, but she argues that she's fine and no hoodlum is going to keep her from using her own shower.
At some point, Hunter leaves the room to grab coffee for us and a diet coke for Nana. I'm fairly positive that's not on her "okay to consume" list, but I'd rather not deal with her wrath.
Nana tilts her head toward me. "He's a cutie," she winks.
I laugh. "Nana," I scold her.
She chuckles. "He reminds me of someone."
I tilt my head. "Who?"
She shakes her head. "A boy your mother once dated."
I shift. This is intriguing. I always thought my mother and father were high school sweethearts.
"I thought mom and dad were together for like ever," I stress the last part.
She shakes her head. "No, Alexis," she offers. "When your mother was younger, seventeen, I think, she fell in love with this dark-lookin' fellow," she must have saw me raise an eyebrow because she adds, "Dark energy, I mean." My grandma has a faraway look in her eye like she's remembering something important.
"Who was it?" I ask out of curiosity.
"I don’t remember his name, but he was hot."
I laugh at her choice of wording. "What? That's what kids say, isn't it?" I nod and she continues, "Now, don't you be distracting me, Alexis. Your mother was smitten with him from the second she met him," she reaches across and sips some water. "She even ran away with him." I'm baffled at this news. My mother, a rebel? That’s not like the perfect lady I remember.
"Oh, yes, Alexis. Your mother had quite a wild streak," she says fondly.
I smile. "What happened?"
"Your mother came home because she had responsibilities, Alexis."
"Responsibilities?" I'm annoyed with my nana's ambiguous responses.
"Yes. Do you know why I raised your mother?"
I crack my knuckles nervously. "No, I assumed you wanted to. That you adopted her because you couldn’t have children of your own or something.” I know that Nana’s not my mom’s biological mother, but nothing else.
She nods.
“Is that the case?”
"No," she says simply and I see her eyes snap back to the here and now.
"What do you mean 'no'?" I probe.
"Don’t misunderstand me. I loved your mother, but I didn’t see children in my future,” she says.
“You didn’t want mom?”
She places her frail hand on mine. “I loved your mother,” she repeats. “I'm tired, Lexi," she mumbles. I hope off the bed and tuck a blue blanket around her frail frame.
Hunter says, "I got you some coffee." He hands me a warm Styrofoam cup and the contents are steaming.
I knew Nana was tired, so we left shortly after our strange conversation.
…
"That was so bizarre," I muse.
"What was?" Hunter asks.
I open the Range Rover door and hop in. The black leather interior is cold against my jeans. My neck’s itchy.
"The conversation I had with my grandmother," I reveal.
"Yeah, what about?" he revs the engine, trying to warm us up.
I look at him and he laughs. "What?"
He chuckles more quietly. "You're face. You look so confused."
I laugh lightly. "That's because I am." I slowly shake my head in resignation.
“I see where you get your bedside manner from,” he laughs. I think back to Nana’s exchange with the nurse. I smile.
"Can I ask you a question?" he turns the steering wheel and we drive on the main road.
"Depends. Are you going to be a prick?"
I can tell he wants to roll his eyes. "No, I'm not."
"K. Go for it."
"I heard your Nana say that she wasn't your biological grandmother," he's hedging. I can tell.
"No, she's not. She raised my mom though. I thought she adopted her becau
se she couldn’t have kids." I reveal. I look out at the flatlands around us. The sky is grey and the trees are sad.
"And now you don't think that?"
"No, I don't," I confirm.
I flip on the radio and wait for Hunter to say something. He doesn’t. Something familiar plays quietly and I melt into the lyrics. After a few songs, Hunter asks if I'm hungry. I'm sure he hears my stomach growling.
We stop at a little diner. The waitress stares Hunter up and down, and my skin feels icky as she's undressing him with her eyes. Hunter ignores it entirely. I've never seen a guy so excited about eating... other than Pierce. It takes him no time to order.
We wait quietly until the food comes. I'm elated when I see the stack of fries, hopeful the now glaring waitress didn't spit in my food.
"I can't believe you ordered fries and a salad," Hunter says and picks up his huge triple burger, which is the special.
"What's wrong with fries and a salad?" I ask in offense.
He chuckles, "It doesn't make any sense. Salad is for diets and fries are nom-nom food."
I laugh at his odd terminology. Nom-nom is not something I imagine Hunter saying.
"Nom-nom food," I mimic and laugh louder.
He shrugs and takes another bite of his burger, while I pick cautiously at my fries. I'm worried my stomach will act up again.
"Not everything you hoped for?" he jokes.
I smile. "No, they're good. I've been feeling off lately."
We sit in silence for a moment enjoying our food.
"What was that all about?" he asks with his mouth full. I have an urge to tell him to slow down or he'll be the one with the stomachache.
"What do you mean?" I take a sip of my water.
"The alley... the other night...in class," he starts.
"I'm not sure about any of it. The night in the alley is most confusing. I felt really sick and Pierce was helping me to the car, but I couldn’t make it. That’s why we were in the alleyway.” Hunter stops eating and stares at me. My memory of the night is foggy.
"It was terrible."
He tilts his head to the side and glances away.
"And, then I heard a struggle, I think. After that, I woke up in my dorm."
After a moment of silence, Hunter says, "That's it. That's all you remember?"
"Yeah, that's it." I'm baffled by the night as much as he is.
"Was it really bad stomach pains? Like getting shot in the stomach with flaming arrows?" he asks.
I think back to the night and, yeah, that is how it felt. "Yeah, how'd you know that?"
"Lucky guess is all," he stuffs his face with another mouthful of burger. Lucky guess, huh?
I pick up another fry and curse when it drops onto my grey button-up.
Hunter hands me his napkin. I knew when I put this on that grey is too close to white for someone like me to wear.
"What do you know?" I turn the questions on him. "Seriously, Hunter. It's important."
"I know it is," he breathes deeply before inhaling the rest of his burger in a few seconds.
His mouth twists around and he struggles to find the words. "I heard fighting, like a struggle, and someone scream. When I came around the corner, I found you," he gestures toward me, "laying on the ground."
I remember screaming and hitting the ground. "Where was Pierce?"
He shakes his head and runs a hand through the mess of brown falling in his eyes. "There was no one else there," he tells me. He's not looking me in the eyes and I feel like he's lying.
I scoot over and the plastic seat cover makes an odd noise. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" My tone is a more cross than I intend it to be.
There are two other couples in the diner and a guy sitting at the bar drinking from a coffee cup. He's a creepy man. I grimace when he licks his lips at me.
Hunter stares over his shoulder. The thin man quickly drops his eyes back to his cup. I notice the kick in Hunter's jaw. He's mad at the thin man, or me. Probably both.
"I don't expect you to believe anything, Lex," he grumbles.
He waves the waitress over and asks for the check. "Sure thing, sweetie," she replies flirtatiously. My skin heats up as she looks at him with those hungry eyes. When she walks away, Hunter smirks. I love that smile. Every time I see those dimples, I melt inside.
I avert my eyes. I'm not sure why I’m jealous. I've never been jealous ever, but I know that's what this fiery sensation is. It's not normal to want to hit a girl you've never met before when all she's done is flirt with a guy. Definitely jealously and it's a heinous emotion that I'm not fond of.
We walk across the white linoleum floor that's marked with scratches and chips. Hunter actually holds the door open for me.
"Wow, manners aren't your nemesis?" I jest.
Hunter glowers at me and lets the door go. I know I've shot myself in the foot.
"I don't open the door for you, not because I don't want to or because of my lack of manners," he tells me gruffly.
"Then, why?" I cock a hip.
"Because, you don't let me."
I'm about to object, but Hunter is right. I think back to the times that we entered a door together, all the times we've spent time together and realize I always reach for the door before he has a chance.
The diner is like a mobile home structure: long and narrow. We walk down the creaking, wooden stairs into the night. I'm excited to get home.
Hunter extends his arm in front of me, blocking me from taking another step.
"What?" I gripe.
"Shush!" he commands and I do just that. I hear a shuffling and what sounds like metal clanking together to the south side of the building. A shiver snakes down my spine to my pinky toes.
Hunter stands so still, I think he's turned to stone. He leans over and hands me his keys. "When I tell you, run. Get in Rover and lock the doors. Got it," the urgency in his voice scares me into submission.
I want to argue that I'm not going to leave him, but I don't. I can barely speak.
There’s another clanking noise and Hunter shouts, "Now!"
I skip the final stairs and haul ass across the parking lot to where Rover is parked. My arms pump like they've never pumped before. I'm only a few feet away when I hear grappling behind me. I slow down so the sound of my feet hitting the pavement sounds more like thuds.
Lexi! You coward! You're gonna leave him! I'm yelling at myself.
I unlock the doors and jump in. I shut the metal barrier with the automatic clicker. I can't leave Hunter out there, but what can I do to help? I'm useless. That's not entirely true, I could at least kick and scream and bite. I'm called bloody Lexi and demon-girl for a reason and it's not just my freaky eyes. I sit in Rover with my mind fighting back and forth. My irrational side wins; I jump out of the car.
"Lex!" Hunter shouts at me. "Get back in the car!"
He’s fighting an oversized, black creature. I’m frozen. The creature looks how I would imagine a really vile, super-mean alien to look. Another small alien thing lays on the pavement. I say “thing” because I'm not sure what it is. Whatever, it is, it's super-fast. Every movement blurs into the next. My eyes are glued to the scene. There's something about that thing, that feels dirty... and familiar.
Hunter calls my name and the alien tips his head in my direction. Its black, shiny eyes are unmoving, unblinking. "Alexis..." it coos and a shiver races down my spine. It's licks its thin, leathery lips with a forked tongue.
I think I'm going to vomit.
I'm the perfect distraction. Hunter swings around effortlessly and kicks the creature hard in the abdomen. The alien buckles at the waist from the force. Next, Hunter does something I never thought I would ever see a person do, he takes a massive knife from behind his back and slits the creature's neck with one swift motion.
I scream into the abysmal night. In moments, the sky has darkened from a deep gray to an almost black.
Hunter runs toward me, throws me over his shoulder—yes, literall
y throws me over his shoulder—and races to Rover. My body bounces close to his. I'm stunned, but still realize that he has a nice ass; give me a break, my face is inches away. He opens the door wider with his one free hand and throws me in the car. I'm in absolute shock and mortification. My heart is pounding. I can’t blink. I'm frozen in the memory of what happened.
Hunter says something and the car jerks forward as we drive onto the main road, leaving the alien guys and any naivety and youth I had, left behind at the diner.
TWENTY-FIVE
I mechanically bend at the waist and my knees buckle. I'm sitting in the shower and weeping for the first time in a long time. Hunter leaves me be; he must know I need solitude.
I witnessed a murder and he's the murderer. That's what just happened. It's obvious. So, why do I feel like Hunter is my savior?
The water falls around me, washing the grime off my skin. I watch as the physical remnants of the night spin down the drain and wish the water could take away my memories too.
Once I crawl out of the shower, Hunter’s sitting with a heavy head, two legs planted firmly to the floor. He's wearing black sweats like the night before and has a white long-sleeved thermal on. It's the first time I've seen him wear white. He's hunched over the articles of the Ripper.
"Lexi, I think we need to talk," he says unobtrusively, not taking his eyes off the newspaper clippings that I know he retrieved from my bag.
I fleetingly worry that he saw my plain red panties, but the seriousness of his expression eliminates the superficial thought.
I want him to divulge what happened. The tone of his voice is different than normal Hunter.
I should be scared of him, but I'm not. The light in the hotel is dim and the atmosphere is thick with melancholy, or maybe that's my mind. A wide, black dresser sits in the front of the room. The blackness calls to me like death calls every human.
There's no balance in my mind, only darkness. My thoughts are stagnant and repressing.
"Lexi," Hunter sooths with such calmness I think I might cry again. "Please don't be afraid of me," he pleads. "I would never hurt you.”
I sniffle and finally achieve movement. I make it to the bed parallel Hunter's. My mind's adapting quite well, I think. I'm not screaming and I'm sitting next to a murderer. Does that make me crazy? I'm not sure.