Wes smiled down at her, and said, “I’m glad I remembered what to do. It’s been a while.”
“Whatever.” She giggled and let herself catch her breath for a moment, before flipping him to his back. “Your turn.”
“You don’t have to do anything.” He stroked her braid and tickled her face with it.
“I’ve only been intimate with someone that one time, but I haven’t done anything else—so I may be terrible at it.” Bray wasn’t entirely sure she knew what to do. And she didn’t want to embarrass herself because she liked him so much.
“Hey.” His voice was soft as he pulled her face to his and gave her a tender kiss. “It’s with you, that’s all that matters to me.”
Bray grew braver as her fear vanished and let her hand drift down to his boxers. She glided her hand inside, gripping him tight. A smile tugged at her lips, and just as Wes closed his eyes, the phone rang.
“Of course, the phone rings,” he said tightly, still managing to semi-laugh it off as he reached to answer. “Hello?”
Bray rolled to her back, still smiling, as she stared up at the ceiling. Her chest was still filled with happiness—more than in The Goonies when those kids found the ship of treasure.
Wes’s face went from smiling to concerned as he listened. “Okay, that’s fine. No problem. Is everything okay, though?” Bray continued to watch him as he concentrated on the conversation—she started to grow nervous. “Sure. Kyle can stay the night here. I’ll wait for them outside.”
Hanging up the phone, Wes turned to Bray, and slowly swallowed. “Something happened with Kyle’s dad. He was attacked by some crazy woman and is in the hospital.”
Bray didn’t know what to think, but she was worried. They hurriedly threw on their clothes and went to meet Luca and Kyle outside. The boys were already walking down the street toward them.
While Luca had a paint splatter of freckles sprinkled across his nose and cheeks, Kyle had an entire solar system of stars scattered across his face and arms. His red hair stood out like the orange of a sun going down for its nap as the moon awakens to rise. He also had round squeezable cheeks that Bray wanted to pinch, but she kept her hands to herself.
“Hey, you want to come in for some pizza? It may be a little cold, but I can heat it up for you.” Wes asked the boys and gave Bray a sly look.
“I’m cool with eating it cold,” Kyle said. He turned to Luca and whispered in his ear, “Dude your brother’s girlfriend is fine.”
Luca scowled in disgust, and Wes attempted to hide his laugh. Bray wanted to pinch the kid’s cheek even harder to get that thought out of his head.
After getting settled, the boys ate and played video games for a while before going to bed. A little before ten the phone rang, and when Wes answered, it was Kyle’s Mom.
Throughout the entire conversation, Wes’s eyebrows went up and down. He said “uh huh” numerous times with his mouth opening and closing—very fish-like. Robotically, he hung up the phone and turned to Bray.
“What happened?” she asked, concern filling up her entire body.
Wes shook his head and ran a hand through his thick hair. “The attack happened when Kyle’s dad left work and was heading to his truck. He saw a woman who he thought needed money approaching him, and he reached into his pocket to pull out some cash to give her. Instead of taking the money, the woman ran at Kyle’s dad and knocked him to the ground. He managed to push her off, but she was strong and she… She bit his ear off.”
Bray’s eyes opened as wide as they could go. “She what? Like she ate it?” She couldn’t comprehend what he had just said.
“No, she spit it out. When security came, she was raging and completely out of control, trying to either push his eye in or yank it out. The cop was going to arrest her, but then she attacked him, too—and bit his shoulder. Somehow after pushing her off, the cop shot her in the leg to slow her, but she kept coming at him, so he had to shoot her down.”
“How’s Kyle’s dad now?” Bray didn’t want to think about how scared Kyle was going to be when he found out about it. She was shaken from just hearing about it.
“They’re reattaching his ear. So, there’s that… He’s going to be okay, though.”
“Thank goodness.” Her shoulders relaxed, and she sighed in relief.
Wes rubbed his bottom lip back and forth against his front teeth.
“What else?” she asked hesitantly.
“The body was shot twice, and there was no blood. This is the third person who has gone insane, attacked people, and then get shot and killed. To top it all off, no blood can be found in the body. How’s that possible? And better yet: what is going on?” Wes’s face grew grim, and Bray’s heart sunk because she couldn’t uncover an answer either.
“I don’t know. Your world is so different than mine. Laith isn’t as clear to me now, but something like this wouldn’t be so farfetched there. Here though … something like this shouldn’t be happening.”
He let out a heavy breath and took a seat on the couch. “You’re right. It shouldn’t.”
Bray sat down beside him and pulled his hand into hers, interlacing their fingers. “I might not know what’s going on, but maybe I can try to figure something out. I don’t know how, though.”
“We just won’t think about it tonight.” He stared at their interlaced fingers with an unreadable expression. “About earlier, I…”
She wondered if Wes regretted what had happened between them, and if she should let go of his hand. Bray released it and placed her hand on top of her knee, rubbing her thumb nervously in slow circles against the skin. “Yes?” Her breathing drew in shakily.
“I liked it.” He smiled.
And her breath came out steadily. “Me, too.”
Wrapping his strong arm around Bray’s shoulders, Wes tugged her to his chest, and they sat like that together in silence for a while.
Bray worried that Brenik was still gone. If something happened to him like what had happened to Kyle’s dad, she would be heartbroken. Brenik would be able to escape an attack easily since he could just fly off, but she was still nervous about him not being back yet.
Then there was this thing between her and Wes. She knew she was being selfish to Brenik by staying this size—living a life that wasn’t in a tree hole.
“What are you thinking about?” Wes asked.
“I guess I won’t be able to sleep in the tree since Kyle’s staying the night.”
“Nope.”
“Couch?” She quietly patted the back of the cushion.
“Nope.”
“The car?” She stood up like she was going to walk out the front door.
“Nope.” He wiggled his finger at her to follow him to his room.
Bray rubbed her chin like she was thinking hard about it, then shrugged and let him lead the way.
They both sat on the bed after Wes closed the door behind them. “Since we can’t do anything now that Luca has a friend over, there’s only going to be cuddling tonight.” He smiled, then leaned over and whispered, “And maybe a kiss or two.”
Bray softly patted his shoulder. “What about shoulder time? I like sleeping on your shoulder.”
“More than Luca’s?” He grinned.
Bray cocked her head to the side as if in thought. “That’s a hard question. He does read me stories.”
“You can stay this size tonight, so I can be your favorite cuddle partner.”
“I’m willing to try this. I’ve never had a cuddle partner before,” she murmured.
“You’ve been missing out, then. But kissing partner sounds better.” Wrapping his arms around her, Wes pressed his mouth against hers, and pulled them both down to the mattress. They kissed for a little while without anything growing too heated. It was sweet and gentle.
When their lips separated, Wes rolled to his back and she nestled her head on his chest, wrapping her arm around his stomach.
She felt lit up, brighter than the moon and all the stars co
mbined.
18
Brenik
Brenik was ready for his night with Rana. The homeless woman from two nights before had satisfied his hunger, for now. He felt like such a selfish prick—there had to be another way.
Throwing on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, he headed for the elementary school. On the way there, it gave him time to think about things. Talking to Bray was still an issue, and he decided he would do it over the weekend. He would even apologize for how he had been over the years, growing green with envy about her luck—when he should have been happy for her. To her, he would confess all the parts of himself that needed to be unloaded.
On his left, he passed a neat line of pier and beam homes before finally seeing the brick school building.
The dials on his watch showed him it was three o’clock—five minutes until the bell rang. There were rows of cars already lined up, waiting to pick up the kids. Turning away from them, Brenik walked to the front of the building and stood away from the other adults who were waiting for their kids.
A loud buzz came from the speakers which must have been the poorly sounding release bell. Kids of all sizes ran out of the building, and Brenik stepped out of the way, weirded out from all the creepiness.
He had seen kids plenty of times, but never in such a close proximity to where they were surrounding him. Claustrophobia seemed to be setting in. He was unsure about the situation—they were so much smaller.
Two boys were walking out of the building—one redheaded and the other had dark hair. The one with dark hair lifted his head and looked at Brenik, his eyes squinting in confusion.
The dark-haired boy said bye to his friend and wandered in Brenik’s direction. Brenik turned his head to avoid the strange kid’s stare and pretended to rub at his eye.
“Hey,” the kid said, stepping a little too close for Brenik’s comfort.
“Hello,” Brenik replied flatly, looking away.
“You look like my friend.”
He gave the kid a hard stare. “Sorry, I don’t have red hair.”
The nuisance adjusted his backpack on his shoulder. “No, not that one, my other one.”
“Look, kid, before this gets odd, you better go.” Brenik didn’t need some parent thinking he was trying to steal the child.
The boy’s eyes searched Brenik’s face to the point where he felt uncomfortable. “You have the same pale blue eyes and jet-black hair as her, but it’s not just that… You’re him, aren’t you?”
Whoever the kid was, he was starting to annoy the fuck out of Brenik. “No, I’m not.”
“Brenik?” the kid asked.
Brenik’s eyes widened. He grabbed the kid’s arm a little too tightly and pulled him to the wall. “How do you know my name?” He had no earthly idea how this boy would know it.
The kid flicked Brenik’s hand away from his arm. “Because you’re Bray’s brother.” This kid… This kid was the same one who he had seen through the window. He hadn’t paid very close attention to his face, but the hair and body matched.
“You’re living in Ruth’s old house?” Brenik asked.
Not frightened in the slightest it seemed, the kid tilted his head to the side, like Brenik should already have known this. And he probably should have. “Yeah, me and my brother, and now Bray.”
“She’s inside your house?” Brenik was confused as to why Bray would be in his house.
“Yeah, she’s been waiting for you to come back. Also, she said you couldn’t change forms, so how are you like this?” The boy’s finger wiggled up and down at Brenik’s body, and he wanted to snap it off.
“This isn’t the place to talk about such things. Listen, kid, can you keep quiet about this for a few days? I’ll come by over the weekend.” He was going to chew Bray out for whatever was going on here.
“I’ll give you two days, since Bray’s my friend,” the kid said, holding up two fingers.
Brenik wanted to shove the kid away, but he nodded instead. Fucking Bray, apparently parading her secrets to the whole world.
“You know Luca?” Rana asked from behind them, causing Brenik to straighten with a jerk. He hoped she hadn’t heard any of their conversation.
“Hello, Miss Alvi, this is my brother’s girlfriend’s brother,” Luca said sweetly.
Brother’s girlfriend? Brenik’s brow furrowed in confusion, and Luca gave him a smirk. Brenik needed to get away from the kid before he blew a fuse.
Rana turned to Brenik and smiled. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
“A twin sister actually,” Luca piped in. Brenik wanted this kid zip it up already.
“I wonder if she looks like you, Brenik.”
“She does.” Luca nodded one too many times.
“See you this weekend, Luca,” Brenik said with a flat tone, clenching his teeth a little too tightly, trying to get the kid to go away.
“Two days.” Luca hinted at their deal as he walked off, holding up two fingers again. Then he yelled, “Bye, Miss Alvi.”
Finally, the kid rounded the corner, and Brenik turned to Rana when she said, “He’s one of the sweetest kids in my class—and brightest, too.”
Of course he is. The blood in his body began to boil as he thought about how stupid Bray could be. Trusting Ruth was one thing because she was older and nurturing, but he didn’t trust that kid—not one bit. It didn’t bother Brenik that Bray was walking around human-sized, since he was mostly human now, too. But the fact that he didn’t know those people bothered him.
“What do you want to do now?” he asked, changing the subject. Rana was wearing a long skirt with a green blouse tucked in, pulling off the teacher look extremely well.
“We could go to the movies, and then maybe go to your place?” Brenik wished she would have said to go straight to his place but going to the movies would be better than throwing up shit at a restaurant again.
The last time he had gone to the movie theater, he and Bray were stuffed inside Ruth’s purse. It had been an early showtime for a movie that had been out a while, so they were the only ones in the theater. Nostalgia was a combination of good and bad for him, so he shut down that memory.
“I’m cool with that. I’ll even let you pick the movie.” Brenik grinned as he grabbed her hand. Rana intertwined their fingers and led him in the direction of her car.
“You have to admit the movie was ridiculous,” Brenik said as he held the exit door of the movie theater open for Rana.
“What do you mean? It was beautiful.” Rana let out a long, adoring sigh.
Brenik had let Rana choose the movie, and that had been a mistake. The movie poster for Powder had looked terrible to begin with, but there was nothing in particular he really wanted to see.
“The ending made no damn sense.” He was still confused as fuck as to what even happened to Powder, and he had seen some disturbing shit in his life.
Rana gave him a light shove. “Do we need to watch it again?”
“No. Next time I’ll choose what to watch.”
“Deal.” She stood on the tip of her toes and kissed his cheek, making sitting through the shitty movie worth it.
Once they got back to Brenik’s place, he offered her a drink. “Soda?”
“Sure.”
He had gone to the store earlier to purchase some food and drinks for Rana in case she needed something. He wouldn’t be eating.
Grabbing Rana a Sprite, Brenik plopped down beside her on the couch. “Do you still talk to your parents? You told me when we first met that you didn’t get along because of how strict they were.” He wanted to know everything about this woman.
Her expression faltered, and Brenik felt terrible for bringing it up. “Not at the moment. Their beliefs are so strong—which is great for them—but I’m still trying to find myself and what to believe in.” She paused. “My parents and I even had an argument over Mexican food because they wanted chicken curry.”
Disgust crossed Brenik’s face as if he smelled something bad. “If
it was Maria’s, I understand the argument.”
She swatted his arm but didn’t appear upset any longer. “Just because you had one bad experience at Maria’s doesn’t mean it’s bad. I didn’t get sick from the meal.”
It wasn’t Maria’s fault for him getting sick—it was the curse that was a prayer answered and a demon burning him alive. Light and dark would continue to battle inside of him for as long as he chose.
“Do you want to show me the rest of your place?” She craned her neck, happy to explore.
He led her to his room and pointed at the bed against one wall, and the wooden dresser on the opposite side. “This is it.”
“Let me know if you need help dressing up the place, but I like it,” Rana said as she walked over to the dresser. “Is this one of your paintings?” She reached for the portrait, and Brenik ran to her, tearing her hand away from it.
She frowned down at his hand. Brenik realized he was gripping her wrist a little too tightly, and he dropped it like it had electrocuted him. “Sorry, it’s just that one is important to me. My grandmother painted it last year before she died,” he lied, but not faking the distressed lines on his face.
“Oh, she was an artist, too?” Rana’s lips parted in interest.
“Yeah, she would work on her art almost every day,” he answered. Not really a lie since Ruth did sew all the time, and sewing could be considered an art form.
“Show me something of yours.” At that moment, Brenik knew he should not have told her he was trying to be an artist.
“Everything is still at my sister’s place since she has extra room.” Rana wasn’t dumb, so he hurried on. “But I can bring some here next time you come over.” He didn’t think it would be too hard to get some paint, throw it around on some canvases and call it “abstract” art.
Needing to find a distraction before she started asking more questions about his life, Brenik took a step closer to her. “You smell good.” The scent was fresh, like spearmint.
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