by Simone Elise
She was looking at me. Addy say something, anything! But no words would come out. I just stood in front of her, my mouth open like a goldfish.
“What is wrong with you?” Ethan asked under his breath. He didn’t even pretend to hide his embarrassment.
“Well, aren’t you strange.” The woman looked me up and down, seeming to be interested. Which was the last thing I wanted.
“This is Addison,” Ethan huffed and walked through the doorway, pushing the girl out of his way slightly. “And that is my sister, Natasha. Addy, follow.”
And just like a mute puppy, I did. My humiliation grew by the second.
Chapter 11
Don’t say or do anything embarrassing. I kept repeating this in my mind, and what did I do as soon as I walked into the house? Tripped over a damn table and landed flat on my face. Oh, the humiliation!
“Are you okay?” Natasha asked, when I didn’t get up right away.
Half of me just wanted to stay there, because I didn’t want to see Ethan’s face.
“Yes.” I slowly got up from the floor. Sure enough, I saw Ethan holding his laughter in, though he wasn’t suppressing his cheeky smirk.
“Not a word,” I muttered when I got closer to him.
Natasha was looking at me, most likely questioning my sanity.
“Where are Mom and Dad?” Ethan asked.
Natasha slowly dragged her eyes back to Ethan. “Why, what have you done?”
Ethan remained silent and narrowed his eyes at his sister.
“What does that mean?” I asked, finding my voice.
“Nothing!” Ethan snapped. “Follow me.”
“Follow you? I’m not a puppy, Ethan.” I snorted. Yes, I actually snorted. Natasha’s eyes widened when she heard it. You would think I just passed wind or something.
“No, you aren’t a puppy. If you were, you would be on a leash, and I wouldn’t have to ask you to follow me, I could just drag you along.”
“I can’t believe you just referred to me as a puppy.” I screwed my nose at him.
“He’s referred to me as worse,” Natasha piped up.
“Really, like what?” I asked her, following Ethan up a long narrow staircase.
“For ten years, he called me piglet.”
Sudden images of Ethan walking a piglet flashed in my mind, and I couldn’t help but giggle. This stopped Ethan in his tracks.
“Whatever you are thinking, stop it.” Ethan pointed a finger at me, knowing me too well.
“You can’t tell me what I can and can’t think,” I said smugly.
“I can, now stop it!” Ethan turned around on the narrow staircase and looked down at me.
I scoffed loudly. I really thought Ethan had control issues. Sadly for him, I was in the mood to annoy him.
“I’m thinking of you in a bathrobe.” I smirked, and Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “A pink one.” My smirk turned into an evil grin.
“Addy, stop it! My sister is behind you.” Ethan’s face grew red.
From the sniggering behind me, I was sure Natasha was enjoying me pushing Ethan’s buttons as much as I enjoyed seeing his reaction.
“Well, what do you know, the robe’s on the floor now…”
“Addison! I swear, if you utter one more word, I’ll—”
“There is a lady behind you.” I was deadly serious.
“Addison, I told you one more word and I’ll…”
“Ethan, darling, why are you yelling at a girl on my staircase?” the lady standing behind Ethan asked, with a velvet voice.
“What?” he asked.
“Told you there was someone behind you,” I muttered, as Ethan turned around guiltily.
“It’s only Addison, Mother,” he replied.
“Well, why don’t you and Addison follow me to the living room?” she offered.
Ethan was muttering curse words under his breath, while shooting dirty looks at me. Talk about a crybaby. As if it was my fault he got in trouble with his mom!
“Was he always a brat?” I asked, lowering my voice and speaking to Natasha.
“Addison, you can’t whisper, so don’t even bother,” Ethan said.
Talk about killing my buzz. Personally, I thought I had an awesome whispering voice.
“Yes.” Natasha smiled, and we walked into what looked like a living room.
Each chair was uniquely designed. I had never seen any furniture like this.
“Addison, this is my mother, Elizabeth,” Ethan introduced us.
“It’s lovely to meet you.” I smiled.
“And it is lovely to meet the girl who has been driving my son insane.” Elizabeth smiled warmly at me before sitting in a chair shaped like a giant swirl.
I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or annoyed.
“Mother.” Ethan said her name in a threatening tone.
“I know, I’ll stop,” she said, raising her hands to appease him.
Natasha took a seat across from her mother on a long oval bench. “So, Addison, how are you finding Hell?”
Well, that isn’t a question you are asked every day, and I wasn’t sure how to answer.
“She’s making my life hell,” Ethan remarked.
Rolling my eyes, I shot an annoyed look at Ethan. “Would you stop being so rude? I’m a guest.”
“No, you are a prisoner,” Ethan corrected me.
“Same thing.” I shrugged my shoulders. Seeing a picture on the wall across from Ethan, I asked, “Hey, is that you?”
“It is, with piglet,” Natasha answered.
“Natasha!” Ethan roared, fuming, and went to block my view of the photo.
Unfortunately for him, it was too late.
“I knew you were a turtle man.” I smirked. “Wait a sec, you named your turtle ‘piglet’?” I arched an eyebrow at him.
“He was only ten.” Ethan’s mom spoke up.
“That is seriously messed up, Ethan.”
“Shut up, Addison!”
“You say that a lot, don’t you?” Natasha asked Ethan.
“He does, all the time!” I nodded. “It’s always, ‘Addison, shut up. Addison, don’t touch that. Addison, put that down. Addison, walk quicker. Addison, stop playing with people’s things. Addison, don’t mimic me.’” I rolled my eyes.
Natasha broke out in laughter. “You are much funnier than I expected.”
“Expectations are always misleading. For example, you would expect Ethan to be sweet and charming. Instead, you get, well, Ethan,” I replied.
“So, you two are getting along well then?” Elizabeth interrupted. She looked at Ethan. “Last time we spoke, you were complaining about how much you argued.”
I am totally calling him ‘Mommy’s boy’ once we get out of here. This will give me an endless supply of comebacks.
“She is tolerable.” Ethan shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably. What else had he told his family about me?
Ethan
Addy was doing it on purpose. I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore her. All evening, she had made it her mission to annoy me. I was being repaid for saying I wanted to put her on a lead.
“And this is Ethan’s old room.” Natasha opened a door, and I quickly snapped back to the moment. We were giving Addy a tour of my parents’ house.
“Addy, don’t you dare,” I started but she had already entered.
“Wow, Ethan, did you have a thing for turtles or what?”
I gritted my teeth and counted back from ten. It didn’t help that Natasha kept telling Addy stories. Did she not understand that Addy had a memory like an elephant?
After tonight, Addy would have an endless supply of humiliation on me.
“Natasha, Mother is calling you,” I lied from outside the room. Like the blonde she was, she quickly fluttered out and went to find Mom.
Working quickly, I entered my old room and grabbed Addy by the arm.
“Come on, we’re leaving.”
“Took you long enough.” Addy smirked. “I thought you w
ould be dragging me out of here once Natasha mentioned your long showers.”
“She did what?” I yelled, but by the evil gleam in Addy’s eyes, I knew she was lying.
“Got ya,” she chuckled.
“What did your parents do to you that you became so twisted?” I asked.
“You know, you aren’t the first person to ask that question.” Addy laughed.
“I wonder why,” I muttered under my breath.
All in all, I guess the night hadn’t gone that bad. I thought it would be good for Addy to see other people who were living in Hell. Somehow, the whole evening had been focused on me and reliving the most embarrassing parts of my childhood.
And Addy had enjoyed every embarrassing detail.
Chapter 12
Ever wondered what the world would look like upside down? Imagine you could walk on the ceiling. It would be amazing.
“Addison, if you don’t get down, your head will explode.” Ethan glanced at me again, with an annoyed look. “You’re a human, not a bat.”
Rolling my eyes, I continued to hang upside down on Ethan’s very strong four-poster bed.
“Do you have any respect for my stuff?” Ethan grumbled loudly enough for me to hear. I swear he loved to grumble. It was like his favorite pastime.
“Do you ever not complain?”
“It’s not complaining if you have someone breaking everything that belongs to you.” He closed his book abruptly.
“Please tell me this isn’t about your clock?” I flung myself down to the ground. “It was an accident.”
“Do you even understand the definition of accident?” Ethan sounded so wise he reminded me of some freaky ass owl.
“Yes, something not done on purpose.”
“I told you that you were going to break something, but do you listen? No. You just continued to be a maniac.”
“You’re just jealous you didn’t join in.”
“Yes, that must be it.” Ethan gave me a very dry look.
“Personally, I think I’m a genius for coming up with something to do in this boring room of yours.”
“Jumping on my bed and breaking my clock with those unnaturally long legs of yours does not classify you as a genius.”
So what? I jumped on his bed a few times, and yeah, maybe I tripped over a pillow and my leg went flying in the direction of his bedside table and I might have just happened to have broken his prized clock. But seriously, what normal person loves a clock that much?
“You say ‘unnatural’, others say ‘God’s gift’.” I slumped in the armchair across from him. “So, you’re still reading then?” I picked up an old book from his desk.
“Yes, and put it down.”
“What, scared the pages might fall out? Not even I can make that happen.”
Ethan reached out and took it from my hands anyway. “Nothing is beyond you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“That clock has been in the family for centuries and has been through fire. But one kick from Accident Addison and it smashes into a million pieces.”
“Accident Addison?” I was disgusted by such an awful nickname.
“Perfect, isn’t it?” The corners of Ethan’s lips twitched into an evil smirk.
I made a noise that sounded like a pig choking. “Don’t think so.”
“Calm down, AA.”
“AA?” I crossed my arms. “Seriously?”
“You have more accidents than a two-year-old; what do you expect?”
“You’re just getting funnier by the moment, aren’t you?”
“Whatever, you say, AA.”
How had Ethan managed to turn the tables on me? I crossed my arms stubbornly. I suddenly realized I didn’t like being on this end of the joke.
Chapter 13
Ethan had been gone longer than I would have liked. It wasn’t as if I was missing the grumpy piece of work. I was just bored! Completely and utterly bored! I thought I had been lying on this bed for hours, if not days. In Hell, there is no way of telling the time. So, I had no idea just how long I had been bored.
The longer I was here, the more I wanted to leave, and I didn’t mean just leave my room. No, I wanted to leave altogether. I was sick of being in Hell. I was sick of walking around trying to help people and failing miserable to the point where Ethan would have to take over.
I twirled a loose strand of hair in my fingers. Ethan was also a challenge. I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he was extremely attractive and that I may have a crush on him.
I groaned, finally admitting it to myself. I hadn’t ever really had a crush before. Of course, I would crush on the one guy who found me more annoying than a fly.
My mouth just wouldn’t stop when I was around him, and I found myself looking more like an idiot than ever.
The most depressing thing was that I was actually trying not to be dumb. But I found myself doing the dumbest things, making me the definition of dumb.
“You in there?” Ethan knocked on my door, and I jumped in surprise. I was grateful he couldn’t read minds or any of that other freaky stuff.
Leaning over, I twisted the doorknob, letting the door swing open. “No, I’m in my other room.”
“Snappy as always.” Ethan stepped in. “Like what you’ve done to the place.”
“I know, it’s amazing how my presence can improve the room so quickly,” I snapped. “So, what did your dad want?”
Ethan’s dad had summoned Ethan to speak to him in private. Clearly, he was just saying that I wasn’t allowed to tag along, which I had been making a habit of. Well, it wasn’t like I had anything else to do!
Ethan looked awkwardly at the floor; I automatically knew something was wrong.
“You’re pulling that face, what happened?”
“I don’t pull a face.” Ethan scrunched his nose. “You’re the one with the face.”
“Stop avoiding the question. What did your dad want? And why couldn’t I come?”
I had to admit I was a bit pissed off when I couldn’t go with Ethan because that meant I was stuck in this stupid room.
“You aren’t meant to be leaving your room,” Ethan reminded me. “You’re only meant to be going to guide and then back. You’re meant to be punished, remember?”
“Oh, please, I don’t punish you!” I waved it off. Ethan and his self-pity parties!
“You don’t see me breaking your stuff, ruining your collection of books, or annoying the sanity out of you.”
“Is this about your clock again?” I rolled my eyes, waiting for his rant to end. Honestly, him and that clock!
“The clock was just one of the things your unnaturally long legs broke. I’m talking about the picture frame you knocked off the wall and I had to take the blame for yesterday.”
Oh, that. Well, to be fair, it was Ethan’s fault. He had pushed me, and I tripped over my foot and landed against the wall, accidently knocking the frame off the wall. It fell to the ground and just shattered everywhere.
Of course, knowing my luck, someone rounded the corner only seconds later. Being the adult I am, I stood up and was quick to point the finger at Ethan. “He did it.”
“Well, you didn’t get in trouble, did you?” I reminded him. “Now what did your dad want?”
Ethan had a habit of taking the conversation in another direction when he didn’t want to answer a question. He did this regularly and most of the time I would let it go, but this time was different. The whole time I had been here, Ethan’s dad hadn’t summoned him once. This told me it was something important.
“It was about you.” Ethan kept his eyes locked on the floor. “And your stay here.”
“My stay here?” I arched an eyebrow. “You call it a ‘stay’? It’s imprisonment.”
Ethan let out a long sigh. I knew he wanted to retort but he didn’t.
“Okay, Ethan, spill it. What’s going on?”
“Satan seems to think my connection with you influenced your sen
tence.” Ethan looked bitter and crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “He thinks that your sentence was too light.”
“Too light!” I threw my hands up in the air like the drama queen I was at heart. “You gave me forever!”
“Ten years isn’t forever.”
“No, not at all.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s only ten bloody years!”
“Would you calm down already?” Ethan sighed, not interested in the show I was putting on.
“Fine.” I crossed my arms. “Why’s dear old Daddy wanting me to stay here longer?”
“He believes that you are taking my attention away from what I should be doing.”
“What, reading your books?” I scoffed. Seriously. it wasn’t like Ethan had a demanding social life. After all, his turtle wasn’t alive anymore. I choked back a giggle, which caused Ethan to give me a dirty look as if he knew I was making fun of him in my head.
“I don’t understand though. He wants you to spend less time with me, but thinks I should be here longer?”
“Exactly.” Ethan nodded.
“Well, that’s just madness. You and I both know you would go crazy without me.” I gave him a wink.
“He wants me to offer you a deal.” Ethan dropped the bomb on me.
“A deal? Well, tell me the details.”
“Addison, could you be serious for once?” Ethan looked annoyed and moved to sit next to me on the bed.
“Okay, fine, I’ll be serious.” I turned around to face him. “What’s this deal all about?”
“When I told you about being a guider, I left a few things out.”
“What a surprise!” I smirked. “Seriously, Ethan, you and your secrets.”
“It’s not a secret; I just didn’t think it was important.”
“Well, tell me about this thing you thought wasn’t important but is now.”
“There are different types of guiders. Some do what we do and then there is another sort.”
“Why am I getting the feeling I’ve got the boring type?”
Ethan raised a finger for me to shush. “Don’t interrupt me. One type of guider takes on human form.”
“If I’m not mistaken, Ethan, we also look like humans when we guide people. Unless you’re really a monster under that flawless face of yours?”