When the Dead Come a Knockin'

by B. L. Brunnemer

  “Yeah,” I looked back at the television. “I just want to watch the last of this.” I hedged. It wasn’t lying. I did want to watch the rest of this movie, and then the next one before going home.

  “Nice meeting you girls,” I called to them on their way out. Riley was the only one who said anything back. That wasn’t a good sign. I went back to watching the movie with Miles who chose to stay on the floor.

  I was tired, but I knew as soon as I went to sleep a ghost would show up. It had been happening all week, and now I had to deal with the girls not liking me. It wasn’t too long before the guys came back in. Isaac plopped onto me.

  “Shit, Isaac!” I grunted. The shithead was heavy.

  “Oh, sorry Red, didn’t see you there.” His voice was full of innocence as he slid off me to the middle cushion. Zeke took a wide chair. Ethan sat on the other side of Isaac and Asher took the other arm chair. “With you being quiet and all I figured you went home.” I gave him a half grin and shoved him further off me with my shoulder. Isaac could always cheer me up.

  “I don’t think the girls like me,” I admitted looking at each of them in turn. They all looked puzzled.

  “Riley loves you,” Zeke reassured me.

  “Oh, I love Riley. She’s great.”

  “Trisha didn’t say anything about you to me,” Asher said before he looked around at the others. The others shook their heads. Huh.

  “Maybe I’m wrong, had a kind of weird day today,” I admitted then looked back at the movie. “Might have thrown me off.”

  “You started dating Dylan today,” Ethan reminded me.

  “Yeah, and that’s great, but my best friends kept their girlfriends a secret from me. Doesn’t exactly make my day.” I countered. The guys were quiet as they mulled this over.

  “Okay, you have a point,” Ethan admitted as he scratched his eyebrow. “We should have shared with you sooner.”

  “You guys go on and on about how I need to be more open with you, that family doesn’t have big secrets.” Once I started, I couldn’t seem to stop. “A girlfriend is kind of a big secret. Four is an even larger one. You all knew about it, you all met the other girls and made a point not to tell me. That’s fucked up.” Okay, yeah. This was what had put me in such a bad mood all afternoon. It hadn’t been the shitty painting, it hadn’t been Dylan. It had been this. They wanted to know all my shit but kept theirs’ a secret. I was tired of it. My heart was heavy as I looked at each of them, well except Miles. The twins looked like they were in pain. Asher’s brow was drawn down. Zeke’s face was just blank. They knew I was right. It didn’t make me feel any better.

  “Is this why you’ve been quiet most of the night?” Miles asked.

  “Yeah,” I admitted. “When you guys hide shit like this, it sucks.” I wasn’t going to say it hurt, they could guess that for themselves. Isaac got up and dropped on me again. I grunted under his weight. He wrapped his arms and knees around me before resting his chin on my shoulder.

  “I’m sorry, Red.” Isaac’s voice was pouty as he squeezed me. “We didn’t mean it like that. You have enough to deal with, and we didn’t want to bother you with our shit.” I freed an arm and wrapped it around Isaac’s shoulder.

  “This is the shit you’re supposed to talk to me about. It can’t be all my shit, all the time. This was you guys not letting me be your friend.” Isaac shifted, straddling my hip taking some of his weight off me. I guess he wasn’t planning on moving anytime soon. He smelled like lemons today, huh, it was usually limes.

  “You’re right Beautiful, we were being shitty friends,” Ethan said. I felt the couch shifting, then Ethan was up and dropping his weight down on my front, pressing me back against the sofa. I grunted under the weight, now I was really getting squished.

  “I hate it when she’s fucking right,” Zeke grumbled. There was the sound of springs moving as someone got up.

  “Don’t you dare, Zeke!” I warned him. “I’m already being smooshed to death.” The twins giggled. Instead, I saw Asher over Ethan’s shoulder and braced myself. This was going to hurt. Instead, Asher reached down and yanked Ethan off me. The relief was instant.

  “Oh, thank God.” I exhaled in relief. Asher dropped a laughing Ethan onto the floor and reached for Isaac. Isaac’s arms and legs squeezed tight as he clung on like a monkey. I was laughing when Asher yanked him off me by his belt. I rolled a bit, resting my back against the cushions thankful that the boys were off of me. That was until Asher sat on the couch edge and leaned back on me. Oh, my fucking God! I smacked him in the back and tried to shove him to the floor. “Can’t... breathe….” I gasped dramatically. Asher pulled up a bit until it was no worse than Isaac had been. His ocean eyes met mine over his shoulder.

  “We really didn’t mean it like that Ally, I’m sorry.” He said simply. I gave him a small smile to let him know we were good. Vanilla and cinnamon filled my nose.

  “Just keep me in the loop guys. Okay?” I asked trying not to sound too whiny. “I know I’m a private person-”

  “I’ll say, getting anything out of you is like pulling teeth,” Zeke groused. The others nodded in agreement. I looked over at him and glared.

  “And you’re just a fountain of information yourself?” I asked sarcastically. “Tell me Zeke, what color is the couch?” The guys started laughing, as Zeke shook his head with a small grin on his face. I raised an eyebrow waiting for him to answer.

  “Reddish?” He answered uncertainly.

  “It’s green.” His mouth twitched at me. “You being partly color blind is not a huge thing, but it’s something you never told me.” I looked around the group again. “I’m not the only one who needs to open up around here. You guys all know each other so well. I care about you guys, but you still haven’t told me much about yourselves.” They all nodded. They got it. I smacked Asher’s leg. “Now get your heavy ass off me,” Asher smirked and scooted off me to sit on the middle cushion. I sat up and looked at the jar. Thirty-eight bucks. For fucking swearing. I looked up at Asher.

  “Can I get my money back from the swear jar now?” I asked seriously. The guys chuckled.

  “Go for it,” Asher said grinning at me. I gave him a smile, scooted to the edge of the sofa and grabbed the jar.

  “Okay, who had how much?” I asked. They all gave me their numbers as I counted out the money. I handed each of them their stacks, then folded mine and stuck it in my bra. I didn’t even think about. The twins started snickering. I pointed at them. “If you had boobs, you’d do the same thing.” I told them honestly. They chuckled. The room felt lighter as I picked up the other stack and held it out to Zeke. “I figured you can give Riley back her money.” Zeke took it and tucked it into his pocket. I sat back. “Can we please watch a fun movie now?” I begged with a pained look on my face.

  “Please?” Isaac begged with me. Miles got up, and the debate began.

  “I want a high body count,” I demanded. I heard snorts from around the room.

  “No chick main character either.” Ethan chimed in.

  “Lots of swearing,” Zeke added. Miles nodded.

  “Deadpool it is.” I shot my hands into the air in victory.

  “Yes!” The guys laughed at me. Miles put the movie in the Blu-ray.

  “This movie might be a bad influence on you, Ally.” Asher said as he looked down at me smiling.

  “Well, I don’t plan on celebrating International Women’s Appreciation Day if that’s what you mean.” My voice was sweet as I gave them my mischievous grin. The guys all groaned painfully. That scene always made them wince. I thought it was hilarious. The movie started, and I was feeling better. The guys understood they hurt my feelings, and I didn’t actually have to come out and say it. They also understood that I wasn’t the only one needing to open up. It brought my happy back. We finished the movie, and I drove home, washed my face then climbed into bed smiling. Dylan was my boyfriend. I let myself have one girly giggle, then I rolled over and went to sleep.

 
; Chapter 3

  Early Thursday Morning

  Pain tore through me, jerking me awake. Still mostly asleep, I scrambled backward trying to get away from it. Heart slamming, I looked around my bedroom. I reached out to turn on the desk lamp. My hand was shaking so badly that it took me three tries to find the button. The light showed me the soul. It was a man in his mid-twenties, he looked like a construction worker. I couldn’t get a good look because it felt like every nerve in my body was firing. My body jerked going rigid, every muscle clenched. I could barely breathe with him so close. My head throbbed, making my vision blurry. I felt my nose start bleeding. Shit.

  “Ba-ck up.” I managed through the convulsions. The ghost must have heard me because my body went limp. I felt weak like I’d just run a triathlon or something. I was gasping as I reached for the tissues, my hand missing several times. I was getting my breath back when I brought the tissues to my nose. I felt like I had been beaten with several baseball bats, everything hurt. I fought the urge to whimper and curl into a ball. It took me several minutes to have the strength to sit up. I finally looked at the soul. He was wearing work pants, a dirty t-shirt and work boots. The only thing missing was the hard hat. His friendly face was drawn, he kept licking his lips. “Who are you?” My voice was weak as I tried to stay upright. Two ghosts in a few hours was never good thing.

  “I’m Carl, Carl Mason. You can see me.” He said desperately. “I knew you could. You can help me. Please?” I leaned against the wall, I was still trying to get over the effects of his death memories.

  “How the fuck did you die, Carl?” I asked, my voice pained. He blinked at me a couple times before answering.

  “I messed up on the job, did something stupid and electrocuted myself.” He admitted. “But what the hell am I still doing here?” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly to give myself time to gather my wits.

  “The Veil is shut,” I told him in my nasally voice. “Someone has fucked with the way in, and I’m trying to figure out how to fix it. Until then you're stuck here.” I was blunt, I didn’t have enough energy for tact. He looked at me like I had just killed his dog. “Carl, I’m trying. I’m trying to find an answer to fix this. You just need to hold on to you. Okay?”

  “You’re…. you’re a kid, how the hell are you supposed to fix this?” He snapped as he started pacing back and forth across my room.

  “I ask myself that every day. But I will. It’s just going to take some time.” I tried to be comforting but my head was in a vice, and my stomach was starting to roll. “How did you find me anyway? He stopped pacing and blinked at me.

  “The light.”

  “Huh?”

  “From this side, the world is darker. It’s always dusk here. I was walking around the lake, there was a bright light in the dark.” He looked around the room. “And it’s coming from you.” Oh, shit.

  “So, you just followed it?” This was not good. All the ghosts were ramping up in energy, they were leaving their haunting grounds, and now I learn I look like a freakin’ beacon? You have got to be fucking kidding me.

  “Yeah, there isn’t much light on this side.” He said. I felt more pressure in my head, my nose bled more. I grabbed more tissues as I felt my barriers shake.

  “Look Carl. I can’t help you right now, but I’m working on it. You can’t stay here...” I stopped talking as my stomach lurched. Shit. “You’re hurting me.” I jumped from the bed and ran to the bathroom. I made it just in time. I threw up, again and again. When my stomach finally stopped cramping, I leaned against the tub. I wadded up some toilet paper and held it to my nose. Carl didn’t come in with me. Thank you, Carl. I sat there miserable, guilt gnawing at my gut. I know I needed to reach my center, but every fucking time I tried, I freaked out and climbed back out. Your center is the very core of who you are and what you are. To reach it you had to go through all the significant events in your life. The bad, the good, and the ugly. You see it in a way you didn’t before. That isn’t always good. I leaned my head back against the sliding glass door of the shower and just tried to breathe through the pain. I needed to get my beads. They were in my room. I needed to move. It took me longer than I want to admit to get up and walk slowly into my bedroom. I made it to my desk and opened the drawer. I pulled on my eight onyx beaded bracelets and dropped to my bed. I wasn’t conscious long.

  The blaring alarm woke me up. I groaned then hit the damn thing. My head was heavy, my body still achy. In short, I felt like shit. I got up and went into the bathroom, I did my usual morning routine without a shower or makeup this time. I was going to be working out, there was no point in doing either now. I put my hair up in a bun and looked in the mirror. My long copper hair was in a mass on the back of my head. My heart shaped face was pretty, at least I thought so. But nothing spectacular. My already pale skin looked even paler this morning. The bags under my eyes were dark. In short, I looked how I felt. My eyes were a mix of dark green and light green, with gold flecks mixed in. At least my eyes were still bright. I snorted at myself as I went to my bedroom and got ready for my workout. I pulled on my black Capri yoga pants, my black sports bra, and a dark blue tank top. I pulled on my sneakers and headed downstairs. The great room was empty, not surprising considering it was before seven in the morning on Saturday. Rory’s house had an open floor plan. The living room, dining room, and kitchen all in one room. Well, the kitchen had its own alcove on the right side of the house. But otherwise, one big room. I turned the machine on to make a cup of coffee, then I made buttered toast. If it stayed down, I promised myself a real breakfast after the gym. Then a nap at the cemetery. Oh, yeah, a nap, that sounded great. But my barriers held against two ghosts in one day. Yay. I still felt like shit.

  I slowly ate my toast and drank my coffee. By the time, I was done I was feeling less foggy. I grabbed my water bottle, keys, cell phone. I pulled on Miles’ gray hoodie then my leather jacket and headed out the door. It was butt ass freezing. I ran into my truck and cranked the heater while it warmed up. As soon as I could, I drove to the gym the guys called home.

  I hurried inside cursing myself for not just wearing sweat pants. The gym was made of several huge rooms, a weight room, a mat room and a room with several MMA octagons. Like I said, huge. I found the guys next to the lockers where members stashed their gear.

  “Hey,” I mumbled as I walked to my locker. Everyone looked up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw them all frown.

  “You look like shit,” Zeke announced.

  “You alright, Red?”

  “You don’t have to work out today if you're sick.” Miles pointed out gently.

  “You’re paler than usual, Beautiful.”

  “Ally? What happened?”

  “I had a double header yesterday, in about eight hours of each other,” I told them as I unlocked my locker. The guy a couple lockers down got really interested. He was around our age. Broad shoulders, brown hair, and a cute face. That’s all I got when he turned then looked me up and down with a flirty smile on his face. I pulled out my hand wraps and glared at him. “I was trying to talk about having seizures while being discreet, you dick.” I snapped at him. He had a half grin on his face as he went back to putting his gear away. The guys were laughing as he closed his locker before heading out of the gym. I put everything in my locker and slammed it shut. I sat down on the bench and started wrapping my hands. The guys were still eyeing me. “But good news.” I looked up to make sure no one was around. “My barriers held through both. And by the way, don’t electrocute yourself it’s the weirdest fucking way to die.” The guys chuckled. Zeke eyed me.

  “You sure you're up for this?” Zeke asked doubtfully.

  “Bring it, bitch.” I challenged him. Zeke got that grin that I’ve learned to hate. Oh shit. Can I say I’m sorry now? Fuck. Me and my mouth.

  “Let’s go.”

  An hour and a half later, I hit the mat again. After working out on the bags, the weights, not to mention the running Zeke always made m
e do. I was tired. But I wanted to get this damn throw down. I growled in frustration. Hot, sweating and trying to catch my breath I sat up to glare at Miles. Sweet Miles was being a dick. Okay, he wasn’t. I was the one fucking up, and he was just teaching me.

  “Did you see what I did with my hips in that throw?” He asked again for the fifth time. Okay, now I was getting pissed.

  “No Miles, I didn’t see it. I was too busy being thrown.” I pointed out. This wasn’t working. I knew what would, but Miles wasn’t going to like it. “Sweetie, I know you aren’t all that comfortable touching me, but you’re gonna have to have me do this in slow motion. With you putting me in the right position like Isaac does.” It was the fastest way for me to learn, Isaac had the same problem teaching me, it wasn’t until I got into the right position that I understood what he was saying. But since Miles refused to do that, I was still stuck on basic self-defense throws, two months later. His fingers started tapping out a staccato rhythm against his leg. I just waited. His green eyes met mine without the glasses today. It was strange not seeing him with glasses, but it did show his eyes off more. He nodded. Finally. I got up and stood a couple feet in front of him. He hesitated. I sighed then looked at him over my shoulder. His face was drawn. “Sweetie, either you put me in position and show me how to do this throw. Or someone else is going to grab me, and I won’t be able to do it when I need to.” His eyes flashed from warm to cold. Oh, he didn’t like the thought of that. I’d learned over the last couple months that Miles did get angry, but he always controlled it. I kind of envied him that ability. His mouth pressed into a line before he stepped up behind me.

  “Alright, someone grabs you from behind and pins your arms.” Miles pressed the front of his body to my back, wrapped his arms around my chest and locked his hands together. We both ignored the fact his hands were basically locked together over my breasts. “Now you get into the second stance.” I put my feet further apart than shoulder width. Miles let go of me, his hands went to my hips. “Now, what you're going to do is turn your hips.” I turned my hips the way he wanted me to. “But at the same time, you're going to take this leg.” One hand went to my upper thigh on my right leg. “You're going to hook it back and around my ankle, but you’re crossing behind you to the opposite side. Don’t forget to plant it. Otherwise, you’re still going to be stuck.” I held on to his shoulder and moved the way his hand made me go. He let go and stood up. “In that position, all you need to do is twist yourself straight, and the guy will drop.” I nodded.