When the Dead Come a Knockin'

by B. L. Brunnemer

  “I know, but she doesn’t need much coaching. She knows the song, all she needs is a little practice with the band for this one song.” Ethan was getting excited, I loved when he did that but couldn’t he do it about something else?

  “Get your girlfriend, or one of her friends,” I mumbled before taking another bite. Ethan came over to me and got on his knees in front of me.

  “Lexie, the Manager at Vegabond says we need more range if we’re going to keep playing there. You jumping in once in a while would give us that range, without going into pop songs.” His eyes were begging me. My gut knotted.

  “I’ve never sung in front of people Ethan, I’d probably blow it anyway.” I reminded him. Ethan shook his head.

  “No, you won’t. You already have the song down, you just need more volume and to use your diaphragm more.” Ethan explained feverishly. “Lexie, I’m not asking you to join the band, just help us keep being able to play at Vegabond.” I shook my head.

  “Ethan, I suck. You need to find someone else.” I insisted. Ethan pulled out his phone, stood up and backed away.

  “Oh, yeah?” Ethan looked at the guys. “Listen to this guys.” My heart dropped.

  “You didn’t,” I said quietly, as the first notes of Broken played over the speaker. Oh, my God. I was going to kill the little shit. I couldn’t believe it as Ethan’s voice came through the phone, smoky and clear. Then mine joined him. It wasn’t bad, I’ll admit, but no fucking way was I going to do this. I peeked at the guys to see Zeke had a small smirk on his face, Isaac had an eyebrow raised, Asher was just listening, and Miles looked like he was concentrating. I went back to glaring at Ethan. I wanted blood. When the song was over, he looked down at me his smiling fading.

  “Someone’s phone is going in the pool,” I growled at him. When I went to get up, Isaac draped himself over me, pinning me to the couch. “Isaac off!” Ethan moved behind the other couch doing something else with his phone.

  “Red, that was awesome,” Isaac said fighting against me as I tried to shove him off me. “You should totally do this!” I tried to give him a big shove. But the shit head stayed put.

  “Lexie.” Miles' voice grabbed my attention. I looked over Isaac to see Miles with a small smile on his face. “You sounded amazing.” I snorted and kept trying to move Isaac off me.

  “You guys are sweet, totally lying but sweet.” I tried one more time to get Isaac to move, but the shit head was heavy. I cursed at him.

  “Lexie.” I looked up at Zeke. His face was serious as he met my eyes. “That sounded great. Ethan says you can do this, and I believe him.” I stopped trying to push Isaac off me. Zeke never lied. He hated it, he’d rather be considered an asshole than a liar. If he said I sounded great, I sounded great. I closed my eyes, groaned and laid my head back on the couch. Okay, maybe I could sing. But in front of people?

  “I highly doubt your band is going to go for it.” I tried to find any reason I could to make him not ask this of me.

  “Already sent them the audio.” Ethan’s voice was smug. “They want you at practice tomorrow night.” I made a loud groan. I thought about what made me not want to do this. What if I embarrassed myself? What if I choked? What if, what if, what if. I was scared. And I didn’t like it. Fuck. I covered my face with my hands as I tried to come to a decision. The guys kept talking about how good I sang, and about how I didn’t always have to do it. Just try it once and decide later. What it all came down to was this. Was I up to the challenge? I grinned into my hands. Okay, I could do this. Once. I dropped my hands and looked up at Ethan.

  “Fine, you asshole.” I shot at Ethan. Before he could celebrate, I held up a finger. “I’ll go to your fucking practice. If it works, we’ll go from there.” Isaac got off me as Ethan walked toward me his striking face beaming. He hugged me tight.

  “Beautiful, you are amazing! You have no idea how much we need to keep this venue!” Ethan seemed so happy that I smiled. Apparently, this did mean a lot to him. I just hoped it wouldn’t be a mistake. Hanging out ended for me right there. Ethan dragged me back into the music room and started teaching me on how to use my diaphragm to project my voice and hit the higher notes. I bitched the whole time. Then he ran me through the song again. This time stopping to help me hit the note, then when I reached it we would start the song over. By the time, I’d run through it once without messing up, I was tired. Ethan said no more tonight, he didn’t want to make me hoarse. After that, I said goodnight to the guys and headed home. I pulled up to Rory’s still not believing what was I going to do. Maybe Rory would tell me no?

  I was still grumbling an hour later when I carried my shopping bags into my bedroom. Rory didn’t say no. Instead, he wanted to show up to watch. I begged him not too, he said no. I at least got him to agree not to record the whole train wreck.

  I had finished putting my new clothes away when I remembered thinking about giving Dylan a Lexie kit. I started a group message with the guys.

  Alexis: Hey, got a sec?

  It wasn’t long before my phone was vibrating.

  Zeke: What?

  Ethan: Always.

  Isaac: Yep.

  Miles: Yes.

  Asher: Yeah.

  I smiled at their responses.

  Alexis: Dylan was triggered this afternoon. It had to do with his Mom. Now he thinks I’ve got a seizure disorder. I was thinking of giving him a Lexie kit to help him deal, and just telling him it’s medicine. Thoughts?

  There were a few minutes of quiet.

  Asher: That would help him feel better about the whole thing.

  Zeke: Isn’t it too soon?

  Ethan: No, they’ve been talking for two months. They were practically dating already, now it’s just official.

  Isaac: I agree with Snoopy. LOL

  Miles: That is a good idea Lexie, you can say you can’t tell him the names of the medicine because it’s part of a drug trial.

  Alexis: Okay vote, yes or no.

  Asher: Yes

  Ethan: Yes

  Isaac: Yes

  Miles: Yes

  Zeke: No

  Alexis: Majority rules.

  Zeke: If this comes back to kick you in the teeth I’m never going to let you guys forget this.

  I snickered.

  Alexis: I’m not giving him one today Zeke. I was thinking next week unless shit ramps up around here.

  Zeke: Oh, then yeah.

  I rolled my eyes and put my phone down. I was still grousing about singing when Dylan called around eleven, I wasn’t in the best mood when I answered the phone.

  “Hey.” My voice wasn’t exactly cheerful.

  “Hey Sunshine, how was board game night? Did you manage to beat Miles yet?” Dylan’s warm, husky voice made me smile. I sighed.

  “No, our game night turned into something completely different.” I went on to tell him about Ethan begging me to sing with the band for one song to make the Manager at Vegabond happy. How my shit head friends talked me into it. Dylan was laughing by the end. I rolled my eyes.

  “Not funny, it’s going to be a disaster,” I grumbled. Covering my eyes with one hand. His laughing finally slowed down.

  “Oh... oh, Lexie, if Ethan says you’ll do great, then you’ll probably do great,” Dylan reassured me. “That guy knows his shit. I can barely understand him when he talks about music.” I snorted.

  “And Rory wants to come. Did I mention that?” I countered. Dylan snorted.

  “Of course, he does, he loves you,” I growled. “When is this supposed to happen?”

  “Saturday night,” I grumbled.

  “This Saturday?” His voice was surprised.

  “Yeah. This Saturday.”

  “Shit.” His voice was full of doubt.

  “Yes, join me in the panic, won’t you?” My voice was thick with sarcasm. Dylan chuckled.

  “Sunshine, it’s going to be okay. Ethan would never put you up to something that would embarrass you. Okay... not publicly anyway.” Okay, he made a good
point. “Besides, I’ll be there, and if something happens, I’ll kick his ass.” I snorted.

  “You’ll get what’s left of him after I get done,” I warned him smiling. He snickered in my ear.

  “Lexie, it’ll be great. You’ll go have fun, then you’ll decide if you’re willing to keep doing it.” He reminded me. I grumbled, then changed the subject.

  “So, how did teaching the guys go?” Dylan groaned in my ear, it made me smile.

  “Not great, a couple of them got everything down. Those two I can start immediately, the others... it’s going to be a bitch.”

  “I’m sorry honey, maybe you should stay on Saturday just to make sure-”

  “No way, I’m going to watch you sing Sunshine. So are the guys.” He sounded like he was smiling again.

  “The guys, too?” I grumbled.

  “Yep.” I groaned covering my eyes with one hand again. Dylan was laughing. I groaned wordlessly. He kept laughing. We talked for an hour that night. Mostly about stuff that didn’t really matter. But I climbed into bed with a smile on my face.

  I couldn’t sleep. Something was nagging at the back of my mind. I grumbled as I rolled over, punching my pillow into shape. I felt like I was forgetting something. Like I left something unfinished, something big. Giving up on sleep I rolled onto my back and tried to figure it out. I ran over my day in my head. Carl, then the gym, breakfast, then Miles’, I reached my center and then... My stomach dropped. Then the tub. What did I tell Miles? I tried to remember, but it was all a little too blurry. I covered my face with my hands. I had been rambling like an idiot, about everything. Did I tell him about the park? Oh, no. No, no, no. He didn’t need to know that, no one needed to know that. I took a deep breath calming breath. This was Miles. If anyone can keep a secret it’s him, besides I don’t even know if I said anything about it. It didn’t help. I had to know what I said to him. I looked at the clock, 2:13 am. Knowing Miles, since it was vacation he might be awake and working on some programming. I grabbed my phone and hesitated. What the hell was I going to say? Hey, did I tell you about the guy who tried to rape me? I snorted at myself. No way was I going to ask that. I chewed on the corner of my lip as I figured out what I was going to say. Eventually, I sent Miles a text message.

  Alexis: Hey, you awake?

  It wasn’t long before Miles responded.

  Miles: Yes. As usual, I’m laying here trying unsuccessfully to sleep.

  I snorted. Miles always had a hard time getting to sleep, unless he was exhausted. He usually worked on a project until he was ready to pass out. I asked him about it once, he only said ‘it’s too quiet.’

  Alexis: When I was out of it today, did I say anything weird?

  I waited, my stomach knotting.

  Miles: What do you mean by weird?

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I was going to have to ask.

  Alexis: Did I tell you anything that I hadn’t before?

  There was a minute of tense silence as I waited. Miles tended to write a message, read it again and then rewrite so he wouldn’t offend me. It took a while.

  Miles: Yes.

  Shit. I bit my lip as I asked.

  Alexis: What did I tell you?

  It wasn’t long for his reply.

  Miles: You told me about Jacob and what he tried to do.

  My face grew hot instantly. Why the fuck did I tell him that? I covered my eyes with one hand and tried not to panic. I never intended to tell anyone about that. Even my Mother didn’t know. My phone vibrated.

  Miles: Lexie? Are you alright?

  Biting the corner of my bottom lip, I answered him.

  Alexis: Don’t tell anyone, please?

  Miles: Of course not. Are you alright?

  I took a shaking breath before I replied.

  Alexis: Yeah, I just didn’t plan on telling anyone that.

  Miles: You never told anyone?

  My face had cooled off by the time I texted back.

  Alexis: Just the cops.

  Miles: Why didn’t you? After something like that, anyone would need some help coping.

  I thought about it. Then told him the truth.

  Alexis: I didn’t have anyone that would have cared.

  There were a few heartbeats of quiet before my phone vibrated.

  Miles: You do now.

  My heart melted. Sweet Miles.

  Miles: Do you have flash backs from it? Do you have a trigger we need to be aware of?

  I smiled at my phone. Miles was always looking to help in some way.

  Alexis: No flashbacks, no triggers. He didn’t hit me or anything.

  There were a couple of heartbeats of quiet as Miles texted back.

  Miles: Did you press charges?

  Alexis: No, I broke his jaw. He could have pressed charges on me too, but it’s on record.

  Miles: It’s the least he deserved. It wasn’t your fault, you know that, don’t you?

  I smiled at my phone.

  Alexis: Yeah, I do.

  Miles: Do you want to talk about it?

  I paused and thought about it.

  Alexis: Not really.

  Miles: If you ever want to, I’ll be here.

  Alexis: Thank you, Miles.

  Miles: You’re welcome, Lexie.

  Chapter 5

  Friday Morning

  I was still in bed when my phone rang in the morning. I groaned. It was my Friday, and I was on vacation! Sleeping in was a requirement! Besides, I didn’t get much sleep between nightmares. I answered the phone.

  “You’re evil,” I grumbled. Asher’s rich baritone chuckled in my ear.

  “Still in bed, huh?” He said way too cheerfully. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

  “Yeah, and I want to stay here,” I mumbled. He snorted.

  “Yeah, not happening. Everyone else backed out of snack detail today. I need your help.” He said, again way too cheerfully for the morning. I groaned.

  “Zeke?” I offered.

  “Working.”

  “Isaac?” I tried again.

  “Training.”

  “Ethan?”

  “Band practice, he said to tell you he’d call when they were ready for you.” He countered.

  “Miles?”

  “On a long phone call to Autumn, something’s going on there.” His voice told me he was smiling. I couldn’t help it, I whimpered. Asher had no mercy. “I’ll give you cookies.” He offered. I was suddenly awake and interested.

  “And breakfast?” I asked, trying to up the ante. He chuckled.

  “And breakfast.” He agreed. I smiled.

  “Are we doing jammies?” I asked seriously, I did not want to get dressed.

  “I’m already up for the day, but you can do jammies,” Asher told me. I thought about it. Yeah, I’m doing jammies.

  “Jammies it is. See ya in five.” I said before hanging up. I groaned as I got out of bed and put on my sneakers. I didn’t even bother with socks. I did stop long enough to put on a bra. I grabbed my phone, keys, and cell and headed downstairs. Since it was Friday morning, I saw no one as I got my jacket and pulled it on. I was at Asher’s door a few minutes later. I didn’t bother to knock I just barged in.

  “Ash! Where you at?” I shouted before I even thought about it.

  “Kitchen, making your breakfast!” He shouted back. I smiled as I took off my jacket. I even toed off my shoes. I headed into the kitchen and found the usual pre-get together snack chaos. Asher was wearing one of his blue long sleeved shirts and tan cargo pants today. His hair was still wet from the shower. Didn’t he ever sleep in? I went to get the mandolin out and set it up.

  “So, what’s for breakfast?” I asked as I washed my hands.

  “It’s that scramble you like, eggs, sausage, bacon, and cheese,” Asher told me as he moved the eggs around.

  “Oh, yum.” I went back to the mandolin and started slicing the potatoes. “If the girls are coming tonight why aren’t they here making snacks too?” I asked being
careful of my fingers.

  “They’re guests,” Asher said. I smirked.

  “And I’m family.”

  “Yeah, Mom had a big rule about guests not having to help clean up, cook or anything.” He said as he shut off the stove.

  “What about the other guys?” Asher smirked as he grabbed a plate and dumped my breakfast onto it.

  “They became family real quick.” He admitted. I chuckled. Asher was still smiling as he handed me my plate and fork. I jumped up onto the kitchen island and started eating. I decided to ask something I had been wondering about.

  “You don’t really talk about her much.” I probed a bit. I didn’t want to ask if it would bother him. Asher never even paused as he mixed the seasoning for the chips.

  “You never really asked, Ally. Except for that one time at that party.” He sighed. “And I was too buzzed to be able to talk about it.” He looked over his shoulder at me, his ocean eyes meeting mine. “Are you asking?” I nodded, my mouth full. Asher took a deep breath and went back to work.

  “She was amazing, she gave up her career to have us. She always called Dad out on his bullshit.” He began. My heart ached as he spoke, I could hear how much he missed her in his voice. “Every summer she dealt with all of us, here all the time. And she always had stuff for us to do. Water balloons, water guns, cooking, baking, even building that awful tree house out back every year. She always had us moving and learning new things.” I watched his shoulders grow tense. “Our house was the most stable house out of all the guys, so everyone stayed here all the time. Especially Zeke.” I finished eating and put my plate down. I knew Zeke had a horrible home life before he moved in with his Aunt Sylvia, I just didn’t know the details. “She was pretty much everyone’s mom. So, when she was diagnosed with cancer. We all took the hit.” He stopped talking to take a deep breath. My stomach knotted. Okay, I shouldn’t have asked. I’m an asshole. Before I could stop him, he kept going. “We were all fifteen, and my Dad was already checking out. So, we took care of her during her chemo. The guys, me and Jessica.” His voice turned thick and shaky. I didn’t think, I was off the counter and across the room in a second. I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him from behind. He put down the knife and turned around. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed.