“We’re still decorating tomorrow, right?” I asked hopefully. Decorating Miles’ house was going to be fun. I had ideas for that moose head in the living room. Ethan chuckled at me, as he finally stopped spinning his rings.
“That’s the plan,” Miles said cheerfully. Something flickered in his eyes. It was there then it was gone just as fast. Zeke had said Miles had been acting off lately. I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Just not today. I’ll find out tomorrow. I noticed Asher still talking on the phone. Huh. Okay.
Miles, Asher, and Isaac headed back out of the room leaving me with Ethan. I waited until they were down the hall before speaking up.
“Think you can help sneak my ass into the kitchen? I’m dying for some fucking chips.” I whispered to him. Ethan chuckled at me. Then, of course, he went with me to make sure I didn’t fall on my butt. We raided the kitchen and took our haul into the empty family room. Ethan threw on a movie while I opened a bag of barbecue chips and went to town. Ethan even gave me the throw off the back of one of the chairs so it would look like I was still resting. I curled up in the corner of the sofa. Ethan, my partner in crime, laid down on the couch with his head on a pillow on my bent legs. It was ten minutes later when Miles found us.
“When did you guys come in here?” Miles asked as he came around the couch.
“As soon as I could convince Ethan to go with me,” I admitted before putting another chip into my mouth.
“It took, like, a minute.” Ethan snickered. I joined him. Miles came over to me and handed me a glass of water and a couple of pills. I raised an eyebrow.
“It’s ibuprofen. It’ll help with pain.” Miles explained.
“Thank you, Miles,” I said in my sweet voice. I took the pills and set the glass down. Miles sat on the other edge of the couch near Ethan’s feet as he looked through the horde and pulled out a couple of cupcakes. My mind was going over my schedule for the next few days. I was going to have to make some changes. “Well, if you guys are serious about being with me while I work on the link to the Veil, then I’ll need someone in the morning then someone at night.”
“Lexie, that sounds exhausting. Why are you setting that pace?” Ethan asked leaning over and going through the snacks on the coffee table. My eyes met Miles'. Ethan laid back down.
“I have some souls that want to move on, and the fuckers are starting to team up to find me,” I told him, it wasn’t lying. It happened. It just wasn’t the whole truth. Ethan looked up at me frowning.
“When did that happen?” Oh yeah, I didn’t tell them.
“Game night. Two of them came at me outside Asher’s.” Again, it wasn’t a lie.
“You think it’s going to happen more often until you start passing souls on?” Ethan said, his eyes storming. “They’re trying to bully you into helping them. That’s fucked up.” I sighed.
“Ethan, they are stuck here. One of them wants to see his wife again, and the other just wants to move on.” I tried to explain. “With all that extra energy running around I’d be a little desperate to get out of here too.” Ethan seemed to understand that. We went back to watching the movie but were interrupted by Asher.
“When did you move?” Asher asked, his eyes flashing, he had his phone to his ear again. I pointed at Ethan,
“His fault, I was just the innocent luggage,” I said immediately. Ethan glared up at me, promising retaliation. “Plus, snacks.”
“Yeah, like I believe that.” His eyes ran over me again, still worried. “You have any trouble getting out here?”
“Nope, dizziness was from lack of sugar I think.” I pointed at all the wrappers and food still on the coffee table. “Since Zeke’s not here we’re pigging out. Wanna join? You know you want too.” Asher chuckled, his face and eyes relaxing to normal. I heard Miles quietly laughing behind me. I smiled sweetly at Asher.
“I found her. She snuck out of bed and raided the kitchen with Ethan. She’s back to normal.” Asher said into the phone. “Hold on.” Asher held out, what was apparently my phone, to me. “Dylan. He’s been texting every twenty minutes worried about you.” I winced and took the phone.
“Hey you,” I said cheerfully.
“Are you okay?” Dylan's husky voice was strained.
“I’m good now, I passed out for a bit and woke up starving. I’m now eating all the junk food in Miles’ house. Don’t tell Zeke.” I answered smiling. “How are you doing?” He sighed deeply.
“Much better, now that I know you're okay. What happened?” His voice was starting to get back to his usual just husky.
“I had a seizure when I was alone. Isaac found me, yelled for the others.” I began. Isaac walked in and frowned at me on the couch, then looked at Asher. Asher shrugged.
“She seems fine.” Isaac appeared to relax a bit. I reached forward and threw him a candy bar. He caught it and smiled. I knew how to make Isaac happy. Oh wait... that sounded wrong.
“And the guys picked me up, tucked me into bed and watched me till I woke up,” I added. “I only hurt a little, and I took some over the counter stuff for that.”
“Sunshine…” He trailed off; he didn’t sound so good. My stomach knotted. I tapped Ethan's shoulder, and he moved so I could get up. I left the family room. He was going to dump me now, it just figured. My chest ached as I thought about asking Asher to take Dylan back his Mom’s recipes. He wouldn’t mind. I was mentally preparing for it when he sighed. “I’m just so fucking glad to hear your voice right now.” That threw me for a loop. He wasn’t dumping me? Huh? “I’ve been fucking worrying about you and trying to work, but I got nothing done. I just kept stopping myself from calling Asher every five minutes.” The knots went away, that tightness disappeared. Warmth flooded my chest then the rest of my body.
“I thought you were dumping me,” I told him honestly. He snorted.
“No, you’re stuck with me Sunshine.” I smiled feeling completely relieved. Then I wanted to play.
“Good,” I said in my soft low voice that he loved. “I kinda want to keep ya around.” I heard him take a deep breath and hold it.
“Woman…” I snickered. “You really want to play that game?” His husky voice went low. Hot shivers ran over my spine. I took a breath and let it out. Okay, I wasn’t ready to play. Not yet.
“Truce?” I offered. He chuckled.
“I miss you.” He said, his normal husky voice rolling through my ear. That warmth flooded me again.
“I miss you too.” I sighed. “I’ll be seeing you in three days, and I need to finish my shopping, bake your cookies, work on my project twice a day and still do MMA training and rock climbing.”
“That’s a lot. Maybe it’s a good thing you live in another town.” He offered. “That way when I do see you you're not running off to do something else.”
“That’s one way to think about it.” I smiled. “But the good news is, once I’m done with this project. I’ll be done with it.”
“So, you’ll have more time.” His voice was happy again. “Okay, I guess I can sacrifice not seeing you for a few days if it means I get to see you more often later.” I chuckled. “So, tell me what happened with the other girls?”
“Well, I only know about Faith,” I told him. “She called my phone, the number she stole off Ethan’s phone by the way and was a bitch. Ethan dumped her right there.”
“Good.” I snickered. “I have those photos on the computer now, so give me your email, and I’ll send the really good ones to you. And you can get them to Riley.” I gave him my email.
“So, what are you doing the rest of the day?” He sighed.
“Catching up on all the shit I was trying to do when I was worried about you.” He grumbled. I winced.
“Sorry, Dylan. I-”
“That came out wrong, Sunshine.” He assured me. “I’m just a bit turned around now, and I need to figure out where I left off. It’s nothing huge. I just... don’t want to do it now.” He was grumbling. I chuckled.
“If you don’t d
o it, does it mean I can’t see you on Christmas?” I asked sweetly.
“No.”
“Is it essential to the store?”
“No…”
“Is it life or death?” I asked sarcastically. He sighed.
“No, but it is scholarship related. So, I need to get it done.” He sounded resigned. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Sunshine. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Bye honey.” I hung up, went back into the family room and took my spot back. Ethan laid back down on my legs and passed me some chocolate. I smiled and ate it. I was so not telling Zeke about tonight.
Chapter 12
Monday
The Day that Never Ends
It wasn’t long after that when Miles took me off fluids but left in the IV needle so he could give me my last dose of muscle relaxers before bed. When he was done, he carefully took out the needle. It stung, but that was about it. It was late when I said night to Miles and went to my bedroom. I looked through my stuff and saw I had everything I needed for tomorrow's lesson plus another outfit for shopping. Go Rory! I changed into my jammies, and I slipped into bed.
I was having a nightmare; Sophia was rotting right in front of me, and the twins were yelling at me to do something. When that chill down my neck. I woke up fast and groaned as I turned on the light. A woman was standing inside the bedroom door. Her blonde hair was up in a French twist, her skirt suit perfectly pressed. I felt the press of something around my throat. I looked closer at her neck. Rope burns. She’d killed herself and not too long ago. Fuck. Suicides were a fucking mess, no offense to the people who do it. But when a suicide dies, that soul sticks around for a while. Simply because they didn’t understand what they did. Why they still existed. I took a deep breath and reminded myself to be patient.
“I see you,” I said simply. The woman looked at me, her blue eyes sharp. She started to walk toward me. “No, no, no… don’t come any closer.” I scooted back just to be sure. She froze. “I really don’t need your death memories right now.” My throat was burning just from that step she had taken already. “Backup, please.” The woman’s brow drew low as she stepped back, her head held high.
“Thank you. Who are you?”
“I am Jennifer McClain.” Her eyes looked around the room searching for something. “I was following a light, and now it’s disappeared. Do you know anything about it?” Her voice was very cultured and polite. It was an interesting change.
“Jennifer-”
“Mrs. McClain if you please.” Her voice was crisp but still polite. I gave her a polite smile.
“Mrs. McClain. That’s me.” She looked at me confused, so I hurried to explain. “The Veil is shut, and I’m your only way in right now.” She blinked at me, her mouth pressed into a thin line. “I’m trying to link to the Veil so that I can cross souls over. But I haven’t been able to finish the link.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “I can’t help you cross over yet. I’m going to be busting my ass every morning and night. But it’s going to take time. I need you to hold on to who you are.” She looked dignifiedly upset if that was even a thing.
“This is unacceptable.” She stated simply, her head still held high “I demand you take me now.” My head was starting to throb. Oh fucking, come on.
“Did you not hear what I said? I can’t. Until I get that link connected, I can’t help you.” I took a breath and tried again. My pulse in my ears was throbbing. “I will help you cross, but the link does not exist yet.” She drew her suit coat around her and gave me a piercing look.
“Then get to it. I have somewhere to be.” She demanded then stood there with an expectant look on her face. “Come on, get to it.” Oh, for crying out loud…. you’ve got to be kidding me.
“It’s going to take days Mrs. McClain.” I tried to be very clear. “I’m going to work hard, but if I burn myself out, you will have no way into the Veil.” I felt the pressure in my face. I grabbed tissues from the nightstand and put them to my nose. Come on, lady. “You can’t stay here Mrs. McClain. You’re just going to end up making me sick.”
“I’m not leaving until you help me cross.” She stated simply. Are you fucking kidding me? You fucking bitch.
“If you make me sick, I will not be able to build that link.” I managed through clenched teeth.
“That is your problem, not mine or my husbands.” She told me calmly. I felt that chill down my neck again. FUCK! I dove for the bracelets on the nightstand and yanked them on as fast as I could. My head stopped throbbing as another ghost came through my door. The man, who I assumed was Mr. McClain, had a bullet hole in his head. Oh, thank God I wasn’t feeling that.
“Hello dear.” Mrs. McClain greeted him in a monotone voice.
“Darling.” Mr. McClain said back to her. Mr. McClain was a portly man, who had very clear disdain on his face as he looked around my room. “Have you found the light yet?” His voice was very cultured almost feminine in its sound.
“Yes, apparently, it’s this young girl here.” Mrs. McClain gestured towards me. “She says she can help us cross, but she can’t right now.” Mrs. McClain’s distaste was clear. I was really getting sick of these two already. Mr. McClain glared at me. And if he didn’t have a mustache that resembled a walrus’, then it might have been intimidating.
“What I said was, I am working on a way to link to the Veil so I can help souls like you cross.” I tried to explain again. “The link takes time to build, and I haven’t finished it yet.” He didn’t like that at all.
“Well get to it, young lady. Chop, chop.” He demanded. “We don’t have all day.” Okay, that’s it.
“Look, you have all the fucking time in the world,” I said bluntly with a polite smile on my face. I was tired; I needed some fucking sleep, and these fuckers weren’t getting it. “You’re dead. Your immediate concerns are not that life threatening. However, if I kill myself trying to finish the link. I can honestly tell you that you will be stuck here for eternity.” They didn’t like hearing that. They immediately began talking, telling me why I needed to do things their way. It went on and on. I said fuck it, walked into the dark hallway, and the fucking souls followed. I went to the kitchen and got a tub of salt. I went back to my room and spread it across the floor so that they couldn’t enter. I was going to get some fucking sleep. I shut my door and laid down in bed. Only I didn’t get any sleep. The fucking McClain's stood at my door all night shouting about why I should help them immediately, and be grateful for it. I wrapped the pillow around my head and tried to shut them out. It didn’t work. They were at my door all night shouting at me. By the time dawn came, they finally ran out of energy and were shot back to their haunting grounds. Oh, my fucking God. I didn’t bother trying to go to sleep. Because I had to get up and go to rock climbing, then work on the link to the Veil. Then go shopping with Riley.
I had a full fucking day on no sleep for forty-eight hours. Coffee. I needed coffee. I got dressed in my climbing lesson clothes, my body still aching from yesterday. Black Capri yoga pants, sports bra, green tank top. I pulled on my shoes like a zombie and went into the kitchen. I made the coffee maker start and just waited. I couldn’t believe how fucking tired I was. Like nightmares weren’t enough to mess with the little sleep I managed, now it was entitled stuck up ghosts. I laughed at how strange that sounded. Coffee was ready. I tossed a couple of ice cubes in and watched them melt. Then I started chugging. I was done quickly. Okay, coffee drive through. Espresso shots. I got this. I waited till the coffee kicked in a bit and got my gears turning before heading out. I got a small coffee that had five shots of espresso. The barista thought I was insane. Yeah, it tasted shitty, but I fucking needed that caffeine. I drank as fast as I could without burning myself. I was still drinking when I walked into the climbing center. Asher was at the counter next to... Trisha. Just fucking great. I took a big drink. I was starting to wish my coffee was Irish. I walked to the counter as I finished my coffee and threw it in the trash. Asher’s eyes went wide.
“Peachy.” I lied. “I had a double last night; that wouldn’t go away. It just kept going on and on and on. Until dawn.”
“Wow.” He said his eyebrows up.
“Yep. I’ve had a lot of coffee this morning.” Asher nodded.
“Okay. How’s the filter?” He asked meaning the filter between my brain and mouth.
“Barely there, and not looking good right now,” I warned him honestly. He nodded getting my meaning. He turned to Trisha.
“Trisha I know you wanted to apologize to Ally, but today is not the day.” He told her seriously. Her brown eyes darted from him to me and back again. Then I remembered what Ethan said. Fuck. I was tired enough maybe that’d make it easier.
“Trisha, I do have something to say to you.” Asher turned almost cringing. Trisha looked like she was bracing herself. “I should not have gone after you that way. You didn’t try to hurt me physically, and I went at you. So, I’m sorry I did that. I’ve learned recently I really need to control my violent tendencies.” I took a breath and let it out. I looked at Asher’s shocked face; it was a match for Trisha’s.
“Did that coffee have a little extra something?” Asher asked seriously. I snorted.
“I wish. No, Ethan just told me I broke a rule that shouldn’t be broken. You don’t throw the first punch. You just throw the last.” I thought about that a second. “Or something like that. I’m paraphrasing on zero sleep here, man.” He nodded getting my meaning. He looked to Trisha who still looked like a stunned fish.
“Trish, I’ll talk to you later,” Asher said. She looked up at him, smiled then walked away and out the door. I let out a big breath.
“For the first time in my life, I need a drink.” I groaned, rubbing my eyes.
“That was…. shit. Ally….” I looked up at him. He was staring at me like he’d never seen me before. I usually would think about that, but right now, I didn’t have the extra brain power.
When the Dead Come a Knockin' Page 31