by Sean Michael
He made it to his master bathroom before he collapsed in a heap, totally overwhelmed.
12
Will started to follow Payne as he fled, but Jason grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“He’s in there all by himself!” Will was not leaving him alone.
“We need to take a moment to debrief.”
“The ghosts in the house he loves just tried to kill him. I can’t leave him to deal with this alone. I… I care about him.” He needed to make sure the guys understood that. To him Payne wasn’t just another customer.
“We have to get Jason looked at.” Darnell was obviously worried.
“Uh-uh.” Blaine shook his head. “I sort of agree with Will. What if this didn’t work? I wish Payne was at a hotel.”
“I’m going to stay—you guys get Jason checked out.”
“I’m fine,” Jason insisted.
“Yeah, but everyone else is worried, so let them take you already. I’ll take care of Payne.” He stopped suddenly and turned to Blaine. “Those things aren’t going to try to take me over again, are they?” They’d been damn hard to fight, although the all-out takeover attempt he’d at least recognized and could fight it. The times it had turned him into an asshole had been subtler; he hadn’t even realized he had something to fight when that happened. But what would happen if he went to sleep and they tried it?
“I’d be happier if you guys were at a hotel, your place, our place—anywhere not this house,” Blaine admitted.
“Well, I’ll try to get him to the hotel, but regardless.” He wasn’t leaving Payne alone. And he was guessing Payne had gone up to his room—they’d been locked up there for safety last time they were both in there, so he was hoping it was somewhere the evil ghosts couldn’t get to. If they hadn’t gotten them all. Surely they’d gotten them all. After all, the ghosts they’d been fighting in the basement had suddenly disappeared. Presumably when Payne got the bones out of the house. That’s when they’d been able to find him in the tunnels.
“Okay. We’ll call you in an hour, okay? You answer.”
Will checked his phone. It was at 78 percent. “Will do.” He winked at the guys so they knew the pun was intentional. Keeping it light, right? Happy, happy, joy, joy. They’d won here. Right?
Blaine came to him and hugged him. “Please be careful.”
“I will. Should I drink more holy water?” He had no idea if that had helped earlier today, but he was willing.
“I don’t know. I just… please, be careful.”
“Okay. I’m going to go in there holding my feelings for him close, okay?” He hugged Blaine back. “Call me and let me know when the docs clear Jason.”
He took a deep breath and a step back, then another step back. “Talk soon.” Then he turned and headed into the house. He was going in for his lover.
The house seemed… like a house. Just a house. Quiet, but not silent, the late afternoon sun pouring in. The sunshine felt weird after what had just happened. Like there should have been a lingering dusk or something. Not that he was complaining. He didn’t feel himself getting angry or grumpy or anything either. Good.
“Payne?” He was guessing Payne would have gone up to his bedroom to clean off. There had been a lot of ick on Payne from that tunnel. When he didn’t get an answer, he went with his gut and went upstairs.
Payne was on the bathroom floor, tears on his cheeks, bloody hands curled into his chest.
“Oh, Professor.” He lay down next to Payne and curled up around him. “I’ve got you. It’s going to be okay.”
Payne didn’t respond, the sobs rocking him. Will didn’t know what to do or say, so he just stayed there, petting Payne and telling him it was going to be okay. He felt pretty damn useless, to tell the truth.
Maybe he needed to get Payne clean—drag him into the tub and run the shower. Those hands needed care, cleaning, dressing.
He kissed the back of Payne’s neck. “I’m going to get you cleaned up.” He stood and turned on the water, letting the hot come up to temperature. Once he was happy with the heat of it, he flipped the toggle to shower. Then he undressed before moving to work on Payne’s clothing. He kept up a quiet commentary the entire time so Payne would know it was him.
He hated that Payne had faced the ghosts all alone. He’d barely been able to resist their fury, their madness. It had nearly been too much. All-fucking-consuming. He shivered just thinking about it. But once the ghosts had given up on getting him and the guys join in on their quest to kill Payne, they’d focused all their attention on him. Will couldn’t imagine how awful that had been.
Once he had Payne naked, he took his lover in his arms, cradling Payne against his chest.
“They hated me,” Payne whispered. “They all hated me so much.”
“No, Professor. It wasn’t you they hated. It was Angus. You’ve got your grandmother and the guys. And most of all me. We all care about you and have your back.” Will stepped into the shower, the hot water so good against his skin.
“They tried to….” Payne shook violently but didn’t pull away this time.
“They were going after Angus, not you. They thought you were him. It was horrible, but it wasn’t because of you.” He would repeat it as many times as Payne needed to hear it.
“I could feel their hate. They were so angry and hurting. And they hated me. They would have killed me if they could have.”
“But they didn’t. You beat them—you freed them.” He sighed and hugged Payne tight for a moment. “Let’s clean off your hands, Professor. Please.”
Will got Payne steady on his feet, supporting his lover’s weight with his body, and brought Payne’s hands into the flow of the water. He hissed as the water began to sluice off the blood and rust and dirt, knowing it had to hurt like hell. “Oh, Professor. You’re torn up.”
“Burns.”
Yeah, he imagined it did.
“I’m going to have to wash them pretty thoroughly. Then I’ll doctor them, okay? We’ll look at them in the morning, and if they look infected, you’ll have to go to the hospital.” God knew what all Payne had wound up touching down there. “You were so brave. You managed it. You figured out what to do.”
“My gram showed me. It was… overwhelming.”
“She did, eh? That was her looking out for you all this time, eh?” He kissed the side of Payne’s face. “Now comes the hard part. I need to soap your hands up.” It was a necessary evil. To make sure they were clean. “You think she’s still here?”
“I don’t know. Be gentle.”
“I will. I promise. Just breathe.”
He was as gentle as he could be, sudsing up the soap in his own hands first, then carefully transferring the bubbles to Payne’s hands and spreading it around.
Payne groaned and trembled, but he didn’t pull away.
“So brave. I know it hurts, and I’m sorry.” He rinsed Payne’s hands off, then pulled open the shower curtain and looked at them in the brighter light. He thought maybe they needed another go. So he got his own hands all soapy and once again washed Payne’s poor skin clean.
“You’re going to be so sore tomorrow. Do you have Tylenol or something?”
“Uh-huh. I do. I think.”
“I’ll make sure you get some before you go to sleep.” Will kissed his temple. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hotel tonight? I’ll pay.”
He held his breath, waiting for Payne’s answer. When it didn’t come—neither for nor against—he sweetened the pot. “I’ll order room service. Anything you want.”
“Anything?”
Oh, bingo.
“That’s right. Anything you want. Just name it.” And if they didn’t have it via room service, he’d either order it in or go pick it up himself.
“I want a cheeseburger and a milkshake.”
“They are yours. We’ll stop at the diner on the way to the hotel.”
Payne stared at him, t
he expression just destroyed. “I feel so bad.”
He stared back before tilting Payne’s head back into the flow of water. “Tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll fix it.”
“I’ve never destroyed bones before—deliberately done it to send souls to… I hope not to hell.”
“You did what you had to do to save your life.” If Payne hadn’t gotten rid of those bones, the ghosts might have gotten all of them, not just Payne. “You saved our lives.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But it does. Because it proves that you’re a good man.”
“I’m scared they’re not gone,” Payne admitted.
“You and me both. We should dry off, get dressed, and do the hotel and cheeseburger thing.”
Payne nodded once. “Let’s go. I’m not ready to spend the night here. Not yet.”
Oh thank God. Will certainly wasn’t ready either. At all, though he would have done it for Payne. He turned the water off, stepped out, and grabbed a towel so he could dry Payne off.
“Did you ever find that first aid kit?”
“I did. It’s in the linen closet.”
“Okay. Go sit on the bed, and I’ll get it.” He gave Payne a quick kiss on the top of his head, then wrapped a towel around his waist and went to find the first aid kit.
Payne was curled up on the bed when he got back, head on his pillow. Will sat down and stroked Payne’s damp hair away from his face. He hated how sad and scared and defeated Payne looked.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I wish it had been me they’d been after.”
“I’m glad it wasn’t.” Payne reached out for him with one of those torn-up hands.
He slid his fingers along the back of Payne’s hand. “Let’s take care of these.” He found the Polysporin in the first aid kit and splooched a bunch on Payne’s torn-up hands. “I’m worried about you getting an infection.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Did you want me to take you to the hospital instead of the hotel?” It probably would be the responsible thing to do.
“No. No hospital. I just want food and rest.”
“Okay. Food and rest it is.” He slathered the Polysporin on both of Payne’s hands, then wrapped them gently in gauze. “There you go.”
“Thanks. Can you drive?”
“Yeah, I can.” He kissed the backs of Payne’s hands. “Let’s get you fed.”
He helped Payne up and led him to the door. He turned the handle and pulled, and the damn thing stuck. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Grandma. Let us out.” He yanked on the door again, and this time it opened for him.
“Maybe it was just sticking,” Payne suggested.
“Maybe so.” He didn’t care. He’d been manipulated more than enough by the ghosts in this house.
He put his hand on Payne’s lower back and led him out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Everything looked so normal, so peaceful. It was hard to believe what had gone on in the basement had actually happened. The whole thing had felt like a terrible nightmare that he couldn’t wake up from. He didn’t think he’d ever forget the feeling of the ghosts trying to wriggle into his mind, into his soul.
The keys to Payne’s car were on the table in the front hall, along with his wallet. Will slipped the wallet into Payne’s back pocket and grabbed the keys.
“Let’s go feed you. Burgers. Milkshakes.”
“Works for me.” Payne rolled his head on his shoulders, the bones creaking and popping.
“I’ll give you a massage when we get to the hotel. After we’ve eaten,” Will suggested.
Payne nodded. “I might just take another shower and make the hot water do the work.”
“If you’d prefer doing that, sure. But I’d like to. You might have noticed—I like touching you.” He got Payne bundled in the car, then headed toward the Silver Flyer.
Payne seemed quiet, his hands held carefully in his lap.
“So, I guess we’ll need to come back and make sure all the ghosts are gone, eh?” He wished Payne would sell up and find somewhere else to live, actually. Then it wouldn’t matter if the bone cleansing had worked or not. Of course, there was that clause that said he couldn’t do that.
“Yeah. Or at least the mean ones. Gram can stay.”
“Weirdest conversation with a special someone ever,” Will noted.
Payne chuckled, the sound tired, drawn. “Things have been utterly fucked up all right.”
“I think things were fucked up for you for a lot longer than just today.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. I wish I’d never brought you in.”
“What? You can’t mean that!” Payne had been miserable, sleeping badly, and the ghosts had been playing havoc with his life. Not to mention, him and Payne….
“You were in danger. Seriously. I hate that.”
“Oh.” He reached over and touched Payne’s knee. He liked that Payne was protective of him. It was a new feeling, but it warmed him through. “But if you hadn’t called us in, you and I would never have met. And you’d still have a ghost problem. Those things seriously thought you were Angus, and they wanted you dead.” It made him shiver again, remember the uncontrolled rage that had tried to take him over, that had tried to make him kill Payne. He’d fought them, though. His feelings for Payne had been stronger, in the end.
“Yeah.” Payne sighed. “That just… yeah.”
“You know it wasn’t you they really wanted dead, right?” He was going to keep reminding Payne of that until Payne really believed it. He was pretty sure they weren’t there yet. “You didn’t do anything to them. And you aren’t responsible for what your ancestor did.”
“Of course I wasn’t. I’m not him. Not a bit. I’m a librarian.”
Will was suddenly tickled. Librarian, like that said it all. Maybe it did. “Maybe it’s the librarian in you, or maybe it’s you, eh? You’d be a good guy no matter what you did for a living.”
“Don’t you mean stuffy and boring?”
He was going to pinch Payne.
“Dude. Stop that. I know today was hard, but you are a good guy, and you’re hot, and you’re sexy.”
“I’m not feeling particularly sexy today.”
“You don’t have to feel it to be it. I promise.”
Payne shot him a half smile, so that was something, right?
They pulled up at the diner. “You want to eat here or bring it to the hotel with us?”
“Can we please take it to go?”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” They went in and walked to the counter to put in their order. “You want a milkshake while we wait for our food to come?”
“Yeah. Vanilla please.”
They ordered an extra pair of shakes, which the waitress made for them right away. He watched Payne sucking on the straw, admiring him. Payne’s color began to improve as he drank.
Will’s phone went off—text from the guys. He passed the news on to Payne as he texted back, letting them know that he’d gotten Payne out of the house for the night. “Jason’s got the all clear from the doctor.”
“Excellent. I’m glad. Seriously.”
It still felt like Payne was a million miles away. Will wasn’t sure what to do, how to reach out. He knew what had happened in the basement had been fucking traumatic. He just wasn’t sure how to help. They didn’t make a card for “sorry the ghosts in your house tried to kill you.”
Payne sighed softly. “Man, I have to admit, I’m sore everywhere. It’s like I worked hard or something.”
“Your hands would agree that you worked hard. I just hope they don’t get infected.”
“Me too. I don’t want to have to go to the hospital.”
“Yeah, it’d be pretty hard to explain what happened without getting yourself locked in the looney bin.”
“Exactly. It would be awkward at best.”
Will reached out and slid his little finger alongside Payne’s. It might have been a tiny touch, but it gave him a point of connection. Payne’s fi
nger curled, squeezed his for a second. He felt that all through his body, and he gave Payne a smile.
He sucked on his own milkshake, enjoying the cold as it traveled down his throat and into his belly. He could understand why Payne was perking up; the ice cream was healing a number of spiritual wounds.
They’d almost finished their milkshakes when their takeout showed up, including a new set of shakes. Perfect. They finished off the shakes they already had, and he gave Payne the bag of food. Then he grabbed the travel tray with the shakes in one hand and Payne’s free hand in the other. He was looking forward to being alone in a safe place with Payne where they could decompress together.
It didn’t take them any time at all. The hotel was just up the road, and they had all his and Payne’s information already in the system from the previous night. They even had the same room available. Will and Payne made their way up, and as soon as they were in the room, Will set the shakes on the side table and took the bag of food from Payne, putting it down on the bed. He took the two takeout boxes out of the bag and opened them. The smell of the cheeseburgers and fries wafted up, making his stomach growl.
Payne sat cross-legged on the bed. “Thank you for this. I needed something stupidly normal.”
Will got that. He really did. They usually went back to Blaine’s after a ghost hunt and had pizza, something normal and easy, and then they’d decompress. “Whatever you need, Professor.” He sat with his feet dangling.
“What I need is for my house to just be my house.”
“Well, I can’t promise we did that today, but I think we did. We’ll all have to get together tomorrow and go through the house with the instruments. Make sure we got them all.” He wasn’t letting Payne go home alone. Not as long as there was a chance it wasn’t over.
“Yeah. I hope it worked. Seriously. I feel like someone got closure anyway.”
“Yeah? Did you feel your grandmother at all before we left? I mean, if that wasn’t her sticking your bedroom door closed. Do you think she’ll be gone now too if we got rid of the ones that were out for you?” Will kind of hoped she would be, for her sake as well as Payne’s. She deserved to rest in peace, and Payne deserved to live in a ghost-free home after what had happened.