by Derek Adam
It wasn’t that Sutter wasn’t funny. Normally I would have laughed at that, but I was still distracted by her.
The moment I went in her room and heard the shower running, I should have immediately left. Or at least announced myself. But when I paused in the doorway, Bella licked her face from one side to the other and I didn’t want her to go without. She immediately disappeared into the bathroom, and I felt like she was tattling on me.
I set the food down as quick as I could to avoid getting caught, and dropped my ex’s clothes for her.
She was talking to Bella. I tried not to listen and just get out of the room. Then I heard it as I was reaching for the door.
Five minutes with Luca…
“Luca, did you hear me?”
“What?”
Virgil was looking at me, and pointed to the photos I had taken.
“The next one sir, please.”
“Sure, Virgil.” I clicked through the images, one after another, letting him look before prompting me for another.
Her statement excited me but I was also a bit indignant over it.
I could last more than five minutes.
Glancing at the time again, I was growing a bit impatient. I wanted to check on her; see if the food was alright. But I was paralyzed by the idea of going back to her room.
It would be easier to call her room. My phone was busted though. That made me grunt in frustration. Virgil glanced at me before going back to the photo on the screen.
“Next, please. You could call her and just ask her about it.”
“Virgil, that is the worst advice ever. Stick to science.” I leaned back in my office chair, the joints of the old piece of furniture squeaking and groaning.
“Communicating is important. It’s proven science. They have done studies that proved how communication is essential in any relationship. Without it, the lifespan of your partnership won’t even come close to the Danaus Plexippus.”
“That’s right, listen to Virgil. You don’t talk to her, that puss ain’t gonna last.”
Virgil sighed, and turned from his bent position in front of the laptop to stare at Sutter.
“The Danaus Plexippus is a monarch butterfly, Sutter. It lives about nine months in ideal conditions.”
“Shut up, nerd.” Sutter snorted hard, as if sucking snot, while he noisily clicked the toothpick in his mouth. As if spirits had snot to pull down.
Old habits from life never go away.
Virgil didn’t respond to Sutter, instead turning back to his examination of my photos.
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to call her.” I spun the office chair around slowly, making a full circle while pondering the thought. “After we finish looking at these. Sutter, where’d I put that backup phone I found the other day?”
“Up mah butthole.”
“Ugh, why the hell do I put up with you. Have you seen it or not?”
“Sorry, Rooster.” He shrugged. “Jus’ funnin’. I saw it.”
“Good. Where at?’
“Up mah butthole.”
“Eklamora!” I barked out the word before I really thought about it, waving a hand in his general direction.
Sutter disappeared with a quiet snap, like the sound of a pencil breaking. There was a brief hint of ozone in the air that faded quickly.
Virgil froze and I saw his eyes dart between me and the screen.
“Virgil…”
“Please don’t Macklemore me.”
“Do you see anything?”
“…do you want me to see something?” He was still rigid… as rigid as a spirit could be. He looked like a dog that was expecting to get clobbered.
“Yes. I want you to tell me what you s-” I was interrupted by a heavy banging on the roll up door of the truck.
“Behave.” I pointed a finger at him, and he hunkered toward the screen, steeling his focus on the image. I hopped up and pulled up the rear door.
I wasn’t accustomed to visitors, especially not late in the evening. I was hoping for Emma.
I got Hitch.
Hitch looked… kind of pissed off.
“Hey… Hitch. What’s the word?”
There was obvious displeasure in his face but he also looked a bit surprised.
“What in the blue fuck are you doing here, Luca?”
“You told me to come here, Hitch. I’m doing my job. What do you want?”
His expression changed, and Hitch shrugged heavily as he plucked the trooper hat from his head. “I just didn’t expect to see you back so fast. You ghost hunter folks usually camp out, I thought.”
Dickhead.
“Yeah well, you know… no Wi-FI, and I gotta have internet to do my nerd things.”
“You see anything when you were up there?”
You got no fuckin idea, dude.
The day’s activities spun through my mind and I kept seeing Emma over and over with that creature.
I’d promised to take her back up in the morning, but if Hitch found out about her, there might be a problem. Especially if they’re looking for a suspect.
Even if they didn’t see her as a suspect, Hitch probably wouldn’t be too keen on her stroll across the border.
“Nothing really. But I didn’t get to everything yet. Gotta check my equipment and do some research.” I mimed typing in the air before tucking my hands into my armpits.
“You goin’ back?”
“Right after my sausage biscuits in the morning.”
“I think you should probably just go straight there in the morning.”
“But I like the food at the diner.” I gave him a dirty grin. I had no intention of getting breakfast, but that’s where Paula was the last time I was here, and I knew he wanted me to stay the hell away from her.
“Get a bagel at Tommy Burger.”
“But I need my coffee, Hitch. You know I love the coffee there.”
“…get it at the truck stop, Luca.”
“Yeah, whatever you say, Hitch.”
I could tell he wanted to swing at me, but his face suddenly changed. He winked and forced a smile at me, flashing that stupid grin again. I returned it with a mocking grin of my own.
He bent to tuck his head into his hat, almost like he was bowing a bit, before turning and wandering back toward his Jeep with a pompous swagger in his step.
“I don’t like him.” Virgil was standing next to me, his hands on his hips, staring out the open door of the truck with me. Hitch tipped his hat toward me as he climbed into the Jeep and I reached for the strap to pull the roll-up door back down.
“You never did, Virgil. And neither do I.”
“He’s worse now.” He stepped back a bit as I shut the door, and fixed the interior latch and lock in place. “He’s a buttpuppet tatertits.”
I laughed as I looked at him. Virgil didn’t share my amusement. He was stoic and straight-faced, looking every bit the part of the aged, rigid college professor trying to bring science to the Wild West.
“You gotta stop trying to talk like Sutter. You’re better than that.” I reached through his chest to grab the backup phone sitting on a shelf behind him. “There you are…”
I turned with the phone in my hand and found Sutter standing by the desk. He looked a bit sullen and his head hung a bit.
“How’s that ride, Sutter?”
“It don’t fuckin’ tickle, if that’s what you’re askin’.” He still had his head dipped, the brim of his hat covering his eyes somewhat. He had his thumbs tucked into the center of the gun belt that hung uneven on his hips.
“How many times have I had to do that to you, Sutter?”
“I dunno… couple three.” He chewed on his toothpick, but didn’t look at me.
“Fourteen times.” Virgil chimed in from behind me. “Though I may not have been present for some.”
“And of those couple three times, Sutter, why did I do it?”
He rolled his head up and back, sighing as his eyes went to the roof of the truck. Seein
g a century-plus old spirit roll its eyes like a teenager was amusing in its own right.
Seeing Sutter do it was all the more comical, given his traditional badass, rugged cowboy appearance.
“Because I was being a thingimafucker.”
“What’s the word Virgil taught you?”
“Discourteous.”
I set the phone down on the desk and looked to Sutter. “I need you to be sharp when we go back. Because I need you. You gotta be my deadeye, so I don’t get hooked like a fish.”
“I gotcha, Rooster.”
I’d slap his shoulder if I could. It made me think about Emma again, and how she had been able to grab him by the face like he were flesh and blood.
My eyes went to the phone on the desk. I’d need to give it a quick charge before I called her room.
It was so childish to wait. Somehow, I’d managed to reduce myself to a teenager trying to sidestep a basic conversation with a woman. I even had the brief notion that sending Virgil to check on her or send her my regards would be acceptable.
Cause I’m a stupid seventh grade choir boy with… what? A crush?
I’ll just go talk to her to make sure the food was right.
That was the easiest thing to do.
I should organize my gear to make sure I’m ready for the morning first.
“Shall we finish looking at the photos now, sir?”
Dammit. I had wandered again. I really wish I hadn’t overheard her. She had rapidly grown into a massive distraction.
Hearing her talk about me in the shower… she was thinking about me in the shower. I wonder what made her think about me.
The thought of her standing in the water with her hair wet. I wondered what her body looked like when…
“Luca?”
“What, Virgil?!”
“The photos.”
I sighed and buried my face in my hands, grumbling and rubbing my palms up and down my face. I dropped into the chair and spun it toward the desk, physically shaking my head rapidly as if the motion would toss the thoughts from my mind.
“Sorry… I’m tired. The photos. Let’s wrap this up, Virgil. Help me find this jackpot.”
Chapter 9 – Emma
“I need help with this, Luca.” I fumbled with the backpack, fishing around inside to remove something that felt stuck. No matter how I turned it, there was resistance, like it was caught on the fabric.
With so much stuff inside, I couldn’t see it and I was getting frustrated.
Luca leaned over and peered into the bag, slipping his hand in. “I got it, let me.”
I smiled at him and started to pull my hand out of the backpack. Luca closed his hand on mine and I froze. His hand felt hot to the touch. He didn’t startle me, but finding him suddenly holding my hand was a little uncomfortable. I didn’t resist though, and just held it there without trying to move. I was nervous, but felt excitement grow in me.
I looked to Luca and his gaze was still fixed on the bag, his head bent a bit. He wouldn’t look at me.
“Luca?”
“I can’t stop thinking about you.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, but hearing him say it added weight to my chest that made it difficult to breathe. My chest seemed to tighten and I leaned forward to look at him.
He stirred, his eyes meeting mine then moved quickly, his hands gripping the sides of my face as he pressed his lips to mine.
I instinctively tried to lean away at first. It was too forward. My resistance didn’t last. The way the kiss made me feel drew me in more than any desire to stop or slow down. My mouth opened as I relaxed, pushing to embrace him, but he abruptly stopped and pulled back, his hands still gripping me.
My eyes settled on his face and he was smiling. His skin started to glow on the right side of his face as it blackened and cracked, like charred wood or stone.
As it traveled down his neck and into his right arm and hand, the smile faded. His eyes grew dark like blackened coals, and his fingers pressed harder into my face, crushing my jaw and cheeks as a determined sneer grew slowly in him.
I clutched at his wrists and started to pull his hands free. Luca was strong, but he didn’t have my strength, or my gifts. He bared his teeth to struggle and his hands shook in my grip.
“You don’t belong here…” He scowled and his hands clamped down on my face again, completely overpowering me. I felt heat burn deep into the flesh of my face, as flames erupted from his arms and hands.
Gritting through the pain, I wasted no time, drawing my pistol from my thigh and pressing it up under his chin.
I squeezed the trigger and heard the weapon snap quietly, the click of the trigger indicating the chamber was empty.
But it didn’t need to have ammo. I never needed bullets. Those guns merely channeled my own energy.
Fear filled every corner of my mind.
He grinned at me, and the pressure and intensity of the flame grew dramatically.
Screaming, I dropped the gun as my legs felt like they would buckle. My head swam from the pain and I fought to break free. Everywhere I touched him was like plunging my hands into liquid fire.
Bella appeared from around me, launching and landing on him, growling and sinking her teeth into his neck. The weight of her and her vicious assault dragged him off me, pulling him down to the floor. I was gasping for air and could barely see through the pain in my face.
Luca was screaming and flailing as Bella stood on him, biting and ripping at his face and neck. My hand shook as I bent to pick up my pistol.
His screaming was quickly replaced by the sound of Bella tearing at his flesh. He wasn’t moving anymore.
I tried to say her name, but my words caught in my throat, coming in a harsh whisper. Still, she heard me. Her head rose and she craned it backwards to look at me.
Bella’s eyes were blackened coal, like his. All around her mouth was charred, blackened, and glowing, like the fur of her face were the white-hot embers in a firepit.
She snarled and growled low at me before turning to attack. I felt her weight hit me in the chest as her open mouth, fangs coated in fire, descended toward my face.
I shrieked as my eyes opened to Bella hovering in front of me. Shooting upright in the bed, I scrambled backward into the headboard. The air in the room was chilly, and had a damp weight to it. Bella was staring at me intently, the mismatched eyes fixed on my own.
Her ears were perked in curiosity, or concern. I closed my eyes and tried to catch my breath, my hands falling into my lap.
Bella buried her snout under my hand, working her head underneath it as she flipped it up onto her head. I looked to her again, and rubbed at her bushy fur, scratching slowly.
I had fallen asleep.
Not only was I asleep, I had been dreaming.
Neither of which had ever happened before. I didn’t need to sleep. I didn’t sleep. I’d tried to rest my eyes many times before to see if sleep would ever come, but...
Not in all my years. Not once. Because I’m not like them. I don’t sleep, I don’t need to eat or drink.
But apparently, I did.
It was so vivid, and so real. The clothes I was in though… I was wearing just my body suit. I had that on now, but it was under the white shirt and jeans Luca had left me.
My face… I stopped petting Bella and ran my hand across my cheek. The memory of the intense pain was there, like it was real, but nothing hurt now.
That was horrifying. The fear… is that how people feel? I had never felt so helpless.
Bella was panting at me and turned to jump from the bed, walking to the door to sniff at the handle, then the crack at the bottom of the door before turning to me.
She whimpered quietly.
“Outside?”
Her head shot up and she barked, prancing in place from one front paw to the other, as her tail kicked up so fast you could see bits of husky fur being thrown from her ass.
“Outside it is…” Sliding from the bed, there
was an unfamiliar fogginess in my head that stole some of my balance.
I still felt that strange feeling of terror, but it was fleeting. I couldn’t recall it exactly, but it left an intense discomfort in me. I was rattled.
Checking my pistols strapped to each thigh over the tight jeans, I still felt inadequate in the moment.
My hands checked them again to make sure they hadn’t disappeared in the last few seconds. Bella grumbled at me from the door, working her jaw again to grumble and let out the familiar “rawr rawr” of displeasure.
“You and me both.”
The light was just starting to grow outside. It was early dawn. Bella sprinted across the parking lot to the grass strip by the highway that cut through town.
I meandered after her, marveling that, not only had I fallen asleep, I had actually slept all night long. It was quiet, with only the sound of birds communicating the morning feast and offering their soft wake up call. Clouds of them were flying together among the massive pines that added depth to the hilly, elevated landscape that surrounded the town.
They looked like insects swarming and were easily visible against the fiery red tint of the clouds.
The fog in my head had started to lift almost immediately when I stepped into the crisp air. Though it was far from fresh. There was an underlying scent to this place of rotting trash, as if the entire place were a dumping ground of filth.
It was a pity that something like this could fester. That these people couldn’t see what they were doing to their own homes. When you live in it day in and day out, it’s hard to see the change.
Especially when you don’t care.
Bella was marching back and forth, nose buried in the grass as she searched for the right spot again. She looked so content, nosing along through the litter and moist grass, her tail curled up and bobbing behind her.
It was unsettling to think about what she looked like in that dream.
There was an oddly hollow feeling, mingled with the tendrils of fear and discomfort that lingered. They seemed to shrink with each passing moment, until I scanned the lot and realized that Luca’s truck was missing.
My insides sank again, the hollow feeling returning, and I scowled. He must have changed his mind about this morning. That’d be his choice, I suppose, if he had left.