Don't Touch

by Barbara Taub

  “Get ready,” I warned Stefan.

  A minute later, two more cousins screamed their outrage as scratched cheeks bled onto their polo shirts. All seven Krampus cousins leaped after the cat, while the one guarding us twisted around to watch.

  “Now!”

  Stefan has some moves, I have to admit. He had a fist to the cousin’s jaw before I even saw him twitch. As the cousin slumped, Stefan grabbed the gun, and we both ran for the door. Luckily, we were on the bench closest to the front of the car, so I had the door open and us through in a heartbeat. I held my tattoo to the door and heard it lock behind us.

  With Stefan behind me, I raced through the next car, locking both of its doors behind us as we passed. Then we were standing on the platform next to the engine. We heard gunshots as the cousins tried to shoot out the locks on the connecting doors. “Put your arms around me and whatever happens, don’t let go,” I warned. I could feel Stefan suck in a breath as I peeled off my gloves and tucked them into my pocket, but there was no time for explanations. I slapped both hands against the engine and things got fuzzy.

  I was in my mountain cabin again, staring at Metro. Stefan was a dead weight against my back, his arms slipping from my waist. Without my gloves on, I couldn’t try to catch him so the best I could do was push until we were against the wall. After I eased him down and saw that he was breathing normally, I pulled on my gloves and turned back to Metro.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Are you well, Spark?” He put a hand to my cut lip and frowned.

  “If we’re really here, then I’m fine. But you still have eight monsters on your train. Any chance you could take care of them?”

  He shook his head. “They have tickets. They paid their fares. I have to take them to their destination.” Then he smiled. “I just don’t have to take them there right away…”

  “Thanks.” The cabin was starting to ripple around the edges, and black spots were in front of my eyes. “I need to stay here. But I’ll come back to finish my SA. I promise.”

  “I need to see you again. But your SA is complete. Come because you want to see me.”

  Through the dancing, growing black spots, I saw that he had a Metro tattoo on each arm. A glance down showed my arms were bare. “I’ll come.” The black spots grew until they ate everything.

  It was the growling that woke me up. Damn. I lurched for my bedroom. There on the bed, next to my camping backpack and my bow, was George in his cat carrier. He was not happy, but didn’t seem to be suffering from the same transfer sickness that affected Stefan and me. Must be a cat thing. My own headache wasn’t quite so bad this time, and although my vision was a bit wobbly, I could still see. After releasing George, who made a beeline for his litter box, I checked on Stefan—still unconscious—and stumbled over to the kitchen for a can of cat food. Not bothering with a dish, I set the can on the floor. George sniffed, but deigned to eat. I added a dish of water, and staggered off to the bedroom to grab pillow and blankets for Stefan. I put a bowl next to his head and collapsed on the couch.

  This time it was the sound of Stefan being noisily sick into the bowl that woke me up. I know just how you feel. I headed to the bathroom. Avoiding the mirror, I gulped down some ibuprofen. When I came back with a wet washcloth and a glass of water, he was lying back with an arm over his eyes. “You did try to kill me. Again.” His voice was weak. “Where are we?”

  “Back at my cabin. Can you make it onto the couch? Then I’ll tell you what I know.”

  He didn’t say anything for several minutes. Then, with a groan, he rolled over and crawled to the couch, managing to pull himself onto the cushions. I covered him with the blanket and left the bottle of ibuprofen and the glass of water next to him while I went to the bathroom to rinse out his bowl. When I got back, he was asleep again so I just stretched out on the other leg of the sectional and pulled a quilt over myself. George jumped to the corner between us and began noisily washing his privates.

  Welcome home.

  The next time I woke, it was dark. Stefan was still asleep, but his color looked better. I looked through the cabin and found that the freezer was stocked with cartons of ice cream, a couple bags of coffee, and a note from Mom saying to call her as soon as I returned. There were a few jars of jelly beans left on the porch, and several jars of gravel. I shook out a few pieces of gravel, pulled off my gloves, and touched one. Score! A thumbnail-sized roast beef sandwich. Touching some larger stones into full sized sandwiches, I made up a plate and brought it to the table.

  Stefan sat up and reached for the ibuprofen. He closed his eyes for a few minutes and……“Hey!” I yelled. “You have both eyes back.”

  Two cerulean blue eyes flashed open. His hands flew to his eyelids. When he looked back at me, his eyes were wet. “I’m going to miss the pirate.” I laughed as he frowned at me. “But I’m glad your eye is back. Are you hungry?”

  He had to think about it, but decided he could make it to the table. We emptied the sandwich plate in record time, and I went out to the porch to touch a refill. After I put the dishes into the dishwasher, I brewed a pot of coffee and we went back to the couch to talk. Stefan’s story was pretty short, but what I heard loudest were the things he didn’t say. He talked about working at the middle school, where the principal was thinking about retiring in a year or so. Everyone thought he would get that job. He and Kristin had gone out a few times, but they were just friends. In fact, he had a lot of friends, so his free time was divided between working on the house and social activities.

  I heard the thoughts he didn’t put into words. The sadness at leaving job, house, and friends behind in Null City. The wistful thought that he couldn’t start a new relationship because he still hoped to resolve things with me. I recognized his frustration, guilt, and anger. I was good friends with them all.

  I told him everything that had happened to me. As Rag’s name was mentioned over and over, I saw Stefan’s face fall. But I pretended not to notice as I continued my story, even though I ended with a list of Rag’s theories. Stefan was quiet when I finally finished and waited for his response. “Are you sleeping with him?”

  What is it with guys? Rag asked the same thing. I tell them a story that pushes at the boundaries of everything we know, and their only question is whether I’m getting any? “Not that it’s any of your business, but Rag is just my…” What? Mental sparring partner? Annoying, crabby, antisocial, companion with boundary issues? “Friend,” I said firmly. Even though it didn’t feel like the right word, Stefan cheered right up. “But we have a bigger problem. I don’t have a cellphone, and neither do you, right?” He patted his pockets and shook his head. “And my laptop is still on the Metro. We don’t have a car or even your bike. So there’s no way we can call for help or try to leave here. And the Krampus cousins are sure to know about this place. We’re probably going to have company soon. I need you to help me get ready for them.”

  The first thing to do was pump up both water tanks until they were full and disconnect their pipes. Then we unfastened the posts pretending to hold up the house and lowered them. I pulled up the winch and rolled up the stepladder, locking both into place on the porch. While we waited, I touched more stones into roast beef sandwiches and put them in the freezer. Rapunzel’s tower was ready for a siege.

  Around midnight, I heard George complaining from the foot of my bed. As I sat up, I heard a soft thunk against a corner of the porch. I pulled out my bow and moved into the living room to put a hand against Stefan’s mouth. His eyes gleamed silver in the moonlight streaming through the windows. “Company,” I breathed. He nodded and reached for the gun he’d taken from the Krampus cousin. We crouched on either side of the doorway as a rope, fastened to a hook that had been thrown over the porch railing, pulled taut and started quivering. Less than a minute later, a dark figure grabbed the edge of the porch and swung gracefully up.

  As the intruder stood and turned to pull up the rope he’d climbed, I grabbed the baseball bat f
rom the porch and swung toward the back of his head. To my shock, he swerved easily away, even though he couldn’t have seen it. Swinging around, he grabbed the bat and pulled me closer. Both his arms wrapped around me, and I looked up to meet Rag’s dark eyes. “Hello, Rapunzel. Nice tower.” He frowned and gently touched the cut on my lip.

  We stared at each other for a moment. Then I was backing away while Rag and Stefan shook hands stiffly. We went back inside the cabin, and I made another pot of coffee. A look at the two males glaring at each other sent me back to the freezer for three cartons of ice cream. I put a carton and a spoon in front of each of us, poured the coffee, and turned to Rag. “You go first. How did you find us?”

  “The imps told Pete, and he told me about you being taken prisoner. When the train got to Fallen Court, there was no sign of you on board. I remembered the Metro…brother…had taken you here before, so I called your parents and came as soon as the Metro stopped at Seattle. But if I could find you so easily, I’m sure the Krampus won’t be far behind me.”

  He must have seen the flash of fear on my face when he mentioned my parents, because he reached out and brushed my hair behind my ears, lingering to rub a thumb along my cheek. “I only talked to them on the phone, but they seemed fine. Your mother was pretty suspicious of me at first and asked a lot of questions. It wasn’t until I mentioned George that she relaxed. After they told me how to get to your cabin, I told your parents to get as far away as possible and not come back until I let them know you’re safe. Now, what happened to you, and how did your lip get hurt?” He glared suspiciously at Stefan.

  I went through the whole story. Of course, that only left Rag with more questions. At first, Stefan attempted an answer or two. But since I have more experience with the lightning-flash that is the Raguel thought process, after a few tries Stefan sat back, his eyes flickering between us like a spectator at a tennis match. Finally Rag did that air-reach thing and pulled his NOTES book out for updates, so I put my hand onto his arm. “We don’t have time now. If you’re right, those Krampus cousins could be here at any minute. Did you bring that scary-assed sword of yours?” Rag frowned at my description, but nodded. “Okay, here’s the plan. We’ll try to hold them off, but if they make it onto the porch, you’ll let them get to me, and I’ll touch them.” Both men stiffened and shook their heads.

  “Like hell you will,” said Stefan.

  “In your dreams, Rapunzel,” added Rag.

  “Do you have a better plan?”

  Rag nodded, jerking a thumb toward Stefan. “It’s his fault you’re involved in this. I say we pitch him over the porch railing, and let his family have him back.”

  Stefan looked startled, but managed to nod. “Lette, he’s right. This isn’t your fight.”

  “He’s an arrogant ex-angel jackass, and it became my fight a long time ago. If he doesn’t want to help, he can get the hell out of here.”

  Rag was…quiet. Maybe nobody had ever called him arrogant. Or a jackass. I thought back to some of our arguments on the Metro. Nope, those words had definitely come up before. Maybe the guy was just so angry that he was speechless. Filing that away for future consideration, I glared at both of them.

  “Fine.” Rag’s voice was a rough growl. He sucked at losing arguments.

  Stefan looked at us and seemed about to say something. He stopped, shook his head, and asked, “What is your touch today?”

  I realized it was after midnight, so I got some gravel and my stone dish for experimenting. I touched the gravel and saw a miniature jack-in-the-box. Using the tip of one finger, I wound the tiny handle to hear the tinny Notes of Pop Goes the Weasel followed by the arm-waving little clown popping from the box. We all laughed, I put the gloves back on, and the tension was broken. I took Rag on a tour of the cabin, and then he insisted on taking the first watch while Stefan and I went back to sleep. I noticed that he seemed pleased to see Stefan head for the couch while I went back to my bedroom.

  An hour later, I still couldn’t sleep, so I reheated the coffee and carried two cups out to the porch. Rag was sitting in the deck chair Mom brought the first year I was here. I handed him one mug, and leaned against the railing with the other. We sipped silently for a few minutes, and then I had to know. “Rag, why are you here?”

  He looked surprised and disappointed that I would even ask. “Because you’re in trouble.” He frowned. “Don’t you want me here? Well, actually screw that. Even if you don’t want me, I’m staying. I didn’t do very well as a human, but I do remember some things. And one of them is that friends help each other.”

  I drank my coffee, shivering slightly in the night breeze.

  He put the coffee cup on the floor and stood to wrap his jacket around my shoulders. It smelled like Rag, a combination of cinnamon and lemon and maybe a touch of gasoline. Taking my cup and setting it next to his, he scooped me up in that “I’m the big bad demon and you’re the tiny little thing who doesn’t weigh much” way that I should have found much more annoying, and sat back down in the chair with me in his lap. He handed my coffee to me and reached down for his own cup.

  I leaned back against his chest. “Tell me about being human.”

  He took a few sips of coffee. “Not much to tell. I was part of a group of angels under the command of a general named Samyaza. We were assigned to watch humans. And they were just fascinating. Their lives were over in a blink, but many of them blazed so brightly during that time that we just couldn’t look away. So many of our army wanted to take humans as mates that Samyaza decided we should all fall. I went along, married the sister of one of the other angel’s mates, and tried to live as a human. But although the others did well and were happy, at least for the instant that their mates lived, I was never very good at that. When we were punished for falling by being imprisoned for seventy-seven generations, I was actually relieved. After the punishment, I had all the time I wanted for my experiments. Even though I miss the unlimited power of my angelic state, it meant I had to be more creative, compensating for what was gone. I was satisfied with my life.”

  He quietly sipped his coffee for a few minutes. “And then you came along. With your questions and your theories that challenged mine, and you were just so…” Again, he took both cups and set them onto the floor. Then his arms tightened and he lowered his lips to mine. Touched. Maybe I should have thought about him having thousands of years of experience, maybe I should have thought about him living forever and my short human lifespan, maybe I should have thought about my touch, hell—maybe I just should have thought… But I didn’t. I opened my lips and our tongues fought a brief argument that we both won. I tugged my arms out from the borrowed jacket so they could wrap around him, and I felt his hands moving under my shirt. “Lette?” Stefan’s voice came through the doorway. “Is everything okay?”

  “Fine,” I answered, my eyes never leaving Rag’s. “We can finish our…talk…later.” I handed him the jacket, took the two empty cups into the kitchen, and headed back to bed. George gave a long-suffering sigh and went out to see if Rag needed a cat to pet. Turns out he did.

   •●• 

  By that afternoon, we were all getting jumpy. Where was the Krampus? Had the cousins given up? I got the answers just as I was getting out some roast beef sandwiches to defrost for dinner. Stefan’s gasp, and Rag’s low-pitched, “Lette!” called me to the porch. My stomach lurched when he used my actual name, and I hurried over. There must have been a hundred or more people gathered in the clearing under the cabin. Then a kind of aisle opened, and an old man came forward. He was tall and handsome but his shadow was the most twisted of all. He looked up at the cabin and called out, “Stefan.”

  Stefan shuddered next to me, but his voice was steady as he called back. “Grandfather.”

  “We don’t want to cause any trouble for your friends. This is just about you accepting your inheritance, and your responsibility to your family.”

  “No.” Stefan’s face was as emotionless as his voice. “
This is about us being vampires who live off the fear of children.”

  The Krampus motioned to a couple, who came forward to stand next to him. I heard Stefan take a harsh breath as the woman shaded her eyes and looked up. “Stefan,” the man next to her said. “Son. You know we only want what’s best for you and for the whole family. Your grandfather has taken care of us for years, and now that your grandmother is gone, he’s tired. But without a strong Krampus, we’ll all starve. Do you want to see your mother suffer like that?”

  “Is it true?” I asked him softly. “Is that the only way they can eat?”

  He shook his head. “They can eat food and do fine. This is something……more. More exciting, more delicious, more powerful, more……” He ran out of words and just shook his head again. “More wrong,” said Rag.

  Stefan nodded. “It’s not their food. It’s not their medicine or even their cigarette. It’s their drug. And when they stop……” He grew still. “I stopped, and it took two months before I could even get out of bed. A year before I could stop shaking every time I heard a child crying. And even now……sometimes……” He shuddered. I turned and hugged him fiercely. He leaned his head forward, and I kissed his forehead. “You’re strong. And you’re brave. But they are scared. I don’t think you’re going to change their minds.”

  He stepped away from me and called down to his parents. “Mom, did he tell you this at the beginning? Did you know you and your children would be addicts, preying on other people’s children? Is this what you wanted for us? Dad, remember when you took us and moved to Los Angeles? Wasn’t it to get away from all that? Is this what you want me to hand down to your grandchildren?”

  His mother had tears streaming down her face. Suddenly stepping away from her husband, she turned to her father-in-law, the Krampus. “I never wanted this. And neither did your wife.” As her husband and his father stared, her voice got louder. “Greta was the one who brought Stefan to her old friend Roulette. She helped him through those first months, and then arranged for him to go to Null City with Lette. She wanted something better for both of them. And I want it too.” She looked back up. “Stefan, I love you. And I hope, someday, you can forgive me.”