The Innocent

by Michelle K. Pickett

  “How’s your arm feeling?”

  “Good. Fine. You know, hurts like crazy.” He eased himself down on a chair across the patio table from where I sat.

  I smiled. “Thank you for—”

  He waved my words away. “Don’t you dare thank me.”

  I pulled back and looked at him. “What?”

  “I don’t want you to thank me for helping Ben. Let’s just chalk it up to something that needed to be done and I wanted to do it, and leave it at that. No thanks necessary.”

  I nodded. I wasn’t sure what he meant, but whatever.

  “So.” He looked around Xavier’s backyard. “How long have they been here?”

  “I wondered why you were here. I should have known.” I sighed.

  “Known what?”

  “It’s all business with you. Muriel told me that once before we started dating.” I looked down at the table and traced a pattern with my finger. “They’ve been here about an hour, give or take a few minutes.”

  “Have they said anything to you?” Chay asked.

  “Yes. They want to talk to Benjamin. They aren’t real happy with me right now because I won’t go get him.”

  “They can get inside, you know.”

  “I know, but their power will be weakened by the barrier around the house. And my dad has the dagger and is playing with Ben.”

  “Smart.”

  “I do have my moments here and there.” I looked over the backyard and watched the hobgoblins running through it.

  “You have more than just moments, Milayna.”

  I pushed an errant curl out of my face. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I fell for you, didn’t I? That wasn’t the smartest move on my part considering how it ended, you disappearing, me brokenhearted and worried senseless.”

  “And let’s not forget about the whole trying to kill you thing,” he bit out.

  “That wasn’t you,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “Really? It felt like me.” He scrubbed his hands over his face.

  “You know damn well that wasn’t you, Chay. Look, I’m not having this discussion with you. No one blames you for that except you! That should tell you something. I don’t blame you, my parents don’t blame you, no one blames you. So put your big-boy pants on and get over it already! The rest of us have.”

  We sat in silence for a while. Chay doodled on the patio table with his finger. I rested my chin on my hand and looked out into the yard, not really seeing it. I was immersed in memories of a simpler time between Chay and me.

  The high-pitched girlie voice of the hobgoblins startled me, and I jumped.

  “Milayna, get Benjamin,” Scarface demanded. His hands on his hips, he glared at me.

  “Go to Hell,” I said, not looking at him.

  “That’s not very nice.”

  “Why? That’s where you live, isn’t it? I’m just inviting you to go home.”

  Friendly skipped to the table. “Get Benjamin. We want to play.”

  “No. Ben isn’t coming out here, and I wouldn’t advise you going in there.”

  “You wouldn’t give away your dagger,” Scarface said with a deformed smile.

  “Wouldn’t I? Are you sure? Because there are three people in this world that I would give it to. Three. Do you know who those three are? Can you be positive they aren’t here?”

  The two hobgoblins looked at each other. Friendly cackled a laugh, and Scarface scowled. Evidently, they didn’t trust themselves enough to guess the three people I’d trust.

  “Okay, we’ll just give you a message. Jord is angry. You messed up two of his plans. He tires. Another game and he is done. The next one will be big. His finale. Don’t mess it up. His life depends on it.”

  “Whose life depends on it? Benjamin’s?”

  “No,” Friendly giggled. “Jord’s.”

  Scarface grabbed Friendly by the back of the neck and said, “Hmph… can’t you deliver a message without telling too much…?” His words faded as he made his way into the underworld.

  Chay drummed his thumbs against his thigh. “Maybe that’s their weakness. Survive their attacks until they are too weak to fight and they die,” Chay said.

  “Yeah, but their attacks are brutal. Trying to survive three or four attacks from each one will be exhausting, if not impossible,” I said quietly.

  He leaned across the table. “So we don’t look at it that way. We look at it as one attack at a time. Everything in moderation.

  “Yeah.”

  “I should be getting home.” Chay stood and stepped away from the table.

  I nodded and walked beside him down the dark driveway toward the front porch. Our hands brushed. I started to pull mine away when he took hold of it and threaded his fingers through mine. I stopped walking. There was just enough light filtering down the driveway from the front porch that I could see our hands clasped together. It looked right. It felt right. Slowly, I looked up at Chay.

  In one quick movement, I put my hands on his chest, shoved him against the wall, and flattened myself along the length of him. I grabbed his face in my hands and kissed him hard on the lips. He tensed, but he didn’t turn away. Instead, his head moved forward, urging me to take the kiss deeper.

  His hands hovered over me. I wasn’t sure if he was going to wrap them around me or push me away—I wasn’t sure he knew. He laid his hands on my hips, tentative at first. And then he hooked his fingers through the belt loops on my jeans and jerked me hard against him. I sucked in a breath. My head fell back as he kissed down my throat and across my chest to my shoulder. I wrapped one arm around his neck, the other around his head; my hand plunged into his hair, holding him to me.

  Brushing away my hair, Chay moved my collar and bra strap, kissing the sensitive skin along my shoulder to the base of my neck before traveling up to my mouth again. I sighed at the taste of him. I’d craved his tasted for months and now that I had it again, it was sweeter than I’d remembered.

  “Milayna,” he murmured against my lips.

  “Mmm.”

  “What would your boyfriend think if he could see you now? Draped over me in a darkened driveway like a common—”

  He didn’t have the chance to finish his sentence. I smacked him so hard that my hand vibrated from the force. It was too dark to see, but I knew if I had been able, I would have seen a perfect red handprint on his cheek.

  “Is that what this was? A way to get back at Xavier for some imagined crime against you? Or was it a way to humiliate me? Because if so, congratulations. You should be proud.”

  He held his hands up in front of him. “Hey, I didn’t start this,” he said with a bitter laugh. “It was all you, baby.”

  “You sure didn’t try to stop it, which is pretty low considering you think I have a boyfriend. It doesn’t make you much better than those you think are below you. And don’t ‘baby’ me. I’m not your—”

  “Wait, what did you say?”

  “Don’t call me ‘baby,’” I answered.

  “Not that part. The part about the boyfriend.”

  Blowing a piece of hair out of my eyes, I looked away. I felt the lump start to form in my throat. But I refused to cry in front of him. Not after what he’d just done. I didn’t want him to know how badly he’d hurt me. That he’d just pounded a wooden stake in my heart like I was a vampire.

  So I stood there, taking in deep, cleansing breaths and letting them out slowly as I counted to ten, until I trusted myself to speak. I was surprised he waited that long for an answer. I was hoping he would give up and just leave.

  “Do you really believe I would have kissed you like that—kissed you at all—if I had a boyfriend? Don’t you know me at all?” I finally looked at him.

  “I thought you and….” He gestured toward Xavier’s house.

  “You thought wrong, Chay.” I shook my head and walked to the door. My hand was on the doorknob when he spoke.

  “Milayna, I didn’t mean it.” I looked over my shoulder at him. �
�What I said about you being a common…” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean it.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have said it.” I walked inside and closed the door as the first tear rolled down my cheek.

  “Milayna? What’s wrong?” my mom asked when she saw me.

  I shook my head. “Um… nothing, Mom.” I sniffled.

  My mom got up from where she was reading and walked to me. “What’s up?”

  “I don’t know. I think I’m getting my period or something. You know how it is. I’m either crying over something or screaming.” I shrugged and tried to smile. “I just want to take a long, hot shower.”

  My mom searched my gaze. “You’re sure there’s nothing wrong?”

  “I’m sure, Mom. Thanks.”

  After giving my mom a quick kiss, I trudged upstairs to the bedroom Ben and I shared. Grabbing my things, I went into the connected bathroom, locking the door behind me. When I stepped under the warm spray of the shower tears started to flow. I sank down in the corner of the bathtub with my knees pulled to my chest and cried, letting the hot water wash away my tears.

  Cry, cry, cry. That’s all I freakin’ do lately. I’m getting on my own nerves.

  I decided Chay Roberts was a complete jackass who didn’t deserve one more of my tears.

  The next day, there was nothing to do. My parents had the day off from work. My dad was amazed at the progress the builders were making. Of course, it probably had something to do with the ass chewing I gave the company after the saw fiasco that landed Chay in the hospital emergency room. We had a new crew and a new onsite manager and things were moving at twice the rate as before.

  My dad chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, placing a quick kiss on the top of my head “What did you say to them, Milayna?”

  “Just that their boss wasn’t going to like it when the state safety organizations started sniffing around. I also told him I’d be sure to tell his boss that I got anything I wanted in my bedroom at no extra charge for keeping my mouth shut,” I said.

  “I wish I’d been here. I would’ve liked to tell that guy to pull up his pants. I was so tired of seeing his dirty, hairy butt.” My mom shuddered.

  “They said the house will be livable within the next week. Milayna’s room won’t be, of course, but you can stay in the guest room,” my dad said.

  I was so happy to get out of Xavier’s house. I would have slept just about anywhere. It’d been awkward living with him… knowing he wanted… and I didn’t. It was just weird for both of us. “That’s great, Dad. I don’t mind the guest room at all,” I said, a little too eager.

  Mae. Water. Pouring.

  “Milayna?”

  “Huh? Sorry, what did you say?”

  “I said that we can fix up the guest room and make it your room from now on if you want. It’s a little bigger than the room you had,” my mom said.

  “I liked my room. I liked the arched window.”

  “Okay. I just didn’t know if you’d want to wait that long for it to be done.”

  I pointed at her. “You just want to make it into an office,” I accused with a laugh. “You like the built-in bookcases around the window and the window seat. I know what you’re doing. You’re evicting me out of my childhood bedroom.”

  “No.” She shook her head.

  I laughed harder. “You can have the room, Mom. The guest room is great. Besides, my bedroom faces east so the morning sun shines in my eyes and wakes me up entirely too early. The guest bedroom faces west. I’ll be able to sleep late without the sun interrupting me.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure, but you owe me.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “What do I owe you?”

  I ticked my requests off on my fingers. “Some paint and new curtains. Oh, and a new comforter for the bed and maybe a throw pillow or two. The tree ruined mine and you have to admit the guest room is not my taste.”

  “Deal.” She nodded her head once and stuck her pinkie out. I was eighteen, but she still pinkie swore with me whenever something important came along—like ridding my future bedroom of the lace doilies covering every square inch of table space. “Okay, we’ll fix it up together and make it more Milayna appropriate.”

  “Thank you.”

  Mae. Water. Gasping.

  “Milayna!”

  I jumped when she yelled my name, sharp and loud. “Yes, ma’am?”

  “What’s wrong? You’re zoning out on me. I’m talking to you and you’re off in La-La Land somewhere.”

  “Just a small vision, Mom. Sorry.”

  My mom let out a breath and moved a curl behind my ear. “Oh, honey, don’t apologize. I should be the one apologizing.” She shook her head slowly, cupping the side of my face. “You can’t help it.”

  “It’s fine, Mom.” I smiled and gave her a quick hug. “What were you saying?”

  “I was thinking hot pink and dark purple this time instead of black. I saw a photo in a magazine. I know it sounds like it will clash, but it looked really cool.”

  “Do you still have the magazine?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s go see,” I said, heading for the stairs.

  “Hot pink and purple. What a trip,” I heard my dad mutter. “Girls, huh?”

  Ben giggled.

  Mae. Water. Screaming. Broken furniture.

  The vision, if you could call it that, was only coming in small bits. I didn’t see or hear what was happening like I normally did. I was just getting glimpses, and I wasn’t sure what they were trying to tell me, but I knew it wasn’t good. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be having the vision.

  “I like it, Mom. It’s very retro,” I said when she showed me her idea for my room.

  The screams came out of nowhere. I had to put my hands over my ears to block them out. They were loud and shrill. The sound was as irritating as nails on a chalkboard. It made my head instantly pound. Pressure—there was so much pressure on my skull. It felt like it was going to pop and spew the insides out like a pimple. Just when I didn’t think I could stand another second, the pressure released and my head felt like it filled with the air that had been squeezed out. And then it started again. My head was in a vice. It tightened and tightened until I was sure my skull would collapse. And then, nothing. The vice would let go and my head would return to normal—with the extra pounding.

  Help! Help me! Please help!

  “Milayna?” My mom put her hand on my arm. The screams stopped, but my head continued to pound.

  “Visions. Mom, do you remember about six months or so ago, I went to the grocery store for you but gave all our groceries and the money left over to an elderly woman named Mae?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “My visions are about her.”

  She set the magazine we’d been looking at aside and gave me her full attention. “What about?”

  “They haven’t shown me much. I just see her and hear her calling for help. But I think I’m gonna go over there and check on her.”

  “Fine, but you’re taking someone with you. I’ll call Xavier,” my dad said behind me.

  I swung around. “No, Dad!” I said a little too harshly. Clamping my hand over my mouth, I gave him a muffled apology. “I don’t want Xavier to go. Call Chay.”

  “But—”

  “Please, Dad, call Chay.”

  “Okay.” He picked up the phone and dialed while I grabbed my things. I hoped Chay would come after what happened the night before.

  I ran downstairs and looked at my dad. “He’s waiting for you to pick him up.” I let out the breath I was holding and nodded.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Love you guys.” I ran out the door, threw my junk in the backseat of the car, and drove to Chay’s.

  He was waiting for me on the porch. When he saw my car pull up, he strolled to it and slid into the passenger’s seat. “Does this mean you’ve forgiven me for last night?”

  “No.” I didn’t look at him when I ans
wered.

  “Then why isn’t Xavier sitting here instead of me?”

  “Because, like you keep telling me, I don’t know who I can trust,” I said with a shrug of one shoulder.

  “Exactly my point. I’m the one who tried to kill you. Do you think it’s smart to be around me?”

  I sighed loudly. “I don’t want to get into this again, Chay. So I’ll say it one last time in short sentences, using small words so your little brain can understand it. You did not try to kill me. Abaddon did,” I said slowly. “Understand? Now please stop with the whole ‘I tried to kill you’ shit. It’s getting old, and it’s definitely getting on my bitch nerve.”

  I looked over at him and saw his lips twitch to hide a smile. “You didn’t answer my question. Why isn’t Xavier here instead of me?”

  “Because I trust you.”

  “And Xavier?” Chay asked.

  I flipped my turn signal on and merged into the next lane. “There are only three people I trust right now. My parents and you. Beyond you three, everyone is suspect.”

  “Why do you trust me?” He rubbed his thumb over a spot on his jeans.

  “I know you’ll have my back. It doesn’t matter if you’re mad at me or if I think you’re a complete horse’s ass. I know you’ll be there.”

  His hand stilled. “You think I’m a horse’s ass?”

  “After last night? Yeah.”

  “Hmm.” He rubbed his hands up and down his thighs. “I guess I deserve that. I really am sorry, Milayna. I don’t know why I acted that way. I was enjoying every second of it, and then it just popped into my head…”

  I glanced at him. “What did?”

  “You doing the same thing with him,” he whispered through clenched teeth.

  “Chay, I’ve never done that with anyone but you. I mean, I’ve kissed other guys, but not like that.” I felt a red-hot blush crawl over my skin. I didn’t dare look at him. I kept my gaze firmly on the road.

  “So.” He cleared his throat. “What are we doing?”

  Happy for the change of subject, I filled him in on how I met Mae. “She’s an elderly woman. One of my visions helped me save her groceries from a speeding van.”

  “Huh?”

  “A van was speeding down the street. Mae’s bag broke open and her groceries fell onto the road. The van would have run over them. She’s on a fixed income and wouldn’t have been able to replace them. Because of my vision, I was able to stall her long enough for the van to speed by before she walked across the street.”