Denounce

by Alex Dafney

  I chuckle as I walk over to the table, sitting in the seat next to her. “That’s how you stayed up for two nights straight? Aren’t you exhausted?” She shakes her head as she lifts her fork. “I’m used to it. Comes with the territory.” I lift me fork as well, taking a huge bite of the scrambled eggs. “No bother. We’ll grab some on the way to my place.” My hand stops mid way to my mouth, glancing over at her with a confused expression. “We?”

  Her mouth forms a little o. “Right. You went all loopy on me during our conversation last night.” She sets her fork down next to her plate, looking over at me. “You’ll be staying with me until the Division leaders get here.” I stare at her wide eyed. “Why?” She tilts her head to the side, giving me a sad smile. “The Red Eyes aren’t going to stop coming for you. I’m not sure why they want you so badly. I’m hoping the leaders have more insight, but until then, I’m here to protect you.”

  She lifts her fork as I stare at her with my mouth hanging open. “But I have a job, and friends, and a life. I can’t just up and leave.” She glances over to me with an annoyed expression. “I don’t live on Mars, Ashley.” She huffs before taking another bite of food. We finish our meal silently.

  I step into my bedroom, leaving the door open as I walk to my closet, pulling out my suitcase. Eri walks into the room, bouncing onto my bed and picking up the manuscript she was reading this morning. “It’s a shame whoever wrote this will probably end up dead.” I glance over my shoulder at her as I fold a shirt, placing it in my suitcase.

  “What?” She glances up to me, giving a shrug as she flips the packet open. “The Witty, Wanting Witch. Firstly, Eldora hates to be called a witch. Secondly, I can guarantee whoever wrote this didn’t have her permission. She’s kind of a hot head.” I turn to her, placing my hands on my hips with a disbelieving look on my face.

  “You’re not serious?” She looks up from the page, raising her brows to me. “Oh, I am. I’ve seen her kill someone for much less.” She drops her eyes back to the page as I sigh. Witches, demons, stalkers? What’s next?

  I finish packing and wheel my suitcase into the living room, grabbing my wallet and keys from the counter. I do my best to give Eri a smile as we step out of my apartment, even though I feel like my whole world is turning upside down. She links her arm through mine as we wait for the elevator, looking up at me with a bright smile. “I’ve never had a roommate before. This is exciting.”

  I chuckle, stepping in the elevator as the doors open. She removes her arm from mine as the doors close and I instantly want her touch back. “I haven’t had a roommate since college.” We step out into the main lobby, walking side by side toward the door. “Do we need rules?”

  I glance over at her as I hold the door open for her to step out, stepping onto the sidewalk next to her as I drag my suitcase behind me along the sidewalk. “Uh, the only rule we had back in college was not to steal each other’s food.” She laughs lightly as she points toward the left, us falling in step with one another. “We’ll drop your luggage off at my place then we can go to the store together.” She glances over at me, a timid smile. “You’re going to be sick of me by the end of the week.” I laugh quietly. Seriously doubting I’ll be tired of her anytime soon.

  She stops outside of one of the newer apartment complexes after walking a few blocks. “This is me.” She pushes the door open, me following behind her. We stand next to each other as we wait for the elevator. I catch her looking at me from the corner of my eye, turning my head slightly to look down at her.

  She averts her eyes as the door opens, stepping inside and placing a key in a small hole on the number panel. “I have strict orders to keep an eye on you at all times. That’s why I said you’re going to be sick of me.” I nod slightly, keeping my eyes focused on the door, wondering why she would have an order like that.

  The door slides open and she steps out ahead of me into a foyer area with one lone door at the end of a hallway. Stepping up to the door she flips up a small door, placing her thumb on a screen. I watch as a blue light shines under her thumb. A low beeping sound follows then the door begins to slowly open. She gives me a grin over her shoulder. “Welcome home, roomie.”

  I shake my head, chuckling as I drag my suitcase in behind me. My mouth slowly falls open as I take in the grand apartment. To the left is a giant wall of windows, overlooking the city. The living room and kitchen are open concept, all pristinely white in color. “Bedrooms are this way.” I follow behind her down a hallway.

  She stops at the end, opening the door and stepping inside. My eyes widen as I take in the enormous room. It’s bigger than my entire apartment. Eri walks across the room, opening another door. “Closet is here.” She steps over to the door next to it, pushing it open. “Bathroom.” She smiles brightly at me. “Thanks” I mutter as I sit my suitcase next to the king size bed.

  I stare across the room at her, unsure of what to do or say. She drops her eyes down to the floor. “I’ll just leave you alone. My room is across the hall if you need me.” She starts toward the door. “Don’t we need to go to the store?” She looks at me over her shoulder, a sad smile on her lips. “You don’t have to go to the store with me. I’ll just have some things delivered.”

  I give her a quizzical look. It almost seems like she wants to spend time with me but is unsure if I want the same. I start toward her, offering my hand. “Let’s go to the store. Please.” She gives me a hesitant smile as she takes my hand. “You’re sure?” I nod at her, pulling her along the hallway. “Yes. You promised me food and coffee.” She giggles lowly next to me, my heart squeezing as she does.

  A sharp pain shoots through my head, causing me to pinch my eyes shut, drop her hand and grip the sides of my head as I stop in my tracks. “Ashley, are you alright?” I feel her hand on my arm, hear the concern in her voice. A burning pain begins along my hip, right where my mark is as my head throbs harder. I lean back against the wall, sliding down into a crouch as I grip my head.

  “Ashley, look at me. You have to tell me what’s wrong, babe.” She places both hands on my cheeks. The pounding in my head begins to fade. I slowly open my eyes, looking into her concerned ones. The burning pain on my hip is beginning to fade. I drop my eyes to where my mark is, Eri doing the same. Slowly I pull the waistband of my gym shorts back.

  The once black and white circle in the middle, swirls slowly. We both watch as it stops moving, the black having taken over some of the white. I lift my head to find Eri still staring down at my mark, her mouth dropped open. “What does that mean?” I let my waistband slide back into place as her shocked eyes find mine.

  She shakes her head lightly. “I, I don’t know.” I reach up, cupping my hands over hers that are still on my cheeks while staring into her bewildered, green eyes. “No need to worry about it now. Let’s go shopping.” She blinks at me slowly. I pull her hands from my cheeks, pushing myself to standing and pulling her up with me.

  I lead her out of the apartment, down the elevator and out onto the sidewalk. The whole while she’s quiet, her eyes down on the ground. I squeeze her hand that’s clasped in mine before we go in the store. She looks up to me, her eyes full of concern. I give her a cheeky grin. “Here’s the first real test of being roommates.” She pulls one eyebrow up, the corner of her lip pulling up slightly.

  “Yeah? How’s that?” I pull her through the sliding door, dropping her hand to grab a shopping cart and giving her a sideways grin. “This is where we find out if we’re compatible.” Her cheeks blush lightly, and I instantly realize my misstep with words as she looks away from me. “Some people like sweet snacks, others like salty. You learn a lot about someone while grocery shopping.”

  She looks back over at me with a small smile. “I don’t see how shopping for food could be so telling.” I give her a shrug as I push the cart toward the produce section. I reach for a bag of oranges just as she does the same. I smile at her as she pulls her hand back, clearing her throat. “I like oranges in the morning.” I gr
ip the bag, placing it in the cart.

  She walks ahead of me, grabbing a few vegetables and placing them in. Glancing at me over her shoulder she gives me a sweet smile. “Is there anything you don’t eat? I’m kind of excited to be able to cook this week like a normal person.” I shake my head at her. “Not that I can think of.” She turns, grabbing a few more things and placing them in the cart.

  I follow behind her as we walk up and down each aisle. She stops on the cookie aisle, seriously concentrating. I chuckle as I step over grabbing a bag of chocolate chip cookies and tossing them in the cart. She eyes the bag before picking it up and placing it back on the shelf. “Hey! I like those.” She waves a hand at me, picking up a package of some white powdery cookies, placing it in the cart instead.

  “Chocolate chip is too plain. You’ll love these.” I roll my eyes at her playfully as she turns and walks down the aisle. The next aisle is the chips and sodas. I forgo the sodas, looking for my favorite chips. We both reach for a bag of jalapeño chips, laughing as we look over to each other. “At least we agree on this.” I lift the bag slightly before placing it in our shopping cart.

  She raises one eyebrow at me as she grabs a box of microwave popcorn. “You’ll agree on my cookie selection once you try them.” I let out a scoff as we walk down the aisle. We end on the spirits aisle, her grabbing a bottle of red wine as I grab a six pack of craft beer. “Are we done?”

  She nods her head at me, linking her arm through mine as we walk toward the front of the store to checkout. We stand in the only line available. I pick up a magazine, flipping through it without really looking at anything as she bends over, smelling the flowers that sit in a container at the end of the checkout.

  I watch as she picks up each bouquet, bringing them to her with the tiniest smile on her face. I smile to myself, knowing what I’ll be doing as soon as I get to work Monday morning. Shaking my head, I instantly drop the idea. It’s not so much a friendly gesture as a romantic one and she’s already made it clear we can only be friends.

  We both unload our items on the conveyor belt, and when it comes time to pay, we both produce our credit cards. “How do we do this?” I give her a smile, stepping over to swipe my card. “I got it.” She slaps my hand down, giving me a scowl. “No. You’re my guest. I’ll pay.” I place my hand on her wrist, lowering her hand as I try to swipe my card. “You could split it.”

  We glance over to the cashier who has a bored look on her face as she blows a bubble of gum from her mouth, making a loud pop. I look over to Eri who nods in agreement. “Sounds fair.” She goes first, swiping her card and paying for half the purchase. The cashier tells me to swipe my card for the remaining balance, then hands me the receipt.

  I push the cart over to where it goes, lifting the majority of the bags. She grabs the last few as we walk out the door side by side. I still can’t get those damn flowers out of my head. I glance over to her, leaning down and setting the bags on the sidewalk. “I forgot something. I’ll be quick.” She gives me a concerned look, starting to open her mouth, but I beat her to it.

  “I’ll go straight to what I forgot, keep my head down and not look at anyone.” I wave my hands around me. “It’s broad daylight. Nothing’s going to happen.” She closes her mouth, giving me a glare as I back toward the door, darting in as the doors slide open. Luckily, there’s no one in line as I walk up with the bouquet of flowers in hand.

  The cashier hands me my receipt and I briskly walk back out the door. Eri draws her brows together as she looks from the flowers to me. I bend down picking up the bags from the sidewalk. “It’s not like I can surprise you, but these are for you.” Her eyes light up as she takes them from me, juggling the bags she holds to one hand. “Thank you.”

  We start back toward her apartment, both of us quiet. Now I’m thinking the flowers were a bad idea. Dammit, I knew it was too romantic. “No one’s ever bought me flowers before.” I glance over at her, finding her smiling down at the flowers in her hand. I smile at her, knowing it was the right decision.

  We make it into her apartment, both walking into the kitchen and setting our bags on the white counter tops. I begin unloading the food as she rumbles around in a low cabinet. “I don’t even own a flower vase.” She holds up a clear pitcher. I give her a shrug. “That will work just fine.”

  I sneak glances at her the whole time I put the groceries away. Feeling good that I bought those flowers that she can’t stop smiling at. “So, what are we going to do for the rest of the day?” She glances at me over her shoulder. “I need to train for a bit, but after that we can do whatever you want to.” I look down at my workout clothes I threw on earlier. “I really wanted to get a workout in.”

  She turns, facing me with her pitcher of flowers in hand. “That’s perfect! You can workout while I train.” She walks by me, placing the flowers on the counter at the end of the bar. Taking a step back she gives a once nod at the flowers. “Perfect. Now you can see them from both rooms.”

  She looks up at me with a smile, gesturing her hand for me to follow as she steps around the bar of the kitchen, walking toward the hallway. She stops at the first door we come to, punching in a code on the keypad on the door. The door slowly slides into the wall. I follow her into a large, empty room with solid white walls.

  She points toward a door on the far wall. “Gym’s through there.” I walk by her toward the door, wondering what kind of training she’ll be doing in an empty room. Opening the door on the far wall my eyes pop open wide. This place is better than the state-of-the-art gym I belong to. Every piece of workout equipment imaginable is in the large room.

  I start to pull the door closed behind me. “If you want music on, just say what kind you want out loud. The house robot will play it for you.” I give her a quizzical look over my shoulder to which she laughs. “Artificial intelligence maid.” She gives a shrug as she struts toward a door I hadn’t noticed on the other wall.

  Closing the door, I walk toward the weight machine, adding a few weights and getting started. Two hours later, I’m spent. I hop off the treadmill, running the back of my hand along my forehead. I walk toward the door, the thought of a nice, cold shower on my mind.

  Pulling the door open, I stop in place. The room has been transformed into a dark alleyway. Eri stands in the middle of the room, her signature black, leather outfit on and thigh high boots with the heels. Her bow and arrow are drawn back as she focuses forward. The music in the room is loud. Really loud. I can’t believe I didn’t hear it from the next room.

  I close the door behind me, watching her as she sends arrow after arrow at the people that jump into view on the walls. One of the people on the wall draws a weapon. My mouth falls open as I watch Eri do some kind of ninja spin where her legs fly over her head, landing in a crouched position on the floor she pulls back her bow, her arrow hitting the virtual assailant in the chest and falling to the ground.

  The music begins to fade, and I take the opportunity to let her know I’m going to grab a shower. “Eri!” I call as I start toward her. She spins quickly, launching an arrow straight for me. Instinctively, I drop to the floor, covering my head with my hands. I look up at the sound of her laughing.

  She’s bent over at the waist, clutching her side as she laughs wildly. I scowl at her as I push myself off the floor. “It’s not that funny.” She laughs harder. My scowl instantly transforms to a smile as I watch her laughing. I move toward her quickly, grabbing her around the waist and spinning us in a circle.

  “You could’ve killed me!” She slaps her hand against my bare chest as I place her feet back to the floor. She looks up to me with a wide smile. “They’re rubbers. It would’ve bounced off and fell to the floor.” I glance around the room, noticing all of the arrows on the floor, my arm still wrapped around her waist. “Practice off.” She says loudly as my eyes move back to hers.

  The room goes back to white walls, arrows littered along the floor. I stare down into her green eyes, keeping her close to me. I l
ower my face, dropping my lips to the center of her forehead. There’s nothing in this world I want more than to put my lips on hers in this moment.

  Pulling back, I keep my eyes locked on hers, noticing the way she holds her breath, staring up at me with questioning eyes. The corner of my lips pull up as I remove my arm from around her. “You could’ve warned me you were going to be shooting arrows in here. Even fake ones.”

  She takes a step back as my arm slides down her side. Taking a deep breath, she gives what seems like a forced smile. “Sorry. I thought it was obvious.” We stand staring into each other’s eyes for what feels like an eternity. She breaks the gaze first, looking toward the other door that I haven’t been in. “Did you need something?”

  I suddenly remember why I interrupted her to begin with. “Oh, yeah. I was just going to let you know I’m going to grab a shower.” She nods her head, not meeting my eyes. “I’m going to do the same. I’ll meet you in the living room.” She walks toward the door, stepping inside and closing the door behind her, leaving me in the large room alone.

  I hesitate for a few seconds before walking toward the door that leads back to the hallway. I hit the button on the wall, and it slides open. Stepping out of the room, the door quickly closes behind me as I turn and make my way toward the guest room where I’ll be staying.

  After a quick shower, I change into a pair of pajama pants, forgoing a shirt. Stepping out of the bedroom I make my way down the long hallway to the main living area. Music plays softly in the kitchen as I round the counter. I stop just inside the kitchen, appreciating the sight before me.

  Eri stands in front of the stove with her back to me. Her short, black shorts barely cover her ass, and the light green tank top she wears reminds me of the color of her eyes. As if she senses my presence, she glances at me over her shoulder, a small smile pulling at her lips. “Was the shower alright? I’ve never used that one before.”