“I’m grateful to be here, Bella. And I do know,” Charlie said quietly, meeting my mother’s eyes meaningfully.
She smiled and nodded, then turned and headed into the kitchen for that cup of coffee. I watched her go curiously, then turned to Charlie.
“So, you’ve got to be at work in a bit, and I definitely need a shower now,” I chuckled.
“Yeah, but at least I have clean clothes, so I don’t have to go home first. Otherwise, I’d be late.”
“You gonna walk-of-shame it in the same clothes as yesterday?”
“Everyone saw me with you last night, so hell yeah. I will walk-of-shame this bitch with pride.”
I heard Mom chuckle from the kitchen and laughed, hiding my head in my hands. “You two are so embarrassing.”
“Yep, and now you’re outnumbered.”
“Yes, you are!” Mom called from the kitchen, and Charlie threw his head back and laughed so hard there were tears in his eyes when he finally resurfaced.
“Okay, I really should go now. Otherwise, I’ll be late, and you’ll be dirty,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.
“Shut up! Charlie, oh, my God!” I slapped his arm playfully, and he caught my hand, pulling me into his chest. He wrapped me up in his arms and held me like the most valuable treasure in the world that was finally all his. And I was. Charlie reached down and lifted my chin with his knuckles, then kissed me gently. When he pulled away, he said, “Walk me out?”
I nodded, and we stood, heading to the door as Mom took her coffee and disappeared into her room. Charlie peeked through the glass panels on the sides of the door, then he turned to me. “By walk me out, I meant walk me to the door. You stay inside, lock the door as soon as I’m outside.”
I nodded again, finding myself continuously without words, and Charlie wrapped me in his arms once more, resting his chin on the top of my head. “I can’t seem to hold you enough. I think being away from you all day today is going to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I’ve wanted to hold you like this for so long, and now that I can, I can’t seem to stop.”
“Fine by me, but I’m guessing you need your job.”
“Blah, blah, blah…” he said, and I felt his chin tense as he smiled. “Can I at least see you tonight? Maybe come over and watch a movie?”
I pulled back and looked up at him. “I’d like that. What time do you wanna come over?”
“Well, I get off work at seven, so how about seven-thirty?”
I laughed. “Seven-thirty sounds good to me.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.”
I nodded, and Charlie leaned down and kissed me one more time.
“Bye.”
He unlocked the door and slipped out, looking around just in case, and I locked the door behind him but watched him walk to the car… just in case. Did I have a boyfriend now? We hadn’t said it, but he had said he loved me, and he had said forever. If that didn’t qualify as a boyfriend, what did?
I’d have to think about it in the shower, because I desperately needed one. A weird part of me didn’t want to wash off what had happened between us, but the rest of me felt grimy, and the inner weirdo was overruled. I ran upstairs to the bathroom and stripped while the water warmed. I flushed as I was reminded of Charlie’s offer to strip for me earlier and wondered how long it was going to take me to convince him to go through with it. Drawing the shower curtain, I stepped into the shower and let the hot water run over me.
I soaped up and as my hands wandered, I couldn’t help but think of Charlie. The scene last night on the couch played through my mind, second by delicious second, including everything he’d said. The scene in the laundry room earlier followed closely on its heels, and I was soon just as worked up as I had been earlier. I couldn’t very well sit in the car with Mom like this and talk about Charlie. Talking about him was going to work me up more, so I relaxed into the fantasies again. I let my mind and my hand wander, imagined his hands instead, recalled the feel of him between my legs, his muscles beneath my hands, and his voice rumbling in my ear. I was there in minutes, tipping over the edge. It was nothing like it had been with Charlie, but it was just enough to take the edge off.
Maybe too much. As I came down, I felt the change, the cold seeping in. The hot water and steam felt suddenly ice-cold against my skin and so did nothing to warm me. My legs started to feel the strange electrical current feeling I got when I had an episode, followed by my arms. It was rare for both halves of my body to feel it at the same time. Usually it was one limb or another. Lately it had been either both arms or both legs, but this was worse. This was everything.
My arms, legs, back, chest, and abdomen all went off at the same time. I felt like I was being electrocuted. I tried to yell for my mom, but my voice failed me as I fell, taking the curtain with me. I felt my head strike the tiled wall on the way down, and a massive wave of nausea swept over me just as the bathroom door slammed open and everything on the countertop smashed to the floor.
I lay there on the floor of the shower beneath the water and curled myself into a ball. Seconds after the crash, Mom came running up the stairs and burst around the corner into the bathroom with Shadow on her heels.
“Dani! Oh, God!”
Her voice sounded thick, like it was being heard from underwater. She turned the water off, pulled the curtain free of me, and climbed into the tub, pulling me into her lap. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe pre-filled with golden liquid, pulled the cap off with her teeth, and let my head fall back. She stuck the needle into my jugular without hesitation and pushed the plunger down slowly until it was empty. Removing the needle, she recapped it, tossed it in the trash, and wrapped me in both arms until the world stopped spinning and my body stopped tingling. Sounds came back gradually, my temperature normalized, and my breathing and heart calmed back to a normal, healthy-person’s pace.
“Dani, can you hear me?”
I nodded.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so, yeah,” I croaked. My throat felt sore every time, like I’d been screaming and not known it.
“I called the security company. They’re coming out first thing in the morning. Maybe we should put shopping off until another day?”
“No, we need to go. This stuff is important, and I’m honestly okay now. That one was bad, but the syringes seem to work miracles. I feel better. And I can rest on the drive. We’ll just have to take frequent breaks maybe, just in case.”
“Okay. If you’re sure. Here, let me help you up.” She scooted back and stood, stepping carefully out of the shower, then she reached back in, offering me one hand and wrapping the other under my arms. She helped me to stand and step carefully from the tub. The place was a mess. I guessed the curtain had flown out when I grabbed it and knocked everything off the shelves, but I couldn’t explain the door. I couldn’t explain a lot of things lately.
Mom wrapped me in a towel and walked me to my room. I reassured her I was fine and headed to my dresser to grab a bra and underwear to prove it.
She nodded and said, “Yell if you need me, okay?”
“I will. Promise.”
With that she nodded and left me to dress myself.
13
Dani
The car ride was somewhat uneventful. It was only a half hour drive, but Mom let me sleep on the way. When we got to the city, she found a parking garage and parked the car, and then we walked out to find the shops nearby. We’d been coming to La Muerte Shopping Center for as long as I could remember. The name was creepy as hell, but there was a martial arts gym that taught self-defense, a sporting goods store that sold all kinds of weapons and had an indoor shooting range in the back, a Whole Foods, and three department stores. Mom was in heaven.
We headed to the sporting goods store first, and Mom talked me into not one but two tasers, one being a tiny thing that doubled as a flashlight and looked like lipstick, and the other being a heavy-duty monstrosity that was the same as what
the police issue and strong as fuck. She got one for herself, one for each room in the house, and three for the car—one to go under each of the front seats and one in the trunk, just in case. We left with thirteen tasers, a dozen or so cans of pepper spray, and a new pistol. Mom already carried one, and while I refused to carry one, she got an extra, just in case I changed my mind.
Thankfully, we put all that nonsense in the car before we headed to the gym. Mr. Lee was teaching when we arrived, so we waited patiently for him to finish. My mom wouldn’t work with anyone else. She would only do private lessons and only with him. It was weird, but where Mom was concerned, I’d learned to just roll with her eccentricities. When he was finished, he excused himself from his student and came right over to us. Mr. Lee had been teaching me self-defense since I was twelve. Off and on. There were months at a time out of every year that I just couldn’t participate. Then we’d get my dosages adjusted, and I’d get right back in.
“Welcome back, Ms. Shade, Dani. It’s so nice to see you again. I was beginning to wonder if Dani would be coming back this time.”
“Thank you, Mr. Lee. And yes, we’ve been lax, but we’ve had some trouble of late, so I’d like us to both brush up.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. What kind of trouble, if I may ask?”
“Well, we seem to have a stalker. People have been watching us.”
“People?”
“Yes. At least two at the house last night.”
“That’s highly unusual. Yes, I would definitely be vigilant, and have yourself as prepared as you can. Shall we start tonight? One of my other teachers can teach my next class.”
“Thank you, that’s very kind, Mr. Lee, but we cannot stay today. Perhaps we could start Thursday this week, though? If you have any openings?”
“For the Shades, I will make an opening. Can you come during the day?”
Mom looked at me, and I said, “Oh, yeah. I don’t work Thursday. I can be here whenever.”
Mom nodded, saying, “And I don’t work Wednesday night, so I can sleep beforehand. What time would you like us here?”
“Be here at noon. We will work until the gym opens at five so we can take as many breaks as we need. You both need to be ready.”
Mom nodded, and Mr. Lee half-nodded and half-bowed before turning and walking back to where one of the other teachers was warming up his class. Mom took my arm and headed out of the store. She seemed a bit calmer now that she was taking action of some sort, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that none of what we were doing was going to help.
“Okay, so now that we’ve made some headway, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Mom, we had the birds and bees talk a long time ago,” I chuckled.
She laughed aloud and shook her head. “No, not that. Although, I do want you to be very careful with both your heart and your body, and I already put a box of condoms in your dresser drawer, just in case.”
“Mom!”
“Well, I didn’t realize we’d need them in every room of the house. Maybe I should put some under the couch? Or behind the laundry detergent?”
I died. I literally died and floated up out of my body just to escape the horror of that conversation. After a few moments, I floated back down and rejoined the world of the living to defend myself.
“We did not have sex, Mom. I promise, when that time comes, I will talk to you. We can go see the doctor and take all the precautions possible. I promise. Although, that might be better done sooner rather than later.”
Mom just turned her head and looked at me sideways.
“Okay, fine. Sooner is probably better than later.”
She laughed again, hugging the arm she was holding. “Then I’ll make an appointment for Thursday, since we’ll already be in the city. And baby? I’m really happy for you. I hope our chat yesterday helped, but I’m happy, regardless of the reason. Charlie has been in love with you a long time, and there’s just nothing like your first love. He takes care of you.”
“Yeah, he does. Though I don’t know how to prepare him for days like today in the shower. It just came out of nowhere, Mom. And they’re getting worse again.”
Mom stopped walking and turned me to face her, holding both my arms. “I’ll call Doctor Halston when we get home and let him know. We’ll have to increase your dosage again. I know you hate the changes, but injections every few days aren’t going to work long-term. Okay?”
I nodded, feeling my impenetrable good mood deflate ever-so-slightly. My body was basically useless for days after we changed dosages, and I struggled for weeks after. Not a bright outlook for the adventures I was imagining for Charlie and me over the next few weeks.
“And by the way, just my opinion, but I don’t think Charlie will have any issues handling a day like today. I know it’s always been just you and me, but I think Charlie can handle it. There might be a learning curve, but I doubt he’ll give up until he’s perfected the art of taking care of you. Hell, he might’ve been in the shower with you and able to respond faster.”
“Mom!”
“I’m just saying!”
“Okay, before this gets any more inappropriate than it already has, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“Yes, that.” She turned and took my arm again, heading down the alley between two of the shops toward the garage. “Dani, there are things about my past that you don’t know, things about our family. I kept thinking the right time would present itself, but it just never has. You were happy. We were happy, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that. I wanted you to have as close to a normal life as possible, but with these recent developments, I think you need to know now.”
She took a deep breath as I watched her warily, wondering what the hell she was talking about. What dark secrets lay in her past? Was she a criminal? Mafia? In witness protection? My mind was racing and just as she opened her mouth to continue, my attention was drawn to the sound of footsteps coming from the end of the alleyway. A large man in dark clothing was heading our way. It could have been just another patron headed to their car after shopping, but he didn’t have any bags, and something about him felt off.
Mom must have agreed, because she grabbed my arm and turned the other way, moving at a brisk walk and looking over her shoulder. “Dani, when I tell you to run, you run. Go to Mr. Lee and tell him what happened. Only Mr. Lee, do you understand me? No one else.”
“Mom, what’s happening? I’m not leaving you. What are you talking about?”
“Danielle, this is not a fight we can win, so when I tell you to run, you run. Go to Mr. Lee, Mr. Lee and Cassandra. You can trust them with anything. I’m so sorry, ba—”
She pulled up short as two men appeared at the far end of the alleyway. They were dressed in dark clothing like the first guy and heading toward us quickly. “Dani, I know I’ve never asked this of you, but I need you to pray with me. We’re going to call to the angel Samael and ask him to save us. I know it sounds crazy, but I need you to do it.”
Mom dropped her head, and immediately grabbed my hands and started muttering. I heard the name she’d mentioned, but I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t stop looking back and forth between both ends of the alleyway as the men closed in on us. Why was she praying now? When she finished, she squeezed my hands and said, “Dani, look at me, not them. Say it now! Samael. Say his name! It’s our only hope!”
“Samael,” I whispered, and she called it out with me, tears in her eyes, then she backed me up against the wall, and put herself between me and the alleyway.
“You can’t have her,” she said, sounding much stronger and more menacing than her trembling hands indicated.
“Hello, Abby,” the first said with an unrecognizable accent. “Or wait, it’s Bella now, isn’t it? Belladonna Shade? Quite a deadly little plant. Appropriate, I’d say. Oh, my apologies. I didn’t out you in front of the girl, did I?”
“I said, you can’t have her. She’s spoken for.”
“Oh, yes… Yo
ur arrangement. Well, since the one who speaks for her isn’t here, we’re going to go ahead and take her now.”
“Over my dead body, you sack of shi—” The man’s hand lifted, and Mom was pulled suddenly away from me and tossed into the air. I screamed, and she looked back over her shoulder at me, absolute terror written all over her face as tears gathered in her eyes.
“My thoughts exactly,” the man said with a deadly smirk. Then he dropped his hand, and her body came plummeting back to the earth. The impact was so heavy it cracked the concrete, and I saw blood start to dribble from her eyes and nose.
“Mom!” I ran to her side, sliding the last few feet on my knees as my hands wandered above her, unsure what parts of her I could safely touch.
She turned her broken face to me and whispered, “Remember… who you can trust… Only them… I’m so sorry, baby… I love…” Her eyes focused on something behind me, but before I could turn and look, hands grabbed my arms and pulled me away from my mother. She reached for me, but her arms went suddenly limp and her head sagged as her eyes went blank.
“NO! Mom? Mom! Wake up! Let me go! Mom!”
And then I felt it again. The cold seeping in. No, no, no, not now. This couldn’t be happening. I struggled against my captors, or I tried to, but my strength was waning. The intensity of the electrical current grew rapidly throughout my entire body as I cried for my mother, thrashing and screaming and desperately trying to reach her. The current racing through me met the cold and connected. The two became one, and what had caused pain before no longer hurt as I watched the first man kneel beside my mother’s lifeless body.
“Get away from her!” I screamed, and a shockwave of energy swept outward through the alleyway.
The men were thrown backward, and the bricks on the buildings around us cracked and tumbled down around me as I screamed. The blackness began to close in, and eventually the men stirred and began climbing to their feet. I collapsed onto the ground. I could hear them coming, tentative footsteps growing closer and closer. Then I heard a whooshing sound and felt a heavy wind beat down on my back. The men behind me flew past me, landing with such force that the pile of what was left looked in no way like it had once been human.
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