When To Fear The Living
Page 12
“Extreme tubing,” Josh announced. Something dark filled Isaac’s eyes, it was so faint I almost didn’t notice it.
“Hell yeah!” Isaac shouted. I watched as they tied a tube to the end of ten feet of rope. I realized what they were doing. Oh, hell no! I headed for Isaac. They were arguing over who was going to go first when I reached them.
“Isaac. No,” I stated simply. Isaac looked at me surprised. Josh started snickering.
“Oh, looks like your girl is stopping your fun,” Josh taunted. I looked at him.
“At least he’s got a girl,” I shot back. The others chuckled as Josh smirked. I looked back to Isaac. “This is crazy,” I pointed out.
“It’ll be fine-”
“Bullshit,” I snapped. “You’re going to hit a tree or worse a car.”
Isaac turned to me and sighed. “Red, we’ve done it before. It’s perfectly safe,” He said. I couldn’t believe him.
“Isaac-”
“I’ll be back in ten minutes,” Isaac told me moving towards the tube. I blocked him.
“It’s perfectly safe, huh?” I asked innocently. Isaac smiled he probably thought I was agreeing.
“Yeah, we’ve done it dozens of times,” He assured me. I bit down my temper and smiled sweetly.
“Well, if it’s really safe then you won’t mind me going first,” I stated simply. Isaac went still. “I mean. If it’s safe enough for you, it should be fine, right?” Isaac frowned. I looked over at Josh.
“I’m going first,” I stated as I went to get on the tube. Josh headed for the door to his truck smiling. I settled into the tube, hoping I wasn’t making a big mistake. The truck started. Shit, I was doing this. The truck started to pull forward as my heart slammed in my chest.
“Stop!” Isaac shouted. The truck stopped instantly. Isaac reached down and lifted me into his arms and off the tube. “You’re not doing this, Lexie.” He set me back down my feet but I refused to let go of his shirt.
“Why?” I asked directly. His eyes were storming as he looked in my eyes.
“Because...”
“It’s too dangerous for me?” I asked. He nodded. “Then maybe you shouldn’t be doing it either.” He looked at the tube and truck, the darkness in his eyes fading.
“Alright, Red,” He said. “You win.” I let go of his shirt but took his hand in mine. Isaac looked over my head. “I’m out, man.”
“Seriously?” Josh scoffed. “You’re letting your girl tell you what to do.” I turned around and glared at Josh.
“In this case, she’s right,” Isaac told him. He started laughing.
“Ah, man, you’re pussy whipped and you’re not even dating her,” Josh said between laughs.
“Why don’t you go first, Josh?” I asked pointedly. Josh stopped laughing. “Isaac will drive.” Josh’s smile faded then he shrugged.
“No one drives my truck but me,” Josh stated. I snorted.
“Let’s tie it to my truck,” I offered, knowing that it wasn’t going to happen. “I’ll drive,” I added. Josh came around the truck, picked up the tube, and threw it in the back.
“I’ve got to get home,” Josh said as he headed back toward the driver’s door. I shook my head as I squeezed his hand.
“Come on, Cookie Monster,” I said. Isaac squeezed my hand as we headed for my truck. The drive back to his house was quiet. I was just grateful that he had listened to me. But it bothered me that it had been close. I pulled up to the house and parked. Before I could ask if he was alright he leaned over and gave me a raspberry on my cheek.
“See ya later, Red,” He said before jumping out to head in the house. I watched him walk away as worry sparked in the back of my mind.
Thankfully it was too early for the ghosts to group onto the lawn. I could get inside with no problem for once. Hades and Rory were on the couch. Hades jumped off the couch to greet me.
“Hey baby, I’ve got work with Miles today. Then I’ll take you for your walk. Sound good?” I asked the dog. Hades licked my hand in response.
“How was hanging out with Isaac?” Rory asked as he stretched.
“Good, we went sledding. I fell off the tube a few hundred times,” I said as I got to my feet. “Miles is coming over to do research. Can you let him in while I change?”
“Yeah, no problem,” Rory said as he changed the channel. I hurried upstairs with Hades on my heels. When I stepped into my room my computer was on. Had Tara been in my room? I went to my computer and checked to see if anything was open, nothing, huh. I closed my door and quickly got changed into dry clothes. I pulled on blue jeans, a black cami, and an oversized purple sweater. I brushed out my hair and pulled it into a loose braid. I did my usual light make-up, telling myself that it was because I was going out later. Yeah, I lied to myself. I was headed downstairs when girls’ giggling reached me, I moved faster. Tara and a couple of her friends were in the dining room area talking over something. It sounded like it was about Winter Formal decorations. Miles was sitting in the armchair facing me. He was bent over petting Hades. I looked to Rory.
“Um, Rory, can we-?”
“Yeah, go on up,” Rory said immediately. “Leave the door open.”
“Thanks, Rory,” I turned to Miles. “Come on Miles, we’re working upstairs.” Miles got to his feet and picked up the bag of papers that he brought. I walked in ahead of Miles to make sure I had put away my clothes. Thankfully, I had. I closed my computer and moved it out of the way. “You can have the desk if you want,” I offered, thinking he’d be more comfortable than if he sat on the bed.
“Thank you,” Miles said as I sat on my bed, crossing my legs under me. Miles set down the big bag and opened it. “Okay, I’ve got four reports back so far and they’re not small.” Miles handed me a packet two inches thick. I whistled.
“That’s a lot of information,” I said, impressed. Miles chuckled. Hades climbed up on to my bed and laid back down.
“I was very motivating when I hired them,” He assured me. I smiled as I moved until my back was against the wall at the head of my bed. I bent my knees and put my packet on my legs. This one was from a Graduate student at NYU.
“Thank you, Miles,” I said before looking up to meet his gaze. “You don’t know how much it means to me that you had people trying to find answers.”
He gave me a warm smile. “You’re very welcome,” He said in that silky-smooth voice of his. I opened the packet and started reading. Over the next two hours, I was taking notes and marking pages that I thought might help. Rory checked on us once, but I barely registered that he was at the door. Apparently, the NYU student had looked to the practice of Voodoo for protection. I found lots of information and several seals that looked promising. It was on hour three what I found what I was looking for.
“Miles,” I said, not quite believing it. He looked up from his file. “I think I have something.” He slid the chair over to the bed as I handed him the report and pointed to the section I had highlighted.
“Voodoo?” He asked absently as he read the entire page. “Yeah, that religion has a relationship with the dead like no other. They believe that there is an invisible world and a visible one. That when you die, you just pass to the invisible world.”
“That sounds familiar,” Miles said as he looked over the page with a smile. “There’s a protection ward.” Miles said, surprised.
“There are several kinds in that report,” I said as I scooted to the end of my bed and took the report back. Miles scooted closer while I flipped through to my ear-marked pages. Wintergreen tickled my nose as I found what I was looking for. “Look, against the dead, against evil and general protection,” I pointed out the three different elaborate symbols.
“We can give it a try,” Miles said. I had opened my mouth to say something when my phone rang. It was Zeke.
“Hey.”
“I need a favor,” Zeke said, his voice full of pain.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I asked, instantly worried.
“Yeah, I’ll head over now.”
“Thanks.” Zeke hung up. I looked at Miles.
“Zeke hurt his back. He’s finally hurting enough that he’s asked for help.” I said as I got to my feet and went to my closet.
“Alright, I’ll just leave you with one of the other reports.” Miles offered as he started putting away his two files.
“I’ll look at them after I get back from Zeke’s.” I said as I finished putting on my shoes. We both headed downstairs. When we got to the door I turned to Rory. “Rory, Zeke hurt himself. He needs a hand, care if I go?” I asked. Rory’s eyes narrowed on me as his face filled with concern.
“What happened?” Rory asked immediately. “How hurt is he?”
“He just tweaked his back at work. He’s just asking for a little help.” I bit back my grin at Rory’s worry. He really had adopted the guys as his. At least, that’s the way it seemed to me.
“Yeah, go help him out.” Rory looked to Miles. “You staying for a bit, Miles?” Miles stiffened as his gaze went to the table full of whispering girls.
“I’m sorry but I’ve got a project to finish,” Miles said, politely. “I appreciate the invitation.” Rory sighed.
“I was hoping for some help against the girls,” Rory grumbled. We both chuckled. I called to Hades and put his leash on him. We headed outside and out to our cars. Miles gave me a quick hug before heading to his car. I let Hades into the Blazer then drove over to Zeke’s.
Zeke’s house was cute, there was no other word for it. It was a bungalow cabin crossover with grey shingles and white shutters. It was the complete opposite of Zeke.
I slid out of the Blazer to barking. Tank and Kita were running along the fence barking their hearts out. The wolf hybrids were huge, high energy, and protective, but beautiful. I missed Nadie and Kato, they had been adopted a couple weeks ago. Hades jumped into the snow and walked with me to the front door. I didn’t bother to knock, I just stomped my feet to get the snow off my boots and opened the door. Hades immediately started to strain against his leash.
“I’m here!” I shouted. Though I didn’t really need to, the house wasn’t that big. I was standing in a small dining room with a small white dinner table. There was an archway to the left that led to the kitchen, one ahead, and one to the right that led to the family room. The whole house screamed beach cottage. I still teased Zeke about his cute house.
“Bedroom!” Zeke shouted back. I hung my coat up and let Hades off the leash. The dog hauled ass down the hall across from me. By the time, I reached Zeke’s room, I found Zeke lying on the floor on two heating pads while Hades went crazy licking his face. I chuckled as he kept telling Hades to stop. While he struggled with Hades kisses, I peeked around his room. Zeke’s room looked lived in, not messy, but not perfect. His queen-sized bed was against the wall across from the door, its black comforter and sheets still messy from this morning. He had a simple dark wood nightstand with a small metal lamp and alarm clock. The desk was next to the door, his keys and wallet already on it. His only window was at the end of the room above his dark wood dresser. The open blinds showed the woods beyond the property. “Stop snooping,” Zeke warned. I snorted and looked down at him, Hades had calmed down and was getting scratches from Zeke. The poor guy was still wearing his boots and coveralls from the garage. The sleeves were tied around his waist leaving a tight black t-shirt hugging the muscles of his chest. I forced myself to look at his face.
“I’ve never been in your room. I get to snoop,” I declared smiling at him. He grumbled as I walked in and sat on the end of his bed. “So, what happened?”
Zeke shook his head as he looked at the ceiling. “I was stupid and bent in a bad way to reach a bolt,” He grumbled. “I knew I was in trouble when I stood up.”
“You kept working 'till the end of your shift, didn’t you?” I asked, already knowing I was right. Zeke glared at me, that was answer enough for me. I shook my head. “Are the heating pads helping?”
“A little, I might be able to move now,” He admitted.
“Upper back or lower?”
“Mostly upper,” He admitted. I pointed to the floor in front of me.
“Get over here,” I ordered. He winced and grunted as he sat up. He turned and moved back towards me a bit. “That’s good,” I told him. He stopped. I hesitated. Zeke had a trigger when his back was touched. All I knew was that it involved memories and it wasn’t good. “You ready?” I asked.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah.”
“Tell me if you need a break,” I warned him. He nodded. I slowly put my hands on his shoulders and cursed, they were rock hard. I ran my hands over his back thinking it was mostly his shoulders. It wasn’t. His entire back was rock hard and knotted. “Damn Zeke.” I started with big, broad strokes to loosen the muscles a little. I had to push harder than I thought to get any kind of result.
“I know,” He bit out. It took some time but when his back was a little looser I started working out the knots on his shoulders and neck. He cursed under his breath and shook his head. I stopped for a second, taking my hands off him. “It’s fine. Just a flash,” He assured me, his voice tense.
“Would it help if I distracted you?” I asked.
“Actually, it might,” He said, his voice a little relieved. I started working out the knots on his neck and shoulders while I told him about what Miles and I found in the reports Miles had gotten. We talked about it until I moved my hands between his shoulders. That’s when I felt the first ridge under his shirt. I ran my fingers over the area only to find more. They were thick, round, and far part. Then there were long, thin ones. My stomach knotted.
“Zeke?”
“Yeah?” His voice tense.
“Is this scar tissue?” I asked, softly. He sat up straighter as if to pull away. “I’m only asking because if it is, I need to push harder.” I waited as he took several deep breaths.
“Push harder,” He said, his voice strained, I pressed harder between his shoulder blades and worked on the knots there. He gave a deep groan as the knots started to release, I moved a little further down between shoulder blades and found even more knots.
“Zeke, what’s going on? Cause you’re worse than Ethan right now,” I asked as I focused on working out a big knot. He sighed.
“I’m fighting with Riley,” He admitted. “She’s pushing again.”
“How?” I asked as another knot let go. He groaned as he hung his head. I moved down a little outward from his spine and worked those knots.
“You know I’m not a real affectionate guy, at least in front of other people,” He said quietly. I thought about that as I worked. He was affectionate with me, but now that I thought about it, it was always when we were alone. The most affectionate he’d ever been with me in front of the guys was that hug after Mary Summers almost killed me. I knew he only ever called me baby when we were alone. But not being affectionate? I never even noticed it before.
“So, you’re not into PDA,” I said, focusing on his back again. “What’s the problem?”
“Riley is,” He grumbled. Oh, that would be a problem. “Not to mention all that dance bullshit.”
“You don’t want to take her to the dance?” I asked, surprised.
“Not really,” He admitted before adding, “I told her I’d take her, but I wouldn’t wear a tux.” I smiled. Yeah, that sounded like Zeke.
“She didn’t like that idea?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“No,” He muttered. I felt another big knot go. He groaned then moved his left shoulder around before relaxing again. I went back to work.
“What’s she pushing on? The dance or PDA?” I asked, feeling another knot release.
“PDA,” He growled.
“Do you want my advice?” I asked as I moved my hands down further between h
is shoulder blades.
“I wouldn’t have mentioned it if I didn’t,” He pointed out dryly. I smirked.
“I’d say give it a shot. You could start small, like, hold her hand during lunch,” I suggested “Then if you really can’t get past it, you can tell her you tried.” I started working another knot. He cursed and I stopped. “Did that hurt?”
“No, I just felt that all the way down my shoulder, it feels like my arm is going to break,” He grunted. “Don’t stop, I’m just going to make noise.”
I snickered. “That sounded so dirty,” I teased him. He thought about it for a second then started laughing.
“It really did,” He admitted still chuckling. I started working on that knot and the area around it. He grunted again. “You think that would work?” He asked.
“It might,” I said. “If you try and can’t get past it then she’ll have to decide if it’s something she can deal with.” I pushed harder on the big knot and the area around it.
“Fuck, now it’s all the way to my hand,” He grunted. I smiled to myself.
“Yeah, I think this knot is right on that nerve,” I told him absently. “I think it’s causing the problem with your shoulder.”
“Weirdest fucking feeling ever,” He stated. I chuckled as I kept working on his back. After a while his breathing changed.
“Zeke?”
“I’ve got a couple more minutes,” He bit out between clenched teeth. I hurried and got as many knots loosened as I could. It wasn’t much longer until he stopped me. “Stop,” He growled. I instantly took my hands off him, he was still as a statue. I slid off the bed to sit next to him on the floor. His eyes were closed, his jaw clenched, and his breathing deep and even. I reached over and took one of his clenched hands in mine. His thumb ran over my knuckles absently as he struggled with whatever memories he was dealing with. It took some time, but eventually his grip on my hand loosened. I gave him one more squeeze before letting go. Zeke got to his feet and started stretching. He groaned. “Thanks Lexie, I can actually move again.” I got to my feet.
“No problem.”
“I’ll be out in a minute,” He said as he sat down on his bed and started untying his boots. I called Hades and closed Zeke’s door behind me. I walked into the living to hear Kita whimpering at the back door. I smiled as I went to let her in. Kita loved Hades, whenever we were over she had to be inside too. The large white dog shot past me and went into the living room. I remembered to step back a second before Tank came sliding into the kitchen. The giant black wolf hybrid slid across the floor on his side till he hit the cabinets. I laughed as he got to his feet and started wagging his tail happily at me. I closed the door, gave him scratches, and love before heading back into the family room. Kita and Hades were making noises at each other, almost as if they were talking. Tank stayed with me.