When To Fear The Living

by B. L. Brunnemer

  "Falling asleep?" His silky timber slid through my ear, making my skin tingle.

  "Nope," I sighed. "Just thinking."

  "I wouldn't blame you, computer work's not very interesting to watch," He admitted, looking back at one of the screens.

  "It is when you're doing it," I said. He looked over at me again with surprise. I loved that I could put that look on his face.

  "Why? Do I make faces or something?" He asked. I grinned mischievously at him. His eyes grew brighter as he waited.

  "I should say yes," I teased. He half grinned at me as he waited. "You only make one face, and it's your ‘I'm thinking’ face," I told him.

  "I don't understand how that is entertaining for you."

  "It's not, but your eyes get excited and grow bright," I admitted. There was something about his room and our hushed voices that made it not embarrassing to admit to him. "The same thing happens when you talk about Astronomy or Astrophysics."

  His half grin turned to a full one as his ears tinged pink. He looked back at the computer screens as he started typing again. "And that entertains you?" He asked softly.

  "I like seeing you interested, or excited about something. You... act differently." He stopped typing to look at me.

  "Different?"

  "In a good way," I explained, my voice still quiet. "You don't worry if you're saying the wrong thing or if you're doing something wrong, you relax. You're just you." His eyes unfocused. I added, "It's just... something I like seeing." He blinked, his eyes focusing again. I shrugged looking up at the ceiling, I had to stop looking at him, my stomach kept making that low hard flip whenever he looked over at me. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before I looked at him again, his eyes were moving off me and back to the screen.

  "Well, if that gets old," He said, grinning as he typed. "Feel free to fall asleep. You haven't been getting much sleep lately, and I'll understand completely," He said. I snorted still smiling at him. Miles went back to work while I secretly ogled him. Eventually, I did fall asleep.

  "Angel."

  "Hmm."

  "Lexie, can you wake up?" Miles' silky timber made me smile. I couldn't help it, that voice had the most soothing effect on me. I opened my eyes to find Miles grinning down at me, his warm eyes running over my face. The last light of day was coming through the window.

  "Hmm? What did I miss?" I mumbled.

  "I found the program," He said. I blinked up at him confused, then his words sunk in. He found the program that let that creep spy on me?

  "Really?"

  "Really," He said. I beamed up at him before jumping to my knees on the bed and hugging him. He chuckled as he hugged me back

  "That's my genius!" I practically gushed. He laughed in my ear as I squeezed him tight.

  "I already gave it to Rory. They should be able to find him tonight." I pulled back enough to kiss his cheek. Then I was hugging him again.

  "You're incredible, Miles," I told him.

  "Not really-"

  "Yes, really." I pulled back to sit on my heels, still smiling up at him. "You just saved my ass." His eyes ran over my face, then stopped at my lips. Did he..? His eyes were warm and soft when they met mine. My heart slammed in my chest. He let go of me and stepped back.

  "No problem, Lexie," He said, his fingers tapping out that staccato rhythm on his leg. "Asher said dinner was ready before I came upstairs." I gave him a small smile before hopping off his bed and walking into the hall with him. He was acting nervous, like he had when we first met. Does he know...? Oh no, did he know I liked him? I know I almost kissed him at the campus but... I took a deep breath and let it out, we headed downstairs. In his room, I thought maybe he liked me too, at least for a second. But with the way, he's acting now... I told myself not to be disappointed. That it was a good thing that Miles didn't think of me that way, my heart still ached a bit. I walked into the kitchen to the smell of Asher's curry. Everyone was dishing up but Zeke.

  "Guys, where's Zeke?" I asked. They all exchanged looks before Asher looked at me.

  "He's downstairs in the weight room," Asher offered. "He's working off some anger." I raised an eyebrow at that.

  "He was pissed off when he got here. He's been downstairs since he finished his homework," Isaac explained.

  "I'll go see if I can get him to calm down," I told them as I walked to the false pantry and opened the door to the cellar. I headed down the carpeted stairs and opened the door on the far end of the basement. Zeke was in his work out clothes, working out on the heavy bag, hard as if the thing owed him money. I watched him pound into the bag for a few minutes until I realized he still wasn't stopping. I walked through the weight room then stopped out of arms reach.

  "Zeke," I called loudly. He stopped hitting the bag, he dropped his hands to his sides and turned to me. His barrel chest rose and fell as he took deep breaths, his eyes a bit wild as they met mine. "What's wrong?" I asked, worried. He waved his hand dismissively as he started to get his breath back. "Zeke, talk to me," I told him, my voice growing harder. My stomach knotted, and he clenched his jaw.

  "I'm fine," He bit out as he went to a bench, picked up the towel and wiped the sweat off his face.

  "Bullshit," I said instantly as I walked towards him. "This isn't fine, you're really pissed off." He looked away from me as he wiped the sweat off his arms.

  "You should go upstairs," He said, his voice hard.

  "Why?"

  "Because..." He snapped as he ran a hand through his hair, a horrible thought occurred to me. I remembered what Serena said to me about Zeke. If anyone ever got in and hurt him...

  "Is this about you and Riley breaking up?" I asked calmly. He chuckled darkly then shook his head.

  "That was mutual," He told me. The knots in my stomach eased. Okay so, he wasn't hurting over Riley. But something was getting to him.

  "Is it that I got you trouble with the Vice Principal?" I asked uncertainly. He shot me a look. "No, okay," I racked my brain. "Are you pissed about the photos on my hard drive?" I asked. His gaze snapped to me.

  "What photos?" He growled. Shit.

  "Okay, not that," I tried to gloss over it, he strode toward me.

  "What photos?" He snapped as he stopped to tower over me.

  "Relax, Miles deleted all of them. As in completely and utterly, they're never coming back deleted," I told him calmly. He made an angry, frustrated noise in the back of his throat.

  "But Miles saw them," He bit out between his teeth.

  "That's not why you've been down here," I steered my questions back to him. "What's going on?" He walked away restless. He threw the towel at the mirrored wall.

  "He thought it was so fucking funny," He growled so quietly I almost didn't hear him.

  "Who?" I asked. He shook his head, his shoulders rigid. He turned back to meet my eyes with his scalding gaze.

  "Dylan," He bit out. He came back towards me, his eyes never leaving mine. My heart raced, my skin tingled as he towered over me. Leather, engine grease, and sweat tickled my nose as Zeke's eyes stayed on mine.

  "What did he think...?" I couldn't think, my heart beat was in my ears as his eyes left mine to move down my face to focus on my lips.

  "You and me," He breathed before he bent down and found my lips with his. My heart stopped as I kissed him back. Sunshine washed through me as his lips brushed gently against mine. He kissed me as if I was made of glass and he was afraid of breaking me, all I knew in the world was how amazing his lips felt against mine. I tilted my head back as his kiss moved deeper, his lips moved firmer against mine. I made a small noise in the back of my throat. One of his hands buried in my hair at the back of my head as he carefully pulled me against him with the other on my lower back. My arms slid around his waist as he kissed me tenderly. His lips moved slowly over mine as if he wanted to remember every brush, every stroke of my lips moving with his. I couldn't think, I could barely breathe.

  "Zeke!" Isaac's voice barely registered to me. Zeke tore away
from me, jumping back as if I had burned him. I met his wild eyes as we both tried to catch our breath. Panic flared in his eyes a second before he walked around me. The door to the weight room opened and closed.

  "Come on, man, dinner's getting cold," Isaac said out in the hall.

  "Yeah, yeah," Zeke growled.

  "Where's Red?" Isaac asked.

  "Don't know..." Zeke's voice disappeared down the hall.

  My mind was blank as I held my fingers to my burning lips. I sat down on the bench as it hit me, I just kissed Zeke. Oh. My. God. I just kissed Zeke and really wanted to do it again. Damn, he was a good kisser. I took deep breaths as I tried to calm down. What the hell was I thinking? Zeke... I kissed him. Panic gripped me as I tried to remember what happened. No, no, he kissed ME. My heart was racing as I remembered his eyes before his lips touched mine, and I kissed him back. Oh, God. He knows how I feel. What did this mean? What-what was going to happen to us now? He started it, then he tore out of here as if he were running from the devil itself. Did he think it was a mistake? Did I think it was? Oh, fuck! I hid my face in my hands as I tried to sort it out in my head. He just ran off after... My chest was tight as I remembered that look of panic in his eyes before he left, I swallowed hard. Maybe I should just forget that this happened? Unless he brings it up? Yeah, that sounded good. At least for now. Okay, I can do this. I can go upstairs and pretend I didn't have the most amazing kiss in my life from one of my best friends. Right? Oh, I was so screwed. I took deep breaths until the tightness in my chest eased. I could do this, I can get through dinner and then freak out tonight in my bedroom. Okay. I got this. I got to my feet and went upstairs. I dished myself up in the kitchen then walked down to the family room, Zeke wasn't there. I climbed over the back of the small couch and dropped next to Isaac.

  "Hey Red? Did you get lost?" Isaac asked. I smiled.

  "Yeah, I did actually," I lied. Asher shook his head.

  "How did you get lost downstairs? It's one hallway." Ethan asked.

  "And a lot of doors," I countered. "I might have gotten a little distracted by the steam sauna." They guys chuckled. "We should really think about labeling those doors," I told them.

  "Why? So, next time you get lost on purpose?" Isaac countered. I chuckled and bumped my shoulder into his. He bumped back. I relaxed, tucked my feet under me, and ate dinner.

  "Where is Zeke anyway?" I asked in a neutral voice.

  "He went to take a shower," Isaac said absently before taking a bite of chicken. I finished my dinner and put my bowl down on the carpet. I put my legs over the edge of the couch and leaned back against Isaac. He shifted a little so I was against his chest, and his arm around my waist. It was our usual movie cuddling position on this couch, the fact that it made me feel better right now was just a bonus. The movie was half over when Zeke did walk into the family room. I took a quick glance and saw he was dressed in his usual work clothes and his hair was wet. I looked away and back to the TV before he could catch me. Everyone talked and joked as we pointed out the plot holes in the movie. I could feel eyes on me, I turned my head and met Zeke's sky blue eyes. I gave him a small smile to let him know we would be fine then went back to watching the movie. Over the next hour whenever I felt someone watching me, I ignored it.

  Around seven my cell rang, I pulled it out of my bra, it was Rory.

  "Hey, Rory."

  "We got him," Rory announced. I sat up straight.

  "You got him, got him?" I asked to be clear. "As in custody? Cuffs? I can go home?" The movie went quiet, and all eyes watched me.

  "Yeah, we got him," Rory told me. "The IP address... It was Dylan, Lexie."

  "Seriously?" I asked, stunned.

  "Yeah, we even have the photos on his computer," Rory told me. "He's being booked as we speak." I let out a deep sigh of relief. I fought back tears as it hit me, they got him.

  "Thank you, Rory," I said, my throat tight. "I'll head home tonight."

  "Okay, relax kid. I'll see you in the morning." Rory hung up. I shook my head as I put my phone back in my bra.

  "Who was it?" Asher asked.

  "It was Dylan," I announced. The guys looked at each other.

  "Are they sure?" Ethan asked. I nodded.

  "Yeah," I said. "They got him. It was his IP address, he even had photos on his computer." I shook my head at that. I could go home.

  "Lexie Delaney, your stalker is now in jail. What are you going to do next?" Isaac asked in his announcer's voice.

  "I'm going to go home and relax," I stated. I got up and headed out to the living room.

  "I should be going, too," Ethan announced. "Ma will be home soon, and she wants to have a chat." Everyone started grabbing their stuff and headed out. I hugged Miles and thanked him again. He gave me a small squeeze and said no problem. I said bye to the others and headed out to the Blazer. I had just put Hades inside when someone came over.

  "Lexie." Zeke's soft voice made me pause as my heart gave a painful throb. I plastered on a smile for him as he came over to stand next to me. "We need to talk," He said quietly. I took a deep breath and looked up at him. His eyes burned right through me.

  "I guess so," I whispered.

  "I'd talk to you now, but I've got to go to work," He groused.

  "You can come over after work to talk," I offered. "Tara's at her Mom's." His eyes ran over my face.

  "Are you sure? Your kind of tired," He reminded me.

  "Do you want to talk tonight or not?" I asked pointedly. The corner of his lips twitched.

  "Yeah," He said. "I'll come over after work." He started walking to the truck but hesitated. He turned back to me. "Rory said they were sure?" He asked.

  "Yep" He frowned. "Why?" I asked. He shook his head.

  "Nothing, just paranoid," He mumbled. "I'll see you after work." Zeke went to get in his rental truck. I climbed into the Blazer and headed home. My head was racing. Zeke wanted to talk. What kind of talk was this going to be? An I only like you as a friend talk? Or I want to date you talk? For the first time in my life, I wished I could read minds. Okay, how do I feel about the kiss? I fucking loved it. I rolled my eyes at myself, yeah, there was no point in lying to myself. I cared about Zeke, and Asher, and Miles. But Miles didn't seem to be interested, and Asher probably wasn't. So, maybe... I chewed on the corner of my lower lip as I pulled onto my street. Was I actually thinking this? Did I really want to date Zeke? When I parked the Blazer, I knew my answer. Yeah, I wanted to date Zeke. I snorted at myself as I shut off the truck. Happy that I figured out how I felt, I grabbed my bag and book bag then slid to the road. I left Hades in the truck since I was already juggling my bags and my keys. I closed my door and walked around the truck. What if he doesn't want to date me? My heart ached at the thought, I swallowed hard. Then I'd put on my big girl panties and deal with it. I pulled out my keys and opened the door. Something hard wrapped around my throat and jerked me back. I dropped my keys and grabbed the arm choking me. Panic shot through me, I couldn't breathe. I dug into and pulled against the arm cutting off my air as the world started to spin. I kicked back and stomped, trying to make him ease his grip. But nothing helped, nothing worked. The world was turning dark at the edges. Hades was barking.

  "Now, we'll be together," A familiar voice whispered into my ear as the world went black.

  Chapter 20

  Tuesday Night

  I woke up on something soft but stiff. My throat ached, and my stomach rolled. I was cold and hot at the same time. I moved onto my side and curled up, groaning as nausea rolled through me. I took deep breaths trying to get through it as I tried to remember what happened. I was at the door to the house and then... no. A hand brushed my hair off my forehead.

  "Take it easy, Alexis," He crooned. "It'll take a few minutes for the drug to wear off."

  "Don't touch me," I growled. I tried to move away only my muscles weren't listening.

  "I know you're going to be angry, but it was the only way to help you," He said in a patient voice. I
knew that voice.

  "Drugging me isn't helping me, Clay," I snapped. "It's fucked up." There was no warning, the sound of skin slapping skin was loud, my face felt like it had exploded. The world spun even more as I rolled away to the other side of the bed to get away from him. The room was a blur as I tried to get my eyes to focus.

  "You don't have to talk that way anymore. They aren't here to make you," Clay said patiently, lecturing me.

  "No one makes me do shit," I mumbled as I found the edge of the bed. Footsteps moved across the floor. A hard hand bit into my arm, bruising. I made a surprised pain filled noise.

  "Stop talking like that," He snapped. I reached out and feebly tried to get his grip to loosen.

  "Stop hurting me!" I shouted back. He fingers eased a bit, but his grip was still hard. Finally, able to see, I looked up at him. His black hair was messy, his brown eyes were cold as he watched me. When my eyes met him, his face instantly softened. He sat down on the bed next to me.

  "Alexis, you need to stop cursing. It's not you," He began in a soothing tone. It grated on my nerves. "You're sweet, caring and incredibly talented." He let go of my arm to run his hand over my hair again. It made my skin crawl.

  "You don't know me," I groaned as another wave of nausea ran through me. The room was starting to settle. "What did you give me?" I asked.

  "Just some Propofal. It's a general anesthetic," His voice was sweet and patient again, his hand stroking my arm where bruises were probably already forming. My stomach lurched again.

  "I'm gonna be sick," I groaned. He got up, reached under me, and lifted me into his arms against his chest. I cringed, but I was going to puke, and I was more than willing to puke on this fucker.

  "It's a side effect, it should wear off in another couple of minutes." He explained.

  "If you dosed me right," I countered as he carried my limp body into a bathroom.

  "My father is a doctor. I checked your dosage twenty-five times," He tried to be reassuring, it didn't work. He set me down on the floor in front of the toilet carefully. I weakly pushed up the lid and promptly started puking. My stomach heaved and rolled until I thought I was going to die. Clay held my hair back and whispered things he probably thought were comforting. I tuned him out and focused on breathing between bouts of sickness.