by Amy Richie
Chapter Twelve
I approached the desk slowly, self conscious that the man from last night was still there. Really though, it had only been a few hours. Now I was leaving with someone else, what would he think?
I bit hard on my lip, letting go only when Tristan’s hand made contact with my elbow. He was right, what did I care what this man thought? I would never see him again anyways. Taking a deeper breath than necessary, I took the few deliberate steps that carried me to the counter.
“I’m…uhhh…leaving now,” I announced grandly.
“Mmm,” he grunted with only barely a curious glance up.
“I…have some…things I need to do.” I glanced at Tristan, but he was absolutely no help. “Here’s the key back.” I slid the hard plastic card across the counter. The man took it and slipped it into a drawer under the counter, without a single word. I pushed my hair back awkwardly.
He finally looked up when I continued to just stand there like a moron. “Is there anything else you need?” he asked with forced niceness.
“Umm,” I shifted my weight to the other foot. “If you could just pass a message on to the guy I was with earlier…” That probably sounded bad, but I forged ahead anyways. “If you could just tell him…”
“What?” his nose crinkled when he snarled his top lip.
“I just mean…the guy I was with before….he might ask if I checked out.”
“I think you might have checked out a long time ago, Sweetie.” His expression relaxed but his eyes remained narrowed, watching me for any signs of cracking.
Tristan remained silent at my side, offering his support but nothing else. “Toby…he left,” I tried to explain.
“O…K…?”
I chewed nervously on the side of my thumb. I should have just left and said bye. I wasn’t good at talking to other people. “Ok,” I shrugged.
“You came in here alone last night,” the man said, already losing interest in me for favor of his magazine, “or this morning. Whatever. We don’t do refunds.”
“Alone.” Of course I was alone. No wonder he was talking to me like I was an idiot. I was an idiot.
“He wouldn’t have seen Toby,” Tristan explained - unnecessarily.
“Yeah, I know,” I snapped.
“Alright,” the man replied instead of Tristan, “take care then.” He raised two fingers in dismissal.
I blinked rapidly, suddenly awkward and unsure what to do. Should I try to make up some lie so I didn’t sound crazy? What could I say though? That I was kidding? That Toby came in later?
“Let’s just go,” Tristan suggested quietly.
“That’s probably a better idea,” I mumbled, taking the few shaky steps that led me back outside into the cool night air. Barely night though. I squinted up at the lightening sky, trying not to panic.
“He’s not even looking at us,” Tristan cooed, already anticipating my worries.
“He knows I’m crazy.” It was pretty obvious, really.
“So?”
“So?” I gaped at him. Of course he wouldn’t see anything wrong with it, the guy couldn’t even see him. No one could. Tristan could sound as crazy as he wanted, no one would know. “I wish I was invisible too,” I muttered.
I watched as his broad shoulders rose with his deep breath and fell back slowly. “Not many people see you, Ren.” His words were almost a whisper; why then did it feel like he was screaming at me?
“So?” I threw his earlier sentiments back at him.
“Exactly.”
“He might call the police.”
“He won’t.”
How could he be so nonchalant? “Where do we go now?” I growled, irritated and wishing I was back in my room.
“Bus station.”
“What?” I crossed my arms over my chest, ready to do battle.
“I already told you, I’m taking you somewhere safe.”
“We should probably just wait here,” I sighed. “Toby’s going to be mad that I even left the room.”
“You don’t have to worry about Toby anymore.”
“I’m not.” I pulled my arms tighter to my body.
Faster than I could react to, Tristan’s arms shot out and pulled me close to his body. “Ren,” he half scolded into my shoulder.
“I’m not,” I insisted stubbornly. Did he really think I was going to hug him back?
“I won’t let go of you, Ren,” he said softly. “I won’t leave you alone.”
“I’ve always been alone,” I mumbled into his chest. “My whole life.”
Without any permission from me, my arms unfolded from my chest to snake around his solid waist. “Not really though.”
Not really? Did he count the ghost people as not being alone? Or did he count Toby? How was it possible that Tristan’s words affected me so deeply? I had just met him a few days ago. Who was he? Why did my heart pound so furiously when he touched me? Why did he have to make me feel so safe?
He was standing close to me, so close I could feel his breath against my face. He felt so real, so solid against my chest; it was easy to believe that everyone else could see him.
But they couldn’t.
I pushed myself away from him until I was standing on my own. I needed to be more careful now that we were out in plain sight of other people. Or I was at least.
I glanced back at the man through the large glass that now separated us. He was back to his magazine. Could it possibly be the same one he was reading when I’d checked in hours ago?
Taking a deep breath, I looked back up at Tristan. “We should get out of here.”
His lips pursed in sympathy; he felt sorry for me. Keeping the distance between our bodies, Tristan leaned slightly to press his still pursed lips against my forehead. “I’ll take you somewhere safe,” he whispered against my skin.
As always, the feel of his kiss heated me up from the inside out. “Lead on,” I laughed. “Preferably before that guy calls the loony bin to come get me.”
“He won’t do that,” he grinned. But only half of his face responded.
I tried not to worry as I followed Tristan through the nearly deserted Four AM streets. The world looked different without people in it. It’s potential to hold something darker increased with the lack of life.
In the distance, a street light flickered on and back off again a few seconds later. A young woman stood in its glow, visible only when the light decided to bathe her translucent form. Tristan turned his head to glare in her direction but the woman didn’t even flinch.
When I could finally tear my eyes from Tristan’s hard profile, I realized that I recognized the woman. She was the woman from my dream, the woman who stood behind Nona. Like in the dream, the woman under the light only stared at me. Was she here to remind me not to trust Tristan?
Too late now. I followed Tristan into a crowded bus station, leaving the woman outside.
“There’s a lot of people here,” I hissed, trying not to open my mouth too much.
“Not really,” Tristan scoffed, “small town bus stop.”
Small town or not, it was more people than I was used to seeing. Suddenly, the dingy white shirt and wrinkled jeans I had on were inadequate. What if someone recognized the jeans? Would they try to take them back?
I considered changing back to my pink hospital pants but that would require asking someone where the bathroom was, so I just pulled the straps tighter on my backpack and pressed closer to Tristan.
“Come on, just come with me.” He began weaving expertly through the crowd of people who just kept popping up.
Easy for him, I thought grumpily, he’s a ghost. Not sure how far he would go ahead without me, I shuffled forward a few steps. The first time a tall man with no smile bumped into my shoulder, I lost my nerve completely and scurried to press my back against the wall again.
“No one will hurt you here,” he sighed, appearing at my side.
“They’ll know I’m crazy,” I half groaned. “They’ll know and the
n…”
“And then nothing,” he cut me off. “They won’t know anything just by looking at you.” I couldn’t bring myself to look up at him. “Fine,” he said suddenly, “you wait here and I’ll go get the ticket.”
“Wait!” I felt the panic start to close my throat. “How are you going to get a ticket? Don’t just leave me alone here!” But my calls fell on deaf ears, he was already being swallowed up by the crowd. “Tristan!”
A young guy walking quickly towards a parked bus faltered in his stride so he could stare at me. While I screamed at no one. I tucked my hair behind my ears and ducked my head to avoid eye contact with the stranger who was probably seconds away from calling the cops on me.
The wall at my back kept me from falling over but even that couldn’t keep my heart from pounding furiously under my shirt.
Lucky for me, the man continued on his way to the bus with only a few more glances at me. I craned my neck, trying to see where Tristan had gone, but I couldn’t find him among the crowd. How was he going to be able to get a ticket by himself? I should go to the ticket counter with him. But where was it?
I pressed my eyes closed tight together. I just needed to clear my head and not panic. People did this sort of thing all the time. Going to buy a bus ticket? It shouldn’t be this hard. It shouldn’t leave me with a racing heart and sweating hands.
“Just take a step, Ren,” I whispered, my lips barely moving across my personal scolding. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” If only I could make myself believe that.
“Are you talking to yourself?” asked a familiar voice.
My eyes popped open. “Tristan?”
“Were you expecting someone else?” His lips turned down into a mock frown.
“No!” I swallowed hard, relief making me light headed. “I’ll go with you to get the tickets,” I pushed myself from my hiding place.
“No need.” His teeth flashed in a wide smile as he waved a small white paper in front of my face.
