by Rue Volley
Great… just perfect. Another perfect moment between us, marred by crazy.
Josh kicked his door open and grabbed me under my arms. I could smell gasoline. I thought about that asshole’s house going up in flames and grinned as he pulled me out.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked me.
“I set a house on fire,” I said as I sighed.
“I think that you are hurt,” he said to me.
“No… I’m good… good,” I said as I tried to focus on his face.
He looked funny, like he was under water.
“Rue… I need you to focus,” Josh said as he held me. I started to laugh.
“We don’t even have a backseat now,” I said as I pointed at the car.
It caught fire and Josh picked me up and moved me away from it.
I looked back as it blew up, flipping in the air.
“Shit,” I muttered.
“Yea, shit,” Josh said as he looked around.
The other driver was crawling from his car and Josh walked towards him, with me in his arms.
“Dude… sorry about that,” he muttered.
Josh could smell the alcohol on him from where he stood.
“How did you survive?” Josh asked him.
“Airbags, I guess,” the man said as he tapped his mangled car and grinned at us.
Josh looked down at me and I tried to raise my hand to my face and wipe the blood from my eye. I missed. My everything is off. He sighed and walked over to the man and lay me down in the grass. He stood up and looked at him.
“You have been drinking,” Josh said to him.
“Yep,” the man said as he swayed a little.
“No apology then?” Josh asked him.
The guy stumbled forward and looked at me.
“She looks fine,” he muttered as he waved his hand at me.
I laughed and pointed at Josh.
“We should just go into the woods and do it,” I said, my speech all slurred.
The guy laughed and looked at me, and then he looked back at Josh.
“Gotcha a whore there,” he said.
“Don’t,” Josh said as he felt a vibration well up in him.
“Don’t what?” the man said as he looked at me. “She looks like she would be some fun.”
The man continued to look at me and licked his lips.
“I wouldn’t mind having a piece of that,” he said as he started to walk towards us.
Josh took a deep breath and started to pull his blades from his back. He pulled them to his sides and looked down at the road. The man continued to stumble towards him.
“Whatcha got there, some kind of knife?” he asked.
Josh looked up at him and grinned. The man fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a gun.
“No… these are my blades. I am about to send you to memory, you piece of shit,” he said with an even tone.
“Where the hell is that?” the man asked. The man lifted the gun and pointed it at Josh.
“You just get to walking. I will take care of your little girl here, I promise,” he said as he waved the gun at him. I waved at the guy and he winked at me and looked back at Josh.
“See, she likes me, maybe you don’t give her what she needs,” the guy muttered as he laughed.
Josh bit his lip and his heartbeat sped up to the speed of a jet engine. He flashed forward and cut the man’s hand clean off. The hand and gun it had been holding dropped to the ground. He then stabbed him in the heart. He pulled the blade out quickly and spun on one foot, bringing his blade out shoulder height. The man stood there for a moment, looking normal except for the small pool of blood starting to show on his chest. Then his head rolled right off his shoulders and into the road. Josh flipped his blades and the blood left the metal, in one quick motion. He placed the blades on his back and looked back at me.
I had pushed myself up on my elbows. I grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up.
“Give him a what for,” I said as I fell back and closed my eyes.
Chapter Nineteen
Heaven and Hell
I drifted in and out of sleep. I remember Josh saying things to me. It was random. I’ve been there before, right on the edge of not really knowing what was going on. It wasn’t a bad place to be. It was humorous in a way. Maybe that was why people did drugs, to escape all the reality of the crazy. Not that I ever would, or think that it’s cool, but life has a way of driving you crazy. If it’s not people it’s situation, after situation causing unnecessary drama. Oh god… drama… YUCK.
I blinked my eyes as I felt myself rocking back and forth. I felt myself coming to. I opened my eyes up and I focused in on the back of a seat. It was leather, black, and kind of shiny. I started to sit up and I grabbed my head. It hurt so bad I squinted my eyes.
“Oh god,” I muttered. I leaned back on the seat and looked at the back of Josh’s head.
He looked into the rearview mirror and smiled at me.
“What the crap?” I muttered as I sighed and pressed on my stomach.
“It’s good to see you up,” Josh said.
I looked out the window and stared at a familiar sign.
“Welcome to Calvary. Population 1437,” it read.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. The cut was gone, but the pain remained.
“Thank god,” I whispered. Josh laughed.
“Yeah,” he added.
He pulled into our driveway and I looked up at the house. I don’t think that I ever felt happier to see it. The front door swung open and Johnathan ran out to my side of the car and opened the door. He leaned in and grinned at me.
“Oh my god, Rue!” he said, a little too excited.
Josh opened his door and pushed him out of the way. He reached in and picked me up. I let him because my head hurt so bad. Johnathan looked at me and shook his head.
“I take it that you got hurt again?” he asked as Josh shut the door with his foot and sighed.
“She is fine, bump on the head,” he said. I smiled and nodded.
“It’s just another day,” I muttered.
Josh walked to the house and waited for Johnathan to open the front door. I looked over at the couch and felt a wave of relief run over me. Home. I am home, yes… this rocks so hard. Josh set me down on the couch and stood up. He looked at Johnathan.
“Where is everybody?” he asked him.
“Well… we had some stuff happen,” Johnathan said as he glanced at me.
I rubbed my head and looked up at him.
“What kinda stuff?” I asked him.
Johnathan leaned over and whispered in Josh’s ear. Josh stood there for a second and nodded. He looked at me and touched my face.
“It’s nothing,” he said to me.
I nodded and leaned back on the couch. Josh walked outside and I sighed as another pain made me feel sick to my stomach. I looked at Johnathan and caught him staring at me.
“So,” he said.
I shook my head and closed my eyes.
“Yep,” I said.
“Wanna talk?” he asked me.
I opened my eyes up and looked at him.
“I wanna puke,” I said.
“Do you need me to carry you to the bathroom?” Johnathan asked me.
“No… I do not,” I said as I pushed myself up and steadied myself on the edge of the couch. Johnathan reached out to me and I avoided his help.
“I can do this okay?” I said to him.
He watched me make my way to the stairs.
I took the first step and my hand tingled. I looked back at Johnathan and grinned.
“Are you thinking about me?” I asked him.
He shook his head and I sighed. Why else would I have felt a vibration in my hand then? It was okay, if he wanted to lie. I was not in a ‘digging for truth’ mood anyway. I made it up the stairs and looked down the hallway. I heard water running. Is someone running the water in my tub? Maybe Sam wanted to take a risk. I thought that we were skipping water
-filled tubs now?
I opened my door slowly and heard the water shut off in my bathroom. I walked towards the door. It was pulled shut. I grinned, wondering when we had started to close the doors, even a little. Weird.
I pushed the door open.
“I thought that we had decided...” I started to say.
I stopped mid-sentence as I looked at the freaks in my tub. Jonah smiled at me and Lily blinked her eyes, as he rubbed her hair with shampoo. They sat there naked in the tub together.
“What the hell!” I screamed at them as I jumped back.
Jonah stood up and I looked at him.
“Oh my god!” I yelled as I saw his you know just sitting there, staring at me.
I stumbled backward and fell on the floor. Jonah stepped out and started to walk towards me. Johnathan flashed into my room and looked at Jonah. He tilted his head at him and pointed his finger.
“I didn’t know that you were even here!” he yelled at him.
Jonah smiled and stood there all happy about being naked.
I looked up at Johnathan and screamed, “Give me your blade!”
Johnathan looked down at me and held out his hand to me. I rolled onto my side and kicked Jonah in the stomach. He stumbled back into the bathroom and fell into the tub. Water splashed everywhere. Lily jumped up and hissed at me. I scrambled to my feet searching for anything to fight them off.
“Shit!’ I screamed as I grabbed one of my boots and swung it at her.
She ducked it and came at me. Johnathan swung me around and I hit her in the mouth.
“About time you joined the fight!” I yelled at him.
“No… Rue, we brought them here!” he yelled at me.
Lily hissed at me and Johnathan held her back as I continued to swing my fist at her.
Sam flashed into the room, followed by everyone else.
“Rue,” he said to me. Johnathan held me close to his chest as I kicked at her.
She stood there with her perfect body, covered in bubbles.
Josh stared at her and I cleared my throat.
“Josh? Really?” I asked him.
He shook his head and looked at me.
“I can’t help it. She is naked, Rue!” he yelled at me.
Theodore flashed in and Jonah stepped out of the bathroom.
He grinned at Theodore, and his eyes wandered.
“Oh,” he whispered.
Kai flashed in; he immediately covered his eyes and turned around.
“Oh… come on!” he yelled. “Put some pants on already!”
Jonah smiled and grabbed a towel. He wrapped it around Lily and then grabbed one for himself.
“Does anyone want to tell me why I have two naked cannibals in my tub?” I yelled to anyone who would listen to me.
Josh stepped up to me and took Johnathan’s hands off of me. He leaned in.
“It seems that we have new friends now,” he whispered.
“You are kidding me right?” I said a little too loud. Jonah laughed.
“Well, I would hope that you will find it in your heart to stop hating us,” he said.
I leaned around Josh.
“Really? You tried to EAT us,” I said.
Josh shooshed me. I raised my eyebrows to him.
“Eat us!” I said in a half whisper. He nodded and turned to Theodore.
“That is true. Do we have a guarantee that we won’t have any ‘midnight’ snacking going on?” Josh said as he stared at Theodore. Theodore grinned and nodded.
“Jonah has promised that we will not,” he said as he looked at Jonah.
Jonah grinned at him and he rubbed his neck.
I stepped around Josh and pointed at the two of them.
“Get out of my room. You can have another room, but not mine,” I said to the two of them.
Lily grinned and I frowned at her teeth.
“God… really?” I asked as I held my hands up.
“What?” Lily asked me.
I placed my hands on my hips.
“Your teeth are disgusting,” I said to her.
She looked at Jonah and he touched her face as she frowned. I grunted half-laughing.
“Oh my god… I did not hurt her feelings,” I said.
Lily stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, with the same sad look on her face.
I looked at Jonah. “Her teeth are crazy,” I whispered.
“Her teeth were filed down by our masochistic father,” Jonah said as he stared at me.
“What?” I asked him.
“Yes… she did not do that to herself.”
I sighed and looked at Josh.
“How could I of known that?” I asked him.
Jonah started to laugh.
“No… I jest, she did it about fifty years ago,” Jonah said.
I shook my head and held up my hand.
“You see… liars!” I said.
Theodore stepped up to me and placed his hand on my face.
“It is so good to see you, love,” he said.
I shook my head at him and stepped back.
“Thanks… but no distractions okay? I am not okay with this!” I yelled as I pointed my finger at Jonah.
“And why would you be so hateful?” Jonah asked me.
I looked at him in a flash.
“Holy Crap, you are kidding, right?” I asked him.
He walked to my bed and sat down on it as I held my hands out. I took one step towards him.
“Ahhh no, please get off my bed,” I said, although he had already sat down. Grossness.
He smiled at me.
I turned to Josh with a total “why?” look on my face. Josh tilted his head at me.
“Rue… it seems that Jonah and Lily have switched sides,” he said as he glanced at Jonah.
“Really? I wasn’t aware that they even had a side, Josh,” I said to him.
Jonah laughed and my bathroom door opened up.
Lily stepped out and looked at me. She had her sad face on.
“Oh please… knock it off,” I said as I rolled my eyes at her.
She walked to Jonah and he held his hand out to her.
I raised my hands and gave out an “ughhhh”. I stormed out of my room with nothing else to add to the ridiculousness. I stomped downstairs and dropped on the couch. I could hear some chatter coming from my room. Sam came down first and she walked up next to me and paused for a moment. She set down next to me and tapped my knee. I looked over at her.
“What the crap?” I said to her as I pointed my finger towards the ceiling.
“Jonah killed a rogue, sent out to kill you,” she said.
I sat up and let my mouth fall open.
“He what, with a who?” I asked.
She grinned at me.
“Yea… that’s what I thought too,” she said.
“Yep… he ate her. Bridgette something,” she said to me.
I put my hand on my mouth.
“Well… Josh killed her brother,” I said to her.
“Sweet,” Sam said as she nodded her head.
“He actually killed a lot of them,” I muttered.
She leaned up and looked at me.
“So… you got to see Josh full throttle, huh?” she asked me.
“If you call cutting people in half and building a light cage around me ‘full throttle’, then yea,” I said.
“Man I wish I had been there,” she said to me.
“No… no you don’t,” I said.
“Why not? That sounds bad ass,” she said. I laughed.
“Yea, actually it was,” I said in a whisper.
I heard a throat clear and we both turned to see Josh standing there.
Sam jumped up and ran around the couch to him.
“You tell me everything,” she said. Josh grinned.
He placed his hand on her head and she stumbled back after a moment.
“Dude!” she yelled at him.
Josh tilted his head at her.
“Dud
e?” he asked her. “You have been spending too much time with Kai,” he added.
Sam leaned down to me.
“You are naughty,” she whispered to me.
I felt like blushing. He must have shown her everything. I looked at him.
“Why?” I asked him.
He laughed and flashed into the kitchen. He started to pull everything out of the fridge and throw it on the table. I sat there and pressed on my stomach as I saw all the food. I ran in and tore into anything I could grab first. I shoved food into my mouth and barely chewed it as I started to swallow. I stopped as it rolled in my stomach. I looked up at Josh who was munching on a bag of chips.
“Oh god,” I muttered as I stood up and ran into the hallway bathroom.
I slammed the door behind me and bent over the toilet. Everything came up in a violent rush.
I gasped for air as I backed away from the bowl and hit the wall. Josh pounded on the door.
“Rue...? Are you okay?” he yelled at me.
I raised my shaky hand to my face and wiped it; I was covered in sweat. I stumbled towards the mirror and looked at my face. I looked pale, dark circles under my eyes as I looked at myself. He pounded on the door again.
“Rue?” he yelled at me.
I turned the water on and felt the cold water flow over my hands.
“Yeah… yeah, I’m good. I just haven’t eaten in a while, I guess,” I said to him.
I scooped the water up in my hands and rinsed my face with it. I closed my eyes and scooped some in my hand. I placed it to my mouth and swallowed it. I stumbled back as I felt it burn in my stomach.
“What?” I muttered as I leaned forward and it came up too.
I held onto the side of the sink and caught my breath. Why can’t I keep even water down? I thought to myself. Josh opened the door this time; I guess he couldn’t wait for me to simply walk out of the bathroom on my own.
“What is going on?” he asked me. I looked up at him and his eyes got wide.
“Rue!” he said in a panic, which is odd for him to do. Josh did not usually panic.
I shook my head at him and held up my hand.
“I’m good,” I said as the room started to tilt.
