Static

by Vivi Anna

  I rubbed and rubbed until my skin was red and sore. But at least I could breathe a little. I no longer had to suck in huge mouthfuls of air to get the much needed oxygen.

  Lying back on the pillow, I blinked back tears and the sweat that was dripping into my eyes. Running my hands down my torso, I realized that my t-shirt was soaked as were the sheets covering me. I didn't know how long I'd been asleep—it hadn't seemed that long—but it must've been lengthy enough for me to sweat right though my clothes and covers.

  I glanced at the big curtained bay window and saw that it was still full dark. I couldn't have been asleep any longer than a couple of hours. I was still tired, but I didn't think I could go back to sleep. Not now. Not with the remnants of my dream still lingering deep within my mind, and the hiss of static still persistent in my ears.

  Rolling out of bed, I stood and shuffled to the door. I'd just peek out and see what Trevor was doing. Maybe he was still awake and we could play some more video games because I needed something to take my mind off things. I'd go crazy if I had to sit in the room, in the dark, with my thoughts. I didn't even have my DS. I'd forgotten to pack it.

  Gripping the doorknob, I slowly turned it and pulled open the door. I peered out into the living room and that's when all the warmth in my body dissipated, leaking out from the bottom of my feet, leaving me icy cold and shaking uncontrollably.

  Chapter 16

  "Well, well, Trevor, I think you've been holding out on me. I didn't know you were keeping some for yourself."

  Thane's voice jabbed at my senses. The sensation made my stomach clench then roll over like a tidal wave.

  That's when I leaned over and puked on the rug.

  Thane laughed. "I think you plied her with too much alcohol."

  Trevor rushed to my side, and maneuvered me toward the chair where I could sit with my head between my legs. I took in one greedy gulp of air after another trying to calm my queasy stomach, but it proved difficult sitting close to the guy that ruined my life.

  I kept my head down not wanting to look at him again, but a magnetic pull urged me to raise my head, to take in his magnificence. Before I could though, Trevor was pushing on the back of my head to keep it down and placed a cold wet washcloth on my neck. Relief was instant and I sighed.

  He maneuvered a glass of fizzing water into my quivering hands.

  "What is it?" I asked.

  "Alka Seltzer."

  I took a sip and cringed at the taste. Lemony bubbles fizzled on my tongue. It nearly made me gag all over again.

  "Where did you pick this one up? I don't remember her at the club."

  My head came up with a snap. "What did you say?"

  One eyebrow lifted and he smiled at me. He looked amused. I couldn't believe the bastard didn't remember who I was. He'd only tried to kill me a couple weeks ago.

  "Oh, she has some fire. Maybe when you're done with her, I can have her for a bit."

  Fury propelled me to my feet and I dropped the glass of alka seltzer on the ground. Trevor was at my side in an instant, grabbing my arm and keeping me in place. "Nah, you don't want her. She's not as exciting as she looks."

  "Asshole." I struggled against the grip he had on me, but he held me firm. I glared up at him, but he didn't bother to meet my gaze. He was watching Thane.

  "She looks exciting to me." That smile again, the slow sexy lift of lips. Except this time it didn't send quivers down my thighs. Instead, it made me want to cross the room and poke my thumbs into his eyes.

  Trevor shook my arm a little, getting my attention. "Go into the bedroom. I'll be there in a minute."

  I ignored him and continued to glare at Thane, my back on edge, grinding my teeth together. He shook me again, squeezing my upper arm. I shifted my gaze to him. He was staring at me with dark intense eyes. Finally, I understood his intent. He wanted me out of the room. Away from Thane.

  I nodded and pulled out of his grip, to go back into the bedroom.

  Thane shifted on the sofa; setting down the cold piece of pizza he'd been munching on, and frowned. "Hey girl, wait a minute. Do I know you? You look sort of familiar."

  I opened my mouth to tell him that yes, he knew me, that he was the bastard that stole my life from me.

  But Trevor answered for me, with a not so gentle nudge toward the bedroom. "You don't know her, Thane. She's just another groupie. They all look the same." He pushed me again. "I told you to go to the bedroom and wait for me. So do it."

  Thane laughed again. "Wow, man, I didn't realize how much of a domineering prick you were. No wonder Devon made you. She likes that in the men she takes."

  An icy shiver rushed down my back as I looked from Trevor to Thane and back again. Devon made Trevor into a cambion? It surprised me, but I guess it shouldn't have, as Devon was the only chick in the band. I didn't take Trevor for a guy that swung both ways.

  Trevor motioned to me to keep going, pleading me to leave with his eyes. I heeded him and kept on walking toward the bedroom. But before I could cross the threshold, I heard something that made my blood run cold.

  "Too bad about your sister, though, man. I think she would've been a lot like you, strong and aggressive, able to live this life. Actually, I bet she would've reveled in it."

  From the side of my eye I could see Trevor flinch. His hands curled into hard tight fists. Thane either didn't notice or didn't care.

  "I liked her. She was a cool chick," Thane said then stood, brushing the pizza crust crumbs from his black jeans. He picked up the bottle of beer sitting in front of him on the coffee table and took a sip. "Well, thanks for the pizza and beer. I'll let you get back to it." He winked.

  I stood in the bedroom doorway and watched, transfixed, as Thane left the hotel room. Then my gaze shifted to Trevor. He had yet to move. He still stood in the middle of the room his hands fisted at his sides. His knuckles were turning white.

  My heart ached from him.

  "Did Thane—,"

  "Don't." Like a cold front, he moved about the room, trailing a bitter wind in his wake. He paced back and forth, clenching and unclenching his hands repeatedly.

  I wanted to go to him, to soothe him somehow, but I knew he'd snap at me. "Is that why you want to kill them so bad?"

  He stopped in his tracks and glared at me. I shuddered from the menacing look he gave me. Like he could rip out my throat without breaking a sweat. "I don't want to talk about it."

  "Damn it, Trevor. You need to tell me. You want my help, right? Well, I need to know what the hell's really going on. I left my whole life behind for you."

  He frowned. "What?"

  I realized my blunder, and shook my head, stuttering to keep from being even more embarrassed than I already was. "I mean, not for you, but, you know because of you. Because you said I should," I finished in a rush.

  Instead of responding, he stalked toward the sofa, and sat down. He hung his head and ran his hands back and forth through his hair. He looked like a caged animal desperate to be free.

  Trevor had that kind of crazed wild look in his eyes. The one that said sanity had taken a permanent leave of absence.

  Cautious but determined to get some answers, I moved back into the living room and sat on the chair that he had previously occupied. Self-conscious, I pulled down the t-shirt so it covered my knees.

  His head came up to look at me. I kept his gaze wanting him to know that I wasn't going to back down but also that I cared about his pain. I hated to see that kind of raw emotion in anyone. It crushed my soul just to know it existed.

  "I need to know, Trevor. I'm tired of maneuvering in the dark. I've been doing it for over a week now, and I don't think I can take it anymore."

  Sighing, he wiped his hand once more through his hair then leaned back against the sofa cushions. His leg bounced up and down as he stared down at his hands in his lap.

  "Reagan was my twin sister."

  I could feel the tears burning in the back of my eyes and throat as he spoke. I could hear the pain
rippling through his voice. A pain I hoped to never experience.

  "She was cool for a sister. Did lots of guy stuff. We hung out quite a bit, shared the same style, taste in music, even friends." He paused, licked his lips, and then continued. "Over two years ago, we went to a gig together of some band we'd heard a bit about. A friend of ours was hooked on them. They were called Razorwire then."

  "Wait minute. I remember Razorwire." I blinked back the shock I was feeling. "Didn't they die in a plane crash like almost two years ago?"

  Trevor shook his head. "That's how they've survived so long without drawing a lot of attention to themselves. Faking deaths, changing identities."

  "But the guys from Malice don't even look like the members of Razorwire. And if I remember correctly they had a female lead singer not a guy."

  "They're like chameleons. Able to change and adapt to any situation. They can shift their shapes to suit any purpose."

  I shivered. That creeped me out big time. I wondered if they could shift genders. That would be just plain freaky and not something I wanted to really dwell on at the moment.

  "Okay, so what happened?"

  "We got backstage passes and went back to party with the band. Why not right? I mean rock band parties are legendary. I wanted to experience that. Reagan didn't want to go. But I convinced her it would be the shit, you know. We drank, got high and partied hard, just like we were supposed to, but what I got, what we both got, was something out of a nightmare."

  I nodded knowing perfectly well what he was talking about. It was a nightmare that would never end.

  "Devon was smoking hot, you know. Of course she was going by the name Violet at the time and she looked a lot different than she does now. She had really big—,"

  I put my hand up. "Yeah, I get it."

  "I wanted her big time. And I had her. Just not in the way I was hoping for. I woke up the next day, hung over, sore as hell, and like this." He held out his arms to the sides.

  "What about your sister?"

  "She hooked up with Thane. He was Perry, the drummer then, but he still had that allure he possesses now. Makes it hard to resist."

  "I know."

  "Right." He nodded, then rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. "I remember waking up the next day alone in the hotel room we'd gone to. I immediately grabbed my cell phone and called Reagan. But she didn't answer. I went out of the room, walked down the hall and came upon another room, the door open. I peered inside and saw Thane, Devon and the rest of them standing over the bed, arguing about something. Curious, I walked in."

  My heart leapt into my throat. Images from my experience flashed in my mind. I remembered those faces looking down at me while I'd been naked on the bed, sucked dry. But what they hadn't realized was that I had still been alive.

  Obviously, Reagan hadn't been as lucky.

  "When I saw her on the bed, eyes closed, I didn't know what to do. I remember rushing to the bed to check on her, but Devon grabbed my arm hard. Sometimes I can still feel the pressure of her hand around my bicep. She's a lot stronger than she looks."

  He glanced at me, then back down to his hands fidgeting in his lap. I wanted to go to him, but I wasn't sure if he'd appreciate the gesture or loathe me for it. He was impossible to read. And I didn't want to make a mistake with him, not now when his pain was so open and raw, bleeding out all over the room.

  His grief was so palpable; I could feel it skim the surface of my skin. Goose bumps rose on every part of my body.

  "I knew she was dead. I could feel it all the way down to my bones." He shivered. "I attacked Thane, I remember that clearly. But he was so strong it didn't take much for him to knock me unconscious. I woke up hours later in my own bed at home, disoriented, confused. I got up and went looking for Reagan, thinking maybe I had dreamed everything. But she wasn't there."

  "Hours later, the cops showed up. I guess my mom put out a missing person's report on her, which surprised me because I didn't think she gave a shit about either us. Anyway, I told the cops what had happened and they went to speak to the band. I was sure they would find her body and arrest Thane. But they returned that night with other plans." He jumped up then from the sofa startling me. "I'm thirsty. Do you want a drink? I need a drink." He wandered into the kitchenette and opened the compact refrigerator. "I'm having a beer, do you want one?"

  "Yeah, sure." I wasn't much of a beer drinker, but I needed something, anything to calm my nerves. Trevor's story had me on edge. I couldn't imagine what he'd gone through.

  He came back, with two beers. He twisted the top off both, handed one to me, then sat back down on the sofa. I watched as he took a long pull, draining nearly half the bottle. I took a small sip and set the beer on the table, settling back in for the rest of his story. Although it broke my heart in pieces, I needed to hear the rest. And I think deep down he really needed to tell it, especially to someone that wouldn't think he was nuts.

  "The cops didn't find the body?" I asked.

  He shook his head. "They didn't find anything. Not even the band. There wasn't even a record of them ever playing at the club we'd been at."

  "Really? How could that be?"

  He shrugged. "I don't know, but that's how it went down. Then they took me in and questioned me for hours."

  "Oh, my God Trevor, did they think you..."

  "Yup. They thought I killed her and stuffed the body somewhere."

  I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to go to him. The anguish on his face and voice twisted me in half. Without a word, I moved over to the sofa and sat beside him. Not close enough that we were touching, but near enough if he wanted me to, I could reach for him. He glanced at me briefly as I settled in beside him, but he didn't make an effort to move away.

  "Did they arrest you?"

  He shook his head and took another pull on the beer. "They didn't get a chance. The minute I was released from questioning, I packed my shit and took off."

  "Where did you go?"

  "I traveled a bit up and down the west coast, panhandling and working odd jobs for money. I hit San Fran, L.A., but it wasn't until I hit San Diego that I noticed something really wrong. The changes didn't happen to me as fast as they did you. It wasn't until after a good two weeks that I knew something was wrong with me. Not until I met MJ and put her into a coma."

  He drained the rest of his drink, stood and went back into the kitchen to get another. After twisting the cap, he walked back into the living room. "After that happened, I sought Razorwire out to find out what the hell was wrong with me. I caught up with them in Salt Lake City of all places. I got drunk and attacked them at the club they were playing." He paused taking another drink and glanced down at his feet as if he was picturing the whole thing over again. "They could've killed me right there and then, they are so much stronger and faster, but instead they offered me a job. To be one of their roadies. So I thought about that saying ‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer' to find a way to kill them."

  I reached for him, setting my hand on his shoulder. I squeezed, letting him know I was there. "I'm so sorry, Trevor. It must've been awful for you to go through all of that."

  He shrugged off my hand and glared at me. "I don't need your sympathy."

  Taken back, I met his gaze, my mouth agape. "You're a jerk, you know that? I wasn't trying to give you sympathy, but, I don't know, be a friend."

  "I don't need you to be my friend."

  "What do you need from me, then?"

  "To help me find a way to kill them."

  I shook my head, and put my hands up in frustration. What I really wanted to do was strangle him. He was so exasperating. "Why me? Why not someone else? I'm sure there are other better qualified people to help you murder four people, well, not people I guess, but things."

  "Because you're the first girl I've met to ever survive the transition."

  Chapter 17

  That little bomb propelled me to my feet. "What?"

  "As far as I can tell, y
ou're the first girl to survive. All the others over the years have died, tossed away just like you'd been." He shrugged. "There are a few other guys turned that I know of, a couple of the security dudes, but not any girls. They don't usually like to leave left-overs."

  "So, that's like, what, the only reason you were stalking me? Because I was an even bigger freak than you?" I paced the room, anger fueling every step.

  "Hey, I wasn't stalking you."

  I frowned at him. "Please. You showed up outside my bedroom window, in the bathroom when I was using it, which is like gross to begin with, and then—,"

  "Then, I saved you from killing some poor dude who had the bad sense in wanting to date you."

  I gaped at him.

  "And I didn't hear one thank you, about that. Not one."

  "Thank you?" I shrieked. "You want me to thank you? For what? For showing me what a big freak I am, or for making me leave everything I've ever known. Making me a fugitive with no future whatsoever.

  I was shaking with fury, but deep down I sensed something else was happening as well. It wasn't until Trevor's eyes widened and he started to laugh that I realized I didn't have my feet firmly planted on the ground.

  My stomach flipped over as I bounced up and down in the air like an un-tethered hot-air balloon. "Get me down!" I reached for Trevor but all I did was dog paddle comically through the air.

  He laughed, again. Actually, he hadn't really stopped laughing. "Oh my God." He snickered. "Don't do that again. I'll bust my gut."

  "Quit laughing, and help me." I made another attempt to grab him. But it didn't work. I just bobbed up in the air. My butt touched the ceiling and I bounced back down again.

  Tears of frustration stung my eyes. I didn't want them to fall. I really didn't need Trevor seeing me cry again. He obviously already thought I was a dork. Crying over it wasn't going to change his mind.

  He met my gaze and I saw something in those dark eyes shift. He stopped laughing. Reaching up, he gripped my hand and pulled me down until my feet were able to touch the rug. He wrapped his arms around me, to keep me there.