“Where did you get this couch, some poor third world country?”
His answer was to set his empty glass of water down on the small coffee table just in front of the couch. There was barely enough room for their legs. Rosalie gave him a look before pushing the table further away to give herself some more room.
“Elijah, please…tell me.” She reached over to place one of her hands on his shoulder, but he flinched away. Looking annoyed, she settled for clasping her hands in her lap. “I hate saying please…but scaring you into a bathroom didn’t work. Chasing you down at a ferry terminal didn’t help. Neither did my strong sarcasm and stunning good looks. Which means that yelling probably isn’t going to do anything, either. So that means that logic and reason are the only things I have left. Because as spineless as you are, you sure have balls. You aren’t afraid to tell anyone anything that a person’s palms say. And my palm is the reason why you saw…whatever it was that you saw.”
“How do you know that?”
“How do I know what?”
He shrugged a little bit, refusing to meet her dark Spanish brown eyes. “Did Ang tell you that I’m like that? That I…that I just say what I feel?”
“Yes. She did. She holds you in higher regard than she sometimes holds me. Elijah, she talks about you all the time.” With a sigh, she dared to reach for him again, gently touching his shoulder. “She was worried about me. When…” Breathing slowly, she nodded to herself. Maybe if she gave something of herself, he would offer the same. It was all she could think of to do. “When my dad died, I was a wreck. She was so worried about me, but she didn’t know what to do. So she thought that you could help me. You know, get my mind off of things. Which…you kinda did.” Now she had a small smile on her face.
“Are you two people?”
Rosalie blinked a few times and opened her mouth. Then she slowly closed it as her brain tried to process his question. Her eyes narrowed a little bit, but then she nodded. “I get it…I act like a bitch one minute, and turn all nice the next.” Unclasping her hands, she rubbed them over her thighs. “Weird things happen when someone really close to you dies. That’s all.”
“I guess...” Elijah looked over at Rosalie, meeting her gaze for the first time since their encounter at the ferry terminal. “You try to act like you’re tough. Like…nothing can touch you. But you’re in pain… all the time. And you don’t want anyone to see.”
“How…do you do that?” Rosalie felt her throat clenching. She had always been so good at hiding her feelings. And yet here this stranger was, stripping her armor away without effort.
He smiled a little, nervously, and looked away. “I don’t know, I just do. My mom, she… she always said it was a gift. Or something.”
As Rosalie pulled her hand away from Elijah’s shoulder, she clasped her hands again. “It is a gift. And not one that I can understand. Before I met you, I always told Ang that she was out of her mind to believe in all of that supernatural new-age stuff. But she was always trying to get me into it, to believe in it. She has always been so adamant that it’s real, and now, after meeting you…maybe there is something to it.” She held her tongue, then, refraining from asking him about the relationship that he and Angelique had apparently had. Take it slow, she thought to herself.
“There is…something.” When he looked at her again, he couldn’t conceal the real fear in his eyes.
“What is that ‘something’?”
Pushing himself up from the couch, he moved over to the window. Some of the apartments in this old rundown place had balconies, but his didn’t. He preferred it that way anyway, ever since that woman a few floors over had fallen right through hers and died on impact with the concrete below. As he placed one of his hands on the window, staring out into the day that was swiftly turning into night, he tried to find what little courage there was inside of him. In order to tell Rosalie, he was going to have to relive what he had seen. And he didn’t know if he could do that.
Chapter Seven
Angelique stared at Rosalie like she had just lost her mind. In fact, she nearly dropped the expensive crystal glass she was holding in her right hand and had to sit down on the edge of the loveseat. They were in her home, which was as extravagant as Angelique was, with beautiful modern curtains, marble counters, and dark rosewood floors. The cutlery alone was worth more than Rosalie’s apartment.
“Rosalie, you have never done anything reckless in your life. You’re all talk!”
“I know, Ang, I know.” She couldn’t stop the small grin. “But it was sort of exciting in a way. I mean, I think I almost got hit by a car five times, and he just about got run over by a semi.”
“And after it all you followed him home, which took two hours, but didn’t have sex with him? What the hell is wrong with you?”
Rosalie laughed. “A lot. But, he did invite me over tonight. He said he needed a few days to prepare for…whatever it is he’s going to be doing. Which does not involve sex by the way.” She placed a finger against her friend’s lips. “But instead involves him gaining enough backbone to not lock himself in a bathroom.”
They both burst into laughter, and Angelique gave Rosalie a playful shove. “I bet there’ll be sex.”
“You’re horrible, you know that? We barely know each other. Besides, two days ago he was running from me like I was some disease-ridden prostitute.”
“That, my friend, was two days ago. Tonight…” Angelique was grinning even more. “Maybe he really does like you, and he’s just scared of rejection. You should make the first move and see what happens. For your information, that method has a near 100% success rate.”
Rosalie rolled her eyes. “Don’t you ever think about anything other than sex? Like, I don’t know…a lasting relationship?”
“Mmm, tried that once. It didn’t end well.”
“Yeah, because you wanted him to get your name tattooed on his ass.”
“Damn. Maybe you’re right.”
Rosalie’s expression suddenly fell, and she stared at Angelique.
“Rosalie…why are you looking at me like that?”
“You tried to get Elijah to tattoo your name on his ass, didn’t you? It was him, that was the ‘long’ relationship you have avoided telling me about since damn near high school!”
A red flush started to overtake Angelique’s features, and she looked away with a squeak. “Oh my god…how did you ever figure that out?” She shook her head violently back and forth, then pointed at Rosalie, who’s jaw was nearly on the floor. “For your information, he is the one who asked me out.”
“Holy crap…what the hell? Best friends are supposed to tell each other stuff like this!”
She laughed. “I know, I know. But I didn’t think you would want anything to do with my ex, you know? Since the last one…well, you know.” She grimaced. “Elijah, though…he’s cool and everything, but…”
“But…?”
Leaning closer to Rosalie, she smiled mysteriously. “He likes you more.”
“He does not. He’s scared the death of me, and probably has been since we met. That’s probably why he’s always avoided me most of the time, and barely spoken the other 1% we’ve actually come into contact with each other.”
“Yes he does. I can sense these things. It’s likely why we never worked out, he was too busy ogling my best friend.”
She laughed. “No, it’s because you tried to get him to tattoo your name onto his ass.”
There was more laughter as Angelique pretended to dump the contents of her wine on Rosalie. “Whatever happens, my dear Spanish friend…just make sure you don’t let that one get away without at least a decent test drive.”
* * * *
Even after several cold showers, Elijah still felt like he was drenched in sweat. No matter what he did he just couldn’t calm himself down. His heart was beating so hard he was afraid it would burst right through his chest and into the open air.
“It’s only fear,” he whispered to himse
lf. “It has no power over you. It—”
The phone beeped three times instead of ringing. She was here. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Elijah moved to the phone and placed it to his ear. “Um…hello?”
“It’s me, Rosalie. Can you let me in?”
“Okay, sure. Hold on.” After a short hesitation, he pressed ‘7’, which unlocked the door. He waited a few seconds before replacing the phone back in its cradle on the wall. It was all he could do to keep from pacing, and he slid his hands back through his rich brown hair. Clenching at it, he gently tapped his brow against the wall with his eyes closed.
Someone knocked on the door. Three gentle raps. After wringing his hands a few times, then feeling childish, Elijah strode over to the door and drew it open. Rosalie was standing there, looking almost as nervous as he was. “Um…” He stepped back, swallowing hard. “I mean, come in. Is there a reason why you didn’t want to meet somewhere more…public? I mean my place is…” He flinched a bit and looked around.
She stepped inside, giving him a small smile of reassurance. “Because I didn’t think you would want to tell me something so important in front of a bunch of other people.”
“Okay.” He let out a low snort. “You being nice to me…kinda weirding me out…”
“That’s because I don’t have to constantly demand answers from you and/or stalk you. Besides, Angelique and I had a really good talk today about you. I sort of… well, before I thought you were just being an idiot. But now I’m not so sure.”
Looking uncomfortable, he just shrugged as she stepped further inside. It was enough to let him close the door, which he dead bolted. He glanced at her for a moment, then slipped by her and had a seat on his couch. Rosalie followed and then slowly sank down onto the couch as well, doing a good job of hiding her distaste. Angelique’s couch was so much more comfortable.
It was also a great deal more expensive, but still. One would think a man could get some decent furniture at least! As soon as that thought entered her mind, she felt guilty. Not so long ago, Elijah had been living on the streets with nothing but the clothes on his back and a few ‘fortune telling’ items; most of which had likely been stolen/gotten lost along the years. “Can I make you a deal, Elijah? So we can call it even?”
“What kind of deal?”
“I, or someone I know, gets you something you have never been able to afford, and you…tell me what you saw the day you freaked out and left Morgan’s store. I know you already agreed to tell me, but I think it’s important to keep a good balance, you know?”
Elijah swallowed and stared at her. Then he forced himself to nod, barely managing a very fake smile. His nerves were quickly getting the better of him. “Yeah…sure. That would be…sure.” He could see her in his mind, the vision of her clear. Leaning over him, yelling his name while blood fell like rain all around them. Shaking his head, he shifted a little further from her on the couch. “You killed me.”
Rosalie’s brow was deeply furrowed. She had never seen such a nervous person in her life. It was as though she had beaten the shit out of him, or tortured him. The way he was acting, it was like…
As those three words left his lips, confusion dominated the emotions on her face. She just stared at him, not understanding what had just been said.
“In my… my vision. The one I had at the store. The shop I mean.“ He could barely breathe. “In my vision, you… you kill me.”
Chapter Eight
“But… how? I mean… what? Why?” Rosalie was struggling hard to keep herself under control. Inside, she felt like she was floundering. What reason would she possibly have to take another person’s life? She barely even knew Elijah! Sure he was weird, but killing him was an insane and inconceivable thing to her. The only person she really wanted dead was her father’s murderer. “Elijah, that’s just…” She couldn’t finish her sentence. Her lips were opening and closing, but no words were coming out.
“Yeah... So I’m going to leave now. I don’t think the airport and the ferry are that connected.” Swallowing hard, he pulled himself up from the couch.
“Wait!” She stood, too, then reached out and grabbed his right elbow. Ignoring his flinch, she maneuvered herself in front of him. “Wait. What else did you see? How do I kill you in this vision thing? Do you have these…visions…regularly? How do you even know if it will come true?”
Elijah chewed on his lower lip, half tempted to pull away from Rosalie and just leave. He didn’t have any ties to this place at all, and certainly none to her. Aside from, of course, the fact that she was going to kill him.
“Rosalie…just get out of my way.”
The tone of his voice shocked her, and she almost took a step away from him. Her fingers loosened around his elbow, and her eyes grew slightly wider than normal. From what little she had seen of Elijah, he was always stumbling awkwardly over his words. But now, that tone… it spoke of more than a struggling confidence. It made her wonder what—if anything—had happened to make him this way.
“No.” Raising her eyebrows and falling out of her initial shock, she let him go and folded her arms across her chest. Her heart thudded against her chest, and for a moment it felt like she couldn’t draw air into her lungs. “You know me by now. I’ll just follow you.”
Elijah stared at her for what seemed like many minutes. In reality, it was just a few seconds. He lifted his hands up from his sides and shrugged his shoulders up. “What the hell do you want from me? I told you…you kill me. So, I’m doing what every normal person would do in this very awkward situation: I’m leaving and getting the hell away from you.”
This time, Rosalie’s lips parted and she was certain that her jaw was somewhere very close to the floor. What on earth had just happened? She stared at him, her frozen state clear indication of her astonishment. Straightening, Elijah rubbed his hands down across the tops of his thighs. His jaw clenched together, and then he gave her a small nod. There was awkwardness to the way that he sidestepped around her, like he wasn’t sure what had just happened.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I… I just… I want to go, okay? And you’re not…“ He sighed and half turned his body toward her. “You’re not making it easy.”
“No, I get it.” She blinked a few times and swallowed hard. “But maybe if I knew what you saw, I could avoid wearing a certain shirt, or not go to a certain place.”
“I uh… I don’t think it works that way.”
Rosalie sighed, then chewed on her lower lip. “Look. Just sit here with me, and tell me. It’s not hard.” She stepped back before dropping herself back down onto the couch and looked at him. Reaching over, she gave the cushion beside her a pat.
It’s not hard. Those words repeated themselves over and over again in his mind. They were a strange mantra that almost made sense. But did he really want to relive the vision of his own death? With a small shake of his head, he took a seat beside his very unwanted guest. With his hands pressing hard against the tops of his thighs, fingers gripping into his flesh, he just sat there in tense silence. He almost jumped right off the couch when he felt Rosalie’s hand fall over the top of his, and he quickly turned narrowed eyes on her.
“Did I do it on purpose?”
Her question somehow soothed away some of the tension. “No…”
“It was an accident then, right?”
“Yeah…yeah… it was an accident.” He looked down at her hand, which was still resting over top of his own. With a deep outward breath, he allowed himself to breathe inward slowly. Then out again, just as gradually. “It happens at Morgan’s shop,” Elijah finally admitted. “In the back…where all the antiques are.”
Rosalie pressed her lips together and nodded. She wanted to jump straight to ‘why’, but that had scared him away before. Instead, she went with, “what happened?”
“I was back there, looking…looking for something. Orange. Yes, an orange pendant. I um… Morgan had brought it in earlier that day, and I just felt… I don’t know.
Close to it? So I wanted to see…you know, what it was. Maybe find out where it had come from…and stuff.” He rubbed at his thigh with his free hand—the one that Rosalie wasn’t touching. “You were in there.”
After several minutes of silence, Rosalie pressed her hand encouragingly against Elijah’s, gently rubbing the back of his hand in a soothing motion. “What happened after you saw me?”
“Well…“ His brow drew together. “You…no, I found the orange pendant. And then…I…I opened it. There was this…kind of a bright light. The same color as the pendant…orange. You came over…I guess to see what it was.” Sweat was prickling at his temples, and he gave his head a small shake.
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