by Quil Carter
Jobe stood awkwardly by the bedroom door, his feet shuffled. “I kind of took that as a given…” he said.
Lex wiped his hands down his face, and looked grimly at the wall. “Why did you do that Jobe?” he whispered. “Why the fuck did you do that?”
Jobe stared at him and his hackles raised. “Why the fuck did I do that?” he said, the heat on his voice prominent. “You kissed me!”
Lex’s eyes shot to him and they narrowed dangerously. “Your hands were all over me,” he snapped. “You knew I was fucking drunk, but that didn’t stop you from throwing yourself at me.”
“Are you fucking shitting me?” Jobe roared, his hands flying up into the air. The words coming out of Lex’s mouth were so audacious Jobe would sooner have thought he’d suffered a stroke. What the ever-loving fuck? “This is my fault now? You’re eight years older than me, you asshole.”
The blaze in Lex’s eyes flared like an oil fire. So, different than the soft dark green eyes that he looked at during their intimacy last night. There was no softness to Lex now, only a ball of angry energy just waiting to blast itself at the nearest target.
And that target was Jobe.
“Sasha’s never going to forgive us if he finds out about this,” Lex snarled. He jumped to his feet, both hands grabbing his head, and he began to pace. “He’ll be destroyed, fucking destroyed. How the fuck!? How the fuck did you let this happen?”
“I didn’t do shit!” Jobe snapped. “We both did it, stop putting the fucking blame on me. Let’s not forget who was on top of who.”
“You’ve been eyeing me up since we fucking met.”
Jobe guffawed. “Get over yourself, Alexander,” he said. He turned towards the door, his teeth clenched tight. “I’ve been there for you since before Sasha fucking disappeared. Fuck you for putting this on me.” Jobe put a hand on the handle of the door, but just as he was about to leave, he heard a faint voice.
“I know.”
Jobe turned around and saw Lex, staring down at the ground with his eyes wide and staring. “I’m sorry,” he whimpered. “I’m just scared he’ll find out.”
Jobe wanted to go over there and comfort him, tell him it was okay. But for some reason, this time he couldn’t do it. What Lex had said, and the accusations he’d made, had cut Jobe to the quick, and there was no forgiveness in his heart.
So Jobe turned the handle on the bedroom door, and left the room.
CHAPTER 32
Sasha opened up the drawer of his dresser and looked down at his clothes. They were all folded nicely now, instead of being shoved into whatever drawer was empty enough to hold them, with no care of which one they belonged in.
Jobe had been here, or Lex. Both of them probably. Sasha could see the two in his head carefully folding his clothing, wondering when he would return––if he would return.
Sasha got dressed, the first time in a long time he was able to wear his own clothes. He’d been wearing Kel’s clothes, and sometime Kheva’s, for so long now.
And now everything he picked up and examined looked grubby and old in comparison. Sasha had never been one to care about clothes, but it had been nice wearing some with no holes that hadn’t come from the Salvation Army.
There was a knock on his door. “Come in,” Sasha said. He was belting up a pair of holey blue jeans, and in his hand was a punk-type t-shirt he’d been gifted for Christmas long ago. It had sharp dark grey designs on all sides, the base of it black.
“Hey, baby.” It was Jobe, and Sasha smiled when he heard his voice. Even if he was in a state of being overwhelmed and exhausted, it would never not be a nice thing to hear Jobe’s voice. “I’m so happy you’re––Jesus fucking Christ, Sash!”
Sasha turned around, his shirt still in his hand. He gave Jobe a perplexed look, but then a frigid drop of ice travelled from his throat, to his chest, and then stomach, like he’d swallowed an ice cube.
Idiot, idiot, idiot.
Sasha was completely covered in wounds, some now new pink scars, which still held bits of flaked skin from being freshly formed, others still brown scabs which hurt with every light brush. They were all over his body, but Sasha knew the ones Jobe was looking at… were on his back.
The vicious beating he’d gotten from Kheva after he’d tried to escape. The relentless whipping of the stick Kheva had wielded, the strength behind that man’s power leaving the skin of his back broken and bleeding.
And now Sasha’s back was covered in those thin pink scars, a cluster of them, like a sword fighter had been given Sasha as a practice dummy.
“Fuck, some of those are new!” Jobe ran over, his eyes scanning Sasha’s body. “Those small ones… was he shooting you up with drugs?” Jobe was talking about the needle pock marks, the ones Kheva had made on his flesh the first and only night they’d had sex. The knife wound was there too, and the memory of Kheva consuming his blood… was not a bad one.
“I’m fine,” Sasha mumbled quickly and he tried to put his shirt on but Jobe took his arm.
“I’m putting bandages on the bad ones,” Jobe said hurriedly, his body language anxious and his tone strained. “Please, let me… Come on, let’s go to the living room.”
Even though it was grudgingly, Sasha followed Jobe out of his room and sat down with him on the old couch. Even the couch itself was a lot more ratty than Sasha had remembered, it was old when he bought it from a thrift store and that was a good five years previous.
“Jesus, Sash,” Jobe said under his breath when he came back with Sasha’s medical kit. He sat down on the couch and took Sasha’s arm into his hand. “What sort of wound is this?”
Sasha was tempted to lie, just to avoid having to bring it up, but there was also something in his head that wanted to prove that he wasn’t ashamed of who he was.
“I had to give Kel blood,” Sasha said. “He was fading fast, you saw how bad he was. The blood helps and he’d need it anyway before the hospital.”
Jobe was quiet for a moment. He began to dab the wound with antiseptic before saying. “So… Nate told us that you guys need each other’s blood or those migraines come?”
Sasha nodded. “Blood, semen, even a kiss can hold us over for a few hours. My own blood was good enough for a while, but once my abilities began to advance, it was no longer enough.”
Jobe shook his head, and Sasha’s tension began to release when he saw Jobe crack a smile. “Your abilities?” he repeated. “You’re all superheroey and everything? Come on, do something magic.”
Sasha smiled too and chuckled. “I can’t really do it with non-nightcrawlers yet, but Kheva can. I’m still pretty new at all of this. I can cloak Kel though, make him fall asleep and calm down if I want, and I can find other nightcrawlers, even though my range is short. We can also slip into each other’s minds. It’s… kinda hard to explain, but it’s pretty cool.” Then he sucked in a painful breath when Jobe began to tape the wound closed. “Once Kel’s healthy, I can show you a bit more.”
“It’s still incredible,” Jobe said. He began to wrap the wound in a white bandage. “You know, I’m relieved you seem to be doing pretty good. We were worried about you, baby. We heard so many bad things about Kheva.”
Sasha’s lips pursed. Again, once Jobe brushed over the things he and Lex had learned about Kheva, the hairs on the back of Sasha’s neck began to prickle. What did Jobe know? “I don’t really want to talk about Kheva,” Sasha said quietly, then he decided to gather up his balls and say what he actually wanted. “I would like you to change the subject.”
Jobe glanced up, surprise on his face. “Sure, baby,” he said cautiously. “I’m sorry, pumpkin. I’m just worried about you still. You… buggy, you’re all covered in… in…” Then tears sprung to Jobe’s eyes. “You’re all covered in scars.”
Sasha pulled his hand away, the awkwardness creating a tightness in his throat. “I don’t want to talk about that, Jobe,” he said again, then he added a bit more forcefully. “I think you should change the subject.”
Jobe stared at Sasha with the caution of a dog wanting to re-enter a room after getting yelled at. It was obvious to Sasha that he didn’t know what to do with this polite, but firm, request. However, to Sasha, it was invigorating. He had power over the conversation, like he had power over his life. No longer was he a pile of stationary refuse, a bundle of nothing inside of a home that everyone lived around, talked around, existed around; he was a nightcrawler, something worthwhile, and if he didn’t want to discuss Kheva, or the scars on his body, Sasha had every right to make his wishes known.
“Of course, baby,” Jobe said, the unease clear in every syllable. For a moment, he was stuck on what to say, how to break the awkward tension wrapping its cords around the two of them. But then Jobe’s jovial nature shone through, and he dismissed the mounting weights with a smile. “Why don’t you tell me about that wild cat you came––”
“Oh, shit, Jye!” Sasha jumped to his feet, Jobe cutting the bandage he was fitting just in time. “He’s still in the fucking truck. Fuck, I completely forgot about him.” Sasha ran out his apartment door, sped along the house and sprinted to the truck, Jobe following behind.
“Shit. He never leaves the property… he’s never been without Kheva or Kel I don’t think.” Sasha slowed down his running as he approached the pickup truck, and when he peeked in side he sighed with relief. “He’s asleep… let me grab him. Can we go to the pet store after so I can get a leash for him? I don’t think we can make a litter box big enough for him…”
Jobe chuckled behind Sasha. “I can’t believe there’s a fucking African wildcat in that place. How bizarre.” Sasha opened the back door a crack and reached in to grab Jye’s collar.
“Hey, buddy,” Sasha said gently. Jye’s head rose and his eyes opened, his radar-like ears flickered around, then he let out a huge yawn.
“Jesus, look at those fucking teeth…” Jobe whispered. “Is he going to eat Friskie and Jockster? Is he going to eat us?”
“Maybe and no,” Sasha said. He picked up the partially thawed meat, his mind temporarily forcing him to forget that it was actually human, and handed it to Jobe to carry inside. Then, with his hand firmly on Jye’s collar, Sasha encouraged the cat to jump out of the truck, then began to direct him back to the apartment door. Jye’s head was moving in all directions, and he froze several times when cars went by, but once he was in the backyard he began to calm down, and readily went inside of Sasha’s apartment.
“I need a makeshift leash for now,” Sasha said. He closed the door and let go of Jye’s collar. “He hasn’t gone to the bathroom since last night. He knows to go outside but I don’t want to let him out in the yard without one. There’s space underneath the fences and he can jump really high. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to him, and Kel would be devastated, and Kheva will be devastated and then he’ll kill me.”
Jobe put the meat in the freezer portion of Sasha’s fridge and began to walk towards Lex’s side of the house, no doubt heading to the garage to find some rope. “Why did you have to bring him?” he asked, his voice muffled by the distance.
Sasha wasn’t sure what he should say back. He wasn’t going to talk about Kheva, that was for sure. “He would’ve been at the lake property alone,” Sasha said, that was the best he could come up with. He took out a piece of light pink meat from the giant bag, and put it into the microwave to dethaw.
Human flesh was in my microwave… I have human fucking meat in my microwave.
Sasha hid the grimace and started the microwave. Jye seemed to know that the food was for him, his eyes twitched back and forth and he began to weave around Sasha’s legs with his tail in the air. It was amazing how much this cat was like a house cat, he’d even nuzzle and nudge their faces and lick them. Sasha had been so proud when Jye started doing the same to him.
“Okay I found some old rope,” Jobe said. He came back holding some old blue rope. “I never went to Scouts or any of that shit but I can jerry-rig a leash until we get to the pet store.” He sat on the couch with the rope and began to go to work.
Jye then crouched down, his butt in the air, and pounced on the rope. Jobe looked over at him and burst out laughing when the cat began to play with it. “He’s just like a regular cat!” Jobe mused, a grin on his face that made Sasha smile too. “Oh, I want one. He’s so awesome.”
“He’s a fuckload of work too,” Sasha said, leaning up against the counter. “I have to hide his meat all around the yard, at night too since he loves to hunt at night. Play with him since he’ll have a ton of energy to burn, though he’s great at entertaining himself. He loves to swim in the lake too. Kheva has the perfect location for him.”
“We’ll play with you a lot. Oh, yes we will!” Jobe said in a high-pitched voice. “I’m going to take like a thousand pictures of him.”
After the meat was done, Sasha took the long rope and attached it to Jye’s collar. He then hid the meat around the yard as some sort of a haphazard attempt to replicate that the cat was used to at home. It wasn’t the same, but the cat was happy for the food, and he even made Jobe laugh when he pissed all over Lex’s fence and left a horrible surprise under the dirt of one of Lex’s flower beds.
It wasn’t until early evening, when Sasha was hanging out in Lex’s living room, Jye sleeping on his bed back in the apartment, that Lex’s phone rang. Sasha looked towards him immediately, his heart jumping with excitement for news about Kel.
Taking care of Jye had Sasha’s mind back worrying about Kel. It was a good distraction, but he was always waiting for that phone call to tell him that Kel was stable and waiting for him to come back to the hospital.
Lex picked up the phone and after a short conversation, he glanced in Sasha’s direction. “Kel ended up needing surgery on his leg.” Sasha suspected as much, that leg was twisted and looked horrible. “But he’s been awake for the last hour and he keeps asking about you.”
Sasha rose. “Let’s go then,” he said. “I promised I’d be back as soon as they’d let me. How is he?” At least he hadn’t been awake for that long, most of his time in the hospital would’ve been spent conked right out. Hopefully they gave him some good drugs too.
“Good. His bones are set and he’s receiving fluids,” Lex said. “He had a gash on his head but no concussion just stitches, and he didn’t end up needing a blood transfusion; Dr. Malloy says the fact that he wasn’t bleeding heavily is what saved him. It’s a miracle Kel’s okay.”
It’s a miracle Kel was able to get Jye to bring him food and blankets…
“I didn’t notice much blood on him when I found him,” Sasha said. He began to get ready, and Jobe and Lex did too. Last night seemed like it had happened years ago, but then again, it seemed like twice as long since he’d been in this house with Uncle Jobe and Lex. In so many ways, he was in a different dimension, but it hadn’t had time to fully sink in. That would come later though, this he knew.
When Sasha was waiting by the door for Lex and Jobe, his eyes narrowed when he saw Nate timidly come down the stairs, peeking out like a mouse who was waiting for the cat to leave. “Did… did they call?” he asked timidly.
“You’re not going,” Sasha said flatly. “He doesn’t know who you are and you’re not going to confuse him.”
“Jesus, Sash,” Jobe said, and Sasha was not happy to hear a defensive tone. “He helped us try and track you down; he’s a good kid.”
“He’s going to confuse Kel,” Sasha said. “Kel’s health is my top priority right now, and his mental health too. I don’t need that kid screaming at him like he did when I brought Kel here. It’s going to confuse him and upset him.”
Nate’s brow knitted. “I just asked if the phone call was about Rob,” he said, and the way he said Rob made Sasha’s fists clench. “That was it.” Then, to Sasha’s further distaste, he turned to Jobe. “How is he doing?”
Sasha left after that, his temperature was already rising just having that kid in the same room as him. Nate came off lik
e a ticking time bomb, one that was just waiting to explode all over Kel. Sasha couldn’t have a repeat of what had happened at the Walmart, Kel had been inconsolable.
Eventually Jobe and Lex left the house and walked to Lex’s car. Sasha was already in the passenger side, impatiently waiting for the two to get in.
“Uncle Lex… can I bum some money for now?” Sasha asked. “Kel only had a twenty on him and I can’t cash my recent check until tomorrow. I need to get a leash for Jye, and I want to get some food for Kel. He loves junk food.”
Without Sasha seeing, Lex and Jobe exchanged surprised glances. “Sure, bug,” Lex said. “It’s on the way anyway.” He reached into his pocket and handed Sasha his wallet. Sasha took out fifty bucks and handed it back. That would be enough for everything he needed until he could get the check in. And the remainders of the check after rent would be more than enough to float them until Kel was released and Kheva’s mind was back.
Three days… Sasha said he’d be back in three days to check on Kheva. He hadn’t told Jobe and Lex this yet, but it was written in stone. It was up to Sasha to take care of both of his family members, since both of them needed him.
Lex pulled into the plaza ten minutes later and Sasha hopped out. He walked ahead of Jobe and Lex and to the pet aisle. After checking everything over, he left the aisle with a purple dog leash for Jye, two dog bowls for food and water, and some heavy-duty dog toys that Jye would most likely make short work of. Sasha placed the items in the basket and fast walked over the food aisle.
But he was walking too fast and almost got run down by a shopping cart.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” the middle-aged woman behind the cart full of groceries said.
“My fault, I was going too fast,” Sasha said with a smile. “Have a great day.”
The lady smiled back. “You too.” And she carried on her way. Sasha then quick-walked towards the junk food aisle, but upon feeling rather alone, he turned around to see where Jobe and Lex were.
