by Neena Jaydon
"You've got to be freaking kidding me," he whispered.
*~*~*
"Good night, guys," Max said, hitting the switch. The kennels were as quiet as they ever got. He left them full of rustling and scratching and soft groans. "Damn, it's cold tonight." He zipped his coat and started for his trailer.
A glance out across the field brought him to a stop. He saw someone walking onto it from between the trees that formed a casual barrier between properties. From a distance, he could only tell the person was tall.
"What the hell?" Max changed tracks, hurrying out into the field. It had been hayed about a month ago, and the gamely recovering grass crunched softly underfoot. His eyes widened as he recognized the slouching figure.
Theo stopped, then belatedly moved on. He was walking quickly toward the back of the field, and Max had to run to catch up.
"Hey," he said breathlessly. "What are you doing here?"
"Nothing. Looking." Theo finally stopped. His cheeks were dark red. "I didn't realize how close this is to your place."
"How close what is?" Max scratched at his neck. "Wait, what? Looking for what?"
After a pause that was far too long, Theo spoke. "I'm looking for a place for me and my friends to play paintball. I heard there was a guy here that'd rent us part of his farm. I thought I was on it." All of this came out like Morse code on fast forward.
Max burst out laughing. "You're a really bad liar, Theo. What, were you buying weed from Leonard?" His neighbours had been known to sell things they weren't supposed to. Theo bowed his head, and Max clapped him on the shoulder. "It's Fort Rivers. Who cares about stuff like that here?"
"Mm." Theo gave him a sidelong glance.
Max sighed, wondering if he imagined the accusation in that look. "Look, Theo, about the other night . . . "
"It's okay." Theo spoke hastily, raising a half-hearted hand in a gesture of dismissal.
"It's just I think I probably freaked you out. I'm not really discreet about it, but I don't advertise what I am, either." Max shrugged. "I never know how people are going to react."
"It's not that." Theo blinked, looking surprised.
Intrigued by that reaction, Max pushed on.
"If you're not used to seeing that kind of thing, I'm sure it's a bit of a shock."
"That's not why—I am—" Theo looked at the ground.
What? You're what? Max held his breath, watching Theo's face intently. He wanted the blush forming on those high cheekbones to mean what he thought it meant.
"I'm the same as you." Theo sniffed and rubbed at the back of his neck, still not making eye contact.
No way. No way. Ana was right? Max frowned despite his elation. "Then why don't you come out—"
"I'm not in the—" Theo started heatedly.
Grinning, Max stopped him by reaching out to take hold of his wrist. The skin under his fingertips was startlingly warm.
"Out to the dances. I've never seen you there." I'd have remembered you. Hell, I'd probably have taken you home.
"I'm not, y'know, good with crowds. People."
"It's a good group, though. We're nice people there. Well, if you're not into it, I understand that." Max shrugged one shoulder. "It's just too bad." He slowly released Theo's wrist, letting his fingers trail over the back of his hand. He saw Theo's gaze flicker his way and suppressed a grin.
Do I still make him nervous? Am I a jerk because I'm starting to like that I do? He raised his shoulders almost to his ears, then dropped them, pushing his hands deeper into his pockets. Letting out a breath, he saw it in the air.
"It's getting late in the year," he said, turning his head to look at Theo.
Theo was scanning the tree line. Max resisted the urge to look himself, because he'd rather look at Theo. There was an amazing stillness about him, his body held at the ready without tension. The shadows cast by his brow turned his eyes slate-coloured.
The house lights created a yellow pool that separated the yard and the field into different spaces. There, near the trees, the night surrounded them. There wasn't another person in sight; it was just the two of them. Mist rose in little clouds across the raggedly tufted field, a miniature sky they stood above. Max's next thought came without embarrassment.
This is seriously romantic.
He stepped in close, making those black-fringed eyes widen, and reached out with both hands to cup Theo's jaw. Everything was as natural as breathing, and it was breath he felt on his mouth as he came in for the first touch of their lips.
Delighting in the softness of Theo's mouth, Max closed his eyes. Theo was a pillar of heat that drew him near, away from the chill, but he didn't quite let their bodies touch. That would take away from the kiss, which was paramount. Theo's inhalation was suction, and then those silken lips parted and he leaned into Max. Max put his fingers around the back of Theo's skull, pressing his palm into thick curls.
It was enough to put him on the precipice of his self-control. If he went over the edge, this would turn to shoving and nipping and sweating and tugging and all kinds of other things that made him breathe harder just thinking about them. This was starting to look like an exciting place to tumble to the ground together. For a moment, he teetered.
Hell with it. Let's do this. Weird or not, I want him.
Max dropped his hands to Theo's hips and jerked him close. At the same time, he shoved his tongue into Theo's mouth.
Making a noise in his throat, Theo groped at Max's jacket, then grabbed it in both hands. Then he held Max in place as he took a big step back. They looked at each other in silence. Max waited for an explanation but didn't get one.
"Sorry," Max said, trying not to sound disappointed. But that was as far as he got before intense tingling spread across his back. He turned sharply to look toward the back of the property. At exactly the same moment, Theo also turned to look, but Max was too distracted to process that oddity.
If it weren't for his sensitivity to the spirit world, Max doubted he would be able to see the dark figure standing between two trees. He felt its presence as a pressure on the base of his skull, so strong it made him sweat. Even though he felt its malevolence, this was an unfamiliar dread. This wasn't Deep Murky; it had none of the aura of decay and swampy water.
He glanced at Theo, then looked longer, startled by the intent look on his face. Theo seemed to turn into someone else, his expression coolly focused, his posture straight and strong. Then, his eyes never leaving the shadow, Theo began to run.
"Theo?" Max blurted, startled. Wait, can he see that? "I don't think you should—" Theo was already halfway to the trees; his speed took Max's breath away. Belatedly he took off after, shocked by how little progress he made in comparison. "Theo! Don't go in there! Wait!" Max could no longer see the peculiar shadow in the trees, which was no comfort, because he could still feel it. He didn't know what the thing intended.
Theo stopped at the edge of the trees. By the time Max caught up, the shadow was gone, its unearthly presence no longer making his skin tingle. Breathless, he looked into Theo's face. Quickly, alertly, Theo probed the trees with his eyes. His breathing, to Max's great annoyance, was nearly normal.
"What's going on?" Max asked. Theo gave him a sharp look.
"You shouldn't be here," he said.
"Theo," Max laughed in exasperation, "this is my property. What are you looking for?"
Abruptly Theo sagged, turning his attention to the ground. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I — I can't."
"Seriously, you can tell me." Max reached out to put his hand on Theo's upper arm. He didn't miss how Theo's gaze landed on his hand. "Did you see something in here?"
"You'd better go inside." Theo abruptly began walking quickly back across the field.
"Theo—" Max found himself, yet again, hurrying after Theo. For some time they walked in silence, Max annoyed to find Theo's stride too brisk. "Was that inappropriate?"
"No," Theo said, his tone miserable. "That's—that's not—"
"You
can talk to me. What did you see back there?"
"Nothing," Theo said quickly.
"Nothing? Theo, you took off like a bat out of hell. You were chasing something." And if you know what it was, I'd really like to know.
"Hey," Theo snapped. "I'm weird. You know that." He shook his curls out of his eyes angrily. "You don't know — anything about me. Let's just l-leave it at that." With that he took off at a run, heading for the road. Max stared after him.
No. That's enough running after you for one night. He watched until Theo was out of sight down the road. But I'm not done chasing you, Theo.
*~*~*
Theo sat cross-legged in his worn-out computer chair, leaning his cheek on his hand as he stared at his computer screen. He flicked the cursor across the spreadsheet but didn't add anything to it. The familiar ache in his joints and muscles was not what distracted him from his work.
Fingers brushed his cheeks and lips pressed gently against his own. Theo sat up in his chair so abruptly he nearly tipped it over. He slapped at his cheeks to make those ghostly sensations go away. Firmly resisting the urge to touch his mouth, Theo threw himself out of the chair and stomped upstairs.
Stop thinking about it. It wasn't the biggest thing that happened that night, even.
He poured himself an angry cup of coffee and downed half of it at once. It was hot but not painfully so; it was bitter, but he liked it that way. Other people turned to alcohol when under stress, or smoked something, or jumped on a treadmill. In almost every situation, Theo turned to caffeine.
It was one stupid kiss, two days ago! He gulped down the rest of the coffee and refilled the cup. He hadn't done anything about the mystery thing in the bush, paranoid that Max would show up any time he stepped outside.
He peered through the open blinds at the pungent orb in the sky. Mother Moon, sapping his strength. She looked like she was visibly growing fat on his life force. Of course, he knew that wasn't true. He did, however, find it horribly unfair that the more beautiful she was, the sicker he felt.
There was still the matter of the thing near Max's house. Was that coincidence? Did it have anything to do with Anastasia? He pulled out his cell and looked at it. Resistance immediately filled him, dragging him to a standstill until he guiltily put his phone back in his pocket.
I have no idea what I'd even say. On days like this he could barely think, much less talk.
"About two days," he said to himself. By tomorrow he'd need industrial strength coffee to get him through the day. The day after that… "Of all the times to have a hot guy show interest," he muttered into his mug, leaning his hand on the counter and sighing heavily.
*~*~*
Leaning against the fence, Max looked up at the night sky and coughed. He put the cigarette between his lips and crossed his arms over his chest, wishing he'd put on a heavier coat. It was still early fall, but the nights got cold fast at this time of year. He felt Whiskey, a training client, nose at his thigh.
"This is just between you and me," he told the dog. Whiskey, a large lab-something, gave him a wag.
Max jumped as he heard a voice in the kennel; he'd thought everyone was already in the house. He hastily dipped the cigarette in the rain barrel, stuck the sodden butt in his pocket, and gave his fingertips a sniff. But a muffled scream, followed by an explosion of barking, made him forget about the nicotine smell on his hands. Even as he rushed for the kennel door, he felt the tingle of a spirit's presence.
"Ana?" He looked down an empty corridor as barking and growling buffeted him. Not just growling, but naked snarling; Max couldn't hear his own pounding pulse over the din. He stared in amazement at the fiercely bared teeth of a Great Dane, the pair of Shih Tzus in the kennel next to him equally serious. The tingling turned into heavy pressure on the back of his neck. "Anastasia!"
"Max?" Anastasia's voice came shakily from one of the kennels farther down the row.
Max hastened toward her. Behind him, the Great Dane charged his kennel's door, making the chain link rattle.
"There's something here," Anastasia said, raising her voice over the canine panic. She came out of the kennel, her eyes wide in a pale face.
"I know," Max said. "But I can't see—" Something seized his wrist. He turned back, startled, to look into the terrifyingly blank face of a solid shadow. Its grip was hard and cold. Before Max could react, it flung him against the wall. He thought he heard Anastasia call his name, but his hearing faded and his vision dimmed.
He felt something trying to get in—no, not trying, it was slipping into his core with oily ease. Max frantically bore down with his will to push it away. Though he could no longer feel his lips, he tried to chant as he'd been taught as a child.
"My mind is my own. You will have no vessel in me. You will have no vessel in me. You will—"
And then he was falling, the intruding force retreating like a cat jerking its paw back from something hot, leaving him disoriented and weak. Max blinked furiously at the Great Dane, whose name he dimly remembered was Peter. After a wary look down both ends of the hallway, Peter gave him a slobbery lick up the cheek. Max numbly patted the big dog's neck.
"Are you okay?" Anastasia knelt beside him, quickly feeling his cheeks and forehead.
"Yeah." He licked his lips, finding them very dry. "What the hell was that?"
"I don't know." Her voice broke, and she paused to get control. "God, Max, I don't know. I think if the dogs weren't protecting me it would have got me." She slumped down beside him, shoulder to shoulder. "I've never seen a spirit like that."
"I think I might have," Max said weakly. "Not sure, though. Wait." He turned to frown blearily at her. "Why would it be afraid of dogs?" Peter's tail brushed his arm as the dog snuffled the floor. All around them, the other dogs were watching. Eerily, not one so much as panted.
"I have no idea, but it was. When Peter broke out of his kennel, the spirit took off." Anastasia pointed to the bent door that leaned forlornly away from its kennel.
"Jesus." Max shook his head. "Jesus, what's going on in this town?"
"Max." Anastasia leaned more heavily against him. He found her weight comforting. "Should we talk to Mom about this?"
That cleared his head. Max began to get to his feet, pausing to help her up after him. They exchanged a look.
"She'll worry."
"I know she'll worry. It's just—this might be worth a freak-out, Max. That thing was so strong, and it was clearly willing to forcibly possess."
Max heard panting and the groans and grunts of dogs settling themselves back down for the night. He led Peter back into his kennel and tied the gate closed with a bit of baling twine. Anastasia helped him double-check that all their boarders were where they should be. Neither of them spoke. He knew she was right, but the thought of his mother's hysterical voice brought acid into his stomach.
His first memory, his only memory of being very small, was of his mother screaming. Of the car accident that took his father from this world, leaving him, baby Anastasia, and their mother behind. He'd relived the panic in her voice when Deep Murky came so close to taking him away too. Being able to speak to his father in the spirit world had softened his grief, but it hadn't hardened Max against his mother's voice when she grew upset. He was still too shaken to want to face such a decision.
"Let's see," he said finally, as they prepared to leave. "We'll see how things are in the morning."
"Okay." Anastasia, thankfully, didn't question him.
*~*~*
Full Moon
Over the past two days Max had made an intimate acquaintance with Theo's voicemail. He was busy enough to put Theo out of his mind during the day. Every night, however, in snuck Theo. Sometimes he wondered about Theo's secrets, but mostly he thought about where he should have taken things after that one kiss.
Max parked his car and peered out his windshield at Theo's house. He could see a faint light inside.
"When you live like a hermit, Theo, it makes it pretty easy to find you.
" Max took a deep breath and considered his next step. I'm not this pathetic. Suddenly annoyed at himself, he put his keys back in the ignition.
Something flickered on a corner pane of the front window when headlights flashed across the house, and he took them out again.
Max got out and walked across the lawn to take a better look. There was a clear crack in the glass, spreading out in weakening patterns.
Maybe it's nothing. Maybe a kid hit a baseball the wrong way. Yet the damage looked like it was on the inside. A bad feeling came over him as Max looked into the empty living room beyond. No. Screw manners. Too many bad things had been happening lately. He climbed the steps to the front door and rang the doorbell. There was no response, so he went in. The unlocked door did nothing for his peace of mind.
"Theo?" Spooked by how cold the house was, he raised his voice. "Theo, are you home? It's me, Max." The more he moved through the quiet house, the more uneasy he grew. He turned on the hall light. "Theo?"
The kitchen was empty; he started down the hall. All the doors were open. He moved to peer around the doorframe into what proved to be a bedroom. His eyes widened and his heart leapt into his throat.
Curled up on the bed was a massive dog, staring at him over the bushy tail resting across the end of its powerful muzzle. Its pale eyes bored into Max.
Dog? Max's brain pointed out the broad skull, the complex grey fur, and the large, upright ears. Dogs didn't come this big. It was half again the size of a Great Dane.
"Hey, buddy," Max whispered. The animal's ears didn't so much as twitch at the sound of his voice. It was far too large and real and alive for this cozy little house. Max, who regularly worked with aggressive dogs, still couldn't help but tense up as the big animal uncurled. The bedsprings squeaked dryly as it leapt to the floor and trotted past him. He watched it go, eyes stuck wide open.
He knew that Theo didn't have a dog. Even if it weren't so odd that Theo hadn't said anything about it, and even if dogs didn't actively dislike Theo, this was not a house with dogs. There was no fur on the couch, no dog bed or toys in the living room, no food or water dishes in the kitchen, no leashes on the coat hooks by the front door. Max heard the stairs creak and went out to look. Moving slowly, Theo came up from the basement, tying shut the belt of a worn housecoat.
