When the Dead Come Home

by B. L. Brunnemer

  “Mr. Jones doesn’t do make up quizzes or tests,” he reminded me. The guy in the next row stared at Zeke, his eyes wide.

  “I’m so screwed,” I groaned before burying my face in my arms on the desk.

  The chair in front of me creaked. Leather and engine grease tickled my nose. “Why were you late?”

  I lifted my head in time to spot someone else trying to listen in. Both people to our left seemed intent on hearing our conversation. “You know that enormous secret Rory had?” That should be vague enough to confuse anyone listening.

  Zeke nodded.

  “It came to light yesterday.” I shoved my hair out of my face and met his slightly wider eyes. “I spent the night on the floor in the hallway outside the other bedroom.”

  He eyed me. “Why?”

  I lowered my voice to barely a whisper. “I didn’t want her to be alone if she didn’t want to be.”

  His face softened. “Fuck.”

  “Yeah. So, rough night.”

  He eyed me. “Did you have coffee yet?”

  I shook my head. “I’m still wearing flannel bottoms, Zeke.”

  Zeke leaned into the aisle and chuckled as he saw I wasn’t kidding. People’s jaws dropped around us as they watched Zeke laugh. “I’ll pick up some of your clothes for you so you can change.”

  Whispers erupted around the classroom.

  I grinned up at him. “You’d be my hero for the day.”

  He leaned in. “I’ll be back before the end of second period.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled up at him.

  The bell rang.

  Everyone got to their feet and started for the door. Zeke placed himself between me and the crowd. It was sweet and familiar. It made me smile.

  Before I could head off to my next class, a ruckus caught our attention in the hallway.

  Mrs. Weaver was in the hallway with two security guards and three open lockers. My jaw dropped as the vice principal opened the next locker in line.

  Every student in the hallway was frozen in place as one of the guards pulled out several items from this locker. Mrs. Weaver made a note and moved on to the next.

  “Is this really happening?” I asked, not taking my eyes off the scene.

  “Lexie.” His tone was full of foreboding.

  That’s when I realized it. She was opening my locker! “Oh, fuck.”

  “Anything bad in there?” he whispered as he moved to my side.

  I shook my head. “Just research books and supplies.”

  “What kind of supplies?”

  Mrs. Weaver pulled out a small Ziploc of herbs. It was actually dried starwest raspberry leaf for a tea I read about, but from the triumphant look on her face I could tell she thought it was something else.

  “Oh, fuck this.” I turned to Zeke. “I’m outta here.”

  We both started down the hallway and around the corner.

  “Might want to call Rory,” Zeke warned.

  I cursed again as I pulled out my phone.

  Ethan

  Lexie didn’t come to class. I took notes for her, and when we were let go to work on our math, I pulled my phone out and texted the group.

  Ethan: Lexie’s not in class. Anyone know what’s up?

  Miles: I’ll check her phone location.

  I began to spin my rings. I hated that he lo-jacked our phones without asking, but right now I had to admit it came in handy. My phone buzzed.

  Miles: She’s with Zeke at her house.

  Zeke…

  Woofy: Did she make it to school?

  I grinned.

  Woofy: Who fucking changed my name?

  I snickered.

  Miles: According to the tracking, yes.

  Huh.

  Less attractive clone: Are we meeting after school since we aren’t covering the trails anymore?

  Miles: I can’t. Lucy is coming over today to work on something.

  I scowled at my phone. He’d rather work with Lucy than hang out with Lexie?

  Woofy: What are you working on?

  Miles: An idea.

  I waited for him to elaborate but he didn’t.

  Woofy: What kind of idea?

  Miles: I’d rather not talk about it.

  What was with the secrecy? I set my phone down as I thought back over the last month. Miles had been pulling away more, spending more time on his own or with Lucy. Lucy…

  A sick feeling filled my gut. Could he be cheating on Lexie? He had been spending a lot of time with the alchemist. And she had been staying in his house…

  I texted my brother in our private chat.

  Ethan: Do you think Miles is messing around with Lucy?

  It was a couple of seconds before my phone vibrated again.

  Isaac: I am now!

  Ethan: He’s been weird since we got home.

  Isaac: I’ll fucking kill him!

  Ethan: We don’t know. It’s just he’s been weird and quieter than usual.

  Isaac: We have to find out.

  Ethan: It’s between the two of them.

  Isaac: Not just them. It’s between all of us now.

  He had a point.

  Ethan: Why don’t we talk to him? With the other guys?

  Isaac: Without Lexie? I guess, but if he is…

  Ethan: He probably isn’t.

  Isaac: I don’t know, remember his set up with Autumn? They get interested in someone else, they’d break up. He can’t pull that shit with Lexie.

  Ethan: He knows that.

  At least I thought he did…

  Ethan: We’ll talk to him.

  “Mr. Turner.” Mrs. Hubert’s voice pulled me back.

  I looked up, cringing.

  Mrs. Hubert held up a note. “The new counselor wants a word.”

  I muttered curses under my breath as I packed up. Jadis, great. I got to my feet and headed for the office.

  By the time I knocked on her door, my stomach was knotted.

  “Come in,” Jadis called.

  Don’t play her game. Just get in and get out. I opened the door and found her at her desk. Smiling.

  “Come on in, Ethan,” she said in a sweet voice. “It’s so good to see you again.”

  “Go fuck yourself.” It was out before I even stepped inside.

  “Close the door,” she ordered.

  I didn’t move from the doorway. “And be alone with you? Not a chance.”

  She eyed me as she began to trace her fingers over her desk. “I’m not here to attack you, Ethan. I’m here to help.”

  Something touched my face. I scratched it. “Bullshit. Nothing you say is going to bring me to your side in this.”

  She eyed me and continued absently tracing on the desk. “What if Lexie agreed to join us?”

  I scoffed as my nose suddenly started itching. “Good fucking luck.” I scratched my nose and left the office. I was fed up. Fucking Jadis needed to take a long walk off a short pier.

  Lexie

  * * *

  Zeke managed to convince me to come back to school and deal with Mrs. Weaver and her bullshit. “Better now than later,” he had said.

  I hated when he was right. I managed to be back halfway through lunch. Once I entered the quad in front of the cafeteria I slowed to a stop. The table was empty. I pulled out my phone to call the guys when my phone dinged.

  Superman: Janitor’s closet. Big talk.

  I cursed and turned around. What the hell happened now?

  Before I could reach it, it was opened by Isaac. I raised an eyebrow. How did he know I was here? Asher’s hearing? I gave him a smile and got a strained one in return. My heart dropped. Oh shit. More problems. Great.

  I slipped in past him and walked into a fight.

  “Answer the question, Miles,” Ethan bit out between his teeth from one side of the space.

  Miles’ face was blank as he said, “What kind of question is that?”

  Isaac closed the door behind us. “Does Lexie know what’s going on?”

&nbs
p; I turned to Isaac. “About what?”

  Asher cursed then turned on Miles. “Tell her.”

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, barely. “What now?”

  Miles’ arms were crossed over his chest. His face grew blank. Warning us off.

  Well, that might work for the others. “What’s going on?”

  He shook his head. “They believe I’m cheating on you with Lucy.”

  My heart stopped. I whispered, “Are you?”

  His gaze shot to mine. His eyes widened a little, his mouth opening a small fraction. “What? No. Of course not.”

  “Then why didn’t you just say that ten minutes ago?” Asher asked, leaning against the work bench.

  Miles’ eyes turned glacial as he turned to Asher. “Because it’s none of your concern. It doesn’t involve you. This is about my relationship with Lexie, not yours.”

  His voice sent a shiver down the back of my neck.

  “It doesn’t just affect you two,” Ethan reminded him.

  Miles sent the same look to Isaac. “Would you like it if I meddled in your relationship with her?”

  Ethan shot him a look. “There’s nothing to meddle with, we’re not keeping secrets from each other.”

  I rubbed my temple, my head beginning to throb. “Guys…”

  “We all agreed to stay out of each other’s relationships.” Miles’ voice was a hard hammer that slammed the closet into silence. “That was the agreement. Stick to it.”

  Everyone stared at Miles. His lips were a hard line. His face was like stone, his eyes sharp as he looked at each of the guys.

  I dropped my hand from my temple, drawing his attention. His face instantly relaxed, his lips softening, his eyes warming. “I think everyone needs to calm down and take some time to think about how you would feel if you were in Miles’ situation.” I looked at each of my boyfriends. “Not one of you would appreciate this either.”

  “We just wanted to make sure without hurting you, Red,” Isaac said for all of them.

  “I know.” I turned to Miles. “You have been distant the last month. Disappearing without a word and not telling us where you were. I can’t honestly blame them for thinking the same thing I did.”

  “They shouldn’t have asked.” Miles pushed his glasses up his face.

  “We came to you as your friends to let you know what your behavior looked like,” Asher stated. “You’re the one that made a big deal out of it.”

  The icy look was back in Miles’ eyes as he looked up at Asher. “Are you cheating on Lexie?”

  Asher growled between his bared teeth.

  “See. You don’t respond well to that question either.” Miles walked through the group and out the door.

  The bell for class rang.

  I sighed deeply, already tired today. We filed out of the closet and went our separate ways. Was there always going to be this much trouble between everyone?

  Asher wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a comforting squeeze as we walked to class.

  * * *

  We were both quiet as we started our drawings for the day’s assignment. This time it was supposed to be a feeling that we represented. Just a sketch to start for a painting later. Still fuming, I picked up the charcoal pencil and got to work.

  “Ally?” Asher’s voice pulled me back to the present.

  Blinking, I looked up at him. It was suddenly too loud, too bright, too much movement. I closed my eyes tight until it passed. “Yeah?”

  “They want you in the office,” Mrs. Archer said as the sketch pad slipped from my fingers. “Alexis?”

  Everything finally came back into focus. I blinked a few more times before looking up at her.

  She was holding my sketchpad, a slight half grin on her face. “This is what I’m wanting. What’s does this represent?” She turned the pad around. I blinked again. The sketch was of the world on fire. And there I was, in the middle. Back to back with five men with unfinished faces fighting to put out the blaze that burned the trees. But each of the men were also fighting each other. Bruises and blood covered each of them.

  “Sabotage,” I muttered, feeling stupid. Miles wasn’t cheating on me. I was sure of it. But he was hiding something. And the others didn’t like it either.

  “Good. It’s a great representation of the emotion,” Mrs. Archer said. “This has substance. This says something.”

  I nodded, finally understanding what she had been trying to tell me, though I had to resist the urge to fidget. Her seeing it made me feel naked. Vulnerable.

  She met my eyes. “Great art comes from emotion. If you only focus on technique, then you lose your message.”

  That made sense.

  “I’d like you to make a painting of this. It would make a great addition to your portfolio for art school,” she said, setting the pad down again.

  I nodded again.

  “Now, go to the office.”

  I closed the pad and tucked it under my arm as I picked up my bag. I was halfway to the office before I fully came out of the daze I’d been in. So, that’s what she meant. Why the hell didn’t she mention it before?

  I put it out of my mind when I opened the door to the office.

  “Lexie,” the receptionist greeted me with a smile. “Mrs. Weaver wants a word.”

  I sighed before I made my way through the office to the door and knocked.

  “Come in.”

  I opened the door of the now familiar office and froze. A police officer that wasn’t Rory was at the desk across from the vice principal. I came in and sat down without even being told.

  “You have some explaining to do,” she announced as she set the bag in front of me on her desk.

  “It’s starwest raspberry leaf, for tea,” I stated simply. “I drink tea.”

  She smiled, humoring me. “Sure, it is.”

  “Actually, I’d believe her. Marijuana doesn’t smell like this.” The officer pulled the leaves in his hand away from his nose. “Or look like this.”

  Mrs. Weaver’s head snapped around so she could glare at him. “What? Are you sure?”

  The officer held out the loose dried leaves. “Have a sniff.”

  She took the leaves, smelled them, then crushed them in her fist. “Thank you, officer.”

  “Next time, you might want to check out what you find before calling the department.” He headed for the door and closed it behind him.

  Mrs. Weaver turned back to me.

  I managed not to smile. “Anything else?”

  “Where were you the last two classes?” she demanded.

  I sighed wearily. “At home, changing.”

  Mrs. Weaver sighed. “You can’t just leave school anytime you like.”

  Actually, I could. I’d just pay for it. But I was good and kept my mouth shut. Ten points for me!

  She shook her head. “Your cousin has also decided not to show up to school. I think it’s your influence on her—”

  “Wait, Tara’s not here?” I asked, needing to be sure.

  “No,” she said, looking at the computer. “She didn’t show up to class and we can’t reach your uncle or her.”

  My heart grew heavy as dread pulled me down. “You mean, there is a psycho out there killing women and my cousin is missing?”

  Her face grew pale. “We… haven’t been able to locate her.”

  I surged to my feet, threw my bag over my shoulder and started for the door.

  “Where are you going?” she demanded.

  “I’m looking for my cousin!”

  Stomach knotting, I burst out of the admin office and went to speech to text. “Tara is missing! Need your help to find her!” I sent it on the run. By the time I reached my Blazer, my phone rang.

  “What’s going on?” Zeke demanded.

  “Tara’s missing.” I pulled open the door and threw my bag and pad inside. “The fucking vice principal didn’t even think about the fact people are being murdered!”

  Isaac cursed.


  I climbed in, frowning. “Is this a party line?”

  “Yes, I added it to my plan last month. It’s faster in an emergency,” Miles said.

  “Good idea.” I jammed the key into the ignition. “We need to search for her.”

  “Lexie, Ethan, start with the places she knows that aren’t on campus,” Miles ordered. “Zeke, the roads. Isaac, her friends at school. Asher, search the school. She might be hiding out in the library or some out of the way corner. See if you can sniff her out.”

  “Call if you find her!” I dropped the phone into the passenger seat and tore out of my parking spot. My heart slamming, I left, praying that I wasn’t going to lose Tara. Lose Tara… Oh fuck. I stopped at the stop sign at the exit of the parking lot. She had just learned she wasn’t Rory’s bio child. Oh God… no… I peeled out of the parking lot, heading up the mountain. Please, please don’t do something stupid.

  * * *

  “I found her. She’s okay.”

  My breath left my body in a rush. Relief washed over me, tears prickling at my eyes. I covered my eyes with a shaking hand. “Where is she?”

  “She’s with Jessica at Asher’s.” Ethan’s voice was the most beautiful thing in the world right now.

  I took a deep breath and headed back toward my car with Hades. I had been searching every bridge in the county since I left school an hour ago, half expecting to find Tara’s body. “Thank you, Ethan. Thank you so much.”

  “Um, don’t thank me yet,” he said, his voice growing serious. “I think… I think they need you.”

  His words stopped me as I was climbing into the Blazer. “What do you mean?”

  “Just get here.” Ethan sighed wearily.

  “On my way.” I tucked my phone into my pocket and climbed in. Why would they need me?

  By the time I pulled up to Asher’s house, I was calmer. Tara’s red Ford was there behind another car. She was safe.

  Jessica was sitting on the couch in the living room. Ethan was sitting on the coffee table in front her. Tara was beside Jess on the couch.

  “You just scared the shit out of everyone!” I shouted at Tara.

  Tara’s face was weary as she turned to me.

  “There’s some psycho out there killing women and you take off without letting us know where you are going?” I snapped. “Do you have any idea how dangerous this town is right now? No! Because you don’t listen to Rory!”