"Look, come over to my place tomorrow. We'll talk about what we're gona do next there. We'll be indoor, hopefully no one will be watching or listening."
"Cool, where do you live? What's your address?"
He tore off a scrap of paper and fumbled to find a pen. Scribbling down his address, he handed the paper to Jay. "Don't come too early. I like to sleep late. The nights I can sleep anyway." he added darkly.
Jay nodded, "See you tomorrow."
Jay walked up the path of the small bungalow apartment and checked the small scrap of paper in his hand, this must be it.
He rapped lightly on the front door and waited, glancing around nervously for any signs of ominious, enigmatic figures watching him. He checked his camera, battery was decently charged and no sign of static.
The door opened and Jay was surprised to see a girl, no older than himself standing in the doorway. Her white skin almost stood out against the shady hallway and contrasted sharply with her soft ringlets of red, almost like liquid flame. She looked at Jay with ocean mineral eyes and smiled with cherry-red lips, "Hello."
Jay stuttered, "Um, h-hi. Er - I'm sorry, I must have the wrong address..." he checked the paper again.
"You're Jay, right? Tim's friend?" The girl had a distinct British accent, smooth and charming and made Jay feel a little less apprehensive.
"Yeah...that's me..."
She smiled more broadly and extended a slender hand, "Hi, I'm Aleksandra. I'm Tim's roomate. You can call me Sash."
Jay shook her hand nervously as she continued, "Tim's told me a lot about you, come in, come in."
He stepped in and tried not to watch her rear while her slim waist swayed as she almost floated down the hall, "Tim!" she called, "Your friend is here!"
Tim emerged from a room to the side, ebony hair slightly tousled. He had evidently not been up for very long.
Sash chuckled quietly and combed through his hair with her fingers, "You're finally up then?"
Tim's eyes, usually hard and cold, normally trying to avoid direct contact, laughed with her. Whenever Jay had seen them, they were like onyx. Hard, cold, impenetrable. But now they were like melting demerara sugar, "Yeah." he replied.
"Did you sleep ok?" she asked, hand dropping to his shoulder,
"Mm-hm."
Sash smiled, looking visibly relieved. While Tim, as if he had just noticed Jay standing there, changed his demeanour and reverted back to his familiar, distanced image. "Well, I'll, er, I'll just get in the shower. You just...make yourself comfortable or whatever."
Sasha beckoned him into the living room. Shaded, dull with two squashy sofas and a small television in the corner. She motioned for him to sit and Jay obeyed.
"So, I guess you got your camera all ready for filming." she said, gestured to the camera, "How come you're shooting now though? I figured you'd leave it for when you're actually, you know, acting stuff."
Ah. Tim had fed her the old 'student film' story. Jay wondered when that excuse would get old.
"Oh yeah," he said casually, "I'm just doing some behind-the-scenes stuff, you know."
"Ah right, so you're a film student then?"
Jay paused, he hadn't been to class in weeks, months, how long had it been? Could he even be classed as a student anymore?
"Yes. And, er, what do you do? You're British, right?"
"Yep!" she grinned,
"What are you doing all the way out here? It's not like there's anything spectacular about this place." Other than some really weird dangerous supernatural crap, he thought, I wonder how much she knows?
"I'm studying how to teach English as a foreign language." she explained, "The company that runs the course stationed me here until I get my qualifications then I'll be sodding off to wherever will have me."
Jay gave a strained smile to cover his envy, "Sounds nice." he went, he wished he could fly freely, do what he wanted without being tied down and watched like a hawk.
Tim walked in, clad in t-shirt and jeans and looking more awake, Sash's head jerked up. "Right," she announced brightly, "I'll get out of your way now, I'm about to put the kettle on, do either of you want a cup of tea?"
"Tea?" Tim smirked, "How British."
She picked up a cushion and whacked him with it, "Jay?"
"No, not for me thanks."
"Ok then, good luck with whatever it is you're doing." And again Jay tried not to watch her rear as she walked out, especially as he felt Tim's eyes glaring at him like hot coals.
Once she was out of the room there was an awkward silence. "So," Jay started, "she's your roomate, huh?"
"Yeah." Tim replied stonily,
"She's cute."
"Yeah." Tim repeated,
"Seems nice."
Tim leaned forward, visibly annoyed, or even defensive, "Listen, don't tell her anything. You don't mix her up in this." he hissed, "She's not a part of this at all. Don't question her, don't let on about anything suspicious. She's sharp and I don't want her involved. I wanna keep her out of this, ok?" And with added spite, "I don't want you screwing up another innocent person like that Jessica chick. Got it?"
Jay winced at Jessica's name. He had to find her and his knuckles tightened at that thought. "Got it." he repeated, feeling hurt at Tim's words.
"Good." Tim leaned back in his seat, "Keeping her out of this is one of my priorities. It's the least I can do for her after everything."
"What do you mean?" Jay questioned, curious,
Tim's eyes flickered with irritation, "Let's just say with my...condition...I'm not the easiest person to live with." He sighed, "My...funny turns are hard to deal with and keep as private as possible. My memory gaps, my...you know. That part of me. I can imagine it's frightening for her. And I can't hold down a job so contributing to the bills is hard. But..." he softened for a moment, "She never complains. I told her I have a form of epilepsy that messes with my personality and stuff. She's always understanding, she tries her best to keep me sane." Tim looked at the ceiling, almost smiling, "I don't know what I'd have done without her."
"I didn't even know you had a roomate." Jay commented,
Tim acted as if he hadn't heard him and carried on, "When I got fired from my last job she walked in and yelled at my boss, threatening to sue him for disability discrimination."
Jay laughed, "Seriously?"
He looked up, "Sash is not one to be taken lightly."