More Than Flesh & Bone

Chapter 14

B&E

One thing they don't show you in the movies is how much you sweat when you decide to do something illegal. I could hear my heartbeat raging in my ears like a siren, each nerve-racking step making me pause and shift my eyes from side to side to ensure we hadn't been seen.

A soft rustling sent me a foot off the ground as I jumped and then pressed myself as far into the wall as I could go.

Bree let out a whispered curse. "Addie, we're never even going to make it up to the back door if you don't start walking like a normal person. Skulking about is only going to make it more obvious we're up to no good. It's not exactly like we have the cover of darkness here."

I peeled myself off the wall and sighed. "If you'd let us do this in the middle of the night like I'd suggested, we would have."

She crossed her arms. "It's a frat house, not a bank. What exactly do you hope to accomplish sneaking around in the dark where a bunch of supernatural twatwaffles sleep? Not to mention that there are likely more people in the house up and moving around in the wee hours of the morning than any daylight ones."

Okay, so she had a point. It's how she convinced me that two in the afternoon would be a smarter time to break into Zeta Omicron Mu than say, two in the morning. But I felt entirely too exposed. More icy rivulets of sweat rolled down my back. I was going to take the world's longest shower after this was done.

"We don't have to do this, you know," she said, voice still whisper-soft.

"Yeah, we do."

Just thinking about what Eliza told me was enough to put the steel back in my spine. My brother's soul had been shredded, which meant a reaper was behind his death. One way or the other, I needed to find proof of Bucky's involvement.

His and anyone else's that might be involved.

Bree and I crept forward. Well, Bree walked like a normal person while I continued with my bad impression of the Scooby gang. I was about as subtle as a neon sign. I clearly wasn't cut out for this shit.

We were just crossing the hedges between two frat houses when another rustling made me pause. It sounded close. Way too close. I froze, my eyes closing while my brain scrambled for some explanation about why I was taking a casual stroll through some bushes instead of on the sidewalk.

That's when I heard it.

The muffled bleating.

"Oh, hell no," I growled, my neck twisting down to the small purse I'd brought. I'd wanted to make sure I had my phone and a couple of other essentials. You know, a lock-picking set, flashlight, and a screwdriver. It would double as a tool or a shiv. Just in case.

Bree had stopped to look back at me. I opened up my bag as I heard a loud, "Baaaaaaa."

"What are you doing?" I hissed at the little sheep as it tried to climb out of my bag.

"Haaaaaaalping."

That gave me pause. How exactly did Trace think he could help me with breaking and entering? "Uhh…."

"Addie," Bree whisper-shouted. "Are we doing this or not?"

"Coming," I said, pushing his head back in the bag with a finger. "You just stay there." His little mouth quivered like he wanted to protest, but for the moment he seemed willing to obey.

The frat house was oddly silent. I'd sort of expected to hear the chatter of voices or the sound of a TV at least, but there was nothing. The over-sized French doors that opened up to the patio and the pool were closed, and the black and green curtains were drawn. Bree and I exchanged a look. I started to move to the window, testing the edge to see if it was unlocked. She stopped me with a hand on the arm and a roll of her eyes. Taking two steps away from me, she turned the door and it swung open.

So much for the lock-pick.

"Well if you want to do it the easy way," I muttered, brushing past her and into the house. It wasn't what I expected from a frat house. Instead of beer pong tables and sticky floors, the interior was clean and tastefully decorated in shades of black and green. It even smelled nice. I'd been prepared for eau de'frat, AKA beer, weed, and vomit. But it smelled good. Like fireplaces and something else. Sandalwood, maybe?

Bree trailed my steps as I moved around one of the overstuffed black leather sofas and started making my way to the staircase. If there was anything to be found, it wouldn't be in one of these common rooms. We needed to find the rooms they didn't let visitors see. Specifically, the bedrooms. I knew they'd be upstairs, but I had no clue how many I'd have to go through before I found Bucky's.

The bottom stair gave a loud squeak as soon as I put my weight on it, and my body gave another jolt. Now was really not the time to get distracted.

"You stay here and act as a lookout… I'm going to head up and see if I can find his room."

Bree's jaw was clenched, and there was a deep furrow between her brows. She gave a tight nod, positioning herself behind a piano that was to the side of the staircase. It would keep her body hidden if anyone walked by.

I moved quickly, but cautiously, testing each stair before allowing my full weight to settle just to make sure there were no more unwanted squeaks. When I got to the top, I was in a hallway with doors on either side and one at the end. All of which were closed.

A plush black carpet ran along the length of the hall, muting my footsteps. I stopped beside the first door to my right and pressed my ear against it. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my heartbeat. Opening the door, I let out a disappointed breath. It was empty. Not even a box for me to dig through.

Closing the door, I stepped back and went on to the door on my left. This time I was greeted by a sea of white sheets. Did anyone actually live here? Or were these rooms a front just like the frat itself, I wondered as I lifted up the edge of a sheet and saw an exact replica of the couch downstairs. Further bulky sheet-covered items were scattered around the room, but all the hid were pieces of furniture.

Dust filled the air from all the sheets wafting, and I fought the urge to sneeze. My eyes watered as the pressure built in my nose. Don't do it, Don't do it. Don't do it. The feeling started to fade, and I took a stumbling step forward, right into the corner of the antique desk I'd discovered only moments prior.

"Motherfu…" I cried out, barely clasping my hand over my mouth to contain the outburst as I hunched over in pain. My purse fell from my shoulder, spilling its limited contents on the floor.

"Baaaaaa!"

I was still half-blinded by agony, so I didn't immediately notice the tiny body making a beeline toward the door. Blinking back tears, I dropped to my knees and started scrambling to collect the items. The phone and lock-pick hadn't made it far, and I let out an immediate sigh of relief when I saw that my screen wasn't cracked. My flashlight and screwdriver were another matter. The screwdriver was perched beneath an old armchair a few feet away, but the flashlight was still rolling. Scooting forward, I snagged the screwdriver and pushed to my feet to chase down my light source.

My steps forward were more of a limp. I'd hit that desk right on the corner, and there was no question a nasty bruise was already forming. Rubbing the area on my thigh to try to ease some of the ache, I moved slowly, trying not to make any more unnecessary noise. It was a damn miracle no one had heard me.

Flashlight in hand, I shoved it into my reclaimed purse along with the other items. "Alright, Trace, time to get back in…" My whisper broke off when my eyes found no signs of my little demon.

You've got to be kidding me. I didn't have time to waste chasing down my wayward sheep. Peeking my head back into the hallway, I watched just as a crocheted tail wiggled through the doorway at the end of the hall.

I blinked in surprise. The door hadn't been open when I got up here, so how had he… I realized it didn't really matter how he'd managed to open the door, and I took off down the hall after him.

"Get back here," I hissed. I don't know why I bothered. My twin hadn't listened to me during his human years. Why would he bother in the middle of this grand adventure? Although… I wasn't sure what kind of threat would be very effective for a demon.

At the end of the hall, I paused at the barely opened door. My heart was galloping in my chest, but I still didn't hear anything other than my shallow breathing. Using my shoulder, I nudged the door open the rest of the way. I was half expecting another empty room, but this door was different. It led not to a room, but another staircase. A staircase that ascended into almost complete darkness.

"Little sheep?" I whispered.

Nothing. Frustration merged with the adrenaline inside of me, pushing me forward into darkness. That little fucker better enjoy his field trip because it's going to be his last.

It was soon hard to make out anything in the darkness, so I fumbled in my purse and pulled out my flashlight. Clicking it on, I swept it across the floor to guide my steps up the stairs. I forced myself to keep moving, all the while yelling at myself for being as stupid as those girls who always died first in horror movies. Especially now that I knew monsters were very real.

I made it up the narrow stairway and found myself facing a lone black door, my demon twin perched directly in front of it. Like he'd known it was there… which, come to think of it, he probably did.

"There you are, you little bastard." My words were barely more than a whisper, but the sheep turned and bleated at me.

"Addddds goooooo."

It was a little hard to make out the design on the door from my perch on the stairs, but as I moved closer, it came into sharp relief. A Grim Reaper was etched into the panel.

Something touched my leg, and I barely kept myself from screaming. A fearful glance revealed Tracey standing on his back two legs, leaning against me. It almost looked like he was trying to push me back, but that was ridiculous. It would be like a piece of dandelion fluff trying to move a boulder.

Crouching down, I grabbed him and pulled him up to eye level. "Don't you ever do anything like that again."

"Baaaaa."

"How did you even get up here?"

He was nudging me with his head, but I was still learning how to interpret his movement and wasn't sure if he was apologizing or still trying to get me to leave.

Turns out, it didn't matter. For the first time since entering the frat house, the sound of footsteps reached my ears. There was nowhere to hide and no way to escape notice from the zombie or zombies walking toward me.

Except for the door.

"Fuck it." I muttered, grasping the doorknob that was shaped like a bony fist. I'd just twisted it when a cold, angry voice sounded right behind me.

"Want to tell me what the hell you're doing here?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sooooo, I totally forgot to post last week. Oops. Sorry about that! Anyone have a guess who found Addie and little sheep Tracey?