More Than Flesh & Bone
Chapter 4
ZOMBIES
I wrinkled my nose at the pair of cloth slippers he dangled in front of me.
"Please don't ask. Just wear these until we can get you to a shower," he mumbled. I lifted both hands in surrender.
"Dude, I get it. I'm gross and you don't want to track it through the house. The part I'm judging is why you're wearing them too." I pointedly looked down at his cloth-covered shoes.
Zed sighed. "Because my mom is way OCD," he said. "If we still had a housekeeper it wouldn't matter, but she doesn't like the way they clean. So, if either of us tracks shit in the house, and I clean it, she'll know." He lowered his head like the admission embarrassed him. Oddly enough, I found it more relatable than he realized and put the ugly ass painter's slippers on without giving him more grief.
He was really uncomfortable about it. At least he didn't have a really strange aunt with the weirdest quirks.
My aunt took the cake from them all.
Literally.
One birthday she stole Tracey's and my cake to see how well it would work if she stuck exploding fireworks in it.
Needless to say, not well. Unless you considered wearing your cake a good thing.
Zed opened the garage door leading into the house, and I followed. Perfectly white carpet led down a white-walled hallway, to… you guessed it… a whitewashed living room.
"I'm noticing a theme here…" I muttered as we stepped past the pristine plastic-covered furniture. I side-eyed it like the couches were at fault for their current unpleasant state.
"Yeah," he said, completely unenthused as he led me across the house and up the stairs. "My mom likes things white. So she can see the dirt if it's there." His hand grasped the doorknob in front of us, and let the door swing open.
I braced myself, somehow expecting it to be a pigsty. I mean, I have been in college for the past four years. I've had boyfriends. I had a brother. Guys were disgusting.
But, Zed was the exception.
While the carpet was the same pristine white as the rest of the house, his furniture was black and the bed comforter and drapes both gray. I stepped inside and took a whiff. Something subtle and masculine pervaded the air. I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes, standing there, hand scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"You don't do this often, do you?"
"Nope." He shook his head. "Truth be told, I'm at the ZOM house most of the time. It was dumb luck on your part I happened to be in the woods tonight."
"Dumb luck?" I repeated, crossing my arms over my chest. "Do I need to repeat the night I've had for you to understand that nothing about this is lucky for me?"
"You know what…" Zed said, moving to one of the two doors in his room as the light flicked on when he entered. He came out holding two fluffy black towels. "You're right," he said, handing them over. "Bathroom is right there. Why don't you knock yourself out? I'll be downstairs in the kitchen."
I could see right through his ruse and instinctively knew he just wanted away from me for the time being. The feeling was mutual, though, and at the mention of the kitchen, I was even more motivated in getting clean so I could join him and hopefully find the snack cupboard.
Daydreaming about those Takis I stepped on, I moved into the bathroom and closed the door behind me with a nudge of my cloth-covered foot.
Setting the plush towels down on the white marble counter, I finally got a look at myself.
"Sweet baby Jesus," I breathed, jerking back from my reflection. I'd thought I knew how bad it was because I'd seen myself splayed out in the woods, but I hadn't. Not really.
My hair was plastered to the side of my head, looking like some weird helmet. My normally light blonde hair was now stark white, well, at least the strands that weren't matted together with blood and dirt and standing up in every possible direction, likely thanks to the wind. Dried blood and dirt crusted almost every visible inch of my skin, which only made my blue eyes look inhumanly bright as they stared back at me.
"Yeesh…"
Turning away from myself, I stared at Zed's shower, trying to figure out how to turn it on. It was massive. Big enough for three Zed-sized dudes, with multiple showerheads on each wall, and one rain-style showerhead centered in the ceiling. I peeled off my clothes, wincing when they took my arm hair with them and moved into the shower. I ran my hand along the wall until I felt the switch and turned the water on.
As I suspected, it was the perfect temperature. Neat trick.
Steam quickly filled the room as I stood under the hot spray, trying not to notice how the water immediately turned red. Knowing the only thing that was going to deal with these tangles was conditioner, I searched for a bottle. There weren't any.
Instead, there was an oddly-shaped box set into one of the walls with three silver buttons along the bottom. I'd seen something like this in a hotel once, so I was pretty certain the soap, shampoo, and conditioner was contained within. The only problem was it wasn't clearly labeled, so I had to test each one before I found what I was looking for.
Clean now, and smelling like Zed, I turned the shower off and wrapped myself in the towels, trying to ignore the new hair color. Ignorance at the moment was bliss. A quick scan of his room showed me he'd forgotten to leave out anything for me to wear, which meant it was time to snoop.
I didn't see a dresser, so I went back to his closet. Pulling the door open, I let out a soft chuckle. Zed's mom wasn't the only one with OCD. His closet was arranged by size and sorted by color. Not that it was hard, considering ninety percent of it was black. The other ten was denim. I made a mental note to buy him something bright. Maybe pink. Just to see his reaction.
Shaking my head, I wandered into the walk-in, noticing the drawers along the back. I was tempted to pull on a pair of his black silk boxers, but resisted, settling instead for a black T-shirt and a pair of black sweats that I rolled up about seven times.
Finger-combing my now white hair, which I was still ignoring… clearly. I found my cloth booties and left his room, following the sound of clicking to the kitchen. The inside of Zed's home felt just as massive as the Wells mansion I was supposed to be returning to tonight. My stomach twisted into knots as I thought of that, of the accident, of why I was home. Four years ago, I left it all behind: My friends, my legacy, and especially my family… because my idiot brother was making the dumbest decision of his life and I refused to wait around until that decision killed him. Now it had. I was home. The thought unsettled me.
I walked up to the island in the center of the kitchen and took a seat on one of the barstools.
"Whatcha making?" I asked, peering over at his cutting board. Bright vegetables, peppers, and leafy greens were cut and diced perfectly. He scooped it up in two handfuls and tossed it in the frying pan. It hit with a sizzle, and my stomach grumbled. On another burner, a pot of noodles was boiling.
"Spaghetti," he answered shortly, pushing the vegetables around the skillet.
"Right…" I drawled out. This was getting awkward fast. "Look, I'm sorry for kind of being a little bitchy tonight…"
"Just a little?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.
I glared at him. "It's been a long night," I answered swiftly.
"Yeah," he sighed. "I've gathered that. It's just…" he paused, breaking the plastic on a pound of beef before dumping that in with the vegetables too. "… it's been a long night," he settled on, repeating after me. "Have you told your aunt you're not coming home yet?"
"Shit," I cursed under my breath, pulling my phone from the baggy sweatpants. I typed out a quick text: Staying at a friend's tonight. Be home in the morning. Love you. -Adds
"Annnnd done," I said, hitting send. Speaking of friends, I should probably reach out to Bree sometime soon too. That was a problem for tomorrow.
Tonight, I was busy having an early-twenties life and species crisis. I was allowed to avoid people. At least for a little while.
"You're going to have to tell her something, you know. I don't mind if you want to stay here tonight, but your car is totaled and you don't have any clothes, outside of mine." His eyes lifted briefly, scanning over me. I probably looked like a drowned rat, but that was better than a dead person. Something flared in his eyes, but I didn't get a chance to read it before it was gone and he was looking back at the frying pan.
"Yeah, I was thinking that maybe if you dropped me off at my friend Bree's in the morning, she might be able to help me out with the clothes situation until I can buy more. As for the car, I have to figure that out. I mean, we left it there. I don't want to lie to Missy, but if she sees it she's going to know why I didn't come home tonight and that I'm a liar." I twisted my hands in my lap, not liking that scenario. It was one thing for me to omit small parts of the truth for everyone's best interest. It was another thing to try to cover up a car accident that killed me.
"I'll take care of getting your car out of the woods. Leave that to me. Right now we need to figure out what kind of supernatural you actually are. Like I said, I think you're a female Grim, as impossible as that is." He lifted the frying pan and did that thing where he flipped the food in the air and somehow it all stayed in the pan. Show-off.
Because I was a girl that loved through my stomach, seeing him in the kitchen cooking for me was oddly attractive. That could be because he was also hot. Like stupidly hot. Sitting here, clean and safe, it was impossible to ignore.
"Stranger Danger," I muttered under my breath, reminding myself not to go there. I was here because I died, and he wanted to help. That was it.
"What was that?" he asked, stirring something that was making my mouth water.
"Nothing. I was just going to ask how you planned to figure me out?"
He shot me a questioning look.
"Figure out what kind of monster I am, I mean. Like is there some sort of test or…" I trailed off, completely out of my element.
Zed's attention was divided as he watched the food and answered my question. "Every supe has a trigger."
"A trigger?"
"Yeah, it's what unleashes their inner monster, so to speak. Vamps turn the first time they drink human blood, werewolves turn during the first full moon after they're bit, unless they're pure-bloods, but you get the idea."
"And Grims turn after they die?" I guessed.
"When they die by supernatural means."
My face scrunched up in confusion. "What's supernatural about a car accident?"
Zed shrugged, taking something off of the stove and setting it on the counter beside him.
"What caused it, maybe? Hard to say. But we can't really argue the fact that you died and came back, and the only supernaturals triggered by death are Grims. So we're just going to have to take a leap of faith here."
I cocked my head to the side. "Wait… If I came back from the dead… wouldn't that make me a zombie?"
He rolled his eyes and pursed his lips. "We're Grim Reapers… NOT Zombies..."
I clasped my hands in front of me, leaning forward. "Zombie, Grim, whatevs. What does it mean? Am I supposed to feel any different? Look any different… other than the change in hair color that I am clearly trying to not notice!"
Zed's back was to me now, and I was little distracted by the play of his muscles beneath his shirt. "For reapers, it's a little different. We grow into our powers. It's not an all or nothing thing. Sort of like death kicked off the change, and now every cell inside you is evolving. Think of it like supernatural puberty."
"Great," I lamented. "As if this wasn't already enough of a party, let's throw in some acne and raging hormones."
Zed's shoulders moved with laughter. "No, it's not like that. More like you're going to notice that you can see better in the dark. You'll move faster, have more stamina… those kinds of things. They'll build over time."
"And my hair?"
"Well, normally it starts to turn green. The more your powers develop, the more it changes.… But white? And all at once?" he shrugged. "Must be a female Grim thing… I guess… Oh! You'll also notice that when you meet a supe, you're going to know what kind they are because you'll be able to see their soul."
"Wait… what?" I stammered. "You can see my soul? Shouldn't you be able to tell what I am then?"
"Well, I mean, everyone in a Grimm line looks the same. So there's no change there, unfortunately." Zed turned to face me again, leaning back against the counter. "Maybe it helps if you understand why reapers exist in the first place. Our abilities are all an extension of that."
"Are you telling me supernaturals have some sort of divine purpose?"
The side of his mouth lifted in a smirk. "Just Grims."
"That's a hellofa pick-up line, Zed. Does it work on all the ladies? 'Hey baby, I'm a reaper and I was sent here by god'," I mimicked in an obnoxiously low tone.
Zed shook his head. "First of all, being a reaper is hardly a pick-up line. I already told you the supes hate us. Telling a girl isn't exactly going to get me into anyone's pants. If anything, it's harder because I'm a Grim. Supes don't like us, and normal girls can't really handle super-strength the greatest… anyways, no one who isn't a supe is allowed to know what we are."
The thought of Zed and banging and super-strength had my mind going interesting places.
"Do all zombies have super-strength?"
He sighed in frustration. "Reapers… And yeah, all supes in general do. Some more than others. Grims, in general, have the most strength, one of the fastest speeds, and better reflexes than the others." That seemed like quite the draw.
"Why are zom…" I caught myself as he arched his brow. "… I mean Grims, the special snowflakes?"
"We exist to keep the others in line."
"Like the police?" I asked.
"Pretty much," he answered, opening a can of tomato sauce and dumping it in. "It's a thankless job, but someone has to do it."
"Uh huh…" I said. "You do know I'm not great with rules, right? Enforcing them? Probably not the greatest idea anyone's ever had." I tapped my nails on the counter and leaned forward, inhaling the aroma as the sauce began to boil. He flipped the burner off and stirred the veggies with a spoon.
"Well," he started, opening a cabinet and retrieving two bowls. "Fortunately for you, I don't think we should run around telling anyone. The Grims aren't the most welcoming to begin with, and since there's never been a female, I don't know what kind of reaction we'd be looking at in the Brotherhood. Especially with everything else going on…" He drained the noodles in the sink behind him before portioning them out into the two bowls.
"Everything else?" I asked, not so subtly prompting him.
"Tracey's death, for starters." he said. "The funeral was only this afternoon. He's not the first Grim who has died under mysterious causes in the past few years, as you know."
Awkward tension leaked into the conversation as he silently dumped meat sauce into both bowls before sliding mine across the counter. Zed opened a drawer and pulled out two forks, handing me one as he came to sit on the barstool beside me.
"When my dad died, they said it was an animal attack… even though my dad didn't believe in hunting," I said slowly. "When I got the call from my aunt that my brother died from the same thing… you gotta imagine this doesn't look great. Zeta Omicron Mu was what they both devoted their lives to. I always assumed it was just a frat before tonight. A crazy one, that asked way too much from its members, but a frat regardless… I'm beginning to see that isn't all they are… ZOM house is a front for Grim Reapers… Hey!" my head snapped up. "ZOM? Really? How are we not Zombies?"
Zed didn't need to say anything. The look of aggravation across his face was more than enough. I stuck my fork in the bowl and twisted, wishing that it was the head of whomever killed my brother.
"You came back to figure out what happened," Zed said, nodding to himself. "I was in the woods tonight for the same reason."
I lifted my fork, then paused. "You told me you were checking traps."
"Yeah, for a wolf. Both your dad and your brother died from animal attacks. That wasn't a lie. We just left out that the animal was a werewolf and we can't seem to find the damn thing."
My mouth opened and closed. I looked between him and my bite of spaghetti. Starving as I was, I also sensed we were on the precipice of something. I dropped my fork and turned in my chair to face him completely.
"You're a Zomb… Grim," I said. "And it looks like I am too. You want to find out who killed my brother. I do too. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Zed looked like he stepped in something bad as he leaned away. "I don't know about this, Addison. You don't even know how to use your powers or anything…"
"So you'll teach me!" I said, maybe a little too forcefully. "And then we're going werewolf hunting."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sorry to bombard you with updates to this story, but it's just so much fun to write! Also, I know I probably won't have the time to write next week, so I'm doing it while I can! I have to send a shout out to WildFlowerChildGrace because she's been very persistent that I use the song Zombie by the Cranberries in one of my stories. It's accompanying the chapter image on my Insta story. I hope you're enjoying this new story! Feel free to drop a review and tell me yout thoughts!