Jhondie
When
I went back into the den, everyone got quiet. I was so embarrassed. "I'm sorry
your friend died," Brit said in a small voice. He was my brother, but I couldn't correct her. Maybe one day I would, but not for a very long time. Hell, maybe never. Kayla didn't know, and I had no plans to tell her anything.
"Me
too," I said, grateful for Justin's presence. I thought I wanted to be alone in the kitchen, but when he came in, I
knew I needed him there. I hadn't told
him much, and he never pushed, but I thought I felt just a little better for
sharing that tidbit of my life with him. When you're older, you feel responsible for the younger kids. Zack, Eva, and I had managed to hide seizing
siblings before, but when Jack collapsed in line, there was nothing we could
do. A few minutes later and we would
have been on maneuvers, and we could have hid him then. It was hard to not dwell on the past
sometimes.
I
was glad conversation went on in a much lighter mood. I was feeling so much better getting my mind off of the
past. I had no idea why I was being so
reflective. I normally shoved down the
first nine years of my life and pretended they didn't happen. It was better that way. Luckily the twins started clowning around,
and when they start, there's no being depressed. They go back and forth until everyone is dying with
laughter. You'd think Bryan was a
little shy and reserved, but that's only when he's being compared to Brit. He's actually very outgoing, and has a
wicked sense of humor. I was willing to
bet Justin was a lot like that as a little boy. With the way Bryan was already starting to look, I knew he was
going to be a heartbreaker one day.
It
started to get pretty late. Not that I
noticed, but the twins started to run low on energy, and Mr. Carter seemed
pretty tired, and even Justin was drooping a little. I had just had another huge plate of the stuffing (oh, more
cranberries make everything better) when Mr. Carter told the twins to go to bed. It was almost midnight. Brit woke up long enough to protest she wasn't
tired.
I
couldn't help but be annoyed when I went to Justin's room. I wanted to stay downstairs, but Mr. Carter
scooted me off to bed. There was going
to be a downside to spending the night over here. I would have to pretend to sleep. With as much as I had gotten the day before, it would probably be
a week or more before I got the urge to sleep again, but I was going to have to
fake it. I did some work on Justin's
computer for a while, entering research notes and the like, and tried not to
think about sneaking downstairs. Finally, I plopped down in his bed, smelling Justin's scent in the
sheets and pillows. Not fair!
I
lay in bed, relaxed, but I still couldn't sleep. I wanted to go downstairs, and it had nothing to do with food for
once. I could just picture Justin in
his boxers stretched out on the couch in the den. Even if we couldn't do anything, it would be nice to snuggle up
next to him and talk and I wouldn't sleep, but just be close to him while he
slept. That wouldn't be wrong would
it? Except for the little fact that in
about thirty seconds after me getting there, we would be going at it like
rabbits. No, I would be good and not
attack him for now. Tomorrow would be a
whole different story though. It was
going to be a matter of in the car, or if we could make it back to my
house. I groaned in frustration, and
threw the blanket over my head. I
wanted him now.
There
was a light scratching at the trellis outside of the window. Justin's room faced the back, and his window
was right over the roof of the porch. It was an easy jump for me, but the scratching was a little louder now,
and it sounded like…like someone was climbing. Maybe it was an animal. I had no
idea how right I was.
I
was about to get up and check it out when I heard a whispered curse. It was a feminine voice. It sounded like…no…she wouldn't…but she was
insane and had been thwarted. I left
the blanket over my head and waited for a second. The lock on Justin's window had been broken for a couple of
years, and he had just never gotten around to fixing it. Well, as of six months ago that was the
excuse. Now it would just take me longer
to break into the place. The window
slid open.
"Justin?"
Denise whispered. "Don't say anything,"
she said quickly. Her tone, even in a
whisper was seductive. She was a dead
bitch. She'd gotten her one
warning. I had to lie there quietly for
a minute, trying desperately to calm down. I could rip her arms and legs off without breaking a sweat, and at that
moment, I was so tempted to do it.
"I've
been thinking so much," she said. Yeah
right. You had to have two sparking
brain cells to think bitch. "About us,
what happened…we both know that we both made major mistakes," she
continued. "Face it my love, you know
as much as I do that we're supposed to be together. Even your little girl knew that. Why else did she try to get rid of me so quickly?"
Say
nothing I ordered myself. Maybe she
would get the hint and go away. Dumping
yum-yum on her was one thing. Spreading
her from one end of the room to the other was a different level. One that I was rapidly getting ready to
do. Little girl my sweet a$$. I was born an adult unlike your skank self.
She
paused, and I sensed her frustration at not getting a response. "I know you're awake," she whispered, and I
heard the smile in her voice. "Your
light just went off maybe ten minutes ago, and it takes you a while to fall
asleep. See? I know everything about you, everything important." She started approaching the bed. "You said yourself that you weren't homesick
in New York. You didn't miss that child
at all. Remember how many times you
told me you missed me when you were in Mexico? She isn't more important than your work, is she? I'm still the only one that ever distracted
you from it, aren't I?"
That's
because he was trying to escape from you. Escape is not distraction. I…I
had distracted him before. I thought I
had. There was that time…well, we were
together, but we just had to get one thing. And yesterday…well, we did go to the construction site first. Well, I was the one who agreed to have my
Prom interrupted. Just because I was
too angry to think of a time didn't mean it had never happened. It just meant that bitch was about to take a
short trip back to the ground via the window.
Now
she must have thought that silence meant agreement. "I knew it," she murmured triumphantly. "You see it too now? Oh
Justin, I knew you would. I'll never
love anyone the way I love you. Bradley
is so sweet and wonderful, but I pretend he's you when we're in bed
together. Remember all the times we
made love? You said it could never be
better. Have you slept with her? How long did it take for you to get over the
memory of touching me before you could touch her? You told me so many times how perfect my body was." There was a whispery slithering sound. I placed it. Clothes sliding down and hitting the floor. "You can touch me now," she practically
gasped. Time to die.
I
know I moved to fast for her to follow. Careless, I know, but I was too furious to even think about acting
normal. She was so dead. I had a split second to take in the scene
before I was on her. She was standing
there, completely naked, jeans and a shirt on the floor, running her hands up
her torso like some whore in a porno flick. Her eyes got huge when she saw not Justin, but a worse psycho than
herself come out of that bed. You think
you're bad? I was trained by better
than you, and I learned very, very well.
She
was pinned against the wall in a heartbeat, the start of a scream cut off
instantly by the hand clamped around her throat, squeezing firmly. Her face was turning red as she slapped at
my wrist, terror filling them as she realized I had every intention of choking
the life out of her right then and there. I could have broken her neck, but…nah…this was better. Deep inside, I knew I couldn't kill
her. I would stop once she passed out
but she didn't know that.
She
would have escaped with a few bruises on her throat and a massive headache
(lack of oxygen does that, I knew that from underwater training at Manticore)
had she not taken a swipe at me. I was
so intent on her face, that I didn't catch her hand in time. My face stung, and I could feel the warmth
of four lines of blood well up on my cheek. Oh, that was *SO* it!
I
let go of her throat, grabbing her wrist with my right hand, and catching her
nails with the tips of my fingers of my left hand and jerked them back hard,
hearing the nails tearing down beneath the quick. She had been trying to get her breath back, and it came in one
shrill scream as the pain tore up her arm. Still holding her wrist in an iron clamp, I jerked her forward into my
knee, knocking the wind out of her once again. She was lucky I didn't go with full strength. I could have damaged organs and shattered her ribs. Instead she was just going to be bruised
over her entire stomach. And other
places because I was not done yet.
I
backhanded her hard, flinging her halfway across the room, slamming her into
the corner. I could hear running, but
ignored it. Four scratches meant four
broken bones. It seemed like a fair
trade to me. I jumped quickly across
the room before she could get back up. My fist rose to deck the shit out of her when some one grabbed my wrist,
and an arm around my waist jerked me back off of her.
Justin
When
I was awoken by a scream, my body was moving before my mind could figure out
what the hell was going on. Dad and I
hit the door at the same time, and all I saw was Jhondie was about to kill
someone huddled in the corner, and Jhondie's hair was over her shoulder,
exposing her neck. I had to grab her
before Dad tried to. I grabbed her arm
and waist, and hauled her backwards. She twisted, grabbing me, and for a split second I thought I was
toast. If it had been Dad, he would
have gotten a crash course in genetics, the crashing being the sound of him
hitting a wall. But, I guess deep down,
I knew Jhondie wouldn't ever hurt me. Even furious, she wouldn't. Thank God, I was right.
My
hand clamped around the back of her neck. I jerked her close, and hissed into her ear, "your barcode is showing!" She tensed with fear at exposing herself
like that. The room was still somewhat
dark, the only light coming from the hall, so for someone not looking closely,
chances were only another person with Jhondie's vision could have seen it, but
it was enough to calm her down. She
needed to be calm. Denise was the one
in the corner and she was screaming bloody murder.
Dad
managed to get himself in between Denise and us. He must have realized I was doing everything I could to keep
Jhondie off of her. Jhondie turned
around again so that she could glare at Denise. I was still keeping my arms around her waist though. Not that I could really do much if she
really wanted to get at her, but it was the effort that counted. I wanted to laugh at the sight though. Denise was mother-naked on my floor, in
mortal terror. For once she wasn't
acting. Jhondie had really put the fear
of God into her. That just made up for
the four flat tires, the broken windshield and the dead fish in my car.
"She
tried to kill me!" Denise screamed. "That
crazy…oh my God, she tried to kill me!" She looked directly at me, tears streaming down her face. "What's that crazy b***h doing in here?" she
demanded. Jhondie jerked in my arms,
but I kept hold of her.
"I
don't know, Denise," I responded hotly. "What are you doing in here?"
"Justin!"
Dad snapped. He looked over my
shoulder. "You two! Back to bed now!" I risked a glance backwards. Brit was giggling silently and Bryan was staring wide-eyed at
Denise. Oh that was not what I needed.
"But,
Dad," they started to protest in unison.
"Now!"
he yelled at them, pointing. He looked
back at me, trying to get control of the situation. I was having a hard enough time trying to keep control of
Jhondie. She wanted another go at
Denise who was still whimpering. "Take
Jhondie downstairs," he ordered me firmly. He looked down at Denise. "Get
dressed," he said coldly. "I'll take
you back home myself."
I
tugged on Jhondie, and for some reason, she decided to come with me. I didn't like leaving Denise alone in my
room, but I didn't have much of a choice. Getting Jhondie away from her was the best thing for me to do right
then. I got her downstairs into the
den. She couldn't see the living room
from there, and it would be best to not let her see Denise as Dad hauled her
out of here. We sat down on the
couch. She still wasn't talking. Please let Dad get Denise out of here fast,
I prayed. Once Jhondie decided to go
back up there and kill her, there wasn't going to be any stopping her. The sad part was I wasn't sure if I would
try terribly hard. Dad had just better
hurry.
When
Jhondie gets mad, if she's not yelling, she's thinking. When she thinks about something that's
upsetting her, she broods on it. When
she broods, she gets madder. The madder
she gets, the more likely there are going to be fireworks. Of course as Denise had just learned,
Jhondie can skip to the fireworks straight up. I preferred trying to get her to talk. It was safer for all the non-genetically engineered around.
"Jhon?"
I said softly. "I am so sorry. I had no idea she would pull a stunt like
that."
She
glared at me for a second. "You shouldn't
have stopped me." That's when I noticed
her cheek.
"She
did that?" I asked, seeing the dried blood on her face. It looked like fingernail cuts. I had a great deal of experience with Denise
and her nails.
"It's
nothing," she said, a cold smile touching her face. "She won't be doing that again for a long time." I hadn't gotten a good look at what Jhondie
had done to Denise. Hell, she was
alive. I thought it best to not
ask. Jhondie might decide to go back up
there and finish the job. Jhondie didn't
say anything for a long moment. "She
was sure she was going to seduce you," she finally said flatly.
We
both heard some light sobbing coming down the steps, and then a second later
the front door slammed. It gave me a
second to digest what Jhondie was saying, and why she was so angry. I touched her face lightly, making her look
at me. "You think she might have
actually succeeded?" I asked a little incredulously.
Some
of the anger melted a little, and she looked a little confused and
embarrassed. "I don't want to think you'd
ever cheat on me, but then she came in and you never said she was beautiful
like that and then she snuck into your room and said all that stuff and got
naked, and I just saw red." She looked miserable. If she hadn't looked so miserable, I would have gotten mad. I had never once given her cause to doubt
me. Of course I had never had a naked
ex in my bedroom before. Not that I
would have let anything happen, in any case, but…but I was very glad it was
Jhondie in my room. If I had been there
and said no, Denise would have raised such a ruckus that Jhondie would have
come up there and walked into that situation. I didn't think Denise would have gotten off so easily in that
circumstance.
Instead
of getting mad, I hugged Jhondie to me. She didn't try and pull away. "There
is no way in hell she would have gotten her way," I said softly. Our eyes met, and I could see she was on the
verge of crying. It was hard for her to
learn to trust someone. She trusted
me. "I love you sweetheart. It was never like this with her. Ever." I grinned at her wickedly, and whispered. "And I guarantee after yesterday, I have been ruined for any
other woman." I paused for a second,
pretending to think. "At least, unless
one of your sisters show up with that incredible muscle control thing going," I
teased.
She
let out a little snort of laughter and playfully punched my shoulder. "You're a jerk," she said, trying to look
mad.
"You
love it."
She
leaned up and kissed me. "No," she
said, almost a sigh. "Just love you."
