Hello all! :) Just wanted to start off letting you guys know that this one is a pretty long chapter but hopefully good! I also wanted to take this time to thank all of you who favorited, did the story alerts, and especially those who took the time to review! Everything you guys tell me helps me make this story better for you guys! So thank you guys so much for reading and just being frakkin' awesome! I couldn't ask for more! So without further ado' Chapter 7 :)
"You don't gotta run so fast!" I exclaimed.
"Time is of the essence!"
Ever since we had left the damn house Charley had seemed to be on overdrive. The kid never even took a breather.
"Well genius I don't know if you've ever tried running in a skirt before but it ain't all that easy."
Greedily I gulped in some air sounding like a wheezing kid with asthma. Now was probably a good time to think about quitting my deadly nicotine habit. As my lungs burned I tried to keep my mind occupied and looked around at the houses and realized we were heading down the block towards Adam's house.
"Hey Char-Char where are we going?"
But he didn't have to reply. Once we got closer to the end of Adam's cul-de-sac the clearer I could see Ed waiting for us with a duffle bag and his skateboard in hand.
"Dude, where the hell have you been?" Ed chided as we came closer.
Apparently he must not have seen me but then again I was also just barely catching up to them both as Ed finally caught sight of me. He seemed more than just surprised to see me.
"Oh hey Kaylee," he said warmly too me but moved in close to Charley and hissed, "What the hell is she doing here?"
"I thought she could help."
"She should not be here. We're already in enough danger as it is. You really should have left her at home."
"Uh, hello," I interrupted taking a step forward. "Yeah, hi I am right here, you know."
Ed let a sharp breath out through his nose as he turned to face me.
"Kaylee you really shouldn't be here. This could get dangerous."
I let out a snort of laughter as I danced on my feet.
"Oh come on Ed you can't be serious! You do understand who you are talking too, right?"
"This is different okay!"
He said it so passionately that I knew without a doubt he honestly believed it. The frantic look in his eyes and the tight set of worry etched on his features washed away any sort of whimsical thought I'd had about this, making me only begin to worry. What the hell was so important that it would get Ed so worked up like this? Whatever it was I knew for sure it couldn't be good.
"If you think I'm leaving Edward Lee you are sorely mistaken," I replied sharply.
Ed had grown up with me for most of his life. He had turned into another little brother too me and he knew me just as well as Charley did. So he knew that when I said something, big or small, that I meant every word.
"It'd be better to have her with us anyways, man," Charley chimed in.
He looked more than a little annoyed at Charley's input but he was outnumbered. It was two to one now and even if it had been the other way around they still weren't going to get rid of me. He opened his mouth to no doubt say something back but stopped as his eyes locked on to the apple clutched tight in my hand.
"Where did you get that?"
I followed his pointing finger and held up my apple to him. I figured that's what he had meant because the closer it got to him the more his lips seemed to disappear.
"Our neighbor gave it to me- hey!"
Reaching forward he snatched it out of my hand and tossed it over the brick wall that bridged off the masses from the desert and its coyotes. It seemed they were going to be the only ones enjoying my apple now.
I threw up my hands in exasperation while Charley just shook his head a tight smile thinning his lips.
"Unbelievable," he mumbled.
"Gee Ed it wasn't like I was gonna eat that or anything."
After he readjusted his duffle on his shoulder he picked up his skateboard and started towards Adam's front door.
"You'll thank me later trust me."
Looking over at Charley his eyebrows rose briefly as he shrugged and followed Ed towards the door. Good to see I wasn't the only one lost here.
I looked around the still very empty driveway and empty houses that surrounded Adam's. On second glance, the house that I had thought occupied actually looked just as vacant as the others. The porch lights were on but that was an automatic feature for vacant houses. Just like the light that was now on at Adam's.
What the fuck did that mean? Did that mean that Adam and his family were actually gone, or worse, missing?
Tucking my arms close to myself I walked up the driveway and towards the boys who seemed to be consumed with their bickering back and forth.
"Well, looks like we're going to have to go around," Ed sighed. "Actually-"
He turned to face me and Charley joined him. I wasn't sure what they were expecting me to do but they both were waiting for me to do something. Perhaps do a little dance?
"What?"
Making a dramatic gesture to the door, Ed tried ushering me towards it and its lock.
"I can't open that."
"Ah, come on Kaylee it's no big deal. I promise not to mention it to mom either. It'll be like it never happened."
I shook my head vigorously as I dropped my arms loosely to my sides.
"You don't get it. I didn't bring anything to pick it with."
His eyes widened as if he couldn't believe what I'd just said.
"Why the fuck not?"
I was beginning to get agitated and fought against shoving him as my fists tightened.
"Uhm if I remember correctly someone in particular didn't tell me to bring anything."
When he rolled his eyes at me this time, I did shove him.
"Okay yeah, my bad!"
"So it seems we are going around the back," Ed stated flatly.
"Good luck with that one. Mr. Johnson's is as paranoid as ever and still has that lock on the gate. You'll have to jump it."
"Kay, not to be a dick but you're the reason he got the lock in the first place."
Charley had a point there. When I was sixteen I had gotten into the bad habit of breaking into the neighbors houses. So when I'd finally got caught my mom was not only mortified it'd been me, but the whole community wouldn't speak to her until she repaid them everything I'd stolen. The only reason Adam's parents had still talked to my mom was because he was friends with Charley.
I shrugged nonchalantly and crossed my arms back over my chest.
"True."
Ed's eyebrows lowered in suspicion as he took a step towards me.
"Wait how would you know that?"
"Know what?"
"That there was a lock on the gate."
"Oh-"
I began to fidget with my feet as I realized I had just given myself away. Then again I had nothing to be ashamed of. Right?
"I came by earlier to visit Jillian."
I said the words as calmly as I could as Ed looked like he was about to burst into a panic attack any minute. Charley looked very amused as he eyed Ed waiting for him to freak out.
"You did what?"
"Jesus I just came by to see Jillian. I didn't know that was such a big deal."
By the furious tapping of his foot I could tell he wanted to talk about this some more but by the way he kept eyeing Charley I knew he just wanted nothing more than to get this over with. I was just dying to know what the hell had him wound up so tight.
"Whatever let's just hurry up and get inside."
Gripping the strap of his duffle tightly he brushed past me and rushed over to the fence.
"Yeah the sooner the better," Charley mumbled from beside me.
Charley's total distaste for having anything to do with his childhood friends was really starting to get grate my nerves.
Hastily Ed threw the duffle over and placed his skateboard against the side of the house.
"Okay Charley you go first, then Kay, and I'll go last."
"Seriously?"
"What? You can jump a fence right?"
I looked at Ed like he was stupid.
"I'm in a skirt!"
"Guess you should've brought your tools then, huh?"
Balling my fists at my side I felt my teeth grind together as I fought not to say anything back. If they wanted to make things difficult for me then I would gladly do the same for them. Patiently I watched as Charley tried to get a good grip on the fence before he hauled himself over.
If they weren't going to help me over with the skirt I wasn't going to tell them about the rose bushes. Sure enough the minute Charley was all the way over, he immediately begin to curse loudly followed by the thrashing sound of him trying to release himself.
"Oh yeah, by the way, Mrs. Johnson planted rose bushes back there." I turned to Ed and made an exaggeration of the measurement I'd taken of the thorns earlier. "They've got massive thorns on them," I finished swaying happily from side to side.
Giving me a wary look Ed snuck a peak between the boards just to see if I was telling the truth. His face turned pale as he stared back at me, nudging me towards the fence.
"It's your turn Kay."
Walking up to the fence I tried to think of a way to get over it gracefully and with some of my dignity intact. All the ideas I was coming up with seemed foolproof…if I was Wonder Woman.
"If it helps Kaylee you can always just take off your skirt. I mean, it'll give you the room you need to get over and-"
Quickly I punched him in the shoulder.
"I am not taking off my skirt," I growled.
Rubbing his shoulder he replied, "It was just a suggestion."
"Whatever."
Without another word I grabbed a hold of the fence and hoisted myself up. When half of my body was swinging around the other side I realized how much I had miscalculated and found myself landing right into the very bush that I had been stuck in earlier.
"Motherfucker!"
I could hear Charley laughing somewhere off to my left but I wasn't paying him no mind. Ed was over in a matter of seconds and had his duffle slung over his shoulder as they both stood there and watched me rip myself out of the bush. They were huddled together laughing away at my very non-graceful entrance. I pointed at them and growled, "Not a word," as I stomped past them and headed over to the back door.
Ed quickly took up the lead and waited for Charley and me at the door. He tapped the front of his shoe against the dog door. We waited as it flapped inward and slapped shut.
"Alright, Kay you go ahead and go in through the doggy door. When you're inside you can let me and Charley in."
"Ha! That ain't happening," I snorted slapping my knee for emphasize.
He cast a glance over at Charley who held up his hands briefly in a very Not It fashion. Without another word Ed shoved his duffle in through the dog door and followed shortly after. Once he was in, he unlocked the door and shuffled over to his duffle that sat on the floor.
"This is nuts," Charley whispered.
He held the door open for me and shut it once I was all the way inside. Reaching over I grabbed his shoulder and playfully shook.
"Awh come on Charley! You used to want to go with me all the time."
He gave a brief chuckle as he followed me into Adam's darkened living room.
"Yeah, that was when I was twelve and thought you couldn't get in trouble for it."
Shrugging I headed farther into the living room and noticed that not only was the house shrouded in this ominous darkness, but it still was furnished with all of the Johnson's possessions. But it looked like no one had lived there in days. The laundry basket that I had seen earlier was still sitting, clothes and sheets perfectly folded inside, at the edge of the couch. There were no dishes in the sink or the drainer. I'd even put money on it that if I looked in the dishwasher there wouldn't be any in there either.
"So I-," Ed began bent down beside his duffle bag, he pulled out what looked like a metal cross in on hand with a stake held tightly in the other, "I hate to be the one to tell you guys this but that guy your neighbor…yeah he's a vampire."
I sort of stood there for a few seconds. I wasn't sure if this was one of those games that Ed and the boys had always played when they were younger or what. I started to giggle hysterically with Charley laughing with me but when I saw Ed's dead set eyes I immediately stopped.
"My neighbor," Charley began.
"Yeah-"
"Next door-"
"Yup-"
Charley gave me an exasperated look as his face creased with disbelief.
"Jerry, we just met him."
"Okay, Jerry."
Ed sounded like he could've cared less what Jerry's name was. He stood up and headed down towards the hallway not paying any attention to me and Charley anymore.
"That is a terrible vampire name. Jerry?" Charley mused.
"Oh and I'm sure Charley would put real terror in people's hearts," I shot back.
"Look it doesn't matter what his name is okay! I'm just reporting the facts!"
Without another word to either of us he turned his back to us and began his hunched decent towards the stairs. Ed sure was taking this stuff awfully serious. Charley and I both shot each other a look as we started after him and up the stairs.
"Adam?" Ed whispered fiercely as he creeped his way to the top of the stairs. "Hello?"
He rounded the top quickly and moved directly towards Adam's room as I came off the last stair. Charley could've given a rat's ass about being quiet as he came off the step, using the balcony's sides to jump hard onto the floor. Immediately Ed spun around, stake raised, and realized at the last second it was Charley.
"Shh!"
When he turned back around and continued his way into Adam's room I grabbed Charley's arm hard and spun him around to look at me. My heart was still pounding in my throat at how close he had come to Ed accidently stabbing him with a goddamn wooden stake! That would be a lovely story to tell my mother along with Jerry being a vampire like something out of The Lost Boys.
I knew my eyes were wide and my face tight with worry but I wasn't playing anymore. Especially if Ed wasn't either.
"What?" he whispered tightly.
"Stop joking around, Char-Char. You came this close to having a stake to the face, fool!"
Emphasizing on just how close, I showed him bare inches as I let go of his arm. He pressed his lips tight together but gave me a brief nod of assurance that he was going to listen to me. It felt like a huge weight was lifted as I jolted at the sound of cardboard being hit repeatedly.
We both turned and watched as Ed finished stabbing Adam's cardboard cut-out of his favorite World of Warcraft character.
"Jesus I feel stupid. It's a cardboard cut-out."
"Nice dude, real nice."
Charley and Ed continued to banter as he made his way out of Adam's room but the only thing that I thought of was, that could've been Charley a mere second ago.
"They're not here dude."
"I know that but they aren't the only ones just listen to me." Ed moved between Charley and me and headed towards the spare bedroom. "I saw this thing on Channel 13, there was this lady who escaped an attacker who tried to bit her."
Charley leaned against the wall in the hallway as he watched Ed hunch his way over to the bedroom.
"Why are you walking like that?"
Quickly Ed righted himself and I slapped Charley against his stomach.
"Ah, what?"
"Be nice!" I mouthed. "Come on Ed you can't really believe that Jerry had anything to do with that do you?"
He shot me a look like I was dense before he opened the door and took a brief look inside. Apparently the room was to his liking because he shut it not even a second later.
"Look me and Adam graphed up all the attacks, all the disappearances; whole families gone."
"It happens all the time man, nobody lives in Vegas they just pass through-"
"You live in Vegas Charley!" Ed shot back angrily. Taking out a map from his pocket he pointed sharply to the X in the middle. "See that's you right in the middle right next to his house!"
"Wow, you weren't kidding about you guys mapping it out," I muttered.
I could feel his eyes burning holes in me but I just continued to stare at the piece of paper until he shoved it back into his pocket.
"His windows are completely blacked out!"
"Lots of people have blacked out windows Ed. They work on the strip at night and sleep during the day."
Charley just looked tired boarding on annoyance. A nagging feeling began to eat at me as I realized we had to get this over with and soon.
"Which is what makes it such a perfect plan don't you guys get it?"
He waved his arms around desperately.
"What that Jerry is Dracula?"
I snorted at that one and earned yet another hard glare from Ed. It did seem a little funny to me that Ed really believed that Jerry was a vampire. I mean, shit, seriously? I loved Ed dearly but not even I could wrap my head around this one.
"Dracula is one specific vampire I'm telling you-"
"God dude I know what you're telling me! I'm making fun of you, okay, I'm mocking you!" Charley shouted at him.
He had started forward following him into the bathroom. Sticking out my arm I held him back.
"You don't have to be such a dick, Charley!"
Ed didn't hear me as he looked around the bathroom.
"Awesome!" he replied his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Charley obviously hadn't paid me any mind either.
"You seriously read too much Twilight."
"That's fiction okay this is real life shit I'm talking about Charley. He is a real life monster and he isn't brooding or love sick, he is the fucking shark from Jaws. He kills, he feeds, and he doesn't stop until everyone around him is dead! And I'm seriously so pissed that you think I would read Twilight."
With his rant being over he disappeared into what used to be Adrian's room before he had gone off to college. Once Ed was out of site I quickly punched Charley in his shoulder.
"Ow-"
But I cut him off before he could even start.
"I know this probably wasn't your first choice coming here," I began whispering furiously, "But you can at least not be such a fucking asshole. I don't know what the fuck has gotten into it but you need to get over your fucking attitude and you need to get over it quick."
I could tell by the way his jaw was clenched that I had pissed him off but I didn't care. I was completely fed up with the blatant disregard and cruelty he showed to Ed. What had the kid ever done to Charley to deserve such treatment?
We both turned away from each other but I took it a step farther by actually walking inches away from him. The more time we spent here at Adam's with Ed the more I began to see what Ed had been talking about a few nights ago. At the time I didn't want to believe it and I think a large part of me had just brushed it off but now actually being around it and seeing how much he could care less about how Adam had gone missing or being here with Ed, it didn't make me sad anymore it just straight up pissed me off.
"Ed?"
The kid had been gone for a long time. I moved forward, anxiety beginning to eat at my nerves, when he came around the corner without a care in the world.
"And neither of you have invited him in right? Because obviously he can't be invited in without an invitation, I know you both know that."
"God you're on drugs."
"Well…yeah but I thought you would believe me on this. I have hard evidence at home."
"Okay," he replied half-assed.
I wanted more than anything to tell Ed I believed him but I just couldn't. Yes, beyond a doubt Jerry could be extremely…creepy at times but I didn't know him enough to accuse him of anything fishy. Even if I did I would put it more towards serial killer than an actual vampire. Vampires weren't real they were fiction.
"So is this like some From Dusk Till Dawn, shit?"
I was testing the waters and from the look Charley gave me I was superficially drowning him in it.
"In the blood thirsty, rip you into shreds to get your blood type of situation, yes."
"Ed, I want to believe you I really do but don't you think it would be more plausible that this was all a serial killer or something? I mean it being a vampire is a little-"
"Out there," Charley finished curtly.
I gave him a sideways glance but kept my eyes on Ed.
"Kay I just said I have hard evidence at home I just need you guys to trust me on this, okay?"
This was getting tricky.
"Anyways all three of us need to stake him in his nest but not right now it's too dark. We should probably just go in the morning so we'll have the protection of the sun. I mean that's what I read off of Peter Vincent's website."
"The Magician? The Magician Kaylee works for? The Magician with the bandana, tattoos, and the leather pants?"
Now I was freaking out.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Ed! You are talking about murdering someone!"
"He isn't a person Kaylee! I understand it's hard to comprehend this but I promise you we're going to do something good here."
"Wow," Charley murmured.
He placed his hands on his hips and was laughing up at the ceiling.
"Wow," Ed mimicked.
"Wow."
"Wow. Really can we just pretend for one second that you're not a complete douche bag?"
"Evil this was fun when we were eight-"
"Try sixteen," Ed cut in.
"Whatever man the point is I grew up. Don't get an attitude because I would rather have a life then make shit up."
This was turning ugly really fast.
"Hey now guys come on settle down."
I tried but they were too far into it now and were completely ignoring me.
"I get it. You're so cool Brewster. Go ahead and enjoy your Clark High early peekers and that includes your girlfriend, by the way."
Shit. Taking a step forward I was between them in minutes and pushed them back a little bit from each other.
"Shut up, man," Charley warned.
His jaw was clenched tight and I knew if this continued there was only one way to go. All this tension had been brewing for months and now it was finally getting the closing that it had deserved.
"She's undeniably do-able I will give you that-"
"Shut up."
"Ed come on man just drop it," I tried.
He gave me a look that said plainly he wasn't going too.
"But we used to make fun of girls like her, man-"
"Shut up."
This time he said it with more force.
"She's nothing but a skank man-"
The moment it came out of Ed's mouth I knew that was it. That was the straw that broke the camel's back and sure enough he roared something behind me and without thinking I put myself in front of Ed. I knew Charley had seen me but he didn't care. He still lashed out and shoved me back so hard that I ended up slamming into Ed and down we both went.
We both stumbled back in different directions. Ed's ended with him sprawled in the Johnson's bedroom while my back and head slammed against the wall next to the door. The world swam for a bit as I tried to stop seeing the triplet Charley's. I could hear Ed gather himself in the room beside me as he asked, voice filled with hurt, "Dude Adam's gone and you act like you don't give a shit. What the fuck happened to you? You were my best friend; we were inseparable."
My vision had cleared only to be clogged up with frustrated tears. My chest hurt to hear that kid be in so much pain and to feel so alone.
"Yeah well you know when my life began to get better was when I stopped being friends with you."
No. Fucking. Way.
I couldn't keep the disbelief off of my face as I looked up at my baby brother and the complete asshole that he had become. In the room next to me I could hear Ed let out a soft inhale of breathe, the sound of tears heavy in his throat.
"Ed."
I scrambled to get up as he rushed past us both and headed towards the stairs. Damn my mother's knee length skirt all too hell. Charley reached down to grab hold of my arm to help me up but I shoved him back violently.
"Don't fucking touch me."
Once I got to my feet I rushed down the stairs and back down the kitchen only to see that Ed had already grabbed his duffle. The back door was still wide open and without thinking I rushed through it and clambered over the fence not caring how unladylike I looked. But none of it mattered. By the time I had reached the street the kid was already halfway down the block and descending even further down the road.
"Ed!"
My feeble attempt went unanswered as he completely disappeared from my view. Frustrated, I kicked out angrily at the trashcan as I laced my hands behind my head and looked up at the night sky.
"Kay-"
I held up a hand for him to stop before he even started. I didn't want to hear what excuses he had come up with while he'd made his way out of the house. There wasn't any excuse in the world he could give me for doing what he had just done.
"Save it Charley I don't want to hear it."
He let out an angry scoff as he stepped into view his face lit up with defiance.
"Oh why you think that I should've let him sit there and talk about Amy like that? He didn't even know her!"
"You're right but that didn't give you the right to say what you just said to that kid!"
"It's the truth!"
"So what to be cool you'll do whatever it takes, huh Charley? Willing to be as fake as the rest of the assholes at your school? You abandoned your goddamn friends Charley! Abandoned the only people who truly fucking knew you for who you were and didn't need you to do anything to impress them. I thought I had taught you better than that."
A sarcastic sneer crossed his lips as he shook his head.
"Funny, I could say the same thing about you abandoning family."
That one was the one that cut the deepest and he knew it. I could feel the burning of the tears that threatened to spill as I smiled as the pain began to corrode my heart.
"Mmkay, I get it." I moved to start my decent down the road when I turned around and gave him the deadliest glare I had ever given the boy. "Just so you know, if you ever, and I mean ever, touch me the way you did in that house, you will regret it," I said furiously, every word laced with venom.
Turning my back to him I started a slow jog back down the road hoping that maybe there would be some way that I could find Ed. But slowly my jog turned into a sprint as the tears finally spilled over and the last half hour kept replaying itself over and over in my head.
It had been close to an hour sense that ugly scene had played out over at Adam's. It felt like even longer since I had been looking for Ed but short of going all the way to his parent's house, I couldn't find the kid. So after a short distance I had just decided on going back to the house but now that I was here I couldn't bear to bring myself to go inside.
I was still pissed beyond belief at Charley for the way he had acted and treated Ed and especially for laying his hands on me. But what repeated over and over in my head were the words he had said to me last. I wasn't sure if it could all be thrown at the fact that everything had happened in the heat of the moment but even at the thought of it, my pulse speed up like it had been lit on fire.
Shaking out my hands I paced back and forth on the sidewalk trying to make any fucking sense of what had just happened. Nothing was coming too me. When I took a glance up to his room and saw that his light was on…my blood began to bowl even more. Maybe it had been a mistake for me to even come back home. I had been a complete idiot to think that after I was here that everything would be fine and go back to the way it was but nothing could be the way it was. Not ever again.
Frustrated I picked up a rock from my mom's walkway and without thinking screamed at the top of my lungs and let it fly, and fly it did. It hit squarely against the side of Jerry's pick up.
"No fucking way," I mumbled wide eyed.
This could only freaking happen to me. I let out a groan as I began to make my way across the yard and to his truck to check out the damage. The closer I got however, the slower my pace became as I saw the awfully big dent I had made on his driver's side door. This was what I get for acting like a tantrum throwing five year old. I ran a hand over my face and kept my hand over my mouth as I noticed that it wasn't just a dent but there were a few deep scratches in the paint too.
I knew beyond a doubt I was going to have to tell him what I'd done and pray to god that he wasn't one of those guys who call's the cops for destruction of property. Walking up to his front door, I went to knock but dropped my hand down and tried to rile up every nerve I could muster. Just rip it off like a band-aid…
Inhaling sharply, and without a second thought, I quickly knocked twice on his door and jumped back. It seemed like forever as the tension began to eat me alive while I waited for him to answer his stupid door. I was close to saying fuck it and that no one was home, but obviously, he was. I started to walk backwards when I heard the deadbolt click free and the front door swung open to expose a very wet and very shirtless Jerry.
I don't think my jaw had ever dropped so fast in my life. I shut my mouth and tried to play it cool but I was finding it increasingly hard to do as it felt like my eyes were glued to his chest.
"Hey," he said coolly.
"Hey."
I felt like I couldn't move from that spot; like if I tore my eyes away I would be missing out on something extraordinary. It was embarrassing that I was acting like a hormonal teenager. The silence stretched on between us as he patiently stood there while I shamelessly raped him with my eyes.
"Something I could help you with?"
I wanted to tell him, "Yes, with your pants," but I shook the thought away. I was stronger than my libido damn it. I pointed back behind me to his truck.
"Yeah I uhm, came to let you know of an accidental crime I had committed."
His eyebrows rose in what looked more like giddy anticipation then worry like you would suspect, but he looked absolutely amused at my stance. Crossing his arms he leaned against his door frame and gave me the full weight of his gaze.
Yippy.
"Is that so?"
Swallowing hard I tried to give him a confident laugh but ended up failing.
"Sadly, yes. I threw a rock and it seemed the trajectory of it was destined to hit your truck to make what is an already lousy night even more awesome."
He shot me with that mega-watt smile and I felt like I couldn't help but smile back.
"You seem to have a thing against my truck," he teased.
"What can I say?" I shrugged. "It's a Dodge."
He laughed lightly and straightened himself out. My eyes hungrily ate every movement he made as his muscles flexed tight. The water making him glisten when he stepped into the light of the porch. Clearing my throat I tried for cool.
"Hey Jerry not to be nosy but why are you all wet?"
Glancing down at himself for a second, he looked back up at me, as his body language totally took on a different tone.
"Water line in the basement ruptured while I was working. Had to go and shut off the water to fix the leak."
Why the hell hadn't he been wearing his cover-all? It seemed he was reading me as I was thinking this and his eyes took on a deadly sheen that I wouldn't have thought possible. I took a cautionary step back off the porch step to put as much distance between me and the man in front of me.
"Oh," I sounded lame. "Sorry to hear about that but it's good that you got it fixed."
His face stayed immobile. Looking around I decided it was probably best that I headed on home.
"Well Jerry I'm just gonna…head home. You should probably head inside and uhm, put on a shirt. Shouldn't be standing outside when it's nippy out because, you know, you could catch a cold. Which, would be awkward considering this is Vegas and it's hardly ever cold here really. You should also probably park your truck in the garage from now on because it's not safe to leave it out in the open."
My fucking god was I rambling? As I continued I realized in horror that I was indeed rambling and Jerry just stood there, looking strangely predatory as he just watched me seamlessly dig myself deeper.
"I'm just going…to stop talking…now," I laughed nervously. "Mmkay well… bye now!"
As I turned to leave he calmly pointed down to my leg and said, "You're bleeding."
Immediately my gaze shot down to my leg and I realized in horror that he was right. For a second I thought that what had happened was every girl's worst nightmare when they were in a skirt, but on closer inspection I saw it was just a cut. It was probably located somewhere higher up my leg but I'd most likely gotten it when Charley had pushed me or in my rush to catch Ed by jumping the fence.
"Damn I guess I am," I replied weakly.
"You should come on inside and let me take a look at it," he insisted.
My eyes darted up at him and wondered past to the inside of his house. I could only see that he had one light on in what I would've bet was the living room. If he had any other light in the place I didn't see it. Ed's talk of Jerry being a vampire came rushing back into my head and that map they'd made about all the disappearances. There could be more than a dozen reasonable explanations and I honestly doubted that Jerry was a vampire. I could however have believed him if he had said serial killer or something along those lines. My heart seemed to leap into my throat as I licked my lips nervously and looked from inside his house to him.
"Thanks but you-"
"It's no big deal. Plus, you did assault my truck."
He had tried for teasing but this time it didn't match his eyes or his body language. I swallowed down my panic as I gave him a tight lipped smile.
"Sure."
Almost immediately his posture took on a whole new tone as I moved to walk past him. I would have thought he would have moved somewhat out of the way but he didn't. He made me literally brush past him and his bare upper body to get inside. Once inside, I turned around sharply to conceal the jolt of fear I had when he slammed the door shut behind him.
"You can go ahead into the living room. I'll go and get a warm wash cloth to clean the wound."
"Are you by chance gonna put on a shirt?" I asked meekly.
He didn't necessarily answer me as he moved past me and intruded on my personal space again. He stopped halfway to what I assumed was the way to his kitchen and looked back at me.
"Want a beer?"
"That'd be great thanks."
Once he started his way back to his kitchen I all but dashed my way to his living room and the sound of his television playing. When I was actually in the living room I looked around at the empty space and walls. There were still some boxes that had yet to be unpacked but besides a leather chair and its matching leg rest and plasma screen tv, and a random lamp in the corner, his house was barer than bare. I listened for the sound of the facet being turned on followed by the sound of him opening the fridge.
"You weren't kidding about the place being a mess."
Tiptoeing to the base of the stairs I peaked around the corner as he popped the top off of two beers and reached in the sink to take out a steaming hot rag. I raced back into the living room as quietly as I could. He came around from behind the stairs short seconds later and handed me one of the opened beers.
"Yeah between working nights and trying to fix this place when I can, I don't really have much time for interior decorating."
I nodded as I took a swig of my beer. He had a point there.
"Mom would probably tear her hair out if she saw this place."
He gave me another one of those strained smiles, like he had no real interest in it or what to even say in return. He motioned to the chairs leg rest and set his beer down on a box that sat a few feet away from the chair.
"Go ahead and take a seat."
I did as he instructed taking another long pull from my beer. This time though a weird coppery taste hit my tongue after the drink had long passed. Giving the bottle a weird look I took another sip and when I got the same after taste I set the bottle down. I was pretty damn certain that Budweiser wasn't meant to taste like that.
"Something wrong?"
Shaking my head no I gave him a brief smile. I stopped when Jerry kneeled down in front of me and took my bleeding leg in his lap. Instantly my heart sped up as he worked the rag over the dried blood on my calf and slowly moved up. When I glanced up I almost jumped out of my skin as I locked eyes with Jerry who was watching me with such an intensity it made my skin ache. The rag brushed up against the tip of the skirt dragging my eyes back down to the process he had started.
"I can get the rest."
My voice sounded like a ghost. I could barely breathe as it was with him so close to me and every time I looked up to get away from the overpowering feel of him, my eyes ended up lost in an Obsidian sea. I moved my hand down to take the rag from him when his hands quickly gripped the edges of the skirt and ripped up. A loud tearing sound tore through thick silence of the room. I could now see where the cut had originated but also far past it. I wanted to be furious at what he had just done but my heart was beating so wildly that I couldn't focus. His hand had ventured further up my thigh and with each touch of his hand it felt like it I was on fire. Maybe it was my mind making it up but I could've sworn it felt like my skin was blistering were his hands touched me.
Just when I thought I was going to finally break, my phone's ringtone cut through the silence, startling me back into reality. I rolled off the leg rest and moved as far away from Jerry as I could. It took me a while to dig it out of the side pocket until I was able to read the caller ID; it was LaLa. I let out a sigh of relief as I went to open it when Jerry's hand slid it from mine and threw it on the chair.
"Uhm…Jerry."
He quickly filled the space between us; his eye becoming darker, fuller, consuming his face with an eerie normalcy. Were they always so endless?
I couldn't speak; I couldn't breathe. A tight hand gripped the back of my neck while the other wrapped itself like a snake around my waist and pulled me those last final inches. My mind was racing with thought but all went quiet the minute Jerry crashed his mouth down on mine, and the bittersweet taste of copper tickled my tongue.
Oh snap! What do you guys think is going on? What's going to happen now?
Hope you guys loved it even though it was a lengthy one :)
Reviews always welcome!
Much love! Jeneane