Being Human: When will my Death Begin?

By Ldynwaitin

Chapter Thirteen

A Deal with Interest

The next two days Nora and Randal spent looking after Josh and Deanna. For Nora, Josh was actually the easy one, it was Deanna that she just did not know exactly what was wrong with her. It was clear she was in some kind of coma, or trance. For now they kept her comfortable.

Looking at the clock Nora saw it change to 7:25 A.M.. She was resting in a recliner chair, Randal was sitting next to Deanna's bed, Cecil was watching TV with Fidele. She stared out the big bay window in the room. The sun had risen almost half an hour ago. She heard her stomach rumble, she hadn't eaten much in the past few days, she spent most of them taking care of Josh.

"You need something to eat," she heard someone softly say. Turning around she smiled as she saw Josh looking up at her. He grinned at her, he looked so much better than when she first saw him.

Getting out of the chair, she sat down on the floor next to him. She placed her hand on his forehead. She sighed in relief, "It finally broke." His head felt cool, the burning fever was gone. She took his hand and pressed it on her cheek. "I thought I lost you."

His other hand moved under her chin, raising her head he said, "Me too."

He pointed to Deanna. "How is she?"

"Not sure," Randal said. "She seems to be in a coma. Fidele said its normal for her, so we're just keeping an eye on her. So far she hasn't gotten any worse, but she's also not any better."

Nora saw the bracelet on Josh's wrist gleam in the morning sun. "So," Nora said, "Where did you get the fancy bracelet?" She squinted her eye, "Gift from a rival?"

Josh held his hand up, he moved it in the sunlight. "The bracelet," Josh softly said. "That is a long story."

Nora sat down, "The room is paid for until the end of the week, you're staying on that couch until you're better, so we have time."

Taking in a deep breath, Josh told Nora all that had happened to him since he locked her up in the cemetery. Nora listened intensely. Cecil and Randal also listened. When Josh was done, Nora stared at the bracelet with horror.

"Josh," she said. "We need to get that thing off of you."

Josh slowly shook his head, "That's at the bottom of my list of things to do, Nora. Aidan is at the top." It was then that Josh noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Sally?"
Randal cleared his throat, "I guess it's our turn to bring you up to date."

"We stopped by the house," Nora said. "Looking for her, we couldn't find her. Before we left we heard something, on the radio."

"What did you hear?" Josh asked her.

"Sally," Cecil said. "I swear we heard Sally on the radio. It was playing a song that June liked. Within the song, in the static we faintly heard her voice."

"Her mother appeared at the house," Nora explained. "She told us, well she said Sally asked her mother to shred her, so she could go to limbo. She said she was crazy, talking to someone that wasn't there."

"Scott," Josh whispered. "I thought he was gone."

"Well according to her mother, he wasn't. Sally told her she had to fix things, make them right. Then she…well this was hard to believe. Josh, she shredded herself."

Josh closed his eyes, he knew how guilty she felt when she found out how many spirits she shredded. Especially Stevie and Nick, but he never thought she would go that far.

"What else did you hear?"

"She said she was trapped in limbo, in the house," Randal said. "If that makes any sense. She was there, but not there. She also said that there are things with her. Things that rip her and the others to shreds."

Nora wiped the tears from her eyes. "We heard her cries of pain Josh. It's something I'll never forget. She can't leave the house, she's trapped there. Josh, she sounded so frightened."

Josh lay his head back, "How are we going to get her out of there?"

"We can worry about that later," Nora said. "You need to rest."

"Yes," Josh heard Deanna said. "But I've rested long enough."

All of them turned around, they saw Deanna standing next to the bed. Her eyes were clear, she stared at them with a determination.

"I heard what you said," she told Josh. "In the store, you lied to protect me."

Josh realized she must have heard what he told Afanas. "I couldn't have him take us both."

Deanna shook her head, "When you first came, you fought me so. I thought I could change you." She gently smiled at him, "But it was you that changed me."

Josh didn't know what to say, she seemed different. He was about to say something when Randal's iphone softly rang. Looking at it, his eyes grew wide in alarm, "It's Mother."

Moving to a corner, he took the call. They all silently watched him as he spoke on the phone. Minute's later he ended the call. Nervously running his hand through his hair, he cleared his throat.

"That was Mother," he explained.

"We got that part," Josh said. "What did she say?"

"Well it appears that more vampires will be out hunting for you, she just upped the bounty to $100,000 dollars."

"Wow," Josh sat back. "For that much I'd turn myself in."

"Why did she raise it?" Cecil said.

"Apparently someone told her that the rumors were true, Mother's shadow is connected to Aidan's wolf. She was seen using her magic to protect him. I don't know how guys, but someone survived that little skirmish you had in the drug store."

"That's not possible," Fidele said. "I saw four vampires enter that lunchroom. I counted four bodies before we left."

"Ralph," Josh said.

"Kramden?" Fidele said. "I love that show, 'To the moon, Alice!'"

"No!" Josh said. "Ralph, the human I found in the lunchroom. I knocked him out and put him in one of the lockers. Fidele, do you remember the bodies you saw on that lunchroom floor?"

Fidele nervously played with his fingers, "Well, I only took a quick look. Let's see, I saw the head of a woman, and a black guy, and some guy with a really bad hair cut."

"What about Afanas, did you see the head of Afanas? He's very pale, and blonde."

Fidele tried to recall what he saw. "The fourth body was in the dark, he was lying on his stomach."

"Was he wearing black leather?" Josh said.

Fidele shook his head, "No, no black leather on any of the bodies I saw."

"Afanas," Josh said. "That son of a bitch survived. He must have found Ralph in the locker and switched places with him."

"I'm sorry," Josh said to Deanna. "I never should have gone into that store. Mother now knows you're out here and not safely hidden in your cottage."

Deanna took in a deep breath. "I've decided to help you find your friends."

Josh struggled to sit up on the couch. Nora tried to hold him down, but he was very insistent. "Didn't you hear him?" He shouted, a bit louder than he intended. "She's got her stupid ugly goons looking for you. No offense, Randal."

"None taken," Randal quickly returned.

"Hey," Fidele said, "He's not stupid."

"I heard," Deanna said, "But I also can see. In the past few months I have seen things I would never have imagined possible. I've seen a wolf that says his best friend is a vampire. I saw ghost's helping vampires, wolfs helping ghosts." She shook her head, "My, my, if only my sisters had lived long enough to be here. I'm sure they would have a hard time believing as I did, in the beginning."

Deanna walked up to Josh, "I'm old Josh, and I'm also so very tired. I have fought Mother for so long, it consumed me."
"I always told you to get out more," Fidele said.

"Yes, my friend, and I did not listen to you. It took a love sick wolf to open my eyes."

"Wait I minute, I know you, Deanna," Randal said. "You're not about to turn your back on fighting Mother to help Josh get in touch with his friends." A knowing smile parted his lips. "I see, a deal with interest. If you help us get Aidan out of that grave, he'll be in your debt. A debt paid perhaps by helping you kill Mother?"

"Now that sounds like the Deanna I know," Fidele said.

"I will not lie," Deanna said. "In return for my help, I ask that you help me finish what I started." She pointed to a leather bag. "There is something in there that I need to finish, once done I will have the power to help you finally destroy Mother. That is all I ask, besides, I know what it is like to have someone that is close to you in danger." She looked at Fidele. "I can't imagine how I would feel if he was missing and I could not find him."

"Don't worry about that, Deanna," Fidele said. "I'm not going anywhere."

Randal looked to his companions, each nodded their consent. "It's a deal," Randal said.

"What about the bracelet?" Nora dared to ask. Josh tried to hush her, but she had to ask.

Deanna held her arm up, "The bracelet, my dear, has very ancient magic. As I told Josh when I first put it on, only death will remove it. I'm sorry, but it stays."

"We'll worry about that later," Josh said, throwing Nora a look to drop it. He knew what Deanna was capable of, he didn't want the woman that he loved getting on the bad side of the witch that pulled all his strings.

"As soon as Josh is well enough," Randal said. "I think we should get Aidan out of that hole in the ground."

"We can go now," Josh said. "Guys, I'm feeling much better." He tried to stand but immediately felt as if his head was floating above his body. Sitting down hard he said, "Maybe now is not a good time."

"Yes," Nora said. "I'm the nurse, and I'll tell you when you're ready."

Fidele winked at Josh, "Really like your Nurse-wolf, she's a keeper."

"Yes," Josh said, as she helped him lay back on the couch. "She's a keeper."

Leaning down, she kissed him on the lips, "Rest now, fight vampires later."

"Sounds like a plan," Cecil said.

Josh had to admit she was right, he was still weak from his bout with the fever. He lay his head down, he grinned when he saw Deanna talking to Randal and Cecil. She spoke to them as if they were friends. Sighing, he closed his eyes. He had to rest, had to get better. The sooner he got better the sooner they could free Aidan from his coffin and Sally from whatever hell she was trapped.

Closing his eyes, he tried to think of what he was going to say to Aidan once they freed him from his dirt prison. As sleep began to seep in, his last thoughts was of seeing Aidan and Sally together in their home, laughing about what happened to them, and toasting the death of Mother.