Things That Go Bump At Night Part 16

There was. My hand hit the knife block and I closed my fist around the first one I touched and I yanked, the block fell, scattering knives along the counter and onto the floor I would later think how lucky I was that I hadn't chopped off my own toes- I brought the knife I had grabbed around and with all the strength I could still muster I jammed it right in the forehead of the face in front of me. There was an intense howl that hurt my ears and I fell to my knees the moment it released me, watched as it melted to a black ooze, crawled away from it and stared at the knife, lying in the middle of the mess. I wheezed, trying to catch my breath, screamed as I was grabbed from behind.

It was Maria.

"Here!" she shouted and pressed a gun into my hand. She then went around spreading the new protection that Mr. Wagner had stowed in his safe until they could test it. I stood.

"I don't know how to use a gun Maria." I said, panic laced my voice.

"It's easy. Point and shoot; safety's already off."

I saw red eyes at the broken window.

"The window Maria! Put the protection at the window!" I got to it first and did what Maria had said, I pointed and shot. My fist shot ricocheted off the windowsill, leaving the wood splintered. I took a deep calming breath and forced myself to steady my hands. I took another shot. I was rewarded this time when one of the demons staggered back. I stepped closer to the window and pointed the gun again, regaining a little confidence, I shot again. This time, another demon actually went down. I kept shooting while they ran off to the woods, shot until the gun just clicked, spent of its ammo. My chest was heaving and I knew I was breathing loudly, on the verge of tears and panic, as voices came from the hall.

"Remi!" Jake called, I spun to face him as he came barreling into the kitchen. "Whoa!" He hit the floor when I swung the gun around in his direction.

"Sorry!" I cried and aimed the gun away, even though I knew it was empty. He was back on his feet and to me in a second. He took the gun from my hand and gathered me up in his arms.

"She got one." Mr. Wagner said from where he stood near the island, looking down at the knife in the middle of the mess on the floor that was beginning to disappear as if it were evaporating. Jake looked up then, scanned the kitchen. Shattered gla.s.s from the window littered the floor, a fruit bowl that had been on the island when I'd been thrown across it also lay in pieces on the floor, the fruit had rolled and scattered, a dozen different sized knives lay on the counter and spilled over around the floor. Jake looked down at me.

"Are you alright?"

I nodded. But I wasn't sure I was. Whatever that demon had done to me left me feeling slightly hollow, my breath still coming out a bit wheezy. I felt tired and scared to my core.

"She got another one outside." Quinn said coming in the back door with Ana and Ryan. I was feeling so awful that I couldn't even take pleasure in their new looks of respect.

"I think," I caught at my breath, a tear rolled down my cheek. "I think your new protection works. Maria put it around the kitchen and they seemed to back off." My words were shaky and wispy and Jake frowned intensely down at me.

"I'm taking her up." He told his dad. "We can talk about this later."

"Yes. Go. We'll take care of everything down here." His father agreed.

Jake scooped me up in his arms and carried me up to his room, he kicked the door shut behind him and set me gently at the edge of his bed and knelt before me.

"How long was it sucking at you before you killed it?" He asked me. I shook my head, I hadn't been aware of time. "Okay." He murmured. "What you're feeling now, it will pa.s.s. Your spirit just needs to mend itself, to reconnect with you."

I nodded again. Jake touched my face gently.

"You got two Remi. That's pretty d.a.m.n impressive. And you got one at hand to hand. That's unheard of for the first timer."

"Well," I said weakly. "I am pretty d.a.m.n impressive."

He laughed softly.

"Yes you are." He murmured, he leaned forward and kissed me gently. I clung to it, my hands fisting in the front of his s.h.i.+rt. He pulled away after a minute and helped me undress for bed. Then he crawled in with me, wrapped me in his arms. "Rest." He murmured.

"I don't want to rest." I said clinging to him. "Make me feel good again, Jake. Please."

And he did.

"No way in h.e.l.l!" Jake hollered.

It was the next night, we were in the library and I had just announced that I wanted to come on the hunt with the group. Quinn and Ryan had supported me, but Ana had not. And apparently Jake wasn't going to either.

"Yes way." I spat back, glaring at Jake, he glared back.

"No. You're staying here." He growled out between gritted teeth.

"Oh, yeah. Because here it's so much safer." I threw at him sarcastically.

"What happened last night has never happened before." He said. "And it will never happen again. You're staying. You're not ready yet."

"Really? I think I held my own pretty well all by myself last night." I returned. "When will I be ready for you Jake? You plan on keeping me in training for the next year? What's your plan after that?"

Jake threw his hands up and turned to his dad who was perched on the edge of his desk, his arms crossed over his chest, watching us as we argued.

"Tell her." He ordered his father. His father looked from Jake to me. His vote would be the tie breaker. Finally, he slowly nodded. I felt triumph.

"We'll watch her back Jake. If anything looks like it's going south, we get her out of there." His father said calmly. Jake on the other hand, was not so calm. He swore and shoved a chair out of his way as he stomped from the room. I stared at the toppled chair, my victory feeling a little hollow.

In the shed we "suited up" as they called it-. Jake so completely emotionless that it scared me- showed me how to refill a gun with a new clip, then he showed me how put on my shoulder holsters. Next he had me put a belt around my waist and filled its little slots with knives and extra clips. I was warned against any loose clothing and was dressed in a pair of black leggings and a tight long sleeved t-s.h.i.+rt. I learned that each gun had a built in silencer, it would do us no good if people called the sheriff's department every time they heard gunshots.

"So, why don't we cover ourselves in the protections stuff?" I asked, really wis.h.i.+ng he wasn't so mad at me.

"It defeats the purpose." He answered, not looking at me as he got himself ready. "The protections ward off the demons and we need them close to us."

"Why? I mean, guns can be used at a pretty good distance."

"Because fighting the demons in the woods gets tricky. There's a lot of cover there for them to use, and while guns are a great weapon, sometimes they're not always effective. Ammo runs out." Now he looked at me. "There's a lot of hand to hand Remi, you really think you're ready for that?"

Probably not, but I nodded anyway. He sighed and turned away from me.

I hated that he was able to do that.

The night was surprisingly uneventful. I don't know if that was on purpose or not, whether Mr. Wagner had chosen a location that'd had little activity. Each time we spotted demons, Jake had stepped right in front of me, blocked every chance I had of partic.i.p.ating. A night like this would have been great practice for me, a learning experience, but Jake was determined to make sure I remained in that tower, one way or another.

By the time we arrived back home four hours later everyone completely unscathed and quite bored with the night- I was fuming mad. I followed Jake to his room, watched as he got his stuff together for a shower, refusing to look at or speak to me.

"Why are you being such a jerk?" I asked him before he could go out the door. His hand paused on the door k.n.o.b before he turned to me, his glare was fierce.

"Excuse me for having your back." His voice was low; menacing was a good word.

"My back. My sides. Above me, below me. You are determined to make sure I don't do this, aren't you?" I'm pretty sure my own glare was just as impressive as his. He stalked towards me, I defiantly held my ground.

"d.a.m.n straight." His voice was still low and he got right in my face. Daring me to argue with him. I shoved his chest, but it barely moved him. I was so angry, so disappointed. He had seen to getting me trained properly, had made me believe that he was okay with me doing this someday sure someday came sooner rather than later- made me believe that he believed I could do this.

Had made me believe he'd thought me strong.

"What is it about me that has you so convinced I can't do this?"

"I never said you can't. I just don't want you to."

"Well good thing we don't live in the fifties then, you don't get to tell me what I can and cannot do." I spat. I saw his nostrils flare and it was the only warning I had before he pushed me against the wall behind me. I shoved at him once, but only once, because after that we both became very aware of each other. Suddenly, like a switch had been flipped, his mouth was on mine and my hands were tearing at his s.h.i.+rt, then he grabbed my hips and lifted me, I wrapped my legs around his waist and he used my back against the wall for support. There was nothing gentle about this. My fingers dug into his shoulders I was pretty sure there'd be marks- and his fingers dug into my hips. It was like a big s.e.xual argument and in the end there was no clear winner...or maybe we both won.

After, he set me on my feet and I sagged against the wall and he staggered back until the back of his knees. .h.i.t the bed and he sat.

"I think I like arguing with you." He commented, his breathing evening out a lot faster than mine did. I tried to glare at him, but there was no heat behind it.

"Don't think you won. I'm still hunting, and you're still going to back off."

He chuckled tiredly and scrubbed his hand down his face.

"I know." He said. I pushed away from the wall and went to stand before him, I ran my fingers through his hair. He leaned back, balancing with his palms flat on the bed behind him and looked up at me.

"You are so beautiful." He said softly. "And smart, and strong, and a little bit mean." He chuckled when I wrinkled my nose at him. "I don't think you quite understand how hard it was for me to just watch you walk out into the woods like that tonight. Knowing what's out there, and that it's now coming for you specifically."

"Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea." I argued lightly. I had, after all, spent the last few hunting nights worried out of my mind for him. I smiled softly and straddled my knees on each side of his legs. I think he held his breath while he waited for what I would do next. "But you have to let me do this." I stood very still until I was sure I had his full attention again. "You have to let me do this. Stop stepping in front of me."

"I'll try." His voice was a little strained.

"No, you'll promise."

He groaned.

"Alright. I promise to stop stepping in front of you."

When I smiled triumphantly he reached out and snaked his arm around my waist then swung me around to drop me on my back on the bed. I laughed at the b.u.t.terflies the act sent scattering in my stomach.

For the first time ever, I felt truly satisfied.

9.

The rest of the week moved along pretty smoothly. Now that I was out in the "field" a lot of my training focused on sparring, Jake was determined to get me hand to hand combat ready. And instead of the treadmill the last hour of my workout was spent on gun and knife training. I was pretty good with a gun even Ana was impressed with my accuracy and my ability to hit a target while moving. Our hunting nights were quiet, which I was secretly grateful for, I thought it a blessing that not many demons were out during my debut. I needed the practice. And Jake had backed off me however fractionally- and I'd even gotten to shoot a few times even hit a demon once- Jake had smiled at me then, told me that he found me and my gun extremely s.e.xy.

School was going well...and not. I was tired. Trying to acclimate to my new busy schedule, working out and my new sleep schedule was proving to be a little harder than I thought it would be and for the first time in my life I did not ace a pop quiz. But on the other hand, I was no longer She-man or any of the other names kids used to call me. Now that everyone was used to Jake and me together and along with my new look it was like the old me never existed. People shouted out h.e.l.los randomly to me in the halls and they made sure to save seats for both me and Jake at the lunch table now. I was invited to do things with girls after school which I always declined. These people may have forgotten how they used to treat me, but I'd never forget.

My new little buddy Darva had attempted to start a rumor. She'd claimed to have spent the night with Jake earlier in the week. But, for obvious reasons that went nowhere with Jake and me. I knew what she was doing; trying to sow seeds of doubt between Jake and me. All it took was one seed to take root and our relations.h.i.+p would eventually be headed for ruin. But, clearly my residential secret was still safe, and so was my relations.h.i.+p. And since neither Jake nor I addressed the rumor, it died rather quickly. Still, Darva reconfirmed with me Friday morning that Jake and I would attend her party. I RSVP'd yes with a smile. I couldn't wait to make out with him in her home. That was going to be great fun.

My phone chirped at me during my cla.s.s before lunch yes, I still had my phone, since I was no longer picking up odd jobs around my neighborhood Jake paid my bill, I wasn't sure how I felt about that, guilty and thrilled all at the same time. I still chose to sit near the back of cla.s.s, but now for some reason the back of the cla.s.s had become the cool spot. It was no longer where we "losers" came to sit to stay away from everyone else.- I kept my eye on the instructor and slid my phone out of my pocket just far enough to read the message. It was from Jake.

WUW?.

I used one hand to text back as I pretended to be paying full attention to the front of the room where our instructor lectured and suppressed my grin. He knew exactly what I was wearing, he'd picked out my underwear today. I couldn't suppress my grin at that memory.

Detention if u keep texting me during History.

I put my hand over my phone, hoping to mute the next chirp that I knew would be coming. I winced when it did, but the instructor remained oblivious. I snuck another peak.

LOL. I'm out 4 lunch. Have 2 run errand. C u in Calc.

I keyed K, hit send and shoved my phone back in my pocket. Then spent the rest of the cla.s.s and lunch wondering what Jake was doing. Thank G.o.d Kendra was a distraction. She kept me giggling as well as apologizing for neglecting her lately. I knew I hadn't been hanging out with her or texting with her as much as I had before Jake. I was grateful she seemed to be so understanding about it. But she did tell me that when the honeymoon was over she'd better see more of me.

Jake was already in his seat near the back of the cla.s.s when I walked into Calculus. He smiled when he saw me and his eyes tracked me through the room.

"Hi." I said sitting next to him. He leaned over to kiss me and I immediately noticed the white bandage on his neck below his ear and above his shoulder. I gasped, "What happened?"

"It's okay, just got another tat."

My eyebrows winged.

"You missed some school for a tattoo?" I asked cynically.

"It was an important tattoo, and it was only lunch."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure." He angled his neck towards me. I guess I was supposed to peel the bandage back. I did. Underneath were block black symbols, the skin around it red and angry. The entire tattoo was about the size of my fist. The first symbol looked suspiciously like an R but then I relaxed when the next looked like a M the third symbol looked much like a M as well, except the top of the M looked like it was filled in with a wide x and the fourth symbol looked like a lower case L the top a thicker than the bottom.

"More battle protections?" I asked, gently replacing the bandage. Jake caught my hand as I pulled back and kissed my knuckles.

"Yes." He said, looking me in the eye. He almost looked as if he had something else to tell me, but as the cla.s.s filled he simply smiled and settled back in his seat.

I took library time during my next cla.s.s and sat at a quiet desk at the computer terminals. I looked up Norse symbols. I was curious as to what they meant. Jake had explained to me that he was of Viking decent, so that was the nod to Norse, and he'd explained what his other tattoos meant, but this new one intrigued me. What had been so important about it that he had to get it during school? That he couldn't wait until the weekend? By absolute coincidence, or fate or whatever it was, the first thing that popped up when I typed in Norse Symbols was the Norse alphabet. I gasped when I looked at it. My heart constricted and my tummy did a slow summersault. The symbol that looked like a pointy R was an R, the symbol that looked like an M was an E, the symbol that looked like an x mixed with an M was an M and the lower case L that was thicker on the top, thinner at the bottom, was an I. Jake had gotten my name tattooed on his neck.

"Oh my G.o.d." I whispered and stared blankly at the computer screen. I was in a bit of shock, yes. Tattoos were permanent. But at the same time, it was an awesome feeling. That this man, this force of nature, this beautiful G.o.d among men, wanted me with him, in some way, permanently. I wondered when he planned to tell me. I smiled then as an idea hit me and I pulled out my notebook and began to sketch some more of the alphabets letters. It took a while and nearly a whole pencil eraser but, using the Norse symbols, large and bold, I managed to write out the sentence YOU ARE THE s.e.xIEST MAN I HAVE EVER SEEN. I ripped the page and folded it several times until it was a little square.

Jake met me at my locker before our last cla.s.s, I wouldn't see him again until after his football game.

"The first game you'll be at." He smiled. "I'm kinda excited."

"Yeah, well, I'm nervous. Where am I going to sit? I don't want to go with anyone here, and Kendra is cheering." I closed my locker and turned to him.

"My dad usually sits front and center." Jake explained, reaching out to tuck my hair behind my ear. "You can sit with him."

Every time. The man solves my problems every time. I reached out and pressed my note into his hand. He started to unfold it.

"No!" I said reaching out and closing his fist around the paper. "Wait till you get to cla.s.s."

"Okay." He looked at me curiously. I reached up and gave him a quick kiss. "Good luck tonight." He watched me as I bounced off with Kendra, I looked over my shoulder before rounding the corner, and he was still watching me, as always.

I wondered how long he would wait to look at the note. My answer came as soon as I slid into my seat in art cla.s.s. I smiled, he had waited until he got to cla.s.s, just like I'd asked. My phone chirped, I looked at it freely. Art was apparently a cla.s.s where cheating via smart phone was not a problem.

U cracked my code. Jake had written. I smiled again.