Dark Calling (17 page)

“What is wrong with you?”  He is panti
ng, out of breath from the
unexpected
altercation
.  Blood beads on his lip. 

Keely glares at him and tries again to ge
t away.  She wiggles her wrists attempting
to free them
, but
to no avail. 
She kicks out at him, making contact,
a
shocking
jolt to his leg.  He presses his bo
dy harder against hers,
his thighs pinning hers,
trapping her from mov
ing
.
  Feeling confined and smothered, her mind whirls.  Something takes over
inside of Keely
.
  Like a
movie, images dance in front of her
.  Biting Nick hard enough to draw blood.  Head butting Nick, possibly hitting his nose.  She imagines the trail of warm thick blood that would trail down his f
ace.  Nick takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, his breath caressing the skin at her neck bringing her back to the here and now.  His body still pressed to hers.  His hands still gripping her wrists.  Before she has time to understand what she is doing, she is kissing him. 
Her mouth moves
roughly against
his, tasting the blood she drew
and she moans with
pleasure.
  Nick is caught completely
off guard.  He lose
s his grip on her arms.  She twines them around his neck, pulling his mouth firmly to hers.  She parts his lips with her tongue and he is kissing her back.  His hands find her waist.  Slide behind her back.  Keely moves her hands over his chest, down his stomach.  Her fingers touch every muscle
in his abdomen
.  Stop at his belt.  She tug
s at it
, attempting to pull if from the loop.

Nick pulls away from her suddenly, gasping.  “Stop.”

She breath
e
s in and out quickl
y
as if she’s
been running.  Staring at him, she murmurs, “Stop?”

Nick is pulling her by her arm.  Dragging her into the bathroom.  He pushes her to the floor in front of the toilet.  Keely is so dizzy.  So confused.  Nick pulls her hair off her shoulders and then he is shoving his fingers into her mouth.  Nails scrape the back of her throat.  She gags and vomits on his
hand.  It
is
black and
thick, the consistency of Jell-O
.  She continues retching until it turns to blood.  Then she throws that up too.  Finally she is dry heaving.  There is nothing left in her stomach. 

Nick falls to the floor beside her.  His hair is wet with sweat.  “You should be o.k. now,”
he sighs
.

Tears run down Keely’s hot cheeks.  She lets her tired head drop, resting it on her arm.  “I’
m sorry Nick,” she croaks.
“
I’m so sorry.”

He puts a hand on her back.  “It’s o.k. now.” 

Ten:

Keely
wakes up on the bathroom floor,
curled up on the rug in front of the toilet.  Her head rests on the pile of her dirty clothes.  Nick is asleep beside
her
, his face just inches from hers.  His long lean frame stretches in the opposite direction, his legs out the door.
  He still has his shoes on.

She stares at him.  His mouth is open slightly.  His eyes move beneath
the lids.  He’s dreaming.  Looks
peaceful.

Keely sits up.  Her mouth taste
s awful.  Her head aches.  Body
sore.  It’s like she’s hung over.  She frowns at the toilet.  It doesn’t seem fair that she should have all the symptoms of a hangover without the fun of causing it.  S
he clutches the edge of the tub and pulls
herself up.  She’s a mess.  Her stomach groans loudly.  Keely clamps a hand over it, willing it to be quiet.  Nick stirs at her feet and looks up at her.  Sits up quickly.

“You o.k.?”  The worry in his voice makes her feel…  She doesn’t know.  Good is the wrong word.  She nods.

“I think so.  I feel gross though.”

He smiles at that as h
e stands.  C
omes very close to her face, examining her, and she realizes he’
s checking her eyes.  Satisfied, he leans against the door.  “I’ll give you some privacy to clean up.  When you’re done we can go to the store.”  He turns and leaves.  Keely’s left standing alone, thinking of the night before.  Heat floods her face as she recalls the way she kissed him.  The way he kissed her back. 
She hadn’t been in control of
herself.  But he had
.

A series of thoughts and emotions dance around
in her
head during the shower.  The steam and
bubbles unable to clear her mind
. 
She barely knows Nick.  She supposes it may be a little different for him.  He knows a lot more about her.
  But s
he feels some kind of connection to him.  Maybe it’s because he’s saved her countless times.  She isn’t sure.  All she
is
sure of, is though she may not have initiated the kiss last night, it floods her stomach with excitement as she remembers every detail about it.

*
**

Sitting on the couch, waiting for Nick to hurry with the shower, Keely stares at her reflection in her small compact mirror.  She skips the eye liner today, but adds the mascara.  She looks so strange anymore.  Like she’s no longer her.  Her eyes seem pale without the black around them.  Her hair is pale now too.  Her skin is even washed out.  This reminds her of Apophis.  She looks so much like him. 
The mirror shakes
violently in her hand.

Nick enters the room
shirtless.  She cannot help but look.  “I’ll be ready in a minute.  I promise,” he reassures her when he notices her watching him.
 

Keely shrugs and puts her make-up away.  Tries to appear unimpressed by him.  Wonders if he sees right through her.

Nick dresses and ties his shoes.  Snatches up his car keys and stands by the door.  “Ready.”

Keely follows him out the door and up the s
teps t
o his car.  The entire tim
e
feeling unbearably shy.  She is never shy.  She never cares enough about what people think to be shy.  Nick opens the door for her.  She slides in without a word.  As they make their way to the store, she knows she should be
asking him about the slimy thing from last night.  Or any number
of other questions.  She can’t
understand why she doesn’t.

He pulls into the parking lot of the store
. 
“I like this place.  They
should have everything you need
and it should be safe.” 
Should be.  Hmm
.  It dawns on her that this is how Nick makes decisions.  Everything he does, every place he goes,
he first decides if it is
safe. 

Keely’s stomach growls as she picks up a basket.  She heads directly
to the produce.  It takes all of her self
control to n
ot pluck a handful of grapes
and eat them.  She does, however, place the grapes in her basket.  Then adds apples, oranges, bananas
, several kiwis.  As she attempts a small watermelon, Nick takes it from her and carries it.  She moves on, places tomatoes, carrots, green leaf lettuce,
fresh spinach,
a couple sweet potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower in the basket.  It’s so heavy now, she carries it with both hands.  As she heads down the bread
a
isle Nick tells her he’
ll be right back.  Moments later, he returns with a cart and empties the basket into it.  Keely smiles up at him before gazing back at the bagels.

“My
mom
always says you shouldn’t shop when you’re hungry.  I get it now.”

“Hey, this isn’t a lot.  It’s not my fault you apparently have never seen the midsection of a food pyramid before.”  She tosses a package of r
aisin bagels at him.  He catches it and drops it
in the front of the cart.

“That’s the gross part,” he says and smiles hugely at her.

“It is not.  That’s the best part.  Especially now, when it’s hot like this.  Fruit is so juicy and good.  And cold vegetables…”  She shakes her head.  “You’ll see.”

“Huh-uh.  You can’t make me eat that crap.”

She laughs.  “It’s not crap.  And we’ll see.
  Once I’m eating it and you see how much I’m enjoying it, you’ll be intrigued.”

He says nothing to this.  Just walks quietly beside her.  Keely grabs some shrimp and chicken.  She is ravenous.  Everything looks delicious. 

“Are you buying the whole store?  You are one tiny person.  You don’t
need all of this,” Nick
says.

Keely eyes him as she snatches up gallons of orange juice and milk.  Places them gently in the cart.

“I have milk.  I just bought it.  It’s still good.”

“You have whole milk.  This is skim.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“It is not.  And it’s healthier than that fatty whole milk.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.  And I’m done.  We can go now.”

Nick
places his hand over his heart
as if he’s in shock.  Keely rolls her eyes at him.  “There’s still stuff left in the store though,” he teases.  She ignores him.  Notices hair dye.  Slows to a stop, glancing over the bottles for her brand.  “Don’t dye your hair.”  Nick looks embarrassed as she looks up at him.  “I just mean, your hair looks nice this way.  Your real color.  Not that it didn’t look nice before.”  He sighs
.  Looks away.  Keely continues down the aisle, leaving the dye
and fighting
the smile tugging her lips
.

They head back to Nick’s, h
er emergency credit card having
had
a good workout. 
With a gasp, Keely remembers Livel
y.  “Oh, Nick, I need to let my dog
out.  He’s been there all alone.  He needs food and water.”

“Keely, did you really think I forgot about your dog?  Lila’s been taking care of him.  He’s fine.”

Well, yeah, she did think that. 
After all,
s
he
forgot about him and he’s her dog.  “Oh.  Thanks.”

They pull in front of the apartment and Nick loads his arms with the groceries.  The wind blows his hair into his eyes.  He tosses his head to the side, attempting to move it, but it stays put.  Keely’s hand itches to brush it back, but she doesn’t.  At the door, Nick pauses.  Turns to face her.  “Um, can y
ou get the keys out of my pants
?”  He twists to indicate which pocket.  Keely feels her cheeks warm.  Knows she’s blushi
ng as she digs her hand into the
front pocket of his jeans.  She dangles them in front of him.  “It’
s the gold one,” he instructs.

This is what it would be like
, Keely th
inks.  If she had a normal life
and could form normal relationships.  If Nick was just a guy.  They could be boyfriend and girlfriend.  They would go to the store together.  They would ar
gue playfully over what they were
buying.  They would come home together.  They would cook a meal together and sit down and eat it while they talked about their normal day. 

But she is not normal.  Neither is Nick.  And they are not boyfriend and girlfriend.  He is her Guardian because she is a Demon Princess.

Keely pushes the door open.  Feels as if she could burst into tears.  Busies herself with putting the food away.  Searches for a knife and cutting board.  “Knife?”

Nick flips on the tiny T.V.  “Third drawer.”  He sits on the futon, but doesn’t
even look at the television.  Instead w
atches Keely move in the kitchen.

“What about a cutting board?”

“I have a counter.”  Keely hesitates as that sinks i
n.  Grabs a plate instead and
begins washing the fruit and vegetables under the faucet.  Nick finds it captivating how her fingers work over them gently.  She places each piece that she washes into a strainer he didn’t even know he had.  With quick and precise movements, she cuts everything.  Samples everything she cuts.  Finds Tupperware bowls and pl
aces all the fruits in one,
the vegetables in another.

“Do you want a bagel?”
she asks
, turning to look at him. 

“Sure.”  His voice comes out quiet.  Her eyebrows scrunch before she turns back to put the bagel in the toaster.  Nick tries to focus on the show.  He doesn’t even know what he’s watching.  It looks like an infomercial for some kind of air purifier.  He flips
through
the channel
s
.