Duality: Vol 2, Euphoria (A New Adult Paranormal Romance) (2 page)

Being in the dark sucked, but being in the dark alone sucked more.  I released the tension in my face and smiled, thinking about the concept of no longer being alone as I stumbled around in the not-knowing.  Maybe I was being crazy, but it sure seemed a lot more appealing than doing what I’d been doing for the last seventeen years.

Malcolm came back into the room.  “Your turn.”

I went to the bathroom and took a little extra time brushing my hair with Jasmine’s brush, taking care of my teeth, and removing my makeup with soap and water.  I was a little nervous about Malcolm seeing me without mascara and eyeliner, but considering everything we were dealing with, it was kind of a minor concern. 
If he doesn’t like me without makeup, then screw him anyway. 
I smiled at myself in the mirror, pretending to be brave. 
I can do this.  I can sleep in the same room as a guy, and I can run away from my parents.

My face fell.  I knew I wasn’t going to sleep or be able to run away.  It was all just a stupid fantasy.  Bravery, it seems, was a fleeting thing for me.  I only had it when surrounded by brave people. 
Borrowed courage.  How lame.

I made my way back to the bedroom and walked around the trundle bed where Malcolm lay on his back, his eyes closed.  Climbing into the bigger bed from the bottom, I tried to ignore the butterflies that were having a dance party in my stomach.  I’d never in my life felt so out of my element.

Chapter Two: Malcolm

THIS WHOLE THING WAS NUTS.  I’d just met Rae today and now I was staying the night in some girl’s house and hiding from the cops, Rae’s parents, and who knows what else, wondering if I was going to see the inside of a real panic room.  And not because it’s a cool thing to check out, but because I’m hiding from insane people.

Crazy.  Ridiculous.  Did someone drug me at that party?  Am I hallucinating this whole thing? 
The solid bed under my back said otherwise.

I heard Rae coming out of the bathroom, so I closed my eyes and pretended to be sleeping.  I couldn’t think of anything else to do.  It’s not like I was going to tell her what was on my mind - that I’d rather be up in that big bed with her than on this one.  Seeing her in those pajamas had made me start thinking about how soft her skin is and how good she’d felt in my arms at the party.  I could picture almost perfectly how it would feel to have our bodies all wrapped around each other, to have her beneath me.  Warm.  Her body pressing against mine.

My brain was short-circuiting with the conflicting thoughts and emotions crashing into each other.  One minute I was getting all hot, and the next wanting to punch myself in the face for having the world’s stupidest ideas.

We were here for one night only and then we’d be gone.  Separate ways forever.  Her parents would take her away and maybe even change her name.  That would be the end before we even started.  So why start when the finish line is already here in front of us?

All day I’ve been telling myself she’s wrong for me, that I should let her go and keep her safe by staying away.  But maybe Jasmine was right.  What she said makes sense.  Maybe Rae and I belong together.  Maybe she’s that yin thing and I’m the yang thing, and together we can have something we’d never have alone. 
Shouldn’t I make our one and only night together something to remember?

I rolled over so I could rein in my runaway thoughts.  Doing anything with Rae tonight would be a huge mistake.  I already had too many regrets for things I’d done or not done when I should have.  The list didn’t need to be any longer.  And what possible good could come from being beside her in bed for one night?  Nothing.  Just a tease.  A taste of a banquet I’d never be able to eat.  I’d been starving for so long, the pit in my stomach felt normal, so why feed it now?  Keeping things the same was much easier than trying to change them and failing. 
Time to just go to sleep and wait for this to all be over tomorrow.

I don’t know how long I laid there trying to sleep, maybe it was ten minutes or maybe a whole hour, but regardless, I was instantly wide awake when the doorbell rang.

Rae sat up suddenly.  “What was that?” she whispered loudly.

“The doorbell,” I whispered back, sitting up too.  I spun around so my feet were on the floor, my knees up by my chest.

It came again. 
Ding-dong.

I stood next to the bed, wondering if I should go answer it or wake Jasmine up.

“What should we do?” Rae asked, dropping her legs over the side of the bed behind me, putting her feet on the mattress I’d been lying on.

Jasmine stuck her head in the room.  “I’m going to the front door.  You stay here.  Not a word, okay?”

I nodded, and watched the door shut behind her retreating form.

“Who do you think it is?” asked Rae even softer.

“Shhh.  Try to listen,” I said, walking to the door and pressing my ear up against it.  I couldn’t hear a thing until I cracked it open just the tiniest bit.  I could barely make out Jasmine’s voice.  She sounded like an adult.  An adult lawyer.

“Officers, just stand there for a second so I can read you something … here we go … a-
hem
… I’m reading to you out of the Butts Family Standard Operations Manual, the BUFSOM, outlining the SOPs - that’s standard operating procedures - to be used in the Butts residence.  This one is for confronting law enforcement professionals at the front door.”

“Excuse me?” came an annoyed male voice.

“Please save all questions to the end or just don’t ask them at all because that would be fine with me too,” came Jasmine again.  “Now … you have approached my front door asking to enter.  I therefore, according to my SOPs, must ask you for your warrant.”

“Young lady, are your parents home?”

“Officer, I’d appreciate it if you’d answer my very simple question, which I’ll repeat since you didn’t appear to hear me … do you have a warrant to search my private residence?” She sounded remarkably calm considering the crazy shit that was coming out of her mouth.

“No.  We don’t have a warrant.”  He sounded annoyed and tired.

“Okay, then … I hereby refuse you entry into my home, and since you do not have a warrant to search it, must ask you to leave.  Thank you, and have a nice life.”  The sound of a squeaking-closed door stopped abruptly.

“Wait one second.  We have a missing person case actively being pursued in this neighborhood, and we’d like to know if you’re aware of the situation.”

“I guess I am now,” she said sarcastically.  “Thanks for waking me up in the middle of the night with shit that doesn’t concern me.  Now if you’ll move your boot off my doorframe, I’ll be able to close my door and go back to bed where I was when you rang my doorbell at three a.m..”

“We have reason to believe you have a teenager who doesn’t live here in your house.  A runaway.”

“The SOP says to inform you that your so called ‘reason to believe’ is not the same as probable cause, which is probably why you don’t have a warrant in the first place, so unless you
have
that warrant, I suggest you back the hell up and get off my property.  Right now you’re violating my rights as a citizen, and the Butts family takes those rights pretty seriously if you haven’t already noticed.”

“We’re not leaving,” said a man with a deeper voice.

“I’ll tell you what,” said Jasmine in a very pleasant tone, “feel free to go get a moon tan out on my lawn while I sleep and dream about dragons.”  Her tone downshifted into something almost sinister.  “But don’t do anything stupid like creep around and look in my windows, or I might decide you’re here to attack me, and then I’ll use the force I’m entitled to in order to protect my home and myself.”

“Young lady, I’ve got some advice for you,” said the first officer.   He was definitely irritated now.  “You’d better get down off the high horse you’re riding on before you fall off and get hurt.  You hear what I’m saying?”

“Please don’t fart on my doorstep, sir.”

“Excuse me?”  Apparently passing gas was on his top ten list of bad things to be accused of.

“All that crap coming out of your mouth?  Farts.  The cries of a lonely turd.  Let me break this way, way down for you, since you don’t seem to get me.  I know my rights.  Intruder equals deadly force, buddy.  I have guns in here. 
Go away.”

The door slammed shut.

At some point in the exchange my heart stopped beating.  Now it was pounding furiously.  I looked back at Rae, barely able to make out her face in the dark room.  Some light from the street lamps was sneaking in around the edges of the shade, and when she turned sideways, I saw the fear in her expression.  I wasn’t sure if she’d heard that exchange, but I was about to crap my pants, personally.  I had no idea how Jasmine was able to do all that stuff or how she knew the law like that, but I was just glad she was on our side.

I walked over and sat at the end of Rae’s bed, hoping just being near would be enough to ease her mind a bit and make me feel like I was still in the real world.  Right now it was like I’d fallen into an alternate universe where kids are in charge and adults walk around doing stupid shit all the time.  I wanted to crawl under the bed and not come out, like I used to when I was little.

Rae took a shaky breath.  Seeing her sad or upset made me feel terrible, like it was my fault it wasn’t better or something.  I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her everything is going to be okay.  It would be a lie, but I’d say it anyway, just to make her feel better.   Then I’d try and find a way to make it true.

Before I could make my move, the door opened and Jasmine came in.  “Okay, folks, it’s showtime.”

“What’s that mean?” asked Rae, her whisper now partially a shriek.

“It means time to play hide and go seek.  Only the
seek
will be a total fail.  Follow me.”

“What the hell was that at the door?” I asked as I waited for Rae to get off the bed and climb over the trundle.  I held out my hand to steady her.

“Cops.  Just two now, and pretty stupid, but there will be more.  They bring the smart ones in during the second wave.  Help me push this thing in.”  She was on her knees, shoving the trundle back under the bigger bed.

I helped her roll it over the carpet and then moved out of the way while she frantically made up the other bed so it would look as if Rae hadn’t been lying there.

When she was satisfied it was good enough and had run her feet all over the rug to erase the marks left by the trundle’s wheels, she led us out of the room, tiptoeing and lifting a finger to her lips, signaling us to be silent.

Rae followed first and I took up the rear.  I thought Jasmine was going to take us to the living room, but instead she led us down the hall and into the room where she’d gone earlier.  Once we were inside, she shut the door.  The glow of several computer screens lit up the room with an eeriness usually reserved for scary movies.

“What is that?” asked Rae, stepping in front of them.

I stared at the various screens.  Several feeds were coming in from cameras around the property.  One of them showed two police officers at the front door; the guy on the right was talking into a speaker at his shoulder, and the other guy was looking around behind him, out into the yard.

“Cameras.  We have them at all points of entry.  We monitor them twenty-four seven.”

“I thought this was your bedroom,” said Rae.

“Nah.  This is command central.  My room’s on the other side of the house.  Come on.”  She walked over to a closet.

“You’re hiding us in a closet?” I asked.  After all the standard operating whatever and the serious computer hook-up I’d kind of expected more.

“Psshh.  Yeah, right.  Please.  Don’t make me shoot you for being stupid, Malcolm.”

“Uh oh,” said Rae.

“What?” asked Jasmine, turning around.

“Um, did you ask Kootch to come over?”

I looked at the screens.  Sure enough, now the monitor had three people showing on it instead of just two.  Kootch’s crazy bed head was hard to miss.

“Awesome.  For once in his life he’s not being a total bonehead.  I hope.”  Jasmine opened the closet door and turned on a light by pulling on a string that hung from the ceiling.  “Welcome to the inner sanctum.  You can bow at my feet and worship me later.”  She threw some shoes to the side and reached behind a jacket, throwing a switch of some sort.  The wall that was at the back of the smallish space opened with a click.

“What the hell?” I said, staring at the dark crack that appeared.

“See, the thing is, panic rooms only work if you actually go
in
them,” said Jasmine, pushing on my back.  She was too busy looking over her shoulder at the screens to show me what to do.

“Go, Malcolm,” said Rae, sounding panicked.  I looked over my shoulder at the screen again and saw one of the cops put his hand on Kootch’s chest, like he was holding him back.

I put my palm on the closet wall and pushed.  It swung in a lot easier than I expected it to and a light went on automatically.  A set of steep stairs was illuminated at my feet.  I just had to take one big step and I’d be going under the house.

“Are you sure?” I asked either Jasmine or Rae, I wasn’t sure which.

“As sure as I’m going to be,” said Rae, putting her hand on my shoulder.

“You coming Jasmine?” I asked.

“Nope. I’ll be up here throwing them off the scent.  The code word is
popcorn
.  If you hear me say it, that means you can come up. Otherwise, stay the hell away from the stairs.  I don’t want you accidentally opening the door.  There’s food and water for several days, a compost toilet, and some bunk beds.”

“Why do we need all that?” asked Rae, still panicked.

“Just in case they take me to the klink, duh.  Now go!”

Rae bumped into me, forcing me to go down a step.  My hand slid down the door as I descended, and five steps into the journey I had to depend on my balance to get me the rest of the way down. There were no railings, and Rae was holding onto my t-shirt for dear life.