Forsaken (10 page)

I gave a little chuckle at this. “It’s
your house. And of course I don’t mind.”

If it was possible, Alex’s smile
widened as he closed the gap between us and laid his hands on
either side of my waist. “It’s as much your house as much as it is
mine,” he said quietly. His eyes burned with such intensity I
couldn’t form any coherent thoughts. He gently pressed a kiss to my
lips, leaving my own burning and tingling in an intoxicating way.
My head was spinning when he took half a step away, still keeping
his hands on my waist.

“
I’ll be back tonight.
You’re invited too, Emily. I’m not sure exactly how long this will
take but I’ll plan on being back by at least seven so I can get
dinner made. I love you,” he said as he pressed a quick peck to my
forehead and headed out the door.

“
I love you too,” I
breathed. It was ridiculous how my entire body ached when he let go
of me and walked out the door. Things may have been tense between
us but I still knew the way I could light up whenever we were
together.

I instantly regretted the smile that
was plastered on my face when I looked back at Emily. The glare
that was on her face literally made me jump.

“
Emily…” I stuttered.
“What…what’s the matter?”

It took a moment for Emily to speak
and I saw the blood build up under her skin as her face turned a
bright color of red and purple.

“
It’s not fair!” she
finally exploded. I took a step back. “It’s not fair!” she screamed
again.

“
What?” I said as I took
another step back. “Emily, what’s going on?”

“
It’s not fair that you
get to be so happy and have mister perfection fawning all over you!
It’s not fair that you get the two most flawless looking men in all
the history of the world chasing after you with their tongues
hanging out of their mouths.

“
Why can’t I find someone
who is so ridiculously in love with me that he would give his life
for me? You guys might be fighting lately but you’re still gushing
with so much love it almost makes me sick.”

“
Emily, I…” I tried to
stop what I knew was only the tip of whatever iceberg had been
turning Emily cold the past two months or so.

“
He’s so perfect,
Jessica,” Emily interrupted me and I saw her eyes turn red and
moisture pooled in them. “Alex is not at all my type but with a
face like that how can you not drool over him? You have to see the
way other women look at him when you go out. And he’s with you.
He’s yours. There’s no question about that, about how much he loves
you. Even if you didn’t know what he did for you. All you have to
do is see the way he looks at you! It’s enough to drive any woman
insane! You have a literal
angel
who loves you I think more than any of us can
comprehend!”

She paused for a moment and took a few
sobbing breaths even though the tears had not broken from her eyes
yet. I was in too much of a stunned shock to say
anything.

“
And I’m all alone. All
these guys I’ve gone out with lately, they’re nothing. I’m just a
body to them. I don’t even have someone who has a school boy crush
on me. I don’t have some way beyond ‘trophy’ boyfriend to tote
around and drive other women crazy. I don’t have anyone to kiss me
like Alex just did you, to tell me that he loves me. I’m all by
myself.”

When Emily fell silent I could only
stand there in stunned silence. I hadn’t had anyone blow up at me
like that since Jason.

It took me a moment before I could
make my brain work somewhat and move to the couch. I sat a foot
away from Emily, debating whether to hit her or hug her. I still
wasn’t sure how to take everything she had said.

“
I’m not going to step
away from Alex,” I said in a low voice, keeping my eyes on Emily’s
face as she stared straight ahead. “I plan on staying with him for
as long as he will allow, perhaps even longer than that if I have
to.”

To my shock, Emily gave a
barking laugh, wiping tears from her eyes. “Oh my heck, Jessica,”
she said with a half-smile, finally looking me in the eye. She
suddenly looked very tired. “Believe me; I’m not looking to steal
Alex from you. Like I said, he is
not
my type. I’m just…”

“
What?” I encouraged,
suddenly relieved Emily wasn’t looking to steal the love of my life
away. I didn’t think I could compete with her; Emily was one of the
prettiest and most congenial women I knew.

“
I’m jealous! And I know
it’s shallow and for mostly superficial reasons but that’s the way
it is. I want my own mister perfection that makes every woman
around jealous of me because of the fact that he chose to be with
me and not any of them! I know that sounds terrible but,” she
paused for a moment here and I could tell she was choking back
those tears. “I’m so tired of being alone.”

She was quiet after that and I could
tell the worst of it was over. I cautiously wrapped an arm around
her and when she didn’t jerk away I wrapped the other around her
and pulled her into a firm embrace.

“
There’s someone out there
for you too, Emily,” I said softly. “Any man would be lucky to have
you. You’re one of the most amazing people I know.”

“
But how can I do that to
anyone?” she whispered. “What I’ve done… how can I do that to a
good man? By being with him? I’m already damned.”

I felt my body freeze as she said
these last words. I suddenly understood what the real problem was
and what had been leading up to her explosion only moments before.
In order to stop her own nightmares, Emily had made sure what her
own judgment would be. She had murdered her sexually abusive
step-father and the nightmares had stopped. She ensured she would
be granted black eyes come her own judgment day and receive her own
branding.

Emily was my best friend and I felt
sick to my stomach that I didn’t know what to say to her. What kind
of friend was I?

Emily saved me from wallowing however
when she took a sniff and sat up slightly, wiping the tears away.
“Did you think any more about what I said? About Cole
lying?”

I was taken aback by her
sudden change in conversation but grateful for it at the same time.
“Uh…yeah. I’ve been thinking a lot about it but haven’t really come
up with a reasonable explanation. I just keep asking myself
why
, over and
over.”

Emily considered this for a moment
before she spoke again. “Where is Cole? Did he go back?”

“
I don’t know,” I said,
feeling like I was only telling a half truth. I had my suspicions.
“I somehow doubt he went back to where he belongs though. Cole
doesn’t seem to like to do what he’s supposed to. He’s the leader
of the condemned for a reason.”

“
Huh,” Emily said and was
quiet for several long moments that stretched into nearly a full
minute. Finally she sat up straight, fixed her hair and face, and
stood, clutching her purse. “I’m sorry I snapped at you, Jessica. I
guess I just needed to vent. You really are a good
friend.”

“
Any time,” I said with a
slight smile as I looked up at her.

“
I think I’m gonna’ go
now,” she said. I could see different emotions and thoughts mixing
on her face but she kept them under control. “I’ll talk to you
later.”

“
See ya,” I said as she
walked to the door.

X

“
Are you going to eat
that, Jessica?” Rod said as he eyed the last half of my
steak.

I chuckled as I shook my head. “Go for
it,” I said, silently grateful someone wanted it. It seemed
horrible to waste such perfectly cooked food. There were times when
I wished I did eat more.

“
Sweet!” he said as he
stabbed his fork into the juicy meat and set it on his own plate.
He cut a large portion off and shoved it into his mouth. “So do you
have any other beautiful women in this town, Alex?” Turning to me
he said, “You wouldn’t happen to have an equally beautiful female
friend for me, would you, Jessica?”

Again I laughed, as I had been doing
all night. Watching Alex and Rod together was like watching a
comedy routine. “Like I said, I wish I could get a hold of Emily. I
don’t know where the heck she is. But she does live really close to
your new place.”

“
I’ll have to go and
introduce myself to my new neighbor,” Rod said with a wide,
blinding smile. The contrast between the color of his skin and his
smile was almost startling.

“
You should,” I said,
internally really,
really
hoping that Emily might get along with Rod. She
needed someone apparently. I didn’t have high hopes though, Rod
could have been Alex’s brother, and Emily had said twice that Alex
wasn’t her type.

Alex had been quite sneaky in
pretending to eat the food that had covered his plate. I just
really hoped the small pile of food off the side of the deck where
we ate wouldn’t draw out the animals. At least Rod didn’t have a
clue. Apparently he wasn’t totally oblivious to the fact that
something about Alex wasn’t right.

“
So what did you do, Alex?
Go and get plastic surgery? I was going to ask you all day, just
couldn’t make myself say it,” he said as his brow furrowed and he
looked intently in Alex’s face.

Alex burst into laughter but I
wondered if Rod noticed the slight signs of anxiety on his face
like I did.

“
Come on, man,” he
chuckled as he stole a slight glance in my direction. “Why would I
go and do a thing like that?”

“
I have no idea but I just
wondered why you’re all pretty boy now? And how many times a day
are you working out now? Cause I know that you know how bad those
‘roids are for you.” Rod’s face had suddenly become more serious
than I’d ever seen it before.

Alex’s face fell for just the
slightest of moments, as if he didn’t know how to explain away how
he had suddenly gotten the face and body of an angel. It was
quickly recovered though before I figured Rod even noticed it.
“It’s called aging gracefully. If you’re lucky, when you get to be
my age, you’ll look as good.”

Rod’s face was serious for a second
after Alex’s necessary lie before he burst into
laughter.

Alex didn’t age at all
anymore.

“
Whatever man! But you do
look good! Not too sure about the weird gray contacts but you do
look good.”

I realized I had been holding my
breath and let it out in one big whoosh as I joined in the
laughter. I was glad Rod had assumed wrong about Alex’s eyes, I was
getting tired of lying all the time.

The night passed by in an all too
quick state of perfect happiness. This was the way life was
supposed to be. Spending time with the man I loved most, seeing him
with his best friend, and laughing as if nothing in the world was
wrong. As if that man I loved wasn’t dead, wasn’t constantly
holding back a massive, beautiful pair of wings, as if I didn’t
have my own pair of wings raised directly in my skin, and an X
branded into the back of my neck.

CHAPTER SEVEN

JESSICA

I woke with a jump, the way one wakes
when you hear a noise that doesn’t belong. Or maybe it was the
absence of it; the house was perfectly silent as I strained my
ears, searching for the cause of my sharp awakening.

I was alone in the bed but when I
placed a hand on the sheets I found them still with traces of
warmth, Alex had been in the bed within the last ten minutes or
so.

“
Alex?” I called, again
straining my ears for any signs of life. Only silence met my ears.
I swung my legs off the bed and walked out into the tiny living
room.

“
Alex?” I called out, only
to be met with silence again.

The living room and kitchen were
empty, as was the family room in the basement. I knocked on the
closed door to Alex’s room and when I got no answer, I poked my
head inside.

The room was devoid of Alex’s
presence. I noted however that Alex’s red t-shirt was lying on the
floor, a drawer of his dresser pulled open. This seemed a little
strange, Alex kept his room obsessively clean, however little time
he spent in it. It was unlike him to leave clothes on the
floor.

I checked his bathroom next, only to
find it empty. The walls of the shower were still wet though,
evidence that he had been in there recently.

I returned to his bedroom and noticed
Alex’s phone, wallet, and leather wrist band were sitting on top of
his dresser. He never left home without those things.

A quick search of the house revealed
he was nowhere inside. I checked the garage and found the truck, my
GTO, and the motorcycle all still parked inside. After checking in
the back, I found both the canoe and kayak in their
places.

My mind reeled as I pulled on a pair
of denim shorts and a tank top. It was unlike Alex to leave without
telling me where he was going and he never went on walks without me
as far as I knew. There was only one other place he could
be.

I let myself into Sal’s house after
knocking once, as usual. Sal was sitting on one of her couches, the
book I had brought home for her a few days ago clutched in her
hands.