Jenny Pox (The Paranormals, Book 1) (18 page)

“I don’t trust him,” Jenny’s dad told her.

Jenny was still lying on the couch where she’d slept all night.  She wrapped an arm over her face to block out the hateful sunlight, of which there was far too much roaring in from the window.

“He’s okay, Daddy,” Jenny said. “Don’t you work for Mr. Barrett sometimes?  They’re good people, right?”

“
Too good for us, Jenny.  Whatever he tells you, he’s gonna be gone next year, and he ain’t coming back for you.  He’ll meet all kinds of fancy girls off at school and marry one.  I seen generations of Barretts in this town.  I know.”

“
But that’s a whole year away!” Jenny said. “Who cares?”

He sighed. “That boy’s going to want things from you.  You understand that, right?  Things you can’t give him without killing him.”

“Daddy!” She almost told him about Seth’s healing touch, how he had the opposite power from her, making him the only person who could touch her.  But she’d promised Seth to keep his ability a secret, and so she kept her promise.

“
It’s true,” he said. “And I worry what you might do to him on accident.  And what would happen to you after that.  We’re lucky nobody ever tracked us down, after that night you was born and I had to burn down that poor doctor’s place.  Jenny, we kept this thing secret a long time.  If we don’t, they’ll come after you.”

“
Who?”

“
We been through this.  People would panic.  They might come and lock you up, away from everyone.  Maybe kill you.  Maybe use you for a weapon.  I don’t like the sound of any of that.”

“
What difference would it make?” Jenny snapped. “I’m already away from everyone.  I never once felt normal until last night.  And now you want to take that from me, too.”

“
I don’t want to take nothing from you,” he told her. “I’m thinking about your safety.  And if you don’t care about that, think about the boy’s safety.  And think about how his family’s gonna react.  Think what the town’s gonna say.”

“
I don’t care about any of that!  And there ain’t no town left to have an opinion.  Daddy, this is my life.  And I like him a lot.”

“
You don’t think it hurts me to say this?” he asked. “It hurts me plenty.  I wish you could do what you want.  I wish you could go and date boys like a normal girl.  I wish you could get married, have normal life…” His voice broke.  He stopped and cleared his throat. “And Jenny, if you’re going out, don’t go drinking.  You might stumble up, touch somebody—”

“
Oh, please!” Jenny forced a laugh.  She opened one eye, and sure enough, he was sitting in his recliner, can of Pabst in his hand. “You’re really going to lecture me on drinking, while you sit there getting drunk?”

“
I’m talking about careless.” He walked into the kitchen and started banging things around.  The sounds scraped across Jenny’s brain, driving her headache deeper into her skull. “You ain’t like other kids,” he continued. “You got to be real careful—”

“
I know!” Jenny screamed. “For the hundred millionth billionth time, I know that!  That’s all I ever think about.  Do you have any idea what it’s like for me, every second I’m alive?”

“
To be honest, Jenny, I really couldn’t imagine.”

After a few minutes, he brought her a plate with his own favorite hangover food, toast and overeasy eggs, black coffee.  He set it all on the coffee table in front of her.  The eggs looked like they were sweating grease onto the plate.

Jenny ran to the bathroom and threw up again.

***

Ashleigh’s cell phone woke her with its incessantly cheery ring.  She and Cassie had barely managed to stay awake as they sent the younger kids home from the lock-in.  They’d driven straight to Ashleigh’s house in Ashleigh’s caramel Jeep, and had collapsed on her bed without bothering to remove their costumes or make-up.  Cassie still slept beside her, undisturbed by the ringing phone, her arm draped over Ashleigh’s stomach, face nuzzled against Ashleigh’s, sucking the intoxicating energy from Ashleigh even in her sleep.  Ashleigh shoved her away, and Cassie rolled aside without waking.

The phone stopped ringing, but started again by the time she dug it out of her overnight bag.  It was Seth.

“What do you want?” Ashleigh snapped.

“
We need to talk, Ashleigh,” he said.  He sounded very serious.  She didn’t like the tone. 

“
That’s right, Seth.  I’ve got a couple things to ask about what you did last night.”

“
Now,” Seth said. “I’m in front of your house.”

Ashleigh hung up and ran to look out the window behind her bed, which looked out onto the driveway and the cobblestone walkway in front of her house.  Seth was out there leaning against his car.

“Shit!” Ashleigh smacked Cassie’s leg, and Cassie jumped.

“
Ow!” Cassie rubbed the red patch where Ashleigh had slapped her. “That hurts!  Bitch.”

“
Get up.  Seth is here.”

“
Here?  Now?” Cassie sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. “What time is it?” she asked through her yawn.

“
Almost twelve.”  Ashleigh recoiled when she saw herself in the mirror.  Her hair jutted in every direction.  Her face was still stark white, and the smeared gold and red glittery makeup around her eyes and mouth looked more like a melting clown than any kind of angel.  This would never work for a confrontation.

“
Want to clean up first?”  Cassie stood behind her, not looking much better, her angel wings bent.

“
We don’t have time.” Ashleigh would have been happy to make Seth wait an hour or more, but she was pissed off and in a hurry to put him in his place.  She walked into the bathroom. “Just fix the makeup and gel down the hair for a minute.”

Ashleigh worked on it, covering everything with white and then refreshing some red on her lips.  When it was Cassie’s turn, Ashleigh grabbed her cell phone and queued up the picture of Seth kissing Jenny Mittens, so she could whip it out at the proper dramatic moment, preferably when Seth denied everything.

The image made her ill.  Even the follow-up pic, of Jenny yarfing on herself, was cold comfort.  Why did Seth have to choose the most horrible girl in school?  It was very inconsiderate of Ashleigh’s reputation.  He could at least have shown taste.

She looked out the window again.  Seth stood by his car, arms crossed.  There was something she did not like in his pose.  Something defiant. 

“He’s going to break up with me,” she said.

“
No way,” Cassie said. “Not for Jenny Mittens.  You’re crazy.”

“
Look at him.  He’s not crawling over for an apology.  He’s ready to fight.”  Ashleigh glared at him. “I do not get dumped.  Especially not for her.”

“
So dump him first,” Cassie said.

“
No way.  Have you seen our selection of boys in this town?” Ashleigh asked, and Cassie snickered. “Besides, if I drop him now, then Jenny freaking Mittens will have him.  That cannot be allowed.  Imagine what people would think of me?”

“
So the plan is…”

“
Recapture him.  Make him forget her.” Ashleigh was staring holes into Seth’s form below.

“
How do we do that?” Cassie asked.

“
Just trust the master,” Ashleigh said. “All you need to do is answer the door.”

Ashleigh went down the back stairs, because the big front stairs in the foyer could be seen from the tall glass windows around the front door.  Ashleigh’s house was full of open spaces, two-story rooms, and giant picture windows.  Even the staircases jutted out way out into empty space before finding their way back to the floor. 

Seth preferred to hang out at her house, instead of his, because hers was full of light and air.  Seth’s house was like a musty old tomb.  You felt underground even when you were upstairs.  Ashleigh liked that Barrett House was huge and full of expensive things, and that everybody called it Barrett House as if it were some important historical site.  But she hated to be there, especially after dark, especially when there was nobody else in the house but her and Seth.  If Ashleigh ever married Seth, that house was headed for some major renovation.  Ashleigh would take down all the creepy-dead-ancestor pictures, to start with, and put up something nice, like a collection of ornate mirrors, or maybe a fancy painted portrait of herself.

Ashleigh crept through the dining room and waited behind the folding slatted doors, which opened onto the side of the foyer. 

Cassie walked down the front stairs, taking her time, looking annoyed, making sure there was plenty of opportunity for Seth to see her and get focused on her, if he was looking into the house through the front windows.  

As Cassie reached the foyer floor, Ashleigh stepped through the dining room doors and into the front corner of the foyer.  She slid along the wall until she was beside the front windows, as far as she could go without Seth seeing her.

Cassie opened the front door.

“
Come inside!” she called to Seth, who remained out on the cobblestone walk.  He hadn’t even come up the stairs to the front door.

“
Tell Ashleigh to come out,” Seth replied.

“
Not happening,” Cassie said. “We look like crap.”

“
I don’t care.”

“
It’s not about you.  Do you want to come in or not?” Cassie said. “Because I’d really like to take a bath and go back to sleep.  So just get out of here.  We don’t want to see you, and I don’t feel like listening to you two fight anyway.”

From her position just inside the front window, with her back against the wall, Ashleigh heard his shoes clomp across the cobblestones and up the stairs.  Cassie stood aside to let him in.

“Where is she?” Seth asked.  He was looking up the front stairs. Ashleigh crept up behind Seth and laid her hand on his bare neck.  She willed her energy to flow strong and bright, then imagined arrows tipped with sharp red hearts striking all over his body.

The muscles in his back relaxed and he slumped as the defiance drained from him.  Seth turned to her, his eyes half-closed, his mouth drooping in a goofy, drugged smile.  She laid her hands on both sides of her face.  She had him, but now she had to keep him.

“Ashleigh,” he sighed. “You’re so beautiful.”

“
I know,” Ashleigh said. “But what do we do about you?  I mean, Jenny Mittens?  Really, Seth?  Why her?”

“
I…” Seth’s eyes shifted away.  He worked his mouth slowly, and he looked like he was struggling to remember something important. “I…think…I like…Jenny…”

“
Sh.” Ashleigh covered his mouth. “You can apologize later.  I’m just glad to see you. You missed a crazy night at the lock-in.” Then she kissed him, pushing her power into him through her tongue.  She turned her upper body a little from side to side, rubbing her tits on his chest.  His hand slid around Ashleigh’s waist and squeezed her ass through her gown.

As they kissed, her hangover dissolved and she felt fresh and awake.  He always had that kind of effect on her, one of the main reasons she wanted to keep him.  You could see people light up when he shook their hands.  She suspected he had a little of her kind of power, though obviously much weaker, and he was too dumb to put it to use effectively.  For that, he needed Ashleigh’s guidance and direction.  Ashleigh found him very useful.  Trained properly, he could be a powerful servant, maybe even in a husband sort of role.

“Seth,” she whispered. “I love you.  How could you ever want to be with anyone else?”

“
I couldn’t,” he whispered back.  He cupped her breasts with both hands, and her nipples hardened inside her bra.  Ashleigh was ashamed to think how much she wanted him back.  He was the only boy she couldn’t dangle on a puppet string, taking or leaving according to her whim.  He had the irritating effect of actually making her crave him.

Ashleigh slid her hand down his stomach, to the front of his jeans.  He was already stiff, but she made him long and hard with a little caressing.

“Do you want me to play with it?” she whispered against his mouth.  She didn’t wait for an answer, but found the zipper and slowly drew it open.  Then she reached in and her fingertips touched him.  She charged him with her special energy there, and he gasped.  He kissed her harder, crushing her lips back against her teeth.

Ashleigh wrapped her fingers around it and pulled it out where she could see it.  She stroked her fingertips along it, like petting an animal, then scraped it a little with her fingernails, which made him gasp again.  She found herself getting wet and hot while she did it, and cursed herself.  She was the seducer, not the victim, she reminded herself.

She wanted to really blow Seth’s mind, break down whatever thoughts he had of (
that bitch Jenny Mittens
) wandering away from her.  She never did more than this for him, using her hand.  She wanted to give him more than that now, but she’d never put one in her mouth before, and she wasn’t going to start today just to make a defensive move against pathetic little Jenny.