The Night House (6 page)

It’s barely daytime, but Finn meets me at the door.

“You’re up late.” I try to slip past so he doesn’t notice the inevitable dark circles under my eyes.

“Yes, well, it was a busy night. I received a message from Jeremiah’s officers. He’ll be returning tomorrow night.” Finn watches me, trying to gauge my reaction. I study him back. I don’t know if it’s exhaustion or if this news has gotten to him, but he seems a little on edge.

“That soon?”

“He also wants me to cancel all your other appointments tonight and tomorrow.”

It’s hard to keep my face straight. This is a power play by Jeremiah. The more appointments he cancels, the closer he gets toward exclusivity. I don’t want to be his pet.

“How far are you going to let him go? I swear, he’s just going to kidnap me one of these days.” I try not to let my real fear of that show on my face.

“He won’t.” The ease of his response makes me feel marginally better. “Jeremiah may be important, but he is not above me. You don’t work for him. But if you’re really worried, you could always stop leaving the Night House after dark.”

Sometimes it feels like Finn likes me. Other times, he treats me like a product he’s selling.

“I suppose you have the night off,” he finally says, drifting down the hall.

I let my breath out slowly. Fatigue leads me back to my room. I am a zombie.

When I reach it, I crawl into my bed. A feeling of helplessness presses into me. The Night House always feels so inescapable.

Like Jeremiah.

It doesn’t make sense. Why does he keep coming back? Surely, there’s some other AB neg girl he can coddle. Fear teases me for a moment, giving me chills. This could get ugly for me. Especially if he takes as much as he did last night.

Three short raps on my door make my head ache. It feels like the sounds are on the inside of my skull.

“When’s the last time you ate?” It’s Alex.

I don’t answer, so she opens the door. Her face falls. “Where did you hurry off to last night?”

“Nowhere,” I say a little harsher than I mean.

“You really need to eat something.”

She looks worn, but more like she spent the night at some swanky party instead of at the arm of some vampire. The shadow of poorly wiped off makeup haunts her pale skin. Short black curls surround her face.

“I don’t want to move,” I mumble.

“What do you want?”

I know better than to object. Alex loves to be the helpful one, but she does it in a bossy way. It can be annoying, but she knows if she’s too nice, I’ll turn her down. She’s the big sister I never had.

“A steak,” I say. “Medium rare. With mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.”

“Beef jerky and a peanut butter sandwich it is!” she declares. “Don’t move an inch. And did you take your vitamins today?”

Alex continues talking to me as she disappears, leaving a lingering scent of vanilla in her place. She always smells like vanilla.

Sleep clings to me desperately, but I fight it off when Alex returns. She’s right. I need sustenance. With a thin arm, she supports me and I take a glass of orange juice. It’s way too cold and it stings my dry throat, but in a second I realize how thirsty I am and I gulp it all down. Then she feeds me three large vitamins one at a time, followed by chunks of beef jerky. The sandwich is dessert.

I don’t know how old Alex is. I’d guess 21. I don’t know where she came from or why she’s here, but she doesn’t deserve to be. She’s the most optimistic person I know. If she’s not nursing me out of a nauth hangover, she’s talking to me about what she’s going to do when she gets out of here. It’s the sweetest thing to hear her make these plans that’ll never happen.
I’ll marry a rich guy with great hair, and we’ll lunch every day at this nifty little café…

“Feeling better?” she asks.

I nod and take more juice.

“Hey, did I tell you about the weirdo I had the other night?”

“No.”

“God, it was like he was drunk. Practically tripping all over himself, slurring. I didn’t think vamps
could
get wasted, but I don’t know what else it could have been.”

“I guess I’ve never seen a vamp drink alcohol.”

“He didn’t smell like booze though. More like garlic bread.”

I snort. “Garlic bread? Yeah, that makes way more sense than alcohol.”

We both laugh.

“I told Finn about it, and he said that guy wouldn’t be coming back.”

“That vamp,” I correct her. “They’re not guys.”

“Right.” She tousles my hair.

Then she sits on the edge of the bed. “You get paler every day, Bee. Whatever you’re doing out there, you should cut back. I knew this one girl who had a side job. This vamp got carried away and killed her, and no one found out for weeks because he dumped her body in the river. Side jobs don’t have Finn to tell them the rules.”

“Thanks for the bedtime story. Bye.”

She takes the hint and backs up, but she doesn’t leave yet. “Take the night off.”

“Already done.”

“And do something nice for yourself. Buy that steak dinner. Lots of red meat. Just take care of yourself.” The concern in her voice is sweet. She’s always so sweet.

“I’m on it,” I mumble, eyes closed.

As annoying as Alex can be, I’m grateful for her. She and Micah are my family, if you can call it that. I don’t know why she wastes her time trying to make me better. Whatever the reason, I hope she doesn’t stop. Because sometimes, she does make me feel like I could be better. Like I’m worth it.

James

The wind picks up as Shiloh and I head back to my house. He wants to see Ally. That makes the extra blocks worth it for him. Anxiety swells around him as he thinks of what to say to her, but I’m trying to shut him out. His nerves are making me antsy.

I want to know what I feel, but I’m not so easy to read, apparently. Not when there’s an extra person in my head. The girl is sick. I know because I’m nauseous. It makes me feel clammy and porous, like I’m hollow. But
I’m
fine.

I think.

Shiloh grabs my arm.

“Dude, your house is
that
way.” He points away from the street I was about to cross.

“Oh, right.”

He studies me. “She really got to you, huh?”

“Who?”

This time he punches my arm. “The girl you just ranted about for five minutes.”

We reach my door and I shake my head—like that could shake her out of me. “Yeah, I guess.”

My mom opens the door before I can even reach for it.

“Shiloh! Are you staying for dinner?” She beams at us, ever ready to entertain my only friend.

“Absolutely.” He grins at her. “I’d eat anything you made, Mrs. Fields.”

“Oh it’s not me who cooks. Neil is the real chef. Come on in.”

She opens the door, and we step past her. Ally and my dad are in the kitchen. She runs over to me as I step out of my shoes and gets in my face. I feel like I might fall over.

“Are you okay?” she whispers. “Are you still H-I-G-H?”

“You know, I think everyone here can spell.”

“Shut up, you’re evading.”

“I’m better. I’m not excellent.”

A frown settles onto her lips, and she lets me go. Her gaze stays stuck on me. She knows I’m not telling her everything.

“Later,” I say, and she backs off.

“What’s for dinner?” Shiloh asks loudly, and we both stare at him.

Ally slides her hands into the back pocket of her jeans. “FBLT’s.”

“Fake bacon, lettuce and tomato?” he says with much more excitement than he feels. “My fave.”

Ally laughs against her will, and we all gravitate toward the kitchen until we’re sitting down. There is a strange energy between my parents that I don’t recognize. They both smile at me with pride in their eyes.

“Did you meet Shiloh outside?” Mom asks, all nervous energy.

I nod.

“Was everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I try my best I’m-a-normal-kid smile. “You don’t have to be so worried.”

They let out their collective breath. Dad asks Shiloh for the eighteenth time for a college update, and Shiloh recites the same answer. “Not really sure, Mr. F. I’d like to go to Berkeley for music, but that’s a long shot.” Then we all scold him for being so modest.

The banter has lost its charm. I want to bang my head on the table and tell them all to shut up, please. The exhaustion is causing my brain to malfunction. I’ve never been this cranky. This is wrong. I hardly ever get upset. I have to remind myself that it’s not actually me feeling this. I’m not cranky from lack of sleep or pissed at the world. It’s that damn girl.

I try my best to latch onto Shiloh’s calm, but it’s difficult. My filters are disappearing. I manage to steal a little bit of Shiloh’s tapping fingers, but Ally’s anxiety is bleeding through, as well as Mom and Dad’s joint parental curiosity. Whenever Shiloh comes over, both of them have to sit him down and ask a million questions about his mother and everything he’s doing. Ally and Shiloh save me from having to say anything, but they’re getting worried again. I’m being pulled in a million different directions.

“So what have you been up to?” Mom asks as she starts to pour drinks for everyone.

“Just thinking about kidnapping Jay and forcing him on a road trip.”

“That would be so much fun, wouldn’t it?” She grins at me.

My lips thin into what might have been a smile if I wasn’t in such a bad mood.

Dad furrows his eyebrows. “You okay? Did something happen when you were out?”

It’s code for: Did you have a panic attack?

“Just didn’t get a good night’s sleep.” I manage to smile, so they won’t think I can’t handle the outdoors. “After Ally dragged me to Shell’s party, I was pretty exhausted. Still shaking off the tired.”

Dad elbows me softly. “Dinner’s in a little bit, but you should eat something now. You had a big night.”

Even though I have no appetite, I take an apple and manage a few bites. I need them to stop worrying; it only makes me feel guilty. But I can tell they are just as happy with me for going out.

When my parents release us from the conversation, the three of us head back to my room. Ally corners me, and Shiloh stands helpless on the sidelines.

“What the hell is going on?” Her finger is pointed at my face.

All the air empties out of me with a sigh, and I sink to the floor with my back against my bed. “Something happened with that girl. I still feel everything she’s feeling. It’s not right.”

“But that only happens when you do that thing you do.” She waves her hand in the air.

“The connection, I know. That’s the problem. I don’t know her, but it feels like I’ve made a connection with her. It’s like how I feel you or Shiloh. It’s not supposed to happen with strangers.”

“Then why did it happen?”

“I wasn’t exactly taught all the rules about this…” I gesture at myself, trying to think of the word for it.

“Talent,” Shiloh suggests from the corner.

“Sure, talent. I don’t understand how everything works. I probably never will.”

I stop talking so Ally can digest. She is confused with an undertone of concern and maybe some hysterics on the way. Quite the storm brewing.

“Who is she?” Ally asks.

This question surprises me. I stumble on my words. “Um, I don’t know, Al. All I have are her emotions and her scars.”

“Scars?” The word carries a little more weight to the three of us.

Pain radiates in my wrist and I touch it, half expecting to dampen my fingers with blood again. “I think…she’s an addict. I feel a need in her.”

“Addicted to what?” Ally asks, eyes narrowed.

I shrug. “No clue. But she has these wounds all over her body, almost like…bite marks. Not sure if they’re from needles or if she’s doing it herself.”

“Whoa.” For a second she is deeply affected by this, by the strangeness or maybe the horror. Some girl on drugs covered in bites, wandering Philly. Then she snaps back to her old self. “That’s
so
messed up. What does she feel right now?”

I recite the feelings automatically. “She’s scared and in a lot of discomfort. Not real pain anymore, but I think she’s getting sick. It feels like there isn’t enough stuff in her body. But she’s still restless.”

Ally slowly sits across from me on the floor. Her gaze is on the wall, but her mind is a million miles away. I may as well have handed her a Rubik’s Cube to solve.

“How ya feeling?” Shy asks.

I shrug. “I think she’s going to sleep soon.”

“Not her,
you
.”

It takes a few seconds for me to sift through everything in my head. “I’m tired,” I answer. “Confused.” It’s the only thing I feel that I know is mine.

Shiloh and I glance at each other. He’s concerned, but he’s also curious. He wants to know what I’ll do with it all.

“Do you think this happened because…you know…the kiss?”

“
What?
” Ally leans onto her hands, staring at me.

I lean my head on the bed. “She was high. She kissed me. It was nothing.”

“It was noth—” She pushes the heels of her hands into her temples. “Can you hear yourself? She
kissed
you, dude! Have you ever been kissed? That’s a big deal, bro!”

“I really don’t think that’s why this happened. I don’t know,” I say with a sigh. “Maybe it is.”

“You have to find her,” Ally exclaims.

Shiloh and I both stare at her. She’s wild eyed, like she’s discovered gold.

“Why?” I ask. “I’m already so tired because of her. Finding her might just kill me.”

I’m a little intimidated by Ally’s intensity when she says, “I’ve always thought that you had this gift for a reason. I can see how affected you are by this girl. It might mean something. Maybe you’re supposed to help her. Maybe she’s like you! You guys could be freakin’ soul mates!”

“That’s what I said,” Shiloh chimes in. “Well, not the soul mates part…”

The girl’s eyes come back to me. Bright green, like the grass in all the man-made parks. I think of all the people who stepped on this girl, and what must have happened to put her in that situation. Could she really be like me? Could she be hiding, like me? Hiding her power?

It might explain why she kissed me.

“Maybe it’s nothing,” Ally goes on. “But I bet there’s a reason why that girl’s in pain. Maybe she’s hurting herself. And I’m willing to bet that she’s waiting for a reason to stop.”