Fates' Folly (8 page)

I walked back into the living room. Riley was
sitting in my orange chair. He was smiling. He actually had a very
nice smile- I just wished it wasn’t always at my expense.

"Okay, why are you laughing at me now?"

"I'm not laughing."

"So what are you doing?" I asked.

"I was waiting to see how long it would take
you, once you went to bed, to ask me if I was taking you up on your
offer to stay here for the night. It took you one minute, twenty
three seconds. I have to admit you were much faster than I had
estimated."

"You should never underestimate this girl's
mental prowess," I said, lightly tapping my temple. I sat down on
the couch. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where I left my shoes,
would you?"

Riley smiled. "Twenty minutes and…” he pulled
a black pocket watch out of his… well, pocket, "eight seconds it
took for you to notice."

I rolled my eyes. "Could you tell me where I
lost them, please?"

"Somewhere in between San Francisco and here,
they didn't make the shift. It happens sometimes." Riley
shrugged.

"Oh great. Any particular body parts I should
be worried about?"

"No. I don't think there's any real pattern
to warrant concern over one body part or another."

I laid my head against the back of the couch,
my eyes beginning to sting. "I'm not cut out for this. Give me a
drunken belligerent mother, or tell me to teach a classroom of
sixteen year olds that Dali is not a big breasted woman who owns a
mountain top amusement park- those I can handle. Angry gods, freaky
red mustached personal trainers and shifting through space, time
and realities with the possibility of missing body parts… I don't
think I can do."

Riley sat down beside me. I was so tired, so
distraught, that I didn't even flinch when Riley's callused fingers
brushed a tear away.

"You'll do fine, Myra. You have a lively
soul, and you're a survivor. What you need is sleep."

I looked up into Riley's gray eyes. He had
taken his glasses off- his gaze was soft and warm.

"What do you want to do?" I asked.

"I want to stay here, and I'll want to stay
in your bedroom."

I closed my eyes, shutting him out. "I don't
like men in my bedroom. I don't know what you overheard between Bo
and me but that was a one-time Freaky Friday kind of thing."

"I have no intention of sleeping in your bed.
I actually prefer to sleep on the floor. Sebastian has lost your
soul, and I very much doubt he is happy about it. I do not think he
will just go off searching for someone else. It's too difficult to
find a Greek believer, and those are the only souls he could take.
Plus, he has always been a sore loser. He will not just accept the
loss of your soul without committing some act of vengeance."

"You think he'll come back."

"Yes."

"Can he still take my soul now that I'm
immortal?"

"No, but he doesn't know you’re
immortal."

"You can't tell? I don't, like, glow or
something?"

Riley smiled. "No, you can't tell. Let's go
to bed."

I wanted to say okay. It was scary, and I
wasn't being over dramatic when I said I did not like men,
especially in my bedroom. I had lived through too many nights as a
kid waiting for floor boards to creak and door knobs to turn,
signaling an impending visit from one of my mama's overnight
friends. I didn't survive those encounters -keeping a knife and,
later, a gun under my pillow- just to give away the security I had
worked so hard to earn. But I liked Riley, and more importantly, I
trusted him. My creep-o-meter hadn't gone off once since he first
showed up, towering over me. It may have been the familial bond he
described, but in the end, it didn't matter. I was tired and I felt
safer with Riley around.

"Okay, just don't startle me awake or
anything," I said, heading for the bedroom.

"Why?" Riley asked, from behind me.

"I keep a Glock 19 under my mattress."

"Do you know how to use it?"

"If you mean do I practice, and can I shoot
anything with accuracy, no. If you mean will I use it if I have to,
yes, I will,” I said handing him an extra blanket and pillow out of
the top of the closet, before climbing into bed.

Riley began arranging the pillow and blanket
neatly on the floor. "I could teach you accuracy,” he said

I crawled under the covers and fluffed my
pillows a couple of times. “If they’re close enough for me to want
to shoot, I don’t need to worry about accuracy.”

“If you change your mind let me know. It
never hurts to be prepared for any possibility.”

I leaned over the bed, looking down at Riley,
who was lying on his back, his feet crossed at his ankles and his
hands pillowed behind his head.

“You mean like a soul stealing bastard?”

Riley chuckled, “Exactly. Sweet dreams,
Myra.”

“Same to you,” I said, laying down, staring
at the ceiling, wondering if I'd be able to fall asleep. No matter
how much I tried to make my bedroom curtains block out the day, the
sunlight streamed through, but within seconds of closing my eyes,
the pull of the last ten hours dragged me under.

A hand grabbed my arm and shook me. I opened
my eyes. Actually, I only slightly opened one eye. I can't open one
eye and not the other and, presently my other eye was glued shut
with eye snot, courtesy of the millions of pollinating pine
trees.

"What?" I growled.

"I’m leaving," Riley said.

"Shit. I was hoping it was all a dream," I
said, turning over and covering my head with the pillow.

Riley moved the pillow.

"What?" I snarled.

"I'm leaving. You need to be awake and alert.
Keep that gun of yours handy, just in case."

I rolled over- he was a blurry mass of gray
leaning over me.

"What day is it? And where are you
going?"

"Saturday, May19th, 8:15 pm, I have to report
to Hades. He has information for me. What is wrong with your eyes?"
he asked, not even trying to hide the laughter in his voice.

I looked through my one squinted eye towards
the window, it was almost dark. Wow, I had slept over ten
hours.

"Pollen, allergies- you know love is in the
air, literally," I said, answering Riley's question.

He didn't respond.

"The pine trees are pollinating, reproducing,
hence my joke, love is in the air." He still didn't say anything.
"Look, I have allergies. When I'm asleep my eyes seep nasty mucus
that oozes onto my eyelashes and causes my eyes to stick together
because the mucus dried while I was asleep, you know, with my eyes
closed."

"Is that why you snore so badly, as well?" he
asked.

"I do not snore," I said, trying to sound
indignant, knowing I probably looked like Popeye on crack.

Riley stood up. “You snore louder than
Cerberus in dog form."

"Why can you tell jokes, but not get mine?" I
asked.

Riley smirked. "It wasn't a joke."

And he left.

I made myself get up and go into the
bathroom. I filled the tub with hot water and added some
pomegranate bath bubbles. I don't own any expensive perfume or get
pedicures or massages. I don't shave, pluck or wax any hair that
isn't occupying my legs or underarms. I don't wear makeup, and I
own only one dress. I got my wavy chestnut hair courtesy of my
mama, and -though I inherited her curvy figure, green eyes and
puffy lips, as well – I’d never desired to have my body dressed for
attention as she had. So I would never categorize myself as girly
or overly feminine, but when you grow up not ever having a usable
bathtub, much less any access to bubble bath, you tend to seek out
such things as an adult. I wouldn't say I was obsessive, but I did
enjoy a nice bath.

I soaked a wash cloth in hot water and laid
it across my closed eyes. I was going to take a moment and forget
my worries of the past day. I was going to relax, let all bad
thoughts float away like the bubbles that surrounded me.

Thump.

I was not going to freak out because I heard
some random noise. I live in an old house, and it makes noises all
the time. If it wasn't for the events of the past day I wouldn't
even have thought twice about it.

Thump

"Shit," I said under my breath as I jumped
out of the tub.

Who was I kidding? There was a soul stealing
maniac who’d had all day to get right and truly pissed, doing the
gods only knew what, while waiting for Riley to leave so he could
enact his revenge on me. And I was in my bathroom, dripping wet and
naked while my gun was safely tucked away in the bedroom.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.”

I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes
were wide open, my face pale- I even looked scared. Shit.

I grabbed a towel off the hook. I could at
least take care of the dripping wet bit, I thought, as I quickly
wrapped the towel around my middle, under my arms.

"Okay, now what?" I whispered to my
reflection.

I looked at the door, waiting to see if the
little glass knob would start to turn. That's when I noticed the
old fashioned key hole. Holy crap, had he been watching me?

I got down on the floor, hiding under the
sink. I waited for what felt like forever. No new noise and no
movement of the door knob.

I pinched the sensitive skin on the inside of
my arm, the sharp pain helping me deal with my fear, and then I
made myself lean forward on my knees and peeped through the key
hole. I could see my front door, my school bag lying on the floor,
the dining room table and part of my orange chair. No one was
standing within my sight, no moving shadows, and still no new
noise.

I didn't think I should stay there, huddled
under the sink. Sebastian could probably shift - or whatever Riley
called it- into the bathroom and then I'd be trapped. Besides, I'm
just not a sit-tight-and-wait-it-out type of girl.

I slowly turned the knob, the clicking of the
latch overly loud in my ears. I opened the door, slowly at first,
then, unable to stand the suspense, I swung the door open, just
catching it before the door knob hit the tiled bathroom wall.

I pretty much had a view of almost my entire
apartment from the bathroom doorway. There may have been someone
hiding on the other side of the fridge or between the small blue
chair and the balcony door, but I didn't think so. If someone was
hiding in my apartment - and I was starting to think it was all a
case of me being paranoid- they were most likely hiding in my
bedroom.

My bedroom door was open about a foot. I
could see my green wicker headboard and most of my bed. I took a
step forward and pushed the door the rest of the way open. My
dresser was the first thing I saw. The drawers were open and
clothing was hanging out and strewn over each drawer.

I walked through the door and did a quick one
eighty; the bed was unmade, its covers twisted around each other.
Towels and shoes were haphazardly thrown on the floor. The closet
door was open, one folding door off its track- hanging crooked, off
to the side with only a laundry basket holding it up- and plastic
hangers were poking out at odd angles, shirts hanging precariously
every which way.

I took a deep breath in relief. Nothing had
been touched, the only thing off was the neatly folded blanket on
top of the pillow that Riley had placed on the end of the bed.

I pulled on some panties and a pair of cut
offs from the top of the dresser- a bra and my green Kermit the
frog t-shirt from the basket of clean clothes. I found the clogs I
had searched for the day before in the back of my closet and slid
my feet into them as I headed out the door. I paused for a second,
staring at the mattress where I knew my gun was hidden, but I left
it in its hiding place. I was already spooked, I didn't need a gun
at my paranoid fingertips.

What I needed was some sugar and chocolate,
and I knew just where to go.

Linda Farnsworth owned the convenience store
just off Highway 441. Linda's overly large breasts were way too
perky to be real, but I was pretty sure it was her breasts that
persuaded Norman Sweeney to drive into Madison four different times
every weekend to bring her fresh Krispy Kreme donuts to stock in
her store, twice a day- ten in the morning for the Saturday bingo
bunch or Sunday church goers, and ten at night for pot smoking
teenagers with the munchies.

I checked my watch- 9:30pm. If I hurried, I
could get there before Norman and have my pick of yumminess. I
grabbed my school bag off the floor, and my hands had just found my
wallet when…

Thump, thump, thump.

My heart stopped, which was okay, because a
knot lodged in my throat so large I couldn't breathe anyway.

I ran into my bedroom, reached in between my
mattress and box spring and pulled out my little gun. It was light
weight yet powerful the sales guy had told me, a 9mm worth every
penny. It better be worth every penny I thought, considering it
cost fifty thousand of them.

I walked towards the balcony doors, where the
sound had come from. The curtains, original to the apartment, were
made of thick white and cream tweed. They were as ugly as they
could be, but I kept them up because you couldn't see anything
behind them at night when I had the lights on. I wasn't going to
see what the hell was on the balcony, unless I pulled the curtains
aside.

I held the gun in my right hand and tried
using my foot to push the curtains open. The curtains swayed
slightly but otherwise didn’t move. A hundred ideas on how to
stealthily get the curtains open crossed my mind, but none seemed
practical, and I was starting to have thoughts of running back into
the bathroom to hide under the sink.

I know Riley said I was safe from Sebastian,
and being immortal meant I couldn't die, but it wasn't a full
twenty-four hours ago, I was laying on the floor at Sebastian's
feet, writhing in pain. Some things you just don't easily forget,
and for me, having my soul sucked out of my body is one of them.
Finally, pretending my stubbornness was courage, I yanked the
curtain open and pointed my gun at anything that moved.