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  "Salem?" Came my mother's voice from the living room.

  "Shit," I hissed under my breath, and looked at Trevor. "Get out of here."

  "I can't get out that fast." He stood, obviously playing off my rising panic.

  "Salem?" Her voice was getting closer. It would only be seconds before she peeked into the room to see if I was home.

  I pushed on Trevor's shoulders. "Get on the floor. Get under the bed."

  He ducked to the ground, just as my mom pushed open my bedroom door and looked in, catching me standing by my bed, a smile on my face, in the dark.

  "I didn't see you come home."

  I shrugged, but realized she probably couldn't see it. "You must've been in the bathroom or something."

  She flicked on the light and came in a few steps. "Everything go all right?"

  "It was fine." But I didn't meet her gaze, because everything was not fine. Not in the least.

  She pressed her lips together and I could tell she really wanted to ask me all sorts of questions, but she kept her cool. My mom was awesome that way. God, I was going to miss her.

  "He wasn't all you thought he'd be?"

  I just shook my head, not trusting my voice.

  "I'm sorry, sweetie. I guess we're always trying to find that white knight, when really they don't exist."

  Yeah, there were no white knights. Dark ones maybe. And I took that moment to glance down at my feet. Half of Trevor was under the bed, the other half peering up at me. His gaze was so intense it gave me shivers.

  I looked at my mom again. "I'm tired. I'm just going to go to bed."

  She nodded. "Okay, babe." She turned to leave, but glanced over her shoulder at me. "If you want to talk about it, or anything, I'm here for you."

  "I know, Mom." Tears welled in my eyes. I couldn't do this. I couldn't leave her, and everything I've known. I didn't want to be a fugitive. On the run, from the law, and from myself. Running with a boy I didn't know, and wasn't sure if I truly wanted to know. This couldn't possibly be my life now. It just couldn't

  Before she could make it through the door, I came around the bed and to her. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her hard, breathing in her flower scent one last time. "I love you, Mom."

  She hugged me back, just as fierce, sensing that I needed it. That's what I loved about her, she usually knew what I needed. Even when I said one thing, she instinctively sensed I meant the other.

  "I love you too, baby. You're my special girl."

  I couldn't stop the tears then. I let them roll down my cheeks, hoping that Mom thought they were the result of a bad date with a stupid boy and not anything else. And not because I was leaving her and my home—my life.

  She patted my back, and kissed my cheek. "Get a good night's sleep. Everything will look differently in the morning." Giving me her I-completely-understand smile, she rubbed tears from my face with her thumbs, then tapping me on the nose with a finger, she turned and left my room, quietly shutting the door behind her.

  Trevor crawled up from under the bed to sit on the edge. I whipped around and glared at him. Grief mixed with anger and fear at having to leave swirling around in my gut and I wanted to lash out at something, anything.

  His face was still hard, but something in his eyes softened his look a little. "I'm sorry."

  "I can't do it. I can't leave."

  "You have to, Salem. You don't have a choice." Standing, he grabbed my pink camo backpack from the floor and set it on the bed. "Just grab the essentials. We can buy the rest on the road."

  "I'm not doing it."

  He didn't respond. Instead, he searched the room, then picked up the backpack, walked to my dresser, opened the top drawer, grabbed a handful of my underwear and shoved it in. He opened the next drawer and the next, systemically shoving my clothes into the bag.

  I rushed across the room and grabbed the bag from his hand. "Stop it. I'm staying."

  "Don't you get it, you can't stay. You'll go to jail for sure. You assaulted Josh and nearly killed him."

  "I don't care."

  "You should. Do you have any idea what juvie will be like for you? You'll go nuts. At first you'll be picked on and beat up because you're so small, but then when your other half awakens you'll start killing. You won't be able to stop yourself."

  "I'll control it. I'll keep it at bay."

  He arched brow. "Oh, like you controlled it with that guy you were with? If I hadn't showed up when I did, he'd be dead, sucked dry."

  "Shut up." I pushed him back, my anger filling me like a tornado. "You don't know. You don't know what this is like. How hard this is."

  He gripped my upper arms to keep me still and stared into my eyes. "I do know, Salem. I had to do the same thing. Two years ago I had to leave my home and my family and my life behind. It sucks, but you have to do it. It's the best thing for everyone involved."

  A fresh brew of tears trickled down my face and I had to suck in several breaths to keep from sobbing. Instead, I leaned against Trevor and wrapped my arms around him. I needed something solid to hold onto. To his chagrin, he was the closest thing I could find.

  After a few more moments of my crying, he patted me on the back. "You're tough. You'll get through this."

  "How do you know I'm tough? Maybe I'm just a big blob of emotional goo," I managed to say between sniffles.

  Grabbing my upper arms he pushed me back, enough so that he could look into my face. "Nah, I didn't peg you for an emotional blob, irrational fleshy mass maybe."

  That made my lips twitch. And I dropped my arms and took a step away from him. Wet spots dotted his t-shirt. I chewed on my bottom lip. "Sorry about your shirt."

  He glanced down then shrugged. "Don't worry about it. It'll dry."

  We stared at each other for a few awkward seconds. Trevor cleared his throat. "We should go."

  I nodded, then taking my backpack I added to the clothes he'd already packed with my iPod, a pair of runners, and a couple of hoodies. I glanced at all the personals on top of my dresser. I grabbed my deodorant, and was reaching for a box of tampons when Trevor shook his head.

  "As far as I can tell you won't need those anymore."

  I snatched my hand back from the box.

  He shrugged. "Incubi and succubi don't reproduce normally. We are the result of that abnormality. And we won't be able to reproduce either."

  "Oh. Okay." I didn't think I wanted to know how he knew that. I tossed in my favorite facial cleanser and my favorite tube of cherry flavored chapstick, and then zipped the bag up. Once I slung it over my shoulder, I nodded to Trevor. "I guess I'm ready to go."

  "Okay, we'll head to my place first." He went to the door, made sure it was shut, then flicked off the light. Holding out his hand to me, he moved towards the deep shadows we'd traveled through. "We can get a few hours of sleep before the band moves again."

  "Can we leave the old fashioned way?" I gestured toward the bedroom window. "I really need a break from more weirdness at least for another half hour or so."

  He glanced at the window then back to me. He shrugged. "I guess." He went to the window and drew it up, swinging his leg out.

  I moved to follow but then turned back and surveyed the room. I was going to miss it. I realized it was just stuff. But it was my stuff. Things my mom had given me, things I'd bought for myself with my first paycheck from Starbucks. Useless trinkets I'd treasured when I was a kid, and expensive baubles I coveted as a teen. I suppose where I was going I wouldn't need any of it.

  Before I jumped out the window, I shoved my pillows under the blankets and pulled them up. From a distance it would look like I was buried deep in my covers sawing some major logs. If my mom checked on me, I didn't think she'd suspect anything. Not until morning, when I didn't wake up for breakfast. Sunday was crepe day, my mom's specialty. I loved crepes with huge dollops of syrup and fresh strawberries.

  My stomach growled in response, but I pushed it down and walked to the window. Trevor had already jumped out. I
dropped my pack to him waiting on the ground, and then followed it out. The drop was easy since we lived in a bungalow. I landed, took my pack from Trevor and was walking down the drive all without breaking my stride. Now that I was out, I didn't want to dawdle. There was no point in dwelling on leaving. It would only make it that more difficult to do.

  We made our way down the drive to the curb. I glanced over my shoulder one last time toward the welcoming light in the window of the living room where I knew my mom was probably finishing watching a movie before stepping out onto the street. I don't know how I missed it, because it wasn't like it was a small thing, but I ended up kicking the metal trash can that I'd forgotten to drag back up to the house last Wednesday. It fell onto its side, clanging and ringing like a bell tower as it went.

  A shape materialized in the front window. It was mom checking things out.

  Trevor grabbed me around the waist, picked me up, and catapulted us into a black line of shadows along the hedge separating our yard from the neighbors. I didn't have time to protest before we were sucked down into the darkness.

  Chapter 15

  The last place I expected to materialize into was a large, tastefully decorated hotel room, but that's exactly where we ended up.

  I spun in a circle taking in the small kitchenette, sofa, coffee table and flat screen LCD TV on the wall. Below it was a stereo unit and game console. "This is where you live?"

  "Today it is."

  I wandered to the balcony window and looked out at the city skyline. I didn't recognize the skyscrapers surrounding the hotel. "Where exactly are we?"

  "Seattle. The band plays a gig tomorrow night. After that it's up to Vancouver." Trevor wandered into the small kitchen area, and opened the compact refrigerator. "Do you want a soda or something?"

  "Yeah, sure." I dropped my backpack onto the sofa, then sat down beside it.

  He came over, handed me a can of Dr. Pepper, then, popping the top of his own, collapsed in the big armchair, taking a swig as he settled in.

  I popped the tab and took a long drink. The soda bubbled on the way down and settled like a boiling pit of lava in my turbulent stomach. A loud gurgling erupted from inside. I blushed embarrassed by it.

  "I'm hungry," he said, I'm sure to mask the embarrassing situation, as he picked up the phone on the table. "Do you want something from room service?"

  I nodded, the popcorn I'd consumed long forgotten.

  He pushed a couple of buttons on the dial pad. "Pizza okay?"

  "Yeah, that's cool."

  "Can I get a large pizza loaded, with extra cheese," he said into the phone. "Thanks." He hung up, took a swig of his soda then looked at me as if he had a question. But instead he took another drink, then stood to turn on the TV and game console. Grabbing one of the controllers, he settled back into the armchair. "Do you want to play?"

  "Yeah, why not?"

  He handed me the other controller and we played Resident Evil in silence for the next half hour before the food came. When the knock came at the door, Trevor got up, opened it and grabbed the pizza. He brought it over to the sofa, and set it down onto the coffee table, opening the top as he did. The spicy aroma of tomato sauce and oregano wafted to my nose. I inhaled deeply, my stomach growled in response.

  I took a slice. When I bit into it, I sighed. The taste was heavenly. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until the food slid down my throat and hit my stomach. I gobbled it up in three big bites, then took another. Trevor was just finishing his first slice when I was shoving the last of my second into my mouth.

  After swallowing, I said, "I didn't realize how hungry I was until now."

  Trevor folded the rest of his pizza in half. "Sliding through shadows takes a lot of energy. You'll find you'll be hungrier more often." He shoved the rest of his pizza in his mouth.

  As I munched on my third piece, a multitude of questions whizzed by in my mind. How had Trevor ended up like this? Why was he helping me? How did he end up being a roadie for Malice? And the kicker, why was he hell bent on killing them? But I didn't have the heart or the guts to ask any of them. I was too exhausted to do much of anything. Except sleep.

  Thinking about sleep, I yawned, trying to cover it with my hand.

  Trevor nodded toward the open door. "You can sleep in the bedroom. I'll stretch out on the sofa."

  "Okay." I stood, and taking my backpack I wandered to the bedroom. Before I went through the door, I looked over my shoulder at him. "Trevor, everything's going to be okay, right? I mean, I'm not going to morph into something disgusting, am I?"

  When he met my gaze I could feel the intensity of it, as if he were boring into me. But there was also something else in his eyes, interest maybe, empathy definitely. "Get some sleep. We'll figure things out in the morning."

  I like how he said we. It made the icy ball in the pit of my stomach start to thaw. I didn't feel as alone as I had earlier.

  I wandered into the room. I tossed my bag onto the bed and looked around. The room was unusually clean, as if Trevor hadn't even been inside. The bed was neatly made, there were no shoes or dirty clothes tossed on the floor or draped across the chair in the corner. The only indication that anyone was staying in the room was the army green duffel bag lying on the rug against the far wall. Trevor was even more of an enigma than I had previously thought. I wondered what his deal was, but I was much too tired to ask. Besides, I didn't think he'd offer up the information all that easily.

  Yawning again, I went into the adjoining bathroom and took care of the necessities. After, I washed my hands and my face, scrubbing my skin hard. Staring in the mirror, memories of what I'd done to Josh flashed in my mind. I couldn't get the stunned look on his face out of mind--the one that he had while I had tried to suck the life out of him. I rubbed at the mark on my neck where Trevor had injected saltwater and wondered what would've happened if he hadn't showed up. Would I have eventually gone back to normal, or would I've stayed that way forever?

  Shivering, I pushed that from my mind and went back into the bedroom to change into sleeping clothes. Once I'd unzipped my bag though, I remembered that I didn't pack any jammies. All I had to sleep in was a tiny t-shirt and my undies. With Trevor in the next room I didn't feel comfortable like that. What if I forgot where I was, and wandered into the next room with just my hipster red undies barely covering my ass.

  I stepped out into the living room. Trevor had resumed playing the video game. He looked up at me.

  "Um, I need something to sleep in. Do you have a shirt I could borrow?"

  For a few moments he just stared at me. His gaze flicked over me from toe to head. I wondered what he was thinking in that look, because I sure couldn't tell. Was he assessing me wondering if his shirt would fit, or was it something else? I didn't get a sense that he looked at me other than someone who was a nuisance, some girl who he had to baby-sit.

  After a few more seconds ticked by, he stood, tossing the game controller onto the chair and walked past me into the bedroom. I trailed behind, nerves suddenly making my stomach ache. He bent down to his duffel bag, unzipped it and came away with a dark blue t-shirt. Standing, he tossed it to me.

  "Thanks," I said clutching the shirt in my hand. I didn't know why but I was shaking. It seemed like something had occurred between us but I couldn't name it.

  Without a word, he left, shutting the bedroom door behind him.

  I quickly shed my jacket, camisole, jeans and socks, and then slipped Trevor's t-shirt over my head. His scent clung to the fabric and I took in a deep breath of it. He smelled like darkness--and everything that came with it, like the shadows that crept across the ground on a cool crisp autumn night.

  I clicked on the bedside lamp, then padded to the door to flick the main light switch off. I padded back to the bed, pulled down the covers and slid under the sheets. The fabric was cool on my skin, but soon warmed to my body as I snuggled down under the blankets, tucking it under my chin. I yawned again, and without another thought, I switched off
the lamp, closed my eyes and fell instantly asleep.

  ***

  Considering what I'd been through in the past week, it didn't surprise me that my dreams were disturbed.

  I was in a hospital, walking down a long, narrow, deserted hallway. The walls were glaringly white as was the floor and the ceiling. I had an urge to shield my eyes as I walked. I looked into every room I passed, but every bed was empty. Barren, devoid of anything resembling life. I came to the end of the hall and looked into the last room.

  This bed wasn't empty.

  Cautiously, I entered the room and approached the bed. My stomach cramped. My throat ran dry. I knew who was going to be lying on the hard clinical mattress.

  Eyes closed, face gaunt and pale, Josh lay strapped to the bed, an IV stuck into the back of his hand. There was little resemblance to the golden boy of Boise High in the immobile concave form. He looked like he'd aged seventy years and his bones could no longer sustain any muscularity. He was a skeleton of his former self.

  And I'd done that to him. It was my fault.

  I stood over him, watching him breath in and out with the help of an oxygen tube. I wondered when he'd wake up and if he'd still be Josh, still have his memories. Or if he'd forget everything, including himself. I wasn't sure what I wished for most. Either way the life I knew was over.

  A single tear rolled down my cheek, off my chin and landed on Josh's thin blue lips.

  His eyes snapped open.

  Stumbling back, I nearly knocked over the IV pole.

  His hand lifted from his side, reaching for me. I grabbed it and squeezed, frantic for him to wake up. "Josh? Josh? Can you hear me?"

  He opened his mouth to respond. It gaped wide but all that came out was deafening garbled static...

  Clamping my hand to my ears, I stumbled backwards and screamed.

  ***

  Breath catching, I bolted straight up in bed. My heart hammered against the inside of my rib cage. Pain exploded from my chest. I rubbed at the spot between my breasts, concern filling me that the organ might explode out of my chest.