Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
Mia
Over the next few days we settle into a rhythm, Tobias is with me in the kitchen when I make breakfast before work, then he fills his day with movies and television shows. I take my lunch break to catch up and we spend the evening together watching movies as I introduce him to a new food.
As it turns out, he has strong opinions on olives as a pizza topping, but not on his sub. He isn’t a fan of Nightmare on Elm Street, which is to be expected since he has experienced dream walking. He prefers Jason and Ghostface, which makes me feel a little proud.
I have also done my best not to ask him to sleep next to me each night. Mostly because I know how much it’s going to hurt when he’s gone, but I have also failed. Every. Single. Time. I fall asleep beside him and wake up on his chest or warm in his arms.
Sometimes he wakes me with a kiss to my forehead before my alarm goes off. Sometimes that kiss turns into something more and ends with him grinding against me while I’m wrapped up in his shadows.
The feature roll-out went off without a hitch, but opened up more opportunities for us to add various calls to action to the site, so that is my current task. Taking what the UX/UI department has sent us and breaking it into usable elements with my team.
I’m putting the finishing touches on the code to add a particular item to favorites so the user will get an alert when it’s on sale or back in stock.
I finally peel my attention away long enough to glance at the time.
Great. It’s nearly seven . I just lost two hours of my Friday night. I was going to order Greek food and to think about it, Tobias usually pops his head in to check on me if I work late.
After saving and closing out of all my apps, I hover the cursor over my personal email. I hold my breath as I open the site.
I scroll over the newsletters and sales, searching for something from the library, but there’s nothing. The book hasn’t been returned yet, so that means I get at least one more day with Tobias without guilt.
I take out my earbuds to hear rain hissing against the metal roof. There’s only darkness beyond the sheer white curtains and the distant rumble of thunder. I look closer, jumping as lightning arcs across the sky and a large shadow crosses in front of the window.
“Tobias?!”
The rest of the house is dark, the only light coming from the cracks of lightning and silent beneath the storm. All I can hear is my footfalls soon on the carpet as I pad out towards the living room.
Usually, I’d find Tobias lounging on the couch watching something on tv or with my tablet clutched in his gray hand, though lately for some reason he’s been more interested in befriending the stray cats in the neighborhood. They want nothing to do with him without food involved.
Now, he’s nowhere to be found. The TV is still on crackling static that causes the shadows in the room to shift and sway like a living thing. He wouldn’t have left without telling me, would he?
“Okay, this is getting kind of creepy.”
Lightning flashes and the crash of thunder hits, shaking the house.
I shut off the tv and toss the remote onto the couch and start back towards the bedroom. Shadows dance across the kitchen window in the burst of light, calling me towards the back door like a moth to a flame.
A prickle of recognition causes the hair on my neck to stand on end. I’ve seen this movie before. I've had this dream. Anticipation coils in my stomach with a sick twist of fear and desire, making my knees weak.
I will chase you whenever you want me to. No, he couldn’t possibly be playing psycho killer, could he?
I turn the handle, the metal cool against my palm, the sharp scent of cold rain hitting my senses and reminding me of that first night. I close my eyes, thinking about how the smell will hang on his clothes, his skin, his hair.
The rattle of thunder shakes me from my thrall, my heart pounding in my chest.
It’s pouring. The warm glow of the patio light barely cuts through the darkness, like a veil has come down around me, obscuring my view.
“Tobias?” My voice struggles to cut through the noise from the rain on my metal roof or the howling winds whipping the trees into a frenzied state .
I take a step forward and the shoulders of my shirt stick to my skin, but I’m still lured by the promise of shadows just past the light from my house.
Careful, little doe. You’re going to get wet.
Tobias’ voice wraps around me like silk. I don’t just hear it; I feel it.
“Yeah? Well, you’re going to catch a cold. Not to mention the neighbors might call the cops on your shadow puppets.” I fold my arms against my chest, squinting out into the storm.
They can’t see me and I’m thinking you can’t either.
Lightning crashes and there he is, standing out in the center of the yard soaked to the bone with his black tee stretching across lean muscle. He looks even more gray in the twilight with those twisting black markings across his bare arms and neck, but it’s his glowing red eyes behind a white hockey mask that root me to my spot.
Look at you, caught in my snare. Would you like for me to set you free?
Out of the corner of my eye I can see his shadows shifting, pressing in closer until they are wrapping me in their warmth to keep me from shaking. Their touch is a gentle caress in contrast to the creature standing in front of me, fully playing the monster.
No, I think.
“Yes,” I stammer, wishing I was feeling his body pressed against me instead of his power.
You forget I that can read your mind, Tobias purrs , Let’s play a game of hide-and-seek, little doe, when I find you, I get to fuck you.
“That doesn’t sound like much of a game,” I rasp out a laugh, “What if I don’t want to play?”
The sky lights up and Tobias is gone, I’m wondering if he was even standing there in the first place. There’s no way to know what powers he has been hiding up his sleeve.
All you have to do is say ‘olive’ and I will stop.
“Okay,” I bite my lip to keep from giggling as I search for him between each pulse of lightning. I take a step back towards the house, his shadows melting away.
I’ll even give you a thirty-second head start. Ready?
Heat settles low in my stomach, thrumming against my core and my heart races in my chest, waiting. Another bolt of lightning and he’s standing there, just past the patio, shadows twisting around him.
Go.
I run back into the house, my legs feel heavy, my skin prickling with awareness as I close and lock the back door, counting in my head. One. Two. Three. Four.
It looks like the rain is coming down harder now, thunder shaking the house, the yard nothing but the dull gray mist of falling rain and Tobias is nowhere to be seen.
Ten. Eleven. Twelve. I jolt as I hear the front door slam, whipping my head towards the large archway leading into the living room, his shadows cutting through the flickering light from the television screen.
Seventeen. Eighteen. I push off of the frame, my bare feet slipping against the tile floor as I run towards the door leading out into the hall. Twenty. Twenty-one. I round the corner and rush into my bedroom, dipping into the large walk-in closet on the right, pressing my back against the corner just behind the clothes. I slide down and tuck my legs against my chest.
Thirty.