Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Did you manage any sleep last night?”
Clarabell’s deep, scratchy voice gently grated across Oliver’s nerves. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant. More like a strange sound coming from somewhere inside a new house you eventually get used to.
“Some, yeah,” Oliver said. “Thanks for pulling everyone together here on short notice.”
“Happy to do it. Come on in.”
Clarabell led the way into the open concept layout of her upstairs apartment.
The apartment was full but didn’t feel crowded.
The French doors to the balcony over the carport were open, and a breeze brought in the sweet, dry smell of straw from the farm supply store on the next block.
The stools at the large island were occupied by Lucia, Gayle, and Tracey Mumm, who worked at the Parson’s Hollow library and managed a secured archive room in the back dedicated to ancient lore from all around the world.
Cody and Demetrius sat on the couch, both tired from the night before, though Cody appeared worse for wear.
Jugs and his girlfriend, Agatha, sat at the other end of the couch talking with Demetrius while Cody slouched beside him, his hand over his eyes.
Demetrius’s Aunt Amelia and Oliver’s grandmother stood talking with Dr. Zenona Baldwin behind the couch.
The doc was beautiful as ever, though she still appeared pale beneath her Mediterranean coloring.
Zenona nodded, leaning in as she actively listened to his grandmother.
Dave went around greeting everyone, but Robin stuck close to Oliver’s side.
“All of these people help you track down monsters?” they whispered.
“In one way or another. It’s been a wild few years.”
“Wow.” Robin’s eyes were wide as they took in the gathering. “This is so fire.”
Oliver grinned. “An absolute inferno.”
Dave cleared his throat and raised his hands. Conversations stopped as everyone turned their attention to him.
“Thank you all for coming,” Dave said. “And thanks to Clarabell for organizing this get-together.”
“What unnatural thing have you awakened this time?” Tracey said, her tone grumpy.
Oliver noted the dark circles behind her glasses and the way she couldn’t seem to hold his gaze for long.
She’d lost her boyfriend as well as a good friend just a few months earlier, both victims of a witch.
Even though Tracey had always been surly—especially around Cody—Oliver felt a swell of sympathy for her.
“Come on, Tracey,” Zenona said, her tone gentle.
Tracey frowned. “Am I wrong?”
“It’s not always their fault,” Zenona said.
“Maybe seventy-thirty,” Cody added, his voice scratchy. Now that he’d lifted his head and dropped his hand, Oliver could see his bloodshot eyes.
“If I may continue,” Dave said. He waited for Tracey’s nod—complete with a scowl—before he went on. “You’re all invited to our wedding tomorrow, and we look forward to seeing you there, but we wanted to make you aware of an ongoing…” Dave glanced at Oliver. “Situation.”
“Situation is code for monster,” Jugs said.
“I restate my question,” Tracey said.
“Fine, I’ll…” He looked at Oliver. “Unless you want to take over?”
He didn’t, but Oliver figured it was only right. “Sure. I’ve been taking classes at Bishop Point University. Oh, by the way, this is a friend I met in one of my classes. Their name is Robin Moreau.”
Robin lifted a hand and blushed as everyone else said hello.
“Good kid,” Cody said. “Sharp.”
“Without getting into the weeds for the reason why, Robin and I attended the opening of a coffin from a newly discovered tomb in Egypt.”
“Jesus Christ.” Tracey ran her hands up and down her face, her glasses bouncing across the backs of her fingers. “You woke up a fucking mummy.”
“Wait, what?” Zenona’s eyes were wide. “Is she right?”
“I don’t have definitive proof,” Oliver said. “But the mummy has gone missing, and members of the team have…died.”
“Accidentally?” Jugs studied him.
Oliver bit his lip before answering. “Murdered.”
“And two others are missing,” Robin added, then made a face when Oliver glanced at them. “Sorry.”
“A mummy is twice as bad a zombie,” Jugs said with a groan.
“What is it with you guys?” Agatha shook her head. “Can’t you leave well enough alone?”
“Hey, most of the time it’s not me.” Oliver waved toward Demetrius and Cody. “It’s them!” He heard the defensiveness in his voice and took a breath. “Sorry.”
“Ouch,” Demetrius said.
“He’s got a point,” Cody said.
“Yeah, true, but…” Demetrius sighed. “Okay, fine.”
Oliver held up his hands and was surprised when everyone quieted. “Dave and I felt you all needed to understand the extent of the situation. And it doesn’t hurt that all of you would believe a murderous mummy is on the loose right out of the gate.”
“Murderous mummy would be a cool gamer tag,” Robin said.
“I’ve got some snacks set up here in the kitchen,” Clarabell said. “Everyone grab a plate, and Oliver can tell us all of it from the beginning.”
“Cheez Whiz on a Ritz cracker isn’t going to make up for being chased by a mummy,” Jugs said, but he got up and headed for the kitchen island.
After leaving Clarabell’s, Oliver and Dave drove to Bishop Point University.
Getting out of the car, Oliver paused to look across the quad.
It was mid-afternoon on a Friday, and from what he could see, campus security and Glenmont PD outnumbered students and faculty.
Everything appeared peaceful, but knowing a monster prowled the campus put things in a different perspective.
Shadows appeared darker, and the approaching clumps of clouds were tinged with a touch of menace.
Would security personnel have any kind of impact on a 3,000-year-old corpse?
“You okay?” Dave asked, coming up beside him.
“Yeah.” Oliver slid an arm around his waist and leaned into him.
Behind them, a man cleared his throat. “Not before your wedding night.”
Oliver groaned at the sound of Cody’s voice. “How did they get here so fast?”
Dave laughed and turned to Cody. “I’m just following the example set by my older brother.”
Cody smirked. “You leave Grant and Roman out of this.”
“Enough brotherly love for the moment.” Demetrius touched Oliver’s arm. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m all right, thanks.”
“Lots of cops and security around,” Cody said. “I don’t think Demmy and I have ever earned this much police interaction.”
“Actually, I think we had even more on our own honeymoon,” Demetrius said.
Cody scowled. “Oh, yeah.” A muscle in his jaw tightened as he stared out over the quad. “Fucking Esther.”
Demetrius gently tapped Oliver’s shoulder. “After this rehearsal, you and Dave can go home and take a nap before meeting the group for dinner at Margie’s.”
Oliver winced. He was tired to his core. He absolutely wanted to marry Dave; he’d just never expected it to happen under threat of a mummy and being suspected of murder.
Demetrius glanced to Dave. “Or, we could cancel the dinner.”
“No, dinner just slipped my mind, that’s all,” Oliver said.
“Come on.” Dave started for the Earth Sciences building. “Let’s get this rehearsal done so we can all have some down time.”
Their footsteps echoed off the tiles and cinderblock walls of the empty hallway. The intersecting hall, at the end of which the coffin still sat empty and waiting, was swathed in shadows. Oliver shivered and turned away, following Dave through the double doors that led into the botanical gardens.
Clarabell, who they’d asked to be their officiant, had already arrived.
She was talking and laughing with the staff.
Oliver heard Cody grumble something about her flying in on a broom, followed by a gentle rebuke from Demetrius.
When Clarabell saw them, she waved and crossed the patio, giving them each a hug, even tugging Cody down by the shirt for a squeeze.
“This place is gorgeous,” Clarabell said.
“I know it’s been a stressful week having to manage a sudden venue change while dealing with…
” She glanced at the staff members who were setting up tables and chairs around the stone-tiled space.
“Everything else. But you couldn’t have lucked into a more beautiful place. ”
“It is pretty amazing.” Dave took Oliver’s hand. “But anywhere I get to marry this guy would be.”
“Come on, bro,” Cody said. “You’re making me look bad here.”
“Don’t listen to him, Dave,” Demetrius countered. “I love how you two are together.” Then he said to Cody, “It’s not a competition. And you do extremely well on your own. Remember the first date you took me on a little while ago?”
The pure lust practically glowing on Cody’s face made Oliver grimace. “Could you two keep them in your pants for, like, an hour? Please?”
Clarabell directed them to their places in front of the wall of blooming plants.
Then she had them practice coming down the stone pathways.
They’d decided to come in from different paths at the same time, the best men first, followed shortly by the grooms. With the tables and chairs partially set up, along with the bar and a small table for Dave’s old iPod connected to a decent boombox as deejay, Oliver could see that it was all going to work really well.
Why then was he still peering into shadows and noting where the exits were?
Margie had pushed several tables together to form a long row down the center of the diner, and now all five Bower brothers, their parents, Demetrius, Oliver and his grandmother Eileen and her boyfriend Dieter, as well as Demetrius’s Aunt Amelia and her boyfriend Otis, plus Clarabell all sat around them.
There was a lot of conversation and even more insults and laughter, all with Margie’s best food served family style.
A massage and blowjob from Dave before his nap had helped fortify him for dinner with the Bower family.
Demetrius sat on his left and his grandmother to his right, sufficiently insulating him from the raucous conversation at the Bower end of the table. Dave sat on the other side of the table and a couple seats to his left, while Greg and Alice Bower sat across from him, beside Amelia and Otis.
“You’ve got some hinky stuff going on, kiddo.” Eileen’s coarse voice was a familiar balm against the chaos swirling in Oliver’s mind.
“Yeah, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks.”
She put an arm around him and pulled him in against her. “You’re holding up well.”
“I was raised by two pretty incredible people.”
“Your father would be very proud of you.”
The sting of tears surprised him. He pressed fingers into the corners of his eyes, trying to push them back. Not trusting his voice to be steady, he settled for a nod.
“Oliver!” Roman’s voice from the other end of the table effectively interrupted his emotional spiral.
“Yes, brother-in-law?” Oliver called back, and everyone laughed.
“I love you,” Eileen said in his ear.
“I love you, too.” He gave her a quick squeeze before removing his arm.
“Are you sure you want to marry this nerdy goofball?”
Roman’s voice was loud and self-assured, and the other diners around them watched their table with a mixture of amusement and irritation. It was a combination of emotions he could definitely relate to when dealing with Dave’s family.
Oliver extended a hand across the table and Dave immediately took it. The way Dave looked at him made it difficult to remember there was anyone else at the table. He squeezed Dave’s hand then looked at Roman, who, of course, sat at the head of the table.
“I have never felt so safe, understood, and supported than the years we’ve been together. I am absolutely ready to be married to him.”
He heard a chorus of “Aw”s followed by clapping. Roman managed a gentle golf clap as well.
When Margie brought the bill a short time later, Greg Bower handed over a credit card. Dave appeared about to protest, but Alice told him there was no arguing about it.
Their group dispersed all at once, to the visible relief of the other diners and, almost certainly, Margie’s staff.
He and Dave stopped to each give Margie a thankful hug and make sure she knew where to go tomorrow.
She was attending the ceremony as a guest, but would have a couple of people with her to manage the food for the reception.
Cody, Roman, and Greg were bringing beer and wine as the university didn’t have a liquor license.
After many hugs and instructions to “behave yourselves” and “save your energy for tomorrow night,” Oliver stood on the sidewalk with Dave and watched their friends and family get into their vehicles and drive off.
“I love them,” Dave said. “But they’re a fucking lot to handle.”
Oliver laughed and leaned into him. “That is the perfect description.” He glanced over his shoulder, watching Margie and another waitress put the tables and chairs back in order. “You know what sounds good?”
“A week of sleep?”
“Before that. A slice of banana cream pie.”
Dave’s posture loosened immediately. “That would be amazing.”
“Yeah?” Oliver moved toward the door, tugging Dave along by the hand. “I think so, too. Come on, one last date as fiancés.”
Margie greeted them, looking confused. “Did you forget something?”
“No,” Oliver said. “Just wanted one last pre-wedding date with my man. Do you have two slices of banana cream pie back there?”
Her face brightened. “I sure do. You take the back booth, and I’ll be right out.”
When Margie returned, she carried a tray with two big slices of banana cream pie, two coffee cups, and a single white candle in a holder. She set a slice of pie before each of them with a cup of coffee.
“It’s decaf,” she assured them.
She set the candle between them and lit it with a plastic lighter.
“The pie is on the house. Enjoy.”
Dave held up his fork. “Cheers.”
Oliver tapped it gently with his own. “Cheers.”
They each took a bite and moaned quietly.
“You have the best ideas,” Dave said. “I can’t wait to marry you tomorrow.”
Oliver took another bite. He couldn’t wait either.