10. Blood Is Thicker #2
But her screams were immediately silenced as the hooded figure grabbed the poopbag and stuffed it into her mouth. Cecily gagged, her fingers scratching helplessly at the mask suffocating her with feces, when she saw a silver blade raised in the air.
Her eyes widened in horror before the blade went straight through her eye socket.
And her struggling ceased.
With gloved hands and his sleeves rolled to his elbows, Caleb efficiently removed chunks of flesh from Gerry's femur. He wrapped the remainder of Gerry's leg and put it in a bucket of ice before placing the flesh he removed into a large vat of red soil.
He looked up at a random sound and lifted his goggles before heading for the door. Gripping his switchblade, Caleb cautiously approached his door. He waited several seconds before swinging the door open and flipped his blade between his fingers with intense force before it immediately froze.
"Whoa!" Keith said with his hands up, a joint between his fingers. "Easy, farmer boy."
Caleb squinted as if he were contemplating slicing Keith's throat before he flipped the blade between his fingers, putting it back into his pocket.
"You're late," Caleb said, annoyed, heading back to his workstation. Pulling his goggles back down, he continued working. "I told you they check in intervals."
Wearing a long black coat over his suit and black leather gloves, Ian stepped inside after Keith, who wore a short black leather jacket over his black V-neck sweater and black slacks.
"This… is where you live?" Keith snorted, looking around Caleb's garage. "From Heir to the Byrne Legacy… to a simple landscaper in an insignificant town that nobody gives a shit about. What kind of redneck fantasy bullshit is this?"
"By all means, Keith, get the fuck out . You're not supposed to be in my territory anyway," Caleb said casually, mixing the soil with his hand.
"We're well aware you claimed this pathetic little town years ago to conduct your… experiments ," Ian said, glancing at the dismembered leg in the tub of ice. Ian approached Caleb and looked into the vat of soil. "...but you know why we're here..."
Caleb turned to look at Ian. Slowly exhaling, he lifted his goggles. "I won't be doing this anymore."
Ian tilted his head with a raised brow. "May I ask why-"
"Because you guys fucked her up," Caleb snapped irritably. "She's traumatized. She can't eat. She can't sleep. She's losing her goddamn mind-she doesn't trust anyone-"
"You mean she doesn't trust you ," Ian corrected him.
Caleb's jaw tensed as he pulled his goggles back down. "I'm done."
"I don't get why you're being such a pussy," Keith said, grabbing a beer from the fridge. "All you have to do is watch her."
"Don't drink that," Caleb said without looking at him.
Keith snorted. "Don't tell me what to drink-"
"Fine. Drink it, you fucking child, so Ian can drag your dumbass home in a body bag," Caleb shrugged.
"I'm not dragging you home. I will leave you here," Ian warned Keith.
Keith sucked his teeth. He approached Caleb and leaned over the table. "What's the problem? You have one job-"
Caleb flipped his dagger and stabbed the table right between Keith's fingers. "Correction. This is a favor . I don't owe you shit ." He ripped his dagger out and continued working. "...family or not."
Keith grinned knowingly. "...you almost sound… angry... " Keith mused. Ian raised a curious brow as Keith leaned on his hand and smiled mischievously at Caleb. "Tell me, cousin… Is it because you want her?"
Caleb hesitated.
"Of course!" Keith laughed, turning around to lean back against the table.
"Who doesn't want that goddamn seductress?
Let me guess. You took one look at her fine-ass and fell head over heels.
" Keith leaned toward Caleb, whispering angrily in his ear.
"That's too fucking bad, motherfucker. Because she's ours . Not yours!"
Caleb violently head-butted Keith so hard in the face that his nose started bleeding.
As Keith took a step back, Caleb grabbed Keith's shirt and yanked him forward, putting his blade against his neck.
"Your time in my territory is running out.
The Society does check-ins every 18 hours.
So, whatever else your annoying ass has to say, make it quick. "
"Caleb," Ian said calmly. "There's really no need for any of that. We're family."
Caleb shoved a cackling, bleeding Keith backward. "...barely," Caleb muttered.
"There we fucking go !" Keith laughed, clapping his hands. "Enough of this small-town, farmer boy bullshit! Should I get out my blades so we can play like old times?"
"No," Ian snapped at Keith before looking at Caleb. "...we're not asking you to be her therapist."
Caleb snorted. "She fucking needs one."?
Ian sharply exhaled his annoyance. "...We just want you to watch her. That's it."
Caleb crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his cousin, annoyed. "...what did he do to her?"
Keith grinned amusedly, smoking his joint. "Why do you fucking care, farmer boy?"
Ian approached Caleb and looked at him seriously. "...make no mistake, cousin, she's ours. Not yours. So, keep watch from a fucking distance ."
Caleb held Ian's gaze without so much as flinching at his threat. Ian scoffed at the challenging glare in Caleb's eyes as he took a step back. "Is there anything else we need to know about Deja?" Ian asked impatiently.
Caleb instinctively thought about Deja's pregnancy. She was due soon. But the woman was already so stressed that he could only imagine the hell his cousins would put her through.
Somehow… he had a feeling they already knew.
He looked at them and shrugged. "If there were… you'd know."
Deja had spent the entire day roaming the apartment building and half of the town on the local bus. She didn't know what she was looking for when Esme specifically instructed her to stay put.
As if she would randomly find Torrence's corpse decaying on the side of the mall.
She had never felt so crazed in her entire life. No one had seen her kill him. No one knew she killed him. She was so careful. Who was doing this? How? Why?
When she returned to her apartment, she was physically and emotionally exhausted. It had started to rain, and the thunder and lightning seemed to match the chaos she felt in her heart and mind.
She often felt that everywhere she looked, she saw Jax. Now, she was starting to see Torrence. Like a ghost haunting her.
She was starting to lose her mind.
When she got to her floor, she noticed an open box sitting outside her door. Cautiously, she approached it. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw Mulder and Scully sitting in the box. She quickly picked them up and saw a bloody note sitting at the bottom.
Deja's fingers trembled as she hesitated to read it:
Don't worry about the body.
Deja panicked as she rushed into her apartment with her pets. She dropped them on the couch and stared at the note in horror, reading it over again. "No, no, no!" she panicked, as she started anxiously pacing the living room. "It's them! It has to be them!"
Her body felt on fire as she rushed out of her apartment and headed down the elevator, holding the note in her hand.
She burst through the doors into the rain and ran down the block into the night.
The loud clap of thunder drowned out her cries as she spun in circles as if the person who left the note was still around.
" Stop fucking with me !" Deja screamed angrily. She dug her fingers into her hair, which was soaked from the rain. Tears spilled down her face until she finally spotted a hooded figure standing by the streetlight.
Deja felt the air leave her lungs as she froze in place.
"...J-... Jax?" she said tensely. "Is it you?! Why the fuck won't you leave me alone?!"
She took a step back as she saw a hammer slip from his sleeve and swing from his hand. She took panicked breaths as the figure started to stalk towards her.
"You think I'm fucking scared of you?!" she screamed. But as the figure drew closer, Deja started to panic. She looked around her for the closest weapon until she found an empty beer bottle on the ground. She smashed it against the concrete and held the broken shards up in defense.
But the figure was gone.
Deja looked around, spinning in circles when she screamed at the top of her lungs as somebody grabbed her.
"Deja! Deja, it's me!"
Deja blinked, startled, trying to see through the darkness, rain, and her tears until she finally saw Caleb's face. " Caleb?! " she sobbed, throwing her arms around his neck.
He tightened his arms around her. "What the hell are you doing out here?! It's pouring! You're soaked!"
"H-he was here!" Deja stammered, still holding the broken glass bottle as she looked around. "H-he was h-here! I s-saw him! I s-saw him, I swear!"
"Who?" Caleb asked. "Who was here?"
"I don't know!" she sobbed hysterically as her hands flew to her hair. "I don't fucking know! I-I f-feel like I'm losing my mind! And I can't-I can't do this fucking shit anymore! I can't!"
"Okay, okay," Caleb said, hugging her, trying to calm her. "It's alright. I've got you."
Deja rested her head against Caleb's chest as he carried her. His warm skin felt comforting against her cold, wet cheek, though she couldn't stop crying. Her head was killing her. Her body was exhausted. She never felt so weak.
Caleb carefully carried Deja into his home and sat her down on his couch. He stood over her and used a small flashlight to check her pupils. "Your eyes are bloodshot," he frowned. He put his hand against her forehead. "And you're burning up."
Deja slumped against the couch as she watched Caleb take off towards his bathroom and return with a bunch of towels, Tylenol, and a glass of water.
"You scared the shit out of me, Deja," he sighed, wiping her face with the towel. "You could have caught your death out there. You need to take off these wet clothes. I'll get a dry shirt and sweats you can wear."
"Caleb-" Deja called too late as he left again. She sighed with exhaustion and looked around his small home, glancing at the beautiful landscape paintings and plants that decorated his living room. She tilted her head at the door to the garage when Caleb returned.
"You were supposed to take off your clothes," Caleb sighed.
"I'd rather sit here and be miserable..." she groaned.
"Oh, I bet," he smirked. Leaning over her, Caleb gently peeled her damp sweater over her head. Feeling self-conscious, Deja covered her swollen breasts. But Caleb was already crouching down in front of her as he started to undo her pants like a man on a mission.
"Can you lift for me?" Caleb asked politely, tapping her hips.
Deja lifted her hips, and Caleb gradually peeled her soaked jeans down her legs.
His breathing hitched as his eyes instinctively roamed over her dark brown legs.
His hazel-green eyes flickered up at her, and he could already see the look of anxiety with a hint of desire in her eyes.
Tossing her jeans aside, he grabbed a towel and started drying her off. "I have some Tylenol and water to help with that fever," he said.
"Caleb," Deja said. "I-I need to get out of here. I need to leave town."
Caleb looked at her, concerned. "Why?"
Deja shook her head helplessly as more tears fell. "I c-can't… I just-I can't s-stay here."
"Deja," Caleb said seriously. "You're too far along in your pregnancy to be moving anywhere.” As if she remembered she was indecent in front of him, she tried to cover herself with the towel. "Stop," Caleb said firmly, grabbing her hand.
Deja looked at him, startled as he leaned down and affectionately kissed her stomach.
He held her gaze as he gently caressed her belly, placing tender kisses on each stretch mark.
Her breathing escalated as his lips trailed down her stomach until he reached her hips.
His fingers teased the waistband of her panties, and Deja moved her hips slightly until Caleb pulled back.
"...you're too tense..." he said, holding her gaze as he placed her foot on his shoulder, sitting between her legs. Deja sharply exhaled as Caleb gently massaged her calf between his fingers. As his fingers inched forward, his lips tenderly kissed the trail his fingers left.
Deja groaned as his fingers deeply embedded in the sore muscle tissue in her thigh while he affectionately kissed the back of her knee.
Her legs instinctively widened for him as he sensually kissed the inside of her thigh.
She could barely see him over the curve of her belly, but his scorching touch was already making her damp.
"Deja..." she heard him sigh before her entire body twitched the moment she felt his nose press against her panties. "...you smell so good, baby..."
Caleb's voice was deep, desperate, and hungry.
Deja's mind was a clusterfuck of fear, angst, and desire, as if all the wires had come loose.
She felt Caleb's nose nudge her pussy, separated by her thin, damp panties.
And suddenly, she was reminded she hadn't had sex in months.
Her hands fell to the top of Caleb's head as if encouraging him, and she whimpered with need as she felt his tongue lick her over her panties.
Her body squirmed as his tongue teased her over her panties, tickling her clit and caressing her labia.
Her legs widened further, and she heard him groan as his fingers stroked her over her panties. "...that's it, baby… spread wider for me..." he said, pushing her panties to the side before sliding his tongue between her lips.
Deja shivered, desperate to feel more, when Caleb pulled back and stood to his feet. He looked down at her, completely ravenous, as he impatiently bit his lip.
"...I need more than this..."