Chapter Five #2
“No.” I turned and walked out of the dining room. “As far as I’m concerned, the bat and I are done. I just won’t go upstairs. The second floor belongs to him now.”
With an incredulous look Simon followed me. “You can’t just let him have the upper part of the house.”
“Why not?” I argued. I sat in the chair that faced the stairs. I wanted to see the bat if he decided to cross back over the border to downstairs.
“Because that’s not a solution?”
“Says you. It works for me.”
“Where are you planning to sleep?”
“Right here. You can sleep upstairs.”
He looked at me in horror. “With the bat?”
“You’re not afraid, are you?”
“No. Don’t be ridiculous.” He didn’t meet my gaze and sat on the chair beside mine, also facing the stairs. “Afraid of a bat? Pfft.”
Dude’s snoring was the only sound to be heard as the rain had lightened to a gentle patter on the roof. “It’s going to be dark soon.”
“Should we open the door and hope he goes outside?” Simon asked.
“I don’t know about the door,” I said. “We might be inviting something even worse inside.”
“How about a window?”
“Okay, but upstairs.”
“As in, we’re going where the colony is?” He looked at me as if he expected me to balk.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you mocking me?”
“Whyever would you think that?”
There was a knock at the door and I jumped. Dude rolled out of his slumber onto all four paws and started barking in alarm as if the door had been kicked in. There was no way the bat would be coming downstairs now.
“I think that’s for me.” Simon rose from his chair and crossed the room. He did not glance at the stairs, leaving me to conclude that he had no fear of the bat and he had been mocking me.
“Easy, Dude.” The barking stopped but Dude stood at alert should his assistance be required.
I heard Simon speaking to someone outside so I leaned forward to see who it was. A twentysomething guy, carrying a brown sack and an umbrella was taking a cash tip from Simon, who thanked the young man for coming out in this weather.
The guy nodded and departed. Simon entered the house with a bag of what my nose identified as Chinese food. My stomach rumbled in response. How long had it been since I’d eaten that gas-station breakfast taquito this morning?
“You ordered food?” I didn’t mean to sound accusatory, but in my defense I was seriously hangry and that paper sack smelled amazing.
“Since we don’t have electricity, I figured cooking was out. There’s plenty for you and Dude, so long as he likes pork fried rice.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Dude has a very discerning palate.”
As if to emphasize my point, Dude dropped to the floor to lick an itch in the area of his nether region. Simon glanced from him to me and his lips twitched when he said, “Clearly.”
Simon unpacked the bag, setting the white cartons on the kitchen counter. I didn’t want to interrupt—because food!—but we still had a problem. “What about the bat?”
“We can deal with it after we fortify.” He pushed a carton of orange chicken at me. I was too hungry and tired to resist.
We ate out of the cartons at the kitchen counter. Dude had a small portion on top of his kibble, which I’d retrieved from the van. As soon as he was finished, he returned to the couch, leaving the recliners for Simon and me.
“Are we going bat hunting now?” I wiped down the counter and tossed the empty containers in the trash.
“If by that you mean we’re going to open a window for him upstairs, then yes.”
“Does it have to be we?” I asked. “Couldn’t it just be you?”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’ll be better with two sets of eyes. The sun sets at half past eight. It’ll be dark soon. We should get it done while we still have a little light.”
I glanced at the windows. The rain had stopped and the sun came out just to give us a little heat with the humidity. I could practically feel my hair frizzing in response.
“All right,” I said. “Dude, stay here.” A snore was his only response.
Simon led the way upstairs. We both had the flashlight app on our phones on, shining it into the dark corners as we went. My entire body was clenched, ready to fly back downstairs at the first sign of our winged houseguest.
The doors to the rooms upstairs were all open. A quick glance and I noticed there were two bedrooms of equal size separated by a bathroom. Simon paused on the landing and I stopped beside him, hunkering down a bit in case the bat appeared.
“There are no windows up here except for the ones in the rooms,” he said.
“We could just shut the doors and trap him in the rooms.”
“But then he’ll stay inside. We need to give him an out.” Simon headed for the bathroom.
I followed, almost pressing myself against his back as we went.
It was a small space with a shower-tub combination, a sink with a vanity, and a toilet.
Like downstairs, it was vintage ’90s with wallpaper that was sailing ships and lighthouses.
The toilet, shower-tub combo, and counter around the sink were all in a shade of country blue to match the wallpaper, no doubt.
I quickly shone my light around the room. No bat.
The lone window was beside the toilet, and Simon unlocked it and raised the sash and then the screen behind it, leaving a large enough gap for the bat to escape through. I tried not to think about more bats coming in through the window.
“All right, on to the bedrooms.” Simon turned and I had to jump back so he didn’t plow into me. He gave me a curious glance and then stepped around me. I hurried after him.
He went into the bedroom on his right. I could make out only the shape of the furniture with my flashlight as the drapes had been pulled across the windows. Simon chose the first window and pulled back the curtains. Twilight illuminated the room in a soft violet glow.
The hair at the back of my neck prickled and I felt as if I were being watched, which was ridiculous because even if it was the bat, there was a reason for the expression “blind as a bat.” Or was that inaccurate? I made a mental note to research facts about the eyesight of bats later.
“A little light here, please.” Simon pocketed his phone and pushed aside the curtain, looking for the latch.
“Got it.” I raised my flashlight to help him locate the window latch. As the beam moved over the wall, the light picked up a fluttering motion to the right. The bat! I didn’t think. I just reacted. I tackled Simon while yelling, “Get down!”
He landed with a heavy thump onto the carpeted floor and I landed right on top of him. He let out a low groan and said, “That’s gonna leave a mark. What the hell are you doing, Spencer?”
“Saving your life, O’Malley.” My face hovered just inches over his. He scoffed as if I’d just said the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. So I doubled down. “Do not mock me. It’s the bat. It’s right there!”
“Where?” Simon’s gaze darted around the room.
I moved the beam of light across the ceiling to pick up our little furry friend.
And there he was, hanging off the curtain rod.
When the light hit his little face, I could swear I saw fangs dripping blood.
With a yelp, I crawled right over Simon, kneeing him in the chest in my haste to get out the door.
“Oof! Where are you going? You’re taking the light!”
I heard a scuffling noise behind me and thinking it was the bat, I scurried triple time toward the hallway.
It wasn’t the bat. Simon had overtaken me and was right beside me as we both tried to squeeze through the door at the same time.
We got stuck. Lodged in the doorway because of his broad shoulders and my generous hips.
“Back up!” I ordered.
“I’m trying but you’re kneeling on my shorts.”
I lifted my knee but he still couldn’t move. I tried to wriggle past him but a fluttering noise sounded overhead.
“Bat!” Simon cried, and dropped to the floor, taking me with him. “Shine the light.”
“I’d love to,” I grunted from under 180 pounds of male. “But my arm is trapped under me, which is under you.”
“Oh, sorry.” Simon lifted his body a few inches off mine and I managed to get my arm out with my phone in hand and flashlight still on. I directed the beam up and we saw the bat flutter into the opposite bedroom.
“Damn it,” I muttered. “Now what do we do?”
“We follow it.” He rolled off me and gestured for me to lead. When I stared at him and didn’t move, he said, “You have the light.”
I switched the flashlight app off.
“Really, Spencer?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’ve already had the bat fly at me twice. It’s your turn.”
“Fine,” he sighed. He took his phone out of his pocket and switched the light on. He aimed the beam in the direction of the room and crawled across the upper landing commando style toward the other bedroom. I scuttled behind him like a good little follower.
Simon started to enter the room when the bat flew out, dive-bombing Simon on the way. I opened my mouth to scream but a shriek was already disturbing the peace. I shut my mouth and covered my hair with my arms.
“It’s okay,” Simon whispered, sounding breathless. “He went back to the other bedroom.”
I lowered my arms. We were lying belly-down in the hallway and when I turned toward him, our faces were mere inches apart.
“Did you just scream?” I asked.
“Me? No.” Even in the dim natural light, he looked appalled.
“Well, somebody did and it wasn’t me,” I said.
“I shouted,” he clarified. “As one does when a bat is about to attack.”
“It’s a little brown bat,” I said. “I don’t think they bite people.”
“And yet, here we are hiding from it on the floor,” he countered.
“Hiding? So, you admit it,” I said triumphantly. “You’re afraid of bats.”
“Not afraid,” he corrected. “Just cautious.”
“Judging by that shriek—” I began but he interrupted me.
“Shout.” He pushed up from the floor to a seated position.
“Right, that ‘shout.’ ” I sat up, too. “You’re just as scared as I am, so there’s only one fair way to see who goes into that room to open the window.”