13. A storm is brewing
thirteen
A storm is brewing
JAMES
Never before in my life have I been cock-blocked by cats. But I guess there is a first time for everything, I think as I stare at Pearl's pink nose, so close to my face. Ewan is in bed with me, and all I want to do is eat him out again. Yesterday morning was fucking amazing. The sounds he made...
Today, his sweet moans have been replaced by three cats purring. Wait, no. Four cats? Where did that fourth one come from?
I sigh and close my eyes. Knowing that the cats are parts of a sentient house, I don’t really feel like kicking them out of the room. It would be in poor state, like disrespecting our host or something.
I know our situation is dire and I shouldn’t be thinking about sex, but it’s really hard—pun intended—when he’s looking like a snack all day long, waiting to be tasted.
And I can’t help but to think this will be over when we have dealt with all the ghosts in the hostel.
ExorSquad will send me on another mission, and Ewan might not be my partner this time.
He’s still getting a degree, and he probably can’t leave Edinburgh often.
I sigh again.
“Good morning,” Ewan mumbles.
I turn my head and find him smiling shyly at me.
“Fuck, come here I want to kiss you.” I grab him by the throat to pull him to me, cats be damned, and kiss him languorously. He moans. When I finally let him go, his eyes are glazed over and his face is flushed. A mouth watering snack.
Pearl is giving me the evil eye from her position on my chest.
“Alright, alright,” I say. “I’m sorry for moving, your majesty.”
She meows. I think we’re both growing on each other, like mushrooms sharing a rotting tree trunk.
I pick up my phone and check the time. It’s past noon on a Saturday, and the sun is shining bright outside, trying to resist the coming of autumn.
“Let’s go out today,” I say.
Ewan blinks. “Out?”
“Yes. Just the two of us. I want to feel normal for a day, and you can show me Edinburgh some more. Who knows when I’ll get to come back?”
His expression turns mournful.
Good job, James. Good way to turn the mood by reminding him you might not see each other again when this is done.
“Alright,” he says after a pause. “Let’s do that. And we can buy food for tonight, too. I want to cook for the others.”
“Excellent. I’ll help. Let’s get ready and get breakfast outside.”
We extricate ourselves from the bed while trying our best not to bother the cats. They slow blink at us, entertained by our efforts.
We start the day in a coffee shop in New Town.
I keep my hand on Ewan’s lower back as he orders, and I don’t miss the way the barista keeps looking at it, blushing.
Feeling mischievous, I slide my hand under his sweatshirt to touch his skin.
I feel him shiver, and he looks at me with hungry eyes.
Maybe we should have kicked the cats out and had our fun anyway this morning.
We both eat our pastries and drink our coffees while walking.
It’s a bright autumn Saturday, and the streets are busy.
Ewan takes me to the Royal Mile and other famous locations in Edinburgh.
We have a laugh in front of a shop offering to adopt ghosts.
Tourists gather in front of the handmade little sculptures, unaware of the two real spirits floating around them, attracted by all the excitement and life.
I can’t see them, of course, but Ewan describes them to me.
He seems less afraid than a few days ago.
Dealing with the poltergeists of Lynch Hostel has a way of putting things into perspective, I guess.
The whole city has dressed in Halloween decorations, and I feel like a kid again. We see the Ghost Tour bus a few times, and it’s packed with people. They will stop in front of the hostel, whisper about ghosts, oblivious to the fact that the house itself is the real marvel.
As the afternoon unfolds, we get fed up with the crowds, and Ewan suggests we hike Arthur’s Seat, the main peak in the hills of Holyrood Park.
It’s an hour walk uphill, and we meet quite a lot of people going down.
The setting sun touches the sea of green grass, and there is a cool breeze blowing from the east.
When we finally make it to the peak, the view of Edinburgh is breathtaking. Dusk is upon us, and the city lights make an appearance.
Ewan’s face is washed in a golden glow, his hair made of light. “We’re standing on an ancient volcano,” he tells me with a smile. He’s never looked more beautiful.
“Oh yeah? Tell me more.”
He laughs and looks away shyly. He tells me about the supposed legends about this place, and the archaeological discoveries. I can’t actually pay attention to his words, not when the man himself is taking my breath away.
Until he looks behind us and his eyes widen. “Uh-oh.”
“What?” I turn to face a sky full of dark clouds.
“No wonder we were the only ones going up. It looks like rain’s coming.”
We both hurry down the path, jumping over rocks and tufts of grass, but the storm catches us. The wind picks up, and the rain pours from the heavens. We swear and laugh. In the matter of minutes, the dirt turns into mud under our feet.
Around a bend, Ewan shouts and slips. I grab him, but being much smaller, his momentum takes us both down in the mud. I land on top of him, the breath knocked out of my lungs. He holds on to me and he starts laughing.
I struggle for a moment to get up, then realise I don’t want to.
It’s too late, we are drenched and muddy anyway, there's no hurry.
And Ewan is under me, happy and oh so beautiful.
I grab his face in my hands and kiss him, swallowing his laugh.
He tastes like rain and happiness. After a second, he kisses me back with fervour, and his lips and tongue feel so warm.
You’re fucking amazing, I want to say, but I can’t seem to stop kissing him long enough to utter words. He moans and shivers under me. My feet slide in the mud as I try to thrust between his legs. This is just silly but damn I can’t seem to stop and—
Thunder booms in the dark clouds, making us both jump out of our skins.
“Holy shit!” I pull Ewan to his feet and we both starts running downhill, laughing like mad men.
We reach the city in record time, drenched, dirty, and happy.
The rare people still in the streets with umbrellas give us startled looks as we run past them.
We stop at a convenience store on the way to the hostel to buy food, all the while apologising to the clerks for dripping water all over their floor.
We take our muddy shoes off just outside the hostel to avoid destroying the carpets, and Shirley laughs from her desk as she sees us.
“We’re cooking tonight!” I say.
“Great,” she shouts. “But don’t dirty my kitchen!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I throw over my shoulder.
Lucifer zooms by our side as we run up the grand staircase.
The hostel is busy and guests give us a wide berth.
We look like drowned rats again. The communal showers aren’t better, and we have to stand in line to take a shower.
Too bad, I would have loved to tear Ewan’s wet clothes off his smoking hot body.
By the time we start cooking, it’s almost nine.
We have to feed eight people tonight—Ewan and I, Lana, Shirley, Noah, Emma, Luigi, and a new girl called Nadia—so we decided to make enchiladas.
The cats come and go, checking on us, before going back to their patrols in the busy hostel.
The others trudge to the kitchen one by one, exhausted by their Saturday, and sit around the large table with happy exclamations when they see the food.
Lana arrives last, dishevelled and rosy cheeked.
“Funny how the normalcy of a day of hard work makes you forget all about ghosts,” she says, sitting down. “Are you ready for tonight?”
Ewan and I share a glance. “We’ll improvise. The Lady in Red doesn’t have a history of being aggressive. She’s just... well... you know.”
She snorts. “A phantom aphrodisiac, I know.”
“Which reminds me,” Shirley says. “I left you a gift on your bed.’
“A gift?”
She grins. “You’ll see.”
The eight of us dig in, and Lana was right: nothing beats normalcy to fight off the darkness.
Midnight finds us still in the staff kitchen, talking and laughing with the others.
They promise to take care of cleaning, so Ewan and I make our way back to our room to grab our equipment.
We just want to have a talk with the Lady in Red, but I can’t help but remember the last encounter, and anticipation burns through my veins.
We find Shirley’s “gift” on the bed, a little plastic bag with lube and condoms. Ewan turns as red as a lobster and I can’t stop laughing. We don’t bother changing into our ExorSquad overalls, this ship has sailed.
We grab our guns and before exiting the room I slide the lube and condoms in my pocket. We never know, right?
The cats are nowhere to be found as we make our way to the library, but the house turns the lights on, guiding us. Just like the last time we entered, the library is dark and quiet. Then a fire roars to life in the fireplace, illuminating the wooden floors and the tall shelves.
My speech is ready.
“I’m sorry about the last time, my lady,” I say loud and clear. “It was rude of me to shoot at you. In my defence, you had no right to touch my teammate. And I had no right ordering you around. I’m sorry. Tonight we just want to talk. The house needs our help. Please.”
We wait. Ewan stands behind me, and I feel his hand on my shoulder.
Then a figure appears by the window, translucent body catching the firelight. The Lady in Red is as beautiful as the first time we laid eyes on her, her beauty frozen in death, forever. Her robe has fallen off one slender shoulder.
“A man who knows how to beg goes after my own heart,” she says, smiling charmingly.
Beg is strong a word to describe my apology, but I’m not going to contradict her.
“We know about the ghost in the basement,” I say. “But we don’t know how—”
“Which one?” she interrupts me.