Stalked by Death

Chapter 13

Chase rubbed his jaw. “I’ve got to hand it to him, I wasn’t expecting that. I mean, I should’ve been, considering I’m in his girlfriend’s bedroom and she’s wearing nothing more than a towel.” He eyed me and raised his eyebrows.

“Get out.” I’d had enough of Chase. I’d had enough of this entire day.

“Until tomorrow then,” he said before he left.

I sighed, long and hard. I dropped my towel and got dressed. I barely had my clothes on when someone knocked on the door.

Ugh! I stormed over to the door. “Seriously, Chase, leave me alone. I’m not in the mood to—” I flung the door open. Leticia was standing there looking confused.

“Not in the mood to what?”

“Sorry, I thought you were—never mind. What’s up?”

“I wanted to check on you. I was in the hall when Alex went storming out and then Chase came out. Is everything okay?”

“Come in.” I didn’t really want to talk, but I needed some girl time. I’d had enough of the guys for one day.

Leticia came in and went right to my bed, plopping down like she was in her own room.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

“Thanks.” She’d totally missed my sarcasm. “So, I was wondering what you know about the others coming tomorrow. Are any of the guys our age? Are they cute? We need some cute guys around here who aren’t totally obsessed with you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Come on.” Leticia picked up my pillow and hugged it to her chest. “You’ve got Alex, who is majorly hot, and then Chase shows up and he wants you too.”

I wasn’t exactly sure I had Alex anymore. After finding out he’d been keeping this huge secret from me, whether he’d had good intentions or not, I wasn’t sure I could trust him. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

“Yeah, well I wish my life was complicated by two guys fighting over me.” She put the pillow down and started picking at a loose thread on my bedspread.

“No, you don’t. Trust me. When two guys are fighting over you, you don’t have either of them. They spend all their time competing with each other, and you’re left out in the cold.”

Leticia shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d take just one guy looking at me the way either Alex or Chase looks at you. I mean, Alex is totally in love with you. That’s obvious. And Chase couldn’t be more attracted to you. The guy looks like he wants to devour you.”

I knew Chase’s stare all too well. It made me feel drawn to him, and completely scared at the same time. “You think that’s a good thing?”

“Yeah. Have you seen any guy look at me that way?”

“What about Randy? I always kind of thought you two were—”

“God, no! He’s like a brother, or cousin even. Definitely not the dating type. Besides, he doesn’t seem all that interested in girls.”

I sat down on the bed. “You mean he likes guys?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. He doesn’t show any interest in anyone. He just wants to train and learn about being Ophi. When we both first got here, he talked to me all the time, but now, not so much. He probably thinks I’m a hopeless case. I can’t seem to get control of my powers.”

“You’re not the only one.” I tucked my leg up under me.

“Yeah, but your powers are awesome. Right from the start you could do stuff I still can’t do. I’m starting to wonder if I’m even really Ophi. I mean, I should be able to control the souls I raise by now. Maybe Randy’s right. Maybe I am hopeless.”

“No, you’re not, and you don’t know if he even thinks that.” I wasn’t sure how to tell her what I thought was really going on. I didn’t want to bring up memories she might not be able to handle, but it was obvious her lack of control over her own blood was killing her. “Listen, Leticia, our powers are tied to our emotions.”

“Yeah, I know. I take notes during Tony’s lectures.”

I nodded. Leticia was the perfect student when she was in a classroom. She had the theory part of being an Ophi down pat. But out in the cemetery, she couldn’t figure out how to put all that knowledge to use.

“Think back to before Victoria raised the Ophi in Washington.”

Her body instantly tensed, like I knew it would. I didn’t back off. She needed to understand what was going on with her. I wasn’t going to keep this from her the way Alex had kept the truth about where we were from me.

“You changed after Victoria brought your parents back. You’re not the same person anymore. That’s understandable, but it’s also what’s holding you back.”

“You think I fell apart at the sight of my mangled parents.” Her voice couldn’t have been more shaky.

“I think you acted the way anyone would have in your situation.”

“Oh, really?” She stood up. “Victoria brought Randy’s father back. He was worse than my parents, and Randy’s fine. A little angrier than he used to be, but his powers still work. And you. You saw your dead father for the first time ever. And—”

“My powers are messed up royally.” I stood up so we were facing each other again. “I know how you feel, Leticia. I’m going through the same thing.” Actually I was going through worse, but that wasn’t going to get me anywhere with Leticia. “My powers are screwing up big time, and in ways that could hurt all of us. I’d rather not be able to use my powers than do what I’m doing.”

“That’s not true.”

“No?” My voice was getting loud. I was starting to lose it. “I killed a man today. A human. He was trying to help me, and I killed him. And what’s worse is, I couldn’t even bring him back because the car I’d just stolen from my human former best friend burst into flames and took his body with it.”

“Jodi.” Leticia was staring at my hands. They were shaking in response to my blood, which was bubbling so much you could see it through my skin.

I shook my arms out and took several deep breaths. I couldn’t do this again. I couldn’t let my emotions cause someone else to get hurt, or raise another soul.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea.” Leticia put her hand on my shoulder. “Can you stop it?” She was looking at my hands again.

“I’m trying. I’m really trying.”

“Think good thoughts.”

Good thoughts? I didn’t even know what they were anymore. Nothing in my life was going right.

“I’m going to get Arianna,” Leticia said. “She’s good at calming people down. I’ll be right back. Just try to make it stop, okay?”

I nodded, continuing to breathe deeply. Leticia ran from the room. There was only one way I knew how to calm down. A hot shower. Yes, I’d already taken one, but I didn’t care. I went right to the bathroom and got in the shower, fully clothed. No time to undress. I could’ve raised half the graveyard by then. I let the water wash over me, and I felt my blood simmer and then return to normal.

“Jodi?” Arianna called from my room.

“In here.” I poked my head out from behind the curtain.

“Leticia said you need some help.”

“I’m okay now.” I turned the water off and opened the curtain.

Arianna stared at me, soaking wet in my tank top and yoga pants. “Are you sure?”

“I know it looks strange, but really I’m fine. I promise. I’m going to put on dry clothes and go to sleep.”

“Would you like some hot tea before bed? I boiled a pot of water. You could join me.”

“Thanks, but no. I want to go to bed.”

“Alex told me what happened.”

I wrapped a towel around me before my wet clothes made me freeze. “Did you know? Did you know I was so close to my home? To my mom?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t know where you were from. I knew we were close to Serpentarius, of course, but not that that meant anything to you in particular.”

I believed her. Arianna was trustworthy.

“Don’t be too hard on him. Alex did what he thought was best for you.”

“It’s not up to him to decide what’s best for me.”

“I know that, but put yourself in his shoes. What would you have done if the situation were reversed?”

“I would’ve told him.”

“Are you sure? Or are you letting your emotions control you?”

My emotions. I wished I could turn them off completely. They were ruining everything. “He didn’t think I could handle it. He thought I’d go back to my old life.”

“Didn’t you?” She stepped closer. “When you found out where you were, what did you do?”

I looked down at my feet. “I flagged down Melodie’s car.”

“Alex knows you pretty well.” She put up her hands in surrender. “I’m not taking sides, but it seems like what you did was exactly what Alex was trying to protect you from.” She walked over to me and kissed the top of my head. “You can’t blame him for wanting to protect you from what happened this evening.”

No, I couldn’t. “Thanks, Arianna.”

“Anytime, hon. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

She left, and I stood there shivering in my wet clothes. I had to fix things with Alex. I couldn’t let this destroy us. I put on pajamas and ran to his room without even combing my hair. I must’ve looked like a drowned rat, but I didn’t care. I had to see him.

I knocked on his door, but there was no answer. “Alex?” Still nothing. I tried the knob. Locked. Where else would he be? I went to Randy’s room and knocked.

“Hey, Jodi.” He looked me over.

“Hey, I know I’m a mess. I’m looking for Alex. Do you know where he is?”

“He was heading out to the cemetery the last time I saw him.”

“Why would he go there?” We’d already reburied all the bodies. Was he training on his own?

Randy shrugged.

“Thanks. See you in the morning.” I turned and ran downstairs, heading right past the Medusa statue and out the front door. The cool air slammed into me. I was only in pajamas and my hair was soaking wet. My teeth chattered, and I shook from head to toe, but I kept going. The lights were on in the cemetery, and I saw Alex sitting up against the mausoleum. I jogged over to him.

He looked up at me and wrinkled his brow. “You’re going to get sick coming out here like that.”

“I don’t care.” I stood in front of him, shaking uncontrollably. “I understand why you didn’t tell me where we were. You know me too well. You knew I’d go back home, that I’d find some way to at least glimpse my old life. You were right. What I did today was stupid. I hurt Melodie, and I killed an innocent man.”

“Is that all you did wrong?” His stone cold eyes bored into me. He was angry, which meant he was still thinking something had happened between me and Chase.

“I didn’t cheat on you, if that’s what you’re thinking. Chase was in my room when I got out of the shower. He had my locket in his hands. He had gone through my stuff. I was furious.”

“So furious you let him stay and hang out.” He pointed to the locket on my neck. “Did he put that on you?”

I lowered my eyes. “Yes, but it’s not what you’re thinking.”

Alex stood up, chucking the rock he’d been holding. “I think you can’t stay away from him. I think you give him certain liberties the rest of us don’t have.”

“What?” I couldn’t believe this. Was he implying I let Chase—no, I couldn’t even think it. “You can’t be serious.” I’d come here to make up, and Alex was accusing me of screwing around behind his back.

He stared at me and finally his expression softened. “Why do you let him in? Why can’t you tell him to leave you alone? That you’re with me? You said you were going to get him to back off.”

“I’m trying, but he won’t take the hint.”

“He can’t take a hint if you don’t drop a hint.”

“You’re saying I’m leading him on?”

He didn’t deny it.

Suddenly I wasn’t freezing anymore. I was warm. No, I was hot. My blood was going crazy again. I had to stop this. I couldn’t live in the shower. Alex moved closer to me and rubbed my arms. The blood in my veins rippled in waves.

“Jodi.” He was scared for me. He wrapped his arms around me. “Am I doing this to you?”

“My emotions are doing it.”

“But it’s because of me, isn’t it?”

Now it was my turn to not deny something. He pulled away and looked into my eyes. He was searching for something. An answer to fixing what was wrong with me. He pressed his lips to mine. I wasn’t expecting it. We were in the middle of a fight, but here he was, kissing me. It took me a few seconds to respond, to wrap my arms around him and kiss him back. I felt my blood cooling. Alex was calming me. I continued to kiss him, long after I was back to normal. I was afraid to let go. Afraid we’d go back to arguing. All I wanted was to be in his arms.

Finally, he pulled away. “Are you better now?” He held onto my arms, feeling to make sure my blood wasn’t surging through my veins anymore.

I nodded. “Thank you.” Who knew what Alex had stopped me from doing this time? I was just grateful he had.

“I wasn’t sure that was going to work. Lately, it’s me kissing you that gets your blood all riled up. Why did it have the opposite effect now?”

Was he viewing this as a bad thing? “I don’t want kissing you to make me lose control of my powers. It would mean I couldn’t kiss you anymore.” I hoped that would be enough to convince him this was a good sign.

“So, you still want to be able to kiss me? Only me?”

“Alex, I never kissed Chase. I swear.”

“I want to believe you, but I’ve seen the way you get around him.”

I took his hands in mine. “I came here because I wanted to tell you that I believe you. You were only trying to protect me by keeping the truth from me. It wasn’t easy for me to accept. I still don’t think it was your choice to make, but I know you wouldn’t intentionally hurt me. I need you to do the same for me. To believe me and know I wouldn’t hurt you like that.”

“The question is, would you keep the truth from me to avoid hurting me?” He didn’t take his hands away, but he wasn’t giving in to me yet either.

I shook my head. “No. That’s not what I’m doing. I’m telling you the truth.”

He let go of my hands, and my heart sank, but then he reached for my face and pulled me to him. He kissed me hard, spinning me around so I was backed up against the mausoleum. He kissed me until I was completely breathless. When he pulled away, I noticed a light flashing on and off in one of the bedroom windows. Alex couldn’t see it because he was only looking at me. I tried to keep my focus on him, but I couldn’t. It was Chase’s room. He was trying to get my attention. The light stayed on, and his silhouette was in the window. He was watching me. My body tensed.

Alex leaned into me and kissed me again. I kissed him back, but my eyes stayed glued to the window. Glued to Chase.