Vacancy, page 33
And with that, he turned away and jogged off down Bridleway.
“Scaredy-cat,” Hudson called after him.
“Thalia locked him in the back bathroom on the first floor for about five minutes once,” Keene explained to me. “He hasn’t come back since.”
Meanwhile, Thane was scratching his head as he glanced up at the second-story window above us. “That really is freaky how she does that.”
“Oh, man,” Foster said, smacking Hudson in the arm. “Remember that time when we were helping Arch move some shit up into the attic, and those two chairs on opposite sides of the room just…tipped over toward each other at the same time for no reason?”
Hudson cringed and hitched up his chin in acknowledgment. “I still have nightmares about it, yeah. Thanks for the reminder.”
I smiled softly as I watched them talk. It actually made me feel better that they knew what was up and were so accepting of my new…skills.
Listening to them made it seem almost normal.
“So...are you just going to keep living here?” Keene wanted to know, trying to glance over my shoulder and into the apartment. “With a…?”
Foster smacked him in the gut to get him to shut up. “Dude.”
“What? I’d be fucking freaked out if I were her.” His gaze shifted to me. “Why ain’t you freaked out right now?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Maybe because it’s just Thalia.” I wasn’t sure how else to explain it. “She’s, like, the farthest thing from scary I’ve ever met. And I thought she was alive when I first met her. It’s pretty easy to just…keep thinking of her that way.”
“So are you going to ask her who killed her?” Thane wanted to know.
I blinked at him in surprise.
“I…” I’d been thinking about myself and my “new” abilities so much that I hadn’t even considered hunting down her murderer.
But now that Thane had asked, I knew it was the noble next step.
“I mean, I can try to,” I answered. “But she’s kind of the queen of avoidance. If she doesn’t want to tell me something, she won’t.”
They all gave a sad but understanding nod.
Finally remembering my manners, I took a step back, opening the door wider. “Hey, y’all can come in if you want; you don’t have to stay standing there on the front stoop.”
All five of the remaining men took a collective step backward, away from the door.
“Uh...no,” Thane declined for them with an uneasy laugh and wave of his hand. “We’ve all experienced unexplainable incidents in there, so we’re good, thanks.”
“I don’t know how Damien can handle going inside at all,” Keene said.
“Seriously?” I asked, amazed. “I’m telling you, Thalia wouldn’t hurt a fly. You have nothing to be afraid of.”
“Yeah, she’s a regular old Casper,” Parker muttered. “The woman screamed bloody murder at me the one and only time I tried to enter her room.”
Shaking my head, I scoffed. “And you called poor Alec a chicken.”
“Hey, he was the first to take off,” Hudson defended with a shrug. “That’s just the law of the pecking order.”
With a soft chuckle, I shook my head. “Alright. Go ahead and stay out there. You’re only going to make me feel that much braver.”
“Trust me, you’re the fucking ruler of bravery right now,” Thane assured. “We are legit in awe of you.”
I straightened and felt my face heat, flattered by the compliment. “Really?”
“For sure,” he added with a small bow. “And I know we didn’t come here to talk about Damien, but… He absolutely hated knowing you were over here, dealing with this by yourself. So if you ever need anything, please know you can come to any one of us, okay? We will help you.”
I blinked away tears as I sent them all a grateful smile. “Thank you,” I said. “Just you coming here now has already helped a lot. I was beginning to worry that nothing would ever be the same again, that I’d be this super freak with horrible supernatural powers I couldn’t tell anyone about, and…and… I was just scared that life as I knew it was over. I’d never be able to go back to the regular, old, normal me again. So it’s really nice that you’re not treating me like I’m a…”
“Oh, darlin’,” Thane said, stepping forward with his arms open to hug me. “This doesn’t change who you are at the core. You’re still you. Don’t ever forget that.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Any time.”
As he patted my back, Parker scoffed. “Can you tell he volunteers as an inspirational life coach with dysfunctional teens?” Tugging on Thane’s shoulder as he finished hugging me, he added, “Now step back, man, and give the rest of us a turn with her, will ya?”
“Alright, alright.” Thane let go of me and moved out of the way with a good-natured laugh. “I can share the love.”
When Parker stepped up next, with lifted eyebrows to ask if it was okay if he hugged me as well, I nodded and opened my arms.
“Just for the record,” he told me as he pulled me close. “I already thought you were weird. I mean, you gave awkward, quiet Archer the time of day. But this…yeah, this doesn’t make you any stranger than that.”
“Of course, it doesn’t. It makes you a badass,” Hudson added, jerking Parker back so he could hug me next. “And the one person who’s going to understand most just how truly awesome and unique it makes you is Damien.”
“Ivey,” Thane warned with a hard tone.
“I know, I know,” Hudson stepped back with his hands lifted in surrender. “No endorsing Archer. I just had to get that out there. I’m done now.”
Keene popped forward next. “Psycho ghost whisperer or not, I’d still do you,” he swore with an ornery grin.
“Wow, thanks,” I said dryly, only to grin and roll my eyes as I hugged him next.
“You are such a moron,” Parker muttered, shaking his head as Keene stepped back.
“What?” Keene demanded. “I made her smile, didn’t I?”
I glanced toward Foster who was hanging back almost shyly. But he stepped forward readily when we made eye contact.
“This paranormal stuff isn’t as out-there and rare as you think,” he assured. “I have a cousin who, I swear, is reincarnated from our grandma. And you could help a lot of people with what you can do. I mean, hell…” He shrugged awkwardly as he pulled me in for a hug. “Once you get this superpower of yours nailed down and figured out, maybe you could find my little brother for me. His body’s still lost somewhere in the Gulf.”
My lips parted in surprise.
But help people? I hadn’t even considered that idea.
Foster sent me a seeking, hopeful glance as he stepped back, and I nodded to him. “I like the sound of that,” I said. “Thank you.”
My life wasn’t ending at all, I realized.
It was just beginning.
34
OAKLYNN
The entire conversation I’d had with Damien’s friends left me thinking for the rest of the day.
And that night, while I was tucked into bed and unable to get to sleep, I chewed on my fingernail indecisively.
It had really hurt to learn that Damien had kept something so huge from me. He’d had no right. I mean, this had been information about me.
On the other hand, I knew without a doubt that he would accept this new side of me. Hell, he already had before I even knew I had it.
That wasn’t something I could say definitively about Jay or anyone else. She was the biggest skeptic I knew. I couldn’t picture her ever believing this.
But he had lied to me.
How could I ever trust him again?
It got real and I fell in love with you.
As his confession echoed through my head, tears filled my eyes. I had a feeling that wasn’t something he’d ever told another girl before. And sadly, I think I felt the same way.
“God, you are so stupid,” I told myself as I grabbed my phone and dialed his number.
“Oaklynn?” he answered almost immediately with this achingly gut-wrenching rasp of hope in his voice.
I closed my eyes and ground my teeth through my agony. Then I exhaled and jerked my lashes open. “You have some really persuasive friends, do you know that?”
There was a pause before he cursed under his breath. “Did they bother you? Fuck, I’m sorry. Which one was it? I’ll kick his ass.”
“Actually, it was the whole six-pack.”
“Wait… All of them?” he said in surprise. “Even—”
“Oh, Thane led the charge,” I answered, knowing that’s who he’d believe would be the least likely to approach me. “And it was all in the name of issuing their own apologies for keeping the truth from me, too.”
“I’ll tell them to leave you alone. I swear. I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
“They were fine,” I assured. “They actually made me feel like less of a freak for having these new powers.”
Damien took a moment to quietly answer, “You’re not a freak. You never were and never will be. Oaklynn…”
He was going to try to get all personal and then coax me into forgiving him, I just knew it. And maybe I’d needed to hear his voice more than anything else, but I wasn’t sure about completely forgiving him yet, so I broke in abruptly, changing the subject.
“So I have a question.”
“Okay…” he answered uneasily.
“You said you had the file on Thalia’s case, right? Does it have everything about her murder investigation in there?”
“I, uh...I’m pretty sure it does. Why?”
“Just curious,” I answered, “But did there happen to be any suspects named Josh, by chance?”
“Josh?” he asked, sounding confused.
“Yeah.”
“No. Not at all.”
“You sure?”
“I’m positive. I have the file memorized from front to back. Who’s Josh?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted honestly. “It’s just…Well, when I thought Thalia was still alive, I overheard what sounded like a phone conversation she was having with someone through the door to her room.”
After I told Damien what I’d heard, he admitted, “That definitely sounds suspicious, but I don’t remember her mentioning any Josh. I’ll search around and see if I can figure out who he might’ve been.”
“I will too,” I added readily.
But Damien sounded hesitant when he replied, “You really don’t have to—”
“I want to,” I cut in bluntly. “For Thalia. I know this sounds stupid, but…” Tears filled my eyes. “She became my friend. And she deserves justice. Besides, there’s a fucking murderer out there. What if he’s killed other people since her? We need to catch him.”
“Fuck, I’m not going to convince you to let me look into this alone, am I?”
“Nope,” I said, glad he knew better.
“Just… Whatever you do, be careful,” he warned. “There’s a psychopath at the end of this trail. He didn’t just kill my sister; he fucking mutilated her. And to be honest, I don’t want you anywhere near that.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assured. “Trust me. Researching shit is my major, remember?” But saying that aloud made me wince. “Which makes me feel like a complete failure at the moment, but whatever.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you just type Thalia’s name into any online search engine, and about a million hits come back, detailing what happened to her. And I didn’t look into her once.” I’d looked up Damien on social media and researched ghosts in town, but I hadn’t once considered checking into my own roommate. “What the hell kind of investigative journalist does that make me?”
Damien grew guiltily quiet before saying, “I really am sorry I didn’t tell you. There were a million opportunities, and I talked myself out of confessing every single time.”
“Yeah, well…” I sighed dismally. “I probably would’ve thought you were loony if you had told me. But just so you know, it turns out you’re not the only person who kept my abilities a secret from me.”
After I shared my mom’s story with him about Yaya, he groaned and said, “Shit. I’m sorry, Oaklynn. Has anyone in your life been honest with you?”
“It makes me wonder,” I agreed with a mirthless laugh, only to grow somber so I could add, “I don’t know why, but your lie wrecked me way more than my mom’s did.”
“Fuck,” he breathed from a broken voice. “It’s absolutely killing me that I did this to you. I wish I could… Is there anything I can do to fix this? Because I will do it. I will do…anything.”
“Wow.” I blew out a low, impressed whistle. “Kind of a lot of power you’re giving me there, Archer.”
“Newsflash, Vargas,” he shot back with a sexy, husky chuckle. “But you’ve always had this power over me. From the very first moment you aimed those dimples my way, I was yours. I’ve been yours from the absolute beginning.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I hugged myself and blinked out a tear. “Damn you, Damien. Stop being so fucking nice and perfect and amiable right now. I’m trying to hate you.”
He cleared his throat remorsefully. “Sorry. I…sorry.”
I hissed out an amused sound. He was still doing it, but I adored it, so I didn’t say anything else.
“You’re not alone, are you?” he spoke up suddenly. “I just… I can’t handle the idea of you going through this alone. Did you at least call Jaylani? I know you two are supposed to be on a break, but this seems bigger than that. You need her. I mean, nothing’s ever made me feel better like having my asshole friends around being stupid and annoying and just…wonderfully supportive.”
I sniffed and wiped at my eyes. “You do have some pretty awesome friends.”
“Borrow them whenever you like,” he offered immediately. “Especially any of the ones that live with me. They’re playing foosball right now at full volume, and I can tell Keene’s been winning. He is so obnoxious and annoying when he wins at foosball. I wouldn’t mind a decent break from him for a while, to be honest.”
I laughed. “I might take you up on that, then, because there’s no way in hell I can tell Jay about any of this. She is an adamant denier of all things other.”
“What about that other girl? Lainie? Or Rainy? Or...”
“Honestly,” I muttered before huffing out a long breath. “The only person I want to be around right now is…sadly…you.”
After a beat, he quietly said, “I could come over. Do you want me to come over?”
The hope in his voice made me cringe and start to crumble. But then I held firm and said, “No. Not a good idea. I’m not ready to forgive you yet, and if you came over right now, I’d just end up having sex with you.”
“I wouldn’t let you do that,” he swore.
I sniffed. “As if you’d be able to stop me.”
“Good point,” he agreed after a moment, and I could literally hear the wince in his voice. “I wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I know. But… Could you stay on the line with me until I fall asleep? I think I could handle that.”
His voice cracked as he answered, “I would be honored.”
“Could you tell me about Thalia,” I asked.
He was quiet for a second before he rasped, “Of course. What do you want to know?”
“Everything,” I said. “Whatever you couldn’t tell me before.”
“Well…” He blew out a long breath. “She was ten years older than me, but…she was my entire world.”
I swallowed thickly, hearing the sadness in his voice.
“I was a shy, insecure kid who didn’t know how to make friends. My parents tried to put me on a couple of ball teams, but that just made me feel worse. It seemed so easy for the other boys to get along with each other, and I couldn’t figure out how they did it. Thalia got me, though. She liked being a star who put on a show, and I liked following her around like a fan, always willing to be her captive audience.”
“So she was the outgoing extrovert to your shy introvert?” I said.
“Definitely. But it wasn’t always about her. She’d do things with me that I liked too: take me to my favorite movies, go to eat at my favorite restaurants, play my favorite board games. Which made it hard on me when she moved into Aunt Iris’s brownstone for her freshman year of college. I really missed having her around all the time. It never got better either. She grew more involved in university stuff, and it felt as if I never saw her anymore.
“Then, one time when she was home, borrowing money from the parents, she stopped by my room to say hi, only to find me moping around, wishing the next Rick Riordan book would release early. So… Wanting to cheer me up, she offered to let me come stay with her for a week or so over winter break. Then, we’d go home together to open presents on Christmas morning.”
Realizing the story was heading toward her death, my stomach tightened. “Damien,” I said softly, trying to let him know he didn’t have to talk about it if he didn’t want to.
But he kept going.
“I was so excited to get her all to myself for a while. It was December, Friday the thirteenth, and my mom dropped me off in the back that evening after school got out, only to take off before I’d even reached the door. It was locked, but I had a key so I let myself in.
“The island wasn’t there back then, and we had this long, ten-foot table in the kitchen part instead. Thalia had some donuts sitting on it. She knew they were my favorite, so I started to eat them, thinking they had to be for me.
“And while I was standing there, stuffing my face, I heard a thump upstairs. I didn’t think much of it. I remember looking up and calling her name to let her know I was there. Then I heard footsteps. I thought it was her, but when she never came downstairs, I got curious and headed up.”
“Damien, you really don’t have to—”
