touch

“It means you are longer bound to spend time with me. It also means you will have no choice but to sleep if your family chooses to continue using the chant on you.”


The chanting didn’t bother me. I’d gone into the deal knowing my freedom would be short lived. The whole purpose of the deal had been to test if I could trust Morik. And I did. But to stop spending time with him? He was the reason I’d been able to walk away from the vision with Brad. I needed time with him.

“What if I don’t want that?”

“Then I will owe you a blood debt. My life for breaking our deal.”

“Of course I release you,” I whispered slowly pulling away from him. “I’d rather have you alive and miss you than not have you at all.” Maybe I’d be able to make a different deal to spend time with him.

He frowned for a moment looking confused before smiling crookedly at me. “You don’t have to spend time with me, but you can still choose to.”

The sadness weighing down on me lifted as he spoke. I wouldn’t have to give him up, just the stars again… for a while. I slid my hand under his shirt to curl my arm around his waist as I laid my head back on his chest content.

“Perfect,” I said, happy with his answer before asking, “What does Ahgred want with me anyway?”

“He wants a way to interact with humans. If you choose me, we will be connected. You will be my anchor, tying me to your life and negating many of the rules nature placed on me. When you choose me,” his hand drifted up to the base of my skull, “he won’t try to touch you.”

I didn’t want to be Ahgred’s connection to this world.

“Will Ahgred try to use someone else to watch me?” I asked suddenly worried for my family and Beatriz.

“No. He wants to persuade you to choose him. He won’t do something that will upset you.”

Relieved that everyone would be safe, I idly drew circles on Morik’s skin as my mind wandered. We enjoyed a few moments of relaxed silence before Gran knocked on my door.

She didn’t open it, but said from the hallway, “Since you two are up, you can shovel your mom out while I make breakfast.”

My eyes rounded in shock. How did she know Morik was in here? Oh-my-god… Mom. She kept kicking him out of the house. How was she going to act when she finds out he slept in my room? I thought of suggesting we pop to his house, but discarded the idea. We’d need to face her eventually. Besides, she seemed to be the only person with a problem with him.

“Okay,” I called back scrambling out of bed. “Be right there.” Morik grunted when I accidentally elbowed his diaphragm.

“Sorry,” I whispered as I bent to grab the insulated pants from my bag on the floor. Morik must have brought back my things from Beatriz’s place. I tugged them on over my pajamas then paused. Pajamas. I looked at Morik who watched me. I couldn’t remember anything after Aunt Danielle started speaking the words. I decided not to ask.

Pulling a hoodie over my top, I arched a brow at Morik. “You going to lie around all day?”

He grinned at me and disappeared. Shaking my head I left the room taking a quick detour to the bathroom before heading to the kitchen expecting to see him there. Gran stood at the stove starting another big breakfast.

“I thought we were out of bacon.” The heavenly smell filled the room.

“Me too. You weren’t the only thing that appeared unexpectedly last night,” she said reminding me of our abrupt appearance. Though I’d gotten used to him popping in and out, their startled expressions last night made more sense now.

She moved to the refrigerator and opened the door. Even after shopping, the shelves never looked as crowded as they did now. I even spotted soda. We never spent money on soda. Milk or water from the tap.

Outside, I heard the scrape of metal against the sidewalk. “I better get out there before he finishes the whole thing.”

Gran closed the refrigerator and winked at me. “I’m letting your mom sleep in. She had a rough night after talking to Morik about what happened. We’re all very glad he was with you.”

So mom knew Morik ‘saved’ me. The day seemed a little brighter even though snow continued to fall outside.

After bundling up, I quietly let myself outside. Morik, as I suspected, already had the path to the stoop clear as well as most of the driveway.

Scooping up a handful of heavy snow, I lobbed a ball at him hitting him square on the back. I’d been aiming for the ground in front of him to startle him.

He turned, eyeing me through his yellowed lenses, looking surprised. Without taking his eyes from me, he leaned to the side and grabbed a handful of snow. He took his time shaping it.