“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Finn sighs and sits back in his seat. “I’m not used to girls disappearing on me when I go on a date.”
I swallow the warm coffee in my mouth. “Date?”
Finn dips his head. “Sorry, that came out wrong.”
Alek’s face appears in my mind; his harsh kiss and the buzz it gave me. The blonde-haired guy in front of me could never do those things to me.
“I’m not looking for a boyfriend,” I say quietly.
“Fair enough.” Finn shifts his look to somewhere else in the room behind me. God, I hope I haven’t just isolated myself from my only friend by refusing him.
He rubs the back of his neck. “You really don’t want to stay in the house, huh?”
“The occupants are…weird.”
“Yeah, I noticed. That Alek guy is seriously unhinged.”
Unhinged is an interesting way of putting it.
Finn’s shivering isn’t stopping, and goose bumps grow on his arms. “Let’s go into the lounge room; I’ll put the fire on and get you a proper towel,” I say.
Finn stands. “Please. Your house is bloody cold.”
When I return with the towel, Finn is standing in front of the warming gas fire. His hair is darker blonde with the wet, and he turns to me with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
“I can tell why you don’t like this place. I get a really bad vibe. Is it haunted?”
I shudder. “Maybe.”
He takes a deep breath and sighs. “I feel these things,” he says quietly. “There’s people stuck here.”
Oh, shit; not him, as well. I bump my rear onto the sofa. “Yeah?”
He doesn’t respond and stares into the fire. An awkward silence follows and I half-expect one of the ghostly residents to appear.
“I’ve seen one,” I tell him and I’ve no idea why.
“Oh?”
“She attacked me.” I decide not to mention the girl at the pub and her attack.
“How can she attack you if she’s a ghost? Like a poltergeist who threw something at you?”
“I don’t know,” I mumble, fighting tears, increasingly convinced I’m the deranged one here.
Finn moves from the fire to sit next to me on the sofa. Not too close, thank God. I hope the whole date issue is dealt with. I need a friend, not another lover. I shake my head. Lover? Alek’s barely touched me.
“You’re different today. Brighter. Not as pale,” he says.
I look at my hands, perturbed by the way he scrutinises me, ending by looking at my mouth. Okay, I don’t think the date issue is dealt with.
“I’m so sorry,” he says softly.
“For what?”
Finn leans back on the sofa. “For how you are.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I mean I’m sorry you have to go through this, not that I’m responsible.”
“Why would you say that? Why would I think you’re responsible?” I push myself to my feet and edge away. Either everyone in my life is deranged or it’s time I start to process and accept everything happening to me. “I think I’m going to get changed; I got wet, too.”
“Wait.”
Finn stands and grabs my arm, curling his hand around my wrist. The familiar painful chill spreads up my arm; as the numbing travels up my neck, he drops his hand. I step back, rubbing my sleeve, staring back at a wide-eyed Finn.
As if on cue, the front door opens and slams shut. Alek halts, an initial wide-eyed look of surprise replaced by narrowed eyes and him shooting across the room toward us.
Alek shoves Finn in the chest. “Get the fuck away from her!”
I freeze, unsure what he’s going to say or do—to Finn or me.
“You should go,” I say to Finn and step between him and Alek.
Finn laughs softly to himself, and I shift my look to him. He has his arms crossed over his chest. “Why should I? You asked me in.”
Oh, crap. I hoped he’d be intimidated like last time, not hold his ground. I don’t want to be part of whatever is about to happen.
The dizziness creeps across my head as the pain in my arm spreads from where Finn touched me and into my chest, constricting my lungs. I back to the sofa and put my head on my knees, fighting the fog. As soon as I get my breath, I’m out of here.
“Calm down, man,” says Finn, “No wonder she’s leaving.”
“What?” He turns to me. “You’re leaving? Why? After everything I told you…?”
“Because of everything you told me.”
He pushes a hand through his scruffy hair. “You didn’t believe me?”
In the logic of the outside world brought on by the daytime, his stories are fairy tales. Finding myself trapped behind invisible barriers in a claustrophobic house isn’t logical, though. “Maybe a little of it. But I don’t understand why you told me Finn is dangerous.”
Finn chokes. “What the fuck?”
“Oh, don’t play so innocent. I know what you are!” snaps Alek
Now Finn steps away from Alek, palms held outward in a gesture of surrender. “Umm. Okay. Sure. What’s that?”
Alek runs his tongue along his teeth. “Fine, play games. You know what I am.”