Zach laughs. “Not his hair...”
“I just thought if he was blonde, he might be a good guy,” I say.
“What? Like you?” snorts Zach.
I glare at him and he doesn’t hold my gaze. Underneath his attitude, I sense he’s frightened of me.
“What we haven’t figured out is the connection between the Reapers and psy-vamps.”
“Between,” I mutter.
“Always call a spade a spade,” says Zach.
“Is that what’s happening in the hospital? Reapers?” I ask. A surge of logic connects in my brain. “Okay, then Finn might be Dark...”
Tom sits forward. “What? Why?”
“A week ago I was with Finn in ICU; I saw him with a patient and then a few minutes later that patient arrested - got really sick.”
“Did the patient die?” asks Tom.
“Yes. I think so. I asked him and he was evasive.”
“If you give me the date it happened, I can check,” says Tom.
I shiver, “But how can he be Dark? Finn said he saved me; he was there when I almost died.” I pause. “Died.”
Grace glances at Tom. “The Dark must be responsible for the Between.”
“Finn said it was an accident and he’s in trouble for, um…creating me.” My head spins. “I don’t understand any of this.”
“As you know, Grace lived with Alek and Lizzie for a little while to try to find out if they were connected to the extra deaths. She never saw anyone else associated with them. We’re confused what their involvement is, or why they took you in.”
“They didn’t. I answered an ad for a room.” Alek’s admitted it wasn’t accidental, but how far do I trust these people?
Tom pauses, and he and Grace exchange looks again. “You do know how dangerous you are?”
“Yeah, I’m really scary, look at me...”
“Who are you feeding off?” asks Zach.
“Nobody! Alek sometimes...”
Grace arches a brow. “He lets you touch him?”
My cheeks heat. “There’s something about him and me, because we’re both Between. He’s Alek, a bit odd, but other times... I don’t know. He’s helping me.”
Three pairs of eyes watch and wait for more. I don’t have more. “What?”
Tom helps himself to more corn chips, Grace focuses on her laptop and Zach continues to study me. I’m not spilling to three almost-strangers. I tap my foot and consider whether it’s time to leave.
“I think we need to meet Finn,” announces Tom, breaking the weird stalemate.
Zach chokes on his corn chips. “What the fuck? Are we having an ‘invite every dangerous supernatural creature we can find’ party? Hey, maybe we should scout out a shifter or a necromancer to ask along. What drinks do you think they like?”
“A party sounds like a great idea!” enthuses Tom.
Zach bangs his head on the back of the sofa. “I was kidding, Tom!”
“No, listen...We invite people over and we can watch them. See what they do and who they’re with. We can invite people who know Finn, too, so we can check out his connections. Is there anyone you can invite from work, Rose?” Tom asks. I’m still attempting to process the insanity of his idea and don’t respond. “So, we invite Finn, Alek…” continues Tom. I interrupt with a groan. “What?”
“Finn and Alek in the same room? Not going to happen,” I tell him. “I thought you were scared of people at the hospital?”
“I am. Today, I caught someone watching me. Remember the guy who was with me when you last saw me at work? He hung around the morgue way too much for a heart doctor.”
I decide not to tell them that I saw the doctor talking to Finn.
“We should take Rose through what we’ve found,” suggests Grace, twisting the laptop in my direction.
“I’ll leave you to it then.” Zach stands
“Zach, come on. You’ve spent as much time on this as we have!”
“And you know I don’t agree with what you’re doing. And no way am I coming to your party! He glances at me, and then slinks out of the room.
“Oh, well,” says Tom. “Here’s what we’ve found.”
As they run through their collection of carefully-bookmarked websites, emails from ghostbusters around the world, and blurry pictures which look exactly like a toddler’s attempt to hold a camera, I drift away. My brain is full of this weird world. I can’t process much more.
After an hour, Grace disappears and comes back wearing a baggy black jumper, and then curls into the chair furthest away from me. I check the time on my phone and I’m surprised to see it’s almost twelve am. I’m not a night owl, so I’m surprised I’m not tired.
Grace rubs her eyes and blows on her hands; I’m not cold, either. I switch my scrutiny to Tom who has his black hoodie zipped to his neck. They both constantly eat the corn chips Zach left on the low coffee table.
Oh, my God, I’m taking their energy. I jump as my phone beeps.
<Check in with me, Casper>
I suck air through my teeth. <I’m fine. See you tomorrow>
I don’t manage to get the phone back in my pocket before the phone beeps again. <Are you at Tom’s?>