I wasn’t sure I was ready yet. Could Victor tell what had happened in here? Would he be upset or jealous knowing what was going on and having to sit in the other room?
Yet Silas said nothing about it. He walked out to the dining room.
I followed him.
Victor was in the bathroom doorway in the hallway on the far side, standing there with the door open.
At that same moment, the front door opened. Gabriel appeared. His forehead was spattered with beads of sweat. His sleeves were rolled up like Victor’s, the tie removed and wrapped around his waist like a belt, with part of it hanging down over his thigh. As he walked toward me, crystal eyes wide, his scent was a mix of Kota’s sweet spice, mild soap and a layer of berries and toothpaste.
Gabriel’s face twisted in a mix of emotions. “Sang,” he said and his voice trailed off. He tilted his head, looking me over. He spoke in a stage whisper to keep his tone low. “What the...what’s that mark on your neck?”
Silas turned to him, smirking. “Nothing,” he said, a little too obvious.
I absently touched the spot he’d kissed, worried suddenly about it.
Gabriel gaped. “What the fuck, dude? I have to cover this. Did you bite her?”
Silas tilted his head back, shaking it. “What? No...I...”
“Guys,” Victor said in a harsh whisper.
“Vic,” Gabriel said. He shook his head vigorously, so the blond locks mixed a little more with the russet. “What the hell? I leave for a few and she’s getting bit. Make Silas stop—”
“I didn’t bite her,” Silas said. “Why would I?”
“Guys,” Victor seethed, turning halfway from the bathroom door. He made a motion for us to come over. “Come see this.”
The fire in his eyes was intense.
We moved instantly, although quietly. I hoped North was able to sleep through this.
We stood close together, looking over Victor’s shoulder and staring at the bathroom.
Half of the bathroom wall for the shower was gone, the glass removed. Part of the wall had the tiles knocked out.
“What happened?” Gabriel whispered. “Did someone get into a fight?”
“And knocked out the wall with their body?” Silas asked. “No. Someone would be in the hospital for that.” He moved into the room and then gazed at the crumbling portion still jutting out. He ran his fingers over the edges, feeling the sharp, jutting pieces of tile. “This had to have been done with a sledge.”
“When did this happen?” Gabriel asked.
Victor shook his head slowly and then dropped his shoulders. “Nathan...”
It didn’t hit me until he said it, and then I recalled North and Nathan hiding away in other parts of the house, whispering to each other. Had they done this? “I didn’t hear a sledge,” I said. “Not since I’ve been here.”
“Maybe before you got here,” Silas said. He waved me and the others out. “Let’s go back to the other bedroom.”
I followed them. Silas shut the door behind me, and we all went back into the master bedroom.
With the four of us, it felt a little crowded. Victor moved away from us, heading toward the bathroom and closing the door. Silas sat on the bed, causing a small wave. He pushed against the bubble. “I keep fixing this bed and there’s always an air bubble.”
“There’s a hole somewhere on the top,” Gabriel said and then crawled on the bed. He collapsed, making another small wave. “Don’t they have waveless waterbeds now? This one has been here for years.”
Silas laughed. “Yes, waveless beds. Called a normal mattress.”
Gabriel lifted his hand and dropped it quickly against the mattress. “Fuck yeah. Let’s get one of those.”
The laptop slid precariously close to the edge of the bed. I crawled partway over Gabriel, using Silas as support for a minute, to get to the laptop before it fell off. I took it into my lap while sitting against the headboard and checked in on the cameras.
The boys that had been playing basketball had taken a break, drinking what looked like lemonade and eating sandwiches that had been brought out on a tray.
Carol was at the kitchen table with my dad, and they were eating the same lunch.
I groaned. “Is it lunchtime already? I should start heading back.”
Gabriel groaned. Silas grunted.
Victor returned from the bathroom. His hair was brushed neatly. He grasped the tank shirt and tugged it loose until it was untucked. “It’s my turn to go into the attic?”
“I can do it,” Silas said.
“Sang may not get up there if Carol gets her cleaning, too,” Gabriel said. He swung his legs around and sat up. “Or Jimmy gets her to play basketball.”
“I don’t want to go,” I said. I was whining, but I couldn’t help it. I sprawled out on my back when he left room for me to do so. “I’ll stay. You go.”
He smirked and then put a foot on the bed, pushing hard at the bubble. I was forced to turn over, my side colliding with his leg.
“I’m not wearing the dress,” he said.
“I’d do it if she gets to stay out,” Victor said.
“Hell, I’d do it,” Silas said. “She stays out? I’d do it.”
Gabriel laughed and then flopped onto the bed next to me. “One of you wears the dress and Sang stays here? Deal.”
The wave had me rolling to the other side of the bed, and I almost tumbled to the floor until Gabriel caught me and drew me back to the middle.
Their jokes had me feeling better, and I had a feeling that was their goal. They didn’t talk about the bathroom in shambles, or what had happened there. They didn’t talk too heavily. They smiled, joked and teased me.
I wanted this. It was like the way we were before. I didn’t know what had happened in the bathroom, but I could only hope it didn’t have anything to do with me.
But I felt it did. That it was my fault. I simply didn’t know what to think of it at the moment.
Gabriel sat up on the bed, reached for me and then tilted my chin, looking at my neck. “Goddamn, Silas. Half her neck is fucking purple.”
Silas grinned broadly but then shook it off. He gazed at me. “It doesn’t hurt? I didn’t think about it. I just—”
“It’s fine,” I said and lifted my hand to touch my neck. It was odd to talk about this with them, but they didn’t seem upset at all. “It wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t for Carol.”
“Probably not good to let Kota see it, either,” Gabriel said. He turned to the others. “We’ve got to be more careful. You’re all in for the plan, right?”
Victor nodded.
Silas shrugged. “If the others are.”
“They will be,” he said. He turned to me again and smirked as he made another wave on the bed. “But let’s try not to irritate them for a bit. Until we’re sure.” Gabriel tugged me off the bed. “Come on, I got to figure out that makeup for...”
There was a noisy shake of the doorknob, and the door opened wide.
North appeared, his dark shirt and jeans rumpled more. His hair was all over the place.
Gabriel moved until he had an arm wrapped around my neck, covering Silas’s mark.
North scanned the room and raised a dark eyebrow at Silas. “What?”
“Nothing,” Silas said, shrugging, yet his cheeks were red. “Sang’s getting ready to go back.”