Hold Me Closer, Necromancer - Lish McBride [14]
Ramon seemed to follow my train of thought. “Did either of you see a knife or anything?”
I set the bottle of salve down on the table harder than I meant to. “No.” I took a deep breath, trying to release some of my tension. “I was too busy getting my ass kicked.” My voice shook a little, so I cleared my throat. “How about you guys?”
Frank shook his head. Ramon ripped off a piece of tape and handed the roll to Frank. “I didn’t see anything, but he was moving fast. Real fast.” He placed the tape on my back, wrapping it around toward the front. “But if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were attacked by an animal,” he said.
“They look like claw marks, don’t they?” I said. The quaver came back into my voice. I needed to snap out of it. Going into shock wouldn’t do me any good.
“We should call the cops,” Frank said. Ramon and I both turned and stared at him. Frank shifted his weight from foot to foot, seemingly uncomfortable with our full attention.
“No,” I said, shaking my head and wincing. You never fully appreciate how many muscles are attached to your back until you injure them. “No cops. Ramon is right. It looks like I was attacked by an animal.” I slowly moved out of the chair. “I don’t feel like getting laughed out of a police station. And I really don’t feel like pissing these people off any more than I somehow have.”
Frank blinked at me. “This was a warning,” I told him. “I’d hate to see what they do when they’re actually mad.”
Frank looked a little crestfallen. “Oh.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I know you’re trying to help.”
“And you did,” Ramon said. “That was some mean getaway driving.”
Frank smiled.
Ramon collapsed into one of the chairs. “You sure you’ve never seen either of those guys before?”
“Nope.” I grabbed a few beers out of my fridge and tossed two to Ramon and Frank. I leaned my side against the counter and popped the top on mine.
“I mean,” Ramon said, taking a sip, “I’ve seen you piss people off, but usually you have to open your big mouth first.”
“I know. It’s a conundrum.” I drank most of my beer in silence, racking my brain. I didn’t recall seeing those guys before, and I think I would have remembered them. People who drag you around by the neck tend to stick in your memory. I also couldn’t remember saying anything to warrant any of their behavior.
My brain stalled. I was too tired to think anymore, and my body ached with every movement. What I needed was sleep. The rest of the mess I’d sort out in the morning. And if something attacked me again that night, well, then I guessed I wouldn’t have to worry about anything else. But I was still going to sleep with my skateboard.
“You guys do whatever,” I said, “but I’m going to bed.” I checked the deadbolt on the front door and made sure the easy chair fit snugly against it. It didn’t make me feel much better, but any little bit helped. Frank crashed here a lot, and Ramon lived on my couch, most of his stuff either staying in the linen closet or in boxes in his mom’s garage. He couldn’t quite afford his own place—Ramon gave a good chunk of his paycheck to his mom—but he could afford my couch. Ramon I understood, but Frank? Sometimes I wondered if his parents ever noticed he wasn’t coming home most nights.
I went to my room and shut the door. My room isn’t what I’d call a haven. Right now it’s more like ghosts of Sams past. Random textbooks from my first—and only—year of college gathered dust in the corner. I’d tried different classes in school, but nothing ever really grabbed me. Most people felt lost after high school. Sometimes I felt like I’d never really been found in the first place. I didn’t have the heart to get rid of the textbooks, though I wasn’t quite sure what to do with Chemistry 101, English Literature: 1800s–1900s, or anything else I had in that pile. I guess if someone attacked in the night, I could wing the books at them.
The textbooks sat next to several milk crates full of old vinyl. Some were purchased