Touched - Part Three

Amber paced beside her car while she watched police officers file in and out of her house. She couldn’t bring herself to go back inside even for a change of clothing, but she didn’t have a clue where she could go that was safe. She didn’t have any extended family living nearby, and aside from Rochelle, most of the people she knew were distant acquaintances at best.

She opened the door of her car and sat down to retrieve her bag. Taking out her organizer, she opened it and glanced down at the lime green business card that flipped into her lap. She picked it up and winced as she read the front:

Marcus Wrigley

10th Level Mage

Amber’s memory wandered back to the night at the anime club meeting when he had pressed the card into her palm. He’d smiled and said, “One day, you’re gonna need me.”

She didn’t want to admit to herself that she’d kept his card mainly because he was the only guy who’d paid attention to her without coming across as a stalker. She held on to it, but she had never called Marcus, because the professional title on his ‘business card’ suggested that he had issues.

Amber shook her head and tossed the card aside. “No, anybody but him. He’s only the weirdest one out of the entire anime club, and he’s smelly.” She sighed and went through the organizer twice before looking back at the card in the passenger seat.

The lime green color only made the idea of calling him that much more hideous. The color almost glowed with a radioactive light, and she wondered absently if she sniffed the card, it might still carry his unwashed scent.

But there was no one else to call who she knew as more than just a name, and she figured Marcus was scrawny enough that she could take him in a fight if he suddenly went crazy as well.

The phone rang four times before the answering machine picked up, and Marcus’ thin, almost whiny sounding voice declared, “Hi, you’ve reached the home office of Marcus Wrigley, a fourteenth level mage.”

Amber rolled her eyes. Terrific, she thought. He went and gave himself a promotion.

The message continued “I’m not here right now, but if you give your age, gender, your vital stats, and your alignment, I may decide that you are worthy of my sexay. Um...yeah, so leave a message after the beep.”

Amy sighed. “Hi, you probably don’t remember me, but—”

The phone clicked. “Amber?”

Her mouth hung open in disbelief before she could find her voice. “Yeah, it’s me. I’m having a major problem right now, and—”

“Yes, I know. You’re family is gone, and you need someplace safe to stay, right?”

“Yes...wait, how do you know?”

“Because your house has been on the news for the last hour. Duh...uh.” There was a long awkward silence before Marcus said, “Oh, hey wait, I’m sorry. I guess that came out wrong.”

“It’s okay.” Amber sighed. “It’s not like I’ve got many other options. But Marcus, I need to figure out some way to be around more than one person. I’m not sure I can explain why just yet, but I think it’s important.” She paused and closed her eyes. He probably already thinks I’m crazy.

Amber asked,  “So, can you help me out?”

“Yes, on both counts,” Marcus said. “It just so happens that I’ve got a group of guys over for a campaign, so we can all watch over you.”

Amber cringed, her whole body tensing with a sudden feeling of nausea. “So...who all is there?”

“Uh, let’s see. Nelson, Phillip, Lenny, and Eddie.”

“Right,” Amber muttered. In other words, everyone from the anime club who could possibly make the experience awkward and more repugnant.

***

Marcus opened the door of his apartment, and Amber needed several seconds to readjust her assessment of him. When she’d seen him at the anime club meeting many months before, his long, dark blond hair had been so oily that it had formed thick clumps that fell over his face. He’d had acne all over his cheeks and forehead, and his clothes always looked slept in.

But Marcus seemed like a completely different person. His hair was pulled back neatly in a ponytail, now looking much cleaner and lighter in color. His complexion was clear, and she noticed that without his hair covering his face, he was almost pretty.

She relaxed as she stepped into the apartment. This might not be so bad, she thought before turning to find twelve eyes—two with glasses—staring intently at her from the living room. Nope, I was wrong.

Amber clutched her bag to her chest as Marcus shut the door behind her. The middle of the apartment living room was dominated by a round table with very short legs.  The four guys kneeling around the table continued to stare at her, and every expression screamed, Holy cow, it’s a female!

She gave a tiny wave. “Hello.”

“Right, so you’ll want the bathroom first,” Marcus said as he stepped around her.

“Huh?”

“Well, you’ll probably want to wash off?”

Amber looked down, wondering why it had taken her so long to remember that she was still dressed in the same bloodstained clothes. “Right. I can’t go back into my house to pick up any clothes. Do you have something clean I might be able to use?”

“Yeah, probably. Follow me.” Marcus walked across the living room to a short hallway with three doors. He gestured to his left while he veered to the door on the right. “That’s the bathroom, and the middle door is my roommate’s room.” He looked over his shoulder and leaned over toward her to whisper. “She likes to think she’s a vampire, so she’s strictly a night shift person.”

Amber smiled weakly as she followed him into his room. She’d noticed when he leaned in that he didn’t smell so bad as she remembered, and part of her wondered if he’d picked up a new hygiene skill with some of his recent experience points.

His room was neater and more organized than she’d expected, though she was hardly surprised by the number of posters featuring wizards and scantily clad amazons. Her gaze drifted to Marcus, who stood by his dresser, staring back at her with an awkward expression.

Amber asked, “What are you doing?”

“Guessing your size?” Marcus said. He stepped back over to Amber. “Listen, I know you won’t want to shut the door because you’re worried about being alone.” His voice became lower the longer he spoke, and Amber had to lean in to hear him. “You have to promise me you won’t laugh, okay?”

“O—kay?” Amber asked, regarding him with a confused look as she followed him to the dresser.

He opened the top drawer to reveal a row of panties.

Amber bit her lip and looked at him with an expression halfway between pity and disgust. “These are...um, yours?”

“Something like that,” Marcus said and shrugged. “It’s just something that I do sometimes, but the guys don’t need to know about it, okay? It would weird them out.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.” Amber looked back down at the drawer. Sometimes? she thought. Who the hell is he kidding? There’s a whole lingerie collection in there.

Offering him an uncomfortable smirk, Amber said, “I don’t mean to be rude, but do you...well, do you have anything you haven’t worn yet?”

Marcus blushed as he started digging near the back of the drawer. “Just this one pair. I didn’t have the guts to put it on even if no one would see it.”

Amber covered her mouth when he pulled out the flimsy red thong panties. The glitter arrow pointing to the crotch was bad enough, but the block letters that declared ‘OPEN 24 HRS’ had her shaking her head so fast that her neck hurt.

“Forget it. I’ll just take one of these.” Amber tugged a pair of black bikini briefs out of the drawer and turned to look at the closet. She looked back at Marcus and sighed. “I just realized that you and I are almost the same size.”

“Yeah, I think I’m an inch taller than you, but I’m not carrying around as much weight.” Amber glared at Marcus, and he looked down. He should have stopped digging then, but he noticed her blood streak tennis shoes and said, “I should be able to help you with everything but your shoes. I don’t have anything that big either.”

“Marcus, maybe you should dump some skill points in tact,” Amber commented sarcastically.

Marcus snorted. “I’ve heard that bef—”

“Dude, you’re holding up the game!”

Marcus sighed, looking over his shoulder as he whined, “Yeah, be right there.” He lowered his voice again. “You can go through my closet, but please, if anyone asks, these are all my cousin’s clothes.”

Amber nodded. “Your secret is safe with me.” She watched him leave and went to the closet. The light flicked to life, and she stifled a gasp as she tried to adjust to being stared at by the army of stuffed unicorns which dominated the upper shelf of the closet.

A quick survey of the racks themselves confirmed that there were very few ‘guy clothes,’ while there was a vast array of women’s outfits and costumes.

Slowly, she stepped into the closet and shook her head. Now I know what happened. I must have slipped and fallen outside the house on my way to the car. I’m probably in a coma right now, and that’s why everything is so surreal now. I’m having a dream induced by a brain fever, or...or maybe brain swelling.

***

Amber felt someone shake her shoulder lightly, and she jerked awake, her eyes snapping open to see Marcus standing over her. “Did I fall asleep?”

He put a finger to his lips and gestured back to the two makeshift pallets on the living room floor. “You said we couldn’t be alone, so I talked Nelson and Phillip into standing guard.”

“Thanks.” Amber sat up on the couch and yawned. “I should have said that sooner.”

Marcus shrugged as his expression became sympathetic. “You’ve probably had other things on your mind.”

“No, I haven’t been able to think about...” She frowned. “I shouldn’t try to think about them right now.”

Marcus stared at her quietly for several minutes before he asked, “Why did you need people around?”

“I’m not sure if I’m just making a wild guess, but Rochelle stopped trying to kill me when there were other people looking.”

“Okay, but...” Marcus shook his head. “Never mind. Now’s not the right time.”

“No, go ahead.”

“It’s just that your mom killed your whole family. They were all in the house together, right?”

Amber nodded and looked down at her lap. “I guess I am grasping at straws, just like Dad was this morning.”

The admission forced her to think about her father’s body, and with the flood of memories that followed, she lost control of herself. Marcus’ arm closed around her shoulders as she wept.

Nelson groaned, “Dude, it’s oh-god-hundred, and I have to be in class at eight.”

Amber wanted to say something flippant, but she couldn’t find her voice.

Marcus got up from the couch and pulled her up by her wrists to take her into his room. “Wait, Marcus—”

“I won’t even get undressed. I promise,” he said and sat her down on the bed. Sitting down beside her, he draped his thin arm over her shoulders and pulled her in close again. “It’s okay to cry, Amber. We can figure out what happened tomorrow.”

Amber nodded, and she rested her head on his shoulder before she let the flood of grief overwhelm her.

***

Hands are clawing at her throat. She hears a soft cackling, but she can’t open her eyes to see who is attacking her. “Little freak,” a voice hisses angrily. “Why do I keep running into freaks like you?”

Amber rolled off of the bed, making a strained cry as she landed on her butt. She glanced over to see Marcus watching her with a worried expression and looked down before she  shook her head. “It was just a nightmare. I think I’m going to be having a few of those for a while.”

“I’m sorry,” Marcus said. He got up from the bed and walked around to help her to her feet. “Come on. I’ll make you some breakfast before I have to get ready for school.”

Amber nodded and followed him out of the room. She looked over to find the living room empty and stopped. “Are we alone?”

“No, there’s always Vicky the Vamp,” Marcus said. “You missed her leaving for her night shift job, and she’s probably already back in her coffin now.”

Amber’s head snapped around quickly. “Her what?”

Marcus shrugged. “She pays her half of the rent on time, and she never teases me about my hobbies. Compared to my last six roommates, I can live with her fetish pretty easily.” He gave a tiny shudder. “The only thing about her that gives me the willies is when she starts waxing romantically about her lancing partners.”

“Okay, way too much information.”

“That’s what I say, and I’m giving you fair warning. If she says she fed on someone, don’t ask what she meant.” Marcus went into the kitchen, looking up at Amber over the top of the breakfast bar. “Getting back to your worries, I thought we’d established that being alone was a false lead.”

Amber said, “I don’t know that it is yet, but I’m not sure what to think.”

Marcus nodded and went to work making omelettes. Amber moved to the door of the kitchen to watch him, and he glanced back at her occasionally with a thoughtful expression. “Tell me what happened, starting from the beginning. Try not to leave any details out.”

Amber did, and though she expected him to interrupt her with an objection, he only gave a nod every now and then in response to something she said. He moved to the table with the two omelettes, and he ate while she continued to ramble. When she finished, he still didn’t speak, and instead he gestured for her to eat.

It occurred to her that she had not had anything to eat since breakfast the day before, and she finished her omelette quickly. By then Marcus’s silence had become irritating. “Would you at least tell me this is crazy, please?”

“I don’t think you’re crazy,” Marcus said. “I might be making too great a leap here, so let me pose a question to you. How would you sum up the behavior of your mother and Rochelle in one word?”

“I don’t know that there is one. They both just...” Amber’s eyes widened, and Marcus gave a small nod as though he knew what word had just popped into her mind. Amber said, “They acted like they were possessed.”

“Which may explain why this apartment is safe,” Marcus said, standing up to gather the dishes.

Amber got up to trail behind him just a few steps off his heels. She leaned over the breakfast bar that divided the small kitchen from the dining room, curious to find out how Marcus knew anything about possession. “You will be following that statement with an explanation, won’t you?”

“I had a witch for a girlfriend last year.”

“Sure, that’s what every guy says.”

“No, I mean a real witch,” Marcus said. “She blessed me, and the apartment.”

Amber’s face faulted into a look of amusement, and she couldn’t resist asking, “She didn’t curse you on the way out?”

“Nah, we parted on mostly decent terms. She showed up one afternoon to announce that she was leaving me for a real man.”

“Ouch.”

“I’ve heard it before.” Marcus waved his hand dismissively. He went to the refrigerator to dry his hands on a towel hung from the handle, and then he held one hand over the bar for Amber’s inspection.

She still looked confused, so he pointed to a tiny black dot in the skin stretched out between his palm and his thumb. “See that? It’s my blessing.”

Amber stared at it, and then up at his sincere expression. “So, the only reason you can’t be possessed is a black dot?”

Marcus smirked. “Now you’re a skeptic? Look, I think the more important issue is, why can’t you be possessed? You felt this thing touch you twice. I’ll bet the first time, it went back into the house, and...maybe this will sound crazy, but maybe your mom was the only person in your family that this thing could possess.”

“Okay, but what is it? Are we talking about some kind of angry ghost or a demon?”

Marcus shook his head. “I’ve got no clue, but for the time being, we can assume that my apartment is safe for you.”

“Yeah,” Amber agreed and made an embarrassed smile at a stray memory. “When I saw your card, I was dreading seeing you again. You seemed really cocky that I was going to have to call you.”

Marcus stared at her blankly for a few seconds before he nodded. “Oh, right, that.”

“You said I would need you.”

Marcus nodded again as his expression became uncomfortable. “Yeah, but I was thinking to offer you some advice on fashion.”