Flashfire

Ch7

"Hold on," Caleb said. "Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on."

He kicked the door shut behind himself, seeing as his arms were overflowing with groceries. In his mouth were his keys, and his back pocket was ringing incessantly. Unceremoniously he dumped the bags onto the kitchen table, then winced, remembering something a second too late.

"Fuck, the eggs!" Caleb moaned.

Taking the keys out of his mouth, winded, he fished his now silent phone out of his back pocket. He had just walked up six flights of stairs, thanks to the elevator being broken. It had been on the fifth floor his phone started ringing, and it didn't stop ringing until just then.

"Jesus," he muttered, looking down at his phone. He unlocked it, staring at the screen in baffled annoyance. He had three missed calls from his good friend Paul.

Frowning, Caleb's thumb hovered over the call button, but he never got to press it. The screen lit up, vibrating and playing its little jingle. The name was, once again, Paul.

"This had better be good," Caleb said as soon as he put the phone to his ear. "I think I just smashed a carton of eggs trying to pick up your call—"

"Caleb."

Caleb immediately felt disturbed. It was one of those instances where, before even knowing fully what or why, something seemed off. It was definitely Paul's voice, through and through, but it seemed...Different. More serious. Like a hollowed out tree.

"Stop. Talking," Paul instructed.

Even though a shudder rammed through his body, he couldn't help but chuckle. "What Paul? You're kind of freaking me out—"

"Liam's dead."

Caleb immediately rolled his eyes. "Fuck off."

"Caleb, I'm serious. He's gone."

Caleb was familiar with the fact that, in books, when receiving such news, very specific things were described; "it felt like the air rushed out of the room", or, "the blood in their veins turned to ice", or, "a sick knot formed in the pit of their stomach." Caleb, however, standing there (noticing how the bottom of the one grocery bag was beginning to turn a darker color, presumably from the eggs), found none of those applied. There was no deadening of the senses. There was no immediate anguish.

If anything, the only thing that shifted for him was a strange sort of hyper-awareness. The skin on his arms and the back of his neck goose pimpled, the hairs rising uncomfortably erect. He could hear the ceiling fan from the apartment below, located in the kitchen just below his feet, clicking rhythmically as it spun. Somewhere, someone was listening to a television show too loudly, intermingling with someone listening to music too loudly. The neighbor next door was doing dishes, the water running and dishes clacking.

"Fuck off," Caleb said, though a bit more hoarse this time around, his voice sounding like it didn't even believe itself.

"They found him over by 85th; the railroad tracks."

Caleb started pacing. He was shocked by how calm his voice was when he replied to Paul. It was like he was chatting about the latest sports scores. "By the shitty part of town?"

"Yeah."

"What in the Goddamn was he doing over there?"

And it was only when Paul let out a strangled sob did the weight of everything come crashing down on Caleb. "I d'no, man. I was hoping you could tell me?"

~

"Caleb?"

Caleb blinked. The fog from that horrible memory faded. Liam stood over him, looking slightly concerned. Caleb took a quick survey of his surroundings; he was still on the bed, and the book was still open.

Liam gave a half-smile. "You alright? You hadn't turned the page for a minute or two." He chuckled. "I lost you there for a second."

Caleb shook his head, rifling through the pages. "Salt," he said.

Liam frowned slightly. "You're still on about the salt?"

Caleb grinned. "Yes, and you're still a fucking genius."

"I am?"

"I know I read somewhere," Caleb said, brow furrowed as he flitted through the pages and tapping his pen quickly, "that salt is important. Somehow. Now, where did I find that?"

When Caleb trailed off, Liam spoke. "Erm, well, I mean, I know when you want to protect your room and stuff you're supposed to line the room you're in with salt, or something."

Caleb screws up his face. "How do you know that?"

Liam's pale skin flushed pink, temporarily giving it a normal hue. "Erm, vampires."

Heavily rolling his eyes, Caleb tisked. "You and that silly obsession."

Liam grinned now. "Hey! It's finally come in handy, right?"

Caleb chuckled. "I suppose." He paused, looking thoughtful. "Why do you like vampires so much? I mean, I get it, you're not the only one. Is it the whole immortality thing?"

Liam snorted. "Hardly."

"Do you find them sexy?" Caleb gave a wicked grin.

Liam grinned right back. "Maybe. But not as sexy as you."

An awkward silence fell between them, broken only by Caleb clearing his throat and craning his head back down to look at his book.

"Sorry," Liam muttered.

"Ah-ha!" Caleb grinned wildly and held up the book, taping it with his index finger. "Found it! Salt!"

Liam merely shook his head and smiled.