The Unseen

A Reminder

"Whoa! Look! He's right behind Zach!" Drew exclaims, pointing to the TV screen, "Is this always how you watch these shows?"

I nod. We're watching Ghost Adventures, his hand in mine, and Drew is just now realizing that the ghosts were actually there the whole time, "Always. Most of the other ones are fake though."

"Huh, I didn't think there was such thing as ghosts a month ago. I guess I was wrong." Drew thinks out loud.

I giggle, "I've had no choice but to believe in them. My best friend is one."

He smiles, "I'll be right back." Drew squeezes my hand, then stands up.

"Where you going?" I ask.

"Bathroom. You can come with me if you want." He says flirtatiously.

"Pass," I laugh, "Go ahead."

I sit alone for a few moments before I hear a key turning in the door and it opens wide. Mandy, Matt, Arianna, and Brette step inside.

Brette notices me first, "Rain!" She leaps over and attacks me with a hug.

"Hi, Brette." I say smiling.

Mandy steps toward where I sit on the couch, "Where's Drew at?" An understandable panic fills her voice.

I speak calmly, trying to reassure her, "Drew's fine. He's just in the bathroom."

"How long has he-" Mandy starts, she stops talking when Drew walks out from the hallway, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh, hi." He says to his family. Brette sits just on my left and stares at Drew, "How was Vegas?"

"Fun." Matt answers.

Mandy starts, clearly feeling better, "The hotel was amazing. You should have seen it. And our room was great. It connected to the Parkers' room even!" She continues to speak of their trip but I zone out.

Drew's arm is wrapped securely around my shoulders and I lean into him. Mandy is reading us something off a pamphlet she got. Drew leans over and whispers in my ear, "I want you to come somewhere with me. Once she's done talking, I'll drive us there."

That doesn't take very long. "So what did you two do this weekend?" Mandy asks.

"Well we robbed a few banks, raped a few kids, murdered a guy, did some drugs...oh and Rain's pregnant." Drew says sarcastically.

Mandy gives Drew a look, "Not funny." She sniffs, "What did you actually do?"

Drew shrugs, "We just hung out. Went to a party, went to Landon's house, nothing major."

'Add on a couple possessions.' I think to myself with a slight smile.

"Hey, uh, we have to go to this thing for school. It's a Halloween dance committee meeting at Fiona's house." He says, I'm the only one that can tell he's lying though. I know he wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near where Fiona is.

She sighs, "Okay have fun."

Drew slides his arm down and takes my hand. The door closes behind us and I wait until we get into his Jeep to ask, "So where are we actually going?"

"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you." Drew smiles. His eyes are more gray than they are silver at the moment.

"Well, I don't want to die....I'll just wait and see I guess." I click my nails over the armrest on the door.

+++

We drive for about ten minutes before arriving at a small building with the words 'Cold Steel Tattoos and Piercings' splayed across the front of the building. It's made of brick and has large, tinted glass windows in the front that have signs saying things like 'We do ear piercings' and 'Pay for two tattoos and get the third free'. Drew takes my hand and leads me up to the building.

"Um, Drew, what the hell are we doing here?" I ask him, he just grins, "You aren't making me get like and eyebrow piercing or anything, right? My mom would probably kill me even faster than if I was pregnant. And then you'll have a dead girlfriend and-"

"Relax, Rain. I'm not making you do anything. You're just here for support, unless you have some secret desire to be pierced in strange places or get a barbed wire tattoo on your arm?"

I punch his arm, "Well what are you doing here then?"

"Fixing something." Drew says, "You'll see."

He pulls the glass door open for me and I'm blasted with the air conditioning inside. A man covered in so many tattoos that he looks like an already colored coloring book stands behind the desk, "Appointment?"

Drew steps forward, "Yes, I made an appointment with a Gavin?"

"Drew?" The desk guy asks.

Drew nods.

"GAVIN! YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT!" He yells to the back of the dingy room.

A girl with shaved hair tattoos another girl who couldn't be much older than fourteen. I lean to Drew, "Is that even legal?" I whisper.

He shrugs, "Probably not. But I'm legal." He's right. Drew is eighteen. Technically, he doesn't even have to live with his parents, he just does because it's easier than moving out, finding an apartment and stuff, then just going off to college.

A man with no more than a septum piercing and a tattoo on his forearm to mark him as a worker here, walks out from the back of the place, he speaks with a British accent, "Alright. This way." He points to the second to last chair on the right. The place is set up similar to a salon. Gavin takes a seat on a rolling stool as he gestures for Drew to sit in the big, blue chair. I stand there for a moment before realizing that there's a chair right behind me. I sit in it and look to Gavin, "Where was this one going?"

"Right here." Drew pats the spot over his heart.

"Off with your shirt then." Gavin says. Drew shrugs off his shirt and hands it to me. The burn mark my necklace make is still red but isn't as bad as when I first saw it yesterday. "Damn. Get mixed up with a gang or something?" His eyes flicker to my necklace and back to Drew's chest, "Or maybe just girl troubles?" He says softly to Drew.

We both look to each other and laugh. "Something like that." Drew sniggers.

"Well let's get started then." Gavin says giving us both a peculiar look. He brings out a pen-like pokey object and presses it to Drew's chest carefully, "Hold still."

Drew winces and balls his hands into tight fists. I reach over and carefully twine my fingers into his. He gratefully nods at me and squeezes my hand so hard I think the bones are melting together.

+++

An hour later, there is almost no blood in my hands but Drew's tattoo is done. Gavin sets the pen down and applies an ointment to the new tattoo, "There. Done. Tell Pete I'll be in the back." He walks back to the back of the shop where he came from.

Drew sits there for a moment admiring his new tattoo. I speak up, "That looks really cool." It's an outline of the burn mark with a ribbon over it that says 'A reminder' in cursive on it.

"Thanks. It's a reminder of what happened. But if my parents ask, it's a reminder not to do bad things that I've done before."

"Wow." Is all I can say. I'm speechless.

"The only thing in common with those two instances is that neither will ever happen again. Ever." He says confidently.