The Turn of a Page

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

            ‘What was that about then?’ Baz asked, as we dropped onto the sofa back at home.

            ‘What was what about?’ I asked back, not sure which bit of the day he meant.

            ‘That guy? What did he want?’

            I shuffled so I was leaning into his side. ‘He had a message from you know who, but I said I didn’t want to hear it so he didn’t tell me.’ He looked sceptical. ‘I did!’ I exclaimed. ‘You can even ask Charlie, I know he was listening while you were out running. Ethan just stayed so he could talk; he’s just a human like me. And you don’t need to look like that,’ I added as he looked away.

            He shrugged his shoulders. ‘Hmm, I’m not jealous, Kez. I’m just wary, and now I want to know what Cayleb wanted. Why did you say you didn’t want to hear it?’

            ‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Apparently not. ‘Because I don’t want anything more to do with him, and that includes communicating. Besides, if I take his message it might look like I still want something to do with him; and I had the pressure of Charlie listening in. I know he’s your best friend and he can’t help it, I know him enough to know he was just looking out for me on your behalf.’

            ‘Yeh, he does, but he’s like that; and you are his friend as well as my girlfriend so of course he’s going to look out for you. And he did back off a bit more when Ethan, is it? When he told you he wasn’t one of us, what harm can a human really do to us?’ He put on his darkening smirk and squeezed me closer to him.

            Upstairs, lying on my side with him in front of me, I thought about the past few days over and over again. Snoring a little, Baz seemed to be restless as he napped, his rear legs kicking a bit and scratching my thighs sometimes; I winced when it became too much and I sat up with my legs over the edge, my back facing him. Putting my elbows on my knees and bending over so I could put my chin on my knuckles, I still wondered what that message actually was.

            Knowing that I was letting him in again, I shook my head and went to get a drink from downstairs. Once there, I held my glass in both hands and leant against the worktop by the sink. For some reason I was shaking with nerves and felt really cold considering it was early evening and the air was still very warm and humid. The shivering began to creep from my skin through to my muscles and on into the pit of my stomach. I closed my eyes and focused on taking my mind off the convulsions, I knew if I didn’t I would be sick; it felt as though I had had too much sun as my head had started pounding near my forehead. Deciding to check, I walked through into the hallway and looked at myself in the mirror hanging on the wall.

            My eyes looked empty, as though a part of me had been taken away from my reach; I looked under my eyes and saw there were faint circles from the many hours I hadn’t been sleeping through at night. The pulse that travelled through my temples was just visible in the faint light from outside and matched the pulsing feeling that coursed through my brain, causing pain the more I had my eyes open.

            Slowly making my way back to my room, I tried avoiding the creaking patches of floorboards as I trudged up the stairs. The sound of scratching flowed to my ears as I reached the last two steps; opening the door slowly, I sneaked in and closed it as silently as I had opened it. Stepping quietly over to the side of my bed, I kneeled on the floor and reached out my fingers to brush his mane. It wasn’t a good idea.