Keepers

Chapter 3

I wake up, but I can't see anything. It feels as if I'm succumbed in warmth. From another person? I try not to make anything of it and just listen. 

"What the hell Dax? I would say that I am going to kill you for that but we both know that's not gonna happen."

"It was just a little jump scare that's all. No harm done! See, she blacked out before anything bad happened." 

"Yeah right, a little jump scare. You really need to control your... outbursts. They've gone out of hand."

Another voice breaks the conversation. This one is familiar, wait am I still in the cemetery?

"Well, I'll just be on my way. Tell May that it was a pleasure to meet her." I think... Is that James?

Wait! No! I'm here! I just can't seem to open my eyes. It's all darkness. My breathing picks up and my frustration starts to rise.

"Hey, I think she's awake." Says the unknown voice from before. Maybe it's the Dax that familiar voice mentioned before?

The darkness vanishes, as if swiped away. Oh, I guess literally. Someone was... blocking my vision with their arm? Wait, am I laying on someone's lap? I scramble to get up. Once my feet hit the ground I fling out my arms in an attempt for balance. Fail. I fall right back down, but my back doesn't meet the ground, it feels as if someone's holding on to me.

"Take it easy now, you stood up to fast and the blood rushed to your head." I'm surprised, I should have recognized this voice when I very first heard it.

"Zander?" I question.

"Yeah, that's me."

I slowly attempt to stand up right on my own. I was right, I'm still in the cemetery . And...

"Who's that?" I ask. This must have been who the unknown voice belonged to. I turn to get a better view. He's slender, with dark red hair almost reaching his eyes. And his eyes... Is it possible for them to look so crazy? Not the eyes themselfs, but as if his intentions are showing through his eyes. But his eyes also take on this light honey tint. It looks as if a hazel pool is flaked with specks of gold all over. At least the beauty of his eyes make up for the crazy part.

"This... " Zander says, interupting my train of thought. "Is Dax. He's an idiot."

"Am not!" the guy... Dax, retorts.

"Sure, whatever you say." Zander replies with a sly look.

Then it hits me. "Would anyone like to inform me on what the hell just happened?"

"Oh yeah..." Dax scratches the back of his head and the look on his face reminds me so much of that one embarrassed looking emoji with the tear drop (or sweat who knows) on the top of its face.

Zander interjects for him, "Well this idiot here," pointing his thumb at Dax and receiving a glare from him. "has a... control problem."

"I don't follow..." I give him a confused look.

"Dax has times where he does something without consciously knowing. He... This is hard to explain. Anyways, he grabbed your neck and cut your airway until you fainted."

"But not on purpose! I swear!" Dax interupts.

"Anyways, I was saying. After you fainted, I held you on the bench until you woke up. Oh, and James just left. He said it was a pleasure to meet you." Zander says. Damn, it's starting to feel cold out here.

"I couldn't see when I first woke up, were you covering my eyes?"

"Probably, I never realized." Now Zander starts to look embaraced. Looking around (obviously trying to avoid eye contact) Zander reaches up and ruffed up his hair. This is one of his many habits I've observed over the years.

"Alright give it up, why were you blocking my sight? And why are you acting so... weird?" Bringing my hands up to my arms I start to shiver.

"Yeah Zander, why are you so weird?" Dax teases, messing up Zander's hair even more.

Pushing Dax away as if he were a spider and Zander had arachnophobia Zander said, "Well... Uh, I don't know how to put this nicely... Dax was... Kind of is my best fr-"

"Kind of?! Dude, I'm offended." Dax interrupts, crossing his arms into a "pouting toddler" stance.

"Just shut up! Sorry... Maybe we should talk about this at home, May's freezing so we should probably head back. Nice seeing you Dax." Zander waves goodbye and leads me away by the small of my back.

I stop abruptly, "Wait. What's your problem? I mean... Besides the whole (this part I shout in Dax's direction) making me black out, what do you have against him?"

Zander sighs, "Alright, fine. Dax was my best friend, we knew each other since elementary school. He became a keeper in his freshman year. Considering the crazy curious kid he was, he started wandering out at night to find wanderers."

"Why do you have to tell this story?" Dax pouts.

"Dax, stop interupting. Anyways, one night he saw a crying girl in the middle of the street from his window. Of course, he felt compelled to go out there and ask what was wrong. Considering most wanderers assume they can't be seen, she was scared off. He started running after her... But as he was crossing the street he..." Zander starts to tear up. Sniffling, he continues, "Anyway, you get the point. Once I met you, I told him that he could no longer associate with me when I'm with you. Otherwise you may have found out that I'm a keeper way earlier. Becoming jealous he started to play jokes on people as a release. Thus why he... I'm really sorry about that by the way."

Having received to much information at once I start to feel light headed. Maybe that's a side effect of fainting earlier, who knows. The wind starts to pick up and my shivering gets worse. I thought I came prepared, I wore black jeans with a bulky white and black stripped sweater.

Zander's face contorts into a look of concern. He shakes off his coat and drapes it over me. I gladly put my arms in.

"Well... We can probably go through all of this later. Would you like to come over Dax? Since she knows about you now... It won't be a problem." Zander gestures for Dax to follow us.

Bobbing his head full of dark red hair up and down he takes the invitation.