Asylum (53 page)

            She
glanced around trying to find a clock.

            “You
have somewhere you’re supposed to be?” Seth smiled at her.

            “You
have a game tomorrow, and practice before, I can’t believe you stayed out as
late as you did,” Chloe reminded him.

            “And
I’m soooo hungry,” Sam added.  “Why couldn’t we have gone to school somewhere
where there’s a Taco Bell?”

            “It’s
three in the morning,” Father Andrew informed them, checking his wristwatch.

            “Yeah,
it’s late.  Look, we’re really sorry about all this.  I’ll pay for the window
and-” Chloe began.

            “No,
no,” Father Andrew waved her off.  “Never be sorry, you came to the right
place.  You did the right thing in coming to the Church.  In the future-”

            “Noooo,
no more of this in the future,” Seth said determinedly.  “We’re swearing off
Ouija boards and ghost stories from now on.”

            Father
Andrew stole a quick glance at Chloe.  She was studying her fingers.

            “All
the same,” Father Andrew said, trying to catch her eye.  “I believe it’d be
best if I kept my eye on you kids.”

            “We’ll
talk more, another time,” Chloe said, not meeting his eye and standing up.

            Seth
and Sam got to their feet.

            “I
think we should go home though, I’m soo…soo tired,” she smiled weakly.

            “I’ll
go start the truck, get the heat on.  Father-” Seth held out a hand, which the
priest shook, “I don’t know how to thank you.  I didn’t know what else to do.”

            “For
not knowing what to do, you did very well,” The priest congratulated him. 
“It’s Seth
Maird
, isn’t it?  Our local hockey hero?”

            Seth
looked embarrassed and shrugged.

            “I
thought so.  Good luck tonight.”

            Seth
left, and Sam held her hand out to the priest.

            “Well
Padre,” she grinned impishly, “It’s been…an interesting night.  Let’s do it
again sometime.”

            “Let’s
hope not,” Father Andrew smiled back.

            Chloe
shook his hand quietly and followed Sam towards the door.

            “Just
a minute, Chloe…can I talk to you?,” he called after her.

            Chloe
and Sam looked at each other.

            “Tell
him, I’ll be out in a few,” she told Sam.

            Sam
left.  Chloe stood still, avoiding his gaze by fixing on a point beyond his
head.

            “What
are you going to do now?” Father Andrew asked.  “I don’t suppose I can convince
you not to go looking for more trouble?”

            “No,”
she agreed passively.  “I’m part of this fight.  I don’t think I could avoid it
if I tried, but I don’t want to avoid it now.”

            “You
don’t have to be part of it.  It seems like it was something you stumbled upon
by accident, you could try and forget about it.  This seems like something
better handled by people who are prepared to-”

            “Does
it seem that way?  Like an accident?  I thought you guys didn’t believe in
accidents,” she remarked calmly.

            “You’re
barely more than a child,” he told her honestly.  “There are people, within the
church who are equipped to deal with the sort of-”

            “Oh,
I think I’m as well-equipped as anyone.  My Dad was trying to tell me what I
needed to know all along.  I can see that now,” she said.

            “Your
father…?” he asked.

            “He’s
gone, dead. I think…I think that he was one of them, the good ones…one of
Abraham’s Men.  That’s where I’ll start.  I’m going to have to go home.  I’m
going to have to talk to my mom.  I think I’d rather deal with ghosts to be
honest,” Chloe smiled.

            “If
you don’t check in with me, I’ll come looking for you,” Father Andrew warned. 
“And when it’s not three o’clock in the morning, we’re going to sit down and
talk this all through, maybe several times.”

            Chloe
shook her head in agreement.

            “Thank-you,
Father,” she said.  “I’m not a Catholic, but I think sometime I’d like to
confess a few things to you.”

            “I’ll
be here,” he promised.

            Outside,
Sam jumped out of the truck and held the door open for Chloe, allowing her to
slide in next to Seth.  The heat blasted full force out of the vent, assaulting
her face.  It felt good.

            The
drive back to the dormitory uncomfortable.  A hundred times, Chloe opened her
mouth to bring IT up.  The subject they were all thinking about, but she didn’t
seem to know where to start., and neither, it seemed, did they.

            At
last they pulled into a spot in the frozen dormitory parking lot.  Seth turned
the car off.  No one moved to get out.

            And
suddenly, they were all talking over one another.

            “It
doesn’t matter guys, I’m not upset anymore, let’s forget it ever-” Chloe began.

            “It
was MY fault!” Sam blurted out, “the whole fucking thing, Clo!  I don’t know
why I’m such a jerk.  And if I hadn’t- If I hadn’t…then you wouldn’t of-”

            “I
failed you, I know how hard it is for you to trust, and I’m going to show you
that you can. That I’m going to be there-” Seth rambled.

            “You’re
my best friend,” Sam said.

            “And
my girlfriend still, right?” Seth asked.

            Chloe
could feel a smile spread across her tired face, she laughed.

            “I
love you guys,” she said.  “Now can we go in before we freeze to death?”

            “Yeah,
I think I’ve got half a pastie in the fridge anyways,” Sam remembered.  “I’m
starving, did I mention that?”

            Sam
was the first to open the door and jump down.  Seth took the opportunity to
throw an arm around her and kiss her forehead, hard.

            “Stay
with me tonight,” he offered.

            “I
was planning on it.”

            They
followed Sam into the dormitory, Chloe with her hand tucked under his arm.            Sam
unlocked the door of their room, the light was still on.

            “You
need to get anything?” Seth whispered.

            “Gimme
a sec, I need to talk to Sam,” she answered, watching her roommate shove the
desk back against the wall, and then head for the mini fridge.

            Seth
disappeared, leaving Sam and Chloe to themselves.

            “You
alright?” Chloe asked, still standing in the doorway.

            “Yeah. 
Hungry as hell and dead tired.  Being possessed really takes it out of ya I
guess,” Sam shrugged.  “You want some of this?”

            She
held up a large chunk of pastie wrapped in tin foil.  Chloe shook her head, and
Sam took a huge bite, before dropping it on a plate and shoving it in the microwave.

            “I
meant, are you alright for tonight…by yourself?” Chloe asked.

            Sam
watched the pastie rotating in the microwave intently, as though she hadn’t
heard Chloe.

            “Because
I’m going to go down to Seth’s and-”

            “He’s
a good guy,” Sam broke in.  “I know that now…no, I knew it for awhile, and I
just… You know what?  I was jealous. I didn’t like feeling excluded, I didn’t
like being left out, and I hated feeling like a third wheel.  You don’t have to
ask me if it’s alright for you to leave me alone.  I’m not your responsibility,
I’m your friend, Clo.  You go, but tomorrow, you owe me a breakfast date,
alright?  We’ll get up late…we’ll check out that greasy spoon off of m-15, the
one Mike’s always going on about.  I’ve got a craving for corned beef hash.”

            “Deal,”
Chloe agreed.

            “You
wearing
that
?” Sam asked, glancing up and down at Chloe’s wrinkled
nightgown.  It was wet around the bottom from dragging in the snow.

            “I
hadn’t thought about it,” Chloe shrugged.

            “Well,
wait a minute, I think I’ve got…” Sam ambled over to her closet and started
sorting through hangers. 

            “Oh
no Sam, seriously?  I think I’m going to pass out in like three seconds
anyway.  You have no idea how stupid I’d feel traipsing down there in assless
chaps or something after the night we’ve had!” Chloe groaned.

            “Sshhhh!”
Sam snapped.  “Trust me! Ah-ha, I knew I brought it!”

            Sam
flourished a summery baby-doll nightgown, and then held it up to her neck, as
though modeling it for Chloe.  It was white, with thin spaghetti straps. It had
a high empire waist from which curtains of gauzy material hung to just above
the knees.

            “It
is cute,” Chloe admitted grudgingly.

            “And
I’ve got a set of fishnet thigh highs and a pair of hooker heels that would
really set it off,” Sam added.

            “Saaaaam!”
Chloe groaned.

            “Kidding!”
she laughed.

            She
tossed the nightie at Chloe and went to the microwave to retrieve her pastie. 
Chloe changed  and checked her reflection in the mirror

            “Coot!” 
Sam enthused, with her mouth full.

            “Alright,
alright. Goodnight Sam,” Chloe grinned.

            Sam
waved her off, and flung herself down on her bed, reaching for the TV remote.

            Chloe
paused and listened for a moment outside of Seth’s door.  Nothing.  The door
was unlocked.  The room was empty, but the light was on in the bathroom.  She
heard the sound of the tap running, of him brushing his teeth.

            She
checked herself again in his mirror.  A stark white face with huge terrified
brown eyes stared back.  Her hair was a matted mess.  Why hadn’t she noticed it
before?  She yanked her fingers through the long mass a couple of times, trying
to unsnarl it, and then glanced at Sam’s nightie.  Too much, wasn’t it?  He’d
think she was trying to be seductive or something, and that would be sooo
embarrassing, especially since he had had to carry her to a priest to be
depossessed or whatever the term was, just hours before.

            Chloe
could think of only one option, jump into his bed, pull the covers up to her
chin and pretend to be very sleepy.  He would come out at any second, so she
would have to hurry.  She tiptoed quickly toward the bed, but her plan was
foiled by a stray piece of padding, some part of his hockey gear.  She tripped,
stumbled forward, kicked over a stack of games and then, pinwheeling her arms
for balance, crashed into his armchair.

            “Clo?”
he called from the bathroom.

            Now
her only option was to act nonchalant.  She straightened up and tried to pull
the nightgown farther down, to cover her knees, but realized that she was only
exposing more cleavage.  She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to fix
her face in a look of supreme unconcern.

            Seth
wandered out of the bathroom, his toothbrush still in his mouth.  He stopped in
the doorway.  Chloe swallowed noticeably.

            How
did he do it?  He was wearing only a pair of grey and gold BHC logo boxers. 
Practically
naked!
she thought, trying not to stare at his hard chest and well-muscled
arms.  Practically naked, and yet he stood there with a kind of completely
relaxed, comfortable-with-myself grace that she was sure she would never be
able to imitate.  It had to be a guy thing.

            “Wow!”
he muttered looking her up and down.

            Chloe
swung her arms nervously and glanced at the floor.

            “It
was Sam’s idea because mine was all wet and I didn’t have anything else so I
borrowed it from her and I wasn’t trying to be all like ‘you know’ or
anything…” she mumbled, running her words together.

            “Okay,
lesson one, learn to accept a compliment.  You look hot, Clo.  And if you did
want to be all ‘
you know’
,” he mimcked,  “that’s fine by me!”

            Chloe’s
face burned.  Seth frowned.

            “And
it’s also fine if you don’t,” he added, more seriously.

            “Really?”

            “Yeah,”
he stepped back into the bathroom and spat in the sink.  She heard the water
running again.  “Look Clo,” he called from inside the bathroom.  “You take as
long as you want to figure that out.  I’m not going anywhere. Well…okay, not as
long as you want, because some day I‘d like to have grandkids, but, you know..”

            She
waited for him to finish.  He snapped the bathroom light off and came back into
the room.