Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy (42 page)

What the hell was I thinking?

We couldn’t survive a night on our own.

Not without help.

“I have an idea.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and started typing a text.

While awaiting a reply, I eyed the bus stop in the distance.

“Let’s catch a bus to Central and then I’ll come up with something.”

“Central? That’s like a half-hour ride.” Alice held her stomach. “I’m really hungry.”

“Me, too, Alice. We’ll get something to eat when we get there. I promise.”

. . .

“Happy Birthday, Brian,” said Kareena with a fake grin as she slid a shiny hotel key card across the table.

I scoffed.

“There’s nothing happy about it,” I grumbled, snatching up the card and shoving it into my jeans pocket before anyone noticed. “And you know it, Kareena.”

The twenty-four hour diner was relatively empty.

“Yeah. Okay.” She shrugged. “Sorry.”

Alice cupped her hands together on the tabletop and twiddled
her thumbs.

The waitress swung back around to bring our drinks. Hot teas for us. Diet soda for Kareena.

“Thanks,” I said beneath my breath. The waitress tipped her head.

“You’re welcome, dear.” She smiled. “I’ll get your food out to you in just a few.”

I ripped open a little foil package and tossed the tea bag into the cup of steaming hot water. A few tugs of the string had dark brown liquid spiraling in the cup.

Alice poured a sugar packet into hers and stirred it with a spoon. The dinking sound of metal against porcelain made my head twinge.

“Thanks,” I said to Kareena, looking briefly into her eyes.
“For everything and… for what you did for me earlier. I… never thought…”

“Shut up. You’re welcome.” She looked out the window beside us and took a sip of her drink through the straw. “My parents will be totally pissed if they know I helped you guys with all of this. Let’s forget about it for now, please.”

“We can’t.” I put out my hand and stopped Alice mid-stir. She finally put the spoon down beside her cup.

I lowered my voice and leaned over the table. “We can’t forget. There’s just too much…”

Our waitress came back with a tray of food.

A burger and fries. Waffles and scrambled eggs. Chicken salad. Finally, something besides coffee saturated my nostrils. My mouth watered.

“Anyway,” I continued, almost whispering. “We’re taking
too many risks being out in public. Even now, really.” I plucked a French fry from my plate and dunked it into a pile of ketchup. I shoved the fry into my mouth and sighed. Salty. Hot. Deliciously greasy. “I think I speak for all of us when I say today has officially been the worst day ever.”

“Yeah,” added Kareena, rolling a cherry tomato around on top of her salad with a fork. “You’re right, but my parents are not going to let me ditch law school. They’d drop dead of heart attacks if I even suggested it.”

“Can I have the syrup, please?” Alice pointed toward the far end of the table.

Kareena reached for the glass syrup carafe and passed it to her.

The bell on the diner door jingled and I glanced over,
paranoid, expecting to see Jane… or the police stroll through.

A middle-aged man dressed in a dark grey suit and tie
came stumbling in off the street. He toppled into the jukebox
by the door and started heaving out ear-splitting, stomach-sickening coughs, while holding his chest in pain. Each inhale made a gut wrenching whooping sound. My appetite instantly waned.

He came tumbling down onto his knees and the hostess dashed to his side. “Someone call 9-1-1!” she shouted. The
three of us veered
around
in our
booth
to watch the commotion.

“Holy shit!” Kareena leapt from her seat and held a hand
over her mouth.

“What? What is it?” I stood, too. “What do you see?”

“He’s… infected. But… it’s all weird and shit. Like, ugh. I don’t know. I can’t… Oh my God.” She scowled with disgust.

“
Can I help him?” I slid out of the booth toward the huddled mass of restaurant staff surrounding the man. He gasped for breath and stared up at the ceiling, his pupils engorging, gleaming with fear.

“I don’t know…” Kareena started.

I knelt onto the cold tile floor.

“Do you know him?” the manager asked hysterically.

“I… uh… no. But I can help.”

“EMTs will be here soon. Are you trained to handle this?”

“Yes,” I lied. “Sort of. Just give me a little space, please.” I reached out a hand and clasped the man’s wrist. The heat inside me built and my arm grew warm. A hint of blue light began to surface and I hunched over, resituating myself to obscure the views of the staff.

A sudden sharp jolt of pain shot through me and I let go of the man with a yelp, bounding backwards, slamming into the front counter. The breath had been knocked out of me.

I pulled my arm back. Sharp, riveting pain tore through me like molten lava coursing in my veins.

“Come on!” Alice helped me to my feet. “We can’t be here if the police come,” she added in a hushed tone, pulling
me toward the door. The man on the floor started to convulse,
his body arching and writhing around as the other customers watched in terror.

“What did you do?” the manager asked, frantically snagging the cuff of my jeans as I passed.

“I didn’t do anything!” I yanked my leg away from her. “I was trying to help.” I caught another glimpse of the man’s face just before we bolted out the door. His color gone, he’d taken on a dead, robotic expression.

The doors of Kareena’s car unlocked with a beep and we jumped in. Ambulance sirens wailed in the distance.

What had I done?

Chapter 27

“
T
hat was some scary shit back there!” Kareena gripped the steering wheel and glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “What happened to you, Brian?”

“
I don’t know,” I replied, holding my aching arm. “I touched
him, the fluorescence started to glow, and then a
jolt of energy ripped through me. Like a charge or something.
I
don’t even know how to describe it. It happened so fast. Next thing I knew, I had my back against the counter and the wind
knocked out of me.”

“Well, that guy had some freaky shit swirling around inside him so no wonder. His infection was seriously screwed
up. Like, the white light was being snuffed out by brown and black spots. Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some pretty weird shit, you know?” She glanced back at us.

“Yeah.”

“Had he been started?” Alice asked, leaning forward, grasping onto the back of the passenger seat.

Kareena shook her head. “I don’t think so. He was too dark inside.”

“They’re hiding so much information from us,” I said, massaging my forearm. “Damn Saviors. There was something very wrong with that guy.”

Kareena pulled into the parking lot of a hotel and turned off the engine. We got out and walked behind the car.

“Hey… um…” Kareena looked off at nothing, shifting her weight apprehensively. “Do you… Never mind.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a closed fist. “Here.” She held it out toward me. I lifted an open hand beneath hers and she dropped something papery into my palm.

I thumbed through the bills. A hundred dollars—all twenties.

“Just in case, you know?” She cracked a nervous smile. “In case we can’t get in touch for a bit. Or whatever.”

“
Thanks.” I closed my hand around the money and tucked
it into my pocket. I’d been under the impression that money itself meant very little to her, but the act of
giving
it to us meant a lot to me.

“Be careful, guys,” Kareena added beneath her breath.

“You, too.”

Alice and I headed up the outdoor stairwell to the third floor. We followed the brass number panels until we located
the room Kareena had booked for us. A keycard reader perched
above the door handle flashed with red light. I swiped our card down and a click sounded, the light changing to green. I pushed down the handle and opened the door.

A short, narrow hallway lit with soft yellow light took us from the entrance past the bathroom, and then opened up to the main room with a small sofa, bed and television.

“This feels weird,” Alice said, peering out the huge bay window at the very end of the room, watching Kareena’s red sports car peel out of the parking lot.

She slid the blackout curtains closed and turned.

“Yeah.” I locked the deadbolt and the chain lock above the door, then walked over to the bed and set my wallet and cell phone down on the end table. “It is kind of weird. I suppose it wouldn’t be if the circumstances weren’t so bad.”

“I guess.” She shrugged. “People probably think we’re just dumb teenagers hiding out in a hotel.”

“Well, we’re not.”

“Do you know how to work this?” Alice squinted at the thermostat and rubbed her arms. “It’s cold in here.”

“Yes.” I chuckled. “You flip this to heat or cool and use
the arrow buttons to adjust the temperature.” I poked at them
accordingly.

“Oh. Okay.” She dropped her head down. “You must think I’m an idiot.”

“No. I don’t.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and tugged her closer. “I would never think that about you.” I touched my thumb to her chin. Alice had a lot to learn, but she wasn’t an idiot.

“Thanks.”

My embrace loosened and she wriggled away. She plopped
down onto the bed and fell back on one of the pillows.

“I can’t believe we did this,” she groaned, staring blankly
toward the ceiling. “I’m a horrible daughter.”

I crawled up onto the other side of the bed and lay down beside her.

“I can’t believe it either, but, we’ll be okay.” I reached for her hand. “Alice, you’re not a horrible daughter. We just…” The words had barely slipped off my tongue, and already her eyes began to glisten with tears.

“I’m so stupid!” She yanked her hand away and rolled over, clutching her pillow tightly.

“
You’re not stupid, Alice. Believe me. You’re not
.” I scooted closer and leaned over to kiss her shoulder.

“
Yes, I am. Mom is going to ground me forever
.” She grumbled and buried her face into the pillow, letting out a hefty, muffled scream.

“Alice?”

“Leave me alone, Brian.”

“What is it? Talk to me, please.” I ran my fingers through
her hair and she batted my hand away.

“Stop it. Just leave me alone, okay?” She huffed and rolled
over to face the wall. “We shouldn’t even be here. We should be home in our own, nice bed. Safe. Not scared.”

“Alice?” I rested a hand on her shoulder and her nostrils flared.

“Let me go to sleep, please,” she growled. “I’m tired.”

“Fine.” I pulled back. “Go ahead.” I sat up and crossed my arms. “But don’t act like you’re the only one who got screwed here.”

Alice reached down to grab the folded blanket from the base of the bed and pulled it over her body, just to her nose.

I’d almost died today. Lost my job. Came within seconds of losing Alice to that nut job, David. And she had the nerve to suddenly shut me out as if she was the only one going through hell.

I held my face in my hands and rested my eyes.

I’d only done what I had thought was right. I’d never wanted to upset her. I only…

My phone buzzed, jittering toward the edge of the nightstand.

A text from Jane.

JANE: Be careful. Wherever you are. Come home soon.

JANE: Please…

JANE: I’m not mad at you.

I swiped the texts away and glanced at Alice curled up in her blanket—asleep already. Some days, it made me jealous how easily she could fall asleep.

. . .

A loud knock at the door jarred me awake.

“Housekeeping!” a woman’s voice sounded from the hall.

She knocked again, banging harder
this time. The thumping noise made my head pulse.

I leapt off the bed, carefully untangled a corner of the blanket from around my ankle and stumbled over to the door.

“Hi.” I opened it a crack and smiled awkwardly at the short little maid looking up at me. “Can I… help you?”

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” She cupped her hands together apologetically.

“No. It’s fine. It’s just… my, uh…” I looked back toward the bed. “Never mind.” Alice remained asleep.

“I’m terribly sorry, sir,” the woman apologized again. “I’ll just leave these with you and if you need anything, you can call the front desk from your phone. Just dial 1-1-1.”

She handed me a stack of towels and toiletries.

“Thank you.” I shuffled back inside and pushed the door closed with my hip.

“Who was that?” Alice asked, her feet dangling over the side of the bed, her eyes only half open.

“
Housekeeping. I forgot to put the stupid
sign on the outside of the door last night. I’m sorry she woke you up.”

“It’s okay.” Alice stretched her arms high above her
head and yawned. “Ugh. Everything hurts.” She rubbed the back of her neck.

The bed wasn’t comfortable.

“Well, it’s better than sleeping in an alleyway or—”

“I’m just talking, okay?” She narrowed her eyes at me and I shut my mouth.

She slid off the bed and dragged herself into the bathroom.
The faucet squealed when she turned it on.

“Do you want to get breakfast soon? We can grab something downstairs or—”

Alice shut the bathroom door.

“Or not,” I muttered, shaking my head. I flipped the TV on and hopped back onto the bed. My stomach grumbled.

A basket of teabags and instant coffees sat on the table by the nightstand. In a fridge near Alice’s side of the bed were several bottled waters. I took out two and poured them into the coffee pot’s reservoir. Water dripped through the empty filter, sizzling and steaming inside the glass carafe.