Rouge (29 page)

“Hunter?” Eli blinked in surprise when
she knocked on his door twenty minutes later. “What are you... um...”

“Can I stay here?” she
asked, not meeting his eyes. “I have nowhere else to go.”

Eli stepped aside without
hesitation. “You don’t even have to ask.”

“Thanks.”

Eli took her bag and they
went upstairs to his bedroom.

“No one home?” she asked.

“Dad and Melissa are out for
the weekend. They get back Tuesday.” He dropped her bag beside his bed, which
was made neatly, and turned to her. He wore a gray sloppy-Joe and jeans,
appearing fresher than usual. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, even
though he was more than likely able to see through her lies. There was so much
to tell him. He didn’t know half of the shit going on in her life.
How hurt
will he be when I tell him what I can do? That the fire on his bed was because
of me, that I saved Miss Smart, that Joshua is crazy and infected by my powers.
I can’t tell him, he’ll never forgive me.

Eli watched her carefully
for a long moment before pulling her into his arms. She buried her head against
his chest, feeling the guilt slowly seep away. Eli had a gift too; he could
make her feel like she was completely normal even when life was hell.

“Whatever it is, you can
tell me when you’re ready,” he said. Hunter thought of Jack, how he’d said the
exact same thing the other morning.
Did Jack know?
There was so much to
think about, and so much worry swirling in her mind that she was getting a
headache. She moaned against Eli’s chest, and he pulled away.

“Come on,” he tugged at her
hand. “I’ll make you some tea and we can watch a movie.”

“You don’t have anything on
tonight?”

“Just a bit of study,” he
said, “but that can wait.”

Hunter sighed happily,
weaved her fingers into his and let him take her downstairs. Something in the
green of his eyes softened her heart.

Sure enough, after a night
with Eli, Hunter felt considerably better. She still thought of Joshua’s mad
scientist tendencies and of Jack and of Miss Smart, who didn’t seem to be getting
any better. Not to mention the letter and video left behind by her mother. But
Eli numbed the pain and anxiousness. She never wanted to leave him.

Hunter yawned against Eli’s
shoulder, her eyes drooping shut. Suddenly she was so tired she could hardly
keep her eyes open. The movie was lost to her, but the feel of Eli’s arms
around her felt like home.

“Sleep time?” he asked
softly and switched off the television.

“Yeah,” she mumbled as he
helped her to her feet. “I don’t know why I’m so tired.”

“It’s probably emotional
strain. Come on, you can have the guest bedroom across from my room.”

Eli half carried her, half
dragged her up the stairs. The quiet house was oddly comforting, and Hunter
liked the feel of Eli carrying her. Even if he was nerdy and shy, sometimes she
saw a different side of him, a stronger side. Right now, he was this dominant,
protective boyfriend who cared so much, he even tucked her in and took off her
shoes. She watched him, some deep part of her wishing he would lay down beside her.
His curved arms gently pulled the quilt up over her body and his delicate hands
brushed her cheek. She felt small, looking up at his broad shoulders and strong
features. His eyes gleamed behind his glasses.

“Goodnight Hunter,” he
whispered and kissed the top of her forehead with the lightness of a feather.
“Sleep well.”

“Wait,” she mumbled,
catching his hand. “Stay with me... for just a bit. Please.”

As her eyes drooped shut,
Eli walked around the bed and moved in beside her. His body fit perfectly against
hers, like two pieces of a puzzle. It was peaceful knowing he lay beside her.
The chaos in her life seemed distant, as though it had been locked in a box for
the night. She knew she’d have to face it tomorrow, but for now she was happy
to listen to the softness of Eli’s breathing, knowing she was safe.

Light poured into her room the next
morning, so Hunter woke up and decided to take a shower. She felt fresher than
usual, having slept soundly. After retrieving her bag from Eli’s bedroom, she
crossed to the bathroom and opened the door to a sight that nearly knocked her
breathless.

“Jesus, shit!” she yelled.

“Hunter-”

“Jack! What the hell are
you... put some clothes on!” she shouted.

Jack stood before the mirror
with only a white towel wrapped around his waist, his dark hair dripping wet
and a toothbrush in his hand. His body wasn’t weightlifter-toned, but
definitely not scrawny. Dark skin, rippled muscles and big, powerfully built
arms were all bared before Hunter as though to tempt her. Scolding herself for
not taking notice of the fact that Jack was actually quite handsome, Hunter had
to hold her breath for a few seconds to stop the fire from flaming like a blow
torch and shooting from every part of her body.

She was about to open her
mouth and shout at him when suddenly she realized it was her fault for not
knocking in the first place.

“I was just showering,” he
muttered and spat into the basin. “What are you doing here anyway?”

Her awkwardly embarrassed
expression tensed immediately into a glare. There was a smirk on his lips that
made the fire buzz angrily inside her, as though the fact that he stood before
her half naked scored him points on the nerd tally board. Now that she thought
about it, Jack and Eli were nowhere near her impression of nerds.

“I was... you can just....
Urgh
! I can’t concentrate with you standing there like
that, I’ll just shower later.”

Jack chuckled at her even
after she slammed the door in his smug face.

Hunter hurried downstairs
into the kitchen where Eli stood cooking breakfast.

“What is Jack doing here?”
She sat herself down at the bench with a huff.

Eli turned, a pan in his
hands, and slapped toast onto a plate for her. He was grinning. “What’s it to you?”

“Sorry,” she sighed. “I just
wasn’t expecting to walk into the bathroom and find a naked man there.”

“He was
naked?”

“No! Almost.”

“He comes over after soccer
to use my shower.”

Hunter suddenly remembered.
“Right, you told me that at school a while ago.”

“Yeah, I probably should
have mentioned that last night, but I expected you to sleep in a little
longer.”

She picked at her toast and
looked up at him, trying to hide a smile. “I kind of wish I did.”

“Well he’ll be gone soon
anyway. You won’t have to talk to him for much longer.”

Oh, I highly doubt that,
she thought miserably. Avoiding Jack was
like avoiding overpopulation in China.

“What’s your beef with him
anyway?” he asked. “Did you want butter on your toast?”

“Yeah,” she said and took a
piece from his plate. “We don’t have a beef, but after the fire he just sort
of... stuck to me. He thinks we’re friends.”

“Aren’t you?”

“Well...” She had no
reasonable explanation as to why she was so irked by Jack without telling Eli
that his friend had seen her walk into a burning building and come out with an
unconscious teacher several minutes later. So she said nothing more.

There was running footsteps
and Jack came round the corner, his hair still damp but fully clothed.

“Thanks for the shower,” he
said as he grabbed some bread and threw it in the toaster. “Is that bacon?”

“No, I don’t touch bacon.
It’s an omelet and it’s not for you,” said Eli and shoved him away from the
plate.

“Hey, I’m a hungry athlete.
Besides, Hunter’s already eaten.”

Hunter rolled her eyes at
him as he picked a slice out of the pan and gasped, throwing it onto a plate.
“Ouch, that’s hot.”

Hunter frowned at him, her
heart beating erratically.
Did that mean anything, or was it just ironic?
She
stole a glance at Eli, who was pouring her coffee.

“Hunter? Do you like milk?”

“Yes please,” she said.
“Just a bit.”

“Sugar?”

“One.”

“Oh shit.” Eli placed an
empty tin back on the kitchen bench. “We’re out of sugar. I’ll be back, I think
Melissa left a bag of groceries in the laundry.”

The second Eli left the
kitchen, Jack leaned over the bench, his face just a breath from hers. “You
seem a little tense this morning,” he said, his brown eyes blazing. “Want to
talk about what happened with the fire yet?”

Hunter clenched her jaw
tight. Last week he’d encouraged her to wait until she was ready - which she
was very far from - and now suddenly he was throwing her secret around in the
air with Eli in the next room. “Do you mind not speaking so loudly?” she
hissed. “This is between us, remember?”

He looked delighted by that.
“Really, he doesn’t know?”

“Know what?”

He picked up his plate of
eggs and toast and walked around the bench into the living room. As he sat
himself down, his goofy smile widened. “That you’re pretty damn fire resistant.”

Hunter followed him into the
lounge room and hissed at him to be quiet. “Seriously Jack, if you don’t keep
your voice down, I will literally shove my breakfast
and
the plate down
your throat.”

He searched for the remote
and didn’t meet her gaze. “You’re still one great big mystery to me Hunter. But
I’m not scared of you.”

“What does-”

“Did you say one or two
sugars, Hunter?” asked Eli as he came back into the room. She backed away from
Jack, who had found the right button and switched the television to the local
morning news. He sat down on the couch comfortably.

“One please,” she replied,
wiping the tension from her face. She moved around the couch to join him in the
kitchen when Jack’s hollow voice stopped her.

“Oh no,” he whispered.

“What?”

Jack said nothing, but
turned up the volume on the television. The three of them watched the screen
where a reporter stood before the downtown hospital, her face grave. She wore a
deep purple trench coat and her blonde hair billowed around her face. It was
dark, which meant the report was from last night. The caption below the screen
read ‘
FIRE
SURVIVOR KILLED BY COLD
’.
Hunter’s stomach had already convulsed before the blonde reporter opened her
mouth.

“I’m here at New York
Downtown Hospital where a recovering fire victim tragically died in her sleep
last night. The local physics teacher was lucky to survive a fire explosion
that occurred in her own laboratory on Tuesday evening. She suffered third
degree burns, but was on the road to recovery when, just an hour ago, she was
found dead in her hospital bed. Doctors say the cause of death was unknown.”

A male nurse in a pale green
scrubs uniform appeared on screen. He spoke into the microphone hovering below his
chin. “It’s very rare that a patient dies of a sudden chill, and I’ve never
seen such symptoms before in all my years of practice. It’s possible that the
victim might have caught Cold Agglutinin Disease caused by a malfunctioning
immune system. The patient suffered injuries to her lungs in the fire, but we
have no further explanation as of yet.”

The blonde reporter appeared
again. “It’s a tragic mystery how a recovering patient died in her sleep, and a
great loss for the family and friends of this brave young woman.”

The news room switched to a
commercial break. Jack raised the remote and turned the television off. The
silence in the room was so thick, it became suffocating. Both Eli and Jack
turned to Hunter, who didn’t know what to think or do. She looked down at Jack,
whose smirk had vanished, his face now pale. Eli’s eyes filled with sympathy
and Hunter wanted to break down but felt as if her eyes were stiff and empty.

“I need a minute,” she said
thickly, and ran upstairs to the bathroom before either of them could stop her.
She heard Jack tell Eli to give her some space, and then she was on the landing
and in the bathroom. Locking the door tightly, Hunter turned to face the
mirror. She didn’t realize she was actually crying until she saw the black lines
running down her cheeks.

“Dead?” she whispered to her
reflection. Ignoring the pounding of her heart, the nauseous sense building in
her stomach and the heat in her hands threatening to break through the skin,
Hunter wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “No. She can’t be,” she muttered, shaking
her wrists and pacing back and forth. “I only saw her yesterday… she was going
to get better…” The memory of her frail teacher coughing up blood into her
hands brought more tears to her eyes. Her death made no sense. Killed by the
cold? If anything, she would have died from smoke poisoning, not this. Not the
cold.