Science Ch 16

You wake up even more sweaty and gross than usual in this godforsaken house that has no AC. There’s pain.

“Ah,” you mutter, sitting up. Your sheets cling to you, and it hurts when you pull them away. Your shoulder stings too. Something sticky comes away on your fingers when you try to touch it. You were dreaming, but what about?

That lady with horns and wild proportions…

Brain fogged, you climb out of bed and go to the window, where a little moonlight helps you see. It’s blood. You’re hurt.

“Jesus, man.” You twist your neck, but you can’t see. It’s your back. The pain isn’t overwhelming, but it’s real. “Ouch. Ow. Ow.” Moving hurts. “Oh, man.” You shake your head, but the grogginess won’t clear so easily. Blood. There’s definitely blood.

You open your door and go into the hall wearing nothing but boxers that seem glued to you.

The bathroom light seems harsh, but not as harsh as the state of your back. It’s hard to get a look in the mirror, but it seems like you’re scratched all to hell. You almost wonder if you should go to the ER, but the scratches aren’t deep. The only thing you can think of is to get in the shower, which stings, but at least gets the blood off. These scrapes might have stopped bleeding for now, but moving around will certainly risk opening them up. There’s no obvious solution for that; you can’t really put bandages on your back without wrapping yourself up like a mummy.

Your boxers are gross, so you wrap yourself in a towel for modesty.

For better or worse, you’re wide awake. It’s past one. You don’t know what to do with yourself in this moment, and you don’t know what to do in life. Leaning on the sink and gazing into the mirror, you look rough. Your abs look great, but that’s because you’re stressed all the time, not eating, and usually dehydrated. The rest of you looks like hell. Girls seem to kind of like that, but you find it worrisome.

This arrangement was supposed to be about practicality. Now, you’re thinking about damage control. Rey needs to go stay with Delilah. You can send Delta to your room at the house with Graham and Ash. Your mother can crash with Aunt Nadia at her house—but everyone has sublets now. That plan can work, but only one, maybe two months from now. It’s still possible to complete this job and fulfill your obligation to Leni and CCL.

Normally, that would be a reassuring way of putting things in order, but just taking care of business in the real world will not help you get out from under whatever this is. And how can you hand this house over to CCL when it’s clearly haunted?

Rubbing your eyes, you walk gingerly into the hallway and ease the door shut. The last thing you need is to wake everyone up.

Something moves near the landing. You hesitate, squinting. Your night vision is shot because you were just in the bright bathroom. More puzzled than troubled, you head that way, pausing at the railing overlooking the foyer. Nothing moves in the dark down there.

Then there’s a creak. Now you’re troubled. There’s no law against being up in the middle of the night, but what is somebody doing down there with no lights on? If it’s Meri’s people trying to set up cameras secretly, your incredible record of not losing your temper for the past ten years is going out the window.