All We Know Is Falling: Fall With Me: Volume One (14 page)

“I’m not jealous,” I decided. “That would suggest I want what they’ve had. And I don’t. We can be friends, that’s all—” I stopped talking when his lips touched the side of my knee.

“What are you doing?” I asked far too slowly.

Hale stopped at the middle of my thigh and looked up at me like I was crazy. “I knew you were inexperienced, but I assumed you at least knew the basics. Oh well,” he shrugged, “I don’t mind teaching you.” He resumed his activities.

I got defensive. “I understand what that is! I just didn’t think you’d try and go down on me in a burnt down movie theater. Guess I’m just a moron.”

He stopped and looked up again. “You made me far too curious about your noise level.” His mouth went back to my leg as he continued. “I bet you make the most wonderful sounds.”

I can’t let him do this. I can’t let him do this. I can’t let him do this…

When he nudged my legs farther apart, I stopped him by grabbing him by the hair and tilting his head up. “Nope. This is not going to happen. Sex of any kind is off limits for us. Do you understand?”

I let go of him and he rested his chin on the top of my thigh. “I suppose so. You’ll change your mind eventually.”

“I won’t.”

Without warning, he pulled me off of the counter and wrapped my legs around his waist. He held me against the wall. “You will,” he said softly as he moved in closer.

“I won’t,” despite my words, I parted my lips again. If this was happening, I wanted to enjoy it.

The sound of glass shattering almost made Hale drop me. I set my feet on the ground and the moment was over.

“What the Hell was that?” Hale asked, almost angry.

“I’m guessing it’s our guest.”

Hale pushed me behind him when a shadow stumbled through the doors on the other side of the theater. The person that showed up was pretty much everything I thought he would be. Dirty hair, dirty clothes. A backpack most likely full of drugs.

“You brought a friend?” the boy said. “I don’t think you mentioned that on the phone.”

I stepped around Hale and he didn’t like it. “Is that going to be a problem?”

Wormwood shrugged. “Guess not. If Ethan doesn’t mind his girl fucking around on him, why should I?”

“He’ll get over it.”

The boy walked closer and Hale grew more uneasy. He remained quiet as I spoke. “Have you seen him lately?”

Wormwoods eyebrows knit together as he thought. “Not since Friday. I gave him his stuff and he took off.”

“What stuff might that be?” Hale asked.

The boy looked nervous. “I’ll talk to the girl, not you. Got it?”

I crossed my arms. “Answer the question.”

He eyed me. “You oughta know. If you’re here for more,” he dug a little bag out of his pocket and held it up. I couldn’t tell what it was, but Hale could.

“Heroin,” he said, sounding scared and not surprised.

I however, was surprised. This guy was giving a fifteen-year-old stuff that would ruin his life. I thought it would be something small like pot. Or even ecstasy. But this was so much worse. So I came up with a plan.

“Do you know where Ethan might be?” I asked.

He shrugged. “He’s got a few places. I’m sure you know where they are.”

“If I did I wouldn’t be asking you.” 

He scratched the back of his head. “Good point. But I don’t give out anything for free, babydoll.

I didn’t roll my eyes. Somehow. “How much?”

He smiled and I caught sight of his missing canine on his left side. “Usually I have a hefty fee. But for you, I’ll give a discount. All I want is a half hour of your time.”

Hale stepped forward. “Touch her and I’ll kill you.”

The boy didn’t flinch. “Sure ya will. Don’t worry, I just want to borrow her. She’ll be back in your bed in no time.”

Hale moved to attack him but I held his arm back. There was a moment where surprise flashed on his face over how I was able to hold him back. He was twice my size at least.

I got in front of him and pulled his face down to me so I could speak into his ear. “Trust me on this. I promise I won’t let him touch me.”

Hale pressed his forehead to mine. He whispered, “Please, don’t let him.”

“Don’t worry,” I let go of him.

I walked over to Wormwood and said, “Let’s go.” I started walking over to the door that was marked ‘managers office’ and opened it. The lights still worked when I flipped them on.

He closed the door and pushed me against the wall. “How do you wanna do this?”

I pushed him back. “Slowly.”

He smiled. “I can go slow.”

“Good. Why don’t you take your pants off and tell me about where Ethan is?”

He backed up and threw his backpack to the ground. While he unbuttoned his pants, he said, “There’s a house on a hill he likes to go to. There’s a lotta places. But he likes that one. A lot of people do.”

“Where is it?”

His pants dropped to the ground and he stepped out of them. “I don’t know. All I know is what he told me. Tons of people crash there.”

It gave me an idea. If there were enough people there, bad, dangerous people, then it would be enough for me to track from here.

“Do they just sleep over?”

“No,” he laughed. He started walking back to me. “The cops don’t even bother busting in anymore. It’s more like Pleasure Island than a B&B.” He closed the distance between us. “Ready?” he smiled.

“Yup,” I said before I knocked him out cold. He dropped to the ground so hard that I though he might snap his neck. Sadly, he didn’t.

I grabbed his backpack and one of his legs so I could drag him back out to the main entrance. I dropped him on the middle of the room.

“What did you do?” Hale asked, clearly amused.

“Well,” I stood up straight and brushed my dress off. “I hit him in the head. He told me all he knew. So I decided that our business was over.”

He shut his eyes. “If we didn’t have things to do, I would find out precisely this moment if you’re a screamer or not.”

“Tempting,” I said without inflection.

I unzipped the backpack and dumped it out on the sleeping boy under me. What fell out were several bags of drugs, many different kinds. Money, and a cellphone. Ah, good.

I picked up the phone and the money, tossing the bundle of cash to Hale. “For your trouble, sweetheart.”

He eyed me, confused. “Why would I want this?”

I shrugged. “Either you get it or the cops put it in evidence.”

“The cops?”

I held up the phone. “Don’t you think this guy should have a little talk with the police? The amount of drugs he’s got on him will put him away for a while. And who knows if they’ll search his place. But it’ll get him away from your brother.”

Hale smiled. “You’re quite clever, Rory. Have I told you lately how much I like you?”

“I think so,” I tapped on the phone and dialed 911. I paused before I hit send, “Be ready to leave.”

I hit call and a woman answered, “911, what is your emergency?”

I put on a tearful and frightened voice, “Um, I heard something. That old creepy theater, the one that’s shut down. I heard people screaming and I heard glass breaking and I think I heard gunshots!”

“Ma’am, please remain calm. The police are on their way. Can you stay on the line with me?”

“Yes,” I cried. “Please tell them to hurry. I think I hear people coming—” I hung up the phone and dropped it on the floor, crushing it under my foot. I picked it up and chucked it down the hall. “Let’s go,” I said to Hale on my way out.

Hale was just behind me as we walked to the car. “That was…convincing.”

“Yeah,” I didn’t look over my shoulder at him. “I told you that I was a liar. Shouldn’t surprise you that I’m good at it.”

I got into the drivers side and he got in next to me. “It doesn’t. I’m just impressed.”

“You shouldn’t be. A liar isn’t what anyone should admire. Especially with all the shit I lie about.”

I wasn’t sure how much time I had, so I dropped the wall keeping my powers at bay. When I opened my eyes, the colors coming off of Hale were bright and overwhelming.

I saw so much in him. The grey was almost gone completely. It was replaced with a light shade of yellow, deep pink, red, blue. All colors of light. And I knew what they all meant. If I didn’t start driving soon, he’d get the answer he wanted.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

I blinked. “Y-yeah.” I turned the car on and started driving.

I was in tracking mode. The way it worked was that I’d see a light. The light always brought me where the evil was. The hate and the misery. I knew that some antichrists could track demons, or people. Why’d I have to get the one that was the most like my father? It wasn’t fair. I felt like I was so much like him.

The powers I had almost never came in handy. I could sense other demons, but only when my powers were switched on. And I almost never did that. The headaches were agony.

Hadley would have faired better with this tracking ability. It could bring her to where the fun was. But I wanted nothing to do with it. I’d seen too much of the darkness in people thanks to these powers. I didn’t want anything to do with humans at all.

Then the one beside me put is hand on my leg. “Rory, what did he say?”

I glanced over at him and the grey was leaking back. The pink was still there, but it was the only color left. “He thinks he’s in some old house on a hill. Apparently a lot of people use it.” I didn’t need to say more for him to understand.

I kept following the light even when it started hurting. I could feel my head starting to fog. Even keeping my eyes open was starting to be painful. But I needed to do this for Hale. I couldn’t let his brother be in danger when I could do something to help. I care too much about Hale to do that.

The pain was making the drive seem endless. The lights kept getting brighter and I knew we weren’t far from the house. The lights went in all different directions and varied in brightness. They were all tethers that led to some kind of evil.

I was focused on the brightest one. The one that burned through my head and my soul.

“Rory,” Hale said, sounding surprised.

“What?” I blinked. I felt so tired. I just wanted to close my eyes and rest. But I had to keep going.

“Your nose is bleeding,” he sounded like he was about to panic.

Ah, that happened a lot when I was a kid. My brain would get overwhelmed with all around me and it was like a little warning to cool it before I passed out. But I could keep going.

“Happens,” I told him. “I’m fine,” I wiped the blood off on my hand. It wasn’t even that much.

“Are you sure?”

I ignored the question for something more important. “We’re here.” I gazed up the steep hill and at the old house. It looked haunted. Made of wood that you just knew was a breath from falling to pieces. The windows were blacked out, as well as the windows of the few cars that were parked around us.

The light was so bright now. I could feel everything in that house. It felt like the evil had a mind of it’s own. It wanted to drown out every ounce of light around it. And that was what was happening. The only color I could see was black.

“You think he’s in there?” Hale asked when we got out of the car. He stood by my side and I almost needed to use him for support.

“Yes.”

He turned to me. “I don’t want you in there. I already feel awful for bringing you into that theater. You’re not the kind of girl who should be in a place like this.”

I started walking. I was too tired to fight with him. He walked behind me and tried to get me to wait in the car. I refused.

“Hale,” I stopped when we got to the door. “I’m going in. I’m just as safe with you as I am in a car alone.” He was still unaware of just how safe I was.

He breathed out in a huff. “Fine. Don’t leave my side.”

“Fine.”

He angrily took my hand and opened the door.

There wasn’t a single light on in the house. It was dark enough outside that it left us almost blind. The only flickers of light were from the lighters and a few candles.