There's an Invisible Man Sleeping in My Bed

Chapter 36

            Thalia jerked as a hand touched her shoulder. She spun around, not relaxing until she saw that it was Will standing behind her. The smile she started quickly fell into a frown as she took in the tightness of his features, colour of his face, and the way his whole body was tensed. “What’s the matter?” she asked, half rising out of her chair.

           Will shook his head, taking a quick look around the school’s library. A row of tables, sparsely populated, lay in front of the orderly book shelves that stretched back in columns of ten. The walls were lined with computers, most of them in use, despite how slow they were. Everyone was concentrating on the screens or books in front of them, the pressure of final essays, projects, and exams looming over all of them. He shook his head. “Not here.”

            Standing then shoving her chair back into place, Thalia only paused long enough to snag one strap of her backpack before she followed her cousin. He led her down the hall, around a corner, and then down to the end of that hall. He stopped then, checking both halls, then moving into the parking lot doorway, opening that door and poking his head out to look for people.

            Once he was satisfied they were alone, Will turned to look at Thalia.  She, whose frown had been deepening at every instance of his vigilance, took a step closer. “Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or several ghosts.”

            He didn’t even smile at her attempt at humour, instead saying “They’ve been in my house.”

            “Who’s been in your house?”

            “The Builders. They…I think they planted bugs.”

            Thalia choked. “Bugs? Are you sure?”

            “They have to have. I just saw one of them. He asked me if mom was okay and if she’d had to go to the hospital after what happened last night. But neither of us has told anyone, so they couldn’t have known unless they had some way of listening into what happens in our house.”

            “What happened to Aunt Maria? Is she alright?”

            “She slipped down the stairs. Has her weekly bruise. She’s fine, you know how clumsy she is,” he said before running his hand through his hair, eyes on the floor. “It’s just the thought of them inside our house. If…if they did anything to Mom…”

            Thalia touched his elbow, forcing a smile on her face. “It’ll be fine. They want you on their side, so they wouldn’t hurt Aunt Maria. And if they do have bugs, we can go looking for them. We might even be able to find a transmitter detector or something online and we can sweep your place. But without that, I’m sure between me, you, and Ruth, we’ll be able to find them all. I think Ruth would enjoy doing it. And if we didn’t get them all, you could feed them wrong information and stuff, and maybe get rid of them that way.”

            He smiled, lifting his head and meeting her eyes. “Ruth’s right, you are an evil genius.”

            “Only when someone is bothering the people I care about,” she said, returning the smile. “Besides, it’s a valid military tactic. My dad was talking about the importance of information and spies in warfare at dinner last night until my mom threatened to hide his books on him.”

            Will laughed, a bit of colour back in his face. “Your dad’s bad about doing that. Grandma still tells the story about how he ruined Thanksgiving dinner with his descriptions of the kind of injuries that soldiers got during World War I. At least he’s found a way to be paid for doing what he loves.”

            “But if it weren’t for my mom, he’d have spent every cent he earned on more books and war relics. Not that she isn’t just as bad about plants.”

            “I know. I remember the fit she had when she found out Paul had killed the cactus she got him for his birthday.”

            “You’d think she’d know by now that Uncle Paul has a black thumb, but she keeps trying different plants, hoping he’ll be able to keep at least one alive.”

            He nodded, smiling. “Thank you.”

            “For what?”

            “For calming me down. I…the thought of those bastards in my house…I couldn’t handle it. I was ready to break something or… Thanks.”

            “I didn’t really do anything, just talked,” she replied, shrugging. “But you know if you ever need help, that I’m always here for you.”

            “I know.”

            Thalia felt hands on her upper arms and glanced down. She was surprised to see the appendages, turning to look back up at Will, who was still smiling down at her. Her mind hadn’t even had the chance to form words when he pulled her forward, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug that had her face pressed against his collar bone.

            She sighed, gently rubbing his back as she’d done since the first time she’d found him alone and upset. Then it had been because he’d been mistaken as a girl by their great-grandfather. Still, his habit of holding his emotions in except in front of her and his mom hadn’t changed in all seven years she’d known him.

            About to try murmuring something encouraging, Thalia froze when she felt a third arm snake its way around her, this one wrapping around her waist. A moment later, she was ripped out of William’s hug, feeling Colt’s chest press against her back. William stumbled, staring wide-eyed at her as she half-turned to look behind her. She could feel the colour drop from her face to her toes, leaving her cold, her mind a blank field of snow, despite her frantic attempts to think of something, anything, to say that would explain this.