CHAPTER 28 - No Satisfaction
The car screeched to a holt. I looked around confused. We were at Scott’s place.
“Why?”
“They know where you live Natalie. We can’t go back there yet.”
The rear door opened and Scott’s mother appeared, she scooped her son out of my arms and from the car then carried him inside with no signs of struggling under the burden. I trailed behind her still half conscious, still singing with Jari. We had moved on from classics like Rawhide, which I have to admit neither of us knew the lyrics for except the some of the chorus, to Bob the Builder’s theme song which we both disturbingly enough knew word for word. Currently we were singing some of the Stone’s songs. But his voice was fading.
“He’s singing, actually I think they both are.” I heard Aze say and I lifted my eyes to find Samy looking at me concerned.
“He’s tired either that or he doesn’t know the words to ‘I can’t get no satisfaction’, which I doubt.” Fresh tears came to my eyes.
I was still standing in the middle of the living room and I suddenly needed Scott. I found him on his bed. He was curled up in a ball and his shoulders were shaking. I held him from behind and wrapped my arms around his waist.
Jari, you are going to have to sing solo for a while. OK?
Thanks my love, I’ll be fine, you make sure he appreciates you.
I smiled gently and then focused on Scott. With gentle easing I turned him to me then encouraged him out of the bed and half carried him into the bathroom. I turned the water on hot. Then without any words I completed the job of undressing him. What clothes were left on his body were ripped and stained. I held his eyes with mine, his arms rested on my shoulders as I supported him, then silently I stripped off my own clothes. He was too weak, he could hardly stand but he needed to be clean and warm again and I didn’t want to smell them on him ever again.
Together we edged into the cascading waters of the shower. I leaned him against the tiled wall and I washed his body starting at his shoulders and working my way down to his feet then I rotated him so that I could wash his back.
Then I washed his hair. He smiled a sad sorry smile as I stretched up, leaning into him to reach his crown, but still said nothing. With nothing left to wash I held him in the water. I reached up and brought his lips to mine and we kissed each other as the warm water ran over us. But too soon he pulled away and painfully edged himself out of the shower trying to grab a towel as he did.
I felt the sharp shard of rejection but I helped him out and dried him. I rummaged in the bathroom cupboard and found a first aid kit. With no real idea if it would make any difference at all but feeling the need to do something, I applied antiseptic cream to all the bites and dressed the wounds. He stood silently as I gently tended to him then I took him back to bed.
He curled up in the ball and pretended to sleep.
He obviously was either too weak to talk or not ready. Either way I figured that there was nothing I could do but wait. So I curled up around his back and fell asleep with my face pressed between his shoulder blades.
When I woke my face was resting on his chest. I was still naked but he was fully dressed in a long sleeved T-shirt and, from the feel of it, some sort of soft trousers.
“Hey,” I mumbled as I opened my eyes.
He turned his eyes to me but didn’t speak. I could clearly see and felt the pain he was enduring. He was lying flat on his back and his hands were behind his head, not around me. His eyes returned to the ceiling.
“Scott you need to talk to me.”
“What do you want to talk about?” he said softly.
That stumped me. I looked at his face and read his mood.
“Well you haven’t asked me to the Prom yet. And I was wondering...”
His face broke into the smallest grin and he turned to look at me.
“Prom?”
“Yeah well if we are going I will need to sort out a dress.”
“A dress?”
“I’m not being too pushy am I? Because if you want to go with someone else...”
“Then who will you go with... Jared?”
“I’ve never been to the Prom so, no, I’d just sit at home, and actually last year I read. I think it is time I barbequed my books. Not that I am an advocate of book burning but I really feel that way inclined at the moment.”
Scott turned back to the ceiling as I rambled on trying to get some sort of reaction out of him.
That didn’t work. So I traced my fingers along his jaw bone trying to encourage him to look at me.
“Natalie, what are you doing here?”
“I am sorry? Did I miss something?”
“You deserve better than me Natalie. You should go. I am sure that Jared would be happy to see you.” He tried to turn away from me.
“Stop it Scott. I won’t have you feeling sorry for yourself. We have a job to do and we have to do it together. We have to...”
“We have a job to do?” he almost sneered, “Why Natalie, why do we have to?”
“I’m sorry?”
"Why are you here, Natalie? Is it just because of the job?”
“It is because I love you Scott. Because you are my soul mate and we belong together. You are my Irin and I am your Qaddis. I love you.”
His eyes closed and his eyes moved under the lids. I was sitting now, twisted to look into his face.
"Look Scott, I have a lot to tell you and a not much of it is good news. But before I tell you I need you to look at me. I need to know that you still love me and want me. I need you.”
“What could you possibly need me for Natalie? I just get in the way.”
“Ohh Scott, don’t misunderstand me I am still hurt by what you did, but that seems a long time ago now. A lot has happened since then.”
“Yes, so it would seem.”
“OK Scott, you obviously have something to say. Just say it alright.”
“Go to Jari, Natalie.”
“I can’t.”
His eyes finally turned opened and looked to me.
“Why? Is it because I am your ‘Irin’? Well don’t let me get in the way.”
“No because he is with those blood suckers. He swapped places with you.”
“What?”
That got his attention. He swung up to face me. We sat in the bed facing each other.
“Where do you want to start Scott. Shall we start when you hooked up with Vampire girl or do you want to skip to the bit where I told your Mother to get off?”
“What?”
“Scott, I love you but you need to get off your high horse right now because I have had it up to here with all of this. I have had your father, no let’s not go there, and you have yet to meet Aze! Ohh yeah, I found out that my father is the frecking grim reaper. And then there is Hell, been there got the t-shirt.” I was so angry that I was stumbling over the words and almost shaking, “So don’t give me any crap about you not being worth it. I have spent the night being literally dragged through some sort of afterlife and back for you and I am in no mood for this.”
"What?”
“Just hold me, kiss me and tell me you love me Scott, because I swear I am going to punch you in the nose if you don’t.”
“But this was my entire fault.”
“Well your Mother disagrees. According to her it was my fault because apparently it is my job to guard you until our link is strong. She is very, abrasive, if you don’t mind me saying, very cliché Mother-In-Law.”
“You, you meet my mother?”
“Hang on,” I thought about Adam, “Ohh no, eww, didn’t need to see that! Ohh gross. Yep she is still here, but let’s just not take them breakfast in bed yet.” I cringed and shuddered as I pushed away the mental link I had with Adam.
Scott looked at me confused.
“Look Scott, I have had a long night, and I know that yours wasn’t on any of your top 10 lists either, but I have a lot to tell you. Of course we weren’t together so maybe it was all a bad dream?” I looked over his visible skin at all the bite marks, “Or maybe not.”
He looked at me. “Why did you come for me? Why did you even bother?”
“Why are you struggling with this? I came because I love you, of course. Why do you think I did it?”
He looked away.
I tried very hard to tune out from Jari who had just started to sing 99 bottles of beer on the wall. I rubbed my forehead with the palm of my hand, this was not something to share with Scott. In his present state knowing that Jari and I were intimately linked would not help matters.
“Scott, why do you think I did it?’
“For Jari.” He said simply.
“If I had done anything at all for Jari we wouldn’t be here right now. Don’t you get it Scott? Jari sacrificed himself to those... leeches so that we could be together. Because I love you and I sort of thought you loved me too. He is there right now, so that we can be here.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Why? Come on Scott, this isn’t rocket science! I love you and you, supposedly love me. Together, if we can get it together, we can kick vampire butt, rescue Jari and hey presto all good.”
“So the ‘hey presto all good’ means that you and Jari are back together?”
“Depends what you mean by that?”
“You love him.” He grumbled at the ceiling.
Just tell him Natalie, Jari’s voice came to me.
What?
He thinks you are in love with me, like love, love, you know the hot sweaty pull off your panties type.
Go back to singing Jari, you are up to 67 bottles.
“Of course I love him, Ohh hang on I am having a Star Wars moment. ‘I am your father Luke’.”
Nice, I love star wars, I but I have always thought of myself more as a Hans Solo type.
I noticed! ‘I know’ seriously? That’s the last time I declare my undying love for you Jari!
You can’t get away from it now. You love me. You love me sooo much!
67 bottles, Jari.
“I know you do. I saw you all over him, and you told him, you said you loved him.”
“Can you hear the singing as well?”
“Singing?”
“Think yourself lucky.”
Scott edged out of bed.
“Scott?”
He shook his head and opened the bedroom door.
“Don’t Scott.” But the bedroom door was already swing shut behind him.
Hell.
Scott. I have so much to tell you. I need to tell you everything. Don’t jump to conclusions
Silence.
Don’t block me out Scott. You don’t understand.
Silence.
Fine be a selfish, stubborn, pigheaded... man, for all I care! I expect an apology and a dozen red roses when you come to your senses.
I gave up. I might as well go home. I went into the bathroom to find my clothes but the shower sang to me. I didn’t get to wash my hair last night. So I let the water run over me as my fingers worked against my scalp.
I've remembered the words
What are you talking about Jari?
When I'm drivin' in my car and a man comes on the radio
he's tellin' me more and more about some useless information
supposed to fire my imagination.
I can't get no, oh no no no.
Hey hey hey, that's what I say.
Shut up Jari!
I can't get no satisfaction, no satisfaction, hey, hey, hey.
I hate you Jari!