Eyeless Jack
"Hey Delly, what's up?"
"I have an empty nest! Where did all of you go?" She laughed over the speaker; Chelsea sat next to me on the couch while she held the phone between us, a cheeky smile crossing her face while I laughed.
"I'm with Chels right now, Kitty and Jeff went to Kitty's house to see her mom, I'm assuming they aren't home yet?"
"No, she probably wanted to stay with her mom for a little while. They've always been close," she chuckled, "are you staying at Chelsea's?"
I raised an eyebrow at her and Chelsea just shrugged. "Sure, I'll be home tomorrow."
"Alright sounds like a plan, you kids have a good night then. You have your weapon?"
"Always Del," I assured her, "have a good night."
Chelsea took her phone back and laughed to herself while I relaxed, sinking into her couch and taking a deep breath. Her plants were always fragrant and it was soothing to be back at her place, the lights in the kitchen reminding me of little stars while she got to her feet and crossed them like an eclipse.
"Since I don't have to drive you home now, want to get stoned?"
"Is that even a question?" I countered, watching her trot back to the bedroom while I draped my jacket across the back of one of the dining chairs.
When Chelsea returned she'd changed into sweats and a cropped tank top, carrying a bong and her stash jar. She'd plopped down onto the couch again while I rifled around her fridge and pulled a beer, taking a seat beside her after popping the cap off. Chelsea handed over her phone while she loaded the bowl and I scrolled through her playlists until I found one I knew, listening to the low rumble from her stereo as Liquid Stranger echoed in the living room.
"God remember how much we used to smoke with Jules?" She snickered, grabbing for my beer while she traded the lighter, "I'll still never get over the night she fell asleep in Kitty's beanbag and tipped the wine glass over on herself."
"That was a good night," I laughed through my burning coughs before I handed it back over to her, "fuck I haven't smoked in over a year. This is going to get me good."
"The doctors actually recommended pot to help me with my anxiety after you guys left so I got a green card before I hit my birthday." Chelsea grinned with nothing but mischief before she took a pull. I noticed she'd taken her necklace off and I wondered if it was because she didn't have to worry about me staring. I was the one who gave it to her after all.
"No shit?"
"No shit," she snickered, "it feels weird being twenty one. I don't have to bribe my sister to buy me booze anymore."
"I've got...ten months, but it's not like I can whip my card out at the liquor store and have it match." I started to sink into the haze as I leaned back and she set the bong down on the table, the smell of marijuana overpowering the scent of her other plants. I'd forgotten how good it felt to relax after being on the run for so long.
We continued to talk as the sky grew dark outside, the apartment bathed in shadows and ambient light as her string lights twinkled in the kitchen. Chelsea had kicked her legs up onto my lap and I absentmindedly ran my thumb over her shin while I listened to her talk. She was just as bubbly and chaotic as before and I scolded myself, thinking about how I almost took someone like her off of this planet for no good reason. I'm sure she realized I was stewing in my own emotions from how quiet I'd gotten but her voice finally snuck in through the haze.
"Are you and Jeff on good terms now?"
"Yeah, he doesn't want to kill me anymore and I'm over the whole Kitty situation," I sighed as I folded my hands behind my head. "I realized even if he's some mass murderer, she is now too, and there's no better life I could've given her. I'm...actually really glad he can make her happy."
"Good," she hummed, sitting up again to grab the bong, "I'll admit I wasn't too thrilled when she originally brought him around but he's changed a lot. He'd do anything for her."
"Considering we chased her around the entirety of the United States I'd be hard pressed not to agree. I'm currently stuck between dying and turning into a monster anyway, so I have more important things to worry about than relationships."
"What kind of a monster are we talking here on a scale of Wolfman to The Blob?"
"The Creature from the Black Lagoon," I laughed wryly as I reached for my beer, "so, the whole kidney thing was because it kept the Affliction from spreading but it hit stage two pretty quickly once Jeff was hopping around 'cause of stress. Skin turned dark, eyes literally rotted from my skull," my chest heaved as I let out a sigh, "I'm in stage three right now which means I don't have a lot of time to make a decision. I haven't really told anyone aside from Del, but...I've got maybe a half year left, give or take, if I choose to stay human. Probably less if I'm being honest instead of hopeful."
"You're...you're kidding," Chelsea's face fell as she paused, "what happens if you don't?"
"I've got to basically completely gut and devour a human three separate times. Brain, eyes, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys...the first time I'll get a pretty new pair of chompers, the second time it didn't elaborate much other than boosted stats, strength and speed, etcetera." A chill ran down my spine before I took another drink. "Third time kills whatever human is left in me. I get some fuckin' hentai-tentacle bullshit and I'm damn near unkillable, but..." I shrugged as I kept my eyes on the ground. "I don't know if I can go through with that. Death might be a better option."
"It definitely sounds like a hard choice," she agreed as her eyes softened, "what'd Jeff and Kitty say?"
"Jeff thinks it'd be pretty badass but that's Jeff for you. I um, I haven't told Kitty yet. I caused her enough grief, she doesn't need to worry about me."
The lighter clicker as she sparked up for another hit, my mind swimming with options. I mean, I guess having one is better than what I thought was going to happen. My prognosis was grim but at least I'd get to spend the rest of my time with my friends and not dying alone in a ditch somewhere in New Mexico like most of my family did. They really were my friends, weren't they?
"Hey."
Chelsea snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned to her, her hand slipping behind my head while I froze in surprise, focusing just long enough to watch her eyes close while she leaned in to kiss me. Smoke passed between our lips and I took a deep breath, my whole face burning as she pulled away but she gave me a warm smile while I exhaled.
"No matter which option you choose I'll back you up the whole way," she said quietly, her stormy eyes glittering in the lights behind us, "although, I can say I want a little longer than six months. I just got you back and...and I still have unfinished business with you, dammit. You owe me."
My heart slammed in my ears over the static and I didn't know if it was because of the weed or if I was finally done dancing around the elephant in the room but I leaned forward, kissing her again and savoring the feeling. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered drunkenly making out with her what felt like ages ago but this was different. her hands reaching back to cradle my head while I pulled her into my lap and held her there. Chelsea's skin was warm as I brushed her waist, her arms wrapping around my neck before I moved forward and knocked her back into the couch. Everything burned while she tugged on my shirt and I let her toss it aside, her fingers trailing down my chest and sending spirals through my skin. She pulled on my belt loops and nipped at my lower lip, urging me onward. This was...new territory, to say the least.
My hand slipped beneath her shirt and Chelsea let out a trembling breath, something in me finally clicking as I ducked to the side and kissed down her neck while her nails slowly traced lines in my back, searing heat left in their wake. I pulled the top over her head and Chelsea fumbled with my belt for a moment as I took in every inch of her bare skin, my touch drifting to pull her sweats from her hips before she could get any further with my jeans.
"Chels, I-I..." I took a deep breath as I paused, trying to get ahold of the violent tremble that had overtaken me. "I'm about to sound like a bitch, but I've never actually gotten this far before."
"Oh?" She arched her eyebrows, a more sinister smile crossing her face, "then let me take it from here."
She kissed me hard before pushing up on my chest, making me sit against the back of the couch where I finally got my jeans off. My heart raced in my ribcage while she hovered over me, kissing me again and slipping out of my hands as she trailed her lips down my chest; if I wasn't stiff as a board before I definitely was now. Chelsea showed off her apparent lack of a gag reflex while I prayed to whatever God decided to take pity on me. I could've died happy after this alone but she wasn't done yet, her figure blocking out the lights as she perched herself on my hips, my grip on her waist tightening while she made herself real comfortable.
"Chelsea, fuck's sake," I heaved, tasting the salt on her skin as I kissed her collarbone; it's almost like I could smell the lust on her and it only made me want her more.
"You don't even know how long I've wanted to do this," she softly giggled into my ear before her tone turned devious, "it's my turn to make you suffer."
Goosebumps crawled across my skin but I couldn't help the grin that filled my cheeks; if this was my punishment, I think I'd be happy to pay my penance in full.
Kitty
Everything was all too familiar as I woke up facing a pink painted wall, foggy sunshine coming in through the window over my head. Jeff's snores echoed behind me and I turned in his arms, spotting tiny pink teeth marks in the crook of his shoulder that made my cheeks flush with the same color. Yeah, I was definitely home.
I moved closer and buried my face in his chest as I listened to him sleep, his hands instinctively gripping me tighter; the little heart looked odd perched on his chest but the fact he'd kept it meant entirely too much to me. Not to mention the signature over his heart that I'd teased about before things went to hell. I ran my thumb over my own handwriting and wondered who'd managed to capture the cursive so perfectly. He shifted and lifted his mask up, looking down at me with glazed, groggy eyes.
"Mornin' beautiful," I teased as I kissed him, "how'd you sleep?"
"Wonderfully," he hummed, "I suppose we should be heading back to Delilah's, we do have the spare key after all."
"Tom probably spent the night at Chelsea's getting stoned," I chuckled, propping myself up on my arms, "him and Jules used to go over all the time just to smoke."
"You mean the same thing they did here?"
"More or less, the only person's house we couldn't goof off at was Jules's because her parents were y'know, home," I laughed, "maybe I should talk to Delilah and see if she can necromance her back to life. Wouldn't that be a dream?"
"Uh, the dead should stay dead in my opinion," he snorted as I emerged from the blankets and immediately shivered, "exhibit A: my brother."
"He never actually died, you know," I explained as I slipped my jeans over my hips, reaching into my closet and dusting off an old sweater. "He was unstable for a long, long time but they managed to put him back together."
"I still don't know how he even survived to the hospital," Jeff sighed as he sat up and collected his things, "like I said, I gutted him. His organs were literally on the bed."
"I didn't ever get too much out of him but I do know he needed a couple transplants from what Ann told me," I stuffed my shirt from yesterday into my bag before throwing it over my shoulder. "Either way, Ann has to be back at work in like three days so they're probably leaving here soon. Means we can make a clean getaway."
"Where do we want to go from here?"
"Hell, I'd say let's hop a couple states down, make a few kills and head on back to Tempe. I want to give my Nina-Bean a proper visit."
"I think I can agree to that."
Jeff grinned at me before I grabbed my phone and turned the music off, his hand slipping into my back pocket before we left. Mom had already gone off to work and I found a key dangling off of the hooks next to the garage with a note that read 'I love you baby Kitty'. My heart swelled in my chest as I walked out the front door and locked it behind me, Jeff and I slinking around the house to cut through the woods to town. He jumped down ahead of me and as I was about to follow I looked to my right, making a double take as I spotted something in the fog. I thought it was a tree for a moment but the closer I looked...the more I could see a face, or rather, the lack of one.
"Babe, do you see that?" I whispered and he looked over, raising an eyebrow as he glanced back up.
"I don't—"
A stream of red trickling over his upper lip cut him off, propelling me forward before I jumped down and wiped it away with my sleeve, my stomach churning at the sight. It's been a year and how many murders and I still can't stand blood when I'm not full blown psycho?! Jesus.
"We need to hurry," I started, pulling him through and out onto the street, "that's the same thing I thought I saw when Toby attacked us."
"What'd it look like?" He asked quietly as he caught up, the two of us traversing alleyways as not to be caught.
"Taller, really tall, with a white face and a suit," I huffed, "did you feel anything when you got the nosebleed?"
"I mean, my head got a little...static-y?" He offered, "that's the best way I can describe it."
"We need to ask Delilah about it when she gets home."
Jeff nodded and we picked up the pace, arriving at Delilah's little house in the woods after a while and finding that her truck was already gone like I imagined. I unlocked the door after Jeff handed me the key and called out, earning no response and leaving he and I to lock everything up again. At least from here I knew we were probably safe from anything involuntarily coming into the house.
"I might take a look at her bookshelf, see if I could find something useful," I sighed, reaching for one of the ancient tomes and flipping through the pages.
"Did you know she was a witch?" He inquired, "like, a real one?"
"I knew she practiced Pagan traditions, collected spell-books, but no, I didn't know she could actually use magic."
"It's kind of cool, right?"
I glanced over my shoulder, chuckling at the gleam in his gaze before I nodded in agreement and sat down with the big red book. I understood a majority of what I was reading but anything I found on the name 'Operator' was only in reference, and it wasn't often. Jeff came back with a cup of coffee and sat down beside me just as I saw a car pull into the driveway out of the corner of my eye. It was Chelsea's unmistakeable yellow Xterra and I got to my feet, unlocking the door and watching through the window as they both hopped out. Before I went back to my seat Chelsea leaned to hug him, pulling back halfway just before planting a big kiss on Thomas's lips. I couldn't help my snicker as I turned back to Jeff with mischief in my tone.
"They just kissed!" I hissed like a little gremlin as I sped back to my seat, his brows jumping before Thomas finally came inside.
"Someone dip their fingers in the honeypot last night?" Jeff accused and Thomas paused in his movements as he fought not to smile. Guilty.
"Oh my God, did you?" I asked incredulously and he ran a sheepish hand through his hair.
"Uh, I mean I didn't plan on it, it just kind of...happened?" He laughed nervously while Jeff scrambled to his feet with a giddy look on his face.
"My boy!" He slapped Thomas' hand and pulled him into an embrace while I cackled in the armchair.
"I fucking told you last year she liked you!" I wheezed and he flipped me off, "this is awesome."
"Yeah, yeah, can it," Thomas took his jacket off and hung it next to the door before he went into the kitchen, "she wants to know if we can make it to the Café tonight."
"Sure, we don't have anything better to do— well, besides tease you."
"Bite me, Bitch-Kitty!"