Page 84 of Two Chambered Heart

Jason was waiting for them outside the garage when they arrived. He was leaning against the door, a cigarette between two fingers and a trail of smoke billowing from his mouth.

It had been over a week since she’d last been in the garage with him. She had been so certain he was going to kiss her on the couch, after he’d told her she wasn’t poison. Her stomach had dropped when he’d pulled away, and she’d realized she had lost another battle with him. They’d spent the rest of the week stuck in some kind of perverse ballroom dance, him taking a step towards her, her mirroring that step, only to have him pace back once again.

His attention was undeniable, though. In the gym, on the couch, in the kitchen, he was always finding his way to her, until he would pull away and disappear. He had even joined their combat lessons, which had turned into all-out sparring now that she had all the basics down. She had seen him laugh so many times. She couldn’t believe Kayden when he told her Jason wasn’t one for laughter.

“I heard you have a present for me,” she said as she walked up to him.

She reached out for the rolled cigarette between his lips, slow enough that he could have passed it to her. But he didn’t. He let her thumb and index finger press against either side of the smoke, brushing his lips in the process. She pulled it away from his face, his mouth parting.

He watched her as she brought it to her own lips and took a drag, savouring the smoke in her lungs before blowing it out and up into the brisk air. She took another hit before reaching it back toward him, again giving him the opportunity to use his own hands to break the intimacy of her fingers so close to his mouth. But for a second time, he let her fingers touch his lips as she placed it back between them, a smirk forming around the cigarette.

This was part of the dance. He would accept these small touches, this glimmer of what could be. And then he’d flee.

He finished his smoke and stubbed it out on the brick wall, cutting out the last of the embers before flinging the butt into the trashcan by the door.

He turned to her, eyes roving her face like she’d hidden a secret message amidst her freckles. She didn’t know if he found what he was looking for, but he said, “Ready?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea. Kayden didn’t tell me what you guys were getting me.”

Jason cut his eyes over to Kayden, who was grinning. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”

“Ugh, Kayden. We talked about this! It was specifically not supposed to be a surprise.” He groaned, looking from his brother to her and back.

“No, you saidyoudidn’t want it to be a surprise. I never agreed to that.”

“Whatever. You’re responsible for any fallout.” He pushed the door open and walked through, Corey and Kayden hot on his heels.

The garage had been cleared out since the last time she’d been there, but it still smelled of rubber and gas. The fluorescent lights were bright abovethem. There was a large plastic sheet covering the centre of the workspace. A metal chair sat in the middle.

There was a man tied to it. She could see his big denim-clad legs tightly roped to each leg of the chair, his arms restrained to the chair arms. He was wearing a red flannel shirt that tickled a memory in the back of her mind. A white pillowcase covered his face. Kayden led them towards him.

“What’s this?” Corey asked hesitantly.

“Your surprise,” Kayden said, gleeful as he walked up to the detained person.

He whipped the pillowcase off the man’s head with a flourish and bowed like he was the greatest showman.

She felt Jason stiffen beside her as she took in the man’s familiar features—the features of her nightmares.

His tanned leather face showed signs of significant aging. There were tracks marks along his face that were slightly lighter than the rest of his skin. If someone didn’t know, they would think it was just natural discoloration. But she knew. Could still feel the skin as it lifted under her fingernails.

She shuddered.

George Martosh’s eyes widened as they landed on her.

“Corey?” he stammered.

Jason backhanded him so fast that she heard it before she even registered what she was seeing. “Keep her name out of your mouth.”

He spit blood onto the white plastic below him.

“I found him for you,” Jason said, uncertainty lacing his words. “You can do whatever you want to him before you kill him.”

The man was whimpering in the chair. The sound grated on her ears. He had no right to that noise, the noise she’d made so many times in her youth because of him. A sound he still elicited from her in her sleep.

“Shut up,” she spat at him and walked over to the nearby table, taking in all the tools that were laid out there.

Jason met her at the table. He pointed to each tool, explaining what they were. “There’s an orthopedic bone saw, a hunting bone saw, a wood saw, a wire saw, a Wartenberg pinwheel, meat scissors, wire cutters, a wood carving gouge set in different milometers, two pull hooks, different sized scalpels, forceps and a variety of knives. If you’re unsure what a tool is used for, I’d be happy to demonstrate.”

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