Page 8 of Shadowed By the Alien
“Hooking up?”
“Getting busy. Making out.”
Total silence.
He either doesn’t understand, or he thinks I’m making a move on him and he’s not interested. I’m not making a move. Not exactly.
“Sex,” I say bluntly.
His hand tenses for a moment, then relaxes. “I will not touch you. Unless you want me to,” he adds with a lift to his voice.
I can’t help but smile. He sounds a little nervous. I desperately want to touch him, to learn the shape of his face, whether his jaw is square and his brows thick. Whether he’s clean shaven or has just a hint of scruff that I like on a guy.Asking if I can touch him in that manner suddenly feels too intimate, because he’s quickly becoming more than a random person to me.
“Wait here,” he instructs and lets go of my hand. I don’t move an inch since I’m not sure where we are. I stopped counting steps a while back because I let myself get too wrapped up in talking with Ren… and thinking of ways to ask him out on a date. Despite just turning twenty-nine, I’ve never done that before.
That sublime scent of cedar and cloves is the only hint I have that he has returned. He walks as quietly as a cat.
“There’s a note on Noah’s door. He’s moved the party to the cemetery.”
“Awesome! I used to play hide and seek there with Charlotte when we were kids, but I haven’t been there in ages.”
“I’ll escort you, if you’d like,” Ren offers, with a note of hope in his voice.
This night keeps getting better and better.
RENIKK
Music blaresfrom inside the cemetery, nearly drowning out the buzz of people talking and getting rowdy. Humans can be very odd. Partying in a place that demands respect for the fallen is a prime example. But Raven’s face lights when we enter.
Her entire body moves to the beat. “Isn’t the music great? Loud and lively enough to raise the dead,” she says with sheer joy.
Nothing can raise the dead but her excitement and swaying hips raise parts of me I wish would remain at rest while we’re in public.
To calm my racing blood, I scan the cemetery, as I should have done upon entering an area teaming with humans wearing masks and costumes. Anyone here could be the enemy. A quick escape, should one become necessary, will prove difficult given the condition of the graveyard.
Weeds and trees overwhelm the area, uprooting many grave stones. Other markers lie broken on the ground or tilt at odd angles. I don’t let go of Raven’s hand both for her safety and because nothing gives me more pleasure than being with her.
“I don’t understand this desire to party in a cemetery,” I say as we weave our way toward two or three dozen people dancing in an open area away from the graves.
“It’s all about setting the mood for Halloween. Creepy and dark. Speaking of which, have you spotted Noah yet?”
“Is this your way of asking me to describe the scene since you can’t see it?”
She stops walking. “You know?”
“That you are blind? Yes.”
Her face falls. She didn’t want me to know but the time for subterfuge is past. I want her to know who I am and yet once I tell her the truth, I risk being torn from her.
“I thought I hid it well,” Raven says.
“You do, but I’ve been watching you for months. I’ve seen you trip on new cracks in the pavement and slip on wet leaves, get up and have to feel around to re-orient precisely where you are. You know this area better than anyone, but you can’t spot changes. Why don’t you use your cane?”
She shrugs. “This is my safe zone. I don’t need to rely on my cane.”
“You mean you want to be independent.”
“Yes. I’d use my cane in new areas, except that makes me more of a target. Here, I don’t stand out because I know the layout. Every square inch.”
