Page 52 of Monster Mansion

Chapter17

Logan

I was awake before the sun the following morning, hiding out in my bedroom and watching the sky through the glass ceiling shift from a dusky blue to a warm lavender, all the way to a pure, unfiltered West Virginian sunrise. The mansion began to stir as the others awoke from their sleeps and began pattering around the house in nervous preparation. The clock on my phone read just past six-thirty, and I wasn’t sure how long it would take for Jonas Silver to decide to coast down here and “inspect the damage,” as he so sweetly put it.

Much of my logic told me he wasn’t even overseas. Everything else had been a lie, why not his location as well, to seem less available? Jonas had proven he was absolutely the type to lie about something so stupid for his own ego.

A delicate knock on my door stirred me from my skyward observation.

Ted’s voice broke through the barrier of my door. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, that’s fine, Ruse,” I called in return, propping myself up on my elbows to watch him enter. A perfect replication of Ted wandered into my bedroom, making me cringe slightly. “But would you mind maybe saving the Ted impersonation for when it really matters?”

“Not at all, totally get it,” Ruse said as his skin started its pre-shift boiling. “What do we want this morning?” He spoke happily, clearly trying to keep things as light as possible. “Cat? Kitten, even? I can be a cute puppy, if you’re more of a dog person, just say the word—”

“How about human?” I asked. “Your usual with the long hair, if you don’t mind.”

“Your wish is my command,” Ruse insisted as he fell into his ruggedly handsome human form, still dressed in Ted’s normal apparel. “Isn’t it funny? I saw this fellow on the cover of a book one of the, um, other girls brought. Had this man on the front looking very dapper on the beach with a pretty lady draped over his arms.” He chuckled, checking himself out in my mirror. “Figured if I was gonna be a human man, that was the man I wanted to be.”

“You picked a good one,” I smiled. “But you feel like telling me what brought you up here so early, other than a brief history of this immaculate form before me?”

I watched as Ruse fished in Ted’s pockets for the groundskeeper’s cell phone. “You Know Who called just a minute ago, said he’d be showing up around eight, so we’ve got just over an hour until he gets here.” Ruse kicked the air awkwardly in front of him. “Thorn and Nox overheard the conversation, so they know what’s going on. I would say we should all four spend some time going over the plan, but I truthfully don’t think there’s much of a plan to go over.”

“Right,” I added as I felt my gaze start to space out. “Not much we can plan for if things go south. We’ll just have to be ready to think on the fly.”

“They said the same,” he agreed. “We’ll have to roll with the punches if Plan A doesn’t pan out immediately.”

It was unfortunate that we couldn’t just have Mr. Jonas Silver over for a rehearsal-murder to practice how everything would happen. I smirked a little at the thought of some frantic director yelling at everyone for missing their cues at a time like this.

“Let’s just hope my acting can convince the bastard that I’m dead,” I said with a dark chuckle. “Does he usually get pretty close to inspect the bodies, or is he more of a ‘I don’t need to see too much’ type of guy?”

“Well, to be honest, that’s where things are a little funky, here,” Ruse admitted as he chewed on the edge of his thumb. “Usually, there’s not much of a body for him to inspect. Because, you know, we usually don’t leave much behind.” I turned to the shifter and noticed that his incredibly human eyes were heavy with concern, and it was a concern that had entered my mind as well.

“Guess there’s not much plan that can be made otherwise.” I sighed. “I haven’t practiced shooting in so long that I don’t feel great trying to make the shot from a hiding place or from too much distance. Truth is, I’ve gotoneopportunity to blow his lights out before things get more chaotic than I’d like.”

“I wish I could tell you more about him, personally, but he’s not in here very often for me to watch.” Ruse said as he sat down on the bed next to me. “Logan, there’s a possibility he also comes armed.”

“I know,” I snapped, more intensely than I intended. “He’s entering a home he knows is full of angry, trapped monsters who have ‘knocked him around a few times.’ Of course he’s probably armed.”

The two of us sat there in silence for a few seconds, and I could feel Ruse nervously bouncing his leg, likely searching for something useful to say next.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I’m just nervous. You’re nervous. We’re all nervous.” He wrapped one of his powerful arms around my shoulders and pulled me into him. “The fact that you’re even going through with this is astounding to me. We don’t deserve your effort or your kindness, and while we can’t do this next partforyou, we will be with you every step of the way.”

“I know.” I sighed as I leaned into him. “I’m sorry for snapping. I’m just trying to stay as zen as possible, and the verbal reminder that our friend might be ready to shoot me back is not something that I need to hear.”

“You’re right,” Ruse said with an affectionate squeeze. “In that case, what do you want to do for the next hour prior to showtime?”

I looked around my room at the mess I had made of all my stuff. Books and my electronics chargers and clothes were thrown around everywhere.

“You know what?” I asked. Ruse pulled away from me slightly and looked at me, waiting to hear what I had to say. “I’m gonna pack. I’m gonna get all my shit together as best I can in preparation for getting the hell out of here—for all of us to get the hell out of here.”

“Not a bad idea,” Ruse said as he shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose I wouldn’t really want to hang out in a place like this without proper reason.”

“Oh, it’s not the place I’d be avoiding, Ruse,” I said with a nervous laugh. “It’s the fact that I just killed a guy, and I wouldn’t want to exactly hang around here too long afterward.”

“Fair enough,” Ruse said as he withdrew his arm and rose back to his feet. “I’ll leave you to it, then, and see you downstairs soon. Don’t be surprised if the others come to say their own piece before this show gets on the road.”

“I’d expect nothing less,” I said as I got off the bed myself and stretched my arms toward the ceiling.

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