Page 12 of Illuminated

“You said you wanted to show me something.”

He nodded. The way his hair caught the light was almost hypnotic. “Yes. Finish your wine. It’s a drive and a walk.”

* * *

As we headed back to the car, I noticed that the town had gotten quieter. My mind didn’t seem to be able to focus on any one thing. My heart was racing and I felt flushed. It could have been the two glasses of wine I’d had. It could have been Auris, walking next to me, his hand brushing mine every now and then in that way people did on first dates that went really well. Those accidental touches, although you’d never reallytouchtouch, not at least with a guy.

At one point Auris turned his head and stared at me in the darkness, a strange longing on his beautiful face. His hand brushed past mine again, and when I didn’t pull away, he interlaced our fingers, held me loosely.

I tensed.

“What is it? Are you scared of my touch?”

“No, just… seriously, I don’t know if two guys holding hands is a thing here.” I looked up at him, saw him confused for a heartbeat, then his eyebrows went up.

“Ah. Not when you are holding my hand during the night.”

I relaxed. “Okay.” Then I thought about that and looked up at him again. “Do you… do you sleep in a coffin? During the day? Or what do you do?”

Auris looked off to the side, but it didn’t do much to hide his chuckle.

“Could’ve just said no,” I said.

“Forgive me, but it is adorable where people’s minds go these days. I am weaker during the day, Ethan, but no, I do not spend the sunshine hours in a coffin.” He reached out to run his thumb across my cheek. “Don’t let me make you feel too self-conscious. Look at it like this: you haven’t asked me once whether I can die by staking nor have you made any stake jokes. Or any garlic jokes.”

“Hah, funny. And you haven’t called me your bride or Jonathan Harker yet. Do you think that makes us even?”

This time, Auris broke out laughing, his melodic voice ringing back against the cobblestones under our feet and echoing back and forth from the picturesque seaside town’s walls.

Something must’ve gotten into me, because when the car came into view, I was smiling along with him, enjoying holding hands with him, and felt, oddly, very safe walking through the dark town next to him.

He took the driver’s seat of my car once more, and we drove out of Cromere in silence. We left the town limits, and the night was quickly making me sleepy.

I followed the distant lights of houses and other towns through the side window, relaxed, and focused on my breathing. After a while of driving and me fighting the urge to just close my eyes, Auris took a left turn, and the smooth road turned into rougher terrain, grit and stones under the tires.

There were no lights to follow anymore. I could see tree trunks and leaves that looked gray in the car lights, but nothing more. This was the middle of nowhere. Abandoned indeed.

I was still tired, so to distract sleep from overtaking me, I asked, “What did you get from your place that was so important?”

He glanced toward me. Then, he took one hand off the wheel and reached for something in the inside pocket of his jacket, handed it to me.

It was a small box like a jewelry box. I opened it and saw the roundness of a pendant looking up at me. I couldn’t make out much more in the thin light of the car’s dashboard electronics.

“It’s old. There are engravings on it, but they have mostly faded with the years. It’s really more a slice of nostalgia than something I absolutely need.”

“You said there were a few things you wanted to get,” I said, handing the box back to him.

“Certainly. Keys, ID, my backup phone, a few other things. Small details. But that little piece of old metal is what I actually went back for. Do you find that odd?”

I shifted in my seat. “After tonight, I’m not sure I know what’s odd anymore and what isn’t.”

He chuckled, and it was such a pretty sound, just like his laughter had been, just like his voice. I liked that sound.

“I am sure your perception will readjust with time. We are here.”

I looked around but couldn’t see anything. If the narrow road that had taken us into this forest had ended, I couldn’t tell.

“Don’t worry, I know the way,” he said, noticing me staring into the darkness. “Take your flashlight. It’s a bit of a hike.”

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