Page 32 of Now You See Him
“Oh my god, Logan! What happened? Are you?—”
Tina stopped in her tracks when he lifted his head to reveal a bloody nose and dilated pupils. She scrambled forward and reached for him, but he cowered even farther into the corner.
“D-don’t touch me!”
Tina silently cursed Damien as she got on her haunches in front of Logan. “Logan, tell me what happened. Did you fall out of bed again? Did you hurt yourself?”
He used the back of his good arm to wipe the blood under his nose, smearing red across his face. “I didn’t fall.”
“Then what?—”
“You know what,” he hissed with so much venom, she almost fell back on her butt. “You know he’s here, watching me, fucking with my head.” Using his good hand, he pressed fingers to his temple and tapped twice. “He’s in there,laughingat me.”
“Who?” she cried, hoping her acting skills were good enough that he’d buy her confused tone. “What are you talking about? And come on, let’s get off the floor.” She reached for him again, and this time he let her help him to his feet.
She nudged him to the bed again so he could sit on the edge, one hand holding his casted arm close to his chest. Tina bent forward so they were at eye level. Logan’s hair was disheveled, with chunks sticking up at odd angles. His beautiful complexion looked gray and dull.
“Logan, talk to me.”
Some of the haze seemed to clear from his eyes. “I can’t be here.”
“W-what?”
“I can’t be here,” he repeated. “I think this house is haunted, Tina. I can’t explain it, but I’ve been having dreams, and then when we were about to…well, I didn’t fall off the bed.”
“You…didn’t?”
Logan shook his head. “It’s more than that. The water is always cold. The doors slam open and shut when you’re not here, and I was sleeping but something woke me. When I opened my eyes, this…this person from high school I once knew was staring back at me. His head was bleeding, and he had these pointed, razor-sharp teeth.”
“Oh my god, Logan,” Tina said, her voice soft and filled with understanding. “I had no idea that you were having these nightmares. I’m so sorry. I…I can’t say I understand what you’re going through, but I can see that you believe it.”
His eyes narrowed on her, as if assessing whether she was telling the truth. “You haven’t felt or seenanything?”
She cocked her head. “I mean, the basement door still opens, but I thought that was faulty hinges, and it hasn’t for a while.”
“No dreams?” he pressed.
She shook her head, even as there was a cold prickle at the base of her neck. “Do you think it’s because you’re back in this town and you’re seeing all of the places you left behind when you went to the city?”
“Maybe.” He continued to watch her with skepticism, as if staring at her long enough would reveal whether or not she was lying to him. It was a reminder that Logan wasn’t clueless. His shrewd intelligence was one of the first things she’d noticed and admired about him. It was also one of the first things that she’d forgotten when Derrick and Damien came into her life. She had to be a bit more discerning about what she shared with him or hewas going to figure out something was up before they were able to learn what Damien really wanted.
She had to ask herself again if that was really so bad.
But there was Derrick’s feelings to consider, too. He wanted answers about his brother’s death which meant she’d stay quiet for him.
Tina crossed her arms over her chest as she looked down at her fiancé. “Look, some of the medication you’re taking for pain relief has gnarly side effects. I’m going to say that whatever you’re feeling about the house and moving back are amplified because of the drugs. But I’m not going to force you to stay here in the house we live in together. I’m not going to keep you against your will. What do you need? What can I do to make you feel better? To help you heal.”
He let out a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m sorry Tina, but I can’t be here. In this house. I—I think I want to go to my parents and stay with them for a bit.”
“Okay. We’ll get you to your parents’, then,” she said. Tina helped him back under the covers to rest as she flipped on all the room lights, walked into his closet, and pulled a medium-size suitcase from the corner luggage-storage rack. “I’m just going to put some of your casual clothes in here, okay?” she shouted.
“Okay,” he called back, his voice thick with fatigue.
She started with his underwear drawer, rolling her eyes at the way he folded his briefs. Then she moved on to his T-shirts. She filled half the suitcase before she found it.
The women’s white slim-fit T-shirt that was stuck to the back of his gray athletic shirt thanks to static cling.
It wasn’t Tina’s.
