Page 63 of Of Poison & Pumpkins
His muscles bulge even more from pulling at the binds. “Keep stroking. Yeah, like that. A little harder. Fuck! Oh …!”
“Elias Gabriel! Did you cuss?” I say as I follow his command by handling him harder.
“Oh, fuuuuuuck!” His chest rises and falls faster. I’m so turned on by his accelerating pants. Every outline of his abs tighten to form perfect rectangles. “Babe! Babe … I’m gonna?—”
I grab a sheet and let him spill into it as he releases and groans out a sound that might or might not be my name. I’m entranced by his beauty, and when his whole body relaxes, all I want is to kiss him until I die. Unfortunately for me, the man can barely breathe. After he finally calms, I untie his wrists and curl under his arm.
“That was the shortest I’ve ever lasted. I’m not gonna survive sex with you,” he murmurs, eyes shut. “Rynnlee … that was amazing and I want to return the favor, but?—”
I tenderly kiss his forehead and roll away. “It’s okay, Lias. Get some rest.”
His hands go limp, fingers slack, and I’m pretty sure he’s already half-asleep. Who could blame him after such an intense week? Honestly, it gives me some time to myself. I gather up my backpack with all the ingredients and make my way out of the room. If I were a betting gal, I’d place a thousand bucks on the chance that Elias will be snoring in a minute.
Bathed in moonlight and starlight, I prepare under a pine tree in Oakmar's vast forest. Other than the crickets playing their strings, there’s no other noise for miles. The Fury Factory looms in the distance, close enough to run to in an emergency but far enough where no one can witness my spell. I shiver in the cool autumn breeze, having left my sweater at home. At least Elias had more sense than me, packing our other essentials quickly when we fled.
I still can’t believe my sister might’ve poisoned the water source. How much hatred results in that type of cruelty? She’s lucky that neither Tinsley nor Maya drank the water, or I wouldn’t be hiding out here.
I want to text Tinsley again, but my phone’s charge might not last until she arrives, so I check her ETA once more.
It’s a good thing I have a fresh memory of Elias being pleasured by my hand as a distraction until she gets here. Damn, watching him unravel for me was hot. But something seemed off. It was like his spirit was only half present. Maybe I should’ve waited. My emotions feel like a knotted pattern a novice would knit, with holes and uneven stitches. Fear crosses excitement on one thread while weaved together with adoration and frustration simultaneously. They’re all connected instead of one easy long string with a clear beginning and end. How am I supposed to know how to approach a relationship with him if I can’t even untangle myself?
A low car engine rumbles from around the bend of trees, followed by gravel crunching under tires. Tinsley pulls up slowly, her face barely visible in the darkness. Yet, when she smiles, her teeth are like a beacon. Pouch in hand, she jumps out of the car and dashes over.
“Careful, there’s a log.”
She hops over it and holds out the bag. “Here are the berries. And I added some extra little gifts in case you need them. By the way, could you have given me a creepier place to meet? I got lucky that Maya fell asleep in the back.”
“She’s with you?!”
“Well, I can’t leave her at home alone, can I?”
“Ugh, sorry, Tinz. I appreciate you finding these. You should get Maya out of here. That factory is haunted and I wouldn’t want her to meet her first ghost too young.”
“It’s fine. Don’t you remember the story of when I met my first ghost?”
I think back on our sleepover nights, before Maya was born, when we tried to scare each other with spooky stories, but they all turned into comedies. Tinsley always wore the same purple pajamas to piss me off. She had told me that the first ghost who approached her was her grandma, giving her advice on what spell to request for the next Fuzer Ceremony. She was sixteen.
“Exactly. You were way older than Maya is now. She shouldn’t be exposed to anything that could traumatize her.”
“What are you talking about? I was four.”
“That’s not what you told me.”
“Hm, I thought you knew this story. Well, congratulations. Today is your lucky day! You are blessed with the opportunity to learn something new about your BFF!” She glances back at the car, making sure it hasn’t walked off with her daughter. “I was four when my first ghost appeared. At first, I didn’t recognize her, but quickly realized it was the lady who used to sit next to us at church. She had died only a week before and she looked so calm that I wasn’t afraid.”
“What’d she say?”
“She said she knew my future pain, that I wouldn’t have my parents for long and that I shouldn’t fall in love because he would die in the same accident that kills my parents.”
I gasp. My hands clutch the spoon, nearly ripping it. “You knew? The whole time? You knew their accident would happen?”
“No. I had buried that memory until it happened, then I spent months thinking I was crazy, or delusional, or hallucinating something that never happened from my youth.” She sniffs and looks at the ground. “But I desperately wanted the memory to be real.”
“What? Why?”
“Because, that same ghost told me that even though I’d lose my family all at once, I’d gain a best friend for life and eventually a daughter, who would become my everything.”
“Oh, Tinz, come here.”
