Page 30 of Killer of the Bells
This time, Echo fully turned to look at Cal, showing a hint of curiosity on a previously expressionless face.
“I go where I’m needed, you see. And you need me here right now. It’s better if I have your permission to help you, but the magic will happen regardless. I’m sorry, but I can’t control that part.”
Echo snorted, gave Cal a dirty look, and turned back to stare out the window once more.
“I’m not joking. You’re on the cusp of something new. A rebirth of sorts. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen for you, because I’m just a vessel and can only get an idea of what’s to come. I promise you this is something good for you. My… benefactors are truly benevolent… um… people.” Cal looked away and to the left as he said the last part.
Echo turned so he was sitting sideways in his chair, showing every bit of body language possible that he wanted Cal to leave.
Cal stood, and his hand hovered over Echo’s head a moment before retracting. The air shimmered where his hand had been. “You’ll be okay, honey. I promise. Just try to relax and know that something good is happening for you.”
Echo huffed angrily, and Cal turned to go. Before he reached the door, he said, “Good luck,” and then he was gone.
Shortly after Cal left, the shimmer grew to envelop Echo’s body, and he slumped in his chair, fast asleep.
The memory blurred to the next morning, when Echo was meeting with Miranda. She was talking to him about a new social worker he’d be getting. Instead of looking confused, he nodded.
I found it interesting that neither of them seemed to have any memory of Cal’s visit.
Miranda, seeing Echo show engagement over anything for the first time, spoke excitedly about Ms. Carver and how good she was at helping older teens in need.
When Ms. Carver arrived, she greeted Echo first, not allowing Miranda to speak for him. “Hello, Brandon. Do you know why I’m here?”
Echo looked the woman up and down slowly, assessing her before saying clearly, “Call me Echo.”
Miranda gasped in delight, shouting, “I’ll go call the doctor!” before running out of the room.
“She’s a bit excitable, isn’t she?” Ms. Carver asked dryly.
Echo nodded and said, “Excitable.”
Ms. Carver gave him a level stare. “They told me you don’t talk. Is this new?”
“This is new,” Echo confirmed.
The conversation continued with Ms. Carver quickly realizing how to communicate with Echo. Before the doctor arrived, they’d already agreed on the steps they would take toward getting Echo out of the hospital and living on his own.
Once the doctor arrived, Ms. Carver bulldozed her way through arguments and protests from both Miranda and the doctor before finally securing their agreement that Echo would be released into her custody the next morning.
I exited the memory with a start, pulling away from Echo’s neck, and once again, terrified that I would find myself holding Echo’s corpse in my arms.
Instead, I found a feverish, highly aroused Echo grinding against my body and making needy whimpers.
“Fuck,” I growled.
I used to think I had self-control. It had taken me years to win out against the monster, fighting tooth and nail so that only fresh blood could trigger it into taking over. It had left me with the ability to resist anything. Or so I’d thought.
But resisting a needy, desperate Echo, handing himself to me on a silver platter, had my control shattering.
“Tell me you want it,” I growled in Echo’s ear. “Before the option stops being yours.” My hands had a vice grip on Echo’s hips, and I wasn’t sure I could let go. The monster was so close, I could almost feel it breathing down my neck.
“I want it, I want it,” Echo chanted, almost incoherently.
“Good.”
It was hurried and almost violent, like before. I cleared the nearest surface with a swipe of my arm, sending books, laptops, and stacks of notes to the floor without a glance.
I tore Echo’s clothes from his body, stripping him from head to toe with his eager assistance before scooping him up and depositing him onto my empty desk.
