Page 75 of Inbetweeners
“Don’t groan. You know I’m useful. Bye Cat, see you later!” Harry followed them down the stairs.
Emmett climbed into the driver’s seat. “Put the address in.”
“Get going. Head right at the main road. I know it’s that way.” Phoenix programmed the satnav.
Seven in the morning and the traffic was already heavy. Emmett remembered…Oh God. More memories.He blanked his mind. He couldn’t deal with his past now.
“Turn right. At the island, take the second exit and keep left,” said the satnav.
“What are those marks on your neck?” Harry asked.
Emmett had noticed the fingerprint bruising was still there, as was the hickey. Faded but visible.
“I strangled him,” Phoenix said.
“Whoa, that is really kinky shit. You have to be careful with breath play. You might—oh. You’re already dead, so I guess it doesn’t matter. It’s cool not being able to die. Not so cool if you’ve not got a body, though. Even though I managed to pick up the remote, I still walked through your closed bedroom door. Not sure I should risk standing in front of a car. It might not go through me anymore, but it can’t kill me, right?”
“You stood in front of a car?” Phoenix turned to gape at him.
“Just to see. I wonder what would happen if I jumped off the Shard. I’d probably just get up and walk away, wouldn’t I?”
“I have no idea,” Emmett said.
“Not that I’m going to do that.”
No one spoke.
“Aren’t you going to saygood?” Harry asked.
“Good,” Emmett said as Phoenix said, “No.”
“I know you don’t mean that,” Harry said. “You just like to sound mean.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be fucking off today?” Phoenix asked.
“I don’t think you two are safe to be left on your own. Why did you strangle Emmett? Couldn’t Emmett have strangled you instead?”
Emmett smiled.
“It was because he wouldn’t stop talking,” Phoenix said.
“Oh. That’s not nice. What’s wrong with people talking a lot? I talk a lot and you don’t want to— Oh, you do. Well, that doesn’t make me feel very welcome.”
Phoenix laughed. “Slow, but you got there.”
“It wasn’t Phoenix who strangled me,” Emmett said.
“Who then? Did someone creep in and creep out without me noticing? I’m not much of a bodyguard if they did. Though Cat didn’t stir either.”
Emmett glanced at Phoenix. “Tell him. He needs to know.”
“When I came up from Hell, I picked up a hitchhiker. Vin. Another demon. At the moment, he can only talk to me or make me…do things when I’m asleep.”
“Shiiit!That’s not good. He made you kill your boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Emmett and Phoenix said at the same time.
“Of course, he’s not.” Harry winked. “But…isn’t that darker bruise on your neck a hickey?”
