Page 196 of Ominous: Part 1
All I manage to get out is, “I will,” as I stare at my phone.
Eli: Good morning, baby. Can I pick you up?
“I’m serious. I don’t trust them.”
I grit my teeth, but Seb isn’t being an asshole. He’s being protective. “Okay, okay, I get it.” I clear my throat. “I’ll becareful.”I want to remind himI’mthe one who got suspended from my last school, but I don’t waste my breath.
“You have a future,” Sebastian continues, and there’s an edge to his words that causes me to lift my gaze to his, meeting his bleary eyes in the watery light streaming in through my blinds. He glances at the phone in my hand. “Don’t throw it away.”
I roll my eyes, annoyed. “Neither Eli nor Dominic are going to…”Make me likeyou.“Throw me off my path, all right?”
Sebastian’s eyes search mine. “King told me some other weird shit about Eli.”
I still, holding my breath. And I remember, the name. King lives in Eli’s subdivision. It’s where he got alcohol from. Not a trailer park dealer after all.
“He’s been in trouble a lot, all right? He sounds a little… fucked up.”
“Fucked uphow?”My pulse races in my ears as I try to keep my voice calm.
Sebastian shakes his head. “Just watch yourself. I wouldn’t be surprised if your boy knows exactly what happened to that girl.”
I narrow my eyes, my blood pressure rising. “If you’re trying to tell me you think Eli had something to do with this because you’ve got a drugged-up conspiracy theory floating around in your empty head, then—”
“Cool it with the insults, asshole.”
I do, only because Eli has text me again, and if Sebastian had heard anything substantial from King, he’d have told me. They’re just getting high talking shit about people because they’ve got nothing else to do. That’s how rumors start. Jealousy, or fucking boredom.
Eli: Do you like it when I beg you?
I bite my tongue, typing out a reply, momentarily forgetting my brother completely, just like that. Eli has that effect on me. Sometimes, even as I hold onto my future of college and moving and writing and teaching like I told Seb I will, Eli has the ability to make it all fade into background noise. Like nothing else might matter in life but him. It’s dangerous, which also makes it thrilling.
I read his question again and think of his whispers in my ear from last night.
“I’m almost there, baby.”
His hand over my mouth, the way I tried to breathe only to be stopped by his flesh.
Me: I really like it when you beg me while I can’t breathe.
I squeeze my thighs together, wishing Sebastian would get the hell out of my room, but he’s talking, still going on about Winslet.
“I just don’t want you to end up the story one day.”
“It wasn’thim, okay?”I don’t bother hiding my anger this time.
Sebastian lifts his hand in the air, toward the ceiling, before he drops it back over his face, softly smacking himself and shaking his head. “Jesus.” He blows out a breath of defeat. “Eli was the last person to see her alive, E.”
I marvel at the factheknows this and wonder just how many people have discussed Eli’s possible involvement with Winslet’s death. The theories seem to have worked their way through various socioeconomic planes and occupations. Even the unemployed, as in Sebastian’s case.
“If he was involved, the police would have him in custody.”
Sebastian laughs, unkindly. “Shit doesn’t work like it does on TV. Besides, I saw him when he came to pick you up. He’s just… He’s got weird fucking eyes. Like no one is in there.”
Eli’s text comes through as my blood boils over Sebastian’s words.Him: Don’t say things like that unless you mean it. I got a high from suffocating you.
Warmth and cold both work in unison beneath my skin. I’m shivering and sweating because Eli has a habit of making me feverish.
“I’m telling you, E, I think he’s like, a psychopath or something. King spent some time in prison. He said you could always tell.” Sebastian coughs, and I hear the phlegm rattle around in his chest. “It’s in the eyes. They’re dead. His are dead.”
