BOOK 3: THE HEART OF THE HAUNTER
If I could be with you tonight
I would sing you to sleepNever let them take the light behind your eyesI’ve failed and lost this fightNever fade in the darkJust remember you will always burn as bright—My Chemical Romance, The Light Behind Your Eyes
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Too Busy to Call
Brandon used to call me every night, and all of a sudden, that Wednesday he didn’t. That first night, I assumed he was busy and didn’t want to disturb him. The next day came and went without a word from him. Weird. But I still didn’t want to intrude. I knew he was up to his neck in work, managing three projects at the same time. The last thing he needed was me bugging him about why he hadn’t called. But when I went to sleep that Thursday night without even a
The cat ball on the kitchen table flashed, and I felt a cold touch on my shoulder.“Don’t keep it all inside, Fran.”I sort of sat up, trying in vain to stop crying, and shrugged.“What d’you want me to say, Lizzie? That I’m an idiot? I’m the worst fucking idiot in history.”“That’s some hubris.”A bitter scoff escaped my lips. She clearly was Joseph’s daughter to reply like that.“I better make myself some coffee.”“Did you really think he was cheating on you?”I shrugged from the counter, filling the carafe. “I don’t know. I don’t understand why it looked like the only possible explanation for him not calling. I mean, yeah, because that’s what he used to do after dinner, but it wasn’t cheating. That was before we decided to give it a try together, when he thought I didn&rsquo
Brett’s call on Tuesday morning made me realize I was supposed to go to Pennhurst the day before. I glanced at Brandon by my side, apparently still sleeping.“I’ll try to make it today or tomorrow.”“Remember we have the Paracon this weekend, so it’s gonna be crowded with the preparations starting on Thursday,” he said.“Oh, okay, good to know. I’ll try to go today, then.”I was about to sneak out of bed, when Brandon threw an arm around my waist to keep me where I was.“Tell him to book us a room at their partner hotel for tonight,” he mumbled against my forehead.“Yessir,” I said, smiling. The control freak kept tabs on everything that happened around him even in his sleep. “You don’t need to come. It isn’t a good environment for your lungs.”He kissed me in no hurry, stretching on top of me.“I know, Doctor Garne
A different noise reached me: loud voices and hurried footsteps in the distance. Finally! Why the fuck did they have cameras and security guards if it took them forever to show up when there was a problem? The place was a maze, and the dripping water added to the echoes, making it impossible for me to pinpoint where they were coming from.“I got her.”“Good, go,” I gasped, a hand to my chest.I saw Kujo come out of the basement and raised the LED the moment he crossed the doorway, to fill that short hall with the bright beam. My knees were about to buckle, so I kept my back to the wall and slid down to sit on the damp cold concrete floor. I knew I needed to get out of there. I needed fresh air. But I also knew I wouldn’t make it all the way up the stairs and out the window. And I didn’t know how far the exit of that tunnel was, nor the way out through Quaker Hall, which most likely would also include stairs. I shivere
Brandon took off his mask as soon as he got in the truck, rubbing his face with an annoyed snort. I buckled my seatbelt without a word. I knew I had it coming, I just didn’t know how bad yet.The bastard let me sweat, driving the whole way to the hotel in complete silence. We’d brought a few supplies, knowing we had a kitchen in the suite, so he took them out of the fridge to make a vegan midnight snack, ignoring me completely.I went to the bedroom, left the backpack, took off my cold wet shoes, put on dry socks, waiting in vain for him to speak. So I headed back to the kitchen. I would’ve loved to have a coffee, but the coffeemaker was in the corner of the counter, and I couldn’t reach it while Brandon was busy between the bend and the fridge.He kept his back turned on me, completely focused on whatever he was doing. Like chopping a few greens and fruits and mixing them with his cream cheese would take so long and so much attention. I
It was nice, coming back home to the Manor with Brandon and finding everything was fine. I left him working in the study and took my laptop to the kitchen, determined to update my diary before dinner. His text only twenty minutes later made me chuckle: the Haunter Supreme was thirsty. I had bought the coffeemaker for the study, along with a water dispenser, and had set them in a pretty display with tea, coffee, mugs, spoons and everything required to enjoy an infusion without needing to go any further than two steps away from the desk. But nope, he fancied something cool with more flavor than plain fresh water.So there I went, up the stairs all the way to the third floor, with the forty-ounce thermos bottle full of his mango juice just out of the fridge, thinking it’d be nice once we set his office in the guesthouse with its own fridge. And I wouldn’t have to drop whatever I was doing to go wait Milord’s table.Bullshit. I don’t know w
Isaac woke us up about seven the next morning, to let us know they’d just landed in Logan. Absent Brandon, he’d been named commander of the expedition. But as any good four-star general, he reported their next steps to the Supreme leader.It would take them a while to load all their stuff on the rental SUVs, and from there, they would head all together in a caravan to Worcester, where the crew would stay with part of their equipment. Once they were all checked in and settled, the three Haunters would come by themselves, bringing all they deemed necessary to shoot roll B takes to their heart’s content, plus some additional gear because you never know.“Call me when you’re leaving Worcester,” said Brandon, eyes closed, his arm keeping me to his side like I would try to pull away.He disconnected and stretched to drop the phone back on the nightstand, exposing his chest to my hands and lips. He let out a soft sigh,
I had to promise on seven holy books I’d call Susan if we needed any help. And Brandon finished winning the Collins over when he invited them to the barbeque that evening. Lucky me, they thanked him but excused themselves over a meeting with their Bible study group in town.The Haunters took over the kitchen to make lunch and go over what they’d shot earlier on only two laptops. I was about to feel a little out of place when Brandon required my assistance, like he needed it. He left me in charge of whatever he was cooking and went to sit at the table with Ricky. To wave me over not a minute later.“I got it,” said Cake with a nice smile on his hardened biker face.“Look, love, I think we caught something,” said Brandon as I circled the table to go by his side. “Who would be in the library?”“Let me see.” I stood behind him and rested my hands on his shoulders to lean a little forward and
We shot it in the study, after the best barbeque ever, and it took me a while to relax enough to start having an actual conversation with Ricky. Mostly because Brandon was monitoring the shoot from his laptop on my desk, and Ted and Isaac were filming too, to add to the static cameras that would record the closeups on us with those moving shots they always used in their interviews. Not to mention the lights and reflecting screens and the mic clipped to the collar of my top and all that paraphernalia. Bread and butter for them, absolutely intimidating for me.Ricky had put up a list of questions after watching Deshaun’s cut, and we did our best to stick to it, but it was obvious we would branch off.We talked about Kujo for about an hour, wrapping up the subject with the changes he’d undergone since we’d taken him back to Pennhurst. To illustrate that last point, I spoke about the reason why Kujo was talking so much over my last visit.“Yo