Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

I’m sort of a jack of all trades, I guess. I do a little bit of everything, and all of it is mediocre. Except sticking people with needles; being stabby seems to be the only thing I really excel at. So when I blazed into town full of glory and good intentions, I snagged a phlebotomy job, no problem. Something about siphoning healthy-looking blood soothes me. I’m sure a psychologist would have a field day with that one.

I was busy prepping my station for a routine blood draw when a shadow fell across me.

“Hey, hotshot, I’m not ready for you yet. Wait for me to call you, okay?” I said, not looking up.

The shadow didn’t move. I bit the inside of my cheek in frustration and raised my eyes.

There was nothing there. That I could see, anyway.

Well. This was new. There was always a person or a demon, but an invisible presence? Something unseen casting a shadow? I don’t know much about physics and its laws, but I’m thinking they’d have a hard time accepting this.

“So . . . ” I said, waiting for the thing to take the lead. It didn’t. And frankly, I didn’t have time for this.

“Okay, nice chatting with ya. Obviously it’s time for you to scram. Working, you see.”

I grabbed the tubes I needed and rechecked my order. Satisfied, I stood up and went to the window at the front of the office. The presence followed me.

“Reed Taylor,” I called out and waited until a relatively handsome guy with tragically bland hair stood up. I nodded toward the back room, and he followed me. So did the presence.

“What’s up?” I asked this “Reed Taylor.” He smiled benignly. I suppressed a sigh. Let’s do a quick stick and get this over with. Then afterward, maybe I can go play in traffic.

“Would you roll up your sleeve, please?” I asked him. He blanched a bit and then slowly pulled his sleeve up. I could see the old track marks on his arm.

“I haven’t used in years,” he told me quietly. I flicked my eyes to his, but he was carefully looking away.

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” I said and started prodding at his arm. There was a lot of scar tissue to work around.

“I know that. I just . . . ” he laughed. “I don’t want you to think badly of me, that’s all. Which is funny, considering you’re a complete stranger. So it shouldn’t be important, should it? I mean, I could be murdering people right and left, and it shouldn’t matter to you.” He paused. “That was so inappropriate.” His head dropped.

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I hit his vein and filled the tubes, one after another. The presence moved closer. Its shadow fell across my hands.

“Back off, I can’t see,” I said without thinking. Reed’s head flipped up, and I froze.

“Who are you talking to?” he asked. His eyes were shining with an intensity that made my spine stiffen.

“Nobody.” He didn’t look like he bought it. He probably thought he was getting his life’s blood siphoned off by a complete psycho. “Uh . . . you?”

He shook his head. “No, you weren’t talking to me.”

I pulled off the last vial and pressed a cotton ball over the needle. I pulled it out more hastily than usual, and Reed hissed.

“Sorry about that. Here, hold this,” I said, and Reed pressed down on the cotton ball. His eyes were still trying to catch mine, but I made a big show of gathering all of my paperwork together.

“So you know the drill, Reed Taylor. Drink lots of water; don’t use this arm to lift anything heavy. If there’s any strange bruising or a painful lump that arises . . . ”

“Hey,” he said, and I finally looked at him. His eyes were vibrant and green. Not bland at all.

“W-what?”

Reed spoke slowly and gently, like he was talking to a scared child. “This is very important. We both know you weren’t speaking to me. ”

Suddenly, I wanted to tell him. I don’t know why. Something about guarding myself every minute of the day, being careful not to look at things that nobody else saw, to speak to things that nobody else heard. It was wearying. But I can’t just say to a stranger, “Hey, you know what? I see demons. They’re everywhere. Everybody else thinks I’ve just gone bonkers.” But he didn’t ask about demons, did he? He only wanted to know what I saw right now. And I didn’t see a darn thing.

“I didn’t see anything,” I said honestly, and something changed behind his eyes. He looked disappointed and angry at the same time. He turned his face away from me.

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Nice meeting you . . . ” he squinted at the name sewn onto my borrowed lab coat, “Bartholomew.” Good heavens, he can’t be that stupid. He frowned slightly, looked at me one more time, and then abruptly stood up and walked away. The presence drifted off behind him. I had the impression it was trying to tell Reed Taylor something, but he wasn’t having it.

Something about his walking off made me sad, and being sad made me angry. Anger was easier to deal with anyhow. Forget him and his mysterious presence! But even while I turned my back to him, I felt my shoulders tense up. A cognizant something I couldn’t see? That was new. And “new” in my world usually got me nothing but trouble.