Chapter Three

 

“Morning Jessica.”

I jumped violently when I heard his voice, slopping milk all down my front. I looked toward the door and nearly stared at the face there. Alex had showered again and gotten dressed. Perhaps I had not seen him clearly last night but the man before me was mind-stopping.  I had been right the night before, he was well muscled but the shirt he wore that clung to his chest enhanced the effect blissfully. He was well tanned and I remembered he said he had been in Africa. His face nearly glowed and it wonderfully complimented his facial features. His jaw was square and strong, his nose slightly broad but it complimented his face perfectly. And again, those piercing blue eyes.

I realized I was staring and embarrassed, looked down at my mess and was glad I had not gotten dressed yet for the day.

“Sorry,” he said, trying to stifle a chuckle. “I didn’t mean to scare you again. I guess I should have knocked.”

“That might have helped,” I said as I set the bowl down and grabbed a kitchen towel to dab at my soggy front.

“I’m going up to Bellingham to get some stuff,” he said and I silently wondered if he was really staring at me or if I was just sadly wishing he was doing so. “I was wondering if you wanted to come with me.”

I paused for a minute but didn’t look up. The answer of yes almost slipped through my lips before I could stop them. I quickly bit my lower lip and set the towel back on the counter. “I actually just went up yesterday to get some things. Thanks though.”

“Ok,” he said with a slight smile. “If you’re sure.”

I nodded my head, again biting my lower lip. I held my breath and counted to five so I wouldn’t blurt out that I’d changed my mind.

“I’ll see you later then,” he said, flashing a brilliant smile. He walked out the door.

I gave a soft groan and flopped onto the couch. This was bad. How was I going to make it work that I could still stay here and have Alex here. Things were going to get too complicated for me. And this was his house now. It could get really awkward really fast. Or it could be really nice.

Stop it. I couldn’t let those thoughts to surface. I couldn’t let myself to develop feelings like that again. Relationships for me were impossible. I had learned that the really hard way. I had just witnessed the kind of betrayal that could come yesterday. And besides, why would Alex ever get interested in someone as crazy as me?

As I lay there I had an important realization. I had the feeling Alex wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. I was going to have to sleep sometime. The perfect time to do it was going to be while he was out.

I knew there wasn’t going to be much time so I ran into my room and closed the door. I pulled the thick drapes over the window and crawled under the covers. For most sleeping under pressure would be impossible but when you slept as little as I did this was not difficult.

I had never so willingly fallen asleep but the relief that I wouldn’t have to hide allowed me to calm enough to slip into the darkness in just a few short moments.

 

My heart was beating painfully fast as I sat on the floor of my cell, my hands holding onto the cold, steel bars with all my might. After only a moment I heard footsteps and saw Adam come into view. His face was expression less as always and he walked at a slow steady pace toward me, gold chain in his left hand. His wings nearly drug on the floor and they were beautiful and menacing all at the same time as the light reflected off them.

He reached the end of the tunnel and drew a silver key and unlocked my prison. My heart hammered and I was sure he could hear it. I drew in short, labored breaths as he bound my hands. Fourteen…fifteen…sixteen…

He tugged me down the tunnel and I restarted my count. Soft whimpers escaped my throat and I felt a tear roll down my cheek but Adam did not turn and offer comfort. He stared forward, his expression hard as stone.

The count to sixty-two ended all too soon and I was brought to my place in the center of the stone catwalk. I closed my eyes tightly under my white covering and tried to block out the sound of rustling wings.

“Crystal Daniels,” the leader of the council began. A female today. My name is Jessica, my name is Jessica, I chanted in my head. My ears started ringing.

“The deeds of your life have been accounted for and judgment will be passed. Your actions must be made known.”

A soft whimper slipped from my lips and tears started rolling down my face as the sound of wings filled the air and the demented laughter began. I was ever grateful for the sack that covered my face. It would only make them laugh all the more. It was almost impossible to hear the beautiful voices that descended from above. There were far more that came from below it seemed.

“Crystal Daniels, your deeds will now be revealed,” the beautiful man before me said. I could not help but lift my head as the scrolls were produced and unraveled. To my slight relief they seemed almost equal in length.

By this point I should have known better than to hope. Crystal had obviously been some kind of prostitute and had done many unladylike things in her time. I already sensed the few good things she had done in her life would not be enough to save her, or me.

When the end of the list was read my breathing picked up nearly twice as fast. A strange wheezing came from my throat and my head spun. It was time.

The condemned council members were to cast their votes first.

“Down,” the first said with a demented chuckle.

“Down,” the second.

“Down,” the third and fourth.

There was a pause and I turned to the man who was the leader of the condemned. His hesitancy was strange. Normally the condemned voted for everyone, even the ones who didn’t deserve it, to be cast down. This leader was the occasional exception.

He seemed to be studying me, debating what the fate of Crystal Daniels would be. There was something in his black eyes that made me shutter more than normal this time. I knew he could not see my face as it was covered but something made me feel exposed and venerable under his intense stare.

“Up,” he finally said after what felt an eternity.

My heart fluttered and I turned hopefully to the blue eyed angels.

The first shook her head, her mouth in a tight line. “Down.

“Down,” the second.

There was a slight pause before the third said, “up.”

There was an even longer pause and I could tell my face was soaked with tears. There had already been enough votes placed to grant me a branding.

“Down,” the fourth finally said.

“Up,” the fifth, and leader of the exalted said, sadness in his voice evident.

I could not force a scream from my lips as the deranged laughter exploded from the walls. I heard Crystals name screamed until the name itself seemed a condemned word.

I looked up at the council and my eyes rested on the leader of the condemned. He stared at me with that strange expression on his face as if trying to understand something. He seemed to be searching for the answer to a question he had long had. It only lasted a fleeting second though before the wicked grin spread on his face and his powerful wings projected him toward me.

I dropped to my hands and knees, both shaking so hard it was difficult to remain in my position. I swept the hair from my neck.

The all to familiar searing white hot pain began in my neck and shot through my body. I could smell burned skin and hear it sizzle as the rod was pressed into my neck.

I was tugged to my feet and my eyes couldn’t focus as I looked ahead to the council again.

“Crystal Daniels,” the leader spoke again, his face still sad. “Judgment has been placed.”

The most terrifying sensation began crawling under my skin as it seemed to move as if new bones were growing and rearranging under the skin. I heard it tear and my own pair of wings burst forth.

The black eyed ones burst from their position on the wall and leapt at me. Hands covered every surface of my body and just before I thought I would pass out the darkness came to met me.

 

I was slightly disoriented when I woke and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Ten forty-six. I’d been asleep for over three hours. This was longer than I had hoped for. I listened intently, searching for any indicators that Alex might have returned. I didn’t hear anything and lay back on the bed with a huff. If he had been home I had no doubt he would have heard me scream. I knew I had, I always did.

The trial came back to me and something disturbed me. I had stood thousands of trials but this one was different. Just slightly. The leader of the condemned had acted strangely. Almost as if he were wanted to see the face under the sack. My face. I shuttered at this thought. The sack made me feel slightly safe. I did not want to think about what might happen if they were to see the person on trial was not in fact the face behind the mask.

I shook my head, trying to clear these thoughts. I was overreacting. I was over thinking this. What did it matter? It was supposed to be just a dream. If only…

I heard the door open upstairs and I sprang from the bed. I wouldn’t let him find me in my bed as if I had crawled back into bed. I ran into the bathroom and started the shower. After closing the door I quickly undressed and after a brief glance in the mirror at my reddened scars I stepped into the scorching water.

I tried to listen for sounds of activity above me but couldn’t make anything out over the sound of the water running. 

Washing so much hair took time and it was a menace sometimes. I really needed to get it cut. It always took almost five minutes just to wash and rinse it.

“Hey, Jessica?”

A scream escaped my throat as I jumped and frantically wiped shampoo from my eyes. 

“Alex?!” I screeched. “What are you doing in here?”

“I needed to ask you something. It’s not like I can see you.”

I would have thought he was trying to be like most perverted guys who would try and sneak a peak but his voice sounded so innocent and almost hurt I couldn’t tell him to get out immediately like I initially wanted to.

“You could have knocked first,” I said. I was immediately grateful the shower curtain was a solid white vinyl instead of the common clear.

“I did but you must not have heard me,” he said and I heard him take a seat on the toilet. “Sorry for scaring you. I seem to be doing a lot of that.”

I found myself half smiling. He was right. Every time we had talked thus far he had scared me half to death.

“I was wondering if you’d like to come up and have dinner with me tonight?” he asked. “I like to cook but it’s not a whole lot of fun to cook just for yourself.”

A small laugh almost escaped my lips but I managed to hold it back. From first look at Alex I would have never thought he was the chef type. And that this question was important enough to him that he felt the need to barge in here while I was in the shower.

“Ya,” I said. “I guess that would be ok.”

“Great,” he said as I heard him stand and could almost feel through the shower curtain the grin that beamed from his face. Somehow I was sure it was there. “I hope you like Thai food. It’s my specialty.”

“Sounds great,” I chuckled. Thai? Even more not what I would have expected.

I heard the door click shut and then faintly heard my bedroom door close.

I shook my head in slight disbelief as I finished rinsing off and turned the water off. The man knew no boundaries. He was rather presumptuous but seemed to be completely oblivious to this fact.

I finished my shower quickly and dressed even more quickly. I wouldn’t admit to myself the extra amount of care I took in getting ready for the day. I did not even realize I was putting a little bit of make up on until it was already done.

I shook my head at myself as I walked out the door. I was pathetic. 

Part of my everyday routine was to check on Sal. She was reading one of the books I had bought her and she seemed to be near the end of it. She wouldn’t say much, just a few mumbles and nods when I asked her questions. She was oddly unsociable the last few days. But that was normal for Sal. She seemed to have cycles of either being a nonstop chatter box or almost completely mute. I wasn’t going to pressure her. She’d already been through enough in her life, I wasn’t going to add any stress.

I returned to my apartment and sat back at the table. I pulled out the copy of Agnes Grey and flipped through its pages. With determination I put the pen to paper and managed to force something out of it. I knew it wasn’t any good and that I was likely to get a failing grade but by this point I didn’t really care. I most likely wasn’t going to pass anyway. 

The house remained oddly quiet considering there was now another inhabitant.

I pulled out my laptop again and typed Jasper Wood’s name again. The obituary popped up in less than a second. There wasn’t much there. He was forty-eight, had worked at a mill for years and did not seem to be leaving any family behind. I retrieved my leather bound notebook and transcribed his name as well as Crystal Daniel’s onto the page. I did not have a reason for doing so but I had done it since I realized the names I stood trial for were real people. I had several thick volumes full of names.

The rest of the day passed painfully slow. There wasn’t much to do and so there was little to fill the time till I went upstairs to see if there was anything I could do to assist Alex.

I stopped in my tracks for just a moment when I saw him in the kitchen. He was barefoot, wearing jeans and a red polo shirt. His entire front was covered with a white and pink checkered apron. Despite the ridiculous cover, he looked absolutely stunning. I often heard women say a man who cooks in unbelievable attractive but I had never been witness to it till just now.

“Oh, hey!” he said cheerily as he looked up from his work. 

“Uh, hi,” I said stupidly as I just stood at the top of the stairs.

“Everything is almost done,” he said as he turned back to the steaming pots. “Just give me a few minutes.”

“Could you use any help?” I asked as my senses started to come back to me.

“You could set the table if you’d like,” he said as he wiped his hands on the girly apron.

I just nodded my head before walking to the cabinet where I knew the dinnerware was and grabbed two plates and two bowls. I grabbed silverware and glasses as well and got the large oak dining table ready. 

“That smells really good,” I said as I laid napkins down.

“I hope you’ll like it,” he said with a grin as he poured something into a serving dish.

I stood to the side of the table and twisted my hands. After my year of almost complete solitude I could tell I had lost a lot of social skills and I wasn’t sure of what to say or how to act. Being around Sal was one thing but being around Alex was completely another.

“You want to grab this?” he said as he took the apron off and held out a large silver bowl. I lurched forward just a little too quick to take it from his grasp and that little smile tugged at the corner of his mouth again. As I set the bowl of rice on the table I hoped I wasn’t blushing horribly but had the horrible feeling I was.

Alex followed me and set two dishes down. One contained strange, triangle shaped noodles and the other a steaming, spicy smelling bowl of vegetables and beef.

“It’s not got a lot to it but trust me, it’s going to taste great,” Alex said as he pulled out a chair. It took me a second to realize he was holding it out for me.

“Thanks,” I said as I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and sat.

Alex took his seat and reached for my plate. “Do you care?”

“No, go ahead,” I said shaking my head, feeling silly that he was dishing up my food.

He scooped a large pile of the noodles and the rice onto the plate and topped the noodles with the vegetable beef mixture.

“Oh, shoot,” he said as he set the plate in front of me and stood up. “Forgot something.”

He went to the fridge and came back a moment later carrying a bottle of soy sauce. 

“Oh, thanks,” I said stupidly, nearly dying from how awkward I felt. I hadn’t had dinner with a man in a very long time.

“I’m glad you agreed to eat with me,” he said as he piled food onto his own plate. “I hate eating by myself. I find it rather depressing.”

I silently agreed with him despite the fact that I did it every day. I hesitantly scooped some of the food onto my fork and shove it into my mouth.

“Wow!” I said as I chewed. “This is amazing!”

He chuckled as he took his own bite. “Glad you like it.”

“Where did you learn to cook like this?”

He finished swallowing. “I studied in England for a few years and one of my roommates was from Thailand. His mother owned a restaurant and he had worked in it pretty much all his life. So he taught me.”

“England?” I questioned after swallowing another amazing bite. “You’ve done a lot of traveling it sounds like.”

He wiped the corner of his mouth with his napkin. “I haven’t been back in the states for more than a month since I was eighteen. I’m twenty-three now.”

“Where were you studying in England?” I asked, realizing there was a lot more to his man than I had first realized.

“Oxford,” he said softly before taking a long drink of water. 

“Oxford?” I repeated and couldn’t help but feel totally insignificant. I couldn’t even pass my online classes from the community college.

“Ya,” he said, looking slightly embarrassed. “I was originally a philosophy major but somehow along the line I ended up with a world studies degree. It’s quite impressive that I actually did get the degree. I kind of like to wander.”

“Sounds like it,” I said.

There was a moment of silence as we both ate but it was comfortable and easy. That was a quality I liked in people. There didn’t need to be constant chatter and mindless talk. Sometimes it’s nice to just sit in silence.

We each finished our food and sat back in our chairs.

“So what about you?” he asked. “Are you from Bellingham or something? I don’t recognize you.”

“No,” I said feeling instantly uncomfortable. Talking about my past wasn’t exactly pleasant for me. “I grew up in this really small town called Ucon, in Idaho.”

“Wow, not what I would have guessed. So what happened?”

I was taken aback by how quickly he seemed to have guessed there was something had did in fact happen. “Let’s just say it was time to leave home or both me and my parents were going to regret things that were about to happen.”

I hadn’t meant for the words to come out that way and suddenly wished I had given a better explanation.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” he said quietly.

“Thanks,” I whispered as I looked at my hands in my lap. There was a moment of silence again but this time it wasn’t quite so comfortable.

A thought occurred to me and I looked up to his face. “So now that you’re here and have this house left to you are you planning to stay or go back to Africa?”

“I think I’m going to stay around here for a while. We were about done in Kenya anyway and by the time I could get back it’d be over. I had been trying to decide what to do when it was over. So, ya, I think I’ll stay around for a while. I like Washington.”

I felt weird asking the next question but it was important. “Would you like me to find somewhere else now? This is probably weird for you moving back and finding someone living in your house.”

“No!” he sounded almost alarmed. “Not at all. Please stay as long as you want. Like I said, there was a large amount of money left in a fund to continue paying your wages for however long you wanted to stay. And honestly I’m glad you’re here. I don’t do well being all by myself. I like people.” That small grin was begging to break free again.

“If you’re sure,” I said cautiously.

“Yes,” he said almost too quickly and this time the grin was trying to spread on my face.

As if to save us from any further awkwardness the phone rang. Alex rose to his feet just before I could band answered it.

“It’s for you,” he said as he extended the cordless phone.

I grabbed it from him and held it to my ear. “Hello?”

“Jessica! Where are you? I’ve been waiting for so long!”

Guilt instantly washed over me as I heard Sal’s frantic tone.

“I’m so sorry Sal. I got distracted. I’ll be right over.”

Sal said a clipped “bye” before she hung up.

“I have to go,” I said as I turned to Alex and hung up the phone. “I can’t believe I forgot it’s Wednesday. I go over to the neighbors every Wednesday and watch her show with her.”

“Who?” he asked as he leaned against the counter.

“Sally Thomas,” I said as I started for the stairs to get my things. “Do you know her?”

“Only a little,” he said. “She moved into the house a little while before I graduated but we were not always here. I know my grandma was friends with her.”

I hurried down the stairs, trying hard to keep the numbers in my head alone. Ten…eleven…twelve… Alex followed me.

“I feel horrible I forgot about this. We do it every week. How could I forget?” I said as I opened the door to my apartment and looked around for my jacket.

“Do you mind if I came with you?” he asked as he leaned against the doorframe. 

I froze in my tracks, half bent, looking through a few things on the floor. Sal might not notice my strange behavior toward her show but Alex just might. And I wasn’t sure how exactly Sal would react to him.

“Um…” I debated internally. I found my jacket and straightened as I pulled it on. “I’m not sure how Sal will handle it if you come. Did you know her much at all?”

“I know she’s different,” Alex said nonchalantly. “She always seemed to like me whenever I talked to her before.”

I nodded my head. “I guess it might be ok. She’s been really quiet lately and kind of out of it so she might not really even realize you’re there.”

“That’s alright with me,” he said as he ducked out and I heard him rummage around in his room for a second before he appeared back in the door. “If you don’t mind me tagging along.”

“That’s fine with me,” I said, trying not to smile. “Let’s go.”

We walked out the door and made our way to Sal’s in silence. I gave a soft knock on the door twice before letting myself in.

Sal was already cuddled up on one of the couches, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, remote in hand. 

“Sorry, Sal,” I said as I took a quick look around to make sure everything looked ok. Everything seemed to be in its proper order of chaos. “I had a friend show up and got a bit distracted.”

At this Sal’s head popped up from staring at the blank TV screen. Her gaze went immediately to Alex and to my great surprise a smile spread on her face. “Hello Alex.”

Alex didn’t hide his astonishment that not only did she recognize him but she remembered his name. “Hi Sal.”

She didn’t say anything more as she turned her attention back to the TV and pulled up her TIVO menu. I gave Alex a sideways glance before we walked into the living room and sat in the empty couch. After just a second the show started.

Sal did not watch really any television but she had an unfortunate obsession with Touched by an Angel and I had to watch it with her. Of all the shows she could choose to be obsessed with it had to be that show.

As the show started I realized it was one that we’d already seen from an early season. I guessed by now we had probably watched all the seasons and every episode to ever air. I tried very hard to focus my attention on the show. Normally I was able to ignore the show fairly completely but with Alex there to observe I thought it best to show some interest. It was not that I did not like the show. I thought the messages in it were good and of worthy origins but why did they have to call them angels? Obviously the creators knew nothing of the true nature of them.

As I diverted my attention to anything other than the television screen without taking my eyes from it I noticed that somehow Alex’s arm had ended up draped across the back of the couch. Trying to be discrete I glanced at his face, searching for any signs of a sly grin but found his face oddly attentive of the show before him. He wasn’t trying to be sneaky or make a move. I very much doubted he even realized his arm was there, resting just an inch or so above my shoulders.

I tried to turn my attention back to the television but caught a glimpse of Sal out of the corner of my eye. To my great shock she was staring intently in my direction a slight smile spread across her face. It almost startled me at first, Sal almost never smiled. And she never lost attention in her show.

A confused expression spread on my face as I shrugged my shoulders just slightly as if to ask her “what?” Her grin only got a little bigger before she turned her attention back to the television.

I didn’t see it; if it was at all possible I just felt it, the small smile that crept onto Alex’s lips. 

The rest of the show passed by painfully slow and I nearly sighed in relief when the credits started rolling. I sprang to my feet and grabbed my jacket. Sal turned the television off and stood to face us, that strange grin still spread on her face.

I tried to ignore it, however impossible it was. “Do you need anything Sal?” I asked, as I always did before I left her house.

“I’m ok,” she said, her grin still plastered on her face. “Good-night Jessica. Good-night Alex.” Without another word she walked to the stairs and headed down to her bedroom.

This time I did sigh in relief as we turned for the door and walked out.

“What a nice evening,” Alex said as we walked up the stairs to the road. 

It was freezing. Small puffs of air curled out from our lips and noses and rose into the air in delicate patterns.

“Sal seems like she’s a really wonderful person,” he said as we took our first steps down the road.

“She is,” I said as I wrapped my arms around my torso. “She’s different but I suppose that’s part of why I care about her so much. She’s so innocent.

Alex nodded his head. “It’s really good of you to take care of her like that. My grandma tried to help her out but we were gone so much it made it difficult.”

By this time we reached the stairs and I kept my silent count to ninety-one to myself. As we walked back into the house the smell of our recent meal filled my nose.

“Oh shoot,” I said as I closed the door behind us. “I forgot about all this. I’ll help you clean it up.”

He didn’t argue with me and we quickly cleared the table and started to load the dishwasher.

“I really enjoyed tonight,” I said as I put the plates onto the rack, speaking before I thought about what I was going to say. I immediately felt blood rush into my face.

“I did too,” Alex said as he rinsed a pot and as he handed it to me his eyes met my own and I felt a small shiver run down my spine as that smile spread on his lips. He turned his attention back to another pot. “Thanks for letting me come with you to Sal’s. It was nice.”

I had to hold back a little chuckle as I put the pot into the dishwasher. Awkward maybe, I thought to myself. “I was surprised she remembered your name. She barley remembers her own most days it seems. You must have left a good impression on her before.”

“I guess,” he said simply as he handed me the last of the silverware. I loaded it into the rack and closed the door.

“Thanks for the help,” Alex said as he leaned against the counter, his arms folded across his chest.

“You’re welcome.”

Alex glanced back at the clock that hung above the sink. It now read eleven o’clock exactly. “Well, I think I’m going to hit the sack. I’ve got to meet with an attorney in the morning. Something to do with my grandparents will and having the assets transferred to my name.”

“Sounds fun,” I said sarcastically. 

“You’d better believe it,” he said as he rolled his eyes and started for the stairs. We walked down in silence and said a brief goodnight before we went our separate ways.

When all was quiet I pulled my laptop out again and pulled up the internet. After only a few moments I found the gruesome answers I was looking for.

I was right when I had assumed Crystal Daniels was a prostitute. She had also been murdered last night in an alleyway. Stabbed four times in the chest. The murderer was still at large and they currently had no leads.