Among the Shadows: Part 1, Chapter 9
Though he was still a burned red all over, Luke was large enough to look like he could take care of himself. Yet at the knock, he ran into my closet like a frightened rabbit and closed the door behind him. "Get rid of him," Luke hissed urgently. "I'm not here." I couldn't understand why he would expect the person at the door to be male.
Bewildered, I stared at the pile of clothes he had left on the floor. I moved over to the closet to toss them in with him, but when I opened the door, he wasn't there. I felt like a kid who insisted on having seen a monster under the bed and couldn't convince his parents that there was one.
Comprehension came slow in my shock, so I stared unmoving long enough that I heard another knock. I closed the closet door and listened as Susie checked the peephole, determined the knocker wasn't a total psycho, and opened the door to talk to the visitor. For all we knew, it was Susie's ex-boyfriend asking for a study session or the RA suggesting pizza runs. Okay, since it was early morning, pizza was not likely. Susie called my name, so I headed out of my room to see who the visitor was.
Kyle stood in the living room waiting for me. He had gotten my note, and since I had apparently slept through his text message, he came over to check if I had made it home safely. I had to smile. It was nice to see that he was concerned. Busying herself in the kitchen, Susie hung around trying hard to be non-obtrusive and not succeeding. While I didn't need to follow Luke's order to send Kyle away, I wasn't sure what to do with him. I couldn't very well invite Kyle to my room for privacy, nor did I want to sit in the living room and have to endure Susie's nudging.
After quickly retrieving the sweatshirt I had borrowed, I feigned sleepiness from the night, announcing that I intended to sleep until the afternoon. Being annoying, Susie kept winking at me, which I was sure Kyle noticed. But he would guess she was teasing about last night, and not because there was supposedly some hunk that wasn't my boyfriend in my bedroom. I didn't even know if I had the right to call him my 'boyfriend'. I would suppose that after last night, we should be official, but if we didn't discuss it together, I didn't want to make that assumption. Though Kyle showing up afterward was a nice touch, it didn't mean he was planning on keeping the relationship. Maybe he only wanted his shirt back. Kyle kissed me good night and left. But he did kiss me.
As soon as I closed the door, Susie bombarded me with questions. "What was that, huh? Why'd you leave Kyle? Why did he come here? Come on, you've got to tell me!" she insisted as she tugged on my arm.
Distracted by sounds coming from my bedroom, I didn't answer her. It sounded like Luke was rummaging through my things because I could hear drawers slamming shut. What was going on in there? From the living room, we watched Luke exit my room and grab something from the bathroom before quickly disappearing back into my room.
It could be nothing. Careful not to frighten Susie, I walked calmly to my room. I wished I hadn't been so dumb as to forget my purse (which still had the pepper spray in it) on the desk when I left the room to see the visitor. I wanted to kick myself for the habit. But the desk was located right by the doorway, so I didn't have to go too far in. Susie followed me, still prodding me with questions.
When we got there, Luke (looking unburned, as expected) was packing my carry-on luggage. With my clothes. What in the world? He was not being specific about it either. I watched as he opened my underwear drawer and counted out three pairs of panties without choosing or avoiding the sexiest options. Luke was merely packing the first ones he grabbed. I dropped my gaze to look inside the luggage. He had packed the first three shirts that were hanging in my closet. The easiest explanation for his actions was that he was stealing... my clothes. But not all of my clothes? Yeah, that made total sense. He'd had a chance to steal my phone earlier and didn't.
"Susie, can you leave us alone?" Luke asked as he continued rummaging through my drawers. He was wearing the flip-flops that had been under my desk. They didn't quite fit, but I supposed it was a preferred option than barefoot.
Frowning as she heard the request, Susie turned to leave. "Aren't you two a happy pair of rabbits," she said as she went. She groaned her disapproval that she wouldn't get answers right away. I heard her door close loudly, though not quite a slam. No doubt she was going to sulk and study.
I reached for my purse, intent on spraying Luke if I had to. I reasoned that if he really just wanted to steal my clothes, he could have them. This was just plain weird, and they weren't worth anything, so who cares as long as this crazy guy wasn't violent. If he had some kind of strange fetish for stealing girls' clothes, I wasn't going to stop him.
"They know I'm here," he said enigmatically.
"Who? What?" I gaped at him. "That was my boyfriend at the door," I said. Yeah, I labeled Kyle. Anyway, it was easier than saying 'guy-I'm-sort-of-dating'. "What are you doing with my clothes?" I asked, gesturing to my luggage on the floor.
Luke shook his head. "No time to explain, we have to leave now."
"There is no 'we'. I'm not going anywhere with you without some explanation." I frowned and rephrased my statement, "No wait, I'm not going anywhere with you at all." Damn. My good intentions of helping a total stranger backfired badly. After this fiasco, I resolved to never do that again.
With quick movements, Luke picked up my book bag, and practically turned it inside out to empty it. He stood up to look around the room and spotted my laptop which was on my nightstand. I cringed as he picked it up and carefully placed it inside my book bag. As he snapped it closed, I sighed. I had been really hoping he wouldn't take that. Now that he was done, he zipped the luggage. He looked at me, offering my book bag.
"Look, there's no time to explain. He's going to be back soon with reinforcements, and I can't let you out of my sight," Luke said. The look on his face was serious. "Come with me willingly, or I can carry you kicking and screaming."
I put my hands on my hips. "Why don't I have another option? Geez, man. You're talking crazy, and I have no reason to trust you." I declared, "I'm staying right here."
Shrugging, Luke grabbed my purse out of my hand. "Hey!" I cried, reaching for it. Boy, I felt useless. There went my only weapon. I thought about the knives in the kitchen... wondering how I could use them. Besides, if this guy was actually telling the truth about being a shadow, nothing short of severing his head would hurt him. However the situation looked, I knew I would not be able to pull that maneuver off. Quickly opening my book bag, Luke shoved my purse into the book bag, closed it again, and swung it over his head and across his body the way I usually wore it. That bitter taste was back, but I tried to ignore it. I swallowed slowly, keeping my eyes on him. He straightened and looked at me.
"I'm only going to ask you once more. Please come willingly," the strange man said, holding out his hand in my direction.
Did he really expect me to take him at his word? I studied his face, trying to gauge his intentions. He patiently waited for my answer, but with all his claims of having to leave now, if my answer didn't come soon enough, I could guess what his reaction would be. I looked at him and swallowed once more, silently making a choice.
I picked up the desk lamp and threw it at him.
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