answer.
Hello, you have reached David Whitmore. Please leave your name and number, as well as the reason for your call, and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.
Beep .
"Mr. Whitmore. It's Jay," I managed to say, helplessly out of breath. "I was just attacked. On campus. In the parking lot. You were right. Whatever is after me...he is not human. He wants the athame. If he knows you have it, he will come after you, too. Please just get away from it. Lock it up until we figure out what to do. And be careful tonight. I'll see you in the morning."
XXIII
Rena had been calling and texting me all day. Twenty-one calls to be exact, and at least as many texts. I pulled into Ruth's driveway and parked next to Max's car. They were both inside, surely waiting for me and expecting an explanation. More than ever, I needed Rena's support. It went against everything in me to keep the truth from her. But I had to.
"Where the hell have you been all day?" Rena demanded as I walked through the door. She threw her arms around me, relieved that I was all right. Max made his way toward us with his casted arm in a sling. I pulled my hair forward to conceal my neck and any obvious sign that it had just been violently wrung. A fierce ache was settling in all over.
"Hey you!" he said as he threw his good arm around me and gave me half a bear hug. "We've been waiting for you!"
"Yeah, I just got caught up at work...my boss called with a last minute assignment this morning," I lied. Rena seemed skeptical, but nodded in acceptance. She had her eyes on the clock. Max had to be at Code Red at eight. I had fifteen minutes to get ready.
I didn't want to go, but I didn't want to stay home alone either. I was in danger and staying in a public place was probably my best defense. Rena was excited to go out together and hoped it would take my mind off things. She encouraged me to come upstairs with her so she could pick out something fun for me to wear. On our way, she grabbed a fancy dress that was draped over the arm of the sofa and a glittery box of shoes beside it.
"For tonight?" I asked with confusion, hoping I wasn't going to look like a loser in my leather boots. There was no way I was wearing heels.
"Yes. I'm hoping to win best dressed," she said sarcastically, assuming that I was joking. When she saw in my face that my ignorance was not an act, she finally elaborated. "Margot's wedding...on Saturday? I asked Max to bring my stuff over since I'll be getting ready here."
Ugh. Margot's wedding.
The event at Code Red that night was not the only thing Max was doing to win favor at work. That weekend, he was flying to Las Vegas. Weeks ago, his boss asked him to come along to a big syndicated radio event there. Knowing it would be great exposure for him, and hoping it would help him get his promotion, Rena encouraged him to say yes. But as soon as he did, she called me in a panic. She'd already sent her reply card to her cousin Margot's wedding with Max as her guest.
"Please! Please! Please! Come with me," she'd begged. "I really, really, REALLY don't want to go by myself! You know how awful my cousins are! I cannot show up alone!"
"Rena, I don't even really know her. And she didn't even invite me!" I said, refusing to go at first.
"Listen," she said in a slow, controlled voice. "If I have to go alone, then I'm not going. That's two heads paid for that will go to waste. You'd be doing my aunt and uncle a favor by coming!"
After fifteen minutes listening to her desperate pleas, I finally caved. If I'd been aware of the tailspin my life was about to take, I definitely would have stuck with my original answer.
I washed my face and put on some blush while Rena buzzed around me with a curling iron. I threw on a clean pair of jeans and my favorite white top, and I was ready to go with five minutes to spare. Max made his way out of the kitchen with the last few bites of a sandwich and yelled up the stairs.
"Hey Jay,
Hello, you have reached David Whitmore. Please leave your name and number, as well as the reason for your call, and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.
Beep .
"Mr. Whitmore. It's Jay," I managed to say, helplessly out of breath. "I was just attacked. On campus. In the parking lot. You were right. Whatever is after me...he is not human. He wants the athame. If he knows you have it, he will come after you, too. Please just get away from it. Lock it up until we figure out what to do. And be careful tonight. I'll see you in the morning."
XXIII
Rena had been calling and texting me all day. Twenty-one calls to be exact, and at least as many texts. I pulled into Ruth's driveway and parked next to Max's car. They were both inside, surely waiting for me and expecting an explanation. More than ever, I needed Rena's support. It went against everything in me to keep the truth from her. But I had to.
"Where the hell have you been all day?" Rena demanded as I walked through the door. She threw her arms around me, relieved that I was all right. Max made his way toward us with his casted arm in a sling. I pulled my hair forward to conceal my neck and any obvious sign that it had just been violently wrung. A fierce ache was settling in all over.
"Hey you!" he said as he threw his good arm around me and gave me half a bear hug. "We've been waiting for you!"
"Yeah, I just got caught up at work...my boss called with a last minute assignment this morning," I lied. Rena seemed skeptical, but nodded in acceptance. She had her eyes on the clock. Max had to be at Code Red at eight. I had fifteen minutes to get ready.
I didn't want to go, but I didn't want to stay home alone either. I was in danger and staying in a public place was probably my best defense. Rena was excited to go out together and hoped it would take my mind off things. She encouraged me to come upstairs with her so she could pick out something fun for me to wear. On our way, she grabbed a fancy dress that was draped over the arm of the sofa and a glittery box of shoes beside it.
"For tonight?" I asked with confusion, hoping I wasn't going to look like a loser in my leather boots. There was no way I was wearing heels.
"Yes. I'm hoping to win best dressed," she said sarcastically, assuming that I was joking. When she saw in my face that my ignorance was not an act, she finally elaborated. "Margot's wedding...on Saturday? I asked Max to bring my stuff over since I'll be getting ready here."
Ugh. Margot's wedding.
The event at Code Red that night was not the only thing Max was doing to win favor at work. That weekend, he was flying to Las Vegas. Weeks ago, his boss asked him to come along to a big syndicated radio event there. Knowing it would be great exposure for him, and hoping it would help him get his promotion, Rena encouraged him to say yes. But as soon as he did, she called me in a panic. She'd already sent her reply card to her cousin Margot's wedding with Max as her guest.
"Please! Please! Please! Come with me," she'd begged. "I really, really, REALLY don't want to go by myself! You know how awful my cousins are! I cannot show up alone!"
"Rena, I don't even really know her. And she didn't even invite me!" I said, refusing to go at first.
"Listen," she said in a slow, controlled voice. "If I have to go alone, then I'm not going. That's two heads paid for that will go to waste. You'd be doing my aunt and uncle a favor by coming!"
After fifteen minutes listening to her desperate pleas, I finally caved. If I'd been aware of the tailspin my life was about to take, I definitely would have stuck with my original answer.
I washed my face and put on some blush while Rena buzzed around me with a curling iron. I threw on a clean pair of jeans and my favorite white top, and I was ready to go with five minutes to spare. Max made his way out of the kitchen with the last few bites of a sandwich and yelled up the stairs.
"Hey Jay,
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