Twisted Sisters

 

Author: UtsSmutQueen    

Rated: R—Violence, Sexual Situations, Language

Disclaimer:  Dreaming again, but I still own NOTHING

 

(Thanks to Snoozy for the Title)

 

Summary:  Just some haunted smut type stuff…lol

 

 

 

1

 

            “You have got to be kidding me,” Noelle muttered under her breath as the van she was driving began skidding in the pouring rain.  She turned the wheel, her stomach clenching up as she realized the loud pop she’d heard was the sound of the tire blowing.  She tapped on the break pedal, bringing her speed down to something manageable, and struggled with the steering wheel to get the van off the road and out of the way of any traffic.

            “What the hell was that?” Came a groggy voice from behind her.  Sighing, Noelle finally managed to get the van far enough off the road to be safe and cut the engine.

            “Flat tire,” she answered, hearing a groan.  She looked over her shoulder at her sister, who had been napping in the backseat.  Phoenix was rubbing her hands over her face, trying to wake herself up.  “I hope this damn rental has a spare in it.  Feel like getting soaked, Nix?”

            “How about we wake up the guys and make them do it for a change?” Nix said, laughing and reaching over to poke Glen in the side.  He made a noise but didn’t wake up.  She looked out the window, frowning.  “Hell of a place to get a flat.  Where are we?”

            “Still about four hours from the arena.  Dad said this road would cut our time down,” Noelle shook her head. 

            “Dad and his shortcuts,” Nix grumbled, pulling open the sliding door next to her seat.  A gust of wind blew cold rain in through the door, making Nix laugh.  “I think I’ll leave this open. That’ll wake up the troops.”  She got out into the rain and went to the back of the van, where the spare was kept under the bumper.  Noelle could hear her moving the cover from the spare well, then her loud curse. 

            “What did I miss?” Glen asked from his seat next to her.  Noelle looked at him nervously, licking her lips.

            “Flat tire.  Nix is on it though,” she finally said.

            “Great…the girl wonder strikes again,” Glen said with a little chuckle.  “Hey, Mark? You getting a pretty decent shower back there?”

            “Who the fuck opened the door?” Mark asked from his seat behind Glen. 

            “Who do you think?” Glen laughed.  It was amusing to him, watching Phoenix do everything she could to get on Mark’s last nerve.  He’d never seen two people so intent on not liking each other. 

            “Shit…” was his only comment.  “I guess one of us better go change the tire.”  Mark slid out of the open door and slammed it shut behind him.  Glen laughed and reached over to crank the heater up.

            “Your sister and Mark are going to end up killing each other,” he observed.  Noelle just shrugged.  She always got nervous when she was around Glen.  Three months of constantly being around him had not helped her to relax at all. 

            Noelle was not a wrestler.  She was more of a personal assistant.  She took care of travel arrangements and hotel rooms.  She made sure her people got what they needed.  And in her free time, she wrote for the company, doing shoot interviews with the guys that never failed to get a laugh.    Except she’d never interviewed Glen.  She got tongue tied whenever he came within twenty feet of her. 

            Her sister had no problem talking to the guys.  Phoenix, or Nix as most took to calling her, was one of them.  She was a wrestler, manager, and all around bad girl on television.  Which was just about what she was like in real life.  She never had a problem speaking her mind, which led her to more than one heated confrontation with Mark.  And from the noises she could hear over the heater and the rain, it sounded as if there was another one going on outside right now.

            Nix had good reason to be pissed now.  The tire well was empty.  Of course.  She didn’t know why she’d expected anything else.  As she rose to her feet, she heard the van door slam and saw the top of Mark’s head as he walked to the back.  She crossed her arms against the cold and waited for him. 

            “What’s the matter?  Can’t find the spare?” He asked, staring at her.

            “No.  There is no spare,” her reply was short, sharp.  She had no idea why Mark got under her skin so bad, but he did.  It was annoying.

            “Sure,” Mark got down on his knees and looked under the back of the van, working at the tire well.

            “Dumbass, I checked it already,” Nix said irritably.  Mark ignored her and she smirked as she watched him try to wiggle his bulk under the van so he could see better.  She’d had an easier time.  He was getting soaked and muddy.

            “Son of a bitch,” she heard him mutter.

            “I tried to tell you,” Nix laughed.  “But of course, you’re one of those guys who thinks a woman doesn’t know how to do shit.  Except for maybe screwing and cleaning.  Am I right?”  She didn’t wait for an answer.  “Hell, I know I’m right.”

            “Nix…” Mark’s voice carried a warning note.  He got up and faced her.  “Go to hell.”

            “Whoa.  That’s the best you could come up with?” She laughed then looked down at his pants.  “The dirty look suits you big man.  Guess you can take up mud wrestling as a second career.”

            Mark rolled his eyes and refused to comment.  He’d given Nix nothing but a hard time since she’d signed on with the fed.  He’d learned that no matter what he said or did, she always came back for more.  She seemed to thrive on proving him wrong constantly. 

            Glen liked her, which only aggravated him more.  Mark had expected his best friend to back him up, but Glen refused to get drawn in.  The two of them were as thick as thieves, and Mark felt he had to watch his back constantly.  He had no idea why Noelle was so different from her smart-mouthed sister.  He got along with her, she was quieter, more introverted.  But Nix…she just got on his nerves.

            He turned and stalked back to the van door, pushing it open.  “You coming back in the car, or are you going to play in the rain all damn night?” He asked Nix, who hadn’t moved.  She grinned and leaned against the bumper, pulling a cigarette out of her jacket pocket.  He frowned as she lit it and started smoking in spite of the cold rain that was pelting down.  Muttering under his breath, he climbed in the door and slammed it shut.

            “What’s the deal?” Glen asked turning to look at him. 

            “Flat.  No spare,” Mark sighed. 

            “Of course,” Glen said with a groan.  “What the fuck are we supposed to do now?  Carry the van to the arena?”

            “Got your cell phone on you?” Mark asked Noelle.  She fished it out of the console that was between the two front seats and handed it to him.  Mark punched in a number and waited, cursing when it didn’t connect.

            “We’re in the middle of nowhere.  Of course the phone’s not going to work,” Glen said with a laugh.

            Mark handed the phone back to Noelle and leaned back in his seat.  The door opened, letting in more rain and wind as Nix climbed back inside.  He sneered at her.  “You smell like a smoke stack.”

            “You look like you belong in a hog pen,” she said back, slamming the door shut.  “Anybody feel like walking?  My cell’s dead.  There’s a house back that way,” she pointed out the rear window.  “I saw the lights.”

            “I’m game,” Glen said, zipping his jacket up.  “Beats sitting here and waiting.”

            “We should all go.  This is too much like the classic horror movie set up,” Nix laughed.  “Whoever stays at the car is the first to go.  And this place looks like it’s a ‘Jason’ movie waiting to happen.” 

            “Ok, we all go then,” Noelle grabbed the keys from the ignition, glad to be getting out of the van.  She was starting to feel more than her usual unease that came from being near Glen.  It was almost as if they were being watched.  She told herself to stop being paranoid.

            “Somebody should stay with the van,” Mark said to Nix.  She looked at him and rolled her eyes.

            “Sure.  You stay.  Let the psycho killer get you first.  I won’t mind a bit,” with that she threw open the door and climbed out, seeming not to notice or care that she was getting soaked by the rain.

            Sighing heavily, Mark shook his head and followed her, aware that Glen and Noelle had both gotten out of the van.  Nix said nothing else, but turned and walked in the direction of the lights she had seen in the distance.

 

2

 

            It was quite a hike, mostly uphill in the now pouring rain.  Mark wished he’d thought to grab his leather jacket from the back of the van, then shook his head.  The damn rain would just ruin it. 

            They could barely make out the house in the distance.  It seemed to be rather large, with warm looking yellow light glowing from a few windows on the third floor.  As they got closer, Nix started laughing.

            “I wonder if the people in there are going to be doing the Time Warp,” she said with a snicker.

            “It’s just a jump to your left,” Glen said, laughing.  Noelle looked from her sister to Glen, confused. 

“It’s from a movie, Noelle.  Rocky Horror?”  Nix laughed when Noelle just shook her head.  “For Christmas this year, you’re getting a new VCR.”

            “Grow up you guys,” Mark muttered. 

            “Lighten up Dead Man.  You’re going to have a heart attack one of these days if you don’t start finding stuff in life that makes you smile,” Nix told him.

            “Well, excuse the hell out of me for not finding this situation amusing,” Mark said hotly.  He asked himself again why he had decided to ride with them tonight.  He usually got his own car, but he’d been so damn tired, sharing had seemed like a good idea at the time.  He had talked himself into believing he and Nix could sleep through the entire ride and not have to talk to each other.

            “That’s your problem.  You have no sense of humor,” Nix said.  “No sense of humor, no sense of gender equality, no tact.  Hell, it’s a wonder you ever get any.”

            Mark shook his head.  Damn, but she loved to work on his nerves.  “I get plenty thanks.  Some women must like the caveman thing.”

            “Yeah, brain dead blondes,” Nix said with a laugh.  “If you had your attitude and you looked like shit, you’d be one of those guys who’s still living with their mother.  I hope you thanked your parents for making you such a hottie.” 

            Mark was glad it was so dark.  Nobody saw the flush that rose up on his face.  He hated being called a ‘hottie’.  It seemed kind of…demeaning. 

            “Oh yeah, Taker’s hot,” Glen said with a laugh.  “A million women online can’t be wrong.  And he’s the ring rat magnet.”

            “Shut the hell up Glen,” Mark grumbled.  “Do you guys have nothing better to talk about?”

            “At the moment, no,” Nix laughed and poked Noelle, who was listening quietly but refusing to join in.  She knew Nix loved to make Mark uncomfortable, but she wasn’t like her sister.  “I would just love to hear about Mark’s ring rat brigade.  Tell all Glen.”

            “Well…” He drew the word out, then laughed at the look Mark shot him.  “On account of I don’t want to die out here on the road, I think I’ll share with you later.”

            “Wimp,” Nix laughed.  “This is where we turn.”  The driveway to the house appeared in front of them, the end blocked by a heavy black iron gate.  “Who’s gonna say the magic words to pop it open?”

            “It’s not locked,” Noelle said, pointing to a chain and padlock that were lying on the ground. 

            “Why the hell would you have a big gate like this and not bother locking it?” Glen asked.  “Looks like it’s supposed to keep people out.”  He was staring up at the top of the gate.  It was at least twelve feet high, the top decorated with wickedly sharp looking points of steel.  The entire property was surrounded with a ten-foot high rock wall, the top of which was covered in more of the spikes.

            Nix whistled, then went to the gate and pushed it.  It opened smoothly, squealing a little.  “All aboard,” she said cheerfully, stepping through the gate.  She held it open for the others, then let it go, watching as it swung shut.  They all stood and looked up at the house, which loomed over them.  The drive ran on another hundred yards, looping in a circle close to the front door.  The house was three stories tall, painted a dingy white color.  There looked to be a tower in the back, sitting on top of the third floor.  It didn’t look to be very big, but compared to the rest of the house nothing did.

            “If Vincent Price answers the door, I’m outta here,” Nix said.

            “Fuck that.  It’s gonna be that family from Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Glen laughed.  “Leatherface, looking for new skin.”

            “Cut it out you guys,” Noelle said, shivering a little as rain ran under her collar and down her back.  She was spooked enough as it was, she didn’t need her sister and Glen adding mental images of deranged psychos into it.

            Glen smiled at her and she blushed a little.  Nix was laughing.  “So sorry, No-no, I forget you don’t get into blood and gore like I do.”

            “Don’t call me No-no,” Noelle said with a laugh.  That had been one of Nix’s nicknames for her since they were kids.

            “I think we should make Mark knock on the door.  Then if something happens, we’ll have time to run,” Nix said.  Mark shot her a withering look that was totally lost on her.

            “Who’s gonna mess with Mark?” Glen said with a laugh. 

            “Usually nobody.  But he has kind of a drowned rat thing going right now,” Nix said, eyeing Mark critically.

            “Like you look any better,” Mark grumbled. 

            “We all look like shit.  Now can we please just knock on the door already?” Glen asked.

            Nix shrugged and went up the steps to the porch.  “I’ll knock.  Nothing like a little wet T-shirt action to get a person to open up and let ya in.”

            They all filed onto the wooden porch behind her.  Mark stood hunched over, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans.  Glen had his arms crossed over his chest, a slight smile on his face.  Noelle was frowning at her sister as Nix pounded on the door.

            They all waited a few minutes, but there was no answer.  “Great.  They’re either ignoring us, or it’s some old woman that can’t get down all the stairs,” Nix smiled sweetly and looked at Mark.  “She might even be as old as you are, Marky.”

            “Age jokes.  You’re reaching Nix,” Mark said coldly. 

            “Yeah, but it’s all I got right now,” she smiled again and banged on the door one more time.  “Hello?” She was yelling at the door.  “Avon calling.  Amway.”  She looked at Noelle.  “What the hell else do people sell door to door?”

            Noelle shrugged.  “There has to be somebody here.  Some of the lights just came on as we were coming up the driveway.”

            “Maybe they’re on a timer,” Glen said.

            “Yeah, sure.  Shit…” Nix gave up pounding on the door and tried to peer in through one of the curtained windows that flanked it.  “There’s nobody…what the fuck?”

            “What is it?” Mark stepped forward, standing directly behind her to look in the window.  At first he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.  Just an entrance hall with a table against one wall, presumably a place to toss keys as you walk in.  A broad staircase was at the back of the hall, disappearing into the gloom of the second floor.  There were two doors, one on each side of the stairs.  “I don’t see anything…” 

            “Look at the damn floor.  There’s about a foot of dust in there,” The teasing note was gone from Nix’s voice.  Now she only sounded perplexed.  “And there was somebody standing on the steps just a second ago.”

            “You’re seeing things,” Mark said with a laugh.  He looked at the floor, which was some kind of wood.  It was hard to tell; the layer of dust that covered it obscured the color.  There were no footprints in the dust.  “Nix is finally slipping a cog.  Must be your age catching up to you.”

            “Now who’s reaching?” Nix said.  She was distracted though.  “I’ll always be younger than you Grandpa.”  She frowned and turned from the window.  “There was somebody there.  I wasn’t seeing things.”

            “Sure Nix.  Whatever,” Mark turned to Glen and Noelle, who were waiting to see what was going on.  “There’s nobody in there.  Place looks like nobody’s been in there for a long time.”

            “But the lights,” Noelle looked up.  There was still a light shining from the third floor. 
            “Probably a fucked up electrical connection or something,” Mark said, watching as the light flickered then went out.  It came on again a few moments later.

            “Why the hell would the electricity be on in a place that nobody’s living in?” Glen asked.

            “Who knows.  But it’s dry in there,” Nix went back to the door and tried the knob.  It clicked and the door swung open, letting out a protest of squealing hinges.  “Gee, what a shock, it’s not locked.”

            “Maybe we should go back to the van and wait for a car or something,” Noelle said softly.  Nix looked at her as if she’d blown her fuses.

            “Noelle, it’s just a house.  We can at least dry out a little before going back down there.  Besides, I’m sure Mark will protect the women-folk, just like they taught him in caveman school.”  She turned and stepped inside the door.

            Noelle looked up at Mark, who was shaking his head.  “Damn woman’s gonna be the death of me,” he muttered, following Nix inside.  Noelle hesitated, jumping when Glen took her hand.

            “Come on.  We can get warmed up a little then go back to the van,” he smiled down at her, making her flush with warmth. 

            She let herself be led through the doorway, making a face at the stale and dust filled air of the house.  Glen sneezed a couple of times at the dust that Nix and Mark had kicked up as they walked.

            “Damn allergies are going to go haywire in here,” Nix commented dryly.  She was standing at the foot of the stairs, looking up thoughtfully.  Noelle felt the vague unease she’d been carrying solidify for a brief moment, then dissipate.  For a second there…she’d thought that she could see through her sister.

 

3

 

       “I’m going upstairs to look around,” Nix said, climbing the first few steps.

            “Phoenix…” Noelle started, not liking the idea of her going off alone. 

            “Chill Noelle,” Nix said with a laugh.  “The only thing in here is dust and spiders.  And I think the spiders are all gone cuz of the dust anyway.”

            Noelle looked at Mark helplessly.  He sighed.  “I’ll go with you,” he said, moving to stand behind Nix on the stairs.  Nix shot him a look.

            “What, do I need a big ol’ man to protect me?”  She batted her eyelashes. 

            “Sure do,” Mark said grimly.

            “Fabulous.  If we get attacked by a monster, you can trade dark side stories with it while I make a getaway.”

            “Just go if you’re going,” Mark pointed up the stairs.  Nix smiled sweetly and took a step.

            “Tell me if I go to fast for you.  I know that the elderly have a hard time with stairs,” She said, her voice all innocence.

            Glen started laughing as Mark ran a hand over his face.  “This old man is going to throw you down the stairs if you don’t get going.”

            “Oh my.  Baby, I love it when you talk all mean,” Nix said with a laugh as she headed up to the second floor.  Glen and Noelle could hear Mark mumbling something, but couldn’t make it out.  They looked at each other, both shrugging at the same time.

            “I guess we should see what we have here,” Glen said finally.  Noelle nodded her head slowly, not really wanting to leave the front hall.  Glen sensed her hesitation and took her hand again with a smile.  “Come on.  We’ll stick to the first floor.”

            Noelle nodded and followed him to the door on the left of the stairs.  Glen opened it, coughing at the dust that floated around his head.  There were no lights on, and the room was cloaked in shadows.  A large table was in the center, surrounded by eight chairs.  Against the far wall was the biggest china cabinet Noelle had ever seen.  It ran the length of the room, the dark wood of its shelves packed full of dishes.

            “I’m surprised kids haven’t broken in and wrecked the place,” Glen said thoughtfully.

            “Maybe it’s haunted,” Noelle said, trying to make it sound like a joke.  Glen smiled at her and led her on to another door on their right.  It was a swinging door, the hinges squealing in protest as he pushed on it.

            The kitchen was almost pitch black.  Glen felt along the wall and found a light switch, flicking it on.  Dim light filtered down from the fixtures on the ceiling.  “I still can’t believe this place has electricity,” he said.  “Somebody’s paying to keep the juice on.”

            Noelle gripped his hand and said nothing.  The kitchen had a moldy, sick smell to it that was making her stomach turn.  There was another door, leading onto a back porch next to a huge industrial looking sink.  A smaller door opened onto a bathroom.  Glen turned the tap, wrinkling his nose at the brown water that shot out.

            “Water’s still running too,” Noelle said, smiling a little at his expression. 

            “Weird,” was all Glen would say.  He led her back through the dining room and to the other door, on the right of the stairs.  He had trouble opening it; the door itself was a little warped in the frame.  With a loud groan of stress, the door finally gave way under the pressure he applied and swung open.

            “Living room, study, all in one,” he commented, peering into the darkness.  Noelle clicked on a lamp that was next to the door, illuminating the area where they stood.  Every piece of furniture in the room was covered in gray drop cloths, except for a few tables with lamps on them scattered around.  Glen moved forward, turning on the lights.  The back of the room was indeed a study; a large desk and chair surrounded by bookshelves.

            “Tasty reading,” Glen remarked, pulling a book off the shelf and blowing dust from the cover.  “Incantations and Spells, the Beginner’s guide to Witchcraft,” he showed her the spine to prove he wasn’t making it up.  “Somebody was into some weird shit here.” 

            “Looks like it,” Noelle said with a shiver.  Her eyes roamed the shelves, randomly reading titles.  Whoever had lived here had some wild taste in reading material.  Interspersed with books on spell casting were home improvement books, autobiographies, and a few fiction paperbacks.

            “Well, well, well.  Kinky,” Glen was muttering.  He pulled out another book.  It was thin and leather bound.  “Sexual positions for the double jointed,” he laughed, opening the cover and glancing at the detailed drawings inside.  Noelle blushed a little and turned away from him, looking back toward the front of the house.

             “We can probably get the drop cloth off of one of the couches,” She said softly.  “We’ll at least have a place to sit.”

            “Sure,” Glen tossed the book onto the desk, frowning at the puff of dust that blew up from the contact.  He followed Noelle back to the front of the room and stood at the end of the couch.  Noelle helped him pull the cover off, sneezing at the dust. 

            “My mother would have a cow if she saw all this crud flying around,” Noelle said.

            “What, should we clean up before she comes to visit?” Glen asked with a laugh as he folded the cloth.  He dropped it unceremoniously onto the floor, then kicked it away, leaving a clean trail in the dust on the ground.

            Noelle smiled at him, then looked away.  The couch was huge and made of a dark red leather.  It had almost no marks on it; if she didn’t know better Noelle would think it was brand new.  Sighing, she sank down onto the end closest to her, experimentally bouncing on the cushion.

            “I think it’ll hold up,” she said. 

            “Good.  At least, til I sit on it right?” Glen said with another laugh.  He looked around.  “Could that be a television?”  He moved to stand in front of another cloth-draped piece of furniture.  Holding his breath, he pulled it away, revealing an entertainment center.  Glen whistled.  “Weirder and weirder.  Damn TV’s probably worth more than the entire house…yet here it sits.”

            “Probably won’t work,” Noelle said sleepily.  She leaned her head back on the couch, breathing in the smell of old leather that was infinitely better than the scent of dust. 

            “Well, never hurts to try,” Glen said.  He glanced over his shoulder, seeing Noelle’s eyes drifting shut.  He leaned down and pushed the power button, not at all surprised when nothing happened.  “Looks like we’re out of luck.”

            “Try plugging it in,” Noelle said, laughing a little at the look on his face.  Grumbling, Glen went behind the TV and found the cord, folded neatly and held together with a twist tie.  He pushed it into the closest outlet and then tried the TV again.

            It came on with the sound of static.  He quickly lowered the volume and then flipped through the channels.  Nothing but static all the way through.  Hell, even that was more than he’d expected.  “Well, that’s that.  No late show for us tonight…” He trailed off as he turned the TV off and faced Noelle.  She was asleep, her breathing deep, her head resting on the arm of the couch.  With a smile, Glen went back to the bookcase and grabbed one of the cheap looking paperback thrillers.  He settled on the other end of the couch and waited for Mark and Nix to come back downstairs.

 

4.

 

            Mark followed Nix down the second floor hallway, frowning at her back.  “I thought you wanted to look around.”

            “I do,” She said over her shoulder.  “Upstairs.  Where the lights are.”  Nix kept walking, ignoring all of the doors they were passing.  There was another, smaller flight of stairs at the end of the hallway.  The only light in the hallway filtered down from up there.

            Nix started climbing the stairs, pausing halfway up when she realized Mark wasn’t following her.  She looked down at him, grinning.  “What’s the matter, Dead Man?  Scared?”

            “Nah, just like watching you go up those stairs,” Mark said.  Nix raised her eyebrow, smirking.

            “You are a dirty old man,” she said seriously.  “See, I can do age and sex jokes at the same time.”

            “Get moving,” Mark climbed the steps until he was level with her, then followed her the rest of the way.  In truth, he was a little uneasy about being up on the third floor.  And Nix’s flippant attitude about the whole thing just rubbed him the wrong way.

            Nix stopped at the head of the stairs.  The hallway was lit with two globes hanging at either end of it.  There were five doors; two to the right, two on the left, one straight ahead.  All of them were standing open, the one at the end of the hall leading to another steep looking set of stairs.  “Strange,” Nix said softly.  The teasing note was gone from her voice for a change.

            “This whole house is strange,” Mark said, nudging her.  “You’re just now noticing?”

            “No, Gramps.  Sheesh.  Look around, what do you see?  Or do you need glasses to go along with your hearing aid?”

            Mark sighed, and took another glance around the hall.  “What?  The lights are on.  Big fuckin’ deal.”

            “Watch your damn potty mouth.  There’s no dust up here,” Nix said, moving her foot across the polished wood floor.  Mark reached out and touched a picture that was hanging crookedly on the wall.  His fingers came away clean.  Everything else in the house was caked with dust, but this hallway looked to be freshly cleaned.

            “So the maid service never made it to the first floor.  Probably find dead bodies up here somewhere,” he said with a chuckle.  Nix grinned.

            “That would be so cool,” she said, peering into the first door.  “No dead bodies in here damn it.  That figures.”  She moved on down the hall, leaving Mark to follow.  She once again went straight for the stairs.

            “Now where the hell are you going?” Mark asked from where he stood.  He had glanced into all the rooms as he passed.  They all appeared to be bedrooms.

            “That tower thing.  It’s up here,” Nix was already halfway up the stairs when she answered.  Mark sighed heavily and leaned against the wall, waiting on her.  He’d had enough climbing for one night.

            She came back down a few moments later.  “Damn thing’s locked.  If you weren’t so lazy you coulda broken the door down.”

            Mark smiled.  “Look who’s talkin’.  You were all the way up there and didn’t even try to break it open.  Now that’s laziness.”

            “I prefer the more subtle approach.  Not all of us are roaring cavemen who go around bashing in doors and dragging women around by their hair,” Nix moved past him and stopped at the door closest to her.  “Wow.”  She flicked on a light switch, turning on a pair of floor lamps that stood on either side of a large bed. 

            Nix crossed the room and sat down, running her hand over the dark blue silk comforter.  “Look at this shit.  It all looks brand new,” her eyes moved over the bed, following the posts up to the canopy that was over her head.  The fabric matched the fabric of the comforter. 

            “Probably has a nest of mice in that bed,” Mark said conversationally, moving to peek into a door that was to his left.  It opened into a small bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink.  There was another door across from him.  He assumed it went to the other bedroom on this side of the hall.

            “What time is it?” Nix asked.  Mark glanced over his shoulder at her, smirking when he saw that she had flopped back onto the bed and was staring up at the canopy.

            “Time for you to get a watch,” he muttered, glancing at his.  “It’s right on eight thirty.”

            “That’s it?” Nix pushed herself up to her elbows and looked at him.  “It feels a lot later.  At least midnight.  Are you sure your batteries aren’t dead?”

            “Yes I’m sure,” Mark said tiredly.  All this ceaseless fighting with Nix was getting old.  There were only so many insults he could take.

            “Guess we should go downstairs and check on the kids,” Nix said, easing up to her feet.  She laughed a little.  “I’m sure Glen and Noelle are just standing there in the hall where we left ‘em.”  Without waiting to see if he’d follow, Nix moved out of the room.  As he got into the hallway, he could hear her footsteps going down the stairs.  He sighed again as he followed her, shaking his head.

            Nix again ignored all the rooms on the second floor.  They would just be more dust filled bedrooms.  She had seen more than enough dust to last her the rest of her life.  She made as much noise as possible as she stomped down the final staircase, then turned to the room with the broken in door and the lights burning.

            “Caveman number two strikes,” she said, laughing when Glen shot her a look.  “Coulda used you upstairs if you wanted to break a door down.”

            “Sorry.  Used up all my energy on that one,” Glen said, tossing his book onto the table next to where he sat. 

            Nix went to the couch and looked down at her sister, who was opening her eyes up.  “Just like I thought.  Sat still for three seconds and you were out cold.”

            “I can’t help it.  It’s past my bedtime,” Noelle mumbled, sitting up. 

            “It’s only eight thirty, No-no,” Nix said, sinking down onto the couch.

            Noelle frowned.  “That can’t be right.  We drove for almost three hours.  It should be after ten.”

            Nix looked at Mark, who had come into the room.  He was looking around curiously.  “See, I told you Gramps.  Time to get glasses,” She nudged Noelle.  “He can’t even read his own watch now you know.  They say the eyes are the first thing to go.”

            “Nix,” Noelle rolled her eyes.  Any further reply was cut off by a soft but insistent ringing.  Noelle jumped and put her hand in her jacket, pulling out her cell phone.  The display read ‘incoming call’, and it was trilling in its mechanical voice.

 

5.

 

            “I thought you said it didn’t work,” Glen asked as Noelle hit the connect button.

            “It wasn’t working in the van,” Mark said.  Nix was watching as her sister hesitated before lifting the phone to her ear.

            “Hello?”

            “Where are you guys?” Through a heavy curtain of static, Noelle could make out the angry sounding voice of Hunter. 

            “We’re…uh…” she looked around the living room, then stood up and walked over to the window.  The reception cleared for a second, and she could hear Stephanie talking in the background.

            “We came up the road and saw the van.  Looks like you guys got hit with a flat.”

            ‘No shit,’ Noelle said to herself.  Out loud, she said, “We didn’t have a spare so we walked back about half a mile to a house.  We thought there’d be somebody here, but it’s empty.  Can you come get us?”

            There was a mumbled conversation, followed by a loud curse from Stephanie.  “Yeah, we’ll be there in a few minutes.”

            “Great,” Noelle sighed in relief.  She avoided looking at the others.  “Thanks.”  She disconnected and slid the phone back into her pocket.

            “Who was that?” Glen asked, standing up and stretching.  Noelle looked at her sister, who was flipping through the pages of the book that Glen had put aside.

            “Hunter.  He came across the van and wanted to know where we were,” Noelle said, watching as Nix’s eyes narrowed.  Nix and Mark did not get along; Nix and Hunter absolutely hated each other. 

            “Oh no….huh uh,” Nix was shaking her head.  “I am not spending four hours in a car with loser boy and his bitch.”

            “What, you have a better idea?” Mark asked.  He didn’t like it either; he and Hunter had some bad blood between them.

            “Yeah, we can kill ‘em, bury ‘em in the backyard, and steal their car,” Nix said rationally.  “I don’t think anybody would miss them.”

            “Nix…we can’t just stay here and wait for somebody else to come along,” Noelle said.  “This road isn’t exactly the freeway.”

            “Yeah, tell me something I didn’t know,” Nix said sourly.  “Remind me when we get home to kick Dad in his ass.”

            “He’s going to be nice enough to give us a lift…please try to be civil to him for a change.  Ok?” Noelle looked expectantly at her sister.

            “Why don’t you just ask me to cut my arm off or something? Civil…” she said it like it was a bad word.

            “We all know it’ll be a stretch for you, Nix, but you could give it a shot,” Mark laughed.  Nix shot him a withering look.

            “Shut up.  You’re just happy cuz with Hunter around, I won’t be picking on you,” she grumbled.

            “Um, one of us should go down and open that gate up,” Glen said.  “I think I’ll head down that way.”  He walked out of the room and the others heard the door shut behind him.

            Noelle raised an eyebrow at Nix, who was frowning darkly down at the book in her hands.  Mark crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, smirking.  He seemed to be enjoying Nix’s displeasure immensely.  Noelle hid a smile with her hand and turned to look out the window at the bright headlights that cut through the heavy rain as they came up the driveway.

            Mark and Noelle went to the front door, holding it open and watching as Stephanie, Hunter, and Glen dashed from the car to the porch.  Glen was soaked again from his walk down to the gate.  Stephanie looked as if she wanted to kill someone, and Hunter had adopted an artificially neutral expression.

            “Nice place you got here,” he said to Mark as he brushed past him.  Mark looked down at him, sneering a little.  Nix was a mild annoyance compared to what he felt toward Hunter.

            “Just shut up and get us out of here,” Stephanie said, shivering and looking in distaste at the dust coated floor.  Hunter glanced at her, then shrugged. 

            “Let’s get going.  Hell of a long drive left tonight,” He said, motioning at the door. 

            “If you’re going to be driving, it’ll be Hell,” Nix said, coming into the hallway.  She looked from Hunter to Stephanie with a frown, then shoved past them, going out onto the porch.  Noelle sighed as her sister lit a cigarette under the protective cover of the porch roof.

            “I hope you realize there’s no smoking in the car,” Stephanie intoned to Nix.  Nix looked at her, squinting her eyes against the smoke.

            “No shit.  Why do you think I’m smoking now?”  She took a long draw and blew the smoke out, smiling at the look of disgust on Stephanie’s face.

            “Let’s just go,” Glen nudged Mark, who stepped outside.  “I’ll get the lights.” 

            He ducked back inside as the others piled into the car.  It was a tight fit, even in the big luxury sedan that Hunter had rented.  When Glen came back outside, Noelle was in the front with Stephanie and Hunter.  He slid in the backseat, Nix on his left.  Mark was against the other door.

            “Please don’t squash me,” Nix said, poking him in the ribs.  He and Mark pretty much took up the entire back seat.  She barely had room to breathe.

            “I’ll try not to,” Glen said with a laugh.  Nix wiggled around, trying to get comfortable. 

            “If Mark would stop hogging the seat…”

            “Kids, don’t make me turn this car around and go home,” Noelle said with a laugh, looking over her shoulder.  Hunter shook his head at them, then turned the key in the ignition.  Nothing happened.

            “Like nobody saw this coming…” Nix mumbled under her breath.

            Hunter cursed and tried again, getting nothing.  “What the fuck…this damn thing was fine a minute ago.”

            “Hunter…” Stephanie’s voice had taken on it’s trademark whine.  If Nix had room, she’d cover her ears with her hands. 

            “Quiet Steph,”  He said absentmindedly.  With a sigh, he popped the hood release and stepped out the door.  They could all hear his muffled mumbling as he looked over the engine.

            He came back a few minutes later, soaked, leaning into the door but not getting inside.  “I don’t know what the problem is.  I don’t have the damn tools to tinker with it anyway.  I think we’re gonna have to hang out here til the rain lets up and I can see what the hell I’m doing.”

            “Gee.  Thanks for the ride Huntsie.  It was spif,” Nix said hatefully.  She pushed at Glen, who opened his door and held it while she climbed out.  Nix stood in the rain for a minute, then turned and started walking down the driveway.

            “Where are you going?  Gonna walk to the arena?” Mark called after her with a laugh as he got out of the car.

            “I’m gonna go get my bag out of the van.  If we’re stuck, I’m going to at least get a change of clothes,” she had turned to face him.  She eyed him critically.  “I’d suggest you do the same, unless you like looking like that kid on the Peanuts cartoons.”  Nix turned and stormed off, oblivious to the cold rain.  Mark and Glen exchanged a look. 

            “I guess I should go with her,” Mark said, resigned.  Shaking his head, he trotted after Nix’s retreating form.  Glen smiled at Noelle, then took her hand and led her back onto the porch where Hunter and Steph were arguing heatedly. 

            “Look you guys…as soon as the rain dies off, we’ll get the car running and get the hell out of here,” Glen said, quieting them.  “There’s not much we can do til then.  So let’s all at least try to make the best of it.”

            Stephanie sniffed and marched into the house without speaking.  Hunter shook his head, then looked at Noelle.  “I’m willing to make the best.  You’d better make sure your sister behaves herself though.” That said, he turned and followed his girlfriend into the house.

            Noelle looked helplessly at Glen.  “This is going to be a very long night,” she said flatly.  Glen smiled and led her back inside the house.

 

6.

 

            “Are you trying to win a race or something?” Mark said when he finally caught up to Nix at the end of the driveway. She frowned at him. 

            “Can I not get five minutes alone tonight?  And in case you didn’t notice, it’s raining.  Cold.  I don’t feel like having to stop every ten feet so you can rest,” she didn’t even break stride as she talked.

            Mark shoved his hands into his pockets and walked with her, deciding for once not to push her.  Their constant battle of wills was getting old; he was about ready to throw in the towel.  They made it to the van in less than fifteen minutes, and he stood silently while she pulled their stuff out.

            “Why the hell does Glen carry three bags?” Nix muttered to herself.  She only had one, full of just the essentials.  The rest of her things went to the arena via one of the prop trucks.  She shouldered Glen’s bags onto her back, then grabbed the handle of her own.  It had wheels on it, so pulling it would be easy enough.

            “Here, let me take some of his…” Mark didn’t even finish the sentence.

            “I got it.  Just grab your own and let’s go.  If I have to make nice with Hunter and Steph, I’m going to make sure I get that big bedroom to lock myself up in.”

            Mark sighed and grabbed his own bag, then reached in for Noelle’s.  He slammed the door shut and followed as Nix led the way back to the house.  “What do you make of his car problems?” Mark asked as they neared the driveway.

            Nix shot him a look.  “What am I supposed to make of it?  He got a lemon.  The icing on this cake of a night,” she tossed her wet hair back out of her eyes. 

            “Don’t you think it’s kind of odd that it broke down right in front of the house?” Mark persisted.  He was asking for trouble, even bringing stuff like this up in front of Nix, but maybe a good dose of her sarcasm would shake him out of the weird mood that had come over him.

            “Yeah, odd as a fucking nine dollar bill,” Nix said with a smirk.  “Dumbass probably rigged it to not start.  Just so he could act like the man and fix it in the morning.”

            “When would he have had time to do that?” Mark asked, mostly to himself.

            “Fuck Mark…what is this?  Twenty questions?  How the hell should I know what’s going on?”  Nix climbed the porch steps.  “All I want is a hot shower, a few hours of sleep, and a ride out of this shit hole.”  That said, she stormed into the house, unceremoniously dropping Glen’s bags in the hall.  Noelle came to the doorway of the living room and watched her sister stalk up the stairs.  She exchanged a look with Mark. 

            “Think she’ll ever get tired of messing with me?” Mark tried to make light of it.  Noelle smiled a little, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. 

            “Probably not.  Unless you start acting like you enjoy it,” she said. 

            “I’m not that good an actor,” he set her bag down beside her.  “I guess we’re staking out rooms for the night.  Nix already has hers all picked out.”   

            Noelle picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.  “I don’t see how we’re going to sleep upstairs in all the dust.”  She and Glen had ventured to the second floor but had only looked in one bedroom.  If it was possible, it was even dirtier than the downstairs had been. 

            Mark shook his head.  “That’s something I meant to tell you about.  The third floor…it’s clean.”

            “Clean?” Noelle raised her eyebrows and laughed. 

            “What’s clean?” Glen came through the dining room doorway, shaking his head at the pile of his bags on the floor.  “Bet I can guess who packed these up the hill,” he said with a laugh.

            “The third floor.  We can at least bunk down for the night up there and not cough ourselves to death,” Mark said.  He glanced at his watch.  “Do you have the time?” He asked Glen.

            Glen looked at his watch, frowning.  “A couple of minutes after nine.”

            “That’s what I have,” Mark made a face.  “It seems like it should be so much later.”

            Noelle yawned as if to punctuate his statement.  “It’s probably all the excitement with the van and the walk and stuff.  Plus you slept in the van, you’re probably just overtired.”

            Mark nodded uncertainly.  He didn’t feel tired at all.  Just…uneasy.  He sighed and lifted his bag, leading the way up the stairs.  “Where’s Hunter and Stephanie?” He asked, noticing that they hadn’t been sticking their noses in.

            “Upstairs.  Hunter wanted to explore, and he made Stephanie risk the dirt to go with him,” Glen said with a laugh.  “She practically made him carry her around so her shoes wouldn’t get dirty.”

            “Sounds about like her,” Mark said, his mind not even on the conversation.  As they climbed the steps to the third floor, his feeling of apprehension solidified for a moment into outright fear, then faded.  He almost believed he was just working himself up for nothing.  It was, after all, just a house.

            The third floor hall lights were still glowing softly.  They could hear Nix unzipping her bag up the hallway.  The door to the room she wanted was standing open, light from inside spilling out into the hallway.  Noelle moved past the guys to stand in the doorway.  “Wow, nice…”

            Nix looked at her sister with a grin.  “I think I’m going to steal this bed.”  A frown replaced the happy look.  “Trips and his ‘woman’ got the first bedroom down the hall.  So, unless somebody wants to brave the dust, we’re gonna have to double up.”  She smiled sweetly at Mark and Glen.  “You guys can share.  Spark some fantasies for all the girls on the net who like that slash stuff…”

            “Shut up,” Glen said, making a face.  Mark rolled his eyes. 

            “I’ll share with you Nix,” Noelle said with a laugh.  “As far as I can recall, there is no slash involving me anywhere on the net.”

            “Give ‘em time,” Nix said, digging through her bag.  Noelle brought her own bag into the room and sat on the bed, running her hand over the comforter. 

            “Well…’night ladies,” Glen said with a smile.  Nix and Noelle told him good night as he and Mark left to see what the last two rooms looked like. 

            “What side of the bed do you want?” Noelle asked her sister, who had finally found what she was looking for in her bag.

            “I don’t care.  Either.  I’m going to be brave, and get a shower.  At this point I don’t even care if it’s a cold one,” Nix pulled a towel out and put it over her shoulder.  “Hold down the fort, would ya?” She ducked into the bathroom.

            Noelle pulled her bag to her and dug out the oversized T-shirt she usually slept in.  She changed quickly, then slid under the covers, snuggling into the warm bed.  Mark and Glen had said it was only a little after nine, but it felt so much later to her.  She dozed off before she had a chance to really form the thought.

 

7.

 

            Hunter lay back on the bed, staring up at the pale ceiling, waiting for Stephanie to come back.  After seeing all of the dirt downstairs, she hadn’t wanted to even see the rest of the place, but he’d dragged her along.  He’d gotten ready for bed, sliding under the crisp pale blue sheet.  Stephanie had seemed…gripped by something.  She wanted to look around.

            “Are you afraid of getting dirty?” He asked, as she prepared to go back out the door. 

            “Don’t be silly,” She had said with a sniff.  “It’s just a little dust.  And I’m not going far.  I just want to see what the other rooms look like.”

            He hadn’t tried to stop her again.  If she wanted to wander around, so be it.  He was dead tired and really didn’t care. 

            Stephanie stepped out into the hallway and looked around.  All of the doors were closed now; they’d been standing wide open when she and Hunter had first come up here.  Assuming the others had finally come up to call it a night, she sighed and turned toward the far end of the hall.  There was one open door, at least. 

            A set of steep-looking stairs stretched up into gloom.  Stephanie peered through the darkness, trying to see what was at the top.  She slowly began to climb, shivering a little as a cold draft of air hit her.  Her eyes were getting used to the darkness; she could make out a door at the top of the stairs.

            Stephanie hadn’t even noticed the tower room.  She’d been too busy complaining to Hunter about being stuffed in the car with four more people.  He, of course, ignored her.  She knew that Hunter couldn’t stand Mark or Nix.  He barely tolerated Glen.  And since Noelle was not a wrestler, Stephanie considered her a non-person.  Hunter didn’t have any problems with her; she was no threat to his position with the company.

            She paused in front of the door, listening.  From above her the sound of the rain on the room was a soft drumming.  The house was making settling noises, small creaks and pops that she’d tuned out.  But she had heard…or thought she’d heard…something else.  Stephanie put her hand on the knob, pulling it back quickly.  It was freezing cold, so cold it had momentarily felt hot.

            She looked at her hand in the dim light, but it wasn’t marked.  “Quit being ignorant,” she muttered under her breath.  She reached for the knob again, and watched, wide-eyed, as it turned by itself.  The door creaked open an inch, letting a mellow glow of candlelight illuminate the stairwell. 

            Stephanie gasped and took a step back, then frowned.  Obviously it was Nix, trying to spook her.  Ever since Nix had joined the fed, she’d gone out of her way to make Stephanie’s life miserable.  Stephanie at first thought it was because she had a little thing for Hunter.  Nix had set her straight about that, coming into Steph’s locker room one day after Stephanie had gone to the ring during practice and blown up at her.

            Stephanie’s eyes narrowed as she remembered Nix’s words.  “I would never be jealous of that pansy bitch you call a boyfriend.  The only reason I hate you is because…well…you’re a bitch who never had to work to get her shit.  And you think the rest of the world is going to just hand you whatever you want.  Well guess what?”  Nix had laughed.  “I worked to get where I am honey.  I don’t like you, I don’t respect you, and I sure as hell ain’t gonna go out of my way to kiss your scrawny ass.”

            Stephanie shook herself out of the memory.  Nobody talked to her that way.  Her father owned the company.  People had to be at least nice to her or…or…

            She hated Nix.  The fans loved her, Vince loved her.  Stephanie had no push when it came to her.  And now here she was, trying to scare her.  So she’d have a little story to tell when they got to the arena.  Stephanie sneered and reached for the door, tenting her fingers to push it open.  She’d be damned if she’d let Nix get another laugh at her expense.

            Her fingers had barely brushed the wood when the door was yanked open from the inside.  Cold fingers grabbed Stephanie’s wrist and she was jerked forward into the candlelit room, the door slamming shut behind her.

            Hunter sighed and rolled onto his stomach, trying to get comfortable.  Steph had been gone for what seemed like a long time.  He wasn’t going to wait up for her.  She’d probably wake him up to bitch about the condition of the house.  He didn’t really care.  He was getting sick of her constant whining.

            His eyes had just drifted closed when he heard the sound of the door clicking shut.  Hunter waited but Stephanie didn’t say anything.  Maybe for once she’d decided to bite her tongue.

            He felt warm fingers moving down his spine, and his eyes fluttered open.  “You musta had a good time exploring,” he mumbled with a smile. 

            “I plan to,” it was not Stephanie’s voice.  Hunter turned his head and looked up into Nix’s eyes.

            “What the hell are you doing in here?” He asked, staring at her.  Nix shrugged, using one hand to adjust the strap of the filmy nightgown she was wearing. 

            “Just thought I’d be neighborly,” she smiled, reaching out to run a finger over Hunter’s bare shoulder. 

            “Ok, what’s the punchline?” Hunter rolled over and sat up, keeping the blanket around his waist. 

            “There is no punchline,” Nix purred out, putting one knee on the bed.  Her hand rested in the middle of Hunters chest, pushing at him, trying to get him to lie down.

            Hunter frowned at her, watching her eyes.  Nix looked as if she wasn’t even seeing him.  And her whole demeanor…just too damn serious.  He knew from experience that Nix could find something humorous in just about anything.  Or at least make it sound like she could.

            Hunter pushed her hand away, not noticing the way her eyes narrowed at his rejection.  Nix said nothing else, but got off the bed and stalked to the door, leaving as quietly as she’d come in.

            “What the fuck?” Hunter muttered, staring at the door.  He shook his head.  Maybe Nix had finally lost her damn mind.  He smiled a little.  If she was willing to stop her hateful act, then maybe it was time for him to make his own move.  The only reason he hadn’t hit on her yet was her attitude; but it looked like that had changed.

            Hunter leaned back on the headboard, looking thoughtfully across the room.  He almost couldn’t believe that she’d done such a one-eighty, but…she had been in here.  And she had been coming on to him.  There was no denying that.  Maybe he’d stay up after all, see Stephanie off to sleep, then go pay a visit to Phoenix’s room. 

 

8.

 

            Glen was settled comfortably in his room, the paperback he’d started to read earlier in his hand.  He was in the room next to Hunter’s, a small bathroom separating them.  The bed was huge, which was perfect, and was covered in a dark wine-colored comforter.  Instead of the floor lamps he’d seen in Nix’s room, his room had two bedside tables with hurricane lamps on them.  He was using only one, the light strong enough to read by but not too glaring.

            He couldn’t concentrate on the book.  His mind kept wandering and he’d find himself staring at the same sentence for long minutes, rereading it over and over.  Glen was about ready to give up and call it a night when there was a soft knock at the door.

            “Come on in,” he said softly.  He put his book aside as the door opened and Nix stepped inside.  “Hey, what’s…” His eyes widened when he got a look at her outfit.  Definitely un-Nix-ish.  She was wearing a floor length white lace nightgown that looked demure enough from afar.  As she moved closer, he became aware that the outfit was see through.

            Glen had seen her wear some wild clothes since she’d joined the fed.  In true wrestling women fashion, Nix usually wore leather halters and mini-skirts.  She wasn’t afraid to flash some skin.  But off camera she was a complete tomboy, wearing jeans and T-shirts almost exclusively.  And from staying in the same hotels night after night, he had thought that she only slept in tank tops and boxers.  That was the extent of the wardrobe he’d seen.

            This was too…girly?  He didn’t even know what to make of it in his own mind.  Very softly feminine.  And while he thought Nix was hot, this was not her style.  Nowhere near it.  She was more the type of woman that if she wanted to show some skin, she’d go all out, and run around naked.

            She was smiling at him as she sat on the edge of his bed.  Even her smile seemed off, not holding the usual sardonic lift that she seemed to achieve with no effort.  Her eyes were blatantly roaming his body, moving from his chest to his bare legs.  He was wearing a pair of shorts, his usual mode of dress for bedtime.

            “Something wrong Nix?” He asked, shifting uncomfortably.  She didn’t answer, only smiled that little smile that did not quite touch her eyes.

            After a few minutes of careful perusal, Nix brought her hand up, one finger tracing a line down his chest and onto his stomach.  “I was thinking…Glen…” She seemed to have to stop and think of his name.  “You and I are friends, aren’t we?”

            “Yeah…sure…” He was trying not to react to her at all, watching her hand warily as it seemed to move with no apparent purpose. 

            “And friends…do things for friends, don’t they?”  Her voice became low, almost a purr.  Nix was leaning closer to him, her palm flat on his stomach now.

            “Nix…what the hell is this about?” Glen asked, frowning at her.  She’d never…ever…shown any kind of sexual interest in him before.  In fact, she’d been encouraging him to pursue the ‘crush’ he’d developed on Noelle over the past couple of months. 

            Nix smiled again, and leaned even closer, until her lips were brushing his ear.  “I just wanted to know how good a friend you are…” Glen shivered a little as her breath tickled him.  Nix abruptly sat up, pushing up from the bed.  “Never mind.  You’re not what I want,” her voice had turned cold, uncaring. 

            “What the fuck?” Glen said, his voice low, the confused note in it obvious even to his own ears.  “Nix…what’s gotten into you?”

            She stopped walking, looking over her shoulder at him.  “Too bad really.  You would have done nicely.”  She gave him another one of those odd, emotionless smiles then went out the door, closing it behind her.

            Glen was propped up on his elbows, staring at the space where she’d been, wondering if he’d just had a hallucination.  Nix would never come on to him.  Not as long as she was in her right mind.  He definitely wasn’t her type.  Mark was more her type, but she couldn’t get along with him for more than five minutes at a time. 

            Sighing, he got up and went to the door, opening it and looking up and down the hallway.  Someone had turned out the light, and it was dark.  All the doors were closed.  Even the one to the stairwell that led up to the locked tower.  Glen shook his head and shut the door again then returned to bed.  He picked up the book, not opening it, just rifling through the pages. 

            He considered going across the hall and seeing if Noelle was still awake.  The idea didn’t last long.  He didn’t really want the girl he liked finding out her sister had made a pass at him.  Besides that, suppose he’d dozed off and had dreamed the whole thing.  Glen didn’t recall falling asleep, but he realized it could have been possible.  The encounter certainly felt like it had been a passing dream.  Especially considering the way Nix had been dressed.  That was something he himself would like to see on a woman, not something she’d ever wear for anyone.

            He was uneasy now, his eyes watching the door.  Nix was one of his best friends; he felt like an idiot for even thinking about her in any kind of light except for that one.  But the strangeness of it…that unemotional look...

            Glen sat up in the bed, leaning his back against the headboard.  It was obvious to him that sleep was going to be a long time coming.   

 

9.

 

            Mark had wandered around the living room one last time before going to his room, turning off all the lights on his way back upstairs.  His room was across from Hunter’s and attached to Noelle and Nix’s by a small bathroom.  There was a huge sleigh bed covered by a black silk comforter; the bed itself looked to be made out of mahogany or some other dark wood.  There was a leather chair in one corner and a couple of floor lamps for light. 

            He’d looked at his watch one last time before taking it off and tossing it onto the top of a dresser by the door.  It was only about nine-thirty when he finally climbed into bed after turning off the lights. 

            He stared up at the dark ceiling, listening as the shower in the bathroom came on.  Probably Nix, who was all set to brave some icy water just to get the grime off of her.

            Mark was going to stay awake until she was done and take a shower himself.  After climbing under the van and wandering the house in wet clothes from the rain he felt grimy.  His dirty clothes were in a pile on the floor; he was lying naked under the comforter with his hands behind his head waiting his turn.

            After a few minutes, the bathroom door clicked open, letting in a square of dim light.  The shower was still running, the sound growing louder before being muffled again as the door closed.  Frowning Mark turned his head to look at the door, then did a double take. 

            Nix was walking toward his bed, a long white gown covering her.  The crisp white seemed to glow in the darkness, making it look as if she was illuminated.  Her hair seemed even darker in comparison.

            “All done in there?” Mark asked, sitting up but being careful to keep the blanket strategically placed.  Nix didn’t answer him.  He looked up at her as she made her way to his side.  He watched with a puzzled look on his face as she climbed up onto the bed next to him, kneeling and facing him.

            “Mark…” he felt her fingers reach out and touch his chest, her voice carrying a husky tone. 

            “Nix…what the hell are you…”

            “Shh,” She had moved, her head in front of his, her lips just an inch from his.  Mark could feel her long hair swinging forward and tickling his chest.  He swallowed uncomfortably, shifting a little.

            “Ok, if this is one of your jokes, I’m not getting it,” Mark finally said, when Nix didn’t move.  In the darkness he could barely make out her smile.

            “Oh, it’s no joke,” she moved even closer, her lips brushing against his.  Mark was too surprised to pull back as she pressed her lips against his.  Her fingers were moving down his chest, sliding over his stomach.  One of them grasped the edge of the comforter and pulled it away from him.

            “Nix…” Mark finally broke her kiss, looking at her in confusion.  She was smiling again, but it was as if he wasn’t speaking.  Her hand rested on his bare thigh then slid up, dangerously close to touching his cock. 

            She suddenly froze and tilted her head, a move that reminded Mark of Glen for some odd reason.  It was as if she were listening to something inside her.  Her eyes met his and his breath caught in his throat.  Those were not Nix’s eyes; they were too flat, too cold.  She snatched her hand away from him and stood up, backing away from the bed.

            Forgetting that he was naked, Mark got out of the bed.  Phoenix stared at him for a moment more, the blankness of her gaze finally sinking into him.  She turned and quickly went into the bathroom, shutting the door softly behind her.

            “What the fuck was that about?” Mark said to himself.  This girl that had done nothing but make his life miserable for the past six months or so had just come on to him big time.  He was even more surprised at himself than he was at her.  Her touching him had set off some wild currents in his body, that was for damn sure.   And then she’d pulled away, emotionless as he’d never seen her before.

            In the bathroom he heard the shower cut off.  He frowned and walked toward the door.  This was obviously another one of her games, and he’d be damned if he’d let her get the best of him this time.

            Nix had to let the water run in the shower for a good ten minutes before it went from muddy brown to clear.  The whole time she grumbled under her breath, brushing the tangles from her long hair and brushing her teeth.

            To her surprise, the house had hot water.  She took her time soaping up and rinsing off, soaking up the heat from the water.  She hadn’t realized that she was chilled until the warmth hit her.

            In true Nix fashion, she stayed in the shower for a long time.  If the bathroom had had a bathtub, she would have soaked for hours as she sometimes did in hotel rooms on the road.  After a half-hour or so, she turned off the water and pushed the shower curtain open, reaching automatically for a towel.

            She had just picked it up and stepped out of the shower when the door burst open.  Nix jumped, her eyes wide as she looked at Mark.  He looked like he was mad.  ‘Understatement of the year,’ Nix said to herself.  He looked a little more than mad.  It took her a minute to register that he wasn’t wearing a damn stitch of clothes.  Then she remembered…neither was she.

            Before she could do more than fumble with the towel Mark had come the rest of the way into the room, backing her up until she was against the far door.  “Mark…what the hell are you doing?” 

            “What did you just do?” He growled out.  Nix opened her mouth to make a smart comment about taking a shower, but he shut her up.  His mouth came down on hers, crushing her lips.  She felt his tongue slip inside as he angled his head, kissing her forcefully.

            She was too stunned to even fight him off.  In fact, her knees buckled a little as his tongue slid over hers.  His hands were cupping her face, holding her still as he continued to explore her mouth.  Just as she finally got enough wits about her to respond, Mark pulled away, panting, putting a hand on her shoulder and holding her against the door.

            “Cock teasing is below even you, Nix,” he finally said, staring down at her.

            “What?  What the hell are you talking about?”

            Mark didn’t answer.  He let go of her, then turned on his heel and stalked out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.  Nix didn’t move for several long minutes, as she tried to absorb what had just happened. 

            Mark had kissed her.  Which under normal circumstances she could handle.  But she still felt out of breath.  And her knees were shaky.  And he was one hell of a kisser.  “Shit…” Nix held her head in her hands, pushing her soaking wet hair back from her face.  He’d called her a cock-tease.  And he’d been the one who’d burst in on her, kissed her til her toes curled, then took off.  Damn him.

            He obviously thought she’d done something.  Nix didn’t think he’d kissed her out of any particular passion for her.  At least, not at first.  And he’d looked as mad as a bull when he’d barged in on her.  Nix finally wrapped her towel around her, her hands a little shaky.  Noelle was going to get woken up in about thirty seconds.  She had to talk to somebody, and as always the first person she wanted to talk to was her little sister.

 

10.

 

            Noelle was awake when Nix came back into the bedroom.  She’d dozed for a few minutes but had snapped awake and now she couldn’t make her eyes close.  She got one look at her sister’s face and sat up on the bed, concerned.

            “Nix? What’s wrong?”  Her sister just stood there for a second, a towel wrapped around her, her hair dripping a puddle on the floor.

            “What’s wrong?”  Nix let out a laugh.  “I just got attacked I think.”

            “Attacked?  By what?” Noelle got up from the bed and walked toward her sister.  Nix looked at her.

            “Not a what.  A who.  Mark,” the way she spat out his name sent off warning flags. 

            “What?” Incredulous, Noelle grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her over to sit on the bed.

            “Yeah, that big dumb asshole…” Nix glared at the bathroom door.  “Barged in on me yammering something about me teasing him, then he…”

            “He what?  Damn it, Nix, the suspense is going to kill me if you don’t spit it out,” Noelle said with a smile.

            “Well…he kissed me.”

            “Mark?” Noelle’s eyebrows went up.

            “No, the fucking boogie man,” Nix stood up and started pacing, clutching the towel to keep it from falling to the floor.  “Yes…Mark!”

            “What got into him?” Noelle said, leaning back and watching her sister pace the room. 

            “How the hell should I know?  I was minding my own business, trying to finish my shower and there he was.  Stark naked even,” Nix sighed and grabbed her bag, yanking her shorts and tank top out of it.  “Screw it.  The man’s demented.  I knew it all along.”

            “Want me to go talk to him?” Noelle asked quietly.

            “Talk to him?  Hell no,” Nix shook her head violently and pulled her sleepwear on. 

            “I don’t get it.  You’ve been teasing him in one form or another for a while.  So what made him snap?”

            Nix laughed.  “His actual words were that I was a cock-tease,” she made a noise in her throat.  “If I got my kicks being a cock-tease I’d sure as hell at least do it to somebody I like.”

            “Why would he say something like that?” Noelle said, mostly to herself. 

            “Because he’s a jerk off.  Plain and simple.  Asshole.” Nix was still muttering under her breath.  “I’m going to go for a walk.”

            “In the rain?” Noelle asked, looking at her sister as if she’d lost her mind.

            “Sure, beats staying in here and losing my mind,” She grabbed her jeans and slid them on over her shorts, then pulled her jacket on.  “I’ll be back in a little bit.”  Before Noelle could argue, Nix was out the door.

            Noelle sighed and went to the bathroom door, meaning to head through and talk to Mark despite Nix’s wishes.  The shower came on, and she stopped with her hand on the knob, rethinking.  Mark could wait.  Give him time to cool down from whatever kick he’d gotten on.  She bit her lip and went back to the bed, worrying over Nix. 

            She knew when Nix came back, it would be as if nothing had happened.  That wasn’t what worried her.  She couldn’t help but feel nervous about her sister being out in the rain all by herself.  If anybody tried to follow her though, they’d likely get beheaded.

            Mark showered quickly, frowning the whole time he was under the spray of water.  He felt bad.  It was so easy to bully people when he was so big.  And Nix hadn’t acted at all like she’d acted in his room.  She’d just been…well…Nix. 

            Plus, something else was bothering him, something that hadn’t registered until after he’d gone back into his own room.  The shower had been running, Nix was just stepping out.  She was soaking wet.  But just two minutes before that, she’d been dry and sitting on his bed.  He didn’t think she’d have had time to jump in the shower and arrange an innocent act.

            But that had to be the only explanation.  Now, he was trying to explain to himself why he had kissed her.  He hadn’t planned it, that was for damn sure.  It had just kind of…happened.  She’d kissed him in the bedroom.  Mark had simply paid her back.  But that kiss in the bathroom…he closed his eyes and let the water run over his face. 

            Nix had seemed almost mechanical when she’d kissed him the first time.  When he kissed her though…she had melted into it for a second, returning it fully.  That’s when he’d pulled away, leaving her.  Because that hot response was a world away from the cool passion he’d sensed from her in the bedroom.  It confused the hell out of him.

            He sighed and shut off the water, letting his hair drip for a few minutes before toweling off.  He’d have to talk to her, apologize.  Probably take a world class tongue-lashing.  He hadn’t handled himself very well.  And calling her a cock-tease…it had been the first thing that had popped into his mind.  The look on her face when he’d said it though…she was either a fantastic actress or she had no clue what he was talking about.

 

11.

 

            Hunter had dozed off.  He had no idea of when or for how long.  When his eyes came open, the room was dark.  He moved a little, his arm brushing the blanket covered form of Stephanie.  She’d at least been quiet when she’d gotten into bed.  He hadn’t heard a single noise.

            He carefully got up, moving slowly so as not to disturb Stephanie’s sleep.  Hunter grabbed his jeans and slipped then on, then crept to the door.  He spared one last look over his shoulder; Stephanie was just a vague hump in the middle of the bed.  With a smirk, he opened the door and stepped into the hall, closing it softly behind him.

            Someone had turned the hall lights on again.  The pale yellow glow seemed very bright after the dimness of the bedroom.  Hunter gave his eyes a minute to adjust then looked around, not sure which room was Nix’s. 

            Before he could even begin to wonder how to go about finding out, there was a noise from the stairs.  He turned and watched as Nix came into the hall, her hair dripping, her leather jacket pulled tight around her.

            She looked at him through narrowed eyes.  Just what she needed; a confrontation with Hunter to kind of round out her whole night.  Hunter gave her a sly smile, making her halt in her tracks and look at him.

            “What do you want, moron?” She finally asked.  That was about as nice as she was going to get with him.

            “What do you think?” Hunter moved across the hall until he was standing in front of her.  He put his hand on the wall next to her head, blocking off her access to the hallway.  “I thought about it and decided I’d like to finish what you started earlier.”

            “What I started?” Nix echoed, bewildered.  She raised an eyebrow at him.  “And what, exactly, do you think I started?”

            “Oh, come off it Nix.  You know what I’m talking about,” He smirked and pulled at her jacket.  “I will admit, I liked that nightgown you were wearing earlier better than this.”  His eyes moved over her body.  “You should wear see-through clothes more often.”  As he spoke, he let his head lower until he was only an inch from her skin.

            “See-through?  I don’t wear see-through clothes you idiot.  And would you mind backing off me?  You’re violating my personal space.”

            Hunter made a sound and shook his head.  “Going to play innocent with me, huh?”  His hand moved from her jacket to touch her wet hair.  “I kinda like the difference I saw in you, babe.  You’re fucking hot when you drop the sarcastic bitch act.”

            “Fuck off, Hunter,” Nix irritably pushed his hand away from her hair.  “And in case you hadn’t noticed, I am a sarcastic bitch.  I don’t have to act.”

            She moved, trying to duck under his arm, but Hunter grabbed her by the shoulder and pinned her back against the wall.  Nix’s eyes flashed angrily, making him laugh.  He pressed full against her, his greater weight effectively holding her to the wall. 

            “Ya know, I kinda figured you’d play it off as if you never came into my room,” he said, his voice low.  His mouth was right next to her ear, his breath puffing hotly against her neck. 

            “Why the fuck would I be in your room?  I can’t stand to be in the same damn arena with you,” Nix said, trying to push him off of her.

            “Hmm, maybe because deep down you have an attraction to me,” his lips brushed her earlobe. 

            “Yeah right.  Then you woke up from that little dream,” Nix shoved at him, getting him to back off from her.  First Mark, now Hunter.  She wondered if there might be a full moon somewhere above the storm clouds.

            “Going to be a little tease?” Hunter asked her, his voice mellow.  But his eyes had darkened, grown hard.  She knew that look, knew it very well.  Although she was pretty sure that Hunter didn’t hit his women, that look said there was always the potential. 

            She almost hoped he’d hit her.  Then she’d have a solid reason to kill him other than the fact that he just got on her nerves.  And damn him…that was the second time tonight she’d been branded a tease.  She was sick of hearing it already.

            “Go back to Stephanie,” she hissed at him.  “Or else, go flag down a car and get yourself laid by one of your adoring fans.  But do me one favor…” she poked him in his chest.  “Stay the fuck away from me.”

            Hunter glared at her.  “You were the one who came to me, bitch,” He stepped forward until he was almost nose to nose with Nix.  “You think I’m just going to let you play your fucking little mind games?”  His voice was raised, but Nix did not…would not flinch back from him.

            “Blow it out your ass, Trips,” Nix said rationally.  “The only one mind fucking you is Stephanie.  She’s got you whipped.  So why don’t you take your little soldier and head on back to base camp before she finds out about this.”

            Hunter raised an eyebrow.  “Was that a threat?  Going to tell on me, for following up to shit that you started?”  His voice took on a mocking tone.  “If you can’t handle me, then I would suggest you keep your hot little sleepwear and your roamin’ hands to yourself, Nixie.”

            “I guess I could say about the same to you,” Mark said from behind him.  He dropped his hand on Hunter’s shoulder and pulled him back away from Nix.  “Except for the clothes.  Better you should be fully dressed.”

            “This isn’t your business,” Hunter said, jerking away from Mark’s hand.

            “I’m going to make it my business in about ten seconds if you don’t get outta my sight,” Mark said coldly.  Hunter stared up at him for a moment, then glared at Nix one last time before stalking down the stairs.

            Mark looked at Nix.  “You Ok?” He asked her.  He’d heard Hunter’s loud voice from his room and had listened in for a minute before stepping into the hallway.

            “Fine,” She said with a forced smile.  “I just love being called a tease.  Can’t you tell?  Stupid asshole…”

            “Come on,”  Mark took her arm and pulled her toward his room.  Nix resisted him. yanking out of his grasp.

            “For what?  More cock-tease references?”  She crossed her arms over her chest.

            “No.  I overheard part of your…umm…conversation with Hunter.  Something weird is going on here.  I want to figure out what the hell it is.”

 

12.

 

            Nix went to his bed and flopped back on a pillow, oblivious to her wet hair and clothes.  “Got a flat tire and landed in an episode of the fucking Twilight Zone,” she mumbled under her breath. 

            Mark ignored her for the moment, digging in his bag.  He threw a towel and a shirt at her.  Nix sat up and glared at him.  “What are these for?”

            “Now who’s lost their mind?  You’re soaked, Nix.  Dry off,” Mark said.

            She used the towel on her hair, then tossed it indifferently to the floor.  Then she looked at the shirt.  “I have my own clothes, you know.”

            “Yeah, but do you wanna wake up Noelle getting to them?  Let her sleep for a while,” Mark said, picking up the towel and laying it flat on the floor. 

            Nix heaved a sigh and stood up, shrugging her jacket off.  Mark held out his hand and she tossed it to him.  He spread the jacket on top of the towel so it would dry.  While his back was turned, Nix pulled her tank top off and put on the too large T-shirt he’d thrown at her.

            “Jeans too,” Mark said, turning to look at her.  Nix raised an eyebrow, and kicked her shoes off.

            “What the hell is up with people wanting me to take my clothes off tonight?” She asked him, undoing the button fly.  Mark shrugged, avoiding looking at her until she had her pants off.  “I’m about as decent as I ever get, so you can stop trying not to look,” Nix said wryly.  She’d been wearing a pair of shorts under the pants.  The legs of them barely peeked from under the hem of the shirt.

            Mark took her jeans and laid them on the floor with her jacket, then began to pace the room.  “So, what exactly just happened?”

            Sighing, Nix recounted the story.  She’d gone outside to have a smoke and walk a little, then come back up.  “And that’s when Hunter jumped on me.  Seems I was a busy girl tonight, first you, then him.  Just a little practice run to see who I wanna sleep with I guess,” she laughed harshly, sitting back down on the bed.

            Mark watched her as she spoke.  It was obvious to him now that she was completely baffled as to why they would think she’d been in their rooms.  Not only was she confused, but he could tell she was mad.  She was holding it in, but it was still there, under the surface.

            “You’ll have to be careful.  Hunter thinks you’re fucking with him, he might try something,” Mark said quietly.  Nix frowned.

            “Let the asshole try whatever he wants.  He’s not going to push me around like he does everybody else.”

            “He seemed to be doing a pretty good job a few minutes ago,” Mark reminded her.

            “Fuck that.  I wasn’t afraid of him…I don’t recall asking you to step in.”

            Mark just shook his head.  “You’re welcome.  But it might be best if…” he was interrupted by a soft knock on his door. 

            “Best if what?” Nix asked from behind him.  She stood up as he went to open the door.  “Please, spill your words of wisdom and tell me you know what’s best for me.”

            Mark frowned over his shoulder at her and opened the door.  Glen smiled and moved into the room.  “Thought I heard your voice, so I…” He trailed off when he saw Nix standing across the room.  He looked from her to Mark, the smile dying.  “Um…I just wanted to talk.  It can wait.”

            “Nope,” Nix said, moving closer to the two men.  “Talk now.  I can already tell it has something to do with me.”

            Glen glanced at her, feeling his face redden a little.  “About earlier…”

            “Oh God, not you too,” She moaned out, turning and putting her head in her hands.  “Is there anybody in this fucking house that I didn’t try to screw tonight?”

            “Well, that covers the men anyway,” Mark said with a smirk.  He knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t help but find a little humor in Nix having the tables turned on her.  Even if he didn’t know how or why.

            “Fuck you,” Nix said, managing to sound annoyed and amused at the same time. 

            “Wait a minute.  You too?” Glen looked at Mark, then turned to stare at Nix.  “Somebody want to inform me of what’s going on?”

            “I wish I knew,” Mark said.  “What happened to you?”

            Glen looked questioningly at Nix, who shrugged.  “Might as well spill it, so I can see what other kind of trouble I got into.”  Glen hesitated, then quickly told them about Nix’s visit to his room.

            They were quiet for a few minutes.  “It wasn’t me,” Nix finally said, breaking the silence.

            “Whoever it was looked just like you.  But she sure didn’t have your attitude,” Glen said, thinking of the cold eyes and the distant voice.

            “Damn straight,” Nix said, pacing across the room.  “I have to have a hobby, but it sure as hell isn’t going door to door trying to get laid.”  She stopped and looked at Mark.  “And I would sure as hell find a better candidate than one I can’t fucking stand.  Glen sure, you…if I was drunk enough.  But Hunter?  I could fucking gag…”

            “Thanks,” Mark said absently. 

            “Ego buster,” Glen said with a smile.  He felt relieved.  He’d rather it be some insane lookalike coming onto him than Nix flipping her lid.  She went to the bathroom door and opened it up.

            “Where are you going?” Mark asked, coming out of his thoughts.

            “To check on Noelle.  She’s been by herself for a while.  If I wake her up, I wake her up.”

            “Let me go check on her,” Glen said, moving past Nix.  “I think it might be best…”

            “There’s another one doing my thinking for me,” Nix said hotly.  “I think it might be best…” She said in a mocking tone.  “I’m not the one who hallucinated me into your rooms tonight.  Am I the only one here who has thought of that?”

            “Probably,” Glen laughed and looked at Mark.  “I’ll stay with Noelle.  You keep an eye on Nix.”  Mark nodded.  He’d been thinking along those lines.  If something weird was going on, none of them should be alone.  And it might be sexist as hell, but he didn’t like the idea of the women being by themselves.

            Nix huffed loudly as Glen shut the door in her face, then she turned and went back to the bed to sit down.  “This completely sucks.  I just thought I’d share that with you,” she said, grabbing a pillow and throwing it.

            “I know it,” Mark said nodding.  And he somehow knew that whatever was happening had just gotten started.

           

13.

 

            “Why don’t you try to get some sleep?”

            Nix frowned at Mark from where she was sitting on the floor.  She had gotten up and paced around, then had staked out a place on the floor in the corner of the room to brood.

            “I’m not tired,” she said, her voice tight.  She hated just sitting there…doing nothing.  Especially when something very strange seemed to be going on all around her.

            “Yes you are.  Do you have to argue with me over every damn thing I say?”

            “Yes, I do.  It’s what keeps me going.  It makes my day.  It…” She stopped and sighed.  “Fuck it.”  Nix shrugged and leaned her head back against the wall.  Mark stared at her for a minute then went to sit on the edge of the bed. 

            “Look…why don’t we just call a truce for the night and get some rest?  You can pick up your verbal sword in the morning.”

            “I said I’m not tired.  Am I speaking Chinese or something?” Aggravated, Nix stood up and started pacing.  “Some weird shit is going on and all you people want to do is take a nap.  Pardon me for not wanting to dive into that idea.”

            Mark sighed and ran a hand through his hair.  Maybe he should have made Glen stay with Nix.  He’d have more luck calming her down.

            Noelle heard the bathroom door open and shut, and smiled at Glen as he came into the room.  She’d heard muffled voices from Mark’s room, and Nix’s raised in anger.  She had expected her sister to be the one to storm in here, but she’d gotten Glen instead.

            “Hey,” Glen smiled back and made his way to sit on the edge of the bed.  “Just making sure you were all tucked in.”

            “Uh huh,” Noelle cleared her throat.  “What’s going on over there? Has Nix gone over the edge?”

            “Well…” reluctantly, Glen told her about what had happened.

            Noelle listening, incredulous.  “No way.  Nix wouldn’t do something like that.”

            “I know it doesn’t sound like…”

            “Screw what it sounds like.  I know she wouldn’t have done anything like that,” Noelle was adamant.  Her sister might do a lot of incredibly impulsive things, but…Nix knew how Noelle felt about Glen.  She wouldn’t make a play for a guy that Noelle liked, there was no possible way.

            “Can you think of an explanation?” Glen asked.  As he spoke, he shifted until he was leaning back against the headboard, his legs stretched out on the bed.  Noelle stared at his legs for a few seconds, then his bare chest.

            “No.  Well…maybe you fell asleep and had some kind of shared dream with Mark.  It happens.”

            “Group hysteria?” Glen chuckled.  “I don’t think so.  I wasn’t asleep, I was reading.”

            Noelle was silent, thinking it over.  As she opened her mouth to speak, there was a muffled scream, followed by a thud.  Her eyes met Glen’s and they both got up and went quickly to the door.

            Pissed off, Hunter went through the house, trying to calm down.  So Phoenix wanted to play dumb and get ‘rescued’ by her boyfriend.  He wasn’t going to stand by and let her use him in some psychological war game she had going on with Mark. 

            After a while, he headed back upstairs.  Fuck them all…when morning came he was going to be the first one up.  He’d fix the car, grab Stephanie, and get the hell out of there.  Let Mark and the others find another ride for all he cared. 

            He stared at the door to Mark’s room before turning into his own.  The urge to break the door down and take a punch at the bigger man was strong, but he fought it.  Glen was in the house after all, as were Nix and her sister.  He could handle one, but not all of them.  Better to just wait and take his time getting them back. 

            Stephanie was still huddled on the bed under the blankets.  Hunter quickly stripped off his clothes and climbed in, then turned on his side.  “Steph?” He put a hand on her arm then jerked it back.  “What the fuck?” It had been like touching sandpaper.  Moving back, he grabbed the blanket and jerked it back.

            His eyes widened.  Stephanie…or what appeared to be her…was on her side.  Her dark hair was spread across the pillow in long waves.  Other than the hair…she was not recognizable.  Her skin was a mottled brown color, dried, making him think of mummies he’d seen in museums.  Her hands were hooked into claws, the bones of her fingers prominent.  She looked…sucked dry.  It was the only way to describe what he was seeing.

            With shaking hands, he reached out and gingerly touched her shoulder, pulling her onto her back, wincing at the way her dried flash crackled under his fingers.  It was as if she weighed nothing.  She came onto her back easily, and Hunter smelled…or thought he smelled…decay.  He couldn’t help himself; he screamed when he saw her face.  Instead of eyes, there were just blank sockets.  Her nose had either fallen off or shriveled down to nothing.  Her lips were tight in an open-mouthed toothy grin.  Hunter scrambled back and fell onto the floor with a thud. 

            He was peddling backward along the floor, unable to tear his eyes from the husk that used to be his wife.  The door opened behind him and he felt something touch his shoulder and screamed again.  The hand tightened, pulling him to his feet, and Hunter looked over his shoulder to see Glen looking at him with worry evident on his face.

            “What’s wr…” He didn’t finish.  Glen’s eyes had taken in the room and were stopped at the horror on the bed.  “Holy shit…what the fuck?”

            “I…shit…Steph…” Hunter couldn’t speak.  Glen let go of his shoulder and turned to block Noelle’s view of the room.  He saw Mark coming out of his own room, with Nix right behind him. 

            “Come on.  Mark’s room.  Now,” He gave Noelle a gently push then grabbed Hunter and dragged him along.  Mark and Nix let themselves be herded by Glen, not knowing what was happening but seeing by the look on Glen’s face that it was bad.

 

14.

 

            “You saw…did you…Steph…” Hunter couldn’t seem to complete a sentence.  The others stood around him as he leaned against the wall, head down. 

            “What the hell is going on?” Nix spoke up, breaking the silence that had overcome the group.

            “Some…somebody …killed Stephanie you stupid bitch!” Hunter yelled at her, then turned and slammed a fist against the wall.  Nix raised an eyebrow, but didn’t get a chance to speak.  Glen had stepped in front of Hunter and effectively cut him off from the women.

            “Come on Hunter…don’t go off half-cocked.” For some reason, this brought nervous laughter from Noelle and Nix.  Glen glanced over his shoulder at them and they immediately quieted down.

            “Fuck you.  I fucking touched her…she’s….she’s…” unable to go on, Hunter slumped to the floor, his head in his hands.

            “Wanna let us in on what’s goin’ on?” Mark asked Glen.  Glen shrugged.

            “I don’t know.  We heard a scream, it came from Hunter’s room.  So I ran in…and Hunter was on the floor.  Steph…um…was in the bed.  At least, I assume it was her…”

            “What…was she all hacked up to pieces?” Nix asked hopefully.  Noelle elbowed her in the side.  Her sister wasn’t the most tactful person in the world on her best days.

            “No…she was,” Another shrug.  “Jeez.  Like…dried up.  Shriveled.”

            “Mummified,” Hunter muttered. 

            “You guys are shitting us right?” Nix asked scornfully.  “What kind of half assed, lame brain plot is this?”

            “You tell me, we’ll both know,” Glen said.  He looked at Mark.  “We should…go check it out.  Then check the house.”

            “What the fuck do you expect to find? Hannibal Lecter?” Nix said sarcastically.

            “You aren’t going to…leave us up here alone are you?” Noelle shivered at the thought.  If Stephanie was dead, there was no way she wanted to stay here by herself.

            “Damn sis.  I’ll protect you,” Nix, obviously not believing a word of what was said, jokingly put an arm over Noelle’s shoulder.

            “We should all go.” Mark’s tone was final.  Everyone looked at him, but no one, not even Nix, argued.  He meant business and they all knew it.

            “What about Blade the wonder boy?” Nix asked, nodding in Hunter’s direction.  He was rocking back and forth but still hadn’t looked up.

            Mark sighed.  “Hunter.  Hunter!” Hunter finally looked up at him from between his fingers.  “Get up, let’s go.  We have some things to take care of.”

            “No.  I’m not going any where.” To punctuate, he sat down fully and crossed his legs. 

            “Have it your way,” Mark said, his voice low.  “Glen…you take one of the girls and look around on the first floor.  I’ll take the other and we’ll cover the second.  Then we’ll meet back here.”

            Glen nodded and looked from Nix to Noelle.  Although he wanted to spend time with the younger sister, she was distracting to him.  And Mark was the same way with Nix.  “Come on, Phoenix.  Slog down the stairs with me.”

            “I hate stairs,” was her only reply.  She went to the door with Glen and followed him out.  Noelle looked at Mark helplessly.

            “Come on.  Let’s get this over with,” Mark led the way, not bothering to look back at Hunter.

            “Mark? What are you…” Noelle didn’t have to finish the question.  It was pretty obvious.  Mark was going across the hall and opening the door to Hunter’s room.  Noelle waited nervously in the hallway, looking over her shoulder every second.  She could hear him mutter a curse, then he reappeared.  “Is she?”

            “It’s bad.  Damn it…” he shoved a hand through his hair.  “Let’s go.  Stay close.” Noelle nodded then grabbed his arm and held on to him as he started down the stairs.

            Hunter listened to their fading footsteps, in shock, trembling.  It was fucking nuts, going out and wandering the house.  There was some…psycho running around and they were doing the one thing that guaranteed they’d get killed. 

            Lost in his thoughts, trying to ignore the way his hands felt dirty from touching that thing that had been in his bed, he almost didn’t hear it.  The second time it was clearer.  He perked up, his head turning toward the doorway.  Faint, soft, but unmistakable.

            “Huuuunnnter...” Stephanie’s voice. 

            “No…you’re dead…” Hunter whispered.  There was a soft thump from overhead and he looked up at the ceiling. 

            “Huuuunter…please…I’m locked up here…”  another soft thud, followed by tapping noises.

            “Steph?” Rising to his feet, Hunter called out softly. 

            “I’m….stuck…” another thud, this one louder.  Hunter pushed his hair back and looked at the door.  Maybe it had been a joke…one of Nix’s little stunts.  She’d locked Stephanie in that tower room and had put some kind of a…a…dummy…a mannequin in his bed.  That had to be it. 

            Ignoring the voice of common sense that told him not to be an idiot, Hunter called out, “I’m coming babe!” the went to the door.  Almost running, he headed toward the steep narrow staircase that led to the tower.  He jogged up, slipped, caught himself, then continued on, oblivious to the pain in his leg that it caused.

            The door to the tower was shut, but there was a key sticking from the knob.  Angrily he twisted it, vowing under his breath to kick Nix’s ass when he saw her again. 

            “Steph?” the tower was pitch black, cold.  It smelled of faint perfume…a fact that barely registered in his mind.  “Babe, I’m here! Where the hell are you?”

            “Right here…” a low voice hissed from his right.  Hunter started to turn to face it, but didn’t have a chance.  Sharp pain went through his head and he saw stars, then his vision darkened and he fell in a heap to the floor.

            “I feel like Nancy fucking Drew.  Maybe I should have Matt or Jeff with me on this little mission,” Nix said softly.  Glen couldn’t help but chuckle.

            “I’m no Hardy boy,” he kept his voice down.  They’d gone through every room on the first floor, had even gone outside and walked around the perimeter of the house, but there had been nothing.  “You sure you locked the front door when you came in from  your smoke earlier?”

            “Yes Dad.” Nix said sarcastically.  The only reason she could remember it so clearly was because she’d scraped her knuckles twisting the rusty deadbolt.  Glen had struggled to reopen it, questioning her about it the whole time.  “You don’t believe some lunatic would pause long enough to considerately re-lock the door behind him, do you?”

            “I don’t know what the hell to think,” Sighing, he looked around the living room once more.  “Come on.  Let’s get back upstairs and meet up with Mark and Noelle.  I have a bad feeling about this.”

            “I’ve had a bad feeling since we got here,” Nix replied.  She sounded serious for once.  Glen looked at her in time to see her shiver.  She smiled weakly.  “Ever get the feeling you were being watched?”

            “Yeah…nothing like this though,” he’d been feeling it since they’d come downstairs.  That unmistakable uneasiness that came when it felt as if eyes were boring a hole into him. 

            Nix threaded her hand in his and pulled him toward the stairs.  “Let’s go.  Lock ourselves in a room, barricade the door, and wait for morning.  Then we get the flying fuck outta here.”

            “Sounds like a plan to me,” Glen agreed, letting himself be led away.

            The second floor was empty.  Mark and Noelle stood at the head of the stairs to the third floor for several minutes, waiting to see if Glen and Nix were on their way up yet.

            “I don’t like this,” Noelle said.  Mark nodded but didn’t speak.  He’d known that something was going on…but never could he have guessed…

            It didn’t matter.  It was too late for Stephanie.  What did matter was that the rest of them stick together and not lose their heads.

            “Can we…” Noelle shrugged.  She didn’t know what she was trying to say, she just knew she didn’t like this silence that permeated the house.

            “Come on.  Let’s go back up to the room and wait with Hunter.  Glen and Nix are fine,” Mark’s voice was reassuring.  Noelle was slightly comforted.  Just slightly.  She followed him up the steps and almost walked into his back when he stopped at the open door to his room.

            “Didn’t we close this up behind us?”

            “Yes…I’m sure we did,” Noelle said, eying the doorway. 

            “Hunter?” Mark went into the room and looked around.  “Fuck.  He’s not in here.  Hunter!” He yelled, his voice booming down the stairwell and up the hall.  There was no answer.  “Don’t move.,” he told Noelle, then went to the room across the hall.  One cursory glance was enough to tell him that it was empty.  He quickly checked the other two rooms the peered up the back stairwell.  Nothing.

            “Fuck!” Mark kicked the doorjamb. 

            “What now?” Nix’s voice came from the bottom of the stairs.  Noelle jumped and spun to watch her sister and Glen climb up.

            “Hunter’s gone.”

            “No way.  Where the hell did that shit head go?” Nix peeked into Mark’s room.

            “He couldn’t have come downstairs.  We would have seen him or heard…something.” Glen said weakly.  His head was starting to hurt. 

            “Come on.  In the room,” Mark came back up the hallway, trying to look in all directions at once.  They stopped talking and moved through the doorway, each one a little relieved when Mark closed and locked the door.

 

15.

 

            “Let’s just get out of here, call the cops, and let them handle it,” Noelle said.  They’d been sitting there, staring at the walls, for several long minutes.  She glanced at her watch.  “Surely there’s going to be some traffic on the road.  It’s not that late…”

            “What time is it?” Glen asked her.  His watch was in his room with his stuff.

            “Ten…thirty…” Noelle said it slowly, as if she couldn’t believe it.

            “You need to get a freakin’ battery, No-no.” Nix was looking at her own watch.  “It’s two on the dot.”

            “I have ten thirty too,” Mark said from his seat on the bed. 

            “Ok…so maybe I have the faulty watch,” Nix shook her wrist.  “But it doesn’t feel like ten thirty.  It’s more like…I don’t know…weird o’clock around here.”

            “I know what you mean.” Noelle stripped her watch off and dropped it on the bed.  “So what do we do?”

            “No more flying solo tonight,” Mark said.  “If you go to the bathroom, take somebody with you.  The phones still aren’t working right…” he waved dismissively at his bag.  His own cell phone had emitted nothing but static when he’d tried to use it.  “We stay in this room until dawn, then we get the hell out of this house and hit the road.”

            “Why don’t we go now?” Nix asked him, eyebrow up.

            “It’s late, it’s dark, it’s raining.  What if there is some lunatic out there? At least in here, we can lock ourselves in and see him coming, right?” Noelle said nervously.  She didn’t really want to go out in the dark to find help…what she wanted was to crawl into bed and hide until bright sunlight made everything reasonably sane again.

            “I’ll go by…” Nix began.

            “No you won’t,” Mark stood up and faced her.  “No going anywhere alone.  That’s final.”

            “Yes master.  Whatever you say master.” She sounded disgusted.  Noelle knew why her sister was being so stubborn; it was just the way she dealt with what she didn’t understand. 

            “Come on.  Please, no fighting,” Noelle said softly.  Glen glanced at her then put his arm around her, hugging her close.  For once she didn’t worry about it being Glen…she leaned into him and enjoyed the warmth he offered.

            “Are we all going to sleep in this bed?” Nix was continuing to act the hard head.  She thought it was a valid question.  Considering how big Mark and Glen were…that left exactly one inch of space for Noelle and Nix to share.

            “We’ll have to use the floor and…”  Glen stopped when Nix shook her head.  “What?”

            “We have connected rooms, remember? We can just leave the bathroom doors open, barricade both of the main doors, and use both beds.” She looked at Noelle.  “Nothing weird happened in our room did it? Please tell me I didn’t come on to you in there.”

            That surprised a giggle out of Noelle.  “No.  I…nothing happened.”

            “Good.  So, manly men….how ‘bout it?”

            “Sounds good to me.  We can take turns sitting up,” Glen looked to Mark, who nodded slowly.

            “Ok.  But if anything…if a mouse fucking sneezes…I want us all together again.”

            “Come on Noelle, I’ll stay with you, we can take the first watch,” Glen was helping her to her feet.  Nix shook her head in exasperation.          

            “Great.  I’m stuck with General Bossy here.  Thanks.” Glen grinned at her and followed Noelle through the bathroom. 

            “Lock and block that door! And if you get tired, wake one of us up!” Mark called out.  Glen said something low to Noelle, and that was followed by the sound of something heavy being moved.  Mark had already shoved the dresser against the door in his own room.

            “What if Hunter makes a comeback?” Nix asked now, looking at the heavy barricade.

            “Fuck him.  He was told to stay put and he wandered off,” Mark shrugged.  He was worried but didn’t want to give in to it.  And Hunter truly had been in the wrong in leaving.

            Nix was looking at him in surprise.  “What now?” he asked tiredly.

            “Nothing.  I’m just amazed we finally agree on something,” she said.  Mark sighed and sank onto the bed.  Nix took her cue from him, and went to the other side.  “Gonna shut off the light?”

            “I’d rather not,” Mark looked around. 

            “Sheesh,” Nix turned from the bed and went to the bathroom, flicking the switch.  Mark heard her say something to Noelle and Glen, then she reappeared.  “Night light.  I can’t sleep with the glaring lights in my face.” She turned off the lamp and looked at Mark.  “Good enough?”

            The light from the bathroom spilled into the room, allowing enough light so everything was visible.  The bed was in darkness as it was situated behind the open bathroom door.

            “It’ll pass. We should get some sleep,” Mark was getting under the blanket on the bed.

            “Why is everybody suddenly so obsessed with sleeping?” Nix muttered, laying down. 

            “What do you mean?” Mark laced his fingers together behind his head and looked at her from the corner of his eye.

            “I don’t know.  Noelle can’t keep her eyes open, everybody’s drag assin’ around…” Nix shrugged.  “I’m the only one who’s not tired.”

            Mark thought it over.  He really was tired; he felt as if he could sleep for a week.

            “And another thing…” Nix said, interrupting his thoughts.  “This whole Stephanie thing…don’t you think we’re all taking it a little too….well…easy?”

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about.  What are we supposed to do?” Mark asked.

            “Leave.  Even if it is dark and raining outside, a car’s bound to come along.  Or the damn cell phones would kick in.  Something, anything.  And now that asshole has gone missing and everybody’s like…’oh well’.  It’s not sitting right.”

            Mark frowned.  Nix did have a point.  His worries about what was going on in the house had faded rapidly, leaving him feeling sleepy and drained.  “Drained…” he said the word out loud, getting a look from Nix.

            “What?” She rolled on her side to look at him.  Mark shook his head.  “Oh no.  You said something.  Say it again.”

            “Drained.  I feel…drained.” Mark looked at her. 

            “So go to sleep.  Get some rest.  We can talk about it more later when everybody’s up,” Nix sighed and rolled onto her back. 

            She lay awake long after Mark’s breathing had evened out, signaling he’d fallen into a deep sleep.  She didn’t have to be psychic to know that Noelle and Glen were both out cold either; they’d had that same worn out look Mark had been wearing since they got here.  Moving slowly, she got out of the bed and went into the bathroom.  Sure enough, her sister and Glen were cuddled up on the bed, both sound asleep.  “Some watch team,” Nix muttered under her breath.

            If they expected her to stay locked up in these rooms with them, they were crazy.  There was something going on and she wanted to know what it was.  And she had a feeling the starting place was down in the living room, where all those books were.

            Moving carefully, she went back to the room she was sharing with Mark and eyed the dresser in front of the door.  She tugged on a corner of it, pulling it a few inches from the doorway.  It was heavy but the polished floor made it slightly easier to move.

            She only moved it far enough to make a gap she could slip through.  She opened the door and squeezed out into the hallway, then reached back and tugged at the dresser, closing the gap a few inches.  Then she shut the door behind her.

            Nix eyed the door across the hall, wondering if she should take a look at what Mark and Glen found so horrible earlier.  Not because she thought she’d learn anything, but simply for the fact that she was morbidly curious as to what was going on.  Shaking her head, she turned toward the stairs and headed down.  She didn’t notice the dark figure that stood in the doorway at the opposite end of the hall.  It didn’t move; it held its place as if waiting for its cue.

 

16.

 

            In the living room, with only the lamp on the desk burning, Nix made herself as comfortable as she was going to get.  She’d spent a few minutes knocking dust from the surface of the desk and the chair, then had walked along the bookshelves, running her fingers over the spines of the books that were lined up there.  She pulled several out at random without thinking about it, then took a few down that looked interesting.

            Now she was sitting in the chair, a large book open in front of her on the desk.  She flipped through, stopping randomly to read a passage.  It was a book on possessions and demons, a lovely concept to think about with what had been going on.  As far as she could tell, nobody here was possessed.  Unless maybe Hunter got mixed up with a demon that was even nastier than he was.  The thought made her smile.

            Pushing that book aside, she reached for the next one.  Unlike the others, there was no title on the front or spine.  It was bound in black leather that had probably been stiff when it was new.  Time and repeated use had left the leather smooth and soft, flexible.  She opened the first page and discovered neatly printed pages.  It appeared to be a diary.  The date on the first entry was over forty years ago.

            Nix opened it to the last page, then flipped back through it.  Apparently whoever had written it hadn’t had a chance to fill it all the way.  There were ten blank pages at the end.  She saw more writing and stopped a few pages from the last entry, looking at the difference.  The handwriting, so neat when the diary had been started, was now shaky and hard to read.  There were many scribbles and slashes, as if the writer had gotten frustrated when words wouldn’t come out right. 

            Nix was about to go back to the beginning when one phrase caught her eye.  ‘She’s still here in the house, I can feel her all around.’  She went back to the beginning of that entry, looking at the date.  Three years from the start date of the diary.  She quickly scanned the rest of the entry.

           

Robert’s death has left me with nothing.  Why must she take what was never hers? She’s still here in the house, I can feel her all around.  Each day I grow older as she tries to pull from me the power to make her live again.  I told her before she died that I am not the one…I’m weak at best.  She was always the strong one, the leader. 

            I now believe she is just out to kill me, not for any personal gain on her part, but for her own enjoyment.  She always thought Robert was hers.  But he loved me.  She took him from me before we ever really had a chance..

            I fear death but I am not afraid to die.  I love my sister still, even though she has made my life here a living hell.  If my death means that she’ll end her haunting of this place, I would gladly go.  But deep inside, I know…I know that it would only be the beginning.  She’s powerful in a way that I never was, in her belief in all that we did here.  She wants to live again.  And she wants revenge…on me…the one that killed her.

 

            Nix looked up when a floorboard creaked across the room.  There was nothing there of course, just the house settling.  She smiled nervously, running her finger over the words on the page.  As she’d read she could picture someone who looked something like Noelle sitting at this very desk, writing in a journal.  Apparently whoever had written it had been slightly…off.  A haunted house, a woman with some kind of weird power…it sounded like a good movie plot.  

            Sighing, she flipped to the final page of writing and froze.  The date on the top of the page was this day, the present.  The handwriting was as jagged as before but faded, as if the pen had been running out of ink when it was written.  GET UP.  WATCH OUT.  GET UP.  WATCH OUT.  GET UP.  WATCH OUT.  GET UP.  WATCH OUT.  GET UP.  WATCH OUT.

            The same two short sentences, written dozens…or maybe even hundreds of times.  Her mind insisting it was a joke, Nix rose to her feet and grabbed the diary from the desk.  Her eyes took in the dark living room that the light from the desk didn’t reach.  There was nothing there.  The door to the hallway was a black square.  She hadn’t bothered with the lights on the main staircase because…she had to stop and think.  The light had been on when she’d come down.  She’d wondered about it briefly, trying to remember if she and Glen and left it on earlier, but had dismissed it.  Clutching the book to her chest, she looked down at the desk.  The top of it was bare.  Careful not to make a noise, she pulled open the center drawer.  The only thing there was a letter opener, silver with a decorative handle.  Her fingers gripped it; for some reason she immediately felt better. 

            Slowly she stepped around the desk and crept toward the center of the room.  Nix realized she was holding her breath, and she forced herself to exhale.  She still couldn’t see a damn thing in the hallway; her eyes couldn’t penetrate the pitch black. 

            Something moved in the doorway.  Nix stiffened, willing herself not to turn and run.  A shadow separated itself from the others and stepped forward, into the dim living room. 

            Nix almost laughed in relief.  “Christ Trips, you nearly gave me a fucking stroke,” she said crossly.  Of course…she’d forgotten about Hunter roaming the house.  He stopped just inside the door, and stared at her, his head to the side.  “What? You should be upstairs with the others. They’re going to call…”

            She didn’t have a chance to finish.  Lightening quick, Hunter moved, closing the gap between them.  Nix jerked back but wasn’t fast enough.  He grabbed her arms, jerking her against his chest.  The diary thudded to the floor unnoticed. 

            “What the fuck are you doing asshole?” she said between gritted teeth.  She struggled against him, trying to get him to loosen his hold on her.  He was ignoring her, backing her slowly toward the couch.  She still clutched the letter opener, but with her arms pinned between them it was useless.  Nix did the only thing she could think of.  She ducked her head forward and bit him on the neck.

            It had the desired effect.  Hunter dropped her and made noises of pain as he doubled over, clutching his bleeding neck. Nix spit out the small about of blood that had gotten into her mouth, then shakily wiped a hand over her mouth.  She struggled, grabbing the back of the couch to pull herself to her feet.

            She turned to face Hunter, her breathing heavy, fear pounding through her.  Apparently he wasn’t hurt too badly; he was standing straight again, staring at her.  She wasn’t totally sure, but Nix thought she saw the glint of his teeth as he smiled in the darkness. 

            He took a step toward her.  Instead of backing off, Nix held the letter opener up and got ready to rake him with it.  He didn’t seem to see it.  He took another step and halted. 

            “What the hell is wrong with you?” Nix said softly.  She wasn’t even away she’d spoken out loud. 

            Now she was positive Hunter was smiling.  “Bitch…” he hissed it out, but something was…wrong…with his voice.  It didn’t sound like Hunter.  Nix frowned and didn’t see him move.  Once again he was cat-quick.  Instead of grabbing her this time, he swung a backhanded blow across her face, knocking her over the back of the couch.  The letter opener slipped from her hand and made a dull noise as it struck the floor.

            Stunned, her eyes watering, Nix hit the couch hard.  The wind got knocked out of her and she saw stars.  She shoved at the couch, trying to get upright, but Hunter was suddenly there, on top of her, his greater body weight pressing her into the leather.  Nix tried to push him off but he wouldn’t budge.  He was chuckling low in his throat, a sound that made her skin crawl. 

            “Get the fuck off of me…” Nix said, pounding on his shoulders and back with her hands.  Hunter grabbed her wrists, pinning them over her head with one hand.  With the other he tried to rip her shirt off of her.

            “Shut up…you’ve been wanting this for a while baby,” Hunter stared down into her eyes and Nix froze.  Not only was his voice wrong, his eyes…they were totally blank.  Empty.  Cold.  He wasn’t even seeing her. 

            He seemed to be in some kind of trance. Nix saw her opportunity and took it.  He’d relaxed a little while he was staring through her; now she planted her feet and bucked up with all of her strength.  Hunter wasn’t expecting it; Nix twisted her hips to the side and dumped him to the floor.  She wrenched her hands out of his grip and stumbled/ran toward the door to the hall. 

            She reached the top of the stairs when a hand tangled in her hair and jerked her back.  Nix screamed in pain, and for one dizzying moment tottered on the verge of falling backward down the stairs.  Hunter grabbed her before her balance gave out and shove her across the landing.  She hit the wall, knocking her head.  Once again she was dazed, her back to the stairs, her cheek against the wall.  Hunter was coming for her again, she braced herself for another onslaught.

            It never came.  She felt his fingertips brush over her arm, then heard a muted groan.  Nix spun around in time to see Mark, his face twisted in disgust and anger, throwing a roundhouse right at Hunter’s face.  Hunter never took his eyes from Nix as Mark’s fist made contact.  He staggered backward, loosing his footing in the thick dust.  Nix covered her mouth and muffled a scream as Hunter fell down the stairs.  He never made a sound; he seemed to be too intent on staring at her to notice he was even falling.  He hit the bottom with a sickening crunch of bone.   

            “You Ok?” Mark asked, coming to stand in front of her to block her view.  Nix couldn’t answer him; she was busy trying to hold herself together.  Mark wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close.  “What the fuck was he trying Nix?”

            “I don’t know…I was in there and he…”

            “And you were told not to leave the room.  You’re not as sneaky as you think you are.” Mark pulled back and stared down at her, then looked over his shoulder.  Hunter’s body was at the foot of the stairs, his neck twisted at an impossible angle to the side.  He hadn’t meant to kill the bastard…just stop him from attacking Nix.  He’d come down the stairs in time to see Hunter try to pull her hair out and slam Nix into the wall.  “Come on.  Let’s go get you…”

            “No…I have…a book…” Nix was twisting out of his arms and rushing down the stairs.  Mark sighed and watched as she gave Hunter’s body a wide berth.  She cursed from the living room, then reappeared, a small book in her hands.  She started back up the stiairs but stopped before she reached Mark’s position.

            “What is it?” Mark immediately looked around.  He had the feeling they were being observed.  He winced when he noticed that Hunter’s eyes were still open, still staring blankly, but this time really seeing nothing. 

            “I just…the lights…” she looked up at the ceiling.  “They were off.  Until I came into the hallway.”

            “They’ve been on the whole time,” Mark said, keeping his eyes on Hunter’s.  He’d never killed anybody before.  He wondered why it didn’t bother him more.  Probably he was in shock. 

            “No…they were off.  It was pitch black when I was in the living…” she looked over her shoulder and saw that every light in the living room was now blazing.  “What the hell?”

            “Come on.  Let’s go up to the room.  Then we’ll see what we can figure out.”  Mark took her hand and pulled her along, ignoring her sputtered protests.