Framed (17 page)

“Do you have a headache?” he asked. I realized I'd had my eyes shut for the better part of the last song that played.

“Uh, no. I just
really
like that song,” I said, trying to play it cool. “I was just doing a little choreography in my head. Sorry.”

“See anything you want to try out?”

I sure do...

“No, not tonight. You ready to work on the chorus?” I asked, hoping I didn't look as flushed as I felt.

“Yeah, let's get down to business.”

Yes. Let's.

“I'll get the music,” I said, before jumping off the floor with a little too much vigor, and running over to the stereo. “Enough already,” I whispered. “You can have one of the others, but not him, okay?”

Why limit yourself to just one?

“
Quit it! I'm serious.
Promise
you'll leave him alone.”

Fine.

“Do these windows open?” Matty asked from across the room, fiddling with one of the old, single paned sashes. “It's already getting hot in here.”

“You have no idea,” I muttered to myself before answering his question over my shoulder. “No, I think they've been painted shut. The only one that does is over the fire escape but that's not enough to cool this place off. I'll go downstairs and turn the thermostat down if you want.”

“It's fine,” he responded, peeling off his t-shirt to solve his temperature regulation issues. The act exposed a strong but lean physique. I knew I was staring, but I couldn't quite bring myself to close my mouth and look away. “You don't mind, do you?”

“Nope,” I quipped, walking towards him after the music was cued. “Let's do a walk through first and figure out where the rough patches are.

“Alone” by Heart came ringing through the speakers. The song met the eighties theme challenge set forth by the company director, and I loved the strength and power of it. The lyrics were bold and driving, her voice melancholy.

We started off just walking through the choreography with little effort being put forth by either of us. As one of the areas of concern approached, Matty suggested we pick up the pace and go full out. The piece was not my own work, and I still wasn't fully comfortable with its intense and sensual nature. So many of the moves demanded the intertwining of our bodies as well as our emotions that I still hadn't gotten a full grasp on the piece. I didn't know how to fake love, fake wanting, or fake pain, but I was painfully aware of the real thing. Matty pushed me to tap into my experiences to sell the performance, even with just the two of us there.

As the questionable move came up, Matty coached me through it.

“You have to throw yourself at me like I'm your lifeline to the world as you know it. Do it!” he yelled over the music that pounded through the speakers.

I did what he said.

I ran at him then jumped the last few feet to close the distance between us, clinging to him at the final moment. He in turn finished the move, catching me and elegantly turning me around to place me on the ground in a flash. The slightest timing issue, like we'd been experiencing for the past week, would have ended with both of us crashing to the floor, or me being dropped on my head. I was a fan of neither. That night, however, we managed to pull it off without a hitch on the first try.

He continued on seamlessly, pushing himself into a plank position above me before slowly lowering his body onto mine over a painstakingly slow eight count. I forgot what I was supposed to be doing as he stared down at me with heat in his eyes. His commitment to the role was distracting.

His hand rubbed gently down the side of my face.

I instantly stopped breathing.

Then he kissed me.

Not a hard, frantic kiss, meant to buy you time enough to get your clothes off and get down to business, but a soft sweet one, meant to make you forget where you were and what you were doing.

Who's breaking her own promises now?

“Oh my God,” I said as my eyes snapped open. “Matty! What are you doing?”

I pushed his body away from me as I turned to my side, trying inelegantly to get up. He, too, looked in a hurry to escape the awkwardness his advance had created.

“I'm sorry, Ruby, I...I don't know—”

“Why would you do that?” I asked, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. 'What were you
thinking
? Why is it
always
about sex with you guys?”

“Hey! Don't lump me in with those assholes you choose to hang around, Ruby,” he spat, sounding angry—maybe jealous. I couldn't make it out at the time, and I just didn't care to.

“Then don't act like them,” I snipped.

“I'm sorry, Ruby. I just...I'm trying to...,” he continued, unable to get his thoughts out effectively. “I just wanted you to...”
“Maybe this was a bad idea,” I said, gesturing between the two of us. “I think I'm all set with practice today.”

He looked pained as if trying to figure out what could be said to salvage the situation. Seeing that I didn't look especially pardoning, he quickly gave up.

“I'll go,” he said, heading for his pile of clothes. “I'm sorry, Ruby.”

I looked away as he put everything he'd taken off back on and packed his backpack. I was overreacting somewhat, but couldn't bring myself to stop. He was supposed to be my friend, someone whose position in my life was established and didn't involve sex or even desire. With one kiss, all of that was ruined.

He reached the doorway and stopped. With his back still to me, he managed to get out what he'd been trying to say.

“I may not be as intriguing as Sean or a charity case like Cooper, but I like you, Ruby. I have for a while,” he admitted, softly. “It's frustrating to see how they treat you and how you keep going back for more. You deserve better than that, Ruby, even if better than that isn't me.”

He walked out without looking back. I heard him pick up speed as he made his way down the stairs. When he started down the second flight, my conscience got the better of me, and I chased after him. He'd made a mistake and done something stupid, but he'd done it out of a sort of desperation—a desperation that the other men in my life had created. He felt small and I knew what that felt like; I wasn't a fan. I didn't want him to feel even smaller because I took a seemingly innocent gesture and blew it out of proportion. Matty was the kind of guy who wouldn't easily forgive himself for such an affront, especially if I didn't either.

“Matty!” I called after him, descending the stairs as quickly as possible. The exterior door slammed closed behind him. I flew down the second flight and tore the door open to see him rounding the corner to the alley adjacent to the building.

“Matty!” I yelled as I ran barefoot down the street after him. I put my hand out and grabbed the corner of the building to steady myself as I turned into the alley. He stood halfway down the lane looking at me. His face was raw with emotion.

“What, Ruby?” he asked, sounding exhausted.

“Don't leave like this, please. I overreacted. You just
really
caught me off guard,” I explained as I walked towards him. “I don't want you to go. We should talk about—”

The searing pain in my head nearly dropped me where I stood. I'd stopped a few feet away from Matty, but he was by my side in an instant. I knew he was talking to me, but nothing made sense. The visions blocked out all comprehensible senses.

He stood proudly, looking down an alley. My view was from behind him, and I was unable to see his target de jour. His admiration of his own cleverness clouded everything around him, and I desperately wanted to see what was unfolding that had him so jovial.

Slowly, he stalked down the narrowing alley as I maintained my vantage point, frozen in place. His body still blocked his victim's identity from me, but with every step he took, he was wild with anticipation. Finally, over his left shoulder, I saw his intended. There were two victims this time, one bent over the other, too engrossed in their own issues to notice their impending deaths.

A crack of glass rang off the brick walls and snapped the attention of one potential victim to the Revenant. I knew that face.

“Matty...run!” I tried to scream from my captive position. No sound escaped me. The voice was only in my head.

The Rev looked over his shoulder at me with a wildly predatory grin.

“Wakey, wakey, Ruby. Time to play,” he said, before charging down the alley.

* * *

Scarlet bayed and snapped us out of the vision just in time to throw Matty to the ground as the Rev shot past us. She crouched in front of Matty, protectively daring the Rev to make another pass.

“Can't a guy just stop by and say hello to a new friend?” he asked from the far end of the alley.

“Not if he enjoys breathing,” Scarlet purred in a voice that sounded even huskier than her normal. She was dangerously amped up. I tried to calm her enough to keep her from going furry right then and there.

“I'll see you around,” he laughed, before disappearing into the night.

“Not if I see you first,” Scarlet growled deep under her breath.

Matty...

She turned her attention down to a very shocked and confused looking Matty, who was still lying on the ground. One look at Scarlet's red eyes cured him of that, and he shot up like a rocket before staggering a good ten feet away from her.

“What are you?” he asked, turning white as a sheet.

I tried to push forward to the surface and force Scarlet into submission, but she was just too fired up to allow a full transition. We ended somewhere in between. My voice normalized a bit, but it did little to calm Matty down.

“Matty, I can explain,” I said, my voice still not my own. I assumed my eyes weren't either, judging by the way he just stared blankly at them in disbelief. “You have to believe that I won't hurt you," I said softly as I approached him. "Are you okay?”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? Okay? No, Ruby, I'm most certainly not okay.”

“I know, I know...I'm sorry, Matty,” I pleaded, my voice becoming more normal with every second. “I didn't know this would happen. It's not always safe to be around me.”

“No shit, Ruby, but what I really want to know is what 'me' is?” he asked, while leaning against the brick wall for stability. He looked horribly shaken as anyone in their right mind would have been in that scenario. He looked so much younger when he was frightened.

“I'm a...I have this...well...it's a condition of sorts,” I started, trying to think of how best to explain. I hesitated as I searched for a way to tell my friend that I was an impossibility.

“Condition?” he asked, incredulously. “Ruby, what the
fuck
is wrong with you?”

“I have this genetic thing...it...um...it kinda makes me...a werewolf?” I said with up-speak as if asking, rather than declaring it. Somehow I thought that would make it easier for him to hear.

He turned away from me, leaning on the wall with his arms to stay upright. He said nothing. When he turned, I caught a glimpse of a tear in his leather coat. Thinking he was hurt, and not that it may scare the crap out of him, I lunged forward to make sure he wasn't injured.

It wasn't well received.

“Are you alright? Your jacket is to—”

“Get away from me, you freak!” he yelled, pulling away from me. “I'm fine. Nothing is wrong with
me
, but there's something
seriously
wrong with you. I'd say you have a corner on that market.”

“I'm sorry. Please, just let me explain.”

“Let me guess, Cooper and Sean...they're just like you, aren't they? No wonder you put up with all their bullshit...why you let them control you,” he spat. “Is that what it takes for something like you to want someone? They have to abuse you and treat you like shit? Or is it enough that they're freaks like you?”

I said nothing. I let the tears streaming down my face speak for me.

“Don't give me your wounded puppy dog eyes, Ruby. Save them for somebody who cares...and for the record, that's no longer me,” he said as he approached me. His fear had turned to anger, and it was making him brave. I'd learned that hatred could do that. “Don't call me. Don't try to find me. I never,
ever
want to see your face again. And stay far, far away from my family.”

I shut my eyes as he closed in on me. I couldn't stand to see the disgust in his expression. His breath landed heavy on my face and I squirmed under the weight of it. Scarlet paced, unhappy with his aggression, but she stayed at bay, which I was immensely thankful for. I didn't want to hurt Matty; I wanted to make it better somehow—I just didn't know how to make the monsters imaginary again.

My face was suddenly cold. I opened my eyes to see that Matty had already made it to his car and was firing it up. He peeled out quickly, nearly running me over in the process.

He left without pause—without looking back. The single connection to normality I had was driving back to Boston, to a life interrupted by the knowledge that legends and lore may not be just that and left to contemplate what other monsters may be in existence beyond what he'd witnessed that night. I was left to acknowledge that my friend was gone, my partner lost, and yet another person's life was damaged because of knowing me.