It was thanks to sheer exhaustion that I managed to sleep that night. Not that there was much night left for me to sleep through. After about three hours, the sun was up and streaming in through my window. I thought of staying in bed for the remainder of the day once I gave up on sleep, but my neck reminded me how much damage it took several hours earlier and it urged me to rise up and greet the day.

I skipped breakfast, not certain I could swallow anything without feeling a sharp pain in my throat, and went out into the crisp morning with intentions to pick up my medicine from the pharmacy. On any other morning, I would have gained little notice out on the street. People would spot me coming and would generally dart to the other side of the road so as not to brush shoulders with a Body. And on that day, most did still dodge me, likely out of instinct at that point, however, several of them must have suffered whiplash from the double take they did once they spotted the large purple splotch painting my skin.

Eventually, a small crowd gathered on the other sidewalk, their words jumping from ear to ear as they speculated who my assailant might be. And they made no effort to guard their words or keep to a whisper. I was an animal after all, cattle waiting to be bought and butchered by someone in town. Many wondered if it had already been done.

"Was it Antonov? Did he finally take her blood by force?"

"Perhaps Sheriff Hathway got too frisky and left a mark. That man has too much wolf in him to appreciate his strength."

"What if it was Bungee? But, he's away though, isn't he?"

Some even shouted their questions out to me, unashamed of their thirst for gossip. But, I just kept walking. Eventually, they gave up, but I knew it was only to find a better source for news. They'd listen to the grapevine and then discover all the exciting things that happened the night before.

Thankfully, the pharmacist only gave me a once over when I arrived with Gregory's note. He didn't ask me to elaborate on the prescription, he simply handed me my pain killers and then sent me on my way.

I headed back to the hotel, where I found Calista waiting for me. She offered me the day off, but I begged her to let me work. I told her I understood if she didn't want me working directly with customers while I was the talk of the town, but I needed to keep my hands busy and my mind distracted. She shrugged and said as long as that's what I wanted, I was welcome to come in. 

And so I did. I stocked shelves, swept floors, and wiped down countertops. I kept my body at work, never stopping for a second, even if I had polished a cabinet two times already. Yet, it did nothing to silence my fears. How far away was the clan? How long would they be gone? What if something went wrong? How would we know? Who would save them? If Kyra left, who would protect the town? Was Everett safe? Had Bungee already become a monster?

The questions, they never stopped. They got worse with each reiteration and snowballed into outrageous fears that any sensible mind would know to be absurd. But, I lived in a town of the absurd, of the strange and unusual. Maybe Bungee had been overtaken by the same force that seemed to hold Mercedes captive. Was any sense of himself left? What if Everett was killed and turned by rabid zombies? What if he was sprinting back to town right now with monstrous rage in his eyes?

Surely, it wouldn't be that bad so fast, I'd tell myself. But, I'd seen a ghost float, a vampire drain a human dry, a mage burst with color, a werewolf transform into a giant beast, and a zombie rise from the dead. What was realistic anymore?

I left Calista to close up the shop and stepped out into the twilight. It was in this space that Bungee asked me to have dinner with him, where Everett held me close, and where Mercedes almost ended my life. In my old life, the striking gradient of orange shifting into magenta and then into a deep blue, would have been a welcoming sign, an award for making it through the day. Now, though, I knew it to be a time of danger and surprise. Walking outside in the pitch black wasn't nearly as dangerous in Whisper Valley as it had been in the city. Vampires were about at night, with their feeders in tow, laughing and socializing as anyone would during the day. However, dusk and dawn were far more frightening in this strange little town. At dusk the vampires were not yet awake, while the others were making their way to bed.

I wrapped my arms around me and bowed my head to the evening breeze. The sooner I made it to the hotel, the better. Unfortunately, everything happens in the twilight and that day was no different.

"Del, is that you?"

I didn't need to look up to know who it was, but despite the leap in my heart and the hopeful tightening of my muscles, I could not turn to greet him. What could I expect? What surprise did the world have planned for me that night?

"Del, I'm so glad to see you!"

I bit my lip and urged myself to turn, to prove to myself that it was true and that my dear, sweet Bungee was here as he should be without the haze and hunger that had swallowed Mercedes.

"Hey," he said, his stride slowing and his green eyes losing some of their light, "are you okay?" He reached out, grabbing hold of my shoulders as his head dipped down in an attempt to meet my gaze. "What's wrong? What happened while I was gone? Did something..."

He paused, his voice dropping with his heart as he noticed the color on my throat. I felt his fingers tighten upon my shoulders, his nails digging into my shirt before he pulled away and took a step back.

"What happened to your neck?" he asked, his voice low and grave. "Who did that to you?"

I wasn't sure if I could answer. Why did this keep happening? Couldn't I make it from the store to the hotel without some new twist in my life? Was Bungee's arrival good or bad? I couldn't tell anymore.

"Del, please talk to me. What happened?"

"I..." I shook my head, fighting off tears as I relived every moment of the night before, recalling that the same stretch of sidewalk was beneath my feet now as it was then. "Is that you Bungee? Is that really you?"

"It is...oh Del, what happened?" he asked, his voice dropping with remorse. He stepped forward again, his hands reaching out, but stopping short when he saw how I flinched at the gesture. Would his touch feel like it did with Everett? Did I want the impression of his hands to mingle with my memories of Everett's? What did I want? When did life become so noisy?

"Of course, it's me," he said, squatting down so that he sat upon his heels. He wore a sympathetic smile on his pale lips and gazed up at me from the tops of his wide eyes. So sweet and innocent, he didn't deserve this silence.

"I'm sorry Bungee," I gasped, bending down to meet him and throwing my arms around his neck. "I really am happy to see you. You don't know how worried I've been. So much has happened since you left."

He didn't return my hug and in a way that was comforting. I didn't feel trapped there with him. I felt like I had control. Something I hadn't had for a long time.

"What? What happened?" he begged, his hands tentatively rising up to clasp my back. I felt the shake in his fingers and I realized perhaps my decision, to feel just how real he was with my own hands, may have been an unwanted gesture. Understanding completely how he felt, I bit my bottom lip to stave off my embarrassment and tried to pull away. However, when I did, I felt his hold tighten and I allowed him to pull me back towards him. He continued to keep me pressed against him as he rose up from his squatted position. I moved with him and once we both stood straight, I rested my cheek against his shoulder and allowed him to smooth my hair against my back with his slow, gentle touch. "Please, Del, tell me what happened."

My whole body loosened in the comfort of his friendly touch. And it was friendly. I didn't feel that urge to draw myself ever closer, that frustration that I could not meld completely with him, like I had with Everett. This, instead, was like a warm blanket or a soft pillow. I felt safe and secure in his arms as we swayed ever so slightly with the wind.

"It was Mercedes," I said with a sigh. "She came back last night and she tried to choke me. She's unwell, Bungee. That's why I've been so worried. I didn't know what this diet might do to you and I was afraid you had succumbed to the hunger. They said the only reason Mercedes is still herself is because she's so old. I don't know how old your are, Bungee, but I assumed you weren't as old as her."

For a moment the only response I got was the clench of Bungee's fingers against my back. It hurt a little, but I understood his surprise. He quickly released the tension in his hands, though I still felt his muscles strained and tight around me.

"She did this?" he asked, though the question appeared to be more directed towards himself than to me. "Why would she? That just doesn't make any sense."

"She was upset," I muttered, not wanting to elaborate on the specifics around our point of contention. "It was probably because she's so hungry." Feeling at ease, I decided it was time to let Bungee go. However, when I dropped my hands from around him, he only held me closer. One hand lowered to the small of my back, while the other snaked his fingers through my hair and held my head against his chest. My breath quickened and my brow furrowed. I couldn't see Bungee's face in the position I was in so I couldn't assess what he was feeling, but I tried to remind myself that this news certainly hurt Bungee too, maybe even made him afraid.

"Are you doing the diet?" I asked, raising my hands up to his back again, in hopes of reassuring him. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay. I'm...I'm not doing the diet. I wanted to remain unbiased in order to give Raid and the others an honest report when we returned. The others are staying for a few more days to get used to the lifestyle, but when Mercedes went missing, well, I decided to go see where she went and to make sure she was okay. Clearly she's not."

"Well, she's at the police station now," I muttered, my sore neck beginning to ache from being stuck in the position Bungee's hand held me in. "We should go to the police station! You need to tell them you're here and that everyone is okay!" Upon this realization, I slid my hands to his chest and did my best to push away. My sudden movement threw him off balance and his hold slipped, allowing me some distance. However, his hands didn't leave me. Instead they remained on my back, his arms looping me in a circle.

"I'm...I'm not sure that's necessary," he said with an uncomfortable laugh as his eyes looked towards the street. "If she did that to you then maybe she should be in jail. It's her fault for getting too cocky and not keeping to her regimen." There was a growl in his voice that I'd never heard before. His face darkened and I noticed how thin it looked in the cool embrace of twilight.

"We should still go," I said, my words cautious, the hairs along my neck and arms feeling a shift in the air. "Raid and Everett are out tracking the others. If the ones that were with you are okay, we need to notify them so that they can return. Raid should be here to help feed Mercedes meat."

His jaw stiffened and his body became very still, except for his arms, those tightened and pulled me closer. My heart was beating faster and my breath sped up. I didn't know what about him scared me, but I needed to break free. I considered ducking beneath his arm, but the moment my eyes flicked down to assess my chances, his head snapped back to face me.

"I think it's better that Raid see for himself that everything is all right. For now, I just want to show you how happy I am to see you again. It means so much to me that you were so worried."

"Of course, I was," I said, with a pitying twist of my lips. "You're my friend, I couldn't bear to think of you turning into a monster and losing all sense of yourself."

"Your friend," he said with a devilish smile, his eyes heavy-lidded and his head bowing down. "I think I might be more than that."

Before I could ask him to clarify, his hand found the back of my head again, except this time he pulled me upward so that my lips were pressed against his.

***

Bungee has returned and Del braces herself for another eventful night.  How will Del react to Bungee's kiss?  And will she manage to get word to Raid and Everett of Bungee's return?

And another late post.  Today I found out I'm going to need surgery on my nose.  Apparently my septum is a bit broken and a piece of it is stabbing my very swollen glands.  I won't be getting done until the summer, but I had all of that to deal with today.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better, but we're touring a school we might send my son to in the morning and then his preschool is holding a parent event in the afternoon, so it may just be wishful thinking...