The Horror In Me

Chapter 3: One more time

I arrived at the shop a little later than usual. Shekina had already opened up for me.

"First time I ever got to open up the store." She said as she looked up from her phone on the counter. "Is there something you wanna tell me Kenz?"

"Yeah actually, how did you get in? I could have sworn the key was in my place." I asked.

She gave me a look of annoyance before looking back down at her phone. "I am pretty sure you just answered your question."

She had snuck into my place and took the key. I wasn't sure about whether to thank her or reprimand her. Then it hit me.

"I woke up naked... the keys were on my side table. Does that mean you...?" I asked. She now had a sly smile on her face. I was horrified. How could she see me like that and still act like nothing happened?

"Don't worry Dumbo, you know I'm into girls." She said, as if to assure me. Her lack of awareness and overall care for people's privacy shocked me.

"I don't think you would like it if I saw your baby maker", I said.

"Sorry bud but you're too short for the ride." Might I remind you I am over 6 feet tall? That was more than enough for most women.

I decided to ignore her condescending nature.

"Where are the rest?" I asked.

"Rose is at school, Sima is probably off somewhere lying to some poor girl and Susan is surfing." She said, still without lifting her head up.

For context, Rose attended university. Her parents wanted her to lead her life as normally as she possibly could.

Sima had the odd tendency of chasing girls. He made it his solemn duty to share his bed with someone new every night.

And Susan? Well, she just liked sports. She dominated them a lot too.

"While we're on the topic of Susan," I said as I joined her behind the counter. "Do you wanna explain what happened yesterday?"

The smirk on her face slowly faded as she mentally recounted the moments leading up to her joke.

"You promised to keep it a secret", She said.

Shekina and Susan were somewhat of an item. They decided to keep their relationship under wraps and so far they have been quite horrible. To be exact, everyone in our friend group already knows there is a special relation between the two, but rather than not knowing what, they were just too lazy to figure out what.

"You have no idea how easy keeping that promise has been", I said. "It's not like anyone really cares that you're fucking."

She shot me a disgusted look.

"Don't call it f*****g you turd. Ugh."

She walked into the kitchen, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I looked out to the front of the shop. Susan was approaching from the beach. I looked back at Shekina and she quickly turned away from me. Looked like she was staring too. The thought that someone so oddly cold had a soft spot for someone made me smile.

Susan walked into the store. She was silent today. She sat in front of the counter looking over to the kitchen.

"Now I get that you two have some unresolved lesbian love quarrel--" I started, but just before I could finish, war ensued.

"Lesbian love quarrel?!" Shekina started.

"Who the f*****g s**t do you think you are?!"

"Say another slightly homophobic thing and I'll have Susan rip out your tongue!"

"I will gladly rip out your tongue."

"Stop shitting on our relationship just 'cause you struggle to get laid!"

They were alternating between insults and I found myself feeling smaller than usual.

I decided to duck into the storage room, insults still flying throughout the room. Clearly, I had idiotically placed myself on the receiving end of their anger.

Now that I was alone, I found myself revisiting the previous night.

"Alissa..." The thought of her made my heart heavy. Think about how it felt had my stomach suffering from clusters of butterflies. I felt like I was sinking. It felt horrible. I wanted her back, but truthfully, all I knew was her name.

I thought about how I met her. She sat on the bench outside my shop. She must've been sad. Part of me hoped that I would see her on that bench once again, but a larger part of me knew that was not going to happen. I knew it was the first and last time I had seen her but I could not let it end at just that. I needed to find her.

I waited a few moments before returning to the counter, only to find the two rivals I had left were now well beyond past grievances. They were kissing. Luckily, there were no customers about, but if this was what they did when left alone, I wondered how sanitary my shop actually was. I came to the conclusion that I was over-exaggerating.

"Ahem!" I interupted. Susan pulled away as fast as she could, blushing a bright red which could be seen even past her tan. Shekina, on the other hand, looked at me with a look of disdain. Clearly, she wasn't happy with my sudden presence, but in my defense, she was love-making on working hours.

"I see that you two have made amends. Great, because I need some help", I said, as I shifted closer to Shekina.

Susan looked at Shekina with a look of confusion.

"And what would that help be?" She asked. She had a skeptical look on her face.

I knew I wasn't one for good ideas, but this one seemed like it would be.

"I need to see someone. I'm gonna need you to help me." I said. "Last night I had an encounter--"

They jumped up before I could finish.

"What happened? Did someone attack you? God hunters are so f*****g relentless", Susan said.

"How did you survive?" Shekina asked. I was hoping for a little bit of sympathy from her but I guess that was more than usual from her.

"Don't worry, it was not an encounter with a hunter..." I said. "So I might have had a fling last night."

Susan slumped in her seat and Shekina gave a long sigh.

"Flings are meant to be forgotten, Kenz", Shekina said, earning a head tilt from Susan.

"You know you are not a fling sweety. What I meant is that what makes one night stands fun is that they only happen for one night",

She had a point. I did find her missing this morning. She had left without so much as a word, letter or even her number, but I noticed one of my shirts missing, she must have left with it. That was reason enough for me to go love-hunting.

"Let me guess. She left without so much as a word, letter or even her number this morning?" She continued. It was like she was reading my mind... Wait. I looked down to her hand, slightly touching my forearm.

"Stop doing that. That is a clear invasion of privacy. f**k, I could have been thinking about sleeping with Susan", I said.

Shekina's ability relied mostly on physical touch. She could read the mind of any person she touched, which made her seem like soothsaying was the proper career path for her, but her rebellious nature led her into the kitchen of my rental shop. I was not going to complain.

"If you had been thinking about that, I would have broken your arm. Luckily for you, you never get caught... for now."

I decided it was best to keep a little distance between me and her. It felt like a crime giving such an easily abusable power to someone who was clearly going to abuse it. She had already done so a lot of times. Sometimes the outcomes of her actions were good and other times they came with consequences.

"In any case I--" before I could finish my sentence, Shekina interrupted.

"--Want us to help you "see" her. Honestly, if I had known hot girls would get you practicing your ability, I would have shown you around town."

I had lived in the shop since I was born. I had met my fair share of people but rarely did any of them stick. The visible difference between us had me cautious.

"Enough with the idle chat guys. Help me find her." I said as I grabbed a chair from behind the counter.

"Well, other than memory, do you have anything physical that we can use?" Susan asked.

My abilities worked based on how well I could see the person in my mind. Future vision for someone who stood in front of me was easy. I could see as far into their future as I wanted to. But someone who I had only encountered once proved to be a challenge.

I thought for a second about what I could use. Nothing came to mind.

"Do you think I could see without anything?" I asked. "I know I am well out of practice but I have to try."

"To be out of practice you need to have previously practiced. You have rarely used your ability." Shekina said.

She was right. I denied the existence of my powers. I did not want to live the life of an Ancient. I could only remember three occasions where I had used them. The first was when I discovered I had abilities. The second was... Well, there was no reason to look back on such moments. The third, however, was last night.

"I can do this. Just help me." I said to Shekina. In the entire group, our abilities had the most similarities.

She stared before giving a long sigh. I noticed that everyone in the group brought fatigue to one another, but that was a topic for another day.

"Fine, I will help you, but you need to give me something in return." She said. "Regardless of the outcome of this little experiment of yours, I want a day off."

That seemed odd coming from her. She rarely asked for days off. As rebellious as she was, she was not a slacker. I looked to Susan for an explanation, only to find her blushing once again. They wanted time to themselves.

"Oh... well, of course you can have time off. Just prepare the ingredients for the next day so I can prep the food easier for when you are not here." I said.

It was cute how Shekina put in the effort when needed. She was a bit stubborn and overall hard to deal with, but seeing Susan be a good influence on her really made it seem like all the tension was worth it.

"So... though they may be like my powers, do you have a particular set up you prefer? Or maybe a specific feeling?" Shekina asked.

I thought about the events leading up to her last night. I had used my powers for the third time at that moment. In my defense, I was panicking.

"I used my ability last night", I said.

The both of them turned to look at me. Shock all over their faces.

"How?" Susan asked.

I could only see the future with my eyes closed. It was like having a movie play out on my eyelids or seeing images of something that was going to occur. The more time I had, the further I could see.

Last night I used my powers in a panic because I thought Alissa had drowned herself. I took a quick peek 10 seconds or so ahead to see whether her body came toes up or toes down. She definitely came toes up. That is why I had frozen just as I reached the shore. It seemed impossible for someone to be that beautiful, but I had to see it for myself. Just so you know, she was.

"I was caught up in a moment of panic and I closed my eyes. It happened without my knowing", I replied.

They questioned whether I was telling the truth.

"Okay, so panic is the key", Susan said. "How do you suggest we throw you into a panic, big guy?"

I was not sure. You would think that I would have seen this obstacle in the plan coming. Shekina noticed the disappointment on my face.

"How about we start easily. Tell me what I am about to do in the next 10 seconds", She said.

I nodded and closed my eyes, focusing on the mental image of her as well as her scent in the air. Her scent seemed to filter out all the other details of what was going to happen to a few things. I saw shock on Susan's face. I saw the front door opening. The person entering looked familiar. Then it hit me. No, I mean that it literally hit me. Just as I figured out the reason Susan looked shocked was because Shekina was planning to slap me, she slapped me. The customer that walked in took notice of the scene with a look of confusion.

"Don't worry Grace, just creative differences", I said to her.

Several tries and a few new confused surfers later Shekina was on the brink of giving up. She had retreated back into the kitchen while me and Susan remained near the counter.

"I give up. It is not going to work. You are too new to this", She said. She had repeated this over the last few times and it was clearly I was beginning to get on her nerves. Susan looked to be on her last legs as well.

"Are you really that desperate to find this one girl? Maybe Shekina is right. Maybe she was just a fling that you just need to let go of."

I had to admit it. We were not getting as far as I hoped we would. I was not even sure on what exactly I was looking for. Was I looking to see if she ever came back to that bench? Or was I looking to see if she ever came back to me. She clearly knew where to find me. It was late afternoon. Sunset was approaching. I came to the sorrowful conclusion that she was not coming back of her own accord. It made my heart feel just a little more heavy. Susan noticed the look on my face.

"How far exactly are you able to see?" She asked.

After the multiple tries, I came to an estimated twenty to thirty seconds or so. In any other case, that advancement would be quite an achievement, but it was not enough.

"About twenty to thirty seconds or so", I said. Shekina gave me a dry smile.

"Sounds like you don't last long, Kenz", She said. Her humor for the situation seemed to lift the mood a little.

"...Hey. How did you meet this girl?" Susan asked.

I was not sure how that piece of information would help in this situation, but I recounted the details of our meeting.

Susan thought for a second. "Well, if you met her at the bench outside the store, doesn't that mean she lives nearby?"

I thought about it for a second. She had nothing with her when she went skinny dipping and it was safe to assume no one would do something that risky far from home.

"For someone with clear vision, you seem to clearly be an i***t", Shekina said. She was always full of insults.

"Okay Suz, what are you suggesting we do then?"

I followed the giant to the front of the store. So it did belong to him. I was not sure on what I was going to say to Kenzie, but the I was most concerned about why he sent this bear of a woman to fetch me instead of coming himself. Was it to intimidate me?

I could feel the necklace around my neck begin to warm as we approached the door. Did that mean there were more of them? I had not considered how insanely risky it was to follow an Ancient to meet another Ancient.

"You seem nervous little girl. Don't you worry your pretty little head. Kenz just wants to talk... I hope", She said.

We walked into the store. Ignoring what seemed to be customers, there were three people I chose to be wary of. One of them was Kenzie.

His eyes lit up as soon as he saw me.

"Suz. Why'd you take so long?" Said the girl from the kitchen. "Is that her?"

Kenzie shot up from his seat, "Yep that is her."

He seemed nervous, like he had not planned this far.

"So why did you call for me?" I asked.

"I just wanted to see you again. I--" He caught himself before he continued. "Care to join me upstairs?"

I assumed I had the advantage here. There was no way for him to know exactly who I was.

"Sure..."

I had to admit it. The thought of killing him had crossed my mind. But in no way did I think I was going to act on it... Or maybe I was. He was an Ancient. We killed his kind for a living.

He led me to the back of the store. It broke back those memories from the night we shared. Part of me yearned to escape like that again. He opened the door and I noticed that he had not cleaned his room yet. His bed was still a mess and the clothes he shed from then were still scattered on the floor.

He led me in and closed the door behind me. As soon as he turned, I pushed him into a kiss.

I just had to know if the feelings from last night were still present, on both our ends. He wrapped his arms around my waist. It was safe to assume that they were present on his end.

He slowly pushed me away, ending our kiss.

"What's wrong? Do you want me to focus elsewhere?" I asked as I went down to my knees. Just as I reached for his zipper, he grabbed my hand.

"Alissa, I want us to talk." And there it was. The feeling of dread came over me as he pulled me up. "I don't want us to just f**k so you can disappear all over again."

"Was that not the point of why you dragged me here last night?" I asked. It seemed stupid to sleep with the girl who walked out of the ocean half naked... Thinking of it like that made it seem less like a one-night stand and more like a teenager's wet dream.

"Why did you follow me?" He said. He had a point. I had no obligations and yet I did it.

"I did it to escape, which I thought was what you wanted as well." I said, rendering his argument useless.

"Alissa... I don't need to escape. I just want to find out exactly what it is I'm feeling", he said.

Having him get all sappy with me ruined my mood. It meant I had to visit worse topics as well, like: how he, an Ancient, got me, a hunter, to sleep with him.

"Look, Kenzie, I do not need a relationship. I have got enough going on in my life to worry about the whims of some twenty-something year-old boy I met", I said. I had enough on my plate.

I held his gaze before he let out a long sigh.

"I hadn't even thought about a relationship", he said.

It did not matter to me. At the end of the argument, he did want something.

"Can I at the very least ask? If we do what we are about to do once again, if I fall with you once again, will you come back?" He asked.

The question seemed odd to ask. I was not sure either. If I came back, it meant eventually developing a relationship with him, but if I didn't, it meant I would never see him again, and I had to admit, even without the s*x, I felt some odd connection to him. Maybe it was his ability at play. The thought of actually finding out what it was never actually crossed my mind. I felt more idiotic than usual.

I decided to reevaluate my goal and play along with his fantasies.

"Fine... we can talk."