Lifeblood

2 Movin'-3

“None like Liz,” countered Jonah.

Terrence turned it over in his head. “That's true,” he conceded. “For Spader, anyway.”

They saw Karin Tanke and Grayson Morris, who didn't bother to acknowledge either of them. That didn't matter though, because Jonah wasn't pleased by their presence, either. He had neither the time nor the tolerance for lackeys.

Karin, a tall woman with vividly dyed red hair, and Grayson, a brawny bumpkin who wore a scowl almost as much as he wore clothing, were two friends (if you called sycophantic suck-ups friends) of Titus Rivers III, who preferred to be called Trip. Trip's and Jonah's hatred of one another was planted when they met, punctured earth when Jonah accidentally slugged him once in a training, and came into full bloom when Jonah saved his physical life from evil minions. Trip was a superb saxophonist and was a proficient Eleventh Percenter, with a power over sound. But beyond that, Jonah saw no redeeming qualities. Despite his brusque demeanor and sour disposition, he'd attracted cronies and admirers; Karin and Grayson were just two of them. They had no love for Jonah, especially at the present time, because he had been responsible for the revelation of an epic blunder that Trip made. The blunder resulted in heavy disciplinary action for Trip, who took a sabbatical from the estate to visit his mother in Orangeburg.

“So the bastard isn't back, huh?” asked Jonah.

“How should I know?” replied Terrence. “I just got back myself. But I'll take a stab in the dark and say no. They would look less angry if their Lord and Master graced us with his presence.”

When they finally reached the stairs, they saw Douglas Chandler, who looked as glum as Spader had. His black hair, which was usually cropped to a neat Caesar, had grown out somewhat and was pressed down in places due to Douglas's fingers.

“Hey, Doug,” greeted Jonah. “What's up with you?”

Douglas looked up at Jonah and Terrence so piteously that it wasn't even funny. “No takers for the chess club at LTSU,” he answered.

“That's it?!” said Terrence without tact. “That ain't a big—”

Jonah whacked him on the shoulder.

“Ow, I mean—Doug, that sucks.”

Luckily, Douglas hadn't noticed any of the interaction, as he'd buried his head in his hands again. “This is my senior year,” he groused. “I founded the club as a freshman, and nobody joined. Sophomore year, the same. A lovely girl joined last year, but she only did it because she needed to be a member of at least one club to be eligible for some cruise. She quit as soon as she got her passport.”

Terrence looked at Jonah as though he saw him in a new light. Jonah returned the look, puzzled, but then he realized the reason. He mouthed, “No!” to Terrence, but it didn't matter.

“Jonah is at LTSU now, Doug! He can join your club!”

Jonah narrowed his eyes at Terrence, who smirked, but Douglas was completely oblivious. He looked at Jonah with renewed hope.

“R-Really?” he cried. “Jonah, do you play chess?”

“Dude, the closest I've ever come to chess was when I accidentally knocked a pawn into a paint can in high school,” said Jonah. “I don't know a thing about the game.”

“Doesn't matter!” dismissed Douglas, “You don't even have to play! I promise you that! Just join, please!”

In what he must have thought was a surreptitious gesture, Douglas moved his hand from Jonah's line of sight and crossed his fingers. With another dark look at Terrence, Jonah heard himself say, “All right, Douglas. I'll join your—club. It'd be an honor.”

Douglas's smile resembled a child who'd just received candy and crayons. “Thank you,” he breathed. “Thank you so much! You won't regret this, Jonah!”

He rose and dashed off.

“He was so happy,” commented Terrence. “I thought he was gonna wet his chinos.”

“Tell me,” grunted Jonah as they went upstairs, “why exactly am I your friend again?”

“Because without me, you'd be socially awkward,” replied Terrence, “and you'd lack the proper motivation to do good deeds for people, like Doug!”

Jonah rolled his eyes. “Terrence, I'm going to get Malcolm to make me a ball bat, and then I'll beat you with it.”

“Well, if you give me two weeks, I can do that,” said a voice.

Malcolm had just exited a bathroom when Jonah and Terrence passed it, where he'd just finished placing a wooden swan over the sink. He had another creation in tow; symmetrical hands joined in prayer atop a marble foundation.

“Like it?” asked Malcolm when he noticed Jonah's and Terrence's eyes on it. “Reverend Abbott's birthday is coming up, so I thought I'd make him a little something.”

“Huh,” said Terrence. “What is that, the seventh?”

Malcolm smirked. “Yeah, actually,” he answered.

Jonah just laughed. Malcolm was a perfectionist. He'd craft and re-craft creations dozens of times before he declared himself pleased.

“Keep it up, Malcolm,” said Terrence.

Finally, they reached Jonah's room. That was awesome for Jonah; with all the starts, stops, and socializing, his shoulder and arms began to protest against the travel bag. He dropped it on the floor, flexed his arm, and sat down. He was only mildly surprised when he felt movement near his feet.

“Hey, Bast,” he said. “Great to see you, too.”

Pleased to be acknowledged, Bast stretched and settled near his feet. “I hope that your travels were enjoyable, Jonah,” she intimated. “And Terrence, how was Maui?”

“Bast, you have no idea—”

Terrence's words were interrupted by Reena, who slipped into the room and shut the door.

“Alright, Jonah,” she said, her face two parts concerned and two parts intractable. “Now, you are going to tell us what had you so rattled back at Terrence's parent's house.”

Terrence, initially annoyed by the interruption, now look baffled, but Jonah shook his head. He knew Reena had picked up on his essence. He'd just half-hoped she'd let it go. Nope.

“Wait, what happened at my house?” asked Terrence. “Did Mom and Dad do something?”

“No, Terrence, it had nothing to do with them,” said Jonah. His eyes never left Reena, and hers never left him. “Before the cab dropped you off, I saw a man at the stop sign. He vanished when I looked again, so I thought my eyes were just playing tricks on me or something. But then I saw him again when we were all in your bedroom, ragging on Duke. I looked out of the window and saw him again. He was there just a little bit longer that time, but he vanished again.”

“There was a man at my house?” demanded Terrence.

“No, Terrence, not exactly,” said Jonah. “It was almost like—like he was there for me or something. I don't know.”

“What did he look like?” inquired Reena.

“Tall,” said Jonah. “Like, really tall; 6'8” or 6'9” or something. He had on a black duster, a dark hooded shirt, black boots, and half of his face was covered, like a cowboy bandit.”

Reena's breath caught, and her eyes widened. Terrence looked at her in confusion.

“What does that mean?” he asked, but Reena ignored him. Her eyes were still on Jonah.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah, I'm sure,” Jonah answered. “What's wrong, Reena?”

For some reason, Bast looked tense as well. She slunk over to Reena, who'd sighed and freed her hair from its clasp. She put her hands to her forehead, like her mind was frontloading information before she could actually process it. This reaction had Jonah quite unnerved at this point.

“Reena,” he attempted, “what does that mean? What is the matter?”

“The outfit you described,” she said slowly, “it's not good. Jonah, this is not good. You just described the attire of a Spirit Reaper.”

Jonah and Terrence looked at each other.

“What?” said Jonah. “Spirit Reaper?”

“And not just any Spirit Reaper,” Reena continued. “That's the attire of the Spirit Reapers who followed Creyton.”