Twenty-Five

Bobby

I hadn't meant to take our relationship to the next step, but with Cole I felt like every moment was precious and needed to be embraced when the moment presented itself, and it had when we arrived at his house. Once we'd cleaned up and gotten dressed again, the two of us sat next to each other on his couch. He had his laptop on his knees while I tried to figure out what the words were that were written all through the mural.

"None of this really makes sense," Cole said as he typed out what I read and entered it into a document. "It's all incoherent ramblings."

"Hopefully in all the ramblings we find something we can use. Just one clue as to how to get him out of your head."

"Do you really think the drawings Anna gave us can help protect the house?" Cole asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think she probably knows more than either of us. It can't hurt to try," I said, and was so tempted to move in for another kiss. But not yet, we had work to do.

"You're right, and it's not going to hurt anything to try it." I opened the notebook Anna had drawn the symbols in and the two of us took a few minutes to copy them here and there around his house. I put one above the door small enough to not be noticed but I made sure it was exactly like Anna had drawn it. Even if there was nothing to these symbols, it made me feel better knowing they were there.

Afterward, we sat a while longer writing down the mishmash of words and phrases from the mural. "Want to get a pizza?" I asked when I realized we'd been here a few hours.

"Yes, and I could use a break. Want to watch a movie?" Cole asked and took out his phone. "What do you like on your pizza?"

"Anything," I said and closed my phone from where we'd been looking at the images from earlier.

"Are you staying tonight?" he asked and glanced at me from the corner of his eye while still looking at his phone.

"Are you asking?" I smiled and leaned a little closer.

"Yes, I'm not ready for you to leave," he said, his honesty hitting me right in the feels.

"Good, because I'm not ready to leave either." We put the laptop and notebook away and got comfortable on his couch before choosing a movie. It was all very normal, and for a while I forgot we were in the middle of a paranormal crisis that could cost Cole his life.

"How about a beer?" he asked.

"Sure, I could go for a beer." He walked into the kitchen and as he was rummaging around in the refrigerator, there was a knock at the door. "I've got it."

"Here you go," a guy with a pizza restaurant hat said, before he shoved the pizza and a bag at me and jogged back to his car.

"Thank you," I yelled at him as he drove away. I walked in just as Cole was setting two beers on the table in front of the couch.

"Perfect timing," he said and took the pizza and everything else from me and set it on the table too. "Now let's see how this movie is."

We settled in and ate pizza while watching a terrible movie that we both laughed at and actually enjoyed. It was all normal. And I knew it wouldn't last.

We went to bed early, both of us ready to relax and have a little quiet time. Sleeping naked in his arms was comfort beyond belief. He held me close, and I tried to control my body and enjoy the cuddle time. Cole fell asleep and the soothing sounds of his deep breaths lulled me to sleep.

"I will have him," Cole said, waking me up. Turning to look at him, I could see in the dim light of the room that he was asleep. I smiled, thinking he was talking in his sleep.

"It doesn't matter what you do. He will be mine and I will claim the power that was meant for me," Cole said, but it wasn't Cole. And he wasn't talking in his sleep. "You know this to be true. I've seen your thoughts and how you worry that he's lost to me. Well, your concerns are true. He will never be yours because he's already mine."

"I won't let that happen," I said through gritted teeth.

"There isn't anything you can do to stop it," he said.

"You're wrong," I sneered and leaned up on my elbow.

"Bobby?" Cole said, his voice full of sleep and his eyes barely cracked open.

"Cole?" I said and leaned in closer to look.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, suddenly wide-awake.

"Everything is fine, I think I had a bad dream," I lied.

He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. "I'll protect you, go back to sleep." He was asleep almost instantly while I lay there awake hoping I could keep him safe.