Page 19 of Midnight Whispers
When I arrive home, I find Asher in the foyer. He has a clipboard and is scribbling away at whatever paper is there.
He looks up at my arrival and chirps, “Good morning, Finnian.”
“Asher. Whatareyou doing?”
“Waiting for the designer to get here.” He checks his watch. “They should be here soon. He told me seven.”
“Oh. Can I ask you about something? A movie?” He looks up and raises a brow, muttering ahmm. “What do you know about a movie calledTwilight?”
“Finnian! I know what we're doing today.” He puts the clipboard on the table in the middle of the room. “Movie niiiight,” Asher sings dramatically.
“So, you’ve seen it?”
“Hasn’t everyone?”
“Uh. Not me.”
“Well, I can’t say that surprises me. Your tastes are… limited.” He looks me up and down. There’s a knock at the door. “Go to the living room and I’ll meet you there.”
I turn and do as he say, walking across the house to the living room. It doesn’t take long for him to come into the room and we both find our spots on the couch.
“Prepare to have your mindblown.”
He flips through the apps on the television before settling on one of them and scrolling through the movie options. Once he found the one, we’re watching, he shimmies himself to get comfortable. A girl's voice speaks over a black screen until a deer appears. Following Asher’s lead, I make myself comfortable and prepare for the marathon.
“How many movies are in this franchise?” I ask curiously.
Asher smirks. “There are five, but only four of them are worth watching.”
“Is everyone in this movie teenagers?” He answers with ammhmm,unable to remove his eyes from the screen. “And you like this?”
“Oh yes. I think all therattyswill tell you they're so bad it makes them good.”
“Rattys?”
“My goodness, Finn. Don’t you use any kind of technology? We really need to get you caught up with the current times.”
We spend the next ten hours and seven minutes watching the entiresaga. Asher eventually got annoyed with me asking questions and told me to refrain from asking any more during the movies.
As the final movie ends, Asher turns to me expectantly. “So, what did you think?”
“I mean they weren’t terrible,” I replied with a shrug.
“I sense a but coming.”
“They were completely unrealistic.”
“They’re just silly movies, the book was much better.”
I check the clock on my phone; it’s after five. Lillia had mentioned going on a picnic with Flora today and I’d like to be there for that, to protect her. I had no idea what time she would be going, so I said goodbye to Asher. He stopped asking me where I was going or what I was doing. I don’t know if it’s because he wouldn't like the answer, or because he already knows. His stance on human and vampire relationships has always been known, but a part of me doesn’t care. I will always love and respect Asher, but when it comes to Lillia all logic seems to disappear.
Ineedher.
9
The sunlight bleedsinto my room through the opened curtains. I roll over and groan into my pillow, not wanting to be awake. There’s an unfamiliar scent of leather woven throughout my sheets, faint but still there.
My mind was racing yesterday and didn’t calm down by the time I fell asleep, leading to a nightmare. I don’t even remember most of it, but from what I do remember it was about my dad’s accident. The swirling red and blue lights reflecting off the asphalt, which had freshly been rained on. The entire scene played out as if I was someone else watching instead of in my own head. Cyrus was holding me back, his arm pressed firmly against my chest as I tried to run to my dad’s truck. In the dream, there’s a sudden light and warmth that fills my veins. I’m safe. So, when I woke up to my phone ringing this morning, I didnotwant to answer it.