H. Mallory - Ghouls Rush In

“Take your shirt off,” I demanded. Ryan cocked an amused brow at me as he sat up and pulled his shirt over his head. I was immediately in awe. His chest looked like it could have been on the cover of Men’s Fitness magazine. “I must have been very good in a previous life,” I whispered, unable to pull my eyes from his magnificent body.

“Not as good as I was,” he mumbled and chuckled as his hands found the hem of my nightgown, which he started to pull over my head. I glanced down and as soon as the white cotton material met my eyes, memories of the possession ritual began to consume me. With the remembrances of Christopher and Lovie and the ritual itself was the realization that Ryan had no idea that Drake was also playing tenant in my body.

You have to tell him! I yelled at myself. Before this goes any further, he needs to know that Drake is a part of you!

But I suddenly couldn’t bring myself to tell him. I wasn’t sure how he’d take it. I still wasn’t exactly sure how I was taking it.

I took a deep breath and pushed away from him, watching his eyes go wide. “I, uh, I think that maybe this is going a bit too fast for me.” I said the words even though my body fought them. The truth was that I wanted nothing more than to feel Ryan pushing inside of me but I also knew that wasn’t fair to him—not when he didn’t have all the pieces to the puzzle.

“Oh,” he said in absolute surprise before he pulled away from me and took a deep breath. “It’s okay, Pey, this does seem very fast and I, uh, I apologize. I just couldn’t keep myself from you once I made the decision that this, that you, were what I wanted.” He took another breath. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I replied immediately while wanting to smack myself across the face. “Let’s just slow things down for now, okay?”

He nodded and smiled down at me, reaching for me as he wrapped me in his arms. “Your wish is my command,” he said softly.

TWO DAYS LATER

It was rainy, cold, and windy when Christopher and Lovie returned to host the exorcism on my house. Even though it was the middle of the day, the skies were so gray, it looked like it was closer to dusk. I’d debated the subject with myself repeatedly and even come to the decision that Ryan deserved to know, I still hadn’t told him about Drake’s new home. And I’d also decided that today wasn’t an ideal day to tell him. Instead, I pretended I wasn’t feeling well and asked him to cut his construction day short and, of course, he obliged.

But then came the difficult part of getting him to leave before Christopher and Lovie’s arrival. One thing I could say for Ryan was that he gave Florence Nightingale a run for her money when it came to tending to the infirm, or the pretending-to-be-infirm. Once I made the case, though, that I wanted nothing more than to sleep for a few hours, he finally acquiesced. Well, with the agreement that I would call him as soon as I woke up. I could only hope that the exorcism wasn’t going to be a long-winded one.

“ I do believe you will never inform le barbare about me, ” Drake said in a pouty tone. It was the third or fourth time he’d brought the subject up in the course of two days. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought Drake imagined the conversation wouldn’t go over well…

“ Don’t be silly ,” I answered as I tried to multitask by checking the time on my phone for the umpteenth time. Christopher and Lovie were due to arrive in two minutes. “ Of course I’m going to tell him! ”

“Vraiment ? Really? And when would that be? ”Drake persisted . I could see him in my mind’s eye crossing his arms against his chest and tapping his foot impatiently. What was interesting was that whenever Drake and I had conversations in my head, I always envisioned him in the flesh. That is to say that he wasn’t just a random, floating voice. I wasn’t sure if the imagery of Drake was something my own mind created or a picture he was projecting.

“ The next time I see him! ”

“ Humph! ” He ground out, the image of him in my mind frowning. “Je le croirai quand je le verrai ! I shall believe it when I see it! Quite like the fact that you still haven’t allowed me beyond the periphery of this house! ”

Recently, our conversations either revolved around arguments about the “barbarian” or arguments about when I was planning on taking Drake on the grand adventure known as life beyond the confines of our home. For the last few days, though, I hadn’t wanted to venture anywhere because my body was achingly tired. That and I knew I’d need to be in the right frame of mind to explain things like cars, traffic lights, supermarkets, Starbucks…the list went on. So far, I just couldn’t find the energy so, instead, I’d basically hidden out in my house.

A determined knock sounded on the door. It was a knock that could only belong to Christopher because it was as adamant and curt as he was. Pulling open the door, the smile dissolved right off my face when I recognized Ryan standing between Christopher and Lovie. And he was frowning. “Can we come in?” Christopher asked impatiently when it appeared the cat had gotten my tongue. “We have to prepare.”

I just nodded and stepped aside as he and Lovie brushed by me. Ryan took a few steps toward me and then paused when he was in the threshold of the doorway. “So much for bein’ sick,” he started.

“I, uh…,” I started as I searched for an excuse. “I didn’t want to involve you in this, Ryan, because I figured it was my business.”

“Your business?” he repeated. “I thought we both agreed that we were a team now?” He shook his head and exhaled. “Not only that but I would’ve liked it if you’d talked to me first before goin’ through with this exorcism.” Well, that answered the question as to whether or not Christopher had informed Ryan as to why he and Lovie were at my house. “This sort o’ stuff isn’t to be taken lightly,” Ryan finished as he exhaled heavily.

“There’s really nothing to be worried about,” I answered and brushed away his worry like it was a mosquito buzzing around my head.

“There’s everythin’ to be worried about,” he rebuffed.

“Like what?” I asked, playing the role of devil’s advocate because the truth was that I was nervous about the exorcism too.

Ryan cocked his head to the side and frowned. “Sometimes these things don’t go as planned, an’ if that’s the case, all hell could break loose.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head, trying my best to play the part of cool, calm, and collected. “All hell could break loose? Wait a second, I thought you were Mr. Rational, Mr. Scientific Method? Whatever happened to that?”

He cocked his head to the side and regarded me coolly. “I guess I’m a little less convinced about science in situations where you’re concerned.”

Not wanting to stand in the doorway any longer, I held the door open wider, hinting for Ryan to step inside, which he did. Then I closed it behind us and started down the hallway, being careful to sidestep Christopher, Lovie, and all their belongings they’d brought. I continued into the kitchen, wanting a little privacy. “So, do I take this to mean that you finally believe that a spirit is responsible for attacking me?” I asked.

Ryan took a deep breath and then simply nodded. “I believe you.”

“ You must tell him about me! ” Drake sounded inside my head. “ Now is the perfect opportunity! ”

I leaned against the kitchen wall, eyeing the myriad boxes filling up the majority of the room—they were my special order kitchen cabinets. Had I been in the right frame of mind, I might have been excited to see them. But as it was now, I was nothing but stressed out—nervous about the impending exorcism and apprehensive about telling Ryan about Drake. But I knew I had to tell him. Because now that Christopher and Lovie were here, the chances of them letting something slip were probably 99 percent.