Blue Sacrifice (Blue Davison) (6 page)

Flynn was smiling warmly at Emily who was smiling
warmly at him. They had chemistry and I didn’t blame Emily for making a move. Flynn
was definitely better looking than ninety nine percent of guys in Lily Falls. Emily was also better looking than most girls around here, except for Lacey.

“Ah, there you are,” Flynn said to me. “Emily, I’m
sure you know my Blue.”

Emily smiled, showing not even a hint of
irritation. She was a better liar than me because I was nearly crying again. I had
become such a weepy mess lately. I blamed the voices and my mom’s frequent
bloody visits for my crybaby routines, instead of me having a crush on a guy who
was way out of my league.

“Hi, Blue,” Emily said then added, “Lacey.”

“Emily,” Lacey mumbled, sounding bored, but this
was mostly a midday thing.

“Well I’ll see ya later,” Emily said, heading
towards her friends.

Flynn watched her go then looked at me. “I think
she might hate you.”

Smiling grudgingly, I just shrugged. “Are you
buying lunch?”

Flynn frowned, probably wondering why I asked such
a stupid question. The answer was I wanted to make idle chitchat.

“Flynn, this is Lacey.”

Lacey looked Flynn over and her eyes shined. It
was the same look she got when she spotted something expensive on sale at the
mall.

“Very nice,” Lacey said, just like she did when
she spotted something expensive on sale at the mall.

“Any friend of my Blue is a friend of mine.”

Now I was frowning at all of the “my Blue” crap.
Flynn noticed my frown and lifted an eyebrow as if daring me to complain.

“Where shall we sit, ladies?” he asked and Lacey
grinned like she was in on the secret.

Soon we took our trays outside to the cold. Looking
at the nearby woods, I caught sight of a few horrid little faces glaring back
at me. Turning my gaze to Flynn, I forced away the ugly thoughts. He was so
beautiful and he was mine for now. His hair looked especially soft in the
bright light of the day. Reaching out, I ran my fingers through it.

Flynn just smiled. “Lacey, my Blue says you have
good taste in food. Where do you suggest I take her for dinner tonight?”

“She’s boring. Take her out for steak.”

Lowering my gaze, I focused on my food. Flynn said
nothing until he had my hand in his then he grinned at Lacey.

“Maybe I can get her to buy the lobster tonight?”

“I can’t afford that,” I told him and he rolled
his eyes.

Lacey looked back and forth between us then
shrugged. “The last guy took her to a Thai place. Blue vomited afterwards. I’d
keep that in mind.”

Flynn’s smile widened. “No Thai then.”

Feeling weird again, I wished I wasn’t so moody. I
had my best friend and a beautiful guy to entertain me, but I felt strange like
I was waiting for something bad to happen. I knew trouble was coming, but it
was running late and I was getting edgy.

Flynn squeezed my hand gently then again harder
when I didn’t react. My mind was on my mother and the last day she spent with
me. She had been preparing me for what was to come, but I saw how much she
didn’t want to die. How could she want to leave her life behind when she was
still so young? How could she want to leave me? My mom knew her purpose though.
I knew mine too, but I was screwing around, having fantasies about sexy boys.

Finally Flynn squeezed my hand so tightly I gasped
in pain. Watching me with a dark expression, he scooted over on the bench until
he was directly next to me, his warm body against my chilled one.

“The darkness lies,” he whispered in my ear as my
gaze met his.

Lacey eyed us then walked over to dump her trash.
I continued to watch Flynn who wasn’t frowning any longer. I saw a hint of
stubble on his chin as if he had missed the spot while shaving. Running my
finger over it, I wondered if he did understand.

“Everyone has their own lies the darkness tells,” he
said quietly. “You have to turn your back on those lies and fight to be happy.”

Nodding, I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or
disappointed by how he didn’t know about the sacrifices.

“I don’t like ethnic food,” I told him. “I don’t
like spicy foods or strong flavors. I like a simple steak and potatoes. I’m not
like you.”

Flynn gave me a lazy smile. “No one is. You can’t
let this knowledge depress you though.”

Laughing, I shook my head as he wrapped an arm
around my waist and tugged me closer.

“I am exceptional, it’s true,” he continued while giving
me a naughty smile. “So are you, but in a different way. You desire me like I
desire you. No use denying the fact, so tonight we will have a nice dinner and
we will…” Flynn paused when Lacey returned then he whispered in my ear, “Do
wonderful things with our tongues.”

Balking, I pulled away. “I don’t know what gave
you the idea I was easy.”

Lacey laughed first then Flynn followed suit. I
just grinned and thought about his tongue and mine getting acquainted.

“I’ll try to be affectionate tonight,” I said,
nuzzling his neck with my lips, “but don’t take it personally if my inexperience
shows.”

Flynn sighed. “I learned nothing all morning and
apparently after all this fondling, I’ll learn nothing this afternoon.
Fortunately high school is a mere waste of time until I’m old enough to venture
into the world on my own.”

“Where will you go first?” I asked as my lips danced
against his jaw.

“Wherever your heart desires.”

I might have felt stupid for gawking in horny
heaven at him, if I didn’t glance at Lacey and see her also staring in awe at
Flynn.

“You’re so full of shit,” I finally muttered, moving
away from him.

“Or maybe I’ll stay here in Lily Falls with my Blue?” he said, snuggling closer. Giving me a small grin, he added, “I’m cold.”

Studying his face, I thought to dismiss his
teasing comments, but chose to smile instead. Flynn was mine for this speck of
time and I wanted to enjoy him.

The rest of the day flew by in a daze as I struggled
to ignore the voices. At the windows were the little faces with their missing
eyes, gaping mouths, and rotten skin. Twice I had failed to die. Even worse, I
had considered walking away from my purpose. The demons weren’t happy with me
and they worked feverishly to display this unhappiness. For hours, I stared at
the teachers, forcing my gaze away from the violent images the demons showed
me.

I would give the town what it wanted, but not yet.
I wasn’t a cow waiting for the slaughter. I was a human being capable of
choice. The sacrificial lambs might not know what was coming and if they did,
they wouldn’t choose it. If the demons wanted me to choose death, they needed
to back off and let the choice be mine. Otherwise it was just cheating on their
parts.

By the time I met Flynn in the parking lot, I was
too much in my head. Everything around me was stressful and I struggled for
happy thoughts. Always one to be helpful, Flynn kissed me gently once we were
warming up in his car.

“Where shall we go for dinner?” he asked, starting
the car, yet not fighting to leave the parking lot like the other students.
“Would you enjoy another steak dinner, my Blue?”

“Sure, my Flynn. Sounds great,” I muttered, unwilling
to leave the happy spot in my mind because so much ugliness awaited me out in
the world. “I’m sorry, but I’m grumpy and want to go home.”

Studying me, Flynn turned off the car. “Tell me
about Gretchen. Is she a good mother?”

“No.”

“Is Lacey a good friend?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to talk about whatever is upsetting
you?”

Glancing at him, I shook my head.

“Your terminal tumor is bothering you again, isn’t
it?”

Nodding, I said nothing, just focused my gaze on
the parking lot where two demons played with each others’ intestines.

“Tonight we will enjoy dinner and your terminal
tumor can disappear again.”

When Flynn took my hand, I forced myself to look
at him. He was so gorgeous and surprising in a place filled with the ordinary.

“Don’t you see how you’ve put yourself in an
impossible position?” I asked.

“How do you figure?”

“You want to save me, but what happens when you do
then lose interest? Won’t I be exactly where I am now so you’ll be forced to
save me again? You’ll never be free, Flynn. Why would you want to take on a responsibility
like that when you could just enjoy your life?”

Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, he
smiled tenderly. “As difficult as it might be for you to believe, I am enjoying
my life at this very moment here with you. Besides do I seem so naïve as to
believe I could save you by merely going on a few dates? I know however you
choose to handle your terminal tumor will be out of my hands. I simply want to
enjoy you while I can. Did you ever consider that?”

“No.”

Flynn smiled as he caressed the top of my hand
with his thumb. “I sense you are an eternally glass half empty type of woman.
Am I right?”

“I have my reasons.”

“I’m sure you do, just as I have my reasons for
being a glass half full kind of man. We see the world differently and so you
can’t understand how I look at you and see promise, where you think I should
see a burden. Different doesn’t mean we aren’t compatible though.”

Shifting in the front seat, I leaned over and
licked at his lips. The coolest guy in the world sighed like a horny schoolboy
and I grinned before returning my lips to his. Finally Flynn stopped playing
coy and deepened the kiss to a point where I could have easily moved to the
backseat and taken his Lily Falls virginity. Instead I pulled away, thinking
about dinner.

“Can I have lobster tonight, even if I can’t pay
you back?” I asked, licking the taste of him from my lips.

Flynn exhaled roughly and I wondered how
comfortable he was in his faded jeans. Grinning, he started the car.

“We’ll both have lobster and dessert.”

“Carbo loading for our after dinner fun, I hope.”

“Normally I have to chase girls, but being chased
is actually more fun. I might never put out just to ensure you don’t lose interest
in me.”

Laughing, I rolled my eyes as he pulled the car
out of the now mostly abandoned parking lot.

“We should take turns chasing each other so we
both get to have fun.”

“I like that plan,” he said, giving me a wink.

We drove home listening to Susan Boyle. When I
teased him about his collection of her albums, he merely shrugged and professed
himself a junkie for underdog stories.

When we arrived at my house, Flynn studied it in a
weird way. I watched him, saying nothing. Soon his gaze found mine and he
smiled.

“Yellow houses normally seem so happy, but yours
feels…different. Try not to let your cranky house make you cranky.”

Grinning, I leaned over and kissed him quickly,
savoring the taste of him. Then I grabbed my backpack.

“See you in a few hours and I’ll do my best to be
glass half full by then. Or at least a quarter full if my house won’t let me
get peppier.”

Flynn gave me a grin as he watched me head to the
porch then waved before I disappeared through the door. When I entered the
house, I found Gretchen sitting on the couch while Hans worked in the kitchen.
I felt a sense of déjà vu and half expected Gretchen to start crying out “Mexicans”
again, but she just sighed.

“A man freaked out today and beat up one of our
customers,” Gretchen muttered. “People are so angry all of a sudden. You should
stay in the house until it settles down. Well except for school. You can go to
school.”

Saying nothing, I just smiled at Hans who smiled
back at me.

“Were the customers okay?” I asked Hans.

“More or less. Fortunately we were able to subdue
the crazed man.”

“If Hans hadn’t been there,” Gretchen said,
sighing again. “Oh, I just don’t know what would have happened.”

Gretchen glanced at Hans and I sensed the loyal
ex-boyfriend might receive a little loving this evening. I was no prude, but
Gretchen exuded asexual and I had trouble envisioning her sexing up anyone. Yet
as long as I didn’t have to hear it, or God forbid watch it, I was fine with
whatever Gretchen did. I suspected she felt the same way about me, despite her
recent announcement of my house arrest.

Demons awaited me in my room, but I ignored them
as I showered and dressed for my fun evening with Flynn. Unwilling to be
dismissed so easily, the demons forced my mom into the game.

Sitting on the bed, she stared at me and yanked at
her long red hair. Once I found a pair of beige pants and a brown sweater, I applied
eyeliner, blush, and lip gloss. Ready to go, I finally looked at my mom.

In her mid-twenties when she died, Mom looked so
young to me now, as if she were my peer instead of my parent. She lost out on
so much and I remembered how she wept at the very end as death came for her.
Afraid to die, she had even asked me to call Abby for help. By the time her
friend arrived though, Mom was gone. As Abby sobbed, I had held my mom’s hand
and stared into her blue eyes that were frozen in fear and desperation.