"Okay,” I say as my hands start to shake. After a few minutes, Beast comes running out. I bend down to pet him but his fur feels wet. What the heck? Holding my hands close to my face, they look really dark. Then the light comes on and I scream. My hands are covered in blood. “Oh my God! What happened?” I say, running my hands over Beast’s body. He's red also but I can't feel any kind of cuts or holes on him. I'm shaking so badly that I have to sit on the ground. Beast immediately crawls into my lap.
"Fuck," Asher clips, coming outside. He pushes Beast off me and pulls me into his arms. “Baby, it’s okay. Calm down.”
I tho… I… I thought Beast was hurt but I couldn’t find anything wrong with him. Why is he covered in blood?” I sob while he rubs my back and pulls me tighter into him.
“Beast is fine but we need to call the police. Someone broke into the house and used something red to write on the walls. Somehow, Beast got it on him before they locked him upstairs.” Before he can finish what he’s saying, I run into my apartment. The living room is trashed. On the wall, in red letters that looks like blood, is a message.
No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon -
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! -
November!
“What the hell?” I whisper as Asher picks me up and carries me back outside.
“I know that poem. It’s November by Thomas Hood. Why would someone write that on my wall?” I ask, trying to figure out what the words mean.
“I'm not sure,” he says. I’m sure I feel him kiss the side of my head.
“I can walk, you know,” I grumble. He doesn’t answer me or put me down until he drops me in the passenger side of his jeep. With my feet out the door, he stands between my legs. His arms wrap around my body and one of his hands reaches in his back pocket for his phone.
“Hey, Dad. Gotta problem. I'm at Big Mike’s house with his daughter, November. Her apartment was broken into. Yeah, Mike’s daughter. We’re not gonna talk about that shit right now. Yeah, see ya." Closing the phone, he tosses it behind me on the driver’s seat. I'm looking down at my hands. They’re covered in red gunk and so are my jeans. All I can wonder is who would do this and why.
“Look at me, baby!” I lift my eyes to his and they are warm and concerned. “I will make sure that you are safe. I promise.”
Looking into his eyes with the jeep’s interior light reflecting off them, I can see he’s worried so I tell him about New York and being attacked before I left. He listens the whole time. His eyes turn darker and his jaw is getting tighter with every word. He shakes his head when I finish, pulling me in for a hug that I think is more for him than for me.
"Thank you for helping me," I say.
“You,” he says, kissing my head, “never have to thank me for doing something I want to do."
“Well, I'm glad you were here.” And that’s not a lie. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I had come home by myself.
"Fuck, baby, me too,” he says, letting out a long breath.
I look down at Beast, who is sitting at our feet, looking up at us and waiting to see if we’re still going for a walk or if I might have a treat. His head tilts when I start talking to him. “Looks like you’re gonna get a bath, boy.” He tilts his head the other direction. “And when you’re done, I need take one too,” I say then realized that I was, once again, talking to my dog. I look up at Asher and he’s smiling. I said the first thing that popped into my head.
"Do I look like Carrie?” He burst out laughing then kissed my forehead.
“Yeah, you’re covered from having that damn dog sit on you while you hugged him. When my dad gets here and checks everything out, you can shower.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper, horrified when I remember that his dad is the sheriff. “Your dad’s coming?”
“Yeah, baby. He's the sheriff.”
“Oh my God, your dad’s coming,” I repeat. Without thinking, I stick my hands up the front of his shirt and use it to wipe my face. "Is that better?” I ask.
"I can't believe you just did that,” he says, sounding completely shocked.
“Oh, God. Your dad’s going to meet me looking like Carrie,” I cry out. I still have my hands up his shirt so I repeat the process of wiping my face. Then I use the inside to wipe my hands. I look up because he's not saying anything.
"I can't believe you just did that.”
“Okay! So, is most of the red off my face?” I ask.
“You owe me a new shirt,” he tells me.
"Fine, whatever. But is the red gone?”
“Yeah, baby. The red is mostly gone but now I don't know if I should kiss you or spank you for that shit."
“Whatever," I whisper and press my forehead against his chest to hide my huge smile. My belly was doing acrobatics at the thought of him kissing me. Two minutes later, red and blue lights flash up the driveway and two police cars pull in next to Asher’s jeep. Looking around Asher's big body, I see a very tall man with grey hair mixed with dirty blond walking towards us. This must be his dad.
“Dad, this is November,” Asher says, taking a step back. Then, he pulls me from the seat. When my feet hit the ground, he puts his arm around me, dragging me into his body. His dad is smiling when he walks towards us.