Hunt

That might be enough to keep him down. . .Next, I run.

More noise sounded from the bathroom.

What the hell is he doing?

The hairs on the back of my neck stood.

When I got to the doorway, I peered in.

My mouth dropped open.

What the. . .

Cain stood in front of the sink. He had the bathroom’s small trash can on the counter. For some psychotic reason, he’d been rummaging through it. There were a stack of plastic Ziploc bags next to the faucet that must’ve been his as if he’d brought it to pack my things.

But that wasn’t the shocking part.

Cain held one of my bloody tampons in the air, a few inches in front of his face.

My period had ended yesterday. I always rolled up my tampons in the plastic wrapper and tissue to shield the smell. Then, I tossed it into the trash. I planned to empty the trash this morning.

Cain curiously gazed at the reddish brown cotton dangling from the string as if it were the answer to every question of universe.

Crazy. Simply crazy!

With the tampon unwrapped, the scent filled the air and even hit me out in the hallway. And it was not the fragrance of roses. It was the pungent perfume of a woman’s monthly cycle, degraded and boiled into a sour red mess and sealed into cotton.

Clearly, that wasn’t a problem for Cain.

So captivated, he brought the tampon to his nose, closed his eyes, and inhaled. A low, lusty grumble left his chest.

Jesus Christ, I’ve got to get the hell out of here!

I raced toward the bedroom.

“Phoenix!” Cain’s deep voice echoed through me.

Against all logic, I froze in front of the bedroom doorway.

His voice sounded far behind me. “If you’re hoping to get the gun from the closet, it’s unloaded too.”

He really was in here for a good bit while I slept.

Pissed, I turned around. “How did you find my gun in my closet?”

Now, he stood in the hallway. Instead of looking my way, he continued to sniff at the old, bloodied tampon. “It’s a common place for guns, but more importantly, I brought a mini-metal detector that has a vibration mode. It helps me find concealed weapons when I go into someone’s home.”

He twirled the tampon like a toy and grinned at it.

I gazed at him in disgust.

He sniffed it, again. “I don’t think you have any other options.”

“I always have options.” I gripped the knife’s rose-carved handle hard. “Lots and lots of them.”

“You don’t have many.” With his other gloved hand, he flicked the tampon in front of his face. “Let’s consider them.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“You can rush for the windows, but I’d stop you before getting out of any window.”

“You could try.”

“And if you get out the window.” He inhaled the tampon again. “My brothers would get you.”

“Maybe they will. Maybe they won’t.”

“They’re working with each other to guard the apartment’s parameter. They’re also able to communicate with each other.” He squeezed the tampon.

My stomach twisted. “I’m not scared of your brothers. One is holding a fucking invisible rock concert. The other is watching a porno with donuts. I’ll take my chances.”

“Griff likes donuts.”

“Clearly.”

“He’ll stop you.”

“Maybe.”

“They know how much you mean to me.”

“You don’t even know me.”

He twisted the stained cotton string around, making the tampon dangle from side to side. “Can we talk?”

“Can you put my tampon back in the trash?!”

He moved his view from the tampon and gazed at me with curiosity. “Why do you want me to put it back in the trash?”

“Because it’s weird. It’s gross. It’s insane.”

“Weird maybe. Insane sure. But it’s not gross. It’s you.” He put the tampon in his pocket as if it were a snack for later.

And I had nothing to say. What did a person say to that?

Cain prowled forward. “We need to talk.”

“No. No. No.” I backed up and held the utensils in front of me. “Maybe, we don’t need to talk face-to-face. Maybe, it could be through email or on the phone.”

He gave me a sad smile. “I’ve missed your sense of humor.”

“I miss you being in your chapel and my being far away.” I inched back more.

“That distance you speak of. . .” He took a huge step forward. “It will never happen again.”

Lies. I’ll get away from him.

I kept my knife ready and raised the spatula-fork combo in the air.

He eyed the silverware in my hands. “What are you going to do with the spatula?”

I sneered. “Whatever I need to do.”

A loud, dark chuckle left him. “There’s no other Phoenix in this world. Do you understand?”

“I’m just one person—”

“That I can’t leave alone.”

“You can. You’re just on some psycho bullshit.”

“When I changed from Cole to Cain, life became hopeless. The world darkened. And there was no God.”

My heart ached.

Don’t listen to him. Don’t let yourself care for him.

I gritted my teeth. “Leave me alone.”