Along Came a Spider Ch. 04

"...What do you mean by that?" she asked slowly, but just as quickly as it had come, the moodiness in Lily's demeanor had vanished. She grinned down at her, all wild, peppy cheer again.

"Nothing. I was just kidding around. Anyway, why don't you give me a call tonight? Just to check in or whatever. If you're not, you know. Busy." Her eyebrows waggled at that last word, turning it into something obscene, and Tabitha snorted.

"Sure," she said. Lily knelt to toss her cigarette into a nearby trash bin, and Tabitha threw hers to the ground and stomped it out. "Tell your parents I say hi."

"Mmhm," said Lily. She drifted back around the corner, her heels click-clacking rhythmically against the ground, and then Tabitha was left alone with the bricks and the asphalt to wonder what she could have possibly done wrong.

And, on top of everything, the sunlight was almost gone.

She tiptoed into her apartment while the sky was still tinged a dark violet from the retreated sun, shutting her door with a slow, quiet, steady patience that might have shamed competitive Jenga players. Still, as she crept into her bedroom, she could just barely make out the muffled babble of television conversation from the other side of the wall. James had probably been up for half an hour already. Of all the times for a vampire to suddenly and forcefully enter her life, she wondered why it had to be right on the cusp of winter, when he would have nearly half of the entire day to prowl the building and listen for her footsteps.

Tabitha changed into her pajamas in perfect silence, moving like her apartment was a game of Operation and she was the pair of metal tongs. Once she had tossed her work clothes into the hamper, she padded quietly into the living room wielding a half-empty box of cookies and a tattered paperback fantasy novel she had picked up for fifty cents at a used bookstore eons and eons ago. She slumped into a sofa, peeled back the cover of her book, and she tried her hardest to lose herself in the walls of miniscule text. Maybe she would be alright. Maybe all she had to do was be quiet and keep to herself, change a bit of her schedule around. She had the advantage of knowing his schedule, after all, and if she played her cards right, she might just never see him again.

Her eyes wavered over the text in front of her. Never see him again. That thought did not elicit the desired effect. She closed her eyes and tried again, imagining a faraway dimension in which apartment 201B continued to remain gloriously unoccupied. When her eyes opened, she huddled a little deeper into the cushions and hugged her knees against her chest, her expression guarded. There was relief there, of course, but the idea of his absence also brought forth a little pang of...discomfort.

A familiar noise split her thoughts, and she tilted her head slightly towards the far wall as the sound of muffled footsteps was joined by the click of a latch and the creak of old hinges. Her body tensed as those footsteps grew slightly louder and closer, echoing in the empty chasm of the building hall, and when they stopped outside of her door, she held the book very close to her mouth, as if the paper could stifle the sounds of her breathing.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

She sank, wide-eyed, even deeper into the sofa, praying for the fabric to swallow her up and hide her in a sea of fluffy acrylic stuffing. After the last knock, there was a long silence. Even though it had Tabitha shaking from the effort of controlling her breath and her treacherous, quivering limbs, the length of that silence didn't seem menacing; rather, it was almost awkward, like the person on the other side of the door was just thinking very hard about what to say.

"Tabitha," James's voice finally said, and she flinched. "I don't know if you're home, but..." He paused and cleared his throat. "Well, I thought I heard the door..." There was another pause---just long enough for someone to close their eyes, let out a long, steadying breath, and look heavenwards to try to compose their thoughts and ease their self-loathing---and when James spoke again, he sounded almost exhausted. "...I'm sorry. You know how thin the walls are. But I'll be leaving for work in a few hours, and I was wondering if your offer was still good for those books."

Tabitha bit her lip, trying to ignore the guilt that was suddenly stinging at her like a swarm of bees. There certainly couldn't be any reason for her to feel guilty, but the sincerity in James's voice was a drill bit spiraling deep into her chest. From the other side of the wall, James waited quietly for a response, and then Tabitha heard him slide his palm against the door before turning and padding back down the hallway. The door creaked shut after a moment, but he didn't turn the lock. It was probably the loneliest sound she had ever heard.

The next day, Tabitha got up at sunrise to do her laundry. Despite her guilt, she cursed James all the way down the dimly-lit stairs, balancing the plastic basket haphazardly in her arms.

There was a woman she didn't know in the laundry room with her, and the two of them exchanged timid hellos while they sorted through their clothes. She had a silver ring threaded through the center of her lip, and her brown hair fell to just past her jaw. She might have been in her thirties. Tabitha didn't remember seeing her around the apartment building before, but when she saw the woman pull out a tiny, pastel-colored onesie from her basket, her heart lurched. For the very first time, (and she was astounded and somewhat ashamed that it was, in fact, the very first time the thought had crossed her mind), Tabitha found herself wondering what sort of calamity she was inviting into the building by keeping James a secret. Then again, she didn't know who she was supposed to tell.

That night, she bid adieu to Luke and abandoned the 10:45 bus ride home in favor of parking herself in a stool in the bar across the street. The building was loud and warm and lit awkwardly with colorful lights here and there, casting the well-polished wooden bar into something prismatic. She nursed her first Jack and Coke for an inordinate amount of time, then tried her hardest to politely ignore the bartender after he comped her second one and tried to strike up a conversation. He was just trying to be nice, she was sure of it. But she had made enough new friends in the past week, and, quite truthfully, the prospect of making any more terrified her. She eyed him pensively every time he retreated to the taps, studying his tousled blond hair and impressive moustache. He was a bit hairy. With her luck, that probably meant he was a werewolf or something.

She left the bar at half-past twelve with a bit of a stumble in her step. Before she slipped out the door, however, she saw that man---Bob, she remembered---leaning over the counter to talk to the loquacious barkeep. She wondered if she should pass Luke's regards on to him, but ultimately thought better of it. She wasn't a busybody, and she didn't really feel like talking to anybody anyway.

But, when she finally returned home, she found that her plan had worked. She walked into her kitchen that night and heard the gentle white noise of various appliances humming, and absolutely nothing else. Not the ghosts of TV personalities chattering from beyond the walls. Not the patter of footsteps or the clatter of keys on countertops. James was at 'work', whatever that was. Maybe he was printing something. Maybe he was slurping the life out of some unsuspecting pedestrian. But she didn't have to think about that anymore. That wasn't her problem. At least, she tried to convince herself that it wasn't.

All she had to do, she thought as she buried herself beneath a thick nest of blankets, was develop a slight alcohol habit. And then maybe life would return to normal.

Life, on the other hand, seemed to have other plans for Tabitha.

"You aren't walking home tonight, are you?" Luke asked as he swooped down to relieve her of half of the register drawers she was carrying. Grateful for the absence of their weight, Tabitha flashed him a brief smile while she fiddled with the store keys.

"I wish you'd stop worrying so much. It really isn't that bad," she told him. She inserted the proper key and turned it, and the bookkeeping room door opened with a faint squeal.

Luke frowned. "There's supposed to be a cold snap tonight. It's already colder than...well, I don't really know. But it's damned cold. Just don't want you getting caught in the middle of it."

Tabitha deposited the register drawers onto the counter, then knelt down to punch in the code to the safe. "I brought my parka."

"It's not really parka weather, Tabitha," Luke said from beside her, sounding incredulous. "It's just not the sort of weather you want to wander around in."

"Mmm," Tabitha said absentmindedly as she inserted the drawers and rotated them slightly.

"I'll tell you what," he said, his fingers drumming a steady pattern on the metal counter. "Why don't I give you a ride home tonight? Everything's shut down well enough as it is. You can call it a night early and head out with me."

In her horror, Tabitha's fingers slipped on the safe door. "What?" she yelped as the safe shut with a deafening slam. "I mean...really, I don't mind taking the bus---"

"It's no trouble. I barely have to detour to drop you off."

"It's just---" Tabitha stood and rubbed her eyes frantically, trying to think of any reason why she couldn't accept his offer. She certainly couldn't just tell him that she planned to hide away in a bar for the next several hours. "I...I have to stop for groceries first."

"We can make a stop. I was thinking I needed to pick up some eggs, anyway. My daughter's visiting for the weekend---needed someplace quiet to study for midterms. Figured I'd whip us up some breakfast tomorrow," he finished cheerfully, giving her a brilliant, fatherly smile that wouldn't have been out of place on a Brady Bunch episode.

Tabitha fidgeted in place, her mind racing as she tried to summon up some new excuse. "I still haven't mopped," she began, but he snorted dismissively.

"I'll have Jenny do it when she opens tomorrow. Skipping a night won't do any harm." He looked down at her and raised his eyebrows, and Tabitha cringed when she realized that she was standing with her arms tightly crossed, gripping her elbows with white knuckles. "You alright, there?"

"...I'm fine."

"Well, finish locking up the bookkeeping room and grab your coat. I'm sure everything's already iced over, but they're talking about sleet later and I don't want to drive in that insanity. You know?"

"Yeah," Tabitha said, kicking the door shut mutinously behind her as Luke strolled back towards the front of the store and gathered up his coat.

The trip to the grocery store quickly became awkward when Tabitha realized that she hadn't composed a mental list of things she actually needed to buy. There was jam, of course, and some bread, but near the end of it, she found herself moseying around the shelves while Luke tailed her uncertainly. Cans of soup, maybe, she thought as she tipped a few into her basket. Some apples, too.

"Is there...is there anything else?" Luke asked, and she looked up from a display of butter crackers to blink miserably at him. There wasn't anything else. She wished there was.

"I think that's it," she admitted sadly. And then she sauntered up to the counter with him and watched the cashier ring up her groceries with a feeling of overwhelming gloom. She should have just saved her money. She would probably be dead soon, anyway.

She kept her panic bottled up when Luke pulled up to her apartment complex, and even managed a grateful smile while she gathered up her grocery bags and wrenched the car door open. It was nearly ten thirty, and even if she was home early, James had most likely departed for the night.

The smile quickly vanished from her face when Luke withdrew the keys from the ignition and ducked out of the driver's side door. He shut it behind him and moved to join Tabitha's side.

"What are you doing?" she asked slowly.

He shrugged. "This courtyard's always been a little sketchy. I figured I'd walk to you to the door."

Tabitha shook her head. "Look, I've lived here forever---"

"It can't hurt to be seen walking around with a big guy, right? People will know not to mess with you," he chuckled, but she only pursed her lips and stared woefully at the concrete. He seemed to sense her dismay, and the smile slowly slid off his face. "It'll make me feel a little better," he pressed, and she let out a long sigh.

"Sure," she said in a monotonous voice. "Thanks."

As they approached the apartment building, Tabitha's insides did a weird somersault. Standing in front of the doorway, as casual as always, was James. Although the harshness of the fluorescent light above him blotted out most of his features and rendered him into a shadowy silhouette, she thought she could see a pair of dark, glittering irises watch them advance. Oh, no.

"I'm really fine one my own," she said suddenly, but Luke just laughed.

"Come on, it's twenty more feet," he said. "I'll walk you to the door, and then I'll go. I wouldn't feel right making you walk alone." She exhaled steadily through her nose and lengthened her strides.

As she reached the door, Tabitha dropped her eyes to her purse and began to search for her keys, praying that it made her look aloof and disinterested. "James."

"Tabitha," James said. After her name had fallen from his lips, he took a long pull from his cigarette and rested his gaze on Luke.

Luke chanced a glance at her neighbor as Tabitha fished around for her keys, and James's mouth split into a horribly wide grin. The blood quickly drained from Luke's face.

"Friend of yours?" James inquired, eventually letting his smile fade and bringing that cigarette back up to his lips.

"This is my boss. He gave me a ride home."

"How kind of him," said James, keeping his gaze trained steadily on Luke, who suddenly seemed to be rather preoccupied with something on the ground. Which was...unexpected, Tabitha thought, considering that Luke had a good four inches on James, as well as fifty pounds, at the very least. Maybe James just had that effect on people.

"James, meet Luke," she finally sighed, feeling defeated. "Luke, this is my neighbor, James." As she spoke, James's eyebrows rose ever so slightly, but other than that, his face stayed carefully blank.

"Great to meet you," Luke stuttered. James said nothing. "I'll...I'll see you tomorrow, Tabitha," he said after a moment of awkward silence, and Tabitha stifled a sigh.

"'Bye," she said gloomily, and Luke forced a wide smile and retreated into the courtyard. Tabitha could feel James's eyes on her as she yanked out her keys and shoved one of them into the lock. "You're horrible," she muttered, momentarily letting her fury override her desire for a long and healthy life. "Absolutely horrible." He watched her expressionlessly and took another drag from his cigarette as she wrenched the door open, and after a brief moment of silence, she looked away and stomped past him into the building.

"Well, golly, Tabs," Lily said. Tabitha could practically hear her eyes rolling. "Have you tried, I don't know, talking to him?"

Tabitha wiggled her foot rapidly against her knee, her cell phone pressed hard against her cheek. The back of her neck felt clammy. She was huddled on the couch in her living room, the area furthest away from James's apartment, and wondering how Lily could find the heart to make light of her very dire situation. "What? No---I don't want to talk to him," she hissed. "That's the whole point! I don't want to talk to him, I don't want to see him, I just want to pretend that nothing ever happened and that he stopped existing!"

"You know, they tell stories on the internet about people like you," Lily said. She paused for a moment, and Tabitha heard a loud crunch from the other end of the line. When she spoke again, it sounded like her mouth was full. "People who just go dark after a while. I think they call it ghosting. And I think it's widely regarded as a dick move."

"It's not ghosting if you only went on one date. That just means it didn't work out." Tabitha gnawed viciously on her thumbnail. "We are not in a relationship and I owe him nothing," she finished in a determined voice, feeling like an article in a women's magazine.

"Yeah, you don't owe him jack shit, but that doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it." Tabitha heard her swallow. "I still think it's funny that he thought you and Luke were a thing. See? I told you that you and the bossman had chemistry---"

Tabitha swallowed down a frustrated groan and looked heavenwards in exasperation. "Jesus, Lily! Can you be serious for just one second?!"

"I was being serious---"

"You're over there making jokes, and I---I---" She lowered her voice to a tiny, furious whisper. "I am here in my apartment with the doors locked, trying to hide from a jealous vampire! This is serious! This is not good!"

"Look, you can come over if you want," Lily said. "I really don't mind. But maybe you should...you know. Give it to him face-to-face. I mean, what if he isn't a vampire? Then you'll just feel like a piece of shit."

Tabitha let out a lamenting sigh. "I already feel like a piece of shit," she admitted glumly.

"Then go assuage your guilt or whatever. He seems reasonable enough. He'll probably let you live if you dump him." Another crunch. "I can't say the same for Luke, though," she added, her voice muffled from around whatever it was she was eating.

"That's not funny."

"You know I'm just messing with you." Tabitha sat in silence as Lily chewed, and after she swallowed, she seemed to hesitate. "So...blood vomit? Really?"

"Yeah."

"Yikes."

"I know."

"It's kind of cute, though. I bet he knew it would happen. Which means..." She took another bite of whatever it was she was eating and chewed gleefully before continuing. "...he did it just for you."

Tabitha shut her eyes and let out a long breath. "You're not helping."

"Whatever. Just dump him and come over. Oh, fair warning: dad was talking about a Scrabble night earlier."

"That's fine. I like Scrabble."

"Then bring your A-game, bitch. I'll talk to you soon. Oh, and, uh...good luck."

"'Bye." The line went dead.

Soon after she pocketed her phone, Tabitha began to creep cautiously around her apartment, stuffing various articles of clothing into a purple backpack she had lying in her closet. That wasn't like her, she thought. She usually had everything folded and tucked, bagged and organized by function. But tonight, that didn't seem to matter. She fished out a pair of socks from the pile of clean clothes she hadn't had time to put away, drew out some random blouse from the depths of it, then went searching for panties. All of her toiletries were crammed into a grocery sack---that grocery sack, the one that Lex had given her. She stared down at it, gripping the straps to test the bag's tangibility. It was real enough. Not like the door she saw on Sunday, or the man behind the old, wooden counter.

Tabitha shook her head as she shoved the bag into her backpack, then slunk out of her apartment and into the hallway. When she shut and locked her door, the noises rang out like church bells in the silence of the hallway. She waited there cautiously for several seconds but, if James heard it, (and she was positive that he did), he didn't come to investigate. Now that she was out in the hall, she realized that she couldn't hear a single sound coming from his apartment, and for whatever reason, that hurt most of all. More than Lily's snark, more than the optimistic pleas she heard him make from the other side of her door two days ago.