From the Dust

From the Dust - Part 5

Joel stared at him, and then swore softly. "I completely forgot. I'm sorry, Leo. If I'd known, I wouldn't have let you go."

"They know I'm here!" Leo shrieked. He sounded ... terrified.

"What's so bad about Joel's family?" I asked, rubbing my neck.

"WHAT'S SO BAD -" Leo spun a frantic circle and dug his hands through his hair.

"Hey, calm down," Joel said, trying to sit him down in his chair.

"They want to kill me!"

"Are they werewolves, too?" I asked.

"Yes! And they want to kill me!" Leo screeched.

"They don't -" Joel started.

"Ben and Seth tied me up in the back yard at noon! At noon, Joel! Do you know what's out at noon?"

"Hot girls?" Joel suggested.

"THE SUN IS OUT AT NOON, JOEL."

"Ouch." I winced just thinking about it. "You mean -"

"Hands behind my back, ankles tied together, duct taped my mouth shut so I couldn't even scream -" Leo could barely talk; he was breathing so hard.

"Animal abuse," Joel declared.

Leo hit him hard. "This isn't funny, Joel! It identifies as torture! I don't think you've ever been laying there, helpless as you feel yourself quite literally burning up and you can't even cry for help! You weren't even home!"

"It wasn't that long -"

"I was there for four hours!" Leo paced back and forth, chewing on his finger. Apparently, his finger wasn't satisfying enough, because he tipped his hand over and bit into his wrist. I winced as I saw the scarlet blood trickle down his arm, but I didn't say anything.

"Leo ..." Joel whined.

"Shut up," he growled through the mouthful of flesh. I quickly realized how disgusting that sounded and tried to rephrase it, but it was too late. It was forever burned in my mind.

"When will they be here?" I asked.

"At about nine tomorrow morning," Joel said. "If I remember correctly."

"They'll be here by seven," Leo muttered. "They were close."

"How could you tell?" I shifted nervously in my chair.

"Werewolves stink. I could smell them."

Joel put his hand on his heart in mock offence. "How dare you insult me like that, you stinking leech!"

"Shut up, you mutt."

Joel grinned, flashing slightly pointed teeth. "Cannibal."

Leo's pale face turned red in embarrassment, and he dropped his hand to his side. "Flea bag," he hissed.

"Night crawler."

"Scruffy tramp."

"Life-sucker."

"Butt-sniffer."

"Filthy half-blood."

"That was uncalled for," Leo growled, balling his hands into fists.

"Guys," I said quickly, hoping to break up the fight before it got out of hand.

They both turned to look at me, and we were silent for a minute. Then Joel's eyes lit up, and he said, "Can I call you Chum Bucket?"