Blanket of Fear

Days passed after the incident in the woods, and neither Zack nor Eliza made any move to speak to one another. Within a few hours after they’d gotten back to the house, he’d come to the bedroom and taken some of his own clothing out of the closet and some toiletries, leaving Eliza alone.

Val had attempted to help make her feel better, as had Leana. Though, while Val seemed more sympathetic and understanding, Leana seemed to take Zack’s side on the whole matter. She said that he was well within his rights to try and protect Eliza the way he was. And Eliza appreciated her honesty. The brunette woman was the kind of friend she knew she could trust and count on, and it made her feel good to know that she wouldn’t sugarcoat things for the sake of Eliza’s feelings.

“You know, there’s a lot of stuff he hasn’t told you.” Jimmy’s voice said from the doorway of her bedroom, causing Eliza to look up at him with confusion. None of the guys had made any move to talk to her since the tension between Zack and herself had built up, though Leana and Val both promised that they were pretty much doing the same thing to Zack, too.

“That’s the whole point, Jimmy.” She said quietly, turning away from him and laying back down on the bed, pulling a pillow over her face. She really didn’t care to have this discussion right now. Apparently the blue-eyed man didn’t get the hint, though, because he walked into the room and closed the door anyway, taking a seat at the end of the bed and looking up at her.

“I’m not saying it’s not for your own good.” He started softly, his gaze not wavering from hers. “A lot of the stuff he’s holding back could hurt not only you, but the rest of us and the other girls, too. But…Maybe if you know just enough to keep that fact in your mind, you’ll leave it alone.”

“I’m not changing my mind.” She stated firmly, turning her head so that she wasn’t looking at him anymore. “I’m tired of being treated like a captive here. I know I don’t have any say, and I don’t have a problem with that. But if he’s lying about shit as big as you’re saying he is, he could be lying about things that don’t even matter. Hell, for all I know this whole thing with him has been a big charade.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” Jimmy replied. He sighed a few moments later, and then pushed a hand through his hair as he contemplated how to state the rest. Finally, he spoke again. “Look, I’m not taking sides, Eliza. Neither of you is right, and neither of you is wrong. It’s just one of those things that’s in the middle.”

“There is no gray, Jimmy.” Eliza retorted. “He’s either a liar or he’s not. Plain and simple.”

“Would you just shut the fuck up and listen to me for a minute, Eliza?” Jimmy asked her hotly, standing up and pulling the pillow away from her face. “There’s things about this world that you don’t understand. Things you’re never going to understand. But I want to help you at least realize that you shouldn’t crawl down the proverbial fucking rabbit hole and get yourself stuck somewhere you shouldn’t be.”

“Don’t talk to me like that, Jimmy.” She told him hotly, glaring at him. “You’re a friend, and I understand that you have things that you need to say. But don’t talk to me like I’m a goddamn child.”

“Then stop acting like it.” Jimmy replied. “And before you go calling me hypocritical, there’s a time for acting funny and there’s a time for serious shit. This would be one of the latter moments. Now, are you going to listen or do you want to figure it out the hard way?”

After a few minutes of both of them glaring at one another, Eliza sighed and her eyes softened as she laid back down on the mattress, deciding to give the blue-eyed man a chance to explain their side of the story without interruption. Jimmy took her silence as a sign that he could speak, and he started.

“He’s never told you anything about his family, has he?” Jimmy mused, studying her reaction to his words. “Where he came from, who he’s close to. You don’t know any of that shit.”

“No. I guess he didn’t think that was relevant.” She snapped, before sighing when she realized how rude that had sounded. “Go on.”

“His parents died a long time ago, along with his sister. He was born on the East coast, but his parents moved their family out here along with the rest of the settlers in the 1850s. He had an older brother, but he left home when Zack was sixteen or so. He didn’t see him again until he was twenty-two.”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Eliza asked, not wanting an entire spiel on Zack’s life. Jimmy sighed, and rolled his eyes.

“Just listen.” He told her before continuing. “His brother came back different than he’d been when he left. He was angrier, and a helluva lot more violent. He snapped, and killed their parents and sister before he turned to Zack. He didn’t kill him. He turned him.”

“What?” Eliza asked, pulling a hand to her mouth and widening her eyes in surprise. She’d had no idea that Zacky had ever had family, let alone a brother who’d killed them all. She’d had no idea that he was from the nineteenth century. After a few minutes, the shock wore down and she looked at Jimmy. “It makes me feel sympathetic for him, Jimmy, but it doesn’t change my mind. Just because he has brother issues doesn’t—”

“His brother can see his every goddamn thought, Eliza.” Jimmy spoke harshly. “If Zacky so much as thinks to himself that he loves you, or that he cares about you, Matthew will know. And he works for Sean.”

Jimmy stopped at that, letting Eliza fill in the blanks for herself. Eliza sat there, the shock returning. He…She couldn’t even begin to understand what Jimmy’s words meant, or the impact of them. If what he was saying was true—and Eliza had no doubt that it was, because if there was one thing Jimmy wasn’t, it was a liar—then it made perfect sense why Zack stayed so closed when he was around her.

It meant that he did care for her, more than she could fathom.

It meant that he very possibly had meant it when he’d said he loved her.

…It meant that she’d been wrong to doubt him.

It meant that she’d hurt him.

“Do you understand now why he doesn’t tell you things?” Jimmy asked her quietly, looking at her eyes. Eliza couldn’t find her voice as she nodded, still trying to comprehend the weight of what she’d just been told.

Jimmy got up and started walking back towards the bedroom door, but he stopped and looked at her from the doorway. “He’s in the library.”