Among the Dead

Alex

I told him the whole story. From his call this morning to my call this afternoon. The entire time, he just sat and listened, nodding his head every so often.
When I was finished, he cleared his throat, and said, "That's one hell of a story."
I furrowed my brows, and asked, "Do you believe me?"
"Of course I do! Of course I do! I just..." Peter said, leaning towards me to reassure me that he did, in fact, believe me.
"You just what?" I questioned when he didn't finish.
"I just...I don't know why you called me," Peter admitted, looking up from his drink to look at me.
I didn't answer. Instead, I sheepishly looked down at my lap.
"Why did you call me, Alexandra?" Peter pried.
I shrugged my shoulders, still not looking up at him.
"I guess I just wanted advice instead of sympathy," I explained, finally lifting my eyes to his.
"You wanted advice? From me? Aaaawwww, Alexandra, I'm flattered," Peter gloated, laughing the last part. He threw his arm over the back of the booth, looking extremely pleased with himself.
I chuckled with him. "Keep on dreaming, Peter Mills," I sassed.
He laughed at the fact that I used his full name, and I couldn't help but smile at his dimples.
It was weird. This new feeling growing inside of me. It was like I appreciated Peter now. Respected him more. Now that he's listened to my problems, and he didn't laugh in my face about them, I seemed to really like this guy.
He caught me staring, and I blushed and looked away.
Oh my God, Alex...what are you doing?! You can't be.....attracted to him! He's a cop! He's way older than you!
"Am I sensing some attraction, Alexandra?" Peter asked, smirking.
I scoffed. "Not a chance, Pete," I stated confidently, pretending like I wasn't in any way attracted to him.
But really, how could you not be attracted to him? He was tall, muscular, handsome. He had these deep brown eyes, beautiful brown skin, and strong features. He was gorgeous, in other words.
When I realized that I was staring at his lips, while chewing on my own, I snapped out of it. Luckily, Peter hadn't noticed.
"So how about that advice?" Peter asked, setting his drink down.
"How old are you?" I blurted out, before I could even stop myself. It was the thing that was on my mind since I realized that I was attracted to him.
Oh my God....quit embarrassing yourself! Dumbass! Dumbass! Dumbass!
"I mean...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..." I stammered, trying to cover up the embarrassing question.
I shoved my face into my hands, and peeked through my fingers to see his reaction.
Peter looked down to his lap, a smile plastered to his face.
"No, it's fine, Alexandra. Really. You're fine," Peter answered.
"I can't believe...okay...real question..." I went on, desperately trying to change the subject.
"No, no, let me answer your first question," Peter said, seriously.
"No, Peter, you really don't-"
"I want to," he said, smiling at me. His smile was different now. More...real. Less playful. "I can't let a question go unanswered. I'm twenty-seven," he responded, honestly.
I gave him an awkward smile, no clue how to respond.
We sat there, staring and smiling at each other like two love birds. It got less awkward the longer it went on.
I couldn't believe it. The world, for all we knew, was ending, and all I could do was flirt with the cop.
Peter was the one to break the staring contest, and I rolled my eyes at myself for letting it go on that long.
"So...how about the real advice?" Peter asked, looking back up at me again.
"Right," I said, clearing my throat. "What should I do about my brothers?" I asked.
Peter looked confused. "Care to elaborate?"
"Well, this isn't the first time I told them something and they didn't believe me. They didn't believe my Mara story, either. Hell, they even laughed about it! What do I do?" I asked, desperately.
Peter leaned back, and stroked the back of his neck in thought.
"Well....you can't."
"I can't?"
"Nope."
"What do you mean I can't?"
"You can't make someone believe something, Alex. You can influence and persuade, but not make. People believe in what they want to believe in," Peter explained.
I nodded my head in understanding. I had known all along, deep down, but I guess I needed to hear someone else say it.
"So....what should I do if I see that man again, or another one like him?" I asked.
"Stay the hell away from 'em!" Peter exclaimed, taking a sip from his cup.
"No shit, Pete," I said, glaring at him. "But what if it's something I can't avoid? What do I do?"
"Call me. I'll come save you," Peter flirted, winking.
"This ain't a damn game, Peter," I laughed, throwing a balled up napkin at him. "This is an endemic!"
"I wish you would have called me earlier, Alex," Peter said, his smile fading, changing the mood.
"Why?" I asked.
"To leave a dangerous, deranged human being out in the woods isn't necessarily the smartest thing to do. Not to mention he and the evidence were gone when you went home," Mills explained.
"I was scared, Pete. I didn't know what to do," I said, sorrowfully.
"It's alright, Alexandra. It happens," he said softly, looking into my eyes. We stayed like that for a second linger than it needed to be. I was really starting to like this guy.
"Last question..." I said, breaking the eye contact, and leaning back into my seat. "How old do you have to be to carry a concealed weapon?"
"21, why?" he answered.
I shrugged, pretending like I was just curious, when really, I wanted to protect myself from those bastards. If they were going to attack animals, even humans, I wanted to be prepared.
Peter studied me, looking confused, but then understanding crossed his face.
"You can't shoot them, Alexandra. They're just sick people. They still have family members and friends. People who care about them. People they care about."
I nodded my head, pretending like I understood. But I was still strong on my idea of getting a gun. I didn't care if I was underage. I didn't care if they were just sick. If one attacked, I was going to shoot it without hesitation. I knew I sounded like a crazy bitch without humanity, but you have to understand that these people were dangerous. And whenever I was around one, something in my gut told me to get the hell out of there. That these things aren't just sick. They're gone. They're dead. There's no stopping it. Maybe this was what my mind was trying to tell me. That these people were what couldn't be stopped. We just had to be ready for them.
"I like you....Alexandra," I heard Pete say, pulling me back from my thoughts. I looked up at him, surprised.
"You're daring and you have a lot of potential....I like that in a woman," Peter said, smiling.
For some reason, I felt very uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me. But I soon relaxed, and smiled back.
Blushing, I looked away, and said, "You know...you never told me who I'm talking to. Peter, or Officer Mills?"
Peter chuckled, and said, "Baby, with you there is no difference."
I blushed even harder and looked away again. Damn...I thought I could keep up this game without blushing like an idiot.
"Well you are just filled with flattery, aren't you?" I finally replied.
"Like I said before....I like you....a lot," Peter said, looking more passionate than playful.
Before we could go on and stare at each other for another half hour, I cleared my throat, and said, "I better go. It's getting late."
I got out my wallet, but Peter grabbed it, saying, "No. I'm paying."
"The hell you are! You had to sit here and listen to my bullshit drama for an hour straight! You are not paying!" I demanded.
"Alexandra," Peter said, giving me his best intimidating look. It fazed me a little, but only because he was a man of authority. But soon, I was able to look past it.
I scoffed, and stood. "Oh, please! I live with my two older brothers. I'm immune to that look!"
"Yeah? Well can your brothers do this?" Peter asked, hand cuffing me to the table.
"Wha-!" I said, startled at what he had just done.
Peter walked to the register and paid with his own money.
As he was walking back, I called out, "You can't do this! This is illegal!" not really sure whether it was really illegal or not.
"Yeah, well then you can press charges," Peter joked.
"This is police brutality!" I said, as he got closer.
Peter walked right in front of me, mere inches away from my face. He towered over my 5,2 self, and gave me a daring smile. My breath hitched into my throat at how close he was. I could feel his body heat radiating off of him.
"Not yet it isn't...." he said in a low voice so that only I could hear him.
He bit his lip as I looked up into his eyes. They were filled with wicked humor. Telling me he was "imagining" things.
Slowly, he started to dip his head. My heart pounded in my ears, and I felt light headed. If I could move away from him, I would. This made me very uncomfortable. He made me very uncomfortable. But he had me pinned to the table, not to mention hand cuffed as well.
I closed my eyes, waiting for him to get it over with, but instead, I felt his head turn, and go down my neck.
"Sorry for the confusion, Miss Alexandra. You've been pardoned by the state of Ohio. You're free to go," he whispered in my ear, unhand-cuffing me.
As he backed away, he smirked at me. I stared at him in disbelief.
What in the hell just happened?!
"Yeah....okay....bye," I said, awkwardly, turning to leave.
"Alexandra!" Peter called out.
I turned around to face him once more.
"Stay safe, now, ya hear?" he said, a serious expression crossing his face.
I couldn't help but believe there to be a double meaning behind that.
I nodded my head, and turned to walk out the door.

»•« »•«

When I got home, I found Cort in the kitchen, scarfing down a whole plate of pizza rolls.
"Where the hell were you? You didn't make dinner!" Cort scolded, his mouth full.
I rolled my eyes. "For God's sake, make your own damn dinner!" I hollered back.
"Well, where the hell were you? I was worried sick!" Cort yelled back.
"It's none of your damn business, and if you really did care about me, then you would believe me when I'd say that there are people out there who are eating other human beings!" I spat, walking from the kitchen.
"The hell it ain't any of my damn business! You are my sister! You are my responsibility! You better tell me where you were, or I will be scraping you off of the front of my bumper! Where the fuck were you?" he practically screamed.
I turned around to face him, a dangerous smirk on my face.
"You wanna know where I was?" I asked. "I was out with Peter Mills! Your favorite person!"
I ran up the steps, slamming, and locking the door to my bedroom. Not even two seconds later, Cort was banging on my door and yelling. I turned on my radio, and turned it up as loud as I possibly could just to drown out the noise of Cort yelling and screaming.