Leech 01 Caleo Read online

  Caleo chuckled as he slid on the pants. “Did they leave my backpack?” Caleo looked around the room for any sign of his stuff.

  “No, but it looks like they left your notes and homework.” Jack pointed to a pile of ripped up notebooks and papers.

  “Well, at least that’s one good thing.” Caleo pulled the shirt over his head.

  Jack helped Caleo to his feet. “You okay to walk?”

  “Yeah, help me round up my...” Caleo walked over to the pile of homework and found them soaked in foul smelling urine. “Oh, never mind, they pissed on them.”

  “Oh, well. Not like you were actually going to study. And I’m sure you can borrow the notes off someone later. Now, let's get out of here.” Jack wrapped the towel around his shoulders and started walking to the door. “What’s wrong?”

  Caleo stood in front of the mirror, gingerly touching the puffy skin around his eye. “Nothing it’s just … I’ll have this great big black eye and I don’t even want to tell this story to anyone.”

  “Let’s go.” Jack motioned Caleo out the door.

  “You know this is your fault.” Caleo lightly pushed into Jack with his shoulder.

  “Oh … and I’m sure your mouth had nothing to do with it.” Jack nudged Caleo back with a smile. He couldn’t help but smile back.

  “It was great! You should have seen it.” Caleo excitedly told him the story on their way out.

  Getting out of the school was easy because everyone was so wrapped up in the news, that no one even noticed them walking out the front door. The trip home was a seven mile walk, but the boys had become conditioned to it by skipping out of school early a few times each month. The first four miles were always great. They would usually stop at the gas station on the corner, on the first mile, picking up some Twinkies and a Coke. On the second mile there was a small truck stop with an arcade that made the rest of the trip more enjoyable any other day, but today it just annoyed Caleo because everyone who knew them kept asking about his black eye.

  “Damn it, Jack! Can’t we just go? My head is pounding.” Caleo held one hand to the side of his head to make the lie more convincing. In truth, his head had stopped hurting a while ago, but he needed an excuse to escape this constant interrogation.

  Caleo was annoyed when Jack didn’t even take his eyes off his Heart of the Destroyer arcade machine. “Okay, let me finish this life. Then we can go,” Jack said.

  Caleo rolled his eyes, knowing that it could take Jack forever to lose this game. He held the highest score for the last two years. Great, I think I would have been better off at school.

  Caleo turned and walked out into the diner area. Once there, he read the caption on the TV in the corner, which said: The President and four White House staff members were found dead in the White House. The coroner’s office said their hearts just stopped beating. No other injuries were found. An artist rendering of a man appeared on the left side and the news anchor said, “Here is an illustration of a man the authorities are calling a person of interest. Call your local authorities if you know this man,” while a video played in the corner of the screen.

  In the video, a man walked up to a woman dressed in a suit and shook her hand. When the man let go of her hand, she collapsed to the floor as if she’d passed out. The man then stepped over the woman and walked down the nearest hallway. The reporter came back on and reminded everyone that this man was only a person of interest and to contact local authorities if anyone had seen him, Soon, a picture of Caleo’s school came up on the screen, but Caleo shook his head and walked away as truckers gathered around the TV, blocking it from view. The noise muted the reporter, so he decided to go outside to find a nice, shady tree and take a nap until Jack finished.

  He found a picnic table under a large oak tree. Lying his head down on his folded arms he closed his eyes, but couldn't fall asleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the boy from the bathroom. He snapped out of his daydream at the sound of footsteps approaching. He lifted his head, but saw no one, so he put his head back in his arms and listened for the steps again. Sure enough, they continued to get closer. Confused, Caleo got up from the picnic bench and looked around.

  “Who’s there?” He whirled around, looking for any sign of someone hiding. “I know you’re there, Jack! You might as well come out!”

  “Okay,” a woman’s voice softly whispered in Caleo’s ear.

  Caleo felt someone jump on his back and wrap their arms around his neck. He looked down, but saw nothing. He could feel the weight and the strangulation, but couldn’t see them. As panic set in, he did the first thing he could think of and fell backwards towards the picnic table. If you’re not real this is going to hurt me a lot. The grip around his neck loosened as an invisible barrier hit the table and a cry of pain screeched inside Caleo’s ears. Then, the person let go altogether, leaving Caleo gasping for air. What the hell is going on? First the guy in the bathroom, now this. A moment later he was pinned to the ground, getting punched in the face over and over again. Grabbing at air in front of him, he managed to find something hard and pushed against it. Whatever was on top of him would not budge. Caleo noticed that he could see little puffs of breath appearing from out of thin air. It’s almost summer, how can I see my breath? He turned his head and saw frost forming on the grass, creeping outward by the second. There was a scream of pain and Caleo felt the weight roll off of him. He heard a fury of footsteps going off into the wooded patch behind the table.

  I’m out of here! Barely taking time to catch his breath, Caleo jumped to his feet and ran for the door of the truck stop. Just as he reached it, he saw Jack walking out, the manager of the store right on his heels looking mad until he opened the door to leave. Slowing his pace so as not to look scared, Caleo checked his appearance and noticed that the knees of his pants had a layer of mud sticking to them. When he reached down to brush it off, he found that the mud was frozen solid to his jeans. Hoping Jack wouldn’t notice, Caleo walked up to him.

  “Did you beat your score?” he asked, trying to hide the fear in his voice.

  “No. They kicked me out. No shirt, no shoes.” Jack smiled as he pointed to the different missing articles of his wardrobe on Caleo. “What were you doing, rolling in the mud?” Jack started walking in the direction of the house without waiting for an answer.

  “Something like that.” Caleo jogged after him as a chunk of mud and grass fell off the seat of his pants. I wonder if that was one of those things that creep was talking about.

  

  The trip home took forever despite the fact that they skipped their usual stops at the lake and grocery store in order to make better time.

  As they were walking up the half mile long driveway through the woods to the Purple Rose Inn, Jack looked over his shoulder at Caleo, who was lagging a few steps behind. “We need to get a car.”

  “Yeah well, on our pay we’ll be able to get one when we're thirty.”

  “I don’t want anything big, just something that will get us from place to place.” Jack picked up a rock and threw it into the woods.

  Caleo let out a sarcastic snigger … “You mean something that will get us home from school in less than four hours.” He looked down at his feet absently. Grandma is going to flip over this black eye.

  “Yes! Grandma must have read my mind, I can’t believe it.” Jack took off running towards the house. Caleo pulled out of his own thoughts and smiled as he saw the small, red convertible parked at the front door of the Inn and started running after Jack.

  “If you mean the fact that I said straight home after school and you two somehow managed to be late coming home, even when school lets out early, I have a hard time believing it, too,” Grandma yelled out the screen of the front door.

  Caleo lowered his head to hide his eye as Jack took the lead. “We had to wait on the bus.”

  “You mean the one your sister arrived on about two hours ago?” Grandma threw up her hands to stop them from saying anything else. “Now I n
eed you to get the bags out of the back seat and take them up to the green room for Mr. Roberts. He'll be staying with us for a week or so while he works on his book. Then go upstairs and get cleaned up. I need help cooking dinner and the red room still needs to be cleaned before you go to bed.” As she closed the door she yelled, “And Jack, don’t forget you told me you could fix that dryer, I can’t hang clothes on the line to dry all the time.”

  “Yes, ma'am.” Jack grabbed a suitcase from the back seat. “Hey, look at this jacket.” He held up a small jean jacket he pulled from the back seat for Caleo to see. “Mr. Roberts must have a fox of a wife.”

  Panic over came Caleo and he balled his hands into fists, nervously looking around as he remembered the man from the bathroom wearing that same jacket. “No.” He shook his head. “I believe that is Mr. Roberts’.” Caleo’s eyes darted to the front door as he tried to decide whether or not to make a run for it. I can’t just leave him alone with my family.

  Confused, Jack pointed to what clearly looked like a woman’s coat. “What gives you that idea?”

  “There’s only one suitcase and it’s in the passenger seat. Besides, if he brought a girl, Grandma would have said the Roberts’ not just Mr. Roberts bags.” Caleo deliberately left off that he saw the same coat earlier today being worn by a punk who could disappear into thin air.

  “Then what is this makeup bag for?” Jack pulled a small, rectangular pink bag about the size of a book off the back seat and held it up with a smile.

  “That is where I keep my gun.” The voice came from the side of the house and Caleo turned to see the same man from earlier.

  Mr. Roberts walked up, winked at Caleo, and grabbed the small bag from Jack as he proceeded up the stairs to the front door where he turned around.

  “Would you two hurry up with that stuff? It’s been a long trip and I would like a shower before dinner.” Then he disappeared inside.

  Jack stepped in front of Caleo. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” Caleo shook his head, knowing Jack wouldn’t buy it. “I … ” Caleo thought of telling Jack about the guy, but decided to wait for a better time. “I don’t want Grandma to see my eye, last thing I need is for her to call Mike’s mother.”

  “She's going to find out eventfully.” Jack shrugged. “But if you want, you can take the room and I'll help in the kitchen.”

  Caleo nodded his agreement and he and Jack did as they were told. When they were done, Jack ran down to help prepare dinner while Caleo went to clean up the red room.

  Upon opening the door he realized that his grandmother hadn’t exaggerated. The room was in shambles.

  How could the bedside lamp end up in the bathroom with the television and why is the comforter off the bed? And what is that blue goo all over the bed? Caleo shuddered, deciding not to investigate. He tried not to picture the same sixty-year-old Gillmans whom he ate dinner with last night, trashing their room. He put on his rubber gloves and set off to cleaning.

  Hours later the room was back to normal and Caleo was exhausted and hungry. He decided to go down stairs and get himself something to eat. Turning on the light in the kitchen, he found a large plate of food covered in tinfoil with a note placed on top.

  Thank you for cleaning up the room. Maybe next time you'll believe me. I saved you some dinner I knew you would love; if you need any more it’s in the fridge, so help yourself ~love Grandma.

  He tossed the note to the side and tore through the tinfoil. Caleo smiled when he saw his favorite food, roasted chicken and dressing. As he devoured his food, he heard someone walking up behind him. Turning, he saw no one. Not wanting to take a chance on the reappearance of the invisible woman, he jumped up and turned to run. He stopped when he saw Mr. Roberts sitting on the counter, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts with a bunch of yellow smiley faces patterned all over them.

  “What are you doing, sneaking around here like that?” Caleo looked him over, amazed at how well his feminine clothes hid a very masculine figure.

  Without a word, Mr. Roberts jumped off the counter, threw out his left arm, and pushed Caleo back against the table. “Hello, dear.”

  “I’m not your dear!”

  Mr. Roberts pulled a knife from behind his back and threw it at the wall while he held Caleo out of the way with the other hand.

  “You missed me,” a woman’s voice playfully said three feet away from where the knife was embedded in the wall.

  Caleo felt a sharp sting where Mr. Roberts’ hand was touching his bare arm, then felt energy rushing from his body to his arm. It left Caleo feeling like he was lifting a hundred pound weight. The feeling stopped a moment after it started, and Mr. Roberts vanished, only to appear right where the voice had come from.

  “No I didn’t.” Mr. Roberts pulled the knife out of the wall, and in a practiced motion, stabbed at the air in front of him. Blood erupted in midair, slowly trickling down the air to the floor. A moment later, a thud sounded in the room and a small woman appeared on the ground in front of Mr. Roberts.

  “Still don’t need my protection?” Mr. Roberts stiffened, his eyes rolling up into his head.

  A moment later he let out a deep breath. “You should get upstairs. I'll be up in a few minutes to explain things.”

  Mr. Roberts reached out, as if to usher Caleo out of the room. The second he touched his skin there was that sharp pain again, and Caleo could feel his energy being leeched through their connection.

  “Is she …?” Caleo pulled himself free of the connection, stumbling backward as his legs were giving out from under him with fatigue. No one was there to answer his question.

  Caleo found himself alone in the kitchen with a pool of blood on the floor. He stared at it, horrified, and unthinkingly pressed his hand down into the thick, warm liquid. Feeling sick, he ran for the nearest bathroom and threw up all the roasted chicken and dressing. Once finished, he feverishly scrubbed the blood off his hands in the sink. Not feeling any better, he went up to his room, passing Jillian in the main living room.

  “You okay? Whoa! What happened to your face?” Jillian stopped and pulled him in by his shirt so she could get a closer look.

  “I don’t know. Ask your jackass boyfriend!” Caleo snapped, pushing past her and running to his room, loudly slamming the door behind him. There, he sank down to the floor with his back against the door, crying.

  Caleo heard the floor behind the door creak and he felt his heart skip a beat. He held his breath, pressing his ear to the door to listen for another footstep. When nothing came, Caleo nervously looked around his room. Feeling exposed, he grabbed the covers and pillow off his bed, ran to the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He tossed the covers into the tub and swung the pillow around in the air a few times, hoping that if any invisible person was in the room he would hit them. He knew that a pillow would be useless as a weapon; he just didn’t want anyone sneaking up on him again. Tired, he was convinced that if anyone was there, he would have hit them with the pillow and at least known they were there. He threw the pillow into the tub, climbed in after it, and closed his eyes as he curled up under his comforter.

  Despite his exhaustion, the noises in the house kept him up most of the night. First, the ceiling creaked and the noises from Jillian opening and closing her bedroom door didn't help matters. Caleo watched the minutes creep by on his watch, and just as he was dozing off, he heard the door handle shake.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Mr. Roberts whispered through the door.

  Scared, Caleo said nothing. Instead, he pulled the covers tighter and closed his eyes. Moments later, he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

  “You okay?” Mr. Roberts asked again.

  “Don’t do that! You scared the daylights out of me!” Caleo snapped in a harsh whisper, pulling the covers tighter around his body as he sat up in the tub.

  “You didn’t answer. I had to see if you were alive.” Mr. Roberts pointed a finger at Caleo. “Is it cold in here to you? I can se
e my breath.” He blew out a puff of air to show Caleo.

  “What was she?” Caleo asked, avoiding Mr. Roberts gaze, choosing instead to direct his eyes toward the empty wall behind him. “And what are you?” he added.

  Mr. Roberts didn't respond, waiting until Caleo turned to face him again. He smiled and said, “You’ve had a long day. Tomorrow, I'll explain it.”

  Caleo tried to say something, but Mr. Roberts held his hand up to cut him off before he started.

  “I will explain everything tomorrow. You’re going to have to fake being sick and stay home.”

  That shouldn’t be too hard with the mess I just left in the down stairs bathroom. Caleo nodded in response then asked, “Why?”

  “Well, whoever is trying to get you knows where you live and where you go to school. Being that I'm not going to hang around your school all day, you get to hang out with me.” Mr. Roberts walked to the door and turned the knob.

  “You're not going to leave me, are you?” Caleo looked up at Mr. Roberts, panicked.

  “You'll be all right.” Mr. Roberts walked out of the room into Caleo’s bedroom.

  “Mr. Roberts, wait!” Caleo clambered out of the tub after him. “What if there's more of her out there?” Caleo grabbed his arm to stop him.

  “What, an invisible girl? I doubt it. Women Leeches are very rare and are usually put to death pretty quickly. Besides, there are a lot worse things out there than an invisible girl.” Mr. Roberts chuckled to himself as he said this. When he saw Caleo’s reaction, he rolled his eyes and added, “Okay. I’ll stay. But I’m sleeping in the bed.” He slid out of Caleo’s grip and walked to the bed.

  Caleo ran back to the bathroom, grabbed his stuff out of the tub, and ran into the room to find Mr. Roberts lying on the bed looking at the ceiling as he kicked off his boots, dropping them to the floor. Does he want me to get in bed with him? Not going to happen. Feeling awkward, Caleo spread his covers on the floor beside the bed, strategically placing Mr. Roberts between him and the door.