Bingo!
Just behind a coffee carton, he saw a bundle of dark blue. Mark hung over the side of the dumpster and fished it out. He tossed it on the pavement and then went back in for more. There were several balled-up bits of clothing.
He separated them on the ground and found that he had a woman’s sundress, drenched in something wet and foul, a fat man’s pants (the reason for the disposal was obvious-the seam of the rear end was completely ripped out) and a handful of stained or otherwise unwearably damaged business shirts.
Mark shook out the fat pants and a blue striped shirt with a long yellow stain down the front, and pulled them on. He hated to think about the last thing to touch the material, but…he couldn’t walk naked down First Street during morning rush hour. Or ever, really.
“What do you think?” he asked, pivoting briefly for Selena. He’d tucked the shirt into the pants, but to keep them up, he had to hold a six-inch bunch of the waist with his left hand.
Selena smiled faintly. “You look like you’ve lost some weight,” she quipped.
“Uh-huh,” he said. “Now we just need to find a way across town so that I can get some real clothes. And I’m guessing you’ll want more than a black silk robe eventually.”
She nodded. “I wouldn’t mind.”
“I don’t suppose you have any cash or a bus token hidden in that robe?”
She shook her head.
“Let’s start walking then.”
“How far?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Tinley Park’s probably about ten miles so…let’s just say it’s probably going to be a late lunch.”
They walked in silence for a while, though Mark kept sneaking glances at Selena. She held the black robe tightly around her with arms crossed. But he could still catch a hint of her cleavage where the robe V-ed. It was her face that really drew his eye though. Her cheekbones were high, her skin flawless. Her eyes were stunning, when she looked at you. Ice blue and large, when she talked directly to him, Mark felt himself lose all ability to think. The pale skin and thin eyelids and white-blonde hair…she made him weak if he let himself pay attention.
Luckily, for a lot of the walking she looked straight ahead and seemed inclined to say nothing.
“Why did you help me this time?” he asked. “You wouldn’t help me and take me to the club to find Rae before.”
She looked at him sidelong before answering. A long, considered look.
“I told you already,” she said. “I won’t help anyone go to NightWhere. But you deserved help to escape. You were prepared to give everything to save your wife. Even if she doesn’t deserve it, you deserve someone to help you after something like that. I didn’t want to see them kill you.”
“Why were you there at all?” Mark asked. “I’ve gotta assume nobody gets in on those kinds of ceremonies as a newbie.”
Selena nodded. “I’ve watched things at NightWhere for a long time.”
“So you’re a Watcher.”
“Not the way you mean.”
“Then how?” Mark kicked a stone with his bare toe and grimaced.
“I look for people like you,” Selena said. “And I try to convince them to go home, where they belong.”
“Sounds like a lost cause.”
“Most often,” she admitted.
The traffic grew around them as they wound down Waverly to Pulaski, zigzagging their way west as people filled the roads on their way to work. They made a strange pair; Mark holding his ballooning pants on, and Selena walking in a silk robe. At one point, Mark heard a wolf whistle behind them. He refused to take the bait and turn around.
When they finally turned onto less traveled roads leading past the forest preserve and suburban houses instead of strip malls, he was relieved. He’d been worried the whole walk through downtown that eventually a squad car was going to pull over and start questioning them. But aside from gapers, they passed through the suburbs unbothered. Selena didn’t talk much without prodding, and after a while, he let her be, to walk in silence.
Mark’s calves and feet were numb by the time they reached his subdivision. He wasn’t big on walking in the first place, and had certainly never gone barefoot for hours before. He guessed they’d been walking for more than three hours when they finally staggered up the driveway to his house. He went around to the backyard patio and pulled the hidden house key from the statue they kept it hidden under (for just this sort of contingency…though they’d never imagined needing it quite for a reason like this). Then he unlocked the back door and held it open for Selena to enter.
He locked it again behind them. He didn’t imagine that would stop one of the Watchers from reaching them, if they were so inclined. But it might slow them down a bit.
The house felt…empty. The hum of the refrigerator was audible, and the LED on the microwave read 10:23. The morning light was grey, which didn’t help the mood. The sky had turned overcast during their long walk.
Selena stood near the kitchen table, still holding her robe closed tightly.
“So…” Mark said, “…do you want something to eat? Or shower and clothes first? I’m dying to get out of these things.”
Selena smiled. “A shower would be good.”
He led her up the stairs to his bedroom and showed her Rae’s closet and drawers. “You’re a little taller than Rae, but you should be able to find a T-shirt and sweatpants or something,” he said. “I can go shower in the other bathroom at the same time. We should have enough hot water in the tank.”
He started to walk out of the bedroom, but then stopped at the look on her face. Her eyes had widened, and she’d taken a deep, halting breath as he’d moved towards the door. She was petrified.
“What’s the matter?” Mark asked.
Selena blinked twice, then opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing.
Mark stepped back towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. “What?”
“I…just…” she gulped. “It’s silly, but just don’t leave me alone right now, okay?”
“You want me to shower with you?” Mark asked.
She bent her head slightly, as if embarrassed, but her eyes looked up, pleading silently. “Please? Would you mind?”
Mark laughed. “How could I say no?”
She didn’t smile. “I just need you to stay close to me right now. Don’t leave me alone.”
“Okay,” Mark nodded. “Got it.”
He began unbuttoning the dingy shirt. “And I’m not going to be shy, seeing as you’ve already seen the merchandise earlier today.”
She did smile at that. “Yes,” she agreed. “In all sorts of compromising positions. You should be more careful of the company you keep.”
The image of Rae kneeling above him with blades ready on each finger to slice him flashed in Mark’s head, and it was his turn to be grim. “Yeah,” he said. “Who’d of thought it would work out like that?”
Selena let the black silk robe fall to the floor as Mark kicked the baggy, ripped pants away. She kicked the robe with one foot to land on his discarded clothes. “I don’t want to see that thing again,” she said quietly.
Mark only half heard her comment. His attention was on her body. He’d known since their first meeting that she was beautiful, but she was more than that.
She was breathtaking. Her skin was white as snow, flawless. Her waist was a perfect hourglass, framing the dark, thin pucker of her belly button. Below that, a short thatch of cream-colored hair covered her sex, while above she had two of the most sensational breasts Mark had ever seen. They were full, lush and seemed to answer to their own gravity; her wide, pink areolae boasted hard, darker nipples that stood straight out from her chest. His body responded to hers instantly.
Before it got too obvious, he stepped towards the bathroom, pulling her by the hand. Once inside, he leaned into the tub area and turned the water towards hot. After a minute of waiting with his hand in the stream, the
