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I stick my head back under but can’t see anything in the inky darkness. “Watch your heads.”
For several heartbeats, I don’t see or hear anything. Did they all go home…wherever that is? The pang of loss hits me hard. I thought I’d see them again. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to any of them. My eyes prickle and I blink back tears as my heart splits.
A hand reaches out of the darkness, then another. I grab his hands and pull. Joe’s head pops up and he slithers out from under the bed. If I’d known monsters were like him, I’d have never been afraid.
He laughs and pushes his hair back as he lies on the rug. “I made it.”
“You lost your wings.” When had they disappeared?
“So did you,” he says with a smile.
I glance over my shoulder to check, even though I can feel that they are gone. That was why my lungs were burning before I surfaced under the bed.
A scrabbling on the wood flooring has me peering beneath the bed again. Theo is next to ease out of the darkness and suck in the dusty air of my childhood room. He moves away from the bed as though he expects to be swallowed up, like Under will change its mind and haul him back.
Gerrard reaches through one hand, then another, and Joe and I pull him the rest of the way out, clearing the way for Michael. We wait, and we wait.
I don’t know how many minutes pass. Soon we are all staring at the gap between the bed and floor, but it seems lighter, as though the darkness is less dense. My throat thickens as I realize that the portal between Under and this room is gone.
“He was right behind me,” Gerrard says as he sweeps his hand over the floor, seeking a soft spot where Michael might push through. “I don’t understand.”
“I do,” Joe says. “He had a home to return to. I didn’t. Theo didn’t, and I’m guessing you didn’t either.” He nods at Gerrard. “That’s why we followed you.”
My monsters followed me home and turned into men…well, almost.
Gerrard’s eyes are the same brilliant green that his skin was, as are his nails. Theo’s teeth are a little too sharp, and Joe has two dicks.
I hope Michael is okay wherever he is. I hope he made it home. I don’t know where he used to live, but it was close. “Michael used to live in town. He might be there.”
“We can find him and…” Joe’s smile falters. “And make sure he’s alright.” He finishes.
That isn’t what he wanted to say, though. We never discussed what was going to happen here. Never let ourselves dream that far ahead. Now they are all here. I don’t want to let them go, but that it up to them.
“And we figure out what we want our future to look like.” I draw in a breath, knowing that it’s me who needs to say something. “I can’t imagine not having you in my life. I want to get to know you, all of you, better.”
Joe grabs me and pulls me into a hug. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Theo joins in, his hands smoothing over my arms. “I can touch you without cutting you.” He buries his face against my neck. “Of course I’m going to stay with you.”
“And me?” Gerrard says like he’s not sure where he belongs.
I extend one arm. “Of course.”
Joe extends his arm, too. “You are here for a reason. We don’t know how long you were there, so it’s going to take some time to put things together. To put us together.”
Gerrard joins the hug.
But there is still a gap. “We need to find Michael.”
“I think we need clothes first.” Joe says.
“And food. I want hot buttered bread.” Theo murmurs like it’s something special.
We are all grubby and in need of a shower. Finding Michael means searching for where he used to live, which might take some time.
“Who’s there?” A woman shouts. Uneven footsteps interspaced by the tapping of a cane make their way up the stairs. Gran.
The guys pull away from me and stare at the door as though expecting it to spring open.
