Stay(44)

“What?” he scoffed. “I called you, come here,” he stated, talking to me as if I was a dog.

I planted my sweaty palms on my thighs and stood before slowly walking to the base of the stairs.

“You’re so fucking slow,” he sighed.

I took as long as I could to climb up the steps. As soon as I was on the first floor, Zane shoved me forward and slammed the basement door closed. He took a hold of my arm and led me to the front door. He let go, put on a coat and gloves, and opened the door. He pushed me outside and stepped behind me.

I shivered as fluffy snowflakes landed on my skin. The wind had picked up, and the rate the snow was falling was increasing. Two cardboard boxes full of lights and garland sat to my right.

“Nate wants the house decorated,” Zane told me. He pulled a silver flask from his pocket, put up his hood, and leaned against the side of the house. I didn’t move. Zane jerked his head forward and widened his eyes. “What, are you fucking retarded?” he snarled. “Put up the decorations.”

“I-I don’t have shoes,” I stuttered. “Or a coat. It’s cold.”

Zane shrugged. “That’s your problem. I don’t give a shit.”

I stared at Zane in what should have been disbelief, but by then I knew anything was possible with him. He unscrewed the flask and took a sip. He reached behind him, trading the flask for something else.

“And feel free to run. I’ve been wanting to hit some targets,” he growled and flashed his gun.

My hands were already shaking from cold. I eyed the weapon, taking in the long silencer, and swallowed my fear. I just moved my head up and down and reached into the box. Everything was tangled; it took fifteen minutes just to get the garland and lights unknotted. I moved to the other side of the wrap around porch, and Zane came with, keeping his gun in his hands and his eyes on me.#p#分页标题#e#

My fingers hurt from cold as I wrapped the garland around the railing of the porch. Before I was taken I enjoyed decorations so much better when someone else put them up. Even if I wasn’t shivering uncontrollably, I would have had a hard time keeping the lights perfectly even with the garland.

“It’s messed up there,” Zane pointed out. “Fix it.”

My teeth chattered, and my arms began to shake along with my hands. My fingers were numb and I couldn’t get a grip on the strand of white lights.

“Fix it,” Zane snarled again.

“I’m t-trying,” I mumbled.

“Try harder,” Zane said and pushed himself up off the rocking chair. He strode over and smacked the back of my head.

I knew I should have felt more pain that I did, though with the horrible stinging that plagued my feet, it was hard for new pain to register. I put my hands on the railing and pinched at the lights. My fingers were so numb, I couldn’t tell if I really had it in my grasp or not.

“You are worthless,” Zane said and shoved me to the side. He bit the tip of his glove and pulled it off with his mouth, then he picked up the lights and looped it around. “I’m going to freeze to death waiting for your slow ass,” he complained.

“There,” he said when he reached the end of the porch. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he scoffed, ignoring the fact that he had only decorated the last four feet. I had done the rest. He pushed past me and went back into the house. I felt like my feet were going to crack and shatter as I walked, each step jarringly painful.

The best thing to do for frostbite was to submerge the frozen parts in warm water. Since that wasn’t an option, I pulled the quilt off of Phoebe’s bed and shakily sank down onto my cot, wrapping both quilts around my shivering body. I curled up in a little ball, tucking my feet as close to my legs as possible. I breathed on my hands and wiggled my fingers, trying to will the feeling back in and the cold out.

I was able to unclench my fists and flex my toes by the time Phoebe and Lily returned. I tossed Phoebe’s quilt back and sat up.

“The house looks pretty,” Lily said.

At first I thought she was trying to compliment my shitty job, but realized she had no idea I was the one who stood in the cold putting up the lights. I inspected my hands, looking for signs of damage. I wasn’t sure if it was too soon to tell, but it looked like the damage done from my flesh freezing stopped at first-degree frostbite…or so I hoped.

“Is someone special coming?” she asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’m assuming so. Why else would Nate want the house decorated?”

“Right.” She sat at the card table and unzipped her boots. “I hate Christmas,” she sighed. “Always have, always will.”