VERITY

Singe marks cover my bedroom carpet, and the light fittings melted. A burnt electrical smell hangs in the air. The black marks on the floor are damp from somebody extinguishing the fire, but apart from that. my room's unscathed. Ha ha. How am I supposed to explain this one to my landlord?

When I arrived with Heath, my flat appeared the same as yesterday from the outside, although the prospect of heading inside didn't appeal. My memories of supernatural creatures attempting to abduct and/or strangle me and mysterious fires in the house didn't encourage me back.

Heath reassures me he and Joss checked the place out last night and I'm safe to go inside, but I hung back and followed him cautiously into the flat.

Now, I stand in the bedroom doorway and chew a nail, looking between the mess in the room and in my flat. If Heath hadn't been with me, I doubt I would've set foot in here. The moment I did, I pictured myself pinned against the wall by the demon, terrified I'd be strangled, burned alive, or both.

"I don't think you should stay here," says Heath, echoing my thoughts.

I look over my shoulder where he stands in the open doorway watching the stairs. His uncertainty whether we were followed is enough to prompt my resounding agreement, but I'm pissed off that someone's forcing me from my home.

The drive back to my place from the guys' house was filled with the same heavy silence as yesterday. Last time, I sat beside Heath shaking and in shock. This time, the unspoken kiss filled the humming air between us.

I'm trying to get my head around the fact I'm a... whatever a Horseman is, and all I can focus on is my encounter with Heath.

One he's avoiding by saying the bare minimum to me today and completely avoiding the topic, as if the intense kiss never happened.

I heard raised voices between Joss and Heath before we left, and I want to ask why, but the evidence is in front of me. Heath crossed a line, and he's backed away.

"I was thinking." Heath watches as I tuck my laptop into the rucksack filled with my clothes and essentials. "Do you still have the meeting arranged with the guy from your online group? I'm wondering if he has anything to do with this."

"To be honest, that's the furthest thing from my mind right now."

The tension grows, but for the first time he holds my gaze long enough for me to see a confusion to match mine. "Everything is complicated, Vee."

"You're telling me," I say with a small laugh.

I will him to walk over and put his arms around me, to tell me everything will be okay, but do I really want him to lie? No.

"I think you should. One of us will go with you, just in case...." Heath trails off.

Just in case someone else tries to drag me off god knows where?

"Okay. We arranged to meet next week."

"Where?"

"In town at one of the cafes, Coffee Spot. Public."

Heath nods slowly. "I'll talk to the guys and see if they agree."

Nothing more is said as I follow him from the flat with my gear in a rucksack. As the damage is less than I expected, I could stay if I put up with the burnt smell, but my unease inside the place sends me home with Death.

One the way back to the boys' place, I steal a glance at him as he drives. He's dressed in a plaid shirt beneath his army green jacket, large hands sliding across the wheel. Anytime I'm in close proximity to any of these guys, my chest flutters. Is that because of this connection? Exactly what is my connection?

I sigh and stare out the window, watching the ploughed fields rush by. I am not avoiding this anymore. "So, you're Death, are you?"

"Heath."

"But also the Horseman Death?" He doesn't reply, and I grit my teeth. “And I'm Truth?"

"Fancy names for a shit role, that's all. Like Joss said last night, stories passed down by generations tend to become embellished." He flicks the indicator switch as we take a turn into the final street before his place. "We're here to stop the apocalypse, not start it."

"I know, you said, but—"

He shoots me a tired look. "I don't like talking to you about this without the other guys around, sorry."

I shuffle down in my seat, fighting a pout. Fine.

Back at the house, I'm given Joss's room to dump my bag in. I'm given more information I don't want to hear when I protest I'm taking up his space.

"It doesn't matter. We're moving on soon," says Ewan. "Joss can crash in my room for a few days."

"Moving on where?" I ask.

"North."

"Well that narrows the location down," I mutter.

Joss, whose flirting behaviour dropped as quickly as Heath's gives me one of his warm smiles, as if he knows this helps settle my nerves.

"One of the portals is in the area we're headed, and there's been more activity around there. The vampire population in the area are pretty much under control, but there've been a few unwanted deaths so we need to check what's happening," says Joss.

"Unwanted deaths? So what constitutes a wanted death?" I ask laying on the sarcasm.

"Dead demons," says Heath in a low voice.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I asked for that one."

"We think that might be where Xander is," puts in Heath. "We were going to move on as soon as we found you, but I spoke to Joss and Ewan. We want to know who this guy is that's contacted you."

"If he is a guy," replies Ewan.

Whoa. I sit in silence and watch the conversation and dynamic around me. They discuss plans, only half-involving me, and I attempt to switch off from their insanity. Each time I pull back from what's happening in front of me, reality swirls around my head and disappears down a huge hole. I always suspected the world's different than the one presented to the masses, but never that mine was this.