Nico got up from her desk, rubbing her temples as she walked over to her bed. After reading for a bit, waiting for Zane to get out of the bathroom, her headache returned. She decided to take a break and sat on her bed, watching the rainfall with her back facing the door. She watched the rain continue to rage outside, and she became so focused on the storm that she didn't hear Zane come in. Zane watched Nico for a bit before clearing his throat, making Nico spin around, almost falling off the bed. Nico looked at Zane standing in the doorway wearing her dad's sweatpants, holding his wet clothes against his bare chest. Nico felt that she was starting too long and turned away from him, feeling the heat rest to her cheeks.
"Do you have another shirt? Unfortunately, this one is a little too tight," Zane asked. Nico looked back over to Zane and noticed that he was holding up her dad's shirt. She shook her head and slid off from her bed, walking over to Zane that the shirt from him.
"Sorry, but all of my dad's clothes are pretty much the same," Nico replied.
"It's fine. I hope you don't mind that I am going to be shirtless for a while," Zane said.
Nico glances down at Zane's shirtless body and felt the heat rush to her cheeks again. Nico shook her head furiously, snatched the wet clothes from Zane's arms, and rushed out the door, pushing Zane in the process. Zane poked his head out of Nico's room, watching her run down the hall and down the steps. Zane felt a smirk form on his face letting out a small chuckle before going back into Nico's room. Zane walked over to the desk and grabbed the journal, some blank pieces of paper, and a pen got to work.
After Nico calmed down, she threw Zane's clothes into the dry rushed back upstairs because she really wanted to find out what those Latin words meant. Nico opened her bedroom door and spotted a half-naked Zane sitting at the edge of her bed, an intense look painted on his face. Nico walked up to Zane, watching what he was writing before she tapped his bare shoulder, and he looked up at her, surprised that she came back so quickly.
"So I put the clothes in the dryer, and it is going to be a while until they are dry," Nico said, looking back at Zane. He gave her a small smile before looking back down on the page, continuing to write.
"Thank you," Zane responded, still writing.
"No problem. So did you find anything?" Nico asked, sitting next to Zane on her bed.
"Well, I manage to uncover something. Most of it is kinda broken sentences," Zane answered, sliding closer to her to where there were touching shoulders.
"Tell me," Nico eagerly said, looking at Zane bouncing in her seat.
"Some of the notes were talking about all talking about some big secret hiding in the town," Zane said.
"Oh, okay, so what is this so-called big secret," Nico asked.
"No clue it was very vague," Zane said, looking up at Nico.
"Well, let's start at the beginning again. Maybe you overlook something," Nico told Zane, leaning closer to him. Zane nodded before looking back on the page, rereading it.
"Okay, and what are you going to do?" Zane asked.
"Well, I am going to find out what is the connection between that monster and that clearing," Nico said, getting up from the bed, walking over to the desk. Nico looked back at Zane, and he nodded a resumed what he was doing. Nico sat at her desk, opening her notebook, and then froze, beginning to search her desk.
"Are you looking for this?" Nico heard Zane said. She spun around, staring at Zane, who was smirking, holding a pen in his hand twirling it in between his fingers. Nico shook her head, reaching over and taking the pen from Zane's hand, looking back at him one last time before turning her back towards Zane, facing her desk. Zane tilted his head in confusion, looking at Nico, who was writing away.
"Thank you," Zane heard Nico say under her breath. Zane smiled before returning to his sitting position resuming his work. Nico and Zane sat in silence, working on the vague clues that Zane uncover earlier.
After two hours of work, Nico didn't find anything, even when Zane gave her the journal to better look for things. Nico decided to take a break because not only was she getting frustrated, but her headache was beginning to come back. Nico was about to close the journal and looked at the page one last time, and then something clicked. Nico gasped in shock, shoot up from her chair, causing it to topple over, landing on the ground with a thud. The sound makes Zane jump a bit, and he looked at her, startled.
"I found something," Nico said, turning around rushing over to Zane's side. Nico was so excited to tell Zane that she missed her bag lying on the ground, causing her to trip over it, collapsing on the ground, lying sprawled out on the floor. Zane slid off the bed quickly, rushing to Nico's side, kneeling, looking at her really concerned.
"Oh my god, Nico. Are you okay?" Zane asked, reaching down at Nico but stop when Nico threw her head back. The action made Zane tumble back on his behind, hitting his back on Nico's bed. Nico turned her head to look at Zane and gave him a huge smile. Nico scrambled to her knees, facing Zane, bouching with excitement.
"I found something," Nico squealed in excitement.
"Okay, what did you find?" Zane said, arching his eyebrow. Nico turned around and crawled to the journal that was lying open on the ground. Nico grabbed the book and crawled back to Zane, sitting beside him.
"Okay, I always thought that it was weird that four pillars were sitting in the middle of the woods directing people who only knew Latin to places that nobody heard of. So I started looking for the purpose for the pillars," Nico said.
"Okay, so what did you find?" Zane asked, propping his leg up and resting his arm on it.
"I found a map," Nico said.
"A map? To what?" Zane asked.
"Anywhere in Stonebridge," Nico shuffled closed to Zane, showing him the journal. "So at first, I always looked over four pages because I just thought that it was weird that their author drew a bunch of lines that make no sense, but I realized that I was looking at it wrong," Nico said.
"So, how do you looked at it?" Zane asked. Nico smiled at Zane and closed the book halfway, and faced the book towards him.
"Do you see it?" Nico asked ad Zane looked at the journal and tilted his head in confusion before shaking his head, looking back at Nico.
"No, I don't, Nico. What am I looking at?" Zane asked.
"A broken map," Nico said.
"A broken okay Nico, please explain what the hell you are talking about," Zane said.
"Okay, so look at the bottom left corner of this page and tell what do you see," Nico said, and Zane leaned closer to the journal, reading a small number circled.
"It's a number four," Zane said, and Nico nodded her head, flipping some more pages before settling on another drawing holding it up to Zane's face again.
"And this one," Nico said.
"It says two," Zane said, still confused.
"Zane, these are pieces to a map," Nico said.
"Okay, so how many pieces are there?" Zane asked.
"Only four, but each place represents somewhere in Stonebridge," Nico flipped a couple of pages and pointed at the map. "This map represents Oakwood road, and just over here are the pillars in the clearing. See," Nico said, showing Zane the page again.
"So the pillars are some sort of landmark," Zane said.
"Well, I thought that too, but I think it's more than that," Nico stated.
"Well yeah, it's a place that is under investigation because there was a murder, Nico," Zane said.
"Well, yeah, but that is not what I am saying. I am saying the I think it is some kind of doorway," Nico said.
"What do you mean a doorway?" Zane questioned.
"It didn't make sense to me too, but remember that raised platform in the center on the pillars? Nico asked.
"Yeah," Zane replied.
"Well, I thought that it was odd that it was there but what was really odd was how worn it looked," Nico said, flipping through the journal pages.
"Nico, that place has been there for a while. It is supposed to be worn out," Zane said, crossing his arms. Nico huffed and got up, walking over to her desk, grabbing her phone. She turned back to Zane a plopped back on the floor next to him. Zane was confused by what Nico was doing until he was blinded by a bright screen that Nico shoved into his face.
"If you are saying that it is old and nobody has been there for years, then how do you explain this?" Nico said. Zane pushed the phone away from his face looking at the screen. It was a picture that of the clearing, mostly the raised platform in the center. On one side of the platform, there was a deep scuff mark in the ground that looked like it's been moved quite frequently.
"Okay, you got me, tell me more," Zane said. Nico opened her mouth to explain more, but suddenly the two were met with darkness.
"Heh, I guess we need a break," Nico said. She heard Zane chuckled, then shuffling in the dark before a white light assaulted her eyes. Nico held her, and she held her hand up, covering her eyes.
"Sorry about that. Do you have any candles?" Zane asked, moving the light away from Nico's face. Nico got up from the floor, stretching a bit before looking at Zane's barely lit face.
"Yea, they are all downstairs. Come on," Nico said, reaching for Zane's hand, grabbing it before pulling him out the door.
Nico placed the last candle on the table, holding her hand out towards Zane. Zane put the lighter in her hand, Nico took it, and she bent over, lighting the last candle."Okay, that is all of them," Nico said, placing the lighter on the table before sitting up. Nico turned her head, looking at Zane, standing in the doorway still shirtless.
"Now that we have the lighting situation done. How about we tackle the shirt situation?" Zane said, waving his hand over his chest.
"Oh, um, I put your clothes in the dryer a half-hour ago before the power went out. You can check it if you like," Nico said.
"Thanks," Zane started to away but stopped in place, looking back at Nico. "Um, where is your laundry room?" Zane asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
Nico chuckled to herself, getting up from the couch, walking over to Zane, showing him where his clothes were, before stepping back to the dimly lit living room. Nico sat on the couch for a bit before reaching for her phone, dialing a number bringing it up to her ear. Nico leaned back, hearing the line ring before the line cut on and came to life with the sound of chaos coming from the other end.
"Hey, dad. You alright?" Nico asked, and her father's voice cut through the noise.
"Nico, hi. Are you okay? I heard that the power cut off in the neighborhood," Nico's dad said.
"Yeah, I am okay. I lit up some candles in the living room and went around the house checking if anything was damaged," Nico said.
"Was there anything damaged?" Nico's dad asked.
"No, everything thing is fine," Nico said, sinking into the couch.
Nico listened to her dad talking about coming back home, and she kept telling him that everything was okay. Nico was became invested in her call that she didn't hear Zane entering the living room.
"Okay, so the shirt is dry, but the pant is still wet and oh your on the phone sorry," Zane said staring at Nico.
Nico snapped her head back at him, motioning him to come in, watching him walk over to the chair, relaxing before turning his attention back to Nico. Nico gave him a small smile, mouthing that it was her dad before going back to her dad, calling her.
"Who was that?" Nico's dad asked.
"Oh, it is Zane," Nico replied.
"The Peters kid?" he questioned.
"Yeah, he came over to make sure everything was okay," Nico told her dad.
"Nico, what is going on," Nico's dad said.
"Nothing, dad," Nico said.
"You Nico, I work in a hospital, and I see a lot of things, mainly childbirth," Nico's dad said, and Nico groaned.
"Oh my god, dad," Nico said, slapping her forehead.
"What Nico, I know how babies are made, and I do not want any babies made my house," her dad said.
"Dad," Nico said.
"Greyson, we need you in ICU," Nico heard someone say on the other line, and Nico sighed a breath of relief.
"Well, it looks like this conversation is over," Nico said.
"Nico, I'm serious. This conversation is not over," Greyson declared.
"Love you bye," Nico said, and she heard her dad sighed.
"Love you too," Nico heard her dad said.
Nico hung up the phone and groaned, throwing herself on the couch throwing her hands on her face. Zane chuckled, getting up from the chair, walking over to the sofa's arm, looking down at Nico.
"You okay?" Zane asked, smirking at her, and Nico lowered her hands down.
"Yeah, just a normal conversation with my dad, you know," Nico said, looking up at Zane.
"And what is a normal conversation between you and your dad?" Zane said, and Nico sat up a bit, inching closer to Zane's face.
"Oh, you know, wondering if I am okay, Making sure the house is not on fire and giving me a talk about how he doesn't want babies to be made in his house," Nico said, looking up at Zane, who fell silent. Even though it was dark, Nico saw a faint blush spread across Zane's cheeks. Zane cleared his throat and sat up, looking away from Nico. Nico turned on her stomach, looking up at Zane who was, covering his face. She smirked, rolling off the couch, walking around the sofa standing in front of him. Nico stood in front of Zane and brushed her hand on Zane's arm, and Nico felt him freeze under her touch. Nico's smirk became wider, and she decided to push her luck. She took a step closer, walking in between Zane's legs, resting a finger under Zane's chin pulling his head up to look at her.
"What wrong Zane? Do I make you nervous," Nico asked in a seductive tone. Zane looked at Nico, surprised, and his amber eyes went dark and grabbed ahold of Nico's wrist.
"You don't wanna mess with me," Zane said in a warning tone.
"Why?" Nico leaned towards Zane's ear. "What are you going to do about it?" Nico whispers seductively.
Nico looked back into Zane's dark eyes that now had a hunger in them. Before Nico could say any more, she was lying on the couch looking up at Zane, who was caging her in. Zane leaned down to Nico's ear, and she shuttered at Zane's lips brushing against her ear.
"I told you not to mess with me now you have to be punished," Nico heard Zane said in a deep tone.
Zane rested his large hand on Nico's hip, sliding it down to her thigh lifting it up slightly. Zane moved his lips to Nico's neck and lightly bit her, and Nico's let out a small moan. Zane smirked against her neck before moving back to her face sliding in between their legs. Zane looks at Nico, and he brushed her hair away from her face. Zane was marveling at the display she was looking at. Nico was staring at him with her mouth slightly parted. Her eyes were filled with passion and lust that made Zane's pants get tight. Zane slid his tongue along his bottom lip, pressing his body against her, lowering his head to Nico. Nico gasped at Zane's hard member pressing against her thigh. Nico moaned again but a little louder moving to close the distance between them, feeling her heart pounding in her chest, waiting for Zane to close the distance.
Bang! Bang! Bang!