Free Forbidden Fruit by Anna Lee

drink?" I asked trying to put some space between us.
    "Sure," he grinned.
    I jumped at the chance to leave the room. Pacing back and forth in the kitchen, I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to think of a way to halt his advances. I peeked around the corner and found him patiently awaiting my return, with a satisfied appearance. I rolled my eyes. Now what ?
    I went to the sink and leaned on the counter, as if the characteristic position would give me guidance. I didn't want to drink with him tonight; however, I knew that I could ask him questions about today's incident with Michael. If I played my cards right, I could fend him off and still get some answers about Michael. In the end, my burning desire for any information about Michael won.
    I grabbed a couple goblets and began pouring some sort of wine I found in the fridge. I didn’t care what it was, I had no intention of drinking it. As I started pouring the second glass, a movement out of the kitchen window caught my eye. A quick glance up, had me sucking in a sharp breath. As I registered what was standing only feet from the window, panic overcame me. It was the cloaked serial killer, staring right at me, from my backyard. Dark cloth hid his face and body, though I swear I could feel him glaring at me, anger and violence wafting from the folds of his jacket. In my shock, the glass slipped from my hand and shattered, creating an eerie cascade of shards. Jason appeared in the kitchen, eyes wide, "Are you okay?"
    "I just saw..." I turned, breathless, to the window and pointed, but there was nothing there. My heart felt like it was about to pound out of my chest. My hand shook in mid air, and I knew my face was ashen.
    Jason came over and looked out the window. "You saw what?"
    "The cloaked guy," I mumbled, immediately regretting the disclosure.
    "What cloaked guy?" he asked still peering out the window. "There's nothing there," he said as he laughed it off.
    I knew it was true. Looking at the window, there was nothing out of the ordinary, especially not some creepy cloaked psycho. My thoughts started reeling, "Jason, do you remember seeing the cloaked guy on the battery Saturday night?"
    "What?" he sounded truly perplexed.
    "You know, the guy who was standing there watching us?" I prompted.
    "I didn't see anyone Lily. It was just us." His expression was genuine; he had no idea what I was talking about. Great, I really am crazy!
    I tried to recall that night, and I realized that I hadn’t actually seen the guy until Jason walked off. But he had to have seen him, right? The thing didn't just appear out of nowhere.
    Jason came over to me, glass crushing under his feet, and grabbed both of my shoulders, "Are you sure you’re alright?" He was smirking. He thought it was funny that I was so freaked out, and apparently seeing things that weren’t there.
    "I'm fine," I said testily, pushing out of his arms. I grabbed the broom and started to sweep. After I cleaned up, Jason brought over two glasses of wine, and handed me one. I took a sip, my eyes sliding over the window. There was still nothing there. I titled the glass and downed the entire thing. Then I sighed. Maybe I am seeing things.
    "Rough night?" Jason asked mockingly.
    I cut my eyes at him, and then said, "I'm going to bed." I put my glass in the sink and made my way to the door to show him out. "Whoa, whoa, wait a second," he changed his attitude, all laughter ceased.
    "I'm really tired, and we have school in the morning," I explained.
    He looked toward the door and then said, "Lily, I can't go home like this, my parents will kill me!"
    "Go home like what?" He didn’t appear to be very drunk.
    "They will know I've been drinking," he insisted. Dropping his face closer to mine and asked, "Can I please stay here tonight?" from under long eyelashes.
    I hesitated. I didn't want to give him the wrong idea by saying yes, but I also didn't want him to get into trouble. I glanced outside the window by the door and