Fractured Souls(6)

I stumble over to the window, dizzy and kind of nauseous. How long have I been out? I glance outside at the city and the sun setting. Hours? Days? Weeks? I have no idea. The last thing I can remember is Alex holding the rock in front of me and then seeing images of what I’d be missing out on, or what I thought I’d be missing out on. Then I blacked out and saw my mom begging me to help her. The question is: was that a dream or something more?
Moving away from the window, I open the top dresser drawer and find a few clothes folded up inside. I take out a pair of very small, black shorts and a tight, maroon tank top that has a black ribbon lacing the front. Definitely not my style, but everything else in the drawer resembles the slutty gothic look so I slip them on anyway. There’s some sort of elastic in the shirt that pushes my breasts up and I feel fully exposed as I pull my tangled, long, brown hair up into a ponytail and secure it with an elastic that I find on top of the nightstand next to the bed. I carefully peel back the bandage on my wrist, wincing as the tender wound hits the air. It’s still fairly fresh, which means too much time couldn’t have gone by since I’d cut it open.
Sighing, I wrap it back up and search the room for my shoes. I find a pair of black combat boots next to the foot of the bed and quickly put them on.
I feel almost naked with the way my ass hangs out of the shorts and I wonder why on earth Aislin would put this outfit in there for me. It’s definitely not her style, either.
I go out into the hall, wondering where I’m supposed to be going. There’s a line of doors on my one side and a spiral stairway to my other. I turn for the stairway, when arms slip around my waist. I open my mouth to scream when a hand clamps down over my mouth. There’s no electricity, no sign that it’s Alex and all I can think is that I’m in deep shit.
 

Chapter 2
 
“Gemma,” someone whispers in my ear. “Relax. It’s just me.”
I try to twist my arms free as I squirm against the stranger. Yet they easily haul me back into the room as if I weigh nothing.
“Jesus Christ, Gemma. Calm down,” Laylen says in a sultry voice as he loosens his grip on me. “It’s me. It’s Laylen.” He lets me go and I reel around, panting with my hand over my heart as he shuts the bedroom door.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I pant profusely as I work to slow down my rapid heartbeat. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Shhh…” Laylen puts his finger up to his deep red lips that are ornamented with a silver loop. He glances around the room and then at the window. “Keep your voice down.”
I take in the sight of him, insanely tall, at least a few inches taller than Alex with striking blue eyes and skin as pale as snow. Wisps of his blonde hair hang down his forehead, the tips dyed blue. He’s dressed head to toe in black, very gothic, very sexy, in a way that sends me yearning for things it really shouldn’t. I remember how I used to dream about Laylen, back before I met him, or re-met him anyway. The dreams were erotic and would alternate between Alex and Laylen. I wonder if they mean anything. If down the road, I could end up doing something with Laylen. The idea is exciting and unsettling at the same time, considering I have feelings for Alex and Aislin has feelings for Laylen, yet I also have feelings for Laylen, too; I merely can’t quite decipher what kind yet.
“Why do I have to be quiet?” I hiss, standing up straight and stepping toward him. “What’s going on?”
He glances nervously around the room again and then locks the door. “So what do you think about what Alex told you?” He rests back against the door, his gaze flickering to the top of the shirt that I’m pretty much bulging out of.
“I’m not sure.” I fold my arms over my chest self-consciously. “Some of it seems plausible, but it seems like he’s still keeping a lot from me. Like the fact that his father just disappeared along with the Death Walkers and just left us all behind.”
He rakes his fingers through his hair, leaving his hand on the back of his neck, his elbow bent upward. “I’m unsure about that part, too… I’m hesitant about a lot of things.”
I sink down on the foot of the bed. “When you guys came back from Nevada, how did everything seem? Was it only Alex and me inside that mess of a cabin?”
He takes a seat beside me, sitting near enough that our legs press together. I can’t help thinking about how he can manipulate emotions and, for a second, I contemplate telling him to give me a moment of solace, anything to make the pain go away.
“Pretty much,” he says. “Alex was just sitting there, holding you. He looked like he was freaking out, but then when he saw us, he went completely calm.”#p#分页标题#e#