Free Will
chapter 9

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The hospital waiting room was practically empty save for Sarah, Debbie and I. I sat by Debbie, who squeezed my hand to the point where I couldn’t feel it anymore. The chair groaned beneath her body with each rock she took, her blank eyes haunting as they focused on nothing in particular. Sarah’s sniffling and hiccupping had finally ceased somewhat but she slipped every now and then. I remained still as well as silent; my body seemed to completely shut down. What was taking so long?

The room was too white, I noticed, too. The light reflected off of everything, blinding me. Comfort seemed too forced in this room; the chairs were too puffy when you sat down, the plants were much too prim and perfect and the paintings on the walls showed pictures of pleasant beaches. It was a fake place, carrying a pleasant façade. It didn’t fool me. Underneath all the bright and happy colors it carried the darkest fears in the human heart and held them on edge.

I felt uncomfortable and more than anything I wanted to leave this place; and I would be gone if it weren’t for Debbie’s iron grip prevented me from moving.

Hours came and went, nothing changing. Every minute that had gone by I had to convince myself to stay put; telling myself if I left Debbie would have no one with her just in case anything…bad happened.

A figure walked calmly into the room and all three of our heads snapped in his direction.

“How’s my baby?” Debbie said, her voice barely amounting to a whisper.

“The damages done to Nicholas’ body—”

Debbie interrupted the man by jumping up from her chair, releasing my hand in the process, and glowered at the doctor. In a barely controlled voice she said, “How is my child?”

The doctor didn’t miss a beat, apparently used to this behavior. How sad. “He’s stable,” he rephrased, “for now. But there’s never any guarantee he’ll remain that way. For the remainder of his stay he’ll be kept in ICU.”

Like a balloon deflating Debbie melted onto the floor. She thanked God for her one and only son’s life. Sarah pulled me into a fierce hug, her tear streaked cheeks soaking the side of my head. I didn’t return the hug; instead I massaged the feeling back into my hand roughly. Both their reactions made my stomach churn unpleasantly. Didn’t they hear the doctor? Didn’t they hear the part about not getting their hopes up?

I gave Debbie a quick peck on the cheek and left as fast as I could.

The walk home from the hospital took a while, but I didn’t mind. I liked to take long walks and I haven’t done so in a while. There was always something about summertime air that always made me feel relaxed. My body welcomed each ray of sun that graced the exposed skin of my arms and legs.

I walked up my driveway and noticed a foreign car sitting in the driver. It wasn’t anybody’s that I knew, and I don’t think my mother suddenly bought a new car. My steps slowed as I thought of different combinations of people, and if I was missing someone. Of course, I had an idea of whose it was, but I knew he didn’t have a car. He always had someone else drive him places like a pompous prince.

The front door is opened, almost as if waiting for me. I take a hesitant step forward and call out, “Mom?”

No one answered. I continue to look around the rest of the house, peering around corners, and opening doors, looking. I knew someone was in my house. I could feel it. I reached my bedroom door and saw that it too, just like the front door, was open, waiting. It’s him. I know it.

I pause at the bottom step. Is it worth it? I ask myself. I wonder what he’d do if I just walked away and left. He’d probably follow me, chase me down. I decided to get it over with because I could care less anymore.

I enter my room and, sure enough, Rayne’s lying down on my bed, his hands behind his head.

“You’re bed is extremely comfortable. If I could sleep, I totally would have. In this bed. Wanna join me?” He flashed me an arrogant smile.

“Nick is in the hospital,” I said, completely void.

He sits up from his position, eyes wide in mock surprise. “Really?”

“He’s in critical condition.”

“You don’t say.”

“They say there’s no guarantee he’ll survive.”

“Get out of town.”

“If he does he’ll be in the hospital for a long time.”

“No way.”

My insides coiled and uncoiled in anger, my body longing to pounce on his ever mocking form. I kept void of emotion.

“They don’t know what happened to him,” I continued.

“What a shame.”

“The police are guessing maybe a hit and run.”

“How awful.”

“They’re also thinking he was maybe ambushed by someone.”

He smiled maliciously. “Are you suggesting something, Jay?”

“Never,” I said, flatly.

Getting up from his chair he began to saunter arrogantly in my direction with an air of dominance. I stood my ground, my gaze never wavering from his. He stopped only when our bodies touched, his ice cold skin forming chills on my own. With his forefinger he grazed the bottom of my chin, guiding my head up so that our noses almost met. I forced my heartbeat to slow down as his gaze flickered to my lips for the briefest of seconds.

“I don’t know why I’ve kept you alive so long,” he said, his voice low. It made me shiver. All traces of his previous teasing died away. “You could ruin everything I’ve worked so hard to accomplish. I should kill you.”

I remained still as he took his hand and firmly placed it behind my head, making me feel trapped.

“It wouldn’t be that hard,” he said simply as he wrapped his other hand around my neck gently, caressing the soft skin by swirling his thumb. I shivered under his icy touch and couldn’t control my heart anymore, letting it thump erratically against my skin. Rayne let out a light, humorless chuckle in feeling my pulse beat under his finger tips, his eyes dark as coal. “You may be good at masking your emotions but I don’t have to feel your pulse to know you’re absolutely terrified of me.”

“I know,” I said, barely making a sound.

“It’s because you’re weak, Jael,” he continued, his voice growing husky. As he spoke, his grip on my neck tightened ever so slightly, and my breath began to pick up pace. “I’m strong and you’re weak. Always remember that.”

His grip continued to tighten as I stared hopelessly into those bottomless suffocating eyes. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as my vision blurred, panic eclipsing shock, I lifted my hand in a desperate attempt to pull him away. He shoved me as I tried to lift my heavy hand, my back hitting the wall.

My hands flew to my throat as I let myself slide down to the cold floor, involuntarily letting out a choking noise. My body was cold and numb but the place where he held my neck burned and I desperately tried to soothe the pain, massaging the feeling away. I could feel my eyes begin to water. Rayne briefly glanced down at my pathetic form with dull interest, grabbing his car keys from my couch before heading for the door.

No. He was not allowed to just walk away from me. Not after that. I didn’t want to be and never wanted to be just another inferior in his mind games.

“Choking a girl and leaving her a mess on the floor. That sure as hell makes you a man.”

Rayne paused at the door.

I pursued, standing, using the wall for support. “But you’re not a man, Rayne. You’re a freak—just like your freaky friend. Nick never did anything to you; I’ve never done anything to you. Leave us the fuck alone.”

Rayne turned slowly, his face guarded. “My freaky friend?”

My stomach did a little flip. I wasn’t sure if he knew who I was talking about, but his expression told me he had an idea. But really, what should I care? I owed nothing to Dara, for all I knew she could be playing a part in Rayne’s mind games, another slave under his will. I couldn’t trust anyone but myself, I decided.

Every man for himself, especially to save the ones I love.

“What do you mean my ‘freaky friend’?” he asked more forcefully when I didn’t reply.

“You tell me,” I said.

Rayne took a slow, deep breath, his eyes flashing. “Who—”

“Promise me something,” I said, cutting him off. “And I’ll tell you.”

His mouth twitched as if deciding whether to smile or not, whether he thought I was trying to play a game of my own. “Under one condition,” he said, finally deciding to smirk.

“No,” I said. “No conditions.”

Rayne quirks his head letting his smirk drop, furrowing his brow as his shaggy ink black hair falling in his face. He studied my face carefully, trying to read me but I let nothing show. Crossing his arms he leaned against the door frame, looking guarded and utterly unhappy. My heart gave a little leap because for once I had the upper hand.

“What do you want?” he asks, roughly.

“Leave me alone,” I said, making sure to not look away from his eyes, no matter how intimidated I felt. “And I don’t mean ignore me for a couple of days or not talk to me for a while, I want you to pretend I don’t exist…I’ll treat you the same. We’ll forget this ever happened if you just promise me that one thing.”

Rayne gave me a weird look and almost laughed but it fell flat. His grumpy gaze turned to a glare as he stared me down, and I could see the alpha male in him couldn’t take my chance for dominance. He couldn’t handle the idea of me being in control.

“No,” he said.

My stomach dropped at the finality of his tone.

“Why not?” I asked, remaining calm.

He just shook his head, his hair flowing with it.

There were a lot of things I wanted to do; crying, begging groveling the very ground he stood on. But I knew that that was what he wanted. To make me feel insecure. To make me feel inferior. To make me his prey. To make me feel like I was under his will.

I shrugged slowly. “Then I guess you’ll never know, huh?”

“Don’t you realize I can kill you at any moment?” he said, seeming unprovoked by my actions but I could see his shoulders suddenly tensed. “Hasn’t that ever occurred to you?”

Again, I shrug. “You haven’t so far, why should I be scared now?”

He shook his head slowly, his predatory gaze piercing through me. “But you are scared. I can see it in your eyes,” he said, a malicious grin creeping up the corners of his mouth. “Every time I’m near you, you’re eyes give away your fear. The little façade you put on, your pathetic attempt at a determined stance, goes right through me. No one can hide their true emotions from me; I can smell your bull shit.

“It’s almost—sweet—to me,” he continued, “a different kind of ‘sweet’ from what you would define as ‘sweet’, mind you. It’s fulfilling, you’re fear. I feed off your nervous energy and it simply satisfies me to the point of contentment. My kind feeds off innocence and fear, making you one of the most delectable out there. And now you’re standing up to me, all proud because you think you have something against me. I’m dying with laughter inside.”

“Tell her that I will hunt her down and deny her the mercy I showed her long ago.”

Thump.

My eyes flew open at the sound. It came from the other end of my room, from behind me. I stayed still, my heart pounding in my ears overpowering the cricket chirps outside.

THUMP.

“Damn it!” gasped a foreign voice. “That one hurt.”

“Shut up, you idiot!” hissed another.

I jumped up from my bed and sucked in a breath full of air.

“Get her she’s gonna scream!”

A large cold hand encased me mouth, muffling my scream, their other hand looping around my waist. Without thinking I bit down as hard as I could and thrashed wildly in the person’s arms.

“OUCH!” the person cried out, letting go of me, throwing themselves backwards. “This is the THIRD time in one night, Dara better pay me double for this.”

Dara? She’s behind this? Maybe Rayne found her, but she got away, and she’s taking her revenge out on me. I open my mouth to let out another scream.

“Jael, please don’t scream!” whispered a more feminine voice frantically. “Please, hear us out! We’re here to help, we promise!”

Next thing I know I was pushed back down onto the bed roughly, a body straddling my hips, a pillow shoved over my face. The volume of my screams became less intense the harder he pushed down on the pillow. My hands flew to the persons hands, pushing with all my might to get them off. They were too strong for me. Everything was becoming too hot and I felt myself increasing the pace of my breath, getting dizzy. I began thrashing out wildly in the persons grasp, hearing their grunts as they struggled to keep a hold on me.

“Quick, Prim, hold her arms down,” I heard the person say as they tried to hold both the pillow and my arms down without losing their grip on keeping me still.

“Why are you smothering her?”

“So she can’t bite me, that’s why,” the boy said simply.

“How are we supposed to gain her trust, you idiot!”

“Look, you told me to shut her up. I’m shutting her up, ain’t I? You didn’t say anything about gaining her trust,” he said. In a lower voice he added, “We kind of lost that chance when you bit me, now didn’t we, Jael?”

“Get off her, Dim,” the girl named Prim practically growled.

“Fine,” the voice—Dim?—grunts, bouncing off me. I throw the pillow off my face and sit back up, feeling relieved and anxious at the same time. Dim catches the pillow and points it at me saying, “Pull your screaming nonsense again and I won’t hesitate to pounce like I did before.”

“Oh shut up,” the girl hissed at him.

“Who are you people?” I demanded before the one named Dim could yell at the girl. I feel him get up from my bed and hear him moving around my room.

“We’re here to help you, Jael. Honest, that’s all we’re here for. Dara said that you two have been talking and she believes your trust worthy. She also believes that you’re in danger of—”

Thump!

“DAMN IT!” Dim cries out. “Why the hell is there a couch in front of your door?”

“If you weren’t such a moron you’d remember that it was there after the fourth time you’ve bumped into it!” Prim said. “What are you doing, anyway?”

“I’m looking for a light switch,” he snaps. “I hate talking in the dark. It creeps me out, ya know? Especially with all this Rayne nonsense going around nowadays.”

“So glad I got paired with such an intelligent, brave man,” Prim sighs. She turns her head to me and her tone becomes gentle. “Do you mind telling me where the light switch is?”

I throw the covers off me. “I’ll get it.”

I get off the bed and walk directly across from my bed to the light switch and turn it up. I turn and see Dim, who was on the other side of the room on the floor massaging his foot.

“Look at that, Dim, you were so close to it,” Prim mocked.

“Yeah, yeah.”

They were both extremely odd looking. Not ugly, just—interesting. They could pass for twins with their red hair, brilliant green eyes and the light freckles that peppered their noses. There were exceptions, though. Dim appeared to be much taller, and lankier than the Prim. Not that Prim was fat; she was softer compared to Dim because of her small height. Their matching bright blue pants and bright green shirts accentuated their bright eyes, and they both had the same wide eyed expression.

Dim glared at my silent judgmental stares. “You got a problem with the way we look?”

“She’s just not used to it", Prim soothed him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” I apologized. “Are you two twins?”

Dim guffawed. “God, I would hope not.”

“No, we’re not twins,” she smiles, a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks.

“Oh, it’s just that your names and the way you two look kind of…match.”

“Just a strong coincidence, unfortunately,” Prim said.

“So what do you people want? Why did Dara send you?”

“Well, you see, it wouldn’t be…Dim and I who would be talking to you right now, it should be Dara but…something happened—”

“You ratted her out to Rayne and he found her, they got in a huge fight, she managed to get away and is now in hiding,” Dim said with a sardonic smile. “Way to go.”

I felt my eyes get wide. I didn’t actually think he’d—no, I couldn’t act like I didn’t know he’d try and find her. He even told me he would. But I didn’t think he would have find her this quickly.

Prim picked up a pillow from my bed and chucked it at Dim, who caught it with ease.

“Don’t make her feel bad she did absolutely nothing wrong.”

“Dara almost died because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.”

“We’re not arguing about this anymore. Let it go.”

Dim glares at Prim, takes a deep breath and stands up. “I’m going outside.”

“Fine,” Prim said. “It’s not like your being much of help anyway.”

Dim takes another deep breath, and turns his glare on my couch. He picks it up and practically throws it at Prim like it was as light as a feather. Prim catches it just as easily and throws it right back at him, who stops it by putting up his hand. The couch lands on the ground with a loud thudding sound. Finally, Dim leaves my room without a glance back at us.

Prim frowns at his retreating form before turning to me with an apologetic look.

“I am so sorry. He can have such a temper at times.”

“How did you do that?” I gasped. “That is the heaviest thing in my room! How did you do that?”

Prim’s cheeks burn against her fair skin. “I hope you don’t think we’re abusive. ‘Cause we’re not, I swear. We just have our little outbursts every now and then and it’s not like he starts the fights, sometimes I do and I’ll throw things at him first. Really, it’s nothing we never get in fights that leave marks. Not that we always get in fights that are still bad but the marks are barely visible, it’s just—”

“No,” I said, interjecting her embarrassed triggered ramblings. “I mean how the hell did he pick up my couch and how did you catch it and throw it back at him?”

“Oh,” Prim said, her blush dissipating and her tone becoming more chipper, “that!”

“Yeah, that.”

“It’s just really light. You know, kind of like the same as you pick up a pencil and throwing it at someone. Well, maybe not a pencil, that’s a little too small, I would think. Probably, like, say if you pick up an empty cardboard box and throw it at someone…that’s exactly what its like.”

“PRIM!” Dim yelled from outside.

“What’s he yelling about now,” she mumbles, heading for the window. Through the screen she said, “What do you want?”

“I just took out two of them from in the bushes,” I heard Dim say quickly and quietly. “I managed to knock them out but they called for back up. He’s coming; we gotta get out of here.”

Prim pauses at the window then jerks her head in my direction then back out the window.

“Get the car,” she says evenly.

“That’s three blocks away, we won’t have time—”

“Then you better hurry up,” she snapped. I could hear Dim grumbling and the sound of his feet hitting pavement before all that was left was the sound of crickets. Prim looks at me. “Grab anything you think necessary. We’re leaving here.”

I don’t move.

Prim’s eyes flash at my hesitance and she walks up to me, firmly grabbing me by the shoulders. “Jael, I promise you, you can trust us. We’re the good guys. I mean it.”

I wanted more than anything to not believe her, but I couldn’t help it. With the bracelet on I knew that my feelings of trust for her weren’t a trick. I nodded my head once, and proceeded to start packing one of my bags full of random clothes Prim began to throw at me from my closet.

A car outside peeled out on my corner and abruptly stopped in front of my house, honking the horn as loud as they could.

“How’d he get here so fast?” I gasped.

“Our people can run really fast,” Prim said, zipping up my bag for me hastily. She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the window. “We’ve got to hurry.”

“Wait,” I said, “I have to leave a note for my mom, she’ll be worried. She’s due home any minute.”

“Rayne will take care of that, if he hasn’t already.”

“But just in case she—”

She tugged harder on my arm as we ran down the stairs and for the front door. “There is no time. I’m sorry, Jael.”

By this point Prim picked me up and we were out the door, in front of the car in less than two seconds. She threw open the front door, practically throwing me and my belongings inside, then slammed it shut, hopping in the front seat next to Dim. The car lurched forward and we kept going, never stopping and not looking back.

A/N- soo sorry for the long update! (if anyone is still reading this story). wow, i feel like such a butt because i always get mad when other authors do that to me. and yeah, there are probably a lot of grammar/spelling issues in this chap, sorry. thank you to all my wonderful reviewers and those who have alerted me and put my story on their favorite list, it makes me feel awesome! (clearly im just a dork who strives for attention).

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