Awake

The strange boy she saved(Chase Williams) has finally woken up. Ready to get some answers, Lena and Allison go to meet this new stranger. Though he doesn't make a great first impression.

 

 

2

Awake

    

 

He’s awake, was all Lena could think of as they drove. Daniel’s words had sent a shiver down her spine. She didn’t know why the news of a complete stranger waking up from a head injury on her uncle’s couch would send chills up her spine"she thought it was the thrill, but she wasn’t completely sure.

     “So why’re we going to Daniel’s, again?” Allison asked, completely lost in everything that was going on.

     “Daniel said he needed me,” it wasn’t a lie, either. Daniel had said he needed her. He needed her to figure out who the kid was and if she thought there was any danger in keeping him there until he was fully functional"Daniel was a sympathetic guy, but after hearing about Dr. Evil and Thing One and Thing Two, he wasn’t exactly greeting the strange boy with open arms. But who could blame him?

     Lena gritted her teeth through the pain all over her body; her father was beyond furious about what had happened the night before. Especially since she ‘cost him a good time’ with that w***e down at the bar.

     Needless to say she didn’t give a rat’s a*s about her interference. In fact, she was happy he got to be miserable and alone for a night, even if she paid for it that morning. He would have waited up all night for her to get home, belt in his hands. He was even worse when he was sober. At least when he was drunk, he couldn’t aim for where he wanted to hurt her.

     She cringed at the thoughts.

   When she got home, coming in as quietly as she could, her father had been waiting in the living room, empty beer bottles on every surface in their apartment. He greeted her with a “Hey, b***h” and wasted no time cracking the leather belt"one of his many tactics to scare her.

     The marks on her back burned with the memories. Her face didn’t betray her; she sat perfectly still never looking anywhere but right in front of her.

     “Lena"”

     She hadn’t even realized Allison had been calling her name, “What?”

     “We’re here.”

     Lena got out and led the way up the stairs to Daniel’s apartment, Allison close on her heels. When they got to the door Lena knocked. She saw Daniel look through the peephole before letting the girls inside. She looked inside where the boy laid on the couch with his arms pinned to his side, but his eyes were closed still.

     “I thought you said he was awake,” Lena frowned questionably at Daniel.

     “He was; he’s just resting a little more. He’s gone through a lot, Lena, give him a few minutes,” Daniel waved a hand to the kitchen. “Let’s talk in here.”

     “Do you have coffee and cookies while you explain?” Allison asked raising a brow.

     “Don’t I always for you kids?” Daniel chuckled leading her inside. Lena stayed behind a moment, looking at the boy. He wasn’t asleep, at least she didn’t think so; he didn’t look as peaceful as he had last night.

     “Is he in pain?” she called to Daniel as quietly as she could.

     “He shouldn’t be; I had him on morphine earlier this morning,” Daniel called back. “Come to think of it, I have to get more later.” He started to mumble to Allison, filling her in on everything that happened.

     Lena sat on the edge of the coffee table, looking the boy over. He’d looked slightly different than he had the night before; the color had returned to his face but his body looked almost . . . tensed. The rest of him, though, looked the same"the same flawless skin, the same angelic beauty of his face.

     Lena didn’t often think boys were beautiful; much less enough to get her attention like this, but there was something about this one. She couldn’t put her finger on it. 

     Allison came into the room then, looking at the boy as Lena did. She’d taken the whole story remarkably well"then again Allison was the kind of person to yell at you once she was alone with you; she wasn’t one for making scenes. Even if it was in front of Daniel who, she must’ve known, would totally agree with her if she did. She tilted her head, “Are you sure he’s human? He’s too . . . pretty.” Lena didn’t notice Allison switching her gaze between her and the boy on the couch, a slight pink invading her own cheeks. “Well, he’s asleep. Maybe we should come back later. No point in staying to watch some guy sleep on a couch.” She turned for the door.

     “Just wait a little longer, baby-doll,” Lena didn't shift her gaze from the boy. “If he doesn’t wake up by twelve we’ll leave.”

     Allison glanced at her phone. With a scowl that Lena didn’t see she said, “Fine, a half-hour.”

     Allison stomped into the kitchen. Lena and Daniel followed her inside. Lena sat at the kitchen counter and watched Daniel and Allison go back and forth.

     Lena twiddled her thumbs, thinking of ways to make this all up to Daniel. It’s not every day a teenager went to their uncle and asks them to revive a dying stranger, and it was even rarer that the uncle actually did it. She looked at Daniel; he was wearing a plain black t-shirt and faded denim jeans, his dark hair was a mess and there were dark circles under his eyes. He scratched the dark scruff on his chin as if by habit. He was a pretty well-toned guy for someone in their late thirties.

     Daniel, she thought, what would I do without you? She honestly could not think of a world where she did not know him. He’d known her all her life; an extremely close friend to her mother before they’d lost her. He’d taken her out on her first Halloween, gathering mountains of candy together. He was also there when she got her first cavity which was not surprising in the least, since he was the reason she had them. 

      Lena made her way to the fridge and pulled out a can of Lemon Tea Arizona and headed back into the living room. Daniel and Allison hardly noticed as Allison dragged on and on about going away to college and how she was going to miss Lena and Daniel and her family.

     Exhausted and sore Lena sat on the loveseat, kicked her shoes off, and put her feet on the edges of the coffee table. She took a sip of the Arizona, placed it on the table and closed her eyes.

 

She was in a dark building. There were cobwebs everywhere with a smell so musty she could practically feel it on her skin. Lena tried to get off the cracked cement floor but she couldn’t"her hands were bound to the floor by chains.

     “What the Hell?” she said, watching a puff of fog leave her lips. She had no idea where she was; the place had no familiarities about it at all. She looked around. There was nothing to look at though, nothing but rafters in the high ceilings and a bolted metal door on the other side. It was surprisingly cramped for a large room.

     She could feel the sweat trickling down her back. Each move she made echoed around the room, everything completely still and quiet. She leaned against the wall and sighed.

     There was a creaking noise. Her head snapped forward to see what it was. It was the boy. What? She thought. He was bound like she was, his brown hair covering his face as he faced the cold Earth. He was on his knees; he looked like he’d given up. Given up what, though? She wondered. Then the bald man was there. She recognized him from his husky voice and the scar that ran from the back of his head to the back of his neck.

     He was speaking to the boy. What he was saying, she didn’t know; the words were all muffled, like if someone was pressing against her ears. The boy never looked up, he only sank lower.

     “Leave him alone!” she shouted, not sure if she sounded as muffled to them as they did to her. “He didn’t do anything!”

     The bald man turned to her, a sinister smile on his face. “Look, the little hero,” he smiled slowly making his way over to her. “You don’t know what you’ve done, stupid girl.” He took her chin in her hands and made her look at the boy, who hadn’t moved. “That little s**t,” he snarled in her ear, “is going to get you all dead. I’d be careful if I was you. You don’t know anything about him.” He threw her face away.

     “You’re the murderer! He’s only a teenager, what could he"”

     “He’s capable of anything. Just like your father.”

     “Don’t you ever speak of my father!” she was screaming now, uncontrollably.

     Suddenly a long blade appeared in his hands"it looked like a sword but it was longer and thinner, completely made of metal. He put it to her neck, “Watch your tone you insolent little girl!”

     Lena said nothing. As the man turned back to the boy, she spit at his shoes.

     All at once she turned to her, grunted loudly, and brought the blade across her throat.

 

Lena sat up in the chair, nearly knocking over the can of iced tea onto the rug. Her hand rushed to her throat. It burned. She was breathing heavily, sweat on her forehead. What kind of a dream was that, she thought.

     She looked over at the boy and saw that he hadn’t moved. It wasn’t until she started to calm her breathing that she noticed the apartment was completely silent.

     Hesitantly, she turned her back on the boy and went to the kitchen.

     There was no sign of Allison or Daniel. “What?” she breathed, confused. Where would they have gone? She checked the time on the clock on the far wall. She had slept for nearly an hour and a half. She went back to the living room, still feeling uneasy from her dream"well more of a nightmare than anything else, really.

     She sat down and put her head in her hands. It wasn’t until she looked up that she saw a flash of white on the dark coffee table. She unfolded the note and read:

Went with Daniel to pick up more morphine for the weirdo, didn’t want to leave him alone. Be back soon. Love ya,

-A

     She sighed and threw the note back on the table. She leaned back on the chair and winced; her back burned from the sweat on the places her dad hit her.

     She was still for a moment, looking from the boy to the direction of the bathroom. Was it worth the risk of leaving him alone? She paused, finally coming to a decision. He’s sleeping anyway, she thought.

     Lena walked to the hall and double checked on the boy before ducking into the bathroom, leaving the door open a crack. This was the first time seeing herself since she’d been at Allison’s the day before. She was a mess; her face had a small black and blue mark on her chin where her dad had hit her the night before, as well as a small cut on the bottom of her lip. Her hair was a mess, so she quickly tied it up in a ponytail. She undid the first few buttons of her sweater and lowered it enough to see the top half of her back. There were red lashes all on her back, with dried blood coming from bruises of previous marks her dad must’ve opened.

     She felt the stinging again; the air made it worse. She took a small cloth from underneath the sink and started blotting the sweat spots on her back, wincing in pain with each attempt. She gritted her teeth to keep herself from crying.

     She scoffed, you’d think after all these years I’d be used to this.

     She wouldn’t have been able to tend to her wounds if Allison had still been there; she made sure to never make a big deal about that kind of stuff in front of anyone, especially her. Lena knew if Allison had ever seen the marks on her body, it would destroy her.

 

Allison held the bags of morphine on her lap with her arms embracing it as if she was ready to protect them with her life. It was for the boy’s sake though; it was because of how expensive it was. She couldn’t let Daniel spend all that money and be the one to have it all go to waste.

     “So what do you think of it all?” Allison asked.

     Daniel shrugged as he did a sharp turn so smooth she almost forgot she was in a giant black pickup truck, “I don’t think anything of it.”

     “But it wasn’t exactly something you planned to do. I mean, you wouldn’t have done it for anyone else, right?”

     “I don’t believe anyone else would come to me for something like that unless they really needed me. Otherwise I’m sure they would go to a hospital.”

     “Yeah,” she nodded to herself, deep in thought. She continued, “Why do you think she didn’t go to one? I know she said she didn’t know, but"”

     “She thinks she doesn’t know,” Daniel said quickly. “But as a matter of fact, she does. Her mind is just too jumbled up right now to remember.”

     Allison blinked at him, “So what do you think her reason was?”

     He looked straight ahead.

 

“What are you doing?” Lena was yelling; buttoning up her sweater as fast as her tiny fingers would let her. “Are you crazy?” she demanded.

     The boy leaned back against the wall, eyes huge. His mouth was open but nothing came out, just strange noises in place of words. He composed himself almost instantly and snapped, “Who doesn’t lock the door when they use the bathroom"you didn’t even have it shut!” His voice was deep and smooth, his icy blue eyes watching her.

     “You were supposed to be asleep!” she felt her cheeks get hot, but whether it was from embarrassment or anger she couldn’t tell.

     “Well sorry I messed up your plans! I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to piss,” he stood straight, arms pinned at his side. The surprise in his face was completely gone.

     Lena went to scream, but she couldn’t think of anything smart or witty. She pressed her lips in a hard line and brushed past him and went to the kitchen. She grabbed her phone, going to call Daniel or Allison not realizing that it was dead. She groaned and sat at the table.

     The nerve of that guy! She thought angrily to herself. Maybe next time I’ll think twice before saving someone, making sure they’re not a" She pinched the bridge of her nose. I don’t even know when Allison and Daniel are coming back, she sighed, and I’m stuck with him " alone.

     Lena couldn’t believe that she’d caught the boy spying on her while she was in the bathroom. She’d caught him peeking in through the space between the wall and the bathroom door. She felt her cheeks get hot again.

     Her nails dug into her palm as her hands curled into fists. She tried to compose herself. He shouldn’t be able to walk around though, she thought finally, he shouldn’t have that kind of strength yet. And he was hooked up to the IV.  So how did he"

     She heard the bathroom door open"it was a lot lighter than the heavy apartment door. She could hear the shuffling of the boy’s socks against the wood as well as his sighing. She saw the brown in the corner of her eye and said, “Better?”

     “It’s like a weight has been lifted off my bladder,” he joked, “so yes.” She could hear him wince and smiled on the inside. With that he made his way back to the living-room.

     It was silent for what seemed like a reasonable five minutes or so. The only sound there was in the small apartment was the sound of the clock ticking and the blood rushing in Lena’s ears, as well as the around-the-dot catch in the boy’s breath and the tiny groan that just reached Lena’s eardrums. It was all timed perfectly.

     Rolling her eyes she walked into the doorway of the living-room, her arms folded across her chest, “Daniel and Allison are on their way back with the morphine, so you can stop the moaning and groaning.”

     He looked at her with the same look he’d given her in the hallway. She could tell he didn’t want to talk to her, but she asked, “Who?”

      “He’s the one"”

     “Not him,” he sighed clearly agitated, “The girl. I didn’t see her before. Then again"” he looked at Lena’s face, really looked, “"I didn’t see you, either.”

     His voice softened when he mentioned her. Lena responded, “She didn’t know about you until about two hours ago.”

     “So she wasn’t the one who found me, then?”

     She looked at him; laying vulnerable on the couch in his torn, bloody clothing. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt which, she had to admit, looked attractive against his fair skin and dark hair. She could see the light outlines of muscle on his arms as he crossed them across his chest. She also noticed he still had the needle to the IV in his arm, but nothing was attached. She looked at the morphine bag"it was completely dried out.

     Lena walked over to the table and grabbed the Arizona can. Looking at him for a moment she said, “No, she wasn’t,” and went back to the kitchen.

     Lena stood over the sink as she dumped the half-drunk can of iced tea into the drain, listening to the gurgling sound as it went down. She couldn’t admit to herself how he’d caught her off guard. Sure, she still thought he was a creepy pervert and all, but she knew there was something more about him, something hidden behind the act he put on.

     Slam. The sound of the heavy apartment door snapped her back to reality, making her drop the can into the sink. With a curse she shook the iced tea off her fingers.

     “We’re back!” Allison sun, raising the morphine bags over her head like it was Simba from The Lion King. She smiled at Lena, “Hey sleepy head. Glad to see you’re finally awake.”

     Lena looked over her as Daniel walked in. She gave him daggers through her eyes, “Thank for telling me about the kid’s winning charm.” Now I see why they called him a ‘little s**t’, she thought to herself.

     Daniel smiled, “So I guess you talked to him, huh?”

     “More like screamed at him after he spied on me while I was in the bathroom"little pervert.”

     “It’s not like you were naked!” the boy yelled from the other room, a smile in his voice.

     “He did what?” Allison screeched. She stormed into the other room, Daniel and Lena following close behind. “Who does that? Some manners! Some nerve!”

     Daniel interrupted, “Okay the Hulk, and take it easy.” He gripped Allison’s shoulders, potentially holding her back from kicking the boy’s a*s. Allison was a few inches taller than Lena but Allison didn’t need her height to cause someone some damage.

     “I was in the bathroom washing up"”

     “You weren’t naked,” the boy cut her off.

     Lena shot him a look and continued, “But my shirt was half off and my bra was showing.” She corrected, “And when I turned around to wet the rag again I saw him staring at me.”

     “The door wasn’t even closed,” the boy said. “If she didn’t want anyone looking she should’ve at least shut the door.”

     “Be quiet!” Lena hissed, ready to attack him herself.

     Daniel was already by the couch and setting up the new back of morphine in the IV.

     Allison stood next to Lena totally disgusted by the pair’s story, “So what made you stay and watch?” She snapped at him. “You saw she was in there, you could’ve easily went back to the couch and waited"”

     “Her back was to me,” the boy answered almost tired. “I didn’t see anything that would make me a perv"”

     “The fact you stared at her for that long with her shirt down makes you a perv,” Allison snapped.

     The boy went on like he didn’t hear her, “I didn’t see anything like that"not like I’d want to see anything of hers anyway.”

     “That’s enough!” Daniel yelled rubbing his temple. He looked older when he did that. The three of them were quiet like disobedient elementary school kids that got yelled at by their teacher. Finally he said, “So, who’s hungry?”  

     Lena raised her hand high. Daniel and Allison smiled but the boy just sat there like a statue. He went on, “I have some fresh Fillet"Allison picked it out"you okay with that?” Lena nodded hungrily. He turned to the boy and stumbled for a name.

     “Chase,” the boy murmured.

     “Chase,” he grinned, “due to your injuries, I think it be best to start you off with something light.” Daniel side glanced at the girls, “How’s a nice bowl of oatmeal?”

     Lena and Allison knew Daniel wasn’t trying to be funny, but they couldn’t help but snicker and hide in the kitchen. They could hear they boys in the other room go back and forth. “Probably trying to make a deal to get out of being stuck with the oatmeal,” Allison laughed.

     “I’ll trade you a fillet sandwich for your evil plans to take over the world,” Lena laughed harder.

 

Lena stuffed the sandwich in her face; fish fillet seasoned beautifully with tartar sauce, American cheese and green lettuce packed between two whole wheat pieces of bread. It was still warm and juicy from the stove. “Mm,” she smiled and stuffed her face.

     “Why couldn’t you teach my mom how to cook?” Allison said swallowing her first bite. “This is the best sandwich I ever had.”

     “And,” Lena added, “to triumph over every stereotype made in the book, it was made by a man!”

     “You gotta feel bad, though,” Allison said with her mouth full, “that that guy"Chase"has to eat oatmeal.”

     “Don’t feel bad,” said Daniel, “it’s strictly for his health.”

     “Yeah, wouldn’t want all that muscle to disappear,” Allison rolled her eyes.

      Somewhere in the middle of it all Allison had started droning about"well, something. Lena took that opportunity to sneak into the living-room, along with her sandwich.

     Chase sat up on the couch, seeming completely normal; even his bruises and scratches seemed to be gone already, which actually seemed completely not normal. The oatmeal sat on the coffee table nearly untouched. The TV wasn’t even on. He just sat there in silence.

     Despite the unusually small apartment, Lena could barely hear Allison drone on in the kitchen.

     Lena plopped down on the loveseat and crossed her legs, “I take it you don’t like oatmeal much, huh?”

        Chase said nothing.

    With a sigh and a shrug she took the second half of her sandwich and held it in front of Chase’s face. She could tell he was hungry, but then again who wouldn’t be after having a dangerous brush with death? “Here,” she said, “have the other half.” When he didn’t respond she added, “Come on, it’s cut, I didn’t even bite it. I promise I don’t have cooties.”

     Chase stared at it the same time his stomach gurgled. With a bite of his lower lip he took the half sandwich and, reluctantly, took a bite. He started off chewing slowly, but the more he tasted it the more vigorous his chewing became.

     “Like it?” Lena smiled. “Good.”

     After he swallowed his first bite he asked, “Why’d you give me this? Didn’t that guy"”

     “Daniel,” Lena corrected.

     “‘Daniel’ say that"”

     “Daniel says a lot of things. I mean, he knows everything about medical stuff"he worked in a hospital"but I think he was just yanking your chain about the whole oatmeal thing. And you clearly don’t seem to like it. I figured ‘hey he might be a pervert, but he’s still weak and hungry’.”

     He shot her a look that she ignored, “I’m not a pervert.”

     “Oh sure, you just casually look at topless women in bathrooms without their permission.”

     He flushed, “I wasn’t looked at you like that.” His act was gone, this was the real him. Lena looked at him and put her sandwich down.

     “Yeah,” she looked down, “I know. I recognized the look you had on your face.” She put the food on the table and slid it to him, “Not that I blame you for being disgusted.” She got up and started for the kitchen.

     Chase grabbed her wrist, “Wait.”

     Lena looked at the hand on her wrist. She felt goose bumps rise all over. Her heart fluttered, his touch was so gentle it surprised her.

     “How’d you get them?” he cursed himself on the inside. “The marks on your face . . . on your"”

     He didn’t have to specify which marks he was talking about. Lena looked at him and softly said, “Rescuing you.”

 

    

    

    

    

    

 

 

Author's Note

All these chapters are DRAFTS. I tried to slow down all the action as much as possible, but I'm afraid I'll end up going too slow. All criticisms are welcome, how else is a writer to get better? I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I'm having writing it <3

Reviews

[raj24]

loved it Miss Rose...loved it...its not always i get down in my office and read novels or stories..but this one just caught me..i am loving it..waiting for its other parts eagerly ..thanks for sharing :)

Raj

[Norah]

can't wait for the rest :D