Sounds Kind of Sketchy

 

Chapter Five

 

 

“So where exactly are we?” I ask, staring at the lake. It’s a pretty sight, I’ll give them that. But they can’t really live in the lake, can they?

Brody takes a step so that he’s beside me and grins. “Close your eyes.” He tells me. I watch his blue eyes, a darker shade than Chase’s, fill with amusement. I can’t help but look a little cautious.

“That sounds kinda sketchy.” I say, half-joking. Chase rolls his eyes at his brother. He is still so freaking grumpy.

“She thinks I’m an axe murderer,” explains Chase. I glare at him and start to protest but he holds up a hand, telling me to be quiet. “Brody…is somebody else here?”

Brody nods. “Logan. He’s trying to find mom.” His smile fades from his face and his voice is sad. I look away from Chase and Brody; it feels like I’m interrupting something. Chase lets out a frustrated breath.

“Where is he?” Chase asks. Brody nods his head towards the clearing near the lake. Chase looks over at me. I blink.

“What?” I ask him. Brody looks over at me as well and it’s creeping me out.

“Go ahead, Brody.” Chase says and Brody mumbles something under his breath, making Chase laugh. I cross my arms and pout, staring at the clearing. And then something really freaky happens. I mean, yeah, being a Talent Trainer I’m used to seeing out-there stuff…but this…this is something else.

I’m staring at the clearing near the lake when out of nowhere (and I mean that literally) a house appears. Not a house, a mansion. Just completely out of nowhere. I think I’m going crazy.

Slowly, I back away from Brody and Chase. Something really creepy is happening here. The mansion appeared in front of me, and then a yard with benches and trees and flowers pop up too. Like someone sprinkled magic dust on the ground and this beautiful place just…grew.

I stop creeping backwards when I bump into Chase’s car, sending the alarm off. I basically jump out of my skin. Because, okay, I’m a little on edge, and I don’t think I can trust my eyes, and I think I may be going crazy.

Brody and Chase, who moments before were unaware of me trying to escape, both turn and look at me. And let me tell you, they are intimidating. My ex-crush, (the big football player one) would have been intimidated by these guys. Not only are they tall and muscled, they’re just…powerful looking. And, on top of everything else that has happened today, it’s freaking me out. So when they turn and look at me, they’re eyes intense and okay, beautiful, I side step Chase’s car and start to run. There are trees surrounding the lake (what’s with the forests lately?) so I run into them and try my best not to trip. Of course, as soon as I start to run my shirt-bandaged foot starts to bleed again, throbbing in pain, and I have to slow down.

I duck behind a tree and catch my breath, lifting my foot to look at it. It’s bleeding again, but I already knew that. Poor Chase’s shirt, it’s all gross now.

But why should I care? He practically kidnapped me (okay, okay, it was a consented kidnap), and took me to his house that magically appears out of nowhere and then tells me all this stuff about the Company being horrible and that I might die. So I should not care about his feelings right now. Or his shirt. Which is really bloody.

While I’m ducked behind the tree, catching my breath, I hear Chase and Brody wander into the forest, in no rush, chatting like nothings happened. They pause when they get to the tree I’m at and I hold my breath, as if that’ll help. I hear them mumbling something to each other and I start to run (alright, jog) away. But I step on another twig or rock or something and fall. “Damn it!” I yell loudly and then slap a hand to my mouth a little too late.

I hear some rustling, leaves probably, and Chase is standing over me. My face is flushed, I can feel it. Because okay, it’s a little embarrassing to hurt yourself twice in one day in front of a supremely attractive guy and his supremely attractive brother.

I hear him sigh and then he bends down next to me. Brody appears next to him, literally out of nowhere again, and I jump back, letting out a little yelp.

“Honestly, Brody. You’re freaking her out.” Chases says in exasperation. Brody tries not to smile.

“Sorry sweetheart,” he says to me and I glare at him. Who are these strange people?

Chase sighs again. “Let me see your foot.” He says and goes to reach for it. I pull it away from him and scoot back a little on the ground, distancing myself from the brothers.

“Can I just go home?” I ask Chase quietly. It’s getting dark out, which leads me to think that my parents are going to be freaking out about me. Brody looks down at me, sadly, and then looks away. Chase rubs his jaw where stubble is growing. What the hell? Biceps and scruff? My two weaknesses in guys. The universe does hate me, doesn’t it?

“Unfortunately, you can’t.” Chase says, trying to make his voice gentle.

“I am not staying with you. I need to get home. My parents are probably having aneurysms from worry.” I tell him. Brody, not used to my exaggerations, laughs and tries to hide it in a cough, the effect sounding something like a choking lion. I frown at him and Chase presses his lips together to keep from smiling.

“Your parents are fine, don’t worry. They think you’re at an overnight camp for school.” Chase explains. I roll my eyes.

“In the middle of the week? They would never buy that.” I tell him, trying to get up and then falling back on the ground. Humph.

“Have you forgotten that I’m a Controller?” Chase asks me smugly. Oh, yeah. He’s a mind controller. Great, he used his Talent on my parents. Not that I’m much better, but really. He’s a stranger to them.

“I’m not staying with you.” I say stubbornly to Chase. This is all too much for me to take in right now. Brody groans and walks away from Chase and I. I stick my tongue out at his retreating figure. Mature, I know.

Chase shifts his weight so that he’s closer to me. He stares at me, and his blue eyes turn familiar silver, and before I can stop what is happening, he’s controlling my mind. Whatever thoughts I want to think are seized by him, and he forces words into my head.

You’re going to trust Chase because, contrary to what you may think; he is not a bad guy. He’s trying to help you, and you need you to trust him. Stay with him, and listen to him because he’s doing what he—

The thoughts are stopped by a horrifying image playing in my head. I try to blink it away, I try to slap it away, but the movie playing in my head wins eventually and I am forced to watch.

There is a doctor’s room, or another room like a doctor’s, very white and sterile, where a man in a lab coat holds a syringe. The syringe is filled with something dark red—blood. The man’s face is twisted into an expression of joy and hope as he pulls the syringe away from a little girl, who is sitting, shaking in a chair. He puts the syringe into a plastic bag and turns back to the girl. The shaking is getting worse and her hair is plastered to her head from sweat. Her skin is almost grey looking, and before the man in the lab coat can do anything, her eyes roll back in her head and she collapses on the floor.

She’s dead. I don’t know how I know it, or why I know it, but I do. She’s dead. The little girl with curly blonde hair is lying on the floor, dead. I see the man in the lab coat sigh and the light from the room glints off a silver name tag on his coat, reading Reuben Scurry: The Company. He looks at me as if he can see me and smiles evilly. There’s black in his teeth, and gold. I shudder. You’re next, he mouths to me.

And just as soon as the images filled my head, they fled. Leaving me, on the ground of the forest, shaking just as hard as the little girl was, my eyes feeling raw while wet streams of tears fall down my face.

I feel a hand on my arm and shriek, pulling away. I duck my head under my arms and pull my knees up to my body, curling as tight as I can. I can’t get that image out of head: the blood, the terribleness, the little girl convulsing, and then lying dead on the floor. I hear vague voices around me but I can’t decipher what they are saying. I rock myself back and forth, knowing I probably look like a mental case. I know I feel like one.

The images in my head keep replaying and I keep shaking, trying to stop them. I feel something wrap around me, warm, strong and then realize that they are arms. They pick me up, again as if I weigh nothing, and cradle me carefully while I keep shaking. I don’t know who it is—does it matter, anymore?—but I can tell that we’re moving now. I keep my head ducked beneath my arms, and try to pull away from the arms but can’t. I try again but to no avail. Finally, I start to kick and squirm, trying to break free from the arms that are cradling me. My foot connects with something and I hear a murmured curse before the arms loosen around me and I’m dropped on the floor.

It hurts, but I don’t really care at this point. Staying curled tightly, I sit on the ground, unaware of where I am. I hear voices trying to talk to me, reasoning with me, but I ignore them.

The blood…the evil smile…the syringe…the dying girl. I shudder again and hear a sigh.

“Can you go get Logan?” I hear a voice ask, and realize its Chase. Ignoring him, I keep rocking myself back and forth and then more images invade my head.

The same man is standing with the syringe, but this time he is sticking it into the arm of a woman. A woman who looks really familiar….a woman with the same hair color as me...the same skin. Mom? I watch, unable to help her, as Reuben Scurry sticks a needle into my moms arm. Within minutes she’s shaking like the little girl and then she’s on the floor, unmoving. Dead.

The images flee my mind and I realize how real those images are for me. Invading my brain, filling my head, so realistic that it’s like I am there.

With a lurch of my stomach I lean over, on all fours, and vomit. And then, because what else could go wrong with my day, I collapse, shaking, while everything turns black.

Reviews

[Anya]

So just a few more chapters then ;)
Oh my... that was really scary. My heart is thudding and I swear I was nearly crying.
"Brody groans and walks away from Chase and I" I think that the I should be me because if you take away the 'Chase and' your left with 'Brody groans and walks away from I' which doesn't make sense so I think its Chase and me. But I might be wrong....
Again... a stunning write, absolutely sunning... onto the next chapter....