Are You Dead?

 

Chapter Sixteen

 

Now, I’m not going to be a typical girl here and describe to you exactly how our kiss went.

All I will say is that we kissed.

Oh, man. Who am I kidding? Here’s your romance fix. Feast your eyes.

I’m in Chase’s arms when he kisses me. His lips are soft at first, gentle, testing. And as the kiss grows, so does his passion. My hands are pressed to his back (holy muscles, batman) but I move them up to his hair, running my fingers through it like I’ve wanted to for like, ever. My body is at an awkward angle, so Chase shifts my weight so that I’m still in his arms, but I’m facing him completely. His lips start to wander, leaving hot trails of fire in its path. Pulling his mouth away from mine, he begins to kiss my neck. I shiver and he pulls me closer. My arms are around his neck, my eyes are closed, and I feel completely…right.

Suddenly, and much too soon, Chase pulls away. I can feel my heart beating wildly, and if I looked in a mirror right now I would probably see a flushed face.

Chase cups my face in his strong hands. “Skye, I—“

His eyes are so blue. So deep and…God, I’m really falling for him, aren’t I? I interrupt what he’s saying and press my lips to his quickly, before I can loose my nerve. He looks surprised.

“What were you saying?” I ask him, my face still in his hands.

“What was that for?” Chase says— a glint in his eye. I bit my bottom lip to stop from shaking. It almost doesn’t seem fair that such a…gorgeous guy should be involved with me.

“Nothing. I just…” I mumble, getting pulled in once again by his eyes.

“You just what, Skye?” Chase asks me, his voice soft yet rough. There it is again. Those flutters in my stomach.

“I just really love the way you say my name.” I tell him, and a blush creeps up to my face. This is new for me, this being completely honest and emotional with a guy. But I’m glad it’s Chase. I really wouldn’t want it to be anyone else.

Chase grins at me, his sparkling teeth showing, which makes me want to smile too.

“I need to ask you something.” Chase says, suddenly serious. My stomach does a flip. Oh, crap. What’d I do now?

“Go ahead.” I tell him, preparing myself for the worst. Do you think Godzilla is real? Do you believe in magic? If I told you a devil was sitting on your shoulder, and an angel on the other, would you believe me?

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for me, none of these questions were asked.

“In that room…with Demetri,” Chase starts, only one hand left on my face, cradling my cheek. I feel a wave of coldness hit me despite Chase’s warm hand. “What did he…” Chase pauses and I can tell that he doesn’t want to ask what he’s about to. “What did he do to you?”

Ah, and it comes down to this. And how do I answer that question? By telling the truth, obviously. But I don’t want to relive it. Not now.

“He just um, made out with me a little bit.” I say, and I can feel another flush warm my cheeks. I pull my face away from Chase and push myself out of his arms. For a second he looks hurt, but then a wave of understanding washes over his face. I sit on the cold floor, away from Chase, although that is so not where I want to be sitting.

Chase waits for me to continue. I sigh. “And, um, he might have tried to get it on with me?” I say, trying to put it in such a matter that it doesn’t seem so…horrible.

Chase grinds his teeth and I can visibly see his eyes darken. I press a hand against his forearm and feel the hardened muscles, stretched tight in anger. “What?” I ask him, frowning a little. Why is he so pissed? He already beat the shenanigans out of Demetri. That should be enough.

“Did my mom tell you that Demetri and his sister Elena are going to be staying with us?” Chase says, his voice spitting out Demetri’s name. I flinch.

“She might have failed to mention that.” I mutter. Thanks so much, Margaret.

Chase rubs his face with his hands and sighs. “What am I going to do?” He murmurs to himself. I sit on the floor, watching Chase, and wishing I was in his arms still. Unconsciously, I slide over to him and absentmindedly Chase holds open his arms, which I then crawl into. He pulls me onto his lap, arms around me, and I rest the back of my head against his chest. Chase brushes some hair out of my eyes with his hand, still not talking.

“I’ll be fine.” I say, finally, just to fill the silence. Chase still doesn’t say anything. “Better than fine.” I add. “You know me, I’ll recover in like, an hour and then be back to my bubbly self.”

Chase is silent. “Are you dead?” I ask him, jokingly. I turn around and see that his eyes have a faraway look in them.

“I will be staying in your room with you from now on.” Chase says suddenly, snapping back to life. I blink, confused.

“What?”

“There aren’t locks on the bedroom doors, and I don’t want Demetri anywhere near you. I’ll have to stay with you at night.” Chase says, watching my face for a reaction. I blink again.  

“Not that I don’t want you in my room, but um, won’t you mom care?” I ask, blushing.

Chase pauses. “Come on,” he says to me, getting up suddenly, pulling me with him. “We’ll go talk to her.”

I hesitate and Chase grins that heart-stopping grin of his at me. “Oh, fine.” I mutter and we make out way downstairs. Chase holds my hand on the way down, and I look cautiously around the corners for Demetri, scared that he might show up.

“Skye,” Chase says, making my heart flutter. He’s looking at me seriously, his eyes drawing me in. “He’s not going to bother you anymore. I’m not leaving your side.” He tells me. I feel a little better.

“I know, I just…” I pause. “Never mind. Let’s go find your mom.”

And we find her in the kitchen, cooking something that smells incredible. “That smells heavenly.” I say, sliding over to Margaret, who grins at me. She is so freaking pretty, it’s not fair.

Margaret looks at my face closer, and I don’t know what she sees, but her grin grows.

“I knew it.” She says, and then continues cooking without explaining herself. I don’t realize I’m still holding Chase’s hand until Brody walks into the kitchen.

“Demetri is outside,” he announces. I flinch at the mention of Demetri and reflexively look around me. Chase pulls me closer to him, so that I’m standing beside him. “He wants to talk to Skye.” Brody says, watching me closely. I shiver.

Chase snorts. “Like hell.” He mutters and then looks at me. My face is turned towards the kitchen window, and I can see Demetri sitting on a big rock, looking out at the lake.

“I think I should talk to him.” I say suddenly, to everyone’s (including my) surprise. Chase sighs.

“So he can hurt you again?” He asks me. I sigh now.

“Look, he’s going to be living in this house, so I’ll have to talk to him at some point. And if it’s not now, he’ll find another time.” I explain, looking only at Chase. Brody clears his throat.

“She’s right, Chase. We might as well get this over with.”

Chase looks angry.

“You can come with me, Chase. It’ll be fine.” I tell him, trying to sound reassuring. I begin to walk towards the door but a soft voice and two words stop me.

“I’m sorry.”

I turn around, facing the kitchen, and look at Margaret. “What? For what?” I ask, confused.

Margaret has a dish towel in her hands, and she’s wringing it uneasily.

“For before, with Demetri, when he wanted to talk to you, and I made Chase leave. Nothing would have happened if I didn’t interfere, and I’m sorry.” Margaret says. Brody puts an arm around his mothers shoulder.

“Please don’t feel guilty about that, Margaret. It’s not your fault at all.” I tell her, offering her a warm smile. She smiles back and goes back to cooking, but still looks uneasy.

I feel Chase’s hand on my shoulder, and I turn, walking outside to the patio with him. Demetri is nowhere in sight, so we walk to the lake and when we hear a chuckle, we know that we’ve found him.

“Hey, baby.” Demetri says provocatively to me. My grip on Chase’s hand tightens. I turn around and stare at Demetri.

“Hey, molester.” I say right back, my voice light and cheery. I see a muscle twitch in Demetri’s jaw and know that I’ve said something to make him mad. Only, he can’t really react, what with Chase standing right beside me and everything.

Sucks to be him.

No, really. It would suck. “So I heard you wanted to talk to me. And by that I assume you mean molest, right?”

Okay, I’m not being nice. But come on. Cut me a little slack. He did assault me. And this is my chance to verbally bash him, so um, like I’d pass that up.

Demetri’s face darkens and I smile, overly happy just to piss him off. “Somebody told you all about my Talent, didn’t they?” Demetri asks me curiously. I shrug.

“Yeah, so?”

“Well then you know that I’m a Piercer, and once I’ve Pierced your pretty little head, I’m the only one who can take that pain away.” He smiles evilly. “So, when I said I wanted to talk to you, I really just meant take away the mark I’ve left in your head.”

Don’t think for a minute that I didn’t hear the double meaning in his words either. He’s such a jerk.

“I’m glad you think so highly of yourself. I mean, since nobody else does.” I say, still smiling although I feel uncomfortable now. So he has to take his mark out of my head, fine. Get it over with already, right? What’s with the chatter?

Demetri smiles coolly and raises his hand so that his palm is upwards, before bending two fingers back quickly in a “come here” gesture. I shiver.

“Aw, cute. You really think I’m going to fall for that.” I say, glaring at Demetri. I squeeze harder on Chase’s hand.

“Well, I can’t take the Pierce out of your head unless we have physical contact. Which means, fortunately for me, that you’ll have to come just a wee bit closer to me.” Demetri says, smiling still. I roll my eyes.

“Have it your way.” I respond, walking towards Demetri, Chase right behind me still not saying a word. Demetri stops smiling.

“I’m not doing it with him right here.” He says, glaring at Chase. Chase smiles and raises an eyebrow.

“You really think I’m just going to let you hurt her again?” Chase asks rhetorically, his eyes taunting.

Demetri shrugs. “Whatever, man. If you want me to take the Pierce out of her head your going to have to let her get near me. Without you in tow.” He adds, challenging him.

I slip my hand out of Chase’s and turn to him. “He’s not going to try anything with you around.” I tell him quietly, so that Demetri can’t hear me. Chase looks like he wants to argue but then he says,

“I’m right here, then.” Loud enough that Demetri can hear. I nod and turn to walk towards Demetri, whose face is serious. I stop about a foot from him, which is way too close in my opinion. Ten feet would be too close. A mile, even. He needs to move to Australia or something. That’d be far enough.

Demetri smiles at me and raises a hand to my face. I think for a second that he’s going to hit me and I flinch, which makes the smile drop from his face. He presses two fingers to my temple, allowing his hand to cup my cheek while doing so.

If it were Chase holding my face I’d be delighted. And I don’t ever think I’ve used the word delighted, so that’s something.

But Demetri’s hand on my face just doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It makes me feel quite the opposite, in fact.

Demetri closes his eyes and looks like he’s concentrating hard. I watch him, half in curiosity, and half in disgust. When he finally opens his eyes, he takes his time pulling his hand away from my face, before letting it drop to his side.

“There.” He says, and raises his eyebrows at me like he’s waiting for something.

“I’m not thanking you, so don’t get your hopes up.” I say, before turning away from him and walking back to Chase.

When I get to him, he gives a slight smile and nods to the mansion—erm, house.

“I’ll be inside in a minute.” He tells me, his eyes distracted. I frown.

“Chase, you’re not fighting him again.” I say my voice stern. Honestly. What’s with guys and violence?

“I know. I’m just going to talk to him.” Chase says, his eyes dark and still distracted. I sigh.

“Fine, whatever.” I say, and walk past him and up to the house.

As soon as the door closes I hear something.

A splash.

But when I look outside, there’s nobody in the lake. Demetri and Chase are talking, arguing actually, in stern voices, but there isn’t anything that would make a splash in the lake.

I begin to think I’m just going crazy when I hear it again. And then the world in front of my eyes starts to blur and I’m looking at a completely different scene—a completely different picture—than I had been a minute ago.

Great, another “vision.” Like the ones the first night I was here. The ones that we thought were a product of Chase’s Talent mixing with mine. Only, I’m not so sure that’s what it was anymore. Because…I don’t know if I even have a Talent anymore. Urgh. The irony.

I close my eyes as the images fill my head, creating a movie and playing at full volume.

Great. Just great.

Reviews

[Rusty]

I really like Skye's humor it's refreshing and makes me laugh. Keep going, you have a winner on your hands.

[Anya]

wow... just wow... amazing chapter! It's a strange situation. Asking an enemy for help. Very strange. I wonder what her talent is then... I guess I will just have to wait :D
Can't wait for more chapters :)