Chapter Ten Aria

Chapter Ten

Aria

My eyes flew open to the wispy darkness of the room. Fear pierced like talons as a nauseating sense of awareness sank into my bones.

Jenny was in her bed six feet away, her breaths rhythmic in the abyss of sleep, an even rise and fall that whispered through the air like peace.

But I felt no peace.

Forcing myself to remain completely still, I tuned my ear to the oppressive silence that hovered in the room like a wraith. My senses pushed out to try to determine what had awakened me.

Wrapped in the thin blanket, I lay on my side, keeping as still as possible.

I might have been disoriented, my mind foggy from the jolt of being torn from the sanctuary of Pax’s presence, from that sphere to this one, but I was alert enough to know I needed to be afraid.

My heart galloped, and I struggled to listen over the pulse that pounded in my ears.

I heard nothing ... yet I was sure there was something.

Gathering my courage, I peeked out from beneath the blanket.

Blackness cloaked the room in a murky curtain. The only light was a splinter streaming through a crack in the door that illuminated a narrow strip down the center of the room.

Somewhere in the distance, a patient wailed, but the hall beyond our room was still.

Jenny shifted and rolled to her side. For the briefest moment, the tempo of her sleep was interrupted. The pause was long enough to expose the controlled breaths that had been meant to match hers.

Shallow and regulated.

Emitted from somewhere near the foot of my bed.

Bile rose in the back of my throat, and a cold chill streaked down my spine.

It was a man, I was positive.

I could almost sense the outline of his rigid frame lurking in the dark.

Penetrating eyes burned into me as if they could see beneath my cover, leaving me vulnerable and exposed.

I hugged the blanket tighter in a vain attempt at sheltering myself.

Terror blistered through my spirit when he shuffled forward. His footsteps were light, the only sound the faint squeak of rubber-soled shoes against the linoleum floor.

Panic edged into my consciousness, and I squeezed my eyes shut as if that might be able to conceal my presence. Tears gathered and slipped free, running along the edge of my nose and dripping onto the pillow.

I fought to find the strength of sleep. Who I was when I fell through the darkness and into Faydor. To embody that power.

But I was also fully aware of the limitations of my human body.

A sob stuck in my throat when the mattress suddenly dipped at the side of my feet, and a husky, nasally breath escaped the man and slithered through my senses.

Revulsion crawled across my flesh, and my throat clogged as I gagged.

My mouth opened with the intent to scream, but no sound came. It was only a soundless plea that pitched through the air.

I couldn’t let him do this. Couldn’t let fear freeze me. I had to fight. Find a way.

Even though there was a piece of my consciousness that had already known my fate the second I’d seen into Jenny’s mind last night.

Suddenly, brisk footfalls echoed down the corridor, and two hushed voices grew louder as they approached.

The man froze, hesitating, wavering as he leaned forward, then back again.

Somewhere close, a door banged when it was pushed open, and one of the voices carried through the wall: “Did you need something, Ainsley?”

He jolted upright at that, malevolence rippling over his body as he stood in frustration before he finally turned and silently eased back to the door.

He paused there, and I could feel his hungry gaze rove over me again when he turned to look back once more.

He pulled open the door. It cast a wedge of light across the room.

From the edge of my blanket, I peeked out to where he faced away. He poked his head out into the hall and scanned both directions.

He filled the doorway, the mass of him blocking the light, a gory silhouette.

I could see well enough to make out the blue scrubs, the squatty shape, and the buzzed, light-colored hair.

When he found the hallway clear, he slipped out, leaving the door halfway open. His footsteps echoed down the hall, then died out the farther he went.

All the muscles that had been wound so tight in my body gave, and I slumped down in a puddle in the middle of the mattress. Relief and fear trembled through me.

Tears fell hot and fast.

Quick and uncontainable, though I tried to keep the sobs buried in my pillow.

Because this relief wouldn’t last for long.

I already knew.

Felt it in my soul.

The wickedness that had oozed from the man’s stance, in the quivers of malicious desire that had racked through the room.

He was going to be back, and I’d already read his intent.

I could already feel his hands around my neck, squeezing the life from me.

Even though I’d only seen him from behind, I could clearly imagine the smile on his face when he did it.

When I’d told Pax about binding the Kruen while awake, I’d been foolish enough to hope he’d tell me it was normal. That it was something they’d forgotten to tell me would happen around the time when I turned eighteen.

But that hope had fizzled when I saw the fear that had flashed across his face when I’d told him. His gorgeous face that I ached to see. One I ached to reach out and touch, the same way I ached to touch his body.

Just once.

Because I would fight it—with all of me—but I was sure my fate was already stamped and sealed.

The Kruen were going to hunt me, seek me out on this sphere, and they wouldn’t stop until I was dead.

I just never could have imagined they would find me so fast.

When I’d felt that dread sprout from the depths of my soul, sure that if my parents locked me away here again that I might die, I’d never anticipated how literal it’d been.

I buried my face deeper into the pillow to drown the sorrow.

A raspy scream ripped up my throat when a hand landed on my shoulder. I shot upright, reeling back until I was pressed against the wall.

Through the vapid shadows, Jenny’s blue eyes went round, and she pushed her hands out in front of her in surrender.

“Shh ... shh, it’s okay, it’s just me,” she whispered, tossing a worried glance back at our door to make sure no one had heard and was coming to see what was going on.

Gasping, I tried to slow the way my heart ravaged at my chest. Banging through the disorder that I couldn’t quell, my spirit and flesh feeling as if it were being rent apart.

“I heard you crying.” Uncertainty surrounded her when she crouched down on her knees at the bed at my side. No doubt, she was wondering whether she’d made a mistake by coming to check on me.

She wrung her hands, then slowly lifted her chin to fully meet me in the eye.

Brave and kind.

Because I knew in that moment, she was truly afraid of me, and still, she took the chance.

Inhaling a steadying breath, I tried to clear the chaos from my mind.

“I don’t like it here, either,” Jenny whispered as she eased down onto her butt and crisscrossed her legs in front of her.

Empathy rippled from her in waves.

“I hate it, really.” She gave a small shrug, hesitating for a beat before she continued, “But I’m really glad you’re here. I somehow feel better just being around you.”

A deep gratification burned through my chest. Even though she didn’t know why she felt better, it meant something.

It meant something important.

And even if she was the only one whom I could help this way? If maybe, maybe the voices were cleared long enough for her to find healing? Purpose and hope and faith? Then it would be worth it.

I reached out and grabbed her hand. “You’re going to be okay, Jenny. I know you are. You’re an amazing person. I can feel it. So please don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. I promise you they have no idea what they’re talking about, because you are incredible.”

Even in the darkness, I could see the blush light her cheeks. “Yeah, I think I am going to be.” She squeezed my hand back. “We’re both going to be.”

She smiled at me, and I couldn’t do anything but smile, too, connected to her in a way I hadn’t been with anyone else before. “Yeah, we are.”

It didn’t matter if it was a lie.

Without letting go of my hand, she shifted and lay down on her side. “Is it okay if I stay here with you?”

“Of course.” I lay down beside her, face-to-face. Jenny was clinging to my hand as she almost instantly fell asleep.

Brushing my fingers through her hair, I whispered, “Yeah, you’re going to be okay.”

No matter how exhausted I might be, I knew there was no chance I was going to fall back to sleep tonight. I wouldn’t touch on that sanctuary. I wouldn’t find peace.

Instead, every sense I possessed was trained outside our room, listening to each voice and footstep, every rattle and creak.

Each time someone moved down the hall, I tensed, prepared to fight.

This time, I wouldn’t be taken by surprise.

Shadows passed by the door several times during the following hours, but no one paused or entered.

I didn’t begin to relax until the sun finally broke through the tiny horizontal window high above our beds.

Five minutes later, a male’s voice rang out as he bustled down the halls, knocking on doors as he went: “Let’s go, my friends. Time to get up. Breakfast is served.”

Jenny groaned and rolled over, giving me a tiny giggle when her eyes blinked open and her face was two inches from mine. “I guess that’s our cue.”

“Sounds like it.”

I rubbed a hand over my face to chase away the grogginess as a gush of relief pressed from between my lips.

I’d made it one more day.