Lies for Truth

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

“I can’t believe you actually came!” Jolene exclaimed as she hugged Ariana. “I’m so sorry we couldn’t meet up at the mall but I love this outfit.” Her smile was so big it looked as if her face might actually crack.

Ariana had no idea it’d make her friend this happy for them to be out together. “Thanks and we can always do something another time.” She couldn’t blame her friend for rescheduling because her grandmother came into town. It had been great to bond with Julie anyway. “Where’s Laura?”

“Hopefully on her way, I swear if she flaked I’m gonna kick her. Back to you, was that Jax you came with?”

“Yeah, I needed a ride and he had decided to come.” That wasn’t a complete lie and if she told Jolene that he had suggested they come together that would cause too many questions. 

They talked some more before Jolene went to dance with her boyfriend. The house was loud and kind of hot, must be all the people inside of it, Ariana mused as she looked around hoping to spot Jax. She had spoken to Jolene and put in her appearance, they could leave now.

She didn’t see Jax but she did see Charlie walking away from his date and the girl looked frustrated. Ariana feared what could be going on with Charlie’s mental status. With Jax nowhere in sight she decided to go see if there was any way she could help Charlie.

She followed him outside to the back yard. “Charlie?” they were alone and she didn’t worry about one of his friends teasing her or wondering why they would be talking.

Charlie was clutching his head as he sagged against a tree. “Go away.” he sounded in pain.

Ariana was cautious as she moved closer and knelt down beside him. “What is it?”

“I don’t know. My head is killing me and everything is so loud.” He said with clenched teeth, the loud music behind them wasn’t helping matters either.

“Let’s get you out of here.” She touched his shoulder causing him to look at her. She felt her breath catch in her throat as they stared at one another. His eyes were the brightest and yellowiest thing she had ever seen.

He growled as he moved closer to her, on his knees as his mouth moved dangerously close to her neck.

“Charlie?” Ariana couldn’t pinpoint why but she knew she was scared. “Let me take you to the hospital and the doctors can figure out what’s been happening.” She didn’t get the chance to find out if her words helped as they were no longer alone outside.

“Shit.” Jax hissed as he ran over to them and grabbed Charlie before he could get any closer to Ariana. With his right hand he punched Charlie hard enough to knock him out. “We need to get him out of here.” Wasting no time he grabbed the unconscious boy.

“Wait, do you know what’s happening to him?” Ariana said, jumping from the grass to join him.

“Yes…he’s going through a change.”

That same feeling was back, the one that told her Jax was keeping secrets. She had thought that day in his room he had been honest about everything but now that didn’t look like the case.

“We have to go.” Jax said again and took off toward the fence door.

With no other choice she followed him to his car and helped get Charlie inside before any of the other party goers could notice.

Ariana felt her body tense as Jax drove, she wanted to scream all the questions on the tip of her tongue but there was a right and wrong time for everything, this felt like the wrong time. There was something wrong with Charlie and right now that came first, betrayal could be addressed later.

She continued to remain silent as he pulled into a motel parking lot and got out. She got out to help with Charlie only to find Jax didn’t need it, he didn’t need much help with anything it seemed from the physical to the emotional.

She stood back near the now closed motel room door and watched as Jax set Charlie down on the bed then unwrap the bandage covering the animal bite. She watched transfixed and felt again her heart stop.

She made her feet move closer to the bed, she peered Charlie’s arm and gasped. “The stitches should still be in but….it’s all gone.” The area of skin was perfectly healed. “What….why are you looking there? You knew it’d be gone.” She thought back to large cut she saw on Jax, how quickly it healed. Her mind moved faster than her thoughts, she quickly also remembered back to when Charlie was getting bitten, how she had hit that animal in the same spot Jax had that gash. “Oh my god.”

This couldn’t be real, it just couldn’t be, it was fantasy created by fiction not science. There was just no way there was anything supernatural happening.

“Ariana?”

“There’s some reasonable explanation for all this and you just have to tell me. What’s going on Jax?” She was begging for some answers, she didn’t want to be mad at him for guesses her hyper active mind was making.

He turned away from Charlie and focused his intense blue eyes on her. Laced with his usual intensity was a sadness that had her scared as she stared into it. “I didn’t want to tell you like this.” he whispered, that sadness bringing tears to his eyes.

“Tell me what? What’s going on with Charlie?” She asked while looking at the boy in question, it was easier to focus on her friend rather than that mind numbing fear inside her heart. She wasn’t ready for everything to change with Jax, to lose him so soon.

“He was bitten pretty severely.”

“And he’s going through a change?” she remembered his words from earlier.

“Yes.”

She turned back to the guy she was in love with, her own tears made from fear and anger fell free. “It was you, you bit him.”