Clopwyck River (Book One)

Clopwyck River Part 13

Chapter Thirteen

"Where's Daria!?"

I sprinted to the house like the devil was chasing after me, slamming the front door open like I was arriving to collect a debt. Leo's distressed and confused face kept floating in my vision as I ran through the woods, but I kept shaking it away. I can't worry about him. I need to know what's happening to me.

Panting from the run and dizzy from Leo's kiss, I storm into the living room and find Andrew sitting in an armchair. The volume of my voice propels him to his feet.

"Demi, keep it down! Elliot's in-" He stops mid-sentence as soon as he sees me. "Oh my God."

"Where's Daria?"

"Demi, you need to calm-"

"I said where is she, Andrew! Tell me! ANSWER ME!"

He holds his shaking hands up in front of his chest in an attempt to either calm me down or to defend himself. I'm terrifying him but I don't care. He can't be as scared as I am.

I'm in the middle of the room, just a few feet from Andrew. I hear the living room door click shut and turn around to see Daria standing in front of it, both of her hands clasped over her mouth, glass eyes wide.

"Oh my god." She lowers a hand and frowns at me. "What have you been doing Demi? Have you been with Leo?"

Her voice, free from shock but drenched with fear, is just a whisper. Her quiet words set off an explosive mist of anger that descends over my eyes. Striding towards her I push her into the door, pressing one hand on her chest so she can't escape my questions.

"What is happening to me? Tell me! Why has this happened?"

I punctuate each question by smacking the door, her eyes squeezing shut each time, fighting to force out the reality of my words. I feel Andrew suddenly behind me, his hands grasping at my wrists, repeating my name calmly as he tries to pull me off of his wife. An electric current pulses from my stomach, blistering my insides like a microwave. I spin around and fix my eyes on Andrew as I scream and struggle against his grip.

"Get away from me Andrew! GET OFF!"

Fireworks are let off inside my body, and my skin crackles with the coloured sparks of a roman candle as Andrew is thrown away from me into a glass cabinet on the other side of the room. I whip my head back around to face Daria.

"Where was I born? Tell me Daria, where was I born!"

"Demi, stop!"

She grabs hold of my wrist, her fingers closing around my sparking skin. She bites her lip through the pain of our contact, but doesn't let go. She struggles under my other hand, her face twisting in pain as my touch burns through her top.

"I'm not telling you anything until you stop this!"

I'm breathing in her face like a wild stallion, close enough that I can see blood vessels in her eyeballs and tears starting to pool in the pinpricks of her tear ducts. A sound of broken glass tinkles from behind me and a hint of shame forces me to loosen my hold on her. I glance back and look at Andrew as he slowly picks himself up and carefully attempts to remove glass from his clothes. I drop my hands, and Daria moves away from the door, rubbing the spots on her hand and her chest that were in contact with my skin. Anger flashes in her eyes as she pushes past me to get to Andrew.

"Are you ok?"

She gently checks Andrew for injuries, her hands searching his limbs, his chest, and finally resting on his face as they stand together. She looks into his eyes, love tinged with the fear of loss.