Divagate

Chapter 3

Lia
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I keep my eyes closed despite the fact that I'm wide awake. Darwin and Sigmund (or Siggy, since that's what everyone else is calling him) are deep in conversation. I know that as soon as they know I'm awake, they'll stop talking.

   Plus, I'm still terrified of them. The way that Darwin had held me with his hand clamped over my mouth was just a glimpse at their strength.

   The sickening look on Siggy's face the entire time Lincoln was removing my microchip was also equally as alarming.

"I can't believe that Marie made us bring Lia along. She doesn't bring anything to the group. All she's done so far is cry." Siggy whispers.

"Ok, she's not the strongest, but she..." There's a short pause before Darwin continues. "Alright, I got nothing. The only thing she's got going for her is that she's one of us."

"I don't get why Lincoln told her that we 'protect' our kind. We can totally obliterate her. It's happened before."

"Uh, I don't think that I could kill her."

"Why not?"

"I just... I couldn't." Darwin replies.

"I'll do it for you. Right here, right now." Siggy says. I hear him start to move towards me. I debate jumping out the window, but I don't know how to survive out there. I'd get caught too fast.

"No." Darwin hisses. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say. Do you have any idea how loud she'd scream?"

   Feeling super uncomfortable with what they're saying, I shift a little, pretending that I'm just starting to wake up. I groan and rub my eyes before opening them. Both the boys are staring at me.

"Hey, sleeping beauty," Siggy sneers. "Did our conversation wake you?"

"What?" I ask, cocking my head to the side.

"Nothing." Darwin answers gruffly. Lincoln sits up a bit and yawns. He takes his arm off of my shoulders to stretch. Without it there, I start to feel anxious again.

"Is everything ok?" Lincoln asks no one in particular.

"Everything's fine." Darwin snaps. After giving Darwin a look, Lincoln turns his head to look at me,

"Are you doing alright?" He asks softly. I simply nod. I can't possibly tell him the truth; that I'm not doing ok since I had witnessed several people die last night.

   It was really messing with me. I had spent more of the night (well, day) asleep, but would occasionally jolt awake, remembering the horrible events from last night. I don't want him to spend all of his time worrying about me.

   "How's your arm?" Lincoln nudges my elbow with his. I look down at my upper arm. Blood has seeped through the dressing a bit, but it doesn't hurt too bad anymore.

"It's fine. How's yours?" I respond, almost emotionless.

"Fine, too." The late evening sunshine pours into the treehouse through the windows, covering the walls and floor in gold.

   I'm finally composed enough to focus on what each of the boys look like.

   Darwin has somewhat short, dirty blonde hair and tanned skin. His soft, brown eyes hide under his thick eyebrows and eyelashes. I can tell by his squared jawline and practically perfect lips that he probably has the best smile.

   Lincoln has naturally curly brown hair that flops just above his eyebrows. His hazel eyes sparkle in the sunlight, which also makes his caramel skin glow. He has smile lines on the corners of his mouth. His entire face just screams kindness.

   Siggy's, on the other hand, has the complete opposite vibe. Almost every feature of his face is sharp; his jawline, his cheekbones, his chin. Even his striking pale blue eyes seem to shoot daggers at everything he looks at. His wavy, auburn hair is parted in the middle and reaches to his ears.

   Simply based on their heights while sitting, each of them are easily almost a foot taller than me. They all seem very physically fit, like the lab we were at made them work out frequently.

   Overall, all three of them are annoyingly attractive.

Somewhere in the distance, a mourning dove calls. Darwin moves over towards the door of the treehouse.

   He eases the ladder off of the nearby tree branches and lowers it to the ground. "We're heading out," he says, pulling a splinter out of his palm. "I saw a small farmhouse at the edge of the field that we can raid and stay in for a bit."

   Siggy climbs down the ladder, followed by Lincoln. I climb down after Lincoln, and Darwin comes down last.

   We trudge through the field, the tall grass swishing against our legs. I swat flies and mosquitoes away from my face. It seems that when I swat away one, at least four more appear.

"Almost there," Lincoln mumbles, more to himself than the rest of us. The setting sun casts long shadows of us onto the grass and multicolored wildflowers.

   As we keep hiking, I start to feel funny. My head throbs a bit, but I ignore it. After a while, the throbbing escalates to a pounding, making it feel as though someone's hitting my head with a rubber mallet. My legs feel weak and I try my hardest not to stumble.

   Remembering the conversation I overheard earlier, I stay quiet. I really don't want the boys (more specifically, Siggy), to kill me.

   We approach the back of the house, the floorboards of the deck creaking despite our careful steps. Darwin and Siggy pull out their guns from waistband holsters under their shirts and aim them at the door as Lincoln reaches for the silver doorknob.

   My vision goes blurry and my breathing becomes labored.

"Lincoln?" I manage to whisper before the world goes black and I collapse onto the deck.

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Salut, tout le monde!

This was a much shorter chapter than the last two, but I hope you enjoyed it, anyway!

Did you like the descriptions of Darwin, Lincoln and Siggy? If not, feel free to imagine them however you like! (It usually makes a book more bearable)

Thanks for reading chapter 3!💕