The Watchers Wake

Chapter 7 - No, not him!

CHAPTER 7 - No, not him!

By now I was shivering cold and confused.

“Are you trying to kill yourself Natalie?  Are you high?” He seethed.

“What...?  What are you doing here?”  It was then I noticed the car that I had only glimpsed from across the other side of the lake.  But why would he be here?

“Kill myself?   High?  What sort of question is that?” My brain finally registered his words.

I looked at him again and then it hit me.  It was like my entire being suddenly woke up and was tingling all over. I involuntarily took a step towards him.  My eyes focused on him and the warmth spread through me.I teetered on my feet as my body was drawn to him.  All the while my mind screamed no, and I fought this strange feeling, no not him, surely not him!

He seemed oblivious to my reaction.  He was standing there looking at me, his fists clenched at his side, and he was furious.  Why?  What did it matter to him if his accusations were right or wrong?  Why did it matter to him why I was here?  And exactly why was he here?

“Are you denying it?  Hell Natalie, after yesterday, did you... was it an overdose?  Are you taking some sort of stimulants, some sort of drugs?”  His jaw was clenched as he seethed, “Look me in the eye and tell me I am wrong.   Natalie please tell me that you aren’t doing anything stupid!”

I was cold and dripping I shoved my feet back into my shoes and with my arms across my chest I stomped down the jetty towards him  .Other than back into the water I had nowhere else to go.

“You...” my jaw flinched and my fists balled as I fought myself and all the insults I wanted to throw at him.  Instead I just looked into his eyes and said very carefully and clearly said “I don’t do drugs, not now, not ever! Got it?”

“So what were you doing?” He closed his eyes and his jaw loosened slightly.  He released a long breath and I could almost sense his relief.

“Umm, swimming,” I said with a ‘duh’ in my voice.

“Natalie, do you really expect me to believe that?  You are on your own and it’s very early and it’s very cold,” his eyes drifted over my body.

I suddenly realised that my light weight shirt was clinging to me and showing off more of my figure than I was comfortable with and yes I was obviously cold.  I separated the shirt from my chest and blushed.  Another memory surfaced and just for a second I wondered if Jari had engineered this situation, after all the t-shirt he had given me to wear was white.I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks as I realised how see-through this shirt obviously was.

There was a deep sigh as he automatically pulled his shirt over his head and passed it to me. I just looked at the shirt in my hands still confused.What was I supposed to do with his shirt?

“Turn around,” he growled at me as he took the shirt back again.I turned to face away from him as he added, “You will freeze to death in those wet clothes.  Take off your shirt and put my shirt on.Hell, Natalie what is going on?  Are you trying to kill yourself because...”

“No, I wasn’t,” my teeth were chattering now which took the edge of my retort.But I begrudgingly did what he told me to do.  As I peeled off my shirt I was sure that I heard him take a sharp intake of breath.I quickly pulled his shirt over my naked skin.

It smelt incredible I breathed deeply and swayed on my feet, light headed by the sudden influx of emotion.There was so many different and contradicting emotions surrounding me and swamping me.I felt slightly dizzy and disorientated as I tried to understand what it all meant.