Rise and Fall [[BEING MOVED TO ANOTHER ACCOUNT]]

Chapter Eleven

Eleven

                    I wake slowly. The room is still dark, and I groan. What god awful hour of the night have I woken at this time?

                    Something shifts in my arms.

                    I look down, and my eyes widen in surprise. Sasha sleeps soundly. Her raven hair fanned out over the pillow. She breathes deeply, and I can see her rise slightly. Only to sink back into the mattress as she lets her breath go.

                    I sigh. Remembering the events of the previous night.

                    Why is she so interested in me?

                    It's a mystery, really. But this mystery I don't mind leaving unsolved. She likes me. I like her. That's all there is to it.

                    I lay my head back down on the pillow, and suddenly, she rolls. Pressing up against my chest. We're face to face, and slowly, her eyes open.

                    This close to her, I can see that her eyes aren't just chocolate spheres, but chocolate, and espresso. Flecks of darker brown circle the iris, and seem to swirl and mix as I watch them.

                    Sasha smiles. "Sleep well?"

                    I nod. "You?"

                    "Better than I have in months."

                    "That's gr-" My words are cut short as she kisses me. It's soft, and short, and she leans against me when she pulls away.

                    "Sorry."

                    I laugh.  "It's okay."

                    "We're relocating today," she says quietly. "We're taking two vehicles. Victor and I are driving." She looks up at me. "Come in mine?" Her voice is small, and completely unexpected. I nod.

                    "Of course."

                    She smiles, and lays her head back down against my chest. Closing her eyes again. I close mine as well, and sink again into my newfound peaceful oblivion.

~*~

                    Sasha turns the keys in the ignition, and the engine slowly wakes. Its gentle humming nothing but background noise. Jacie and Stefan are coming with us.

                    Raelyn, Tallan, and Adelaide have gone with Victor, and sit now concealed behind his tinted windows.

                    I sit in the very back. Jacie and Stefan share the middle bench. The shotgun seat holds just that. "For protection," Victor had said when he'd tossed it to Sasha, and she'd almost dropped it.

She glances at it nervously as she begins to edge the car forwards. Gravel crunches, and she stops. Closing her eyes, and gripping the wheel hard. The shotgun sits resolute beside her.

                    "You're fine, Sasha," I encourage her. "Just keep going."

                    She smiles thankfully at me in the rearview mirror, and I fold my hands beneath my chin. Leaning forward and resting my forearms along the top of the middle bench. Stefan scoots closer to the front. Eyes warily on the gun. No doubt ready to snatch it up and open fire at the first sign of trouble. I don't think Sasha would mind. He's the child of a general. A Recruit. She isn't.