THE DEAF BOY HEARD IT ALL (BOYXBOY)

WELL THOUGHT (8)

I gasped, my eyes opened as I spring up in bed. My heart was racing and my lungs ached as I forced air into them. How was I here? Why was I in my room? Surrounded by my things I was more confused than anything. My familiar setting didn't bring me any comfort it only raised my anxieties.

What was going on? What happened last night? Soren! It was the one word that screamed through my mind. Jumping out of the bed the covers twisted around my ankles sending me to faceplant the floor. I groaned in pain and annoyance before kicking the covers away.

Once I was standing again I rushed to the door yanking it open. Harlow was standing outside her hand was raised as if she was about to knock on my door. I pushed past my sister and she stumbled away.

"Hey, where's the fire?" She called me but I didn't reply running up the stairs to the third floor. Stopping at the door that held all of the equipment for team Ghost Lives I started to bang on the door. The heel of palm slammed the door again and again. I didn't care if I woke the other guest I needed to know, I needed to see.

"What's wrong, Gunner?" Mae asked as she pulled the door open. Her toothbrush hung halfway out of her mouth. My lips parted only to close again. She looked normal, she wasn't said or distracted. She wasn't even scared. Shouldn't she be freaking out? I was freaking out. Wasn't Soren her friend? Shouldn't she care about his well begin?

Was he okay? Had they gotten him out of the well? Why couldn't I remember? What happened last night? How had I gotten home? We were lost in the woods near the well. Soren went into the well. So how was I waking up in my bed? What had I missed?

"Where's Soren?" I asked swallowing to afraid to hear her reply. I already knew what the answer was going to be; Soren is dead. He was at the bottom of the well. He had been taken and once the well took you I wasn't sure if you ever came back.

"Soren is . . . umm . . ." Mae tapped her chin. Why was it taking her so long to tell me? Did she not want me to know? Was it too hard for her to say what happened to Soren? I saw it with my own eyes. Did they really think they could lie to me? Why? Why would they even try to lie to me? To protect me? To confuse me? This wrong, all of it was wrong.

"Where?!" My voice cracked and I could feel the burn behind my eyes. Was this my fault? The well was calling to me. Whatever evil that exist inside of it wants me. I was the one that led them there. I was the one who ran into the woods at night. It was me who had been held at gunpoint. So was this all my fault? Was Soren gone because of me?

"Hey . . . Gunner are you okay? Did Soren do something to you?" Mae asked and I shook my head. He had been kind to me the whole time they were here. Soren had treated me with nothing but respect. I liked him. He was hot and nice and smart. He came from the city but he wasn't stuck up. He didn't look down on me or act like I was less of a person because of my disability.

Unlike Emrys Soren believed me when I thought I saw a ghost. He didn't tell me it was just stress getting to me. He listened when I talk, he treated me like an equal and not a kid. Unlike Harlow or Jude, he spoke to me like I was an adult and not someone he had to look out for or take care of.

I was trying my best not to believe in all the crazy stuff that's been happening around here. I struggled to come to terms that maybe our home was haunted. Soren didn't mind it was taking me time. He saved my life from that bullet. He kissed me and it was better than any other kiss in my life.

"Of course I didn't do anything to, Gunner," a familiar voice said and I whipped around to see Soren walking down the hall with Zane. They both had mugs of what was probably coffee in their hands looking as if it was just another day in the life of. I raced down the hall crashing into the man.