The Deal Changer (Book IV)

Chapter Fifteen - Not Dead

Chapter Fifteen 

Not Dead

I THINK I MIGHT HAVE DIED.

At least, I think I did. Even though I've died once in my twenty-two years, I wasn't an expert at it. I don't remember the first time it happened, and I certainly don't remember if it happened again. It wasn't like one of those moments in movies when a person's entire life flashes before their eyes. I don't even remember my last thought, though I'm pretty sure I was craving barbeque chicken. It was probably the smell of smoke that caused my thoughts to drift to food. At least I went out thinking of things I loved.

Or maybe I wasn't dead.

It bounced back and forth in my mind, like a ping-pong ball bouncing back and forth. Dead, not dead, dead, not dead. I wasn't sure how to tell them apart. Even in my hazy state, I remembered being locked up in a pantry with flames just outside of the door. Logically, it would mean I was swallowed by the fire and probably am somehow in between hell and the world. The fact I still smelled smoke only solidified my thoughts of being in hell. Unless, by some miracle, my house happened to flood and put out the fire as well as slaughter the eight vampires outside of my house, I'm thinking death had a firm grip on me in the end.

Or maybe it didn't.

"Anna? She's moving. Anna?" a hoarse voice echoed through my head and slap some reality into me.

My eyelids were heavy, practically glued together. Every time I tried to fight them open, they'd slam shut again. Although I was numb and my mind a fuzzy mess, I could feel a hand gripping mine tighter every time I made a movement.

"Anna? Anna, sweetheart, are you waking up?"

Finally, with one final force of will, my eyelids fluttered open and I finally broke away from what I thought to be death. The room was blurry for a solid minute, and everything was far brighter than I wanted it to be. Matthew's face was the first one I saw, though it was still a slight blur in front of me.

"Matthew?" I croaked, bringing my fingers to my eyes to rub away the blurriness.

When Matthew came into focus, I was speechless.

His eyes were practically a glassy green, almost hollow inside. Underneath his eyes was black, and not just simple dark circles; black as in his eyes were almost sunken in and the only color in his face were those black rings under his glassy eyes. He sat beside the bed I must have been sleeping in, a blanket over his shoulders and his hands gripping onto one of my hands as his lips pressed against the back of my fingers.

My free hand reached up and smoothed down his wild hair that was usually kept in perfect condition. "What happened?" I question, my mouth feeling my sandpaper with every word.

Matthew continued kissing the back of my fingers with an almost wild look in his eyes I hadn't seen before. "It was close. Too close."

The fire.

I instantly was aware I couldn't feel any pain. I moved my ankle around and ran my fingers over my forehead, astonished to not feel a bit of pain from the movements. It wasn't because I was numb, but rather because the injuries weren't there. "What happened? Tell me everything."

Matthew looked down at my fingers and once more pressed his lips to them. "I don't think I have ever experienced such terror as you caused me last week."

Last week? "How long have I been in bed?"

"It'll be a week tomorrow night. God, Anna, I am so, so sorry."