Wicked Hunger

Wicked Hunger Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Sicarius

I’m almost running as I drag Ketchup down the concrete stairs of Peak View Hospital. The orderlies dragging Oscar out of the room and down the hall when he wouldn’t stop screaming topped off an already disturbing experience. I wanted to ask him more, find out what my parents lied about, but there was no more talking to Oscar at that point. Admitting it hurts, but part of me was glad they drug him away. Do I really want to know what lies I’ve been told since birth?

When I reach Ketchup’s car, I finally find the strength to drop his hand. He doesn’t move, but I sag against the back of his car and hang my head. The silence of the parking lot is soothing after Oscar’s outburst. At least for a few minutes it is. Then my floundering brain nudges me, reminds me that Ketchup is still standing next to me, not speaking a word. I know I need to say something.

“Ketchup, I …” That’s as far as I get.

I work to find something, anything, but before I can, Ketchup’s hands are suddenly on my face, pulling me toward him. His lips press against mine fiercely, crushing me, and sending a rush every bit as strong as my hunger coursing through my body. The last hour evaporates from my mind. The last two years are forgotten entirely, and I’m suddenly back on my porch with Ketchup, a silly girl with unrealistic dreams. Except my dreams don’t seem so far away now. My hands slide around his neck and pull him closer. He deepens the kiss hungrily. I want more. I want nothing else in this world.

Ketchup shoves me away from him without warning. The angry glare on his face knocks me back. “You should have told me!” he snaps. “The hunger, the urges, the fact that your brother wants to kill me! You should have told me, Van. You shouldn’t have run away from me. You should have given me the chance to understand and help you. I wouldn’t have run. I wouldn’t have left you.”

“Will you now?” I ask, barely managing to make myself heard.

His anger holds for a few more seconds. In that brief moment, I fear my heart will explode. Then his shoulders slump and he pulls me against his chest. As his arms wrap around me, I know I will never feel safer than I do in his arms. He leans down next to my ear and says, “I’m not going anywhere, Van.”

For the first time in two years, I give in to him completely. I cinch my arms around him and bury my face in his chest. “Ketchup, I’m so sorry.”

“I know,” he says. “It’s okay.”

There’s so much more I want to say to him right now. I want to tell him how much I love him, how I’ve loved him this whole time. I want to tell him to kiss me again, but this time, in the way I always imagined our first kiss would be. My heart is begging me to tell him it will be like this forever.

Reality keeps my mouth shut tight. There’s still Zander. If he gets too close to Ketchup, there won’t be any forever. There will only be death. As he holds me, I can’t bear to say anything of the kind. So I don’t let myself speak at all. The wishes and the truth both stay buried until I can figure things out.

Ketchup is the first to break the silence. “Did you understand any of what Oscar told you today, because I didn’t. I’m not even sure we should believe him.”

“We should definitely believe him.” I may not have understood half of what he said, but this is one thing I’m sure of. Ketchup isn’t.

“Why? Just because Ivy’s last name is Guerra doesn’t mean she’s here to start a war. It sounded crazy, Van.”

Pulling away from Ketchup enough to look him in the eye, I say, “I know Oscar is nuts, but he isn’t a liar. You saw how upset he got when he talked about my parents lying to us. That’s always been a huge deal for him. He’s never once told a lie to anybody.”