Dark Shadows Darker Secrets

Chapter 15

Draken's bedroom door creaks open causing me to jolt upright and snap my tired eyes in the direction towards the end of his room. Benjamin stands in the doorway and glances from me in Draken's bed, to Draken on the floor. He rasies an eyebrow at me with a slight smile playing at his lips.

"You weren't in Selena's room so I check here and sure enough, you're in his bed." He whispers so not to wake Draken. My pale cheeks blush a wild shade of red and I sink down into the warm covers.

"I was cold in Selena's room and I couldn't find an extra blanket so then I came here and Draken made me stay because I was really dizzy and.." I stop my rambling and narrow my eyes at the smirking Benjamin. "It's not what you think. He was on the floor the entire night." He puts his hands up us if to surrender and let's out a low chuckle.

"I believe you Scarlet. Gosh you're so jumpy." I roll my eyes at him and sit up straighter only to wince from the cuts on my back.

"So why were you looking for me then?" I ask while glancing down at Draken on the floor. I think back to the night that I passed out from my heat flash and staying on the floor that night too. Just like before his bare back is facing up and moves up and down with the steady pace of his deep breathing.

"I wanted to check on your back before I leave." He says bringing my attention back to him.

"Where are you going?" I ask as I turn my legs to the other side of me so I can sit with my back facing him.

"Selena and I have a mission this morning." He explains. His cold fingers grab the hem of my shirt and gently lift it up far enough to see my cuts. "Oh my God." He whispers to himself causing me to get an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

"What?" I ask.

For a while he doesn't say anything. I feel his dark eye staring at my back making me feel uncomfortable. "Your cuts ripped back open." He says quietly as if he can't believe it. He touches one and I wince.

"What happened to the stitching?" I went through the pain of getting them put in and sleeping with them and now they're just gone?

"It's still there. It just looks like someone cut it open with a knife." I shiver at that thought. Did somebody actually come in here to recut my back open? No, who would do that? Not to mention I slept on my back last night and drifted in and out of sleep all night so if somebody came in to turn me over to my stomach to rip the stitching, I would definitely have noticed.

"Did it," I try to choose my words carefully knowing very well how strange it sounds, "Did it cut itself back open?" My voice comes out in a hoarse whisper and my stomach churns with an uneasy sick feeling. How it this possible?

Instead of answering me, Benjamin kicks Draken lightly in the side with the end of his foot. Draken groans from his spot on the ground and pulls his pillow over his head.

"What time is it?" His voice is muffled into his blanket.

"Not the point." Benjamin kicks him again when he starts to doze off. "You need to see this."

"What?" he asks tiredly.

"Come look at Scarlet's back." He says impatiently. Draken gets up while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He stands behind me with Benjamin while he lifts up the back of my shirt again. I bite my lip as he sits in silence obviously bewildered by the gruesome sight.

"How did this happen?" his voice is husky from sleep but I can hear the slight anger radiating off of his words. I turn to see Benjamin shrug and then touch one of the cuts again. I wince and breathe tightly through my teeth. Out of the corner of my eye I see Draken give Benjamin a glare as if to ask why would you do that?