The Corrupted (Completed - editing)

Chapter 5 - "Peekaboo"

“Goodnight Nadia!” I smile as she stumbles away down the hall, one hand holding on to Sarah’s and the other dragging along her teddy.

“Well, you sure know how to suck up to the folks.” I hear Ethan’s voice behind me, as I turn to look at him.

“It’s not called ‘sucking up’, it’s called being polite. You should try it sometime.” I reply, smirking as I continue to stack plates.

“Oh, so saving you from a horde of flesh eating mutants is not ‘polite’?” Ethan stands over by the sink, filling up its contents with soapy water.

“You’re always going to hold that against me, aren’t you?” I carry over the plates to the sink, but Ethan stops me mid-way, causing me to almost slip and drop the plates.

“I’ll make it my personal duty.” He whispers huskily in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. I attempt to move away from him, but my body is frozen. He chuckles, walking back over to the sink. I can sense he knows what he does to me.

“Alright Mr ‘Hero’, if you’re so good why don’t you do the rest of the dishes?” I place the remaining stack of plates in the sink beside him, an evil smirk spread across my face. I will not be defeated.

“Hey, hey. I may be a ‘hero’ with incredibly smouldering looks and moves that would make a ninja look like a dog with a bag trapped over its head –

“Alright, alright. I get it. The great and – ‘ninja like’ – saviour is afraid of some dishwater.” I turn back around smirking, my eyes daring me to turn around am see his expression.

“If I was afraid of dishwater, would I do this?” He dips his hands lightly in the foamy water, lifting them back up and doing the worst thing imaginable. He flicks his fingers, sending foam flying in all directions.

“You. Did not. Just splash. Me.” I glare at his amused expression, daring him to do it again.

Before he can, I cup my hand, scooping up mostly just soap and a drop of water, and smear it down his cleanly shaved face.

“Oh, it is. ON!” With his razor sharp reflexes, he grabs soap, flinging it at me. Before I know it, we’re in a full-fledged soap war. Looking around, I try to find something to defend myself with. Stealthily, I sneak over, hiding behind the counter from all the flying soap, and grab a huge metal tray. Holding it in front of me, I quickly peer up from behind my tray. Nothing. Ethan was gone. He was waiting for my move, I could tell. I go to turn around, preparing myself to run up and grab soap, but I’m stopped by heaving breathing down my neck. Slowly, I turn around to see Ethan crouching face to face in front of me.

“Peekaboo.” He whispers, gently touching my nose, leaving a drop of warm soap. His touch is electric, a new form of life itself. I crave more of it. His hand reaches up to my face but stops, as if asking for permission. After a few moments of sitting there in beautiful silence, just listening, he gravitates his hand to my face, gently cupping my cheek. I’ll never forget the way his hand felt. Warm, comforting yet it sends chills down my spine, fiercer by the second. I lift my head up to see him staring at me with his gorgeous golden eyes. It felt like we were the only two people in this horrible, mutated world. His stare slowly changes into a confused, curious expression.

“What are you?” He whispers softly, staring closer. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, I clear my throat, pulling away.

“I should um – clean this mess up..” I mumble, drawing my eyes away from his unwillingly. What did he mean by, ‘What are you’? Am I some kind of – monster?

“Oh – uh… yeah.” He stands up, straightening his shirt out, offering his hand to me. Taking it, I sigh in dismay. Everything was perfect for a single second, until it was yet again, ruined.