Infliction

10. Last Motel

Pulling up to the motel for the night, Riley got out of the car and stretched. She was thankful this was going to be the last night she had to share a room with her brothers. It was getting a bit claustrophobic always having them around and she was looking forward to having some space of her own.

They walked into the motel room, the last one they would be staying at together, and Riley placed her bag down on one of the beds, already rummaging through to find her book.

"You're sleeping with me tonight," stated Jason as he placed his bag on the other side of Riley. "No buts," he added as Riley was about to open her mouth to protest. She would have preferred to have stayed with Noah tonight as Jason had been hovering around her all day and the constant watching was getting slightly on her nerves.

Sighing in defeat she propped the pillows up, grabbed her book and settled in on the bed to do some reading. Riley stifled a yawn as she opened her book where she left off.

"I'm just going to grab us some drinks. Do you want anything Riley?" Jason asked as he was opening the front door.

"I'm fine thanks," she said before putting her head back in her book. Jason closed the door behind him and she found her eyes drifting across the page. Riley only managed to read about two lines before she could no longer concentrate on the words in front of her and she felt her eyelids slowly closing. Before she knew it she had fallen asleep against the headboard, her book slipping from her hand onto the bed.

She gasped, choking to drag air into her lungs and she threw her hands up to throat in an attempt to stop a pair of hands from clawing at her neck. She bolted upright and opened her eyes, immediately shooting her hands up to her throat. She was desperate to stop the onslaught of pain shooting through her neck and down her spine, but as she reached her throat she realised nothing was there.

No hands were grasped around her neck, no pain was shooting down her spine and she found she could breath with ease.

"Riley are you okay?" she heard a voice ask in the distance and she panicked again. The voice was too far away and she was confused, where was she again?

"Riley," said the voice again but a bit closer.

Letting out a few deep breaths it took her a moment to remember where she was and her surroundings soon came back into focus.

"Riley," said Jason loudly into her ear as his body was pushed up next to hers on the bed. The last thing she remembered was reading her book but now the room was dark and silent. She glanced over at the clock that read 1 am and saw Noah groggily waking up.

"Sorry," said Riley, rubbing her eyes to clear the confusion from her mind.

"What's wrong Riley?" Asked Noah sleepily.

"I've got this Noah," said Jason over her shoulder as Noah slumped back down to sleep.

"Come here," said Jason as he placed his arm around Riley's waist and pulled her back against his chest.

"Everything's okay," he whispered as he gently stroked her hair. Her body relaxed, feeling the warmth of Jason up against her back. It was comforting knowing he was there and much to her surprise she soon found herself falling back to sleep.

Riley woke up the next morning feeling more rested than she had in a long time and glancing over at the clock she realised it was later than expected. They should have been on the road hours ago.

"Why didn't you wake me," asked Riley, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"You needed the rest," called out Jason who just exited from the bathroom, wearing only black jeans and rubbing a towel through his hair, his toned chest on display.