| CHAPTER 12 : IMAGINARY GIRLFRIEND |
The clouds clouded the sky, hiding the sun as a cool breeze blew through my black hair. It was rarely that I got to play with Collin under good weather. He was last year in his college, barely finding time to talk or spend time with me.
Today I got the chance.
I forced him out to the park, forcing him to play our old games to remind him that I'm still young and needed him close. Jade ditched me for Cole, her lifetime crush. I didn't mind though; we had already spent the entire night yesterday bickering and chatting.
Collin threw me the ball and I caught it effortlessly in my hands.
Sounds of laughter, small children yelling and people chatting filled the park. The afternoon weather was pleasant and lovely.
He wasn't playing right.
"I swear, if you don't throw any harder, I'm gonna shove this ball up your ass." I glared and threw the ball back to him.
A smile cracked his face, "I think I look much better with my already two balls, thank you very much." He said and fixed his blonde hair which fell on his forehead before throwing me the ball.
"I'm serious. If you waste this one day that I have with you, I'm gonna go find a new brother."
His exams were coming up and he seemed somewhat depressed. A strong feeling kept nagging at my gut, telling me he was gonna drop out. Ava tried associating him in parties, clubs and other places but he seemed hollow for a few days.
"Good luck with that." He threw the ball and I once again caught it effortlessly.
"Collin! Just talk to me already!" I suddenly yelled making his eyes widen slightly, "you've been acting closed off and depressed! It's bugging me!"
He stared at me for a while before pursing his lips. A sigh came out of those same lips before he walked in my direction. I gripped the ball firmly in my hands as I frowned at him.
"You don't have to worry about me." He said once he neared me, expressions tired and almost blank.
"And why the hell not?" I narrowed my eyes at him.
"It's useless, okay?"
"I'll believe it's useless when you tell me what's going on with you."
He shook his head, "There's nothing you need to worry about."
"The day I stop worrying about you is the day I'm no longer your sister," I said stubbornly.
A small smile came on his lips, "What if I told you you were adopted?"
I rolled my eyes, giving a snort, "You're terrible at changing topics. We're not done talking about you."
"I'm serious. What if you really were adopted?" He asked. I didn't know if he was serious or not by the playful smile on his lips. Of course, I'm not adopted. He's messing with me.
"That'll explain why I'm much smarter than you."
He snorted, "As if."
"Are you planning on dropping out of college? Is that why you seem depressed?" I bit my lip.
He furrowed his eyebrows, "What? No. College has nothing - I don't even care - stop worrying about me. I'm fine. You focus on your school. You just got to high school after all."
I shrugged, raising the ball and smacking it right on Collin's face.
He jerked back with an 'ah' gripping his nose, "Ezlynn!"
"Yes...?" I responded with a fake sweet voice.
"Oh, you're so getting it right now." He glared at me.
I widened my eyes and turned around, running away with a yelp. He ran fast behind me while I tried getting out of his reach. Both of us laughing.
I ran in between people, trees, slides and swings with Collin hot on my trail.
My lungs started aching, but I still ran with Collin behind me. Here's a thing about Collin, no matter how far you run or how long you ran, he never stops until he catches you.
God, where does he get his metabolism from? He doesn't even exercise.
I turned my head around and shrieked when Collin almost had me in his grasp. When I turned my head back, it was too late to see the-
I tumbled over a ball.
A sickening pop reached my ears before my body collided with the ground. A cry escaped my lips as my knee screamed in pain with numbness weaving through every part of my left leg. My hands circled around my knee as I screamed in pain, tears spilling out my eyes. I couldn't feel anything below except my knee.
Hands lifted my shoulders off the ground which I didn't notice until I was looking at Collin through blurry teary eyes.
"Are you okay? Shh, shh, it's fine, it's fine. We'll get you to a doctor, okay? Is it your knee?"
A sob lodged in my throat and the pain seemed to intensify. Another cry came out of my lips and I didn't know what was happening anymore.
My palm, which was on my knee tingled and a certain warmth shot through it. I gasped and yanked my palm from my knee. The colour from my face must have drained away because my palm glowed. Like actually glowed.
"Collin..." Panic and fear laced my voice which seemed to add in to the flame radiating from my palm.
It shot out like a bullet in my face, making me scream.
No pain.
When I opened my eyes which had closed on their own, Collin who sat beside me, had the light resting on his palm. He closed his hand into a fist, the light diminishing.
I stared in confusion and astonishment.
He opened his palm and the light vanished before his eyes skimmed around the park to see if anyone had witnessed what just happened.
"Did you just...what?" I spluttered.
His eyes fell back to me and then my knee. He poked it without asking and I almost screamed before I realized...my knee wasn't hurting anymore.
I gaped at my knee with wide eyes and poked it myself. I even pressed onto it but no pain radiated. It was as if I never got hurt.
"What - what's happen-"
Collin placed his hand on my cheek, making me look at his sky-blue eyes. My jaw fell open when his eyes glowed a golden colour, covering his irises. He neared my face making sure so only I can see his now golden eyes.
"Forget everything that happened. You never fell. There was no pain. We came to the park. We enjoyed ourselves. I was feeling sad because of exams. But you helped me see through it and promised to help me out."
He left my face. My head swirled into a mist of white and black flashes.
I blinked when my head came clear.
My eyes found Collin beside me, and I grinned up at him.
"I knew it was the exams bugging you. You can't keep anything from me..."
My eyes fluttered open, feeling as if I just rose up from the sea. A small ache pounded in my head with my limbs stinging. My surroundings, unfamiliar, were spinning round and round.
Before I realized it, it was spinning round and round.
My eyes darted around the room, which went upside down to downside up. I realized; the room was perfectly still. It was me who was rotating in a circular motion.
I gasped, "What the hell?"
My focus strained to make out the surroundings. It was then...I spotted him.
Laid back casually in a leather chair, with one ankle over the other knee. Five daggers held casually in one hand and the other hand, tossing and catching a dagger in the air. His lips pulled into an amused cold smirk as his icy blue eyes gazed up at me.
"What did you do to me?" I demanded and looked at my wrist and ankles tied to a circular board which spun in a slow cycle, "Phew I'm not naked."
"I was thinking about that." He responded with a small shrug, smirk devilish, "but then realized, it's no fun if I strip you. It would have been much more fun if you willingly stripped for me."
"In your fucking dreams. Why am I tied like a target of a circus?"
He shrugged, "I was bored."
"Bored? Bored? You don't throw knives at people when you're bored. You draw or bake or write songs or take a walk that kind of stuff!"
The room rotated with him appearing straight at first then at the top of my vision then my right then to my left.
"You definitely want me to die of boredom."
"Let me down." I struggled against the ropes, my hair dangling when I'm upside down and then falling over my face when I'm straight.
"But I haven't even had a shot." He said and closed one of his eyes, tongue sticking out in a form of focus and dagger poised and ready between fingers.
I widened my eyes, "I swear if you throw any of those daggers let alone bring it anywhere close to my skin, I'll punch your nose straight into your thick empty skull."
A dagger thud straight to the board.
I yelped, looking at the dagger two inches beside my head with wide eyes. I swear my heart is trying to jump out of my chest.
King Alpha positioned another dagger in his hands, one eye still closed, "Don't move."
"You don't move! Put that damn thing down!" I yelled.
Another one straight beside my waist. I shrieked, panic erupting like a fireball. I struggled against the ropes, hoping for them to loosen.
"This is crazy! You're crazy!"
"I am indeed." He positioned another dagger.
"Stop!"
"Make me." He darted another one with a smirk. This time, the dagger slightly grazed my calf making a small scream lodge through my throat.
"Oops," King Alpha widened his eyes before he looked back at the remaining daggers. "I guess I'm out of practice. Help me get back on track, will you, Blondie?"
"Drew! Drew! Help me!" I found myself screaming out.
A look of immediate annoyance crossed King Alpha's face as his eyes darkened, "Please don't tell me you're seriously calling that old ass."
"Drew! King Alpha is trying to kill me!"
He frowned, "I'm just having fun. Your already gonna die in like...four days." He picked up another dagger, positioning it in his hands.
"DREW!"
The dagger lodged in the air.
My eyes widened when the dagger aimed straight at my stomach. I imagined my gut splattering with blood and my life ending there and then. A scream left my lips. Before the dagger reached my skin, a huge body appeared in front of me, snatching the dagger from the air.
"Is this how you treat your mate, ami?"
Drew threw the dagger aside, the blade clattering on the floor far away from me.
King Alpha gave an annoyed look, "And here is my number one pain in the ass."
"Yup, at my chérie's service." He turned around and faced me. His groin was directly in front of my face because of me being upside down. My cheeks flamed in embarrassment and I turned my head to the other side not missing King Alpha narrowing his eyes at me clearly witnessing my behaviour.
Drew snapped the ropes open without effort.
My body almost plummeted to the ground with no ropes holding me in place before Drew's hands shot out and captured my waist. He spun me around like I was some kind of a doll and set me straight on my feet. My head whirled, with my legs shaking. Drew still had his muscular arm around my waist or else I would have hit the ground.
"I still have three daggers left." King Alpha said as if expecting me to tie myself back to the board.
"Shove it up your ass," I yelled, seething at him.
"I've done it already." He smirked.
I shook my head, "Gross, just gross! Don't tell me you actually did that."
He rolled his icy blue eyes, "Of course not. Now, will you please stop fanaticizing your dirty dreams on my mate and put her back on the board." His annoyed gaze flickered back to Drew.
Drew furrowed his arched eyebrows in confusion, "Fanaticizing dirty dreams? I have no clue as to what you're talking about."
"Oh yeah? Sure you don't want to fuck her as you do to the rest of them?"
Drew inhaled sharply with me widening my eyes. Suddenly I don't feel so sure about Drew's muscular hand around my waist...I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all in for hot boys, but not if they want that...thing above everything else.
"Now I really don't know what you're talking about." Drew gritted out, trying to compose his obvious resentment.
"Lucy does," King Alpha stated with an expression which said he's hitting a very bad nerve, an evil smirk plastered on his face, "Obviously you don't care because you left her to die after you stuck your-"
Drew was no longer beside me. I gasped at the temporary loss of balance before collecting and steading my body.
Drew had his hand around King Alpha's neck, pushing him into the leather chair.
"I already told you," he growled, "I was forced to leave."
"Because your imaginary...girlfriend told you so?" King Alpha croaked out clearly enjoying Drew getting worked up.
My feet implanted firmly to the ground with my breath stuck in my throat. I was no longer involved in a topic concerning me or related to me. Yet, I felt curious and inquisitive which made me ask.
"Who's Lucy?"
Drew's hand loosed around King Alpha's neck. He glanced at me with dark blue eyes before disappearing in a flash.
King Alpha drew in a sharp breath, collecting himself and sitting properly in his chair, muttering to himself.
"Fucking need of oxygen. What's the point of it when you're immortal?"
"What did you do?" I glared at King Alpha, crossing my arms against my chest.
"None of your business."
"Do you people just like disappear or run fast?"
"Run fast. Faster than you humans can blink."
I nodded, letting my eyes wander around the room. It looked like a gym room.
Before I could say anything else, a pain shot through my stomach, making me grunt loudly. It happened too quickly for me to comprehend. It started with a slow stabbing pain until it intensified as to someone trying to climb up my throat. My hands flew to my stomach as my knees gave away and slammed onto the ground.
King Alpha frowned in confusion but made no movement to come and help me, "What are you doing...?"
I couldn't respond. Something lurched through my throat and out of my mouth. My head dizzied with haziness covering my eyes. Yet I could make out the drops of blood splattered on the floor.
"Help...me," I whispered before my world went black and I was snatched back to the darkness.
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Date: 16 July 2021