A/N:
Released on February 13, 2017
Edited on September 9, 2018
Word Count: 1263
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Chapter 4: Some Side Effects May Include...
Once Jerica hangs up the phone, she goes over to stand in front of Lucas, blocking his view of the fireplace.
"So what do we do now?" Jerica demands to know, placing her hands on her hips.
"Go to bed." He replies tiredly.
She rolls her eyes and drops her hands to her sides. She opens her mouth to undoubtedly retort something mean when Lena interrupts her.
"Lucas, are you really okay now? You looked really bad when you came in. Even worse than Mason." She meets his eyes with a stubborn determination, wanting an honest answer.
"Yeah, I'm sure I'm better. I just need some sleep." Lena nods her head once at his response in understanding.
"I think I'll take your advice and head upstairs. Are you coming, Jerica? It's late and I'm tired." Lena says with a yawn.
"Yeah, I'll meet you up there in a second. I need to check on Mason first." She informs her best friend.
She exits the room quickly, leaving Lucas and Lena in the living room alone. "Goodnight, Lucas." Lena surprises him by saying as she exits heads to Jerica's room.
"Goodnight Lena." Lucas replies softly to her retreating back.
~*~
Up in his room, Lucas goes over to the desk to grab his charger and plug in his phone. He hears his door open and turns to greet whoever it is.
Jerica walks in as if she owns the place and stops a few feet from the doorway, standing there expectantly. Lucas sighs, just wanting to go to bed.
"What is it Jerica?" He inquires, trying not to sound as exasperated as he is.
"I brought you a water bottle and medicine in case you're in pain." His sister says with a shrug like it's no big deal.
"I'm so glad to know you care." The sarcastic words slip from his mouth before he can stop them. He's really in for it now.
Jerica puts her hands on her hips again and leans forward with her eyebrows furrowed. It isn't exactly a good look for her. "Do you have to dramatize every show of affection?"
She drops everything and flicks her wrist dismissively, but Lucas knows she's really furious now. "Well, you can take care of yourself." She retorts and stalks away, although she doesn't slam the door as usual.
Lucas picks up the water and medicine, deciding not to take any because the pain has gone away. After a few minutes on his phone, Lucas strips down to his boxers and prepares to climb into bed.
He sets his phone down on his cluttered desk just as his door opens again.
"Hey, Lucas! I just wanted to-" Jerica stops talking mid-sentence when she sees her brother standing half-naked in his room.
He suddenly snaps, feeling anger rush from his head to his toes. "Ever heard of knocking?" He can almost feel venom dripping from his words and realizes he's being harsh. He takes a deep breath to steady himself.
Jerica looks down in embarrassment. "Oh sorry, I just came back to-" Lucas doesn't want her to start a speech that leads nowhere so he interrupts first.
"It's fine. I forgive you." Those words spark something in Jerica and she gets upset again.
"What makes you think I was going to apologize?" She demands indignantly.
Lucas leans against his desk and curls his fingers around the edge. "Well, I thought you were sorry." He responds that way because he can't think of anything else he could say. He briefly considers just telling her to get out and leave him alone but dismisses the idea.
"Me? You should be apologizing!" She raises her voice to a shout.
"But I didn't-" Lucas tries to defend himself but his sister just causes more of a dramatic scene. There's no point in arguing because when it comes to their sibling rivalry, she usually wins.
"I can't believe you'd think that!" She sucks in a big breath so that she can keep rambling on. "That I'd just forgive you that easily!"
She balls up her fists and fumes, "Yeah, well I won't!" Then she storms out of the bedroom with a slam of the door.
Lucas winces from the suddenly overpowering noise. He puts his hands over his ears and the noise goes away. With a sigh of relief, he flops onto his bed, passing out almost immediately, his dreams consisting of a blur of black nothingness.
~*~
Throughout the next week, strange things had been happening to Lucas. For one, his side would hurt randomly.
He could sometimes hear things from far away that he shouldn't have been able to hear. But like the pain in his side, this happened inconsistently.
He chose to ignore the confusing healing process. Mason had been holed up in his room for the whole week with no obvious signs of pain from the wolf attack.
~*~
Lucas steps out of his bedroom to make his lunch when he hears voices in the living room. His immediate response is to back up in the hallway so that the people in the living room can't see him.
"Bye! See you tomorrow at 5:00 p.m." He knows that it's Lena speaking even though he hasn't seen her.
When he hears the door shut quietly, he leaves his hiding spot for the living room to talk to Jerica. "What's tomorrow at five o'clock?" He asks his sister out of curiosity.
She actually smiles before she answers, which is highly unusual for her. "Only the most fun thing to happen so far this summer!"
Jerica stands there grinning until Lucas finally speaks up. "Well, what is it?"
"I'm so glad you asked!" She exclaims with false enthusiasm. "Ivie's birthday party is tomorrow so Lena's coming over to get ready with me."
"You can come if you want because she invited you and Mason." She shrugs like she doesn't care whether they come or not. "It starts at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow at that new teen club."
"Okay. I'll tell Mason. I know he'll want to go." Lucas says it as if he doesn't care if he goes. But really, he desperately wants to get out of the house.
He's been feeling claustrophobic for the past week. He can't wait to get out of the house, but Jerica would undoubtedly make fun of him if he told her.
Lucas suddenly realizes that he doesn't know who the host of the part is. "But who's Ivie?"
"Don't you remember meeting her? She moved here like four years ago!" She nags in her trademark angry stance with her hands on her hips.
"Um..." Lucas honestly can't put a face to the name. He's heard the name before, but he just can't remember her.
With a dramatic sigh, Jerica continues. "Anyway, she's turning seventeen and you need to wish her a happy birthday while you're there or she'll be mad."
She rolls her eyes when she adds, "And I do not want to hear any more of her complaining!" Then Jerica walks out of the room without a goodbye.
Lucas reaches up to run a hand through his hair, but he feels his muscles strain. Pain radiates through his side, making him cry out in surprise.
He staggers back until his legs hit the back of the couch. He quickly puts out a hand to steady himself before he could fall backward.
He holds his breath nervously and lifts up his shirt to reveal his bandaged side. The bandages are bloodstained like Lucas feared. The bite wound has opened up again.