Listen to Dusk Till Dawn by Zayn and Sia
Chapter 31
"Umm I can explain..." was all I could muster assuming he was talking about the kiss. But how in the world would he have known? Unless...
"You took him to the hospital, right? I'm surprised he even agreed to go." He held a nonchalant expression as if he didn't wanna seem like he was showing any compassion towards his brother.
A wave of relief washed over me. My heart going back to its normal pace. Why was I afraid if he found out?
"Cause he'd think you're a hoe. That's why," my guilty subconscious said in an obvious tone shaking her head.
I was beyond confused at this point. "How'd you know?"
"Don't worry, Ryder's not a snitch. My grandad's nurse saw him leave and I quote 'with a gorgeous curly haired girl in a retro outfit by his side', I knew instantly who that was," he used air quotes to describe me. A cute smile formed on his lips making me blush slightly.
"I didn't know your grandfather was admitted in the hospital, Ryder didn't even tell me," I changed the topic with a concerned look.
"No, no its not like that...umm..." he was hesitant for a while as if he was debating whether to confide in me or not.
"It's alright you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I urged squeezing his palm and placing my hand back onto my lap. I mean he only just met me so I didn't expect him to spill all the details about his family but my inner Nancy Drew was crossing her fingers that reverse psychology would work on him.
He glanced at me appreciatively before releasing a long breath and shutting his eyes briefly.
"It's not meant to be public knowledge so I'm trusting you with this...my grandfather is diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. The symptoms have been progressing for a while now so we bought all the equipment so he'd have to take his regular checkups at home so a few nurses and doctors from the hospital come and go and along with his age we've all accepted it but it still won't register until his actually gone," he clenched his jaw and moved it from side to side.
I nodded understandingly knowing exactly what that felt like.
"The doctor said the certainty of his passing is not certain. It could be tomorrow or a few years from now... so his only wish was that we came back to his childhood town where his family's pine business first began. He wants his deathbed to be his home, Haynesworth Manor." He looked away thinking I wouldn't see his red eyes blinking back the tears.
"You must think I'm an idiot for crying over someone that isn't even my real grandfather...but I've grown close to them, ya know? That's why I decided to move instead of staying back with my mom."
This time I grabbed his hand and held it tightly in my own to be more comforting. "So you're all just waiting?"
"Twisted, isn't it." He responded looking down his soft hair falling over his face.
"You must hate everything about this place," I gestured my other hand around us referring to the town, in general.
"Not everything,"his light brown eyes meeting mine that were filled with so much emotion.
I felt a surge of confidence and angled my body to face his own. "Glad you think so."
"Aye, and thanks for tryna get through to Ryder, he may not act like it but I bet he appreciates you," he swiped his thumb back and forth over my hand making me feel tiny sparks.
I smiled back. If only he knew how far our friendship had escalated from last night.
"Now, if you could only talk him out of being in that gang-" he added letting out a cynical laugh. "That would be a miracle."
"Wait, you know?" I was shocked. The wind rustled through the cherry blossom tree that we were sitting under.
"We may not be close. But I'm not an idiot. That was one thing that we disagreed on the most," he clucked his tongue swiping his hand through his thick hair that wasn't held up in a man bun today. He looked preppy but cute.
I was ecstatic I had someone who did give me answers. So now I'd just hope he'd tell me the whole truth.
"Did you disagree on it because of what happened to his girlfriend?" I bit my bottom lip between my teeth.
His hands fisted into tight balls before separating himself. "Is that what he told you?" He spat out his eyes wide with disbelief. His aggressive side scared me.
"I overheard the other guy mention something about her being held captive the last time? Did it not end well-"
He stood abruptly from the bench shoving his hands deep in his pocket and flipping his hair back. His face was tense with anger and rage.
It was a mistake asking. "I-I didn't mean to overstep-"
"Ryder always had a habit of taking what's mine. Its his way of proving he's the superior brother and a grade A asshole. Her name was Tasha..." he trailed off sitting back down after calming down.
I forced myself to clamp my mouth shut from being extra inquisitive.
"She had just moved into our school in junior year and months went by, we hung out, dated a while then she became my girlfriend...things were going great for a while." He looked off shaking his head.
"Soon after she confessed she had a run in with Ryder and he came onto her."
By now my mouth was wide open, as if he was re telling another version of my soon to be life story.
He inhaled quickly."I forgave her with time, knowing how persuasive my brother could be and told her it wasn't her fault. She said it wouldn't happen again. I believed her. I thought we'd moved past it." He leaned forward his forearms rested on his thighs. He rubbed his face roughly before placing his fists under his chin.
"You caught them, didn't you?" I asked perplexed already knowing where this story was heading.
"We went to my mates party after the team won our lacrosse game. She was missing that night so I went to look, only to find her pressed up against the bathroom wall with Ryder's tongue down her throat. I got mad. Real mad."He reminisced bitterly his eyes distant.
"That slut," I muttered incoherently shaking my head wondering how someone could do that.
I'm one to talk. I was such a hypocrite.
"They left together but Tasha was caught up in a bad exchange with a guy who had beef against Ryder and his crew...she got hit badly a few time before Ryder and his posse arrived at the location. As mortifying as it sounds, a part of me was saying she got what she deserved. He ended their fling with her straight away saying he was bored."
My eyes were eager to know the ending as I searched his.
"She was going through a rough time and moved to a different state to get away from the both of us. Life went on. I got over her fast after knowing what she did. Ryder was his usual self, uncaring and emotionless, unbothered that he'd made a sweet girl into an emotional wreck. I heard she tried committing suicide several months later." He looked up at me his face falling with sadness. I gasped from shock not expecting that.
"I had no idea," I tried to be comforting by rubbing my hand up and down soothingly on his broad back.
"We were at least tolerable back then...but now I can't even look at him without wanting to smash his face," he said weakly like he didn't wanna feel that way but just had no choice.
A few of Ian's words stuck to making my insides all squirmy. Would he get bored of me? Would we end up having a secret relationship? Did I even want one?
That's when I put my foot down. I wouldn't let him. I wouldn't allow Ryder to use me and throw me like some piece of trash when things got unexciting.
I stood up and reached for his hand, pulling him to his feet with an enthusiastic smile plastered on my face.
"What are you doing?" He eyed me skeptically at my sudden change of character.
"We're gonna do something to take your mind off of this shitty memory train that you had us go down," I put our entwined hands behind my back running through the garden laughing at him being unable to keep up.
Stopping in front of the entry of the maze, lots of couples and paired partners stood there waiting including Marcus and Jay who were oddly enough paired together. I didn't spare either of them a glance.
I felt Jay's eyes on me but she didn't approach. That only meant she knew that I knew. I hated not talking to her but I needed to be independent for awhile.
Abbie was at the front of the line with a blonde guy who looked like he was in college. His large overly muscular arm was draped over her shoulder. His shirt looked like it was three sizes small showing off his chest.
They both held a look of snobbiness with their upturned noses.
"Okay! Looks like Shay and Ian will be joining us," Brittany, the gossip queen, announced drawing attention to the two of us. I guessed she was the one who suggested to play maze rush.
Others were welcoming and ushered us to the front. While Abbie looked like she was cooking up a comment in her evil little brain. "Look who decided to show up," she said with a snarky mouth pout.
I just passed her a fake smile back. "Wait, what are we doing, again?" Ian whispered into my ear with a look of confusion. I realized our hands were still clasped together explaining the staring faces, I quickly retracted my hand clearing my throats about to respond.
"Glad you asked," Brittany chipped in raising her hand halfway. Her super hearing was one of her worst traits. Her straight hair was clipped to the side and her pearl necklace dangled when she climbed the stairs atop a white marble pedestal that was originally made for the MC's of the game.
The buzz and excitement in the young crowd was evident, a few guys were even stretching."Good afternoon everyone...umm... thank you all for waiting patiently-"
"Just get to the point so we can win the damn prize already," the college guy next to Abbie hollered, chewing a piece of gum aggresively loud. He clearly hasn't been here before.
She shot him a look of annoyance before continuing. "Langston town has been known for its prestigious rich heritage, one of them being maze rush which was first enacted as a courting game by the First Lady of the Langston House, late Lady Dobrev..." she nodded her head in every direction her voice factual.
"Is all this explanation really necessary?" He whispered into my ear again making me shiver since he was behind me.
"Y-yeah it makes it more formal. To put it simply,we will have to separate entering different paths. The first two partners to reach the center of the maze wins a prize after pressing the buzzer. So don't take your time Grandma, I'm usually the first one at the buzzer and I'm not used to waiting long for my partner." I joked challenging him.
He was taken aback, probably cause no girl had ever underestimated his strengths.
It was true though. With my partner, Marcus he was so athletic we won the most cause we'd always cross paths along the way making it easier. We really did it for the free prizes.
His face contorted into a competitive one." Alright, game on."
"But don't worry if we don't win. The prizes are usually vouchers to Pizza and Burger Hut," I whispered back insouciantly like it didn't matter. When really free food mattered. A lot.
"Yeah you're right... I could just take you there myself," he hinted.
"Like a date?" I gasped in an exxagerated manner,smiling afterwards.
"Maybe..." he winked with a coy smirk.
"As I was saying," Brittany's voice grew louder her irascible eyes trained on the both of us. "The fog coming in from Pine Mountains is very heavy in the maze so be careful...Oh! And no pushing or biting, that goes to you especially Rhonda Hill!" Brittany exclaimed pointing her finger at a buff girl from school with a pixie haircut who had a strange addiction to bite anyone who got in her way. She just laughed shrugging her shoulders innocently.
"Okay, let the games begin!" She finally announced. My face shining with agility, me and Ian did a high five.
All the partners separated into two different lines mixing up with a few girls and a few boys. I heard Ian laugh out loud with the college guy. Making friends with the enemies, I liked his style.
"May the odds be ever in your favor," I snuck up behind Marcus who was in my line shoving his shoulder playfully.
"Sure thing, Katniss," he forced a polite smile turning back to the front.
That was weird. He'd usually chat up a storm with me.
I tapped his shoulder. "I'm not replacing you, we should probably just let someone else win this time," I joked.
He shot up his eyebrows, his face held a mulish look. "Yeah, quick replacement...looks like you got them both wrapped round your finger."
What was his problem? Before I could pick up an argument the blow horn sounded and everyone eagerly ran into the maze. It's foggy outlook made it appear sinister like a scene straight out of Harry Potter when they raced for the triwizard cup. But enough of all that fantasy.
I was the last person to enter, taking off my heels, I jogged in, my feet hitting the cold blades of the green grass. A few girls whooshed past startling me coming out of a dead end. That's what I loved about this game. Patience was the key to finding the center.
Brittany wasn't kidding when she said the fog was heavier than usual. Soon I couldn't see anything ahead of me and was just blindly walking. A few giggles ensued but I couldn't determine whether it was coming from up ahead or right behind me.
Taking a deep breath I felt the outside of the large shrubs. I knew I had taken a wrong turn cause I usually followed a path I'd crammed to be the fastest. But right now I felt like I was walking further away from the middle and everyone else.
Thats when things got weird. I felt a cold blast of air whip my red cheeks. I stared down the way I was going and immediately red lights lit in my mind.
I stood there taking slow steps forward feeling a presence other than my own.
Stop being silly Shay, it might just be another person messing with you. Chill out.
I took cautious steps with my hand out in front of me, until a putrid odor followed straight after. It smelt awful like a rotting corpse. Whoever this stalker was, they'd taken it too far this time.
I heard scuttling of feet and if I was correct, the sound of a knife blade being dragged across the hedges in my direction. I couldn't move. My hands shook from fear when I tried to slow my breathing. The worst thing was that I couldn't see a thing.
The mist began to subside, my breathing hitched in my throat when I saw someone standing at the bottom of the narrow maze path.
No this couldn't be happening. Reggie was dead, it wasn't real. The person in the black outfit began running forward with a knife out infront of him heading straight towards me.
Risk #18: Run For Your Life.
I made a blatant shift and started running as fast as my legs could take me. I ran into any direction I could just trying to get away from the person when I heard him just a few meters behind me. The persons footsteps were loud and terrified me like he could grab ahold of me and stab me instantly.
The person was so close, he reached out and tugged my long hair yanking my head backwards. I screamed hoping someone would hear. The intensity of the fog transcended down giving me an opportunity to think of an escape.
"You killed her," he slurred his voice sounding like a replica of Reggie's.
"You killed me." I couldn't see the persons face because of the heavy fog except the blade of the knife that kept glinting.
"...now it's time for you to join us," he heaved out in deep grunts.
He brought the knife up and over his head before slamming it down. I rolled to the side letting it pierce the grass instead of me.
I took off again, running blindly taking random turns, a few thorns scratching me but I didn't care. I needed to find someobody incase he caught up. My legs began to feel sharp pains of exhaustion but I pushed myself even harder hoping I'd lost him.
I bumped into someone at the end making me scream thinking it was him.
"SHAY? What's wrong? What is it?" Recognizing it as Jay's voice filled with shock and appall.
I pant, feeling my body grow weaker as my energy drains. My brain was scrambled as I struggled to form a sentence. I look back frantically till she grabbed the sides of my face directly to hers.
"Hey, hey calm down, alright. Just tell me what happened." She said soothingly brushing my matted hair off of my sweaty forehead.
I nodded vigorously my breathing normalizing. "I-I saw him in the maze, he attacked me-" I felt the rush of an anxiety coming over and the air around me began to ebb away making it harder to breath.
"Who Shay? Who did you see?" Her eyes wide with alertness checking down the back of the path I came out from. I didn't respond just struggled for air to circulate through my body.
"Aunt Tessa's dead psychotic boyfriend?" She guessed even though it was a no brainer cause he was ten feet underground in a coffin...right?
"Reggie. He's coming for me." I agreed. That's when my vision went black and I passed out. My head knocking against the grass, my knees giving way as I collapsed. The last thing that flashed through my mind were his toxic words; You killed her.