Blood. Blood everywhere. In my hair, under my nails, in my eyes and in my mouth, I can practically taste it as I try to shout out but it clogs my throat and no noise breaks through. We need help! Nickie looks up at me through glazed black eyes, her face pale from blood loss, her hair deflated from her signature spikes, a crimson gash across her throat.
Bolting up right I plunge back into wakefulness and fight to control my breathing the room is dark and I fumble for my dresser draw but it isn’t there. “Scar what’s wrong!” Liam’s sudden appearance out of the dark is nearly enough to send me sprawling onto the floor. He holds himself up by his elbows the duvet around his waist having being pulled away by me. I can’t form words but I wipe at my hands, I need to get the blood off. “Scarlett, what is it?”
“I… the blood…” My hand goes to my own throat seeing Nickie’s so clearly, but it comes away clean. I know this is silly, it was just a dream. I never saw Nickie’s body, the last I saw of her was the dark fur of her wolf, only the dream had been so vivid. I concentrate on my breathing, control that and I can control my heart rate. Wistfully I think of the near empty pill bottle next to my own bed.
Liam and I had stayed in his room all day yesterday just talking about nothing, all of our problems are still stood between us but yesterday just wasn’t the day for it. We’d eaten pizza propped up on pillows and he’d even moved the large lounge TV in to watch a film. It had been the time I had wanted to spend with him since moving in. But I had fallen asleep here and I could beat myself up for that. “What blood?” He’ll think I’m crazy.
“Just a dream.” I whisper whilst flopping back down against the pillow, the mattress shifting under me to adjust to my weight.
“Scarlett…” His tone is worried but I have nothing else to say.
“A nightmare.” Maybe that will be enough. It is, he lies back down but pulls me to him and I place my head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat, willing mine to match the steady rhythm and it works, there is something about being in close proximity to this boy that does wonders for me. I don’t sleep again, but Liam does and his gentle snores, more like heavy breathing, is actually quite relaxing and becomes the backing sound to my thoughts until the sun comes up.
“No.” Rolling my eyes I can’t stop the groan that escapes.
“Liam! Come on, don’t be ridiculous. Besides I wasn’t asking I was just informing you.”
“You are not going to a human shopping mall without your security team Scarlett.” Well I can’t go with them.
“I’ll be with Gray the whole time.” I pour milk over my cereal but continue my death stare at Liam.
“What did I just say?”
“Liam, you aren’t my father… you know that right?”
“God I hope I’m not, otherwise this…” He picks me up, sits me on the counter and then kisses his way up my neck. “would be weird.” I push him away and pick up my bowl.
“Do you know how weird it will look walking around shops with an entourage? It’ll draw more attention then I’d ever get if I walked through their naked.”
“Well when you do that let me know, but until then you need to take them with you.” He sits on the counter opposite mine. We have a perfectly functioning table with chairs but this works just as well. “If I have to take mine you have to take yours.”
“You just take Harry!” I complain. “I’ll just take Abi.”
“No.”
“Liam! You’re being unreasonable and bloody stubborn. I am not a child, Gray is not a child. Do you even remember who my dad is! I floored you once or have you forgotten that.” I certainly haven’t, that is what you get for sneaking up on me.
“You’re injured, have you forgotten that?”
“Chance would be a fine thing.” I mumble. “Abi and Adam but that is it.”
“Who’s Adam?”
“Abi’s second. Think about it Liam, what threat am I going to be under? No one even knows who I am yet and wont for four months. Relax a little. There will be the two trained staff and my equally trained brother… in a public place.” We are at a standoff, staring each other down, each waiting for the other to give in first.
“Abi and Adam on the inside but the others on call in the nearby area.” I realise that this is the best I am going to get, it will make things slightly harder but I have actually won a battle here.
“Good.” I hop down of the counter my bowl empty. “They’re my team Liam and we need to find our own working balance.”
“One day you may be happy you have them. I know I am.”
“Let’s hope that day doesn’t come.” He grunts.
“Your dad will be pissed when he hears about this.”
“If he hears about this.” I state in warning before leaving him in the kitchen to get ready.
On the way to the shopping centre I went through scenario after scenario in my head, there had to be away to ditch these two and I am going to come up with it… hopefully soon. There is also the car behind us that is carrying the rest but we have already decided that they will be in the coffee shop in the shopping centre parking lot waiting to be needed, a waste of their time to be honest but I seem to be the only one that thinks so.
Adam spins round in his seat to face me, Abi had drawn the short straw and was driving, her attention fully on the road and the other cars. His hair is a light ginger that matches the stubble on his jaw and brings out the green in his light coloured eyes. He’s cute, I’ll give him that, but he’s also twenty-three making him five years older than I am. “What’s the plan today?” He asks cheerfully.
“We need a birthday present for my mum.” Sort of true, her birthday is still a month away, but who knows when Gray and I will have time to do this again.
“And why is your brother meeting us there?” Because we need the car.
“You ask a lot of questions don’t you?” I smile to take away the sting of my comment and shrug my shoulders. “Beats me, guess he had somewhere else to be this morning.” The lie roles of my tongue and Adam spins back round to face the front. How do we ditch these guys? A light bulb goes off in my head and I punch out a quick text to my brother.
The shopping centre is busy for a weekday and I thank whichever deity is listening that this is the case, more people means it will be easier to escape, more people to block us from view, more scents to cover ours and more obstacles to move around. However it also means I have to take a moment to adjust my senses so that I am not completely overwhelmed by it all. Gray is waiting by a large fountain, which shoots a stream of water high enough to almost touch the glass roof three floors up, he pulls me into a hug and I make the introductions. Then the shopping starts, the whole group is practically trailing after me but I keep momentum up, in my head I go over the plan over and over, and I am painfully aware of the time ticking away.
I was right about drawing attention, something I will make a point of saying to Liam, if he can get past what I am about to do and listen. The four of us can make our way through the crowds and stand as a group in any shop without drawing much attention, we’re just a large group of friends or even two couples. Although if someone was to pay us any mind they may notice that two members of our party are constantly looking around missing nothing. By lunch I, with very little input from my twin, have chosen mum’s present which consist of numerous make-up products and some perfume. Gray nudges me and shows me his phone screen, if we don’t leave in the next ten minutes I am going to late.
“Who’s ready for lunch?” I ask the group and there is nodding all around, we make our way to the food court, a large open space with a sea of tables and chairs, a water feature and a large television mounted on the wall. “There is so much choice.” I say spinning in a slow circle to take it all in. All around the outer edges of the room are different restaurants and fast food chains. “What does everyone fancy?”
“We don’t have to get the same do we?” Gray asks, playing his part perfectly.
“What’s the point when there is obviously something for everyone?” I respond. “What about you two?” Abi and Adam look around at the choice.
“I think I might go for KFC.” Adam is the first to make a decision.
“That sounds good actually.” Abi replies. I look over to KFC to see that the line is pretty long, good.
“I know what I want…”
“Subway.” Gray finishes my sentence for me and I grin. “Twin telepathy.” He states to Abi and Adam, his face deadpan.
“Okay, game plan. You two go to KFC we will go to subway and we’ll meet back here to fight for a table.” Mentally I cross my fingers, Abi looks reluctant but Adam accepts. We go our separate ways and join our respective queues. We reach the counter and I glance at my unsuspecting watchers. “They’re two people away from ordering.” I whisper.
“Then we go now.” Gray hands me a baseball cap and pulls on a beanie, just as the guy comes over to take our order we slip out of the queue under the barrier and towards the closest exit. The lunch traffic allows us to immerse ourselves within the crowd and we casually walk to the door, Gray grabs my hand, so at a glance we look like a couple and with a quick last look over my shoulder to assess how we’re doing (they’re at the counter), we slip out in the cool air. I can see the car from the pavement, the text I had sent Gray before we had arrived had told him to park as close to the food court as possible and he had managed to get the closest spot, that isn’t for disabled parking, and is also all the way across the lot from the coffee shop.
Slipping into the bucket like passenger seat of our shared Volvo C70 convertible I run my hand across the leather, I have missed my baby and if my arm would allow I would be in the driver’s seat. “So James Bond, how long do you think it will take before they realise we are gone?” Gray asks whilst reversing out of the spot. I look back to the doors but Abi and Adam are nowhere to be seen.
“Five minutes I’d think, enough time to get out of the parking lot anyway. I’m just lucky that our abilities don’t include tracking cars.”
“We aren’t going to be able to do this again for every appointment you know.”
“I know.” I sigh. “They’ll all be watching me like a hawk. I’m going to talk it through with the Doc and see what he has to say. I just don’t want Liam to know.” I confess looking down at my feet.
“Why not? Aren’t you supposed to be getting closer and sharing stuff?” Trust Gray to hit the nail on the head.
“Yeah… this is different… this is weakness… I don’t want him to…” I trail off.
“He isn’t going to ditch you because of this Scar. PTSD is serious but you’re working with it. You can’t be blamed for this. It isn’t weakness.” I shrug my shoulders, unsure whether he sees the gesture.
“By next appointment I promise I’ll have it sorted, no more sneaking around. I just wasn’t ready.” The silence stretches between us. “It was fun though wasn’t it?” I ask and we both burst out laughing.
“Liam is gonna be pissed when he finds out.” Gray states and I get a sense of déjà vu from my earlier conversation with my future mate.
“If he finds out.”
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Good girs are bad girls that haven't been caught.