Save Me #1

19| Fatigue

Zach's POV

Olivia faces me with horror in her grey-blue eyes as the footsteps of Clarks draw nearer. I motion her to cower as low as possible under the massive concrete stairs and pray the Officer wouldn't spot us.

"Let's see, what have we got here?" Clarks mutters and walks straight to one of the doors to open it. He's closely followed by Caleb who keeps a cool face. Nobody would suspect he has hidden two people in his basement.

I look at Olivia who has pressed her tiny hand against her mouth to make as little noise as possible. Her chest rises and falls at a rapid pace. I hope she doesn't freak out.

I could slap myself for dragging her into such a shitty situation again.

Why did I let her come with me?

We stay crouched under the stairs the whole time the Officer is busy with ransacking the countless rooms of Caleb's cellar.

"Are you finished then?" we hear Caleb asking with annoyance in his voice.

Clarks huffs and then sighs deeply before answering, "Of course, Mr. Tremblay. Sorry for bothering you!"

The footsteps of Clarks and Caleb move back to the stairs under which Liv and I are still hiding. A minute later we hear the door getting closed.

Olivia heaves a sigh of relief and faces me. I cup her face in my hands and place a soft kiss on her plump lips.

"Everything's fine, baby," I whisper and pull her into a tight hug.

"Get a room you two!"

Caleb's booming voice makes us both jump.

"Fuck, Caleb!" Liv hisses but then bursts out laughing.

Caleb and I exchange puzzled glances before we get infected by her hearty laugh as well. The three of us stand like this for a minute, laughing loudly in Caleb's basement. It's weird. I think I've never seen Caleb laughing before.

"That was fucking close," Caleb pants as we slowly catch our breaths again.

"It was, man," I retort, and Liv just shakes her head, still giggling.

"Wanna join me for a drink?" Caleb questions.

"I'm totally in!" Liv blurts out.

"Are you okay?" I ask her with a frown.

"Uh-huh, I just really could use a drink right now!" she replies and heads upstairs.

"I kind of like your girl, shorty," Caleb states with a raised eyebrow, earning an eye-roll from me.

I really don't get why he's calling me that. Although he's much more muscly than I am, I'm still taller than him.

We both follow Liv to the ground-floor and into the living room.

"Whiskey okay for you?" Caleb asks and to my surprise Olivia nods.

I thought she didn't like whiskey at all?

Caleb pours three glasses of the brown clear liquid and hands one to each of us.

Liv chugs the drink down and hands the empty glass back to Caleb who eyes her with an amused smirk.

"You're thirsty, huh?" he asks and walks back to the side table. "Do you want another?" he asks but doesn't even wait for her answer and just fills up her glass again.

"Thanks," Liv replies and downs the second glass within a few seconds.

I eye her with a worried frown.