Possessed Soul

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Kaden?" I heard Emma's voice before I saw her. I had always imagined what it would be like to have a sibling. I would have liked a sister that was exactly like Emma. She was the only one who kept the peace in this house...well, this Warehouse. We would be at each other's throats if it wasn't for her.

Emma's hair bobbed up and down as she ran towards me. I imagined she would have catapulted into my arms if I hadn't been holding Sage. Emma's mouth opened in a perfect o when she saw Sage's motionless body.

"Kaden..." Emma gave me a questioning look, waiting for me to fill in the blanks. She was dressed in a pink lace dress. She pulled it off pretty well, since that dress would have looked like a tablecloth on anyone else.

I shook my head and let out a breath I hadn't realised I had been holding.

"What's going on?" she whispered. "Is that her?"

"If by her you mean Sage, then yeah it is her."

"What have you done?" Emma enquired. "To yourself, I mean." Worry was evident on her face; her usually well rested eyes now had dark circles under them. It wasn't like Emma to compromise on sleep, she looked after herself too well. It pained me to think that my absence had caused her sleepless nights.

"I..." My words were cut short by Aaron entering through the back door. He was wearing a vest t-shirt and his hair was slightly damp. He took a long swig from his water bottle, before his eyes met mine.

"Jeez-like, Kaden." Aaron's eyes racked over Sage in a way that made me clutch her tighter.

"It's a long story," I told him, and walked past them to my room. I could hear Emma and Aaron talking to each other in hushed voices, but I was too tired to care.

I gently laid Sage down on the narrow bed and pulled the thin sheet over her. I hoped she was ok; she had been unconscious for a solid hour. If she didn't wake soon I would have to take her to the hospital, and that was something I was hoping to avoid. The police would definitely find us if I took her there.

I sat on the floor next to my bed and rested my head against the wall. I closed my eyes, but was forced to open them again when Emma walked in with a bowl of water and a wet cloth. She knelt down next to me, and I winced when she dabbed the gash on my neck with the cloth. Blood seeped through the cloth, dying it a rosy-red colour.

"You can't expect us not to ask questions," Emma told me. "You've been gone for almost three days. Flynn's out looking for you. He's been looking for you for the past two days," she explained. "Holden's contacted all the hospitals; he even visited some."

I was kind of surprised Holden had gone through so much effort to find me. Part of me thought Emma was making that part up to make me warm up towards Holden. "He should have tried the police station," I confessed.

Emma gasped, and tears filled her eyes. "The police did this to you?"

I nodded.

"And what about her?" She stopped dabbing my wounds and jerked her thumb towards Sage.

"I honestly don't know why she was there."

"It's a bit of a coincidence." Aaron startled me. I hadn't even realised he was in the room. "Meeting Sage at the police station, especially since you couldn't get her out of your head."

"It's not like I went looking for her."

"But when you found her, you just couldn't leave her. You had to drug her and bring her here with you." Aaron smirked. "I know she's hot, but don't you think that's a bit extreme."

"Believe what you want to believe," I told him, choosing to ignore the second part of his comment.

Aaron chuckled to himself and left without another word. His blond hair looked almost white with the little sunlight that streamed in through the thin walls.

"Take off your shirt," Emma ordered. "Oops, maybe Sage will get the wrong idea."

"I can take it from here." I took the cloth out of Emma's hands. "Wait," I called after her, just before she reached the door, causing her to spin around on her heels. "I thought you wanted to see me shirtless," I finished.

She rolled her eyes. "You'd better get cleaned up," she suggested. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

I nodded my head silently and wondered what the best way to explain this situation would be. The truth had too many holes, and Sage was the only one who could fill those holes in.

***

"Kaden." My name was the first word out of her mouth, when she awoke. I hadn't been able to sleep, not while I wasn't sure what was wrong with her. My eyes drooped heavily and I was finding it difficult to stay upright.

"Hey," I greeted, as she rubbed her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked, swallowing heavily.

"You fainted." I gave her the bare minimum; hopefully she would remember the rest when she was slightly less disoriented.

"Again?"

"Again?" I repeated.

"Never mind." She shook her head, causing her curls to swing from side to side. "Where am I?"

"Foxie, welcome to the Warehouse," I told her, just as Aaron walked in.

"You're up." Aaron sounded happy, a massive grin covered about half his face. "At least now Kaden won't have to stay up watching you all night." Aaron held a hand out towards her. "I'm Aaron, by the way."

She pulled the thin bedsheet closer to her and hugged it to her chest. Emma had kindly dressed Sage in one of her flimsy nightgowns and it was clear she was feeling exposed.

Aaron dropped his hand. "Shy?" he asked. He didn't wait for her to reply. "Don't be," he suggested. "If you can get Kaden to fall in love with you, that's an achievement by itself." He shrugged. "Flynn and Holden are back," he said as he turned back towards me. "I haven't told them about Sage yet."

"Thanks." I was kind of hoping Aaron would have told them: it would have made things easier for me if I didn't have to tell them myself; but then again, it might have made things worse if they didn't hear my explanation. Aaron wasn't known for letting people down gently; he usually barged straight into the topic at hand, even if the situation was sensitive.

"Get dressed." I threw one of my hoodies at Sage and walked over to the bathroom.

I splashed water on my face and it succeeded in waking up my sleepy muscles, but for how long? I used a towel to gather up the beads of water that clung onto my face. I had a few bruises that stung a little bit when the towel came into contact with them. The open wounds had stopped bleeding, but they were still painful. I groaned when I stretched my neck and one of my welts strained, but thankfully it didn't open up.

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