Possessed Soul

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

I had used one of my T-shirts as a make-shift bandage; but it wasn't long before blood soaked it, and I had to use another one. Holden had tried to apply pressure to stop the bleeding, but it only helped for a little while and just started seeping through again.

"Hospitals would ask too many questions," I told Holden, when he suggested I see a doctor.

"Then we need to go back to Flynn."

"Sage," was the only word I used in my argument against him.

It was a mutual agreement that we would rest for the next hour. We were both drained from the fight, and if we carried on we'd probably meet with a very ugly accident. We had stopped in a clearing, knowing the police would scan the roads looking for the stolen bikes. They wouldn't check the middle of the forest, they never did.

The bikes were supported by massive oak trees, and we sat on the ground. Well, I sat; Holden laid down with his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky. I wanted to lay down as well, but I couldn't: my back was too sore and if I laid on my stomach, I'd just get a face full of dirt.

I was hungry, sweaty and tired, yet none of these things affected me as much as being apart from her.

Was this just a test of our love? If our love made it through this, then all the pain and suffering would be worth it. It would all be forgotten when she was safely wrapped up in my arms.

***

It was easy to believe everything was fine while reading a motorbike, with the wind in my hair and my eyes tearing up from the wind. It was pleasurable and exhilarating. But the pain that prickled from my back to the rest of my body was hard to ignore; the nagging strings of my heart was even worse.

We soon pulled up at the building. The first thought I had was that Ryan's family owned a mansion, but then I realised that this building consisted of apartments.

"How do we know which apartment is his?" Holden asked, gazing up at the tall building that loomed close to the sky. They weren't luxury apartments, that much was clear; but from the wide spaces between each window, I figured that each apartment was a couple of bedrooms in size.

"The text he sent us doesn't say." I looked back at the phone, but found nothing new. "Maybe he intended to meet Zach outside." I typed another message to Ryan telling him I, well Zach, was waiting outside.

The reply came back almost instantly. "I'm on my way down."

I showed Holden the text and then shoved the phone back into the pocket of my jeans. My heart was suddenly beating insanely fast. What if we were wrong and she wasn't with him? I swallowed that doubt before it could eat me up. I stiffened when the front door opened, but relaxed when a man in a suit and tie exited.

"Dude, you're shaking," Holden observed.

"It's the cold," I lied.

Holden saw Sage before I did. He pointed her out to me. Her hair was pulled back into a cabin-crew style bun, and she was wearing an oversized jumper that reached all the way down to the bottom of her thighs. She also wore long socks to keep her legs warm, but my eyes were attracted to the uncovered strip of skin above the sock. I furrowed my brows, worried she was getting frostbite.

She and Ryan were both looking around trying to find Zach. She hadn't spotted me yet, and I allowed myself the luxury of looking at her from a distance. I was just about to walk towards her, but halted when Ryan put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards himself. She giggled girlishly and flushed, making all the blood in my body run cold. This was the second time I was seeing Ryan, but he looked different from last time. He looked more nerdish: I didn't remember him wearing glasses. I guess she had taken Gina's advice and found herself a nice nerd.

"Do you still want to talk to her?" Holden put his hand on my shoulder in sympathy, but I shook his hand away. I didn't want his pity. I wanted Sage.

I felt like screaming. I wanted to walk up to her and kiss her, to remind her that she loved me. But I didn't dare take another step forward. It was fear that stopped me. I knew that I wouldn't be able to bear it if she straight up told me that she was choosing Ryan over me. Some things were better left unsaid. In addition to that, she looked happy with him. The shy smiles I had thought she reserved for me, were now being used on him. I couldn't bear to see them together anymore so with one last glance at her I told Holden that we were leaving.