Evolution (Evolution Series Book 1)

Chapter 16

I woke up shivering, reaching for blankets that were not there. I opened my eyes, trying to work out why Aiden's bed felt rock hard and cold. I quickly realised I was no longer in his bed. I was lying on my stomach on a cold, hard cement floor. There was wire fencing not more than a foot in front of my face, and there was a stench I couldn't quite place.

I lifted my head, trying to figure out where I was. "What the..." I pulled myself onto my knees. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep in Aiden's arms, but I was inside a cage of some sort, like the ones in dog kennels.

Turning around, I realised I had woken up in my worst nightmare. Bile started rising in my throat as I took in the scene before me. There was a girl strapped to a chair against the back wall of the cage. Her matted, blood-stained blonde hair fell over her face. Her head hung forward lifelessly. I couldn't see her face, but I knew it was Chelsea.

It was the strangest sensation to have my feelings divided over what I was seeing. In one way, seeing her there made me sick to my stomach. It made me want to scream, cry, and puke all at the same time. Yet another part of me was hoping that what I was seeing was another vision. Yeah, it was probably the worst vision I could have hoped for, seeing her dead and all, but if it was a vision, then I could use it to try to figure out something that might help us find her. Then the vision might not come true.

There was only one way to find out. I had to try to touch her. If my hand passed through her like some apparition, then I was definitely having another vision. But if my hand made contact with her skin, then... Well, I didn't want to think about what that would mean.

I crawled on all fours over to her, hoping to God that I was having some sort of vision and there was still time to save her. I reached out slowly... and made contact.

My hands trembled uncontrollably. I couldn't save her. I quickly turned away, unable to look at her for another second. This was all my fault. I was supposed to save her, but she was dead because of me. Because I couldn't work out what was already inside my mind. It had been there all the time, but I failed her.

I knew I was going to puke, yet I tried my hardest to fight it, causing my body to go into convulsions while I tried desperately to keep it down.

Then the inevitable happened-I spewed my guts up. Once it started, I couldn't seem to stop.

"Jade?" a raspy voice whispered behind me.

It took me a minute, even with my supposedly superior brain, to work out what was happening. And it took me another minute for my dry heaving to stop.

Once I had finally gotten control over my body, I turned around, hoping that I had heard correctly.

Sitting in the chair was Chelsea, with her head up. She was alive.

Without thinking, I lurched toward her, wrapping my arms around her. I couldn't believe I found her. I actually found her. And most importantly, she was still alive.

"Jade," she whispered.

I pulled back so I could look at her. "Yeah?" I couldn't believe I was actually holding her in my arms. The slice across her throat, which I had seen in my vision, was right there on her neck, but it didn't look half as bad as it did in my vision. Looking down at her blood-stained clothing made me think that she had lost a fair amount of blood.

"I'm glad to see you and all." She gulped hard, leading me to think she must be in desperate need of some water. "But you kinda stink."

I looked down at myself. Vomit smeared my clothing, as well as Chelsea's. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I said, pulling away from her.