Black Stars - The Mors Mortis Trilogy Book 1

Chapter 6 - Coincidences

Quiet people have the loudest minds.

- Stephen Hawking

"Leah?"

Brenton's arm hung over her shoulder as he opened the front door. In any other situation Leah would've shrugged it off, but the walk home had been accompanied by a disorienting headache that pounded with every step. A bump had formed on her head and a thick liquid was dripping down her back that she had an unhappy suspicion was blood.

"Leah! What happened to her?"

The voice came again and Leah made a conscious effort to look up. Alice was rushing forward, eyes wide.

"She might have a concussion."

Brenton's voice was heavy, the words falling into Leah's ears and sinking before her brain made sense of them.

Alice ushered Leah to a chair, hands fluttering over her injuries.

"What happened?" she asked, prodding the bumps gingerly.

Her eyes flicked to Brenton with a look Leah knew all too well; her head was tilted and her gaze hard, ready to dissolve the answer and dilute its severity.

"I don't know," Brenton said gruffly. "This guy had cornered her, he was yelling at her."

"What guy?" Alice demanded.

Leah recovered some strength and brushed Alice gently on the arm, dragging her attention back.

"It was no one," she said quietly. "Just a guy I met at Roy's a week ago. He's from out of town."

Brenton and Alice blinked at her, their faces identical masks of disbelief.

"Well, why did you let him –" Alice cut off abruptly and cast a paranoid glance at the windows, the doors. "Why didn't you run?"

Leah looked down at her hands, knowing that what she was about to say would change everything.

"I tried. He was faster than me."

Alice sucked in a breath, her eyes flying to Brenton, and the silence spoke more than Leah wanted to admit.

She could feel their shock mirroring hers. Jared had guessed things about her that no one outside this house was supposed to know. He could do things no one else was supposed to do. Thrills of fear and excitement were zapping through her and mixing into a confused blur that sent her head pounding harder.

"Well," Alice said eventually. "The cut on your head is small, so you won't need stitches. The bump will be there for a while, but if you don't go to sleep for the next few hours you should be fine."

Leah nodded and stood, testing her balance.

"I think I'm going to go lie down," she said. "I won't sleep, but my head is killing me."

Alice nodded, her gaze worried, but before she could shift out of the way Brenton's voice stopped them both.

"Leah, you still haven't explained what happened. Why did that boy attack you?"

Leah froze, Brenton's question ringing in her ears. She knew it deserved an answer, that for once Brenton had helped, not harmed. But there was something deep in the pit of her stomach that screamed she should keep the truth to herself. Jared had mentioned her father and no one, not even Alice, had ever broached that subject.

"I don't know," she said slowly, turning to face him. "You turned up before I could figure out what he wanted."

Brenton stared at her for a moment longer, a confusion of worry and uncertainty on his face, but then he just nodded stiffly. It scared Leah more than anything else had today. She couldn't remember the last time Brenton had looked worried about her, let alone defended her.