Family

Chapter 13

I woke with a start, the scream I had been suppressing ripped through my throat, causing me to descend into a fit of coughs that tore at the raw exposed flesh like claws. My eyes were wild as they stared into the pitch black surrounding that felt like it was suffocating me. I was almost convinced that I had died and I was now punished to spend eternity in some dark room in the pit of hell.

Then I heard a timid and gentle voice calling out to me through the dark. "Lily, it's just me, I'm here." Caleb? I immediately jumped forward into his arms, not caring that I couldn't even see him. I heard him sigh with relief and begin to stroke my hair.

Tears silently ran down my face into Caleb's shirt, but he didn't seem to mind. It seemed like forever before he pulled away to wipe my tears with a tissue. I felt embarrassed to have lost it in front of him and curled my knees underneath me on the bed. For the first time I noticed I was in my room, but I had no recollection of how I had gotten there.

"Caleb." My voice was hoarse and scratchy, barely above a whisper, "How did I get here?"

He lit a match and went around to all the candles in the room. The light comforted me and chased away the demons that lingered in the shadows. He sat back down next to me on the edge of the bed and handed me a glass of water.

"I heard shouting coming from Mr. Damont's study and some crashing, but once he stormed out I rushed up to see what had happened . . . ." he took a deep breath and continued in a low, pained tone, "I saw you, just laying there in a puddle of blood. I . . . I thought you were dead. You were so pale." His hands were shaking and I could hear his voice begin to break. Then he seemed to get a hold of himself and continued more confidently. "When I knew you were alive I carried you up here and patched up the cut on your head."

He passed me a small bag of ice and all of a sudden my head burst into pain. I was too absolved with finding out what happened that I hadn't noticed the pain from any of my injuries. I placed the bag at the base of my neck and winced.

Caleb hung his head and I saw a tear forming in corner of his eye, "I'm so sorry Lily." He sounded like he was on the verge of crying.

I grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye, "It's not your fault." I croaked, coughing loudly afterwards. He passed me another glass of water, since I'd drained the first, and told me I should rest. But I was too terrified of the nightmares I would inevitably have and instead we stayed up talking. Well, more like he talked and I listened. His voice took my mind off everything for the next few hours.

He talked about how his family had died in a Minotaur attack and he now lived with his best friend, Kevin, in an apartment above a bar owned by his uncle. He promised to take me there sometime and that I would find Kevin just as much as a goof ball as he was.

When the sun cast its shadow over the two of us I could see his eyes staring at me with more than just a friendly intent. It was a strange feeling that I had only felt with Alex, but with Caleb it was different, a sort of understanding that he would always be there for me.

I had almost forgotten about Rachel, who would arrive at any minute to drive me to school. I stiffly crawled out of bed to get ready, but my legs gave out beneath me and Caleb had to catch me before I hit the ground.

"Where are you going?" he chuckled, finding my lack of coordination amusing.

"I'm going to school." I replied, finally managing to limp past him and throw my uniform on the bed. My muscled ached and protested the movement.

"No you're not." I could hear a slight edge to his voice as if he would throw me over his shoulder and lock me in the room if I tried to make a break for the door.