Nefarious

C73 - Is it him?

I hadn't realized before now that I actually had no ways of contacting Dane to get help. My phone died and I went alone, stupidly enough. "Well, fuck," Jace murmured. "What is it?" I asked, curiously leaning forward. We were back to the place where I hopped on? I wasn't aware this bus ride went all the way back.

After looking out the window for a while, seeing nothing but snow, I finally spotted someone. It finally made sense to me why Jace suddenly became nervous. All Hayden, Dane, and Adeline were standing outside the bus, waiting. Jace turned his head in my direction promptly and faked a smile. "Rescue is here." "You're just gonna let me go this easily?" I frowned. "Don't worry, Valerie. I will find you again." Of course, he will. He got up and waited for me to leave my seat. I carefully got up, but then I stopped moving. "Where's Alex?" I asked hesitatingly. The crook of his mouth moved upwards, forming a small smirk. "So you do care after all." "No," I scoffed, shaking my head. "You'll find out sooner or later."

I left the bus feeling rather hesitant. Jace seemed relaxed in a way as if he'd solved something between Alex and I. However, he hadn't solved anything at all.

«Where did you go?» Dane asked worriedly the second he spotted me. «Are you okay?» Hayden asked. «You're more stupid than I thought,» Adeline said, rolling her eyes. «I uh-» I started. Xavier didn't say a word, he was way busy doing something else. The bus was still here and Xavier kept staring at it intensely. Wait a minute... Jace. Xavier's jaw tensed, fists clenching. I frowned at him, which caught the others' attention. «Something wrong?» Hayden questioned as he stepped in front of me. «What are you looking at?» Adeline asked, nudging Xavier's arm. «Anything but you,» Xavier answered. Adeline scoffed sharply before stepping away from him, quite unmistakably offended at his answer.

His dark blonde hair was covered by a hood that went over his head, yet, I could see some of his hair peeking out. He wasn't far away, but he wasn't close enough for me to see him properly either. His black leather gloves were matching his outfit like it has done many times lately. The leather gloves that were covering up his coldness rather well. I swallowed oddly, trying not to draw attention to myself. He wasn't looking at me, but I'm sure he was aware of my presence, or else he wouldn't be here. It annoyed me that I couldn't see his face though, not even a glimpse of it. I wanted a confirmation that it was him. I needed to know if it actually was him standing over there... if it was Alex.

I jumped when Dane suddenly grabbed my arm. «Are you listening?» he asked frustratedly. «Yes, of course,» I answered. «What were you looking at anyway?» he raised his eyebrows. I shrugged my shoulders, not mentioning Alex. Dane's cold fingers removed a small leaf from my face, and it annoyingly enough reminded me of Alex's cold touch. It was like he slowed down to cause a reaction from me or something as if he'd expected for me to react to his touch. «Do you miss Alex?» he asked all of a sudden, letting his arm fall down. I shook my head immediately. I knew that was what he was thinking of, it had to be. «Good,» he smiled.

They all headed for the entrance, but Xavier remained still, staring directly at me. I turned away from what I assumed was Alex and faced Xavier instead. «It's kinda funny how you're trying so hard to fool yourself, you know,» he chuckled disappointedly. I lowered my sight to avoid eye contact, but I knew he was still looking at me. «Dane, does he send shivers down your spine as well?» Xavier asked. «What?» I stuttered. «Oh, come on. Each time I touched you, you went all weird as if you'd seen a ghost or something. Funny thing is... Alex didn't cause you those shivers. I know why, but do you?»