The Skylar Experiment : Beginnings

Chapter Sixteen (part one) - Sleepover

HE BLINKED AND IT WAS GONE. The hue of his eyes was pale and diluted, with no intensity. "Not now. We need to leave." He gazed around then back at me. "Can you get up?"

I nodded and clumsily unfolded my legs, supporting myself on the bark. I was tired, but it felt like a small wave of energy had been zapped into me, just enough to keep me going a little longer. The soreness was still present, but as bearable as regular muscle ache. I looked at my muddied top, then noticed the beads on the shorts were gone.

A bitter, disturbed chuckle escaped me.

"How am I going to explain this to my father?"

"You won't have to yet," Luc said, standing up. "It's probably better if you don't tonight, actually."

"What do you mean?"

"They're very angry. I don't think they'd let you survive the night if I let you out of my sight, and you lost a lot of blood. You can't walk all the way back to your house."

I shook my head, unable to grasp what he was saying. "Well, what can I do? My dad's going to wonder where I am, and..." Something cold and numbing engulfed me, raising my heart rate again. My voice turned uneven. "What if they'll go after him next?"

I'd seen with my own eyes how these animals could think like no other. They worked in teams, like a pack of wolves. It knew how to lure me, knew where I lived as they'd marked the SUV. They had to know I didn't live alone.

"I can have Emma cover for you and call him to say you're sleeping at her place. As for his safety..." Luc drawled. "I can make a few calls, have the house on perimeter for the night."

"You would do that? How?"

"I know people."

I said nothing to that, my mind going blank. I didn't know and I didn't want to find out.

"So... that means I'll be sleeping at your place?"

His face twisted up. "Don't really have a choice if you want to stay alive. I have to keep an eye on you. I've never healed such an injured person before. There's an extra room with a bed, and I'll let you leave first thing in the morning."

After what I'd just gone through, the idea of sleeping in a guest room meant anything. If it could stop the creatures from attacking my dad, then there was no objection, even if that meant putting up with Luc. After everything, it didn't matter anymore.

▲▲▲

Searching for the bag with my phone and change of clothes was a task Luc didn't plan for, and it showed in his unhappy shuffles around the bush. He'd made me sit and wait for him to come back. That did nothing to keep me calm as he dove under the tree line, visible only through the light he emitted on occasion.

He resurfaced with the bag in his grip, even though no fast was fast enough for me.

We'd walked—and by walking, I meant him tracking my wobbly steps—on a beaten track, in complete silence. At times, an isolated echo resounded through the mountains. They were still somewhere nearby. I didn't have to ask in order to know.

I tried to compute in the shower all that happened over the last hours. The scalding water flowed from my scalp all the way to my toes, washing away the grime and blood. I scrubbed with soap vigorously, making sure the dirt under my nails would wash away, too.

I lingered under the stream for so long that I came out lobster red. The bathroom was full of steam, clouding the mirror.

I felt stripped bare until there was nothing left. Wiping the condensation off the glass, I stared at my ghastly reflection. The skin on my face was pulled taut and bleak, with stubborn traces of makeup along the lash line that all the soap in the world couldn't eliminate.