Warped

Chapter 28: Lukas

I should have been happy, relieved, delighted, gleeful, almost anything but the paranoid suspicion in my gut that forced me out of the kitchen and into hallways. I'm safe now, I should be back in the kitchen eating and laughing with the sunlight pouring in through the windows. That's what I've wanted for so long now.

Instead though, my muscles are taunt with worry. My tail trembling while it's curled around my waist. Enough adrenaline in my veins that I almost didn't feel my fangs cut open my lower lip.

Yet right as I'm about to convince myself that I have nothing to worry about, I heard the faint, piercingly annoying sharp screech of something. And because my cat ears can't quite figure it out and I'm being too paranoid for my own good, I investigated the strange noise coming from Jesse's room.

Taking forced deep breaths, to try and calm my intestines from strangling each other, I grab the doorknob and slowly push forward. Squeezing my eyes shut and shaking my head as my heart beings to pound in dread. My entire body seeming to know something awful is about to happen but not informing me about it. Keeping my eyes shut though is probably a bad way of figuring anything out.

With a sigh, I rub my face with my hands. Fully in the room that I entered with the express purpose of finding something out, but too stressed to let my eyes see anything. Just the feeling of wanting to curl up and shut out the world.

"Come on Lukas, you're being stupid." I let my arms fall, rolling my eyes at myself as I'm now talking to myself. Maybe now that I'm out of that prison is my brain finally going crazy over it.

I glance around, and for a moment, I can't figure out what made that noise and why I'm feeling even more terrible. Everything looks to be in order, perhaps it was just rat or something squeaking and I'm just too out of it to have processed it correctly. Yeah, that must be it. I'm just off because everything's just crashing down on me.

Then a breeze hits my skin, shivers breaking out at the mildly cool draft that I haven't felt for ages and fur standing on end with dread. My eyes widen as I stare at the window, the glass perfectly cut out. Not one crack or anything, and I would have never noticed with just the passing glance I used to look at the room.

Numbly, I stagger over to it. I stand right up next to it, and I distantly pass my hand through the hold. Almost unable to believe that it went through, despite the fact I just saw it. What did this?

My heart cries out, and suspicion floods my body. Sticking my head out, I'm no longer so anxious as I am mad. My eyes peeled and ears alert as I try to find to spot whatever did this. We just got out of a prison, not even for an hour have we been free from demons. I am NOT letting something take that joy away.

Very quickly my eyebrows draw together in confusion, I can't even see the glass! I would have suspected it was laid gently on the ground by whatever did this since I didn't hear it shatter, but nothing. Just normal forest, nothing to indicate anything suspicious.

In fact, if my head wasn't through this hole right now, I wouldn't even believe something was wrong. Perhaps I should have asked the Old Order, they're probably more familiar with this place than we are right now.

I step back, coils of dread tight around my stomach while I just can't figure anything out. It's probably from stress, maybe I should give myself a break. Sighing, my shoulders drop and I begin to walk out.

Only to stop as I breathe through my nose, something very... slight becoming a sharp thorn in my thoughts.

It's barely noticeable, and probably why I didn't notice in the first place. I can't tell what it is, but my gut is screaming at me that it's important. I couldn't let go of this small detail even if I wanted to at this point.