Whispers in the Dark (Being Rewritten)

Chapter 12

12

I woke up in a hospital room, staring at the ceiling above. I knew I was in for a world of hurt the moment I opened my eyes and my shoulder began to scream and my head began to pound. My first guess is that I banged it on something when I was in class. My second was that someone had found the bandage and had been an asshole while he picked and poked at the grotesque wound. Likely everyone thought I had over dosed on pills or something. Just great, rumors would spread and I would soon be known as the new kid druggie. But seriously, my arm hurt like hell. I pulled my shirt down a little ways to look at my shoulder. Just as I'd feared: Someone had put a new bandage on it. Which meant, someone had seen the bite.

I heard the door click open and pulled my shirt back into place before Gabriel walked in with a bottle of water in his hand. He watched me for a moment before walking across the room. "I see you've finally woken up," he remarked. Still groggy from my unwanted nap I simply replied with a muffled moan and rolled to go back to sleep and show him how much I enjoyed his company. Which, if you couldn't guess, was not at all.

I waited a few moments, hoping he would take the hint and leave. Instead, dragging a chair behind him, he moved around the bed to face me, set the seat down and got comfortable. He uncapped the water and took a sip from the bottle he still held in his hands. I watched the cool liquid being sucked from its clear plastic container and disappear into Gabriel's mouth and down his throat. The asshole probably knew I was dying of thirst. I had the impeccable urge to throw my pillow at his face and probably would have if I wasn't feeling so lazy and comfortable. He walked over, pulled another bottle out of the bag hanging off his shoulder and handed it to me. With some difficulty I propped myself up, popped open the cap and took long desperate gulps, pulling away only to catch my breath.

Gabriel grinned as he watched me devour the drink. "Thirsty?" he teased and I sent a glare his way. Then, suddenly, his mouth flattened into a straight, serious line. All humor had disappeared. "How's your head?"

"It's fine. I mean, I have a massive headache, but I think that has more to do with having to look at your ugly mug than anything else really." I gulped down more water.

For a brief moment I saw his mouth twitch before he was back to his serious, no nonsense self. Honestly this wasn't like him. It was kind of weird. "What happened back there, Christine?"

I had expected this so I was ready with an excuse.

"Truthfully, I don't even really know." I wasn't lying. I really had no idea what happened. All I could guess was that I had had a weird out of body experience with Benjamin and it hurt like hell. But did that mean I was lying? Did I care? No. I wasn't in the mood to have someone give me the "You're crazy" look.

"Has that happened before?" he asked.

"No," I replied.

"Are you supposed to take medication?" he probed. "Did you take something you weren't supposed to? Has anything strange happened? Cut yourself on an old piece of glass? Did an animal attack you?"

Well, let's see, there were those freaks that attacked me the other night. I wouldn't say Benjamin is an actual animal but then again... "No," I answered.

He moved in front of me so I had to look at him. "Christine, you need to tell me if something happened." Suddenly I was swimming in those eyes of his again, pulled into their deep, warm waters. "You can trust me." Now I knew what Daren meant by he could make girls do things with a single glance.

I looked away before I could say something I would possibly regret. Instead I looked toward the window by my bed. Through the small gap in the thick curtains I could see the dark grey skies outside. It was still day out, but I knew night would come soon enough. I felt sorry for whoever was caught outside when the dark came. The people who didn't know what lurked in the shadows. "I don't know what happened. Sorry to burst your bubble but I don't. Like I said before, maybe it was just a dream."