My Artificial Love [ON HOLD]

Chapter 8

The dream began with a loud thumping.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It sounded suspiciously like a heart but I realized soon enough that it was a drum. Someone-or something-was pounding on it ominously. I was standing, floating even in an expanse of black nothingness, the drum echoing around me. Everything was concealed in shadows.

I spun around, trying to find some source of light. My eyes landed on a glowing green orb not far from me. It grew closer and closer until I could see that it wasn't a glowing orb, but a pair of green eyes. And unfortunately a pair I recognized.

Dallen's eyes blazed with the same malicious glint that I had seen in his eye during P.E. They did however have a new light in them as if he had never seen me before. I moved closer to them and Dallen's body materialized around his green eyes. I met his gaze and recognition sparked between us. Literally. Sparks exploded in front of me and he was gone, his baritone voice replacing him.

"Oh my, if it isn't the New Girl." His tone was laced with a mocking sort of mirth, though I assumed the words were meant to be deleterious.

"You should wake up from this dream." He continued as I spun around in circles, trying to find the source of his voice. "Wake up, Adelaide, wake up."

The voice changed and all of a sudden it was Cale, snapping at me to get my ass of bed. Okay not really, but isn't that was brothers were supposed to do? I could feel his hands on my shoulders, shaking me softly as if I were some frail porcelain doll he didn't want to break.

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking up at the familiar blue eyes that would always comfort me. Cale leaned back, his hands falling to the rumpled coverlet on my bed. Sitting up, I licked my lips, wrinkling my nose when I tasted my own saliva dried to my skin.

Cale looked me up and down before shaking his head. "You didn't bother to change and just passed out the minute we got home, not even glancing at mom or dad."

I shrugged. "I was tired. Dealing with Dallen is exhausting." And so was coming back from the dead, but that wasn't important.

He rolled his eyes before his gaze landed on my hands. He pointed at my fingers, which were dried with the blood I'd wiped from my mouth earlier. "I forgot to ask you about that. What happened?"

"I tripped and my hands scraped along the dirt path." I lied smoothly. "It looks like a lot more blood than there actually was because it spread and dried that way."

Cale gave me a small smile. "You always were a smooth liar, Addie." My head snapped up to look at him but he just shook his head. "You didn't tell about my fight and I won't tell about this, as long as you promise it wasn't anything serious? And you're okay?"

I nodded, slightly surprised at my brother. "I'm fine." I said. "Since when have you been able to tell if I was lying?"

Cale stood and I followed, my bare feet rubbing against the carpet. "Since you were thirteen. Whenever you lie, you look down and if it's a big lie, you bite your lip."

Huh. I blinked. "I hadn't noticed."

He laughed. "Come on, get cleaned up, dinner's ready."

He left my room and I glanced down at myself. I had opted out of changing in the locker rooms, preferring a shower at home, but obviously had been too tired even for that. I shut my door and pulled out a pair of sleep shorts and my 5-year old tinker bell T-shirt. I tossed my gym clothes into the hamper by my closet and slipped the new clothes on, redoing my ponytail which had fallen apart both during gym and my nap.

I hummed lightly to myself as I walked out of my room and across the hall to our shared bathroom to wash the dried blood off my hands. It took me maybe a minute to get it all off and even then my fingers were still pinker than usual. I shrugged to myself and headed downstairs where my parents, Cale and Abbey sat at our recently unpacked dining table. There were eight spots but only five had plates of food steaming in front of them. The last three were reserved for visiting family or guests.