Chapter 24

*thanks for the support!  I'm really groggy at the moment (comming down with something I think, but I really wanted to get this chapter out) so I *may* have posted the wrong version of this chapter by accident.  If I did, I'll check back later tonight and fix it

Thanks!*

The rest of the day just went downhill from there.

It was like the siezure had shattered through the calm like a hand smashing through a sheet of glass; everything was jagged, and sharp, and stung.

She was late for gym class.

When the teacher demanded a reason why, all she could think of to explain away the bruise was that she forgot some stuff in her locker and hit her chin off the door.

It was a plausible lie, but earned her a detention anyway.

Every class after that was pure torture.

She flinched at every flicker of light.

Every glimpse of the color blue had her shaking.

This time not even the guilty thoughts of Eliot were enough to keep away the fear, and not even the warmth of his jacket could work its magic on her mood.

Once again the school day became just something else to suffer through and dread.

It was only when everyone began to scatter around her that she realized the bell had rung and the day was finally over.

Which only hastened the occurrence of another dilemma.

She only thought of it as she got her bag from her locker and started to shuffle toward the flow of students rushing from the front door;

Would he be there?

Would he make good on his promise...or maybe it was more like a threat?

The back of her neck tightened with anticipation as she joined the rush of kids streaming out into the parking lot.

Somehow, she gathered enough nerve to glance out among the sea of hand-me-down pickup trucks and battered used cars…

Where one sleek vehicle was conspicuously absent.

He wasn’t there.

Or, at least, there wasn’t a shiny black car in sight.

Miriam figured she should have been relieved.  She should have hiked her backpack over her shoulder and marched across the parking lot with her head held high, like she usually did.

But, somehow, as she stood dazed on the edge of the curb and watched the other kids hustle into cars, she felt…disappointed.

The walk home wasn’t long—but suddenly, it seemed a lot more daunting as the bitter chill bit at the bared skin of her shins and the wind whipped up the edges of Eliot’s coat.

It was stupid.

She was stupid.  Stupid for letting him get to her—get inside her head.

She should have known better; it was always better not to rely on anyone.

Never to trust.

Eliot with his creepy red eyes, could just join the long list of people who had disappointed her in some way or the other, she thought gritting her teeth as she stepped out onto the icy street.

It wasn’t like she needed friends…

“Hey!  Watch out!”

The shout made her jump back onto the curb just as a car came zooming past in a spray of icy slush.

What the?  She threw her hand up to protect her eyes from the flying ice.  The driver had to be reckless, speeding like that through a crowded parking lot.

Only an idiot would be so…

She blinked and pushed the hair back from her eyes, only to witness the offending vehicle skid to a stop.

Right in front of her.

She realized that her mouth was gaping open.  An icy chill tickled her tongue and made her slam it shut again.

She could only stare, eyes wide at her own image reflected in the car’s gleaming black surface.  There was a flicker of movement from behind the tinted windows, just as the passenger side door was flung open from the inside...

Revealing the blank-faced driver who stared through the windshielf with his pale fingers strangling the steering wheel.

He didn’t look at her, even as everyone else in the parking lot turned to stare.

Miriam realized at the back of her mind that she was probably witnessing a once in a life time phenomenon as all several hundred high school students went silent in a single hush.

He didn’t speak.

Those red eyes just glared out of the windshield as if waiting for her to get in.  It was as if he didn’t expect to even have to waste his breath convincing her, or threatening her to get in—she just would.

Which she figured should have pissed her off.  Instead, she felt something blossom in her chest that might have been…relief.

She could feel the eyes of about a hundred other students boring through the back of her neck as she slipped her backpack from her shoulders and slid into the passenger’s seat.

The tinted, semi-darkness washed over her like a shadow as she wrestled the door closed with a sound that made her flinch.

And just like that, the car took off at a fast, break-neck pace better fitting some back alley race track than a parking lot filled with gaping students and icy slush.

Miriam tried to ignore how hard her heart was pounding in her chest—but it was like a sledgehammer, too booming to ignore.

Thump!  Thump!  Thump!

She had to reach for the seatbelt just to hide how badly her finger were shaking.

But she was almost surprised to admitted that it wasn’t from fear, even as the world began to collide into a colossal blur from behind the windows.

She wasn’t afraid.

At all.

Once again, the feeling sweeping through her seemed more like relief.  Intense relief at finally being away from the prying eyes and the pressure of having to pretend.

Lie.

Make up excuses.

Hide.

Even locked in a virtual stranger’s car, she didn’t have to pretend.  Instead, as Eliot casually steered out onto the main road she almost felt safe…

For about a minute.

She barely noticed when those red eyes flickered to her face—but she sure noticed when he swung the car around and slammed his foot on the break.

Sqqqueal!

The force of the sudden stop sent her lurching forward.  Only his firm grip on her shoulder kept her from smashing her face off the dashboard.

But it didn’t seem so comforting as that same grip yanked her forcefully around to meet his burning amber glare.

“What happened?”

The force of his shout made her flinch back in her seat.  It was only when he demanded the question again that she realized his eyes were on her chin.

“It’s nothing,” she blurted without thinking.  “I just fell—”

“You fell?”

A monkey could read the skepticism in his voice.  Hell, judging from the way his eyes began to narrow, Miriam figured that Eliot considered her about as smart as one for making up such a stupid excuse.

Those red eyes flashed.

“You’re lying.”

A part of her wanted to deny it.  Wanted to blurt out the same old lies and the old tired excuses…

I tripped…

I hit….

I fell…

But, she doubted the lies would wash over him the same way they did the gym teacher or her father—or anyone else these days for that matter.

He’d see right through it—be even angrier.

So, she did something that only he seemed to demand of her lately.

She told the truth.

“I smashed my head off the floor when I blacked out.”

“You had a seizure.”  He made the statement sound like a question, though her answering shudder made it obvious.

“Yes…”

“How?”

The harsh demand threw her off.

“W-what?”

His jaw clenched and he shifted in his seat as if annoyed at his own reaction.

She could imagine him taking a deep, steadying breath before he spoke again.

“What caused it?”

Miriam figured that she might have laughed if the answer wasn’t so painful.

“Nothing.”  She crossed her arms and tried hard to ignore the comforting heat leeching into her skin through his jacket.  “They just happen.”

She almost considered giving him the same tired 'nothing more than random bursts of brain activity' speech she'd given Mrs. Clark—but she doubted he'd go for it.

Considering the way he'd looked when she mentioned television as the most logical way to learn the news, she figured that science just wasn't his thing.

"...I can't control it," she admitted, instead.

Which only made his gaze darken even more.  She watched as those red eyes ripped away from hers to eye the dash, angrily as if it had insulted him.

But in a blink the emotion—any at all—was gone. Just like that, his gaze was blank and empty like coals with sand kicked over them.

That statue-like calm was back.

Or, almost back, because when he spoke again, his tone didn’t fool her.

“Why lie?”

She bit her lip as she thought it over and in the end she just shrugged.  “I don’t know.”

He wasn’t satisfied with that.  Those eyes simmered with more questions, but he surprised her by changing tact instead.

He reached for her, pale fingers outstretched for her chin.  Miriam tensed as those icy fingertips came close—close enough to feel that wintry chill that emanated from him the same way heat would from anyone else.

He frowned at her reaction.  His other hand came for her chin.

"Stay still."

His tone didn't leave any room for argument.

It's okay, Miriam tried to tell herself as her heart sped up.  He probably just wants to look at it.

But then she made the mistake of looking up.   Her eyes locked with his and it was like…

Magnets.

She couldn’t look away.  From the brief shock that blossomed in his eyes, she figured that he couldn’t either.

His hand stilled mere inches from her chin. She stopped shying away.

And the rest of the world faded away until all she could see was red.

It was everywhere, and everything; deep, pure, bloody red.  His eyes weren't just some odd shade of brown she realized—no, they  really were red.

Scarlet.

A part of her was disgusted at the shade—it wanted her to back away.

Run away.

Get far, far away!

But another part...

Only wanted to get closer.

She twisted on her seat until she faced him fully, and in an instant she forgot all about her chin, or how close he was, or how hard her heart was beating in her chest.

She just wanted to get closer.

Close enough to touch.

Close enough to...

She reached out, fingers straining for his--but then, all at once he turned and the moment shattered like a light being switched off.

He jerked his hand away and reached past her for the glove compartment, instead.  He pulled it open and snatched a handful of napkins from inside it.

“Here,” he mumbled, dropping them onto her lap.

Automatically, she reached for them, crunching them in her fist as the car lurched back into motion and turned up the long path that led from town and out toward the hospital.

They didn’t speak much after that.