Calling Carter.

“Silah!” Carter yelled as I disappeared from sight. Something sharp hit my head, hard. I screamed as I felt myself dropping, nothing under me to slow my fall. I thought I was about to suffer a nasty death when Carter’s face suddenly appeared above me, and his hands gripped my wrists. My descent stopped abruptly, and my heartbeat was suddenly loud in my ears.

“I’ve got you.” He sounded breathless, even to me.

“Don’t you dare let me go,” I gasped, looking down to find my footing, so I could help him pull me up. I wasn’t afraid of heights, which was very useful right now. Unfortunately there was nothing for me to use as a foothold, so I had to wait.

He pulled me up, slowly. It took me a minute to realise that he was trying to maintain his position on the long, brittle grass, and trying not to follow in my downward path. I stayed as still as possible. Cliff jumping was not a hobby of mine. As I reached a point where I could use my hands to pull myself up, I thought he would let me go.

But he didn’t. He kept a tight grip on me until he was sure I was safely away from the edge, and then some. I had a feeling I was going into shock when I started shivering, my whole body shaking. My head was ringing. I didn't notice the blood on my cheek until Carter’s fingers touched my face, and came away with shining red on them. His eyes were worried and serious, no trace of their usual sarcasm or errant thought.

“Here,” he offered softly, giving me his black hoodie. I was only wearing a deep olive green long-sleeved t-shirt, and I pulled his jumper over my head with a smile. It smelled good, but that was a fact I ignored. I was still cold, though. And man did my head hurt.

“God, your lips are turning blue. Come here.” He ordered. I turned to look at him, half smiling when I saw he was wearing a fire-engine red t-shirt. His arms were open, and he pulled me into a tight hug. His chin fitted perfectly over the top of my head, and I curled my face into his incredibly warm neck.

“Thank you.” I said. My voice was muffled by his throat and my chattering teeth, but I think he heard me. “That was not fun.” I added with a shaky laugh.

“No, it wasn’t. Next time you do that, you must warn me. I don’t like surprises.” He said, voice low.

“I won’t do it again. Trust me.” I assured him.

I thought I heard him murmur, ‘good’, but it was too quiet for me to be sure. We just sat there together for a while, until my shivering became too much like an earthquake to ignore.

“Shit,” Carter swore. “Come on, I’m taking you home. Mum will help.”

He pulled me gently to my feet, and when I was standing on my own, shakily, I gasped.

“What?” He asked, worried again.

“I got blood on your shirt! I’m sorry!”

He stared at me. “You’re worried… because you got blood on me?”

I nodded, wincing. “Yeah. I am sorry.”

He just looked at me, then shook his head. “I don’t get you sometimes.”

I smiled and then wobbled badly as I tried to walk. Carter put an arm around my waist and half supported, half carried me on the short track to his house. I probably wouldn’t have gone with him, but he was Kala’s brother, and he had just saved my life. I was rather in debt to him, actually. I was about to close my eyes and concentrate on putting one foot steadily on front of the other when I noticed something.

“Where did you get that scar on your arm?” I asked quietly. My words came out a little mumbled, because my head was really starting to hurt now. The scar was almost like a burn mark, but the tissue was much thicker. It looked like… like someone had wrapped barbed wire around his forearm and pulled it tight, not stopping until the metal was a part of his flesh. I shook my head to remove the image in my mind, even though it hurt to do so.

He looked down at me again, a strange expression on his face. Damn, he was tall. “I might tell you one day.”

I fought the urge not to whine. And I mean really fought it. “Okay.” I said instead.

I sighed with relief as a house came into view.

“Home sweet home,” Carter muttered. “Come, I’ll take you into the lounge and then I’ll get Mum to help you. And Kala will kill me if I don’t let her know you’re here.”

He sat me down on a comfortable chair and made me press the sleeve of his hoodie to the cut on my face. Soon after, he returned with a very pretty woman I assumed was his mother. She looked about thirty, but that couldn’t be possible, because Kala and I were 16, and Carter was older than us.

Her hair was wavy, running down past her shoulders before she tied it up into a no-nonsense ponytail. She wore casual clothes, jeans and a soft green cotton shirt, but still managed to look very classy. Her eyes were a light blue-grey, and obviously where her children got their own colours from. Her skin was a light, healthy brown, and completely make-up free.

“Hey, sweetheart, I’m Layny.” She was also where Kala and Carter got their musical voices from, too. “You must be Silah. I’ve heard so much about you from Kala.” She smiled softly, kneeling to get a better look at my cut cheek. “Carter, some warm water and a cloth, please. The Dettol too.” Her tone suddenly turned brisk, and I was glad to know she knew what she was doing.

But I knew the Dettol would hurt. A lot.