Delude

When I awoke, my head was pounding again. I slipped a hand through my hair to press my fingers to my skull and looked next to me. Nixon was sleeping sitting up. I smiled slightly and moved to him, lowering my head onto his chest, and wrapped my free arm around his stomach.

He grunted in response to my touch but didn’t wake.

My thoughts drifted as I listened to his heartbeat, slow and even, and came to stop at my mom. Anyone who had known the situation, aside from the two of us, my controllable best friend, and the bastards who took her would think I didn’t care about getting her back.

“Stop worrying,” Nixon mumbled and rolled over. “Go back to sleep.”

I frowned and had a sudden thought. I sat up and hooked my left leg over his middle and sat on his side. He groaned and turned his head, his eyes taking in the position I was in. When he smirked and reached to grip the back of my head to bring my mouth closer to his, I blinked.

“You’re picking a funny time to go shy,” Nixon whispered, his breath sliding across my cheeks. “Please don’t worry. We’ll save them.”

And he kissed me, his lips soft and warm against my own. When his tongue prodded my mouth open, I parted my lips all too willingly. I heard him chuckle softly through the kiss as his fingers twisted in my hair and his hands gripped my hips, his fingers slipping under my shirt.

As my ears picked up the sound of my own appreciated growl, I smirked and shoved my hands between his back and the pillow, my fingers kneading at his muscles. When he groaned, I pulled back.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered. I averted his gaze and stared at the bathroom door instead. I felt him move slightly but I refused to look at him.

“Look at me.”

His voice was husky, and I shivered as his fingers slid under my chin, cradling my jaw in his hand. Finally, I turned my head; my eyes took in a sight that made my heart skip a few beats. I bit my lip.

It’s just your hormones, I told myself as I stared at him.

He was holding his shirt and grinning at me like he had in the shower before. I shook my head, trying to make that image dissolve.

“It’s not going to go away just because you want it to,” he said as he glanced at me. He smiled and moved until he was right in front of me. Then he took my hand and placed it on his chest. “Can you feel it?” he whispered, tilting his head.

His heartbeat seemed to speed up when his lips fell against my neck, his mouth working to assault my pulse point. He was able to pull me onto his lap without breaking contact and carefully slid the straps of my tank top down.

“I’ve already seen you naked,” he reminded me, his breath floating across my skin.

I shuddered at the memory and nodded.

He hooked his fingers into the belt loops on my jeans and pulled me closer still, until my forehead was resting against his and I could see his eyes; warm and calm.

“Don’t remind me,” I said. “It was not my finest hour.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Nixon said, shaking his head. “I’m the one who’s probably going to hell for that little move.”

“You’re going to hell either way,” I told him.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ve seen the kind of people that are going there, and they definitely do deserve it. I think the Devil has a special seat for Evan, though, and his minions.”

“You don’t think he was working alone to brainwash Jade?” I asked, sliding off him.

He understood my actions, however his eyes betrayed him. He tried not to look too disappointed as he put his shirt back on and pushed his hair behind his ears.

“Oh no,” he explained, “I think he’s perfectly capable of that little act. What I don’t see as his work is the whole kidnapping bit. There’s no way he could have orchestrated such a big plan by himself. He had help.”

“That girl?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I fixed my top while he thought about the answer he was going to give me.

“Abigail,” he corrected. At my confused look, he said, “I did some research. I needed to know what we’re up against.”

“You mean what I’m up against.”

He smiled and shook his head. “I thought you were giving up? What made you change your mind?”

“She’s my mother,” I said, staring at him. “If anything happened, I’d be responsible.”

“What about Jade?” he asked.

I miss you. I can’t believe you were weak enough to let one person do this to you. If something happens to you, too, I’ll never forgive myself.

“You’re probably the most courageous person I’ve ever met,” said Nixon, “even if you over react too much.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

I laughed softly. “I’m not a person, remember? I’m a thing.”

He looked at me, looked like he wanted to say something, so I nodded for him to go ahead. It was okay. Whatever he had to tell me, I wasn’t going to get upset.

“You’re human, Casey. You’re just not yourself.” He flinched, expecting me to blow up again.

I digested this explanation easier than anything he told me since we met. It sounded better to me than I could have hoped – I wasn’t me. I wasn’t the weird girl, the paranoid one, or the bitch. Scratch that last one.

“Who am I then?” I asked, blinking at him.

“You’re the reincarnate of―”

Before he could tell me, however, something that sounded like a bomb exploding shook the house. It was less than five minutes, then it stopped, and everything was quiet. I looked at the book shelf by my bed that had fallen, the books trapped underneath.

Nixon’s eyes narrowed and his jaw set.

I listened. I heard footsteps on the stairs. Then, without much warning, my bedroom door flew open and two figures walked in. One I knew too well, the other I didn’t have the slightest clue as to who he was.

“Jade, darling, look who I found hiding from us.”

Jade watched me; her blue eyes glazed slightly, her lips pulled into a thin, cruel line. The other was a man. He was tall, with snow-white hair, honey colored eyes, and a seemingly friendly smile.

“My apologizes,” he addressed us with a nod. “I seemed to have grown impatient and your house has suffered something terrible.”

“Who are you and what do you want?” I asked. My half blown up house could wait.

The man smiled and extended a hand to me. “My name is Noah, and what want is you, little girl.”

I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged, reaching out to grab my hand. He held tight and concentrated; I could see his pupils dilating.

A ripple of black manifested in the center of the room and grew until it looked very much like a black hole. I reached behind me to take hold of Nixon before Noah flung me effortlessly into the mass of darkness.