Distorted

I must have fallen asleep, because the next time I woke up it was morning. Sunlight streamed into the room, falling along the bed and sheets that were tangled around my limbs. I sighed into the pillow and rolled over, hitting something warm in the process.

Christian was staring at me, hair disheveled, his lips curling into a smirk. He lifted his hand and touched my jaw, tracing it lightly with his fingers. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I moved the hair out of my eyes and shook my head. “I don’t remember what happened.”

This time I wasn’t lying. I didn’t want to remember the images and actions that caused me to wake up shrieking. I bit my lip, feeling bad that he had to deal with all of this, even though he said he didn’t mind.

I wasn’t stupid, but I was scared, and I know that he was too.

“I don’t want to get up. What time is it anyway?”

“Shit!”

“We’re late for school, aren’t we?” I asked.

“Not by much,” Christian said, frowning. He wrapped his arms around my body and nuzzled my neck. “I don’t want to go. I want to stay here with you all day.”

As much as I appreciated the offer to skip out today, I knew we had to get ready. I nudged him and he groaned like a child before rolling entirely off the bed. He hit the floor with a thud and muttered a curse.

I poked my head over the edge of the mattress to see Christian lying on his back, a wild grin spread across his face. The second he started laughing, I smiled, a slight weight lifted off my shoulders.

He stopped laughing and stared at me, a sly look coming across his face. One second I was lying on a warm, comfortable mattress, the next I was falling into him as he pulled me down off the bed.

“Okay, we’re both out,” he said, kissing the top of my head. “We should get ready.”

I laughed until a scent filled my nose and I frowned, scrunching my nose. I looked at him and shook my head.

“You smell really bad,” I said, moving away from him. I wasn’t surprised when he came after me. He pinned my body beneath his and leaned down to kiss my jaw.

“You’ve been sleeping next to me all night, and you were sweating, so you smell too.” He smirked and sat up, bringing me with him. Then he hoisted me over his shoulder.

I tried kicking him but he had a firm grip on my legs. When he started walking toward the bathroom, I squirmed. “Come on, put me down!”

He opened the bathroom door and I prayed he was going to put me down. He didn’t. Instead, his body tilted and I slid as he turned on the water. He tried to right himself but I had gripped the shower curtain in protest.

He let me go, finally, because he didn’t want to rip anything. I was practically glued to the curtain, shifting away from him and into the shower. A cruel smile settled on his lips before he turned the nozzle on. The water pounded down on me, and I glared at him, fully cloaked and soaking wet.

“I’ll be right back,” Christian said, grinning, as he backpedaled out of the room.

With him gone, I climbed out of the tub, grabbed a towel from the closet and started to dry off. Though it didn’t matter, because when Christian came back, he had his cell phone in his hand and an expression I didn’t like on his face.

“Don’t bother going home for new clothes,” he said, his voice strange. “School’s been called off early. Something happened.”

I turned around. “What, did one of the Imposters have a break out? You know how all the students and teachers love them, so why go to school if they wouldn’t be there?”

I started laughing when he looked at me, his eyes telling me to stop. He shook his head. “Kendall, stop it. It’s not funny.”

“What?” My mouth formed a frown. “You’re freaking me out. What happened?”

He looked into my eyes and there was no warmth left in his. There was only fear. I reached behind me to grip the sink as he spoke; his words seeming distant at first, then they hit me like a ton of bricks.

“Cassie Winters was found dead this morning. Her head was bashed in with a metal pipe.”

By the time he was done telling me everything he found out, I was already on my hands and knees, trying to remember how I’d ended up on the floor, my eyes burning from tears. Then my stomach twisted and I threw up.