Chapter 12: The ex

I went over the night, it all being a bit fuzzy. My heart pumped thinking about Damon. I can't believe what happened. I closed my eyes, thinking about his hands, his eyes, his words and his.... I cannot believe that I danced with a teacher in a busy night club, full on grinding on him. I grinned, not feeling the embarrassment yet and enjoying the rush it gave me. He was unbelievably sexy. 'I'll keep you forever...' Did he really say that? I felt myself getting wet thinking about him. What would've happened if Kenna didn't interrupt us?

As I sobered up though, I thought back about all the things that were off. What did he do with Javier? What did he mean by 'his mate' and how did he drink SO much alcohol while not even seeming that drunk? And the part about healing me.. I thought back about the night of the explosion and how supposedly my burns just magically disappeared. Not to mention his speed, which didn't freak me out as much at the time but thinking back now, I really should have asked him. There was something weird... Homework for myself: figure out what the hell is up with my teacher.

I was halfway home and my feet started to hurt. My throat was dry and my body was screaming for some water. I looked down at my high heels and was contemplating taking my high heels off. I looked in front of me, taking in the long way to go. I bent down to undo my shoes, deciding to go barefoot. As I was unclasping the second shoe, I heard a voice behind me.

“My love.” I froze. This was a voice I recognized, a voice that said my name a lot for two years but then never heard again. My ex. Panic started to set on, my eyes big. I dated Alexander about three years ago and I thought he was the love of my life. Until one day he just left me, right after the night he tried to have s*x with me after I said no. I thought back about that night, he acted really weird suddenly and when I refused to go sleep with him because I felt really sick, he raged. He still tried, hit me and left. I didn't see him again after that. I unclasped my shoe and kicked the shoes off, stood up and looked behind me. Nobody.

I stood still and looked around me. It was eerily quiet, not a sound to be heard. Goosebumps lined my skin, but this time not from pleasure. Fear ran through me and it was getting hard to swallow. My feet touched the hard concrete and I cursed myself for not wearing sneakers. There was only one way I could go. I was too far to go back to Kenna. I ran. I ran towards my house, leaving my shoes on the side of the road. I heard a laugh behind me and then suddenly I was flying. I was thrown against a tree and I felt pain shoot through my body.

‘‘You're mine.’’ I heard all around me.

Something was holding me against the tree, too dark for me to see what. A hand clasped around my neck, the fingers digging in. The scar on the back of my neck hurt so much it burned. I wanted to scream but my airway was cut off. I heard a menacing laugh and a hand tried to slip around my body. My fight mode activated and I head butted whoever was touching me. The body didn't move an inch, totally unfazed but the hand on my neck slipped slightly, not expecting my attack. That was all I needed to let out a high pitch scream. I heard a car screeching to a stop and the person holding me let me go and ran off.

I ran out to the road, cutting my foot open in the process. There was a woman getting out the car with a gun in her hands. She saw me and pointed the gun at me, thinking I would attack her. Once she took me in, she quickly discarded her gun and ran over to me. She helped to get me in the car and got a towel for my bleeding foot. ‘‘What happened?’’ She asked me as she got behind the wheel. ‘‘Just drive. There is a maniac around here. I got attacked. You have no idea how grateful I am that you stopped.’’ I said with tears brimming in my eyes. ‘‘Don't worry my dear. I will drive you home. Where do you live?’’ I gave her directions and soon she parked in front of my house.

I thanked her about a 100 times and she made sure I was safe inside and my doors were locked. She even checked all the windows in my house and left once she knew I was 100% good. Moose gave her lots of kisses and I felt a lot better after calming down. It was already 4 am by this time and I quickly washed my face, brushed my teeth and just fell down on my bed, not even bothering to change. I just managed to turn off the lights before I fell into a deep sleep.

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I walked through the forest, on my way to the waterfalls. Suddenly Damon was standing in front of me. ‘‘What are you doing here?’’ I asked him. ‘‘You need to invite me in. You're hurt.’’ He responded. I frowned, feeling no pain. ‘‘What are you talking about?’’ I said as I looked around me. Where was I? It looked like the forest next to my house but felt distorted. ‘‘Tris. Focus. Invite me into your house.’’ He said with a serious expression. I looked at him. He looked crystal clear while the rest was fuzzy, like a thick blanket. I looked down at myself, finding myself wearing the same white dress I was wearing earlier. I had no shoes on and the necklace around my neck was glowing. I looked around me again, stepping forward. Damon walked closer, tilting my face up. ‘‘Invite me in.’’ He said with a hypnotic voice while looking into my eyes. ‘‘What are you doing?’’ I asked with a frown. ‘‘Shit’.’ Was his best answer. I looked behind him and the forest stopped suddenly, showing an unknown house. “Is that your house? Wait. What's happening?’’ I asked and felt myself getting restless. ‘‘Tris, no, stay with me.’’ He said while grabbing my hand, a look of frustration on his face. I heard Moose barking in the distance. No. Not in the distance. He was in the hallway. I was in bed, wasn't I? I looked at Damon and he was fading away into nothing. I heard him shout something at me but I was already gone, too far for him to reach.

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I woke up with my heart racing. Moose was still barking, signalling there was something wrong. I jumped out of bed and opened the door. I was greeted by Moose who ran around my room, sniffing the air. ‘‘It's okay boy, there's nobody here.’’ I said to Moose to calm him down. He looked at the windows and I realised I never even shut the curtains. I quickly shut them and looked at my bed. I saw a lot of blood, realising I forgot to cover my foot before falling asleep. I sighed and looked down, seeing that my foot was covered in blood but was already feeling better. The clock showed me 7am. I didn't even have three hours of sleep.

I decided to run myself a bath and wake up. There was no way I could sleep now anyway. Wait. Did I dream of Damon? It felt so foggy and at the same time so real, I wondered if the alcohol was still in my system, playing tricks on me. I changed in the bathroom and when I was naked, I looked into the mirror and noticed my necklace. It couldn't be. There was a faint glow on the stone. I touched it and the stone was warm to the touch. A realisation came to me. Did Damon give me this? Was that why I was dreaming about him? I took the necklace off, my head full with information and just wanting to relax. There's no way he gave me this. I was fantasising.

I had an hour long soak in the bath while Moose ate a bone, being very content I was home. I felt anger thinking about my attacker. I swear it was Alexander. It had to be him, it was his voice. Or maybe he just made that big of an impact on me that I thought about him whenever I was in an unsafe situation. F*cking psycho, attacking girls in the middle of the night. If that woman wasn't there, I don't know what would have happened. I looked at my foot. I cut open the bottom of my foot and it was bleeding everywhere, even in the car I was in. I looked now. There were still some scratches but it was already healing. I touched my neck, remembering the hand that held it. I held my breath and sagged under water, basking in the peace that the silence and pressure gave me. I liked to do this to escape the normal world for a minute. Weightless, soundless and thoughtless.