Sleep Tight, page 22
I gave it a minute before following, the door seamlessly blended with the wall, and if I hadn’t seen Olivia just open it, I might have even missed it.
A secret passageway.
I pressed on it, and it popped open. It was a small dark tunnel. I would have to duck the whole way through, my back was going to kill me. There was a light at the end of it. How ironic. I ducked inside and ran as fast as I was able to until I reached the end.
The door had a small lantern attached to it. I took a few seconds to admire what I could see from the dim light of the lantern. Long intricate swirls were etched into the wood of the door, I gently slid my fingers over them before pushing open the door slowly, making sure Olivia wasn’t on the other side of it.
The coast was clear, her small figure was now a dark shadow moving further into the tree line ahead. I rushed to catch up not wanting to lose sight of her. She was picking up her pace now almost running. She was doing an amazing job of keeping her steps light. It sounded more like she was walking and not jogging through the forest.
That made my job of following her even harder. I had to keep a farther distance away just to make sure she didn’t hear my steps. Luckily, she wasn’t looking back and was focused on the path ahead of her.
She stopped abruptly and stilled. She just stood there, her back to me. What was she doing now? I almost called out to her but stopped myself when another shadow appeared in front of her. They stood still only staring at each other. What if that shadow was a Kryp? What if Olivia needed help and I was just standing here doing nothing.
They suddenly both ran towards each other and then Olivia was in the shadow's arms being spun around in the air... laughing? Was she laughing? She was laughing. Her hood got thrown back, and she was grinning.
That was not a Kryp Olivia was with. It was a tall guy. His features were now becoming clear to me, and he no longer looked like just a shadow. He was wearing a brown coat and black pants. And he had a buzz cut. That was the most I could make out from here.
He must be Arlo. Now I felt guilty for following her here. I shouldn’t be here spying on her while she was with him. She was safe and that’s all I needed to know.
Turning I took one step and tripped over a large branch I had not seen before, landing ungracefully and very loudly.
“Did you hear that?” Arlo said.
“Who’s out there?” Olivia called out.
“Shoot!” I whispered harshly.
“Hello? We can hear you out there.” Olivia’s voice was getting closer.
I stood up quickly brushing off the dirt and leaves from my pants. It was time to face the music. I walked out from behind the tree.
Olivia gasped. “Ava? What are you doing here?”
“I am so sorry Olivia. I followed you and I know I shouldn’t have. I was just worried about you coming out here alone in the dark, which now that I think about it why should I right?” I was rambling but I couldn’t stop myself. “You can take care of yourself. And now I've intruded on your time with who I’m assuming is Arlo right? I---”
“Ava breath. Slow down.” Olivia rubbed my arm gently. “It’s okay I’m not mad. I’m embarrassed, I know meeting up secretly with someone is not the right thing to do.”
“Oh no see now I’m embarrassed for making you feel like this. I’m just going to leave just forget I was here.”
“There's no way I can forget,” she chuckled. “Here let me introduce you. If I was going to get caught by someone, I'm glad it was by you.”
“You know I won’t say anything.”
She smiled as we reached Arlo. “I know. Ava this is Arlo Huxley. Arlo this is my friend Ava Luna. We can trust her.”
I nudged Olivia and playfully whispered. “Nice.”
Arlo was very good looking. Now that I was closer, I was able to see his eyes were dark blue and framed by thick lashes. Why we’re so many guys blessed with thick eyelashes. They didn’t deserve it.
I was snapped out of my thoughts by his deep voice. “Hi Ava, it’s nice to finally meet one of Olivia’s friends.” He stuck his hand out.
The second my hand touched his I heard whispering. Hundreds of different whispers and whimpering. The sound was all around me. But Olivia and Arlo didn’t react.
The feeling of something slimy and cold was going past my hand and up my arm. The same hand that was holding Arlo’s. I looked down frantically but there was nothing. The feeling was still there making its way higher and higher. I pulled my hand away and the feeling was gone, the whispers stopped.
“Are you okay?” Olivia asked.
“What? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just fine. Arlo it was nice to meet you, but I really should leave you guys alone. I’m sorry for intruding.” I needed to get as far away from him as soon as possible.
“Yeah, it was nice to meet you too Ava.” he stared at me strangely. Did he know what I felt and heard?
“Wait for me I’ll go with you.” Olivia said.
“Oh no that’s okay seriously.”
“Ava relax. I was only going to be out here for a few minutes and Arlo knows that,” she smiled at me. “Just give me one minute.”
I nodded and moved away to give them some privacy. After a few moments of light whispering Olivia was next to me again. “Okay let's go.”
Glancing behind I found Arlo watching us walk away. He stood there with his arms hanging at his sides just watching. He slowly formed a smile but never moved.
“So,” Olivia began, bringing my attention to her. “What did you think?”
“Who cares what I think,” I chuckled nervously. There was something off with him. Seriously off. A strong gut feeling was telling me that he was not to be trusted but how could I tell Olivia that.
“I care. Come on just tell me. I know you have something to say.”
“No whatever I have to say doesn’t matter.”
“Ava. I don’t have a lot of girlfriends. And you’re the first one that I fully trust with such a huge secret of mine. Please tell me. I care about what you think, especially when you are willing to accept him into our society. Your opinion matters to me the most right now.”
“Oh Olivia,” I groaned. Why did she have to go and say all that? If what she said was true, then it was only right for me to tell her the truth. No lying. She had to know what I thought.
“Alright, alright.” I took a deep breath. “But first are you sure you are ready to hear what I have to say? And you won't get upset at me?”
“Now I’m scared,” she chuckled nervously. “Just go ahead I can take it.”
“You asked for this,” I began. “I don’t… trust him. I’m sorry I know this is probably not what you wanted to hear but I just don’t. I have this strong gut feeling that he can’t be trusted. The second we shook hands I....”
Maybe I should keep some things to myself.
“You what?”
“I got the feeling that I couldn’t trust him when we shook hands,” I avoided telling her what I heard. I couldn’t even understand it myself, better to not have her know just yet.
She was silent the rest of the way. I didn’t say anything leaving her alone to her thoughts. When we we’re near the house we stopped.
“Are you mad?” I asked.
“No. I’m not happy but I asked you for the truth and you gave it to me,” she crossed her arms. “I just don’t understand where this feeling is coming from.”
“I don’t really understand it either. Call it a strong gut feeling I guess.”
She stayed quiet.
“Do you trust him, Olivia?”
She hesitated. “Yes. Yes, I trust him.”
“Are you sure?”
She looked around before answering. “I mean I’m still getting to know him. So… maybe there are still things I need to learn about him before I wholeheartedly trust him.”
“I get that,” I sighed. “All I’m saying is… be careful with him. Please. Don’t be afraid to ask him questions about himself. No matter how uncomfortable they may be.”
“I don’t think I could handle the truth if the truth turned out to be ugly. I love him. I need to trust him.”
“And that’s exactly why you need to find out if you can trust him. I understand how scary it can be to even think that you can’t trust the person you love. But for your own sake and to protect your heart you need to know. Trusting him should come as easy as loving him.”
She hugged herself and nodded. I pulled her into a tight hug not being able to stand how disappointed she looked. And knowing I was the cause.
“I’m so sorry for making you doubt him. You look miserable and it's my fault. This is why I didn’t want to say anything. But you’re my first friend here and I care about you, so I had to tell you the truth.”
“Thank you, I truly appreciate you saying your truth. You have no idea how nice it feels to know that I have you as a friend looking out for me.”
I smiled. “Always.”
We continued our walk to the house and headed towards the front door.
“I guess when you sneak out you use a secret door but sneaking back in you use the front door?” I teased.
We stopped as she hushed me and looked around. “That’s the secret to sneaking out, you have to come back confidently through the front door like nothing happened. No one suspects a thing.”
I laughed. “Thanks for the tip, I might need it.”
“You just didn’t hear it from me.”
“Of course not.”
“Oh, I heard about the ball were having. That should be a good distraction, I hope?”
I shrugged. “Yeah maybe.”
“I also heard we have some new people helping us look for your mom.”
“Is that all you’ve heard?”
“Yeah... why? Is there something else?”
“Oh yeah, one of the new people just so happens to be my ex.”
Olivia started choking on nothing but air. “No. Freaking. Way. You’re messing with me. No way. How? I mean how? How does that happen?”
“I’ve been wondering that same thing and thanking the universe for its wonderful timing.”
“I’m assuming you had no idea your ex was going to show up and that he was a Leki. How did it go? Did you talk to him?”
“Yeah, we talked for a little... he called me beautiful. I’m afraid he might still be in love with me,” I joked.
“Oh, he definitely is. What's the story between you two?”
“He is not! I was kidding, Olivia.” I sighed and told her the same story I told Elijah.
“How messed up! When I see him, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind. Also, since he didn’t break up with you doesn’t that mean you guys are still together?” Olivia teased.
“Oh no not you too,” I laughed. “Looks like I’ll have to officially break up with him so everyone can stop saying that.”
“Please do it quickly but let him down gently, remember he’s still in love with you.”
“I regret telling you that.”
We laughed and were about to head inside when Elijah opened the door and rushed out so quickly, he bumped into me. It knocked me off balance and I was going to land on the floor ungracefully for the second time today.
His arm snacked around my waist, pulling me tightly against him, stopping my fall. His eyes were now just inches from mines. We stayed there watching each other. His eyes skimmed over my face and then back to my eyes. Those autumn eyes had me entranced.
“Nice save.”
Olivia’s voice cut through the trance. I cleared my throat and pushed away from Elijah. He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat too.
“Sorry I didn’t see you there,” he murmured.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Why are you in such a hurry?” Olivia asked. “You almost fell yourself saving Ava from being knocked over.”
She was looking between us with a sly smile on her face.
Elijah looked at me then. “I was actually looking for you. Your aunt is gone. She left a note saying she was leaving to look for your mom.”
“What? Are you serious? How long ago was this?”
“Jesse just found the note. But she must have just left, I’m sure we can catch up to her in no time.”
“Alright let's go.”
“No Ava, you stay here. We got this.”
I glared at him. “I am not staying here. My aunt is out there alone in the dark right now and there's a number of things that could hurt her out there. I will not sit still. I’m going.”
“Ava,” he warned.
“Elijah,” I warned back.
He opened his mouth to argue again when the front door opened, and Kenji walked out.
“I heard about your aunt, I can help look for her,” he said.
“No thanks we got it covered.” Elijah answered.
Clarissa walked out and stood next to Kenji. “I can help too.”
Elijah rubbed his temples and looked like he wanted everyone to leave him alone for the rest of his life.
“You? Help?” Olivia scoffed.
Clarissa glared at her. “Yes, Olivia.”
“I wonder why.” Olivia muttered.
Clarissa turned to Kenji. “Who are you?”
He stuck his hand out. “I’m Kenji, and you?”
She took his hand and smiled flirtatiously. “Clarissa.”
Jesse and Daniel came out next with Blake, Ethan, Priya, and Sky right behind them.
“Great the gangs all here.” Clarissa murmured.
“We’re going with you guys.” Jesse announced.
Elijah took in a deep breath as if accepting his faith. “Great. That’s just great. Alright fine we’ll split up.”
“I’m with Elijah!” Clarissa almost tripped racing to his side.
“There’s the reason.” Olivia whispered. I nodded not being able to stop myself from rolling my eyes.
“Fine whatever,” Elijah continued. “Kenji, Blake, Olivia, and Sky. You’ll also be with me. Ethan, you take everyone else and go east. I’ll go west.”
Everyone began walking away and I went to follow my group when a warm hand landed on my arm. I turned around to see Elijah. Clarissa was right behind him glaring at me. Kenji was next to her with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable.
“Be careful.” His eyes quickly scanned my face.
“I will.”
He nodded and dropped his hand. I turned away quickly, catching up to my group. No distractions tonight.
“Tia Lusila,” Kenji whispered loudly into the air.
He had been whispering for the past ten minutes. Calling out as if that’s his aunt too, like he’s still dating Ava and a part of the family. How obnoxious.
My fists were clenched so tightly I had to take a deep breath and forcibly open my hands to relax. Kenji was not on my friend list and probably never would be. But I had to work with him. It was too weird that he was Ava’s ex and somehow neither of them knew who the other truly was when they were dating.
I was finding it hard to believe.
Of course, I believed that Ava had no idea but Kenji. He was the one I didn’t trust.
Blake was up at the front with Sky and Olivia. Clarissa was hanging back towards the middle constantly throwing me looks of adoration and hate.
I somehow got stuck with Kenji at my side.
The Kenji I remembered looked different from the Kenji standing next to me now. He was shorter back when I knew him. He hardly spoke to anyone. He always seemed anxious and jumpy.
He clearly grew out of all that. He walked with confidence and was now at my height.
He glanced at me and then at Clarissa. I knew what was coming.
“Are you dating? Am I completely cock blocking you? I’m sorry dude I can go,” Kenji moved to walk towards Clarissa.
I lifted my arm to block him. As much as I disliked this guy, I would prefer him walking beside me. Can’t believe that I’m thinking that.
“Stop,” I lowered my arm. “You’re wrong. We’re not dating. Not anymore.”
Kenji opened his mouth in a big silent O. “Yikes. I really misread the room.”
“You sure did.”
It was silent for a while with only the occasional calling out Lusila’s name by someone in the group. But at least Kenji finally stopped calling her name out. He instead kept glancing my way. I was about to turn and ask him what his problem was when he spoke.
“Are you dating anyone right now?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I was just asking. Trying to make conversation. Being friendly.”
“Listen I’m flattered but I’m not interested.”
He snorted. “Trust me, I’m not interested like that.”
“I know. And I know why you’re asking and it’s not because you're trying to be friendly.”
“Oh, I’m not?” he chuckled lightly. “Then tell me why you think I’m asking.”
“Ava.”
It was plain and simple. And so obvious. Who did he think he was fooling?
“I’m not blind, Kenji. I saw the way you looked at her. And I also saw the way you looked at me when I touched her.”
He cleared his throat. “Guess you caught me.”
“Guess I did.”
“Then I’ll ask you straight out since we’re being so honest now. Are you and Ava together?”
A small smirk made its way onto my face.
After knowing how he ended things with Ava I wished I could tell him that we were together. Now I’m wishing she had agreed to let me be her fake boyfriend. But she obviously still had feelings for Kenji and wanted him to know she was single.
“We’re not together. Does that make you feel better?” I spat out.
Kenji glared at me. “It doesn’t. I’m not blind either Elijah. You might not be together, but I know you have feelings for her, I’ve also seen the way you look at her.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, you don’t?”
I faced him. “No, I don’t. I don’t have feelings for her. I have to watch out for her, it’s my job.”
“Your job? Alright so you won’t mind if me and Ava get back together.”
