Sleep Tight, page 4
Mom nodded in agreement. “Of course. We found out that Jesse is having a birthday party tomorrow, we thought that might be a good place for your daughters to introduce the boys and Olivia to them.”
“Are you kidding me? We have to act like they are our friends? No, I won't do it, I can’t trick Ava like that.” Skylar huffed.
“Well, it seems like you’ve already tricked her, acting as if you're her friend all these years, telling her nothing about who she and her brothers are.” Ethan argued back.
I leaned in closer to him. “Dude stop picking a fight, what's wrong with you?”
Skylar glared at him. “How dare you! You don’t know anything about us or our friendship so you can stick your opinions up your--”
“That's enough!” Joseph yelled.
He gave Skylar a warning look. “This isn't like you Sky.”
Her face changed; embarrassment written all over it. Priya looked over at Skylar, her eyebrows lifted. Dad glared at Ethan, not happy with him.
Ethan smiled sheepishly at dad. This wasn’t like Ethan either.
“I'm sorry Joseph, Ethan isn't usually like this.” Dad gave Ethan another warning glance.
“That's okay, Sky isn't like this either. This whole situation just has everyone on edge, it's understandable.”
“Your idea was good Wendy, and it’s exactly what's going to happen. The girls will introduce them to Ava and her brothers at the party. We’ll ease you all into their lives gradually, so we don’t overwhelm them.” Amelia said as she looked at her daughter. “And then we will find the right time to tell them everything.”
“Okay so what will we tell Ava? How do we know them?” Priya asked.
“You’ll tell them that they're parents are old family friends visiting from out of town and you girls are showing their kids around.” Dana explained.
“We’ll meet you girls at the party, just send us the address and time.” I said.
Priya nodded. Her and Skylar walked away, their heads huddled together whispering. Scott and Joseph each shook dads' hand and then gave him a tight hug.
Dana and Amelia went up to mom and hugged her tightly, all of them reminiscing on lost times. Years of them being apart and now they were finally all together again, from what dad and mom told me, they were all childhood close-knit friends.
Of course, everything changed when Gabriel ran off.
Blake and I go up to Ethan, we were ready to question him big time.
Blake spoke first. “What the hell was that?”
“Yeah, what is wrong with you today? You are usually the levelheaded calm one, to the point that it’s annoying.”
Ethan shrugged. “I don’t know…. she just frustrated me.”
“The sparks between you two were flying.”
“Oh yeah there was some definite attraction there between you two.” Blake pitched in. We laughed as Ethan's cheeks started to pink.
“No way! I do not like her I swear. I don’t even know her.”
“So? You definitely find her attractive, even I saw it.” Olivia joined the conversation. “Plus, your blushing big time.”
We all laughed; it was always fun teasing Ethan.
Olivia continued. “Don’t worry, she was definitely attracted to you too.” She waggled her eyebrows at him.
“She was?” Ethan asked a little too eagerly but then caught himself and shook his head, as if trying to shake that idea away.
“Oh boy you're in love already. They grow up so fast.” Olivia teased.
“Shut up Olivia. I am not.” Ethan huffed and walked away from us, muttering under his breath. “Big bullies.”
“Well, I’m not afraid to admit that I find Priya attractive. I’d like to get to know her better. I call dibs.” Blake winked at me.
I shook my head and laughed while Olivia pretended to gag.
“Gross bro, you can’t call dibs on a woman, or person period.”
“Oh, sorry I forgot you were here.”
“Alright let's go everyone. We have to prepare.” Dad called out.
He and mom said their goodbyes and we all went our separate ways. Tomorrow we would be meeting the Luna’s, I just hoped everything went smoothly.
“Blake hustle it up! We’re already late to the party.” Ethan yelled out the car window.
Blake jogged across the parking lot of the hotel we were staying at. He climbed into the car, sitting next to Olivia in the back seat.
“Sorry guys, it takes time to look this good.” He was wearing black pants, black boots, black shirt, and black jacket.
How something as simple as that took him forever to get ready, I would never know.
Olivia rolled her eyes. “I thought I was the one who was supposed to take forever to get ready, not you.”
Now Blake rolled his eyes. “A common misconception, also that’s kind of sexist. Now let's go I thought we were late.”
Ethan laughed and started the car.
Twenty minutes later we pulled up to a mansion. The place was huge.
We parked the car and walked toward the house; we could already hear the music coming from inside.
Blake whistled as we got closer. “Wow this is nice. This is not their place, right?”
“No, Priya said that this place belongs to Balin Valerio. She says he is friends with Jesse. But Priya said to watch your back with him. She claims he is a creep and is not to be trusted.”
Priya didn’t explain why she thought he was a creep, I figured he checked her out and made her feel uncomfortable.
We entered through the front door and saw Priya and Skylar right away. They were frantically looking around, stopping for one second to talk to someone and then passing on to the next person.
As we walked closer to them, I heard Priya ask someone, “Have you seen Ava?”
“Why are you asking people if they have seen Ava? Did you lose her?” I asked.
Priya looked up in surprise, her face showing nothing but worry.
Skylar started to argue. “No, we didn’t. Well, I mean we don’t know where she is but--”
“So, you lost her? Of course, you did.” Ethan muttered.
Skylar opened her mouth to argue back.
“Do not start you two, this is not the time. We need to find Ava.” I glanced outside; rain was already starting to pour down.
Ethan was right like always.
“Where have you guys checked so far?”
“We have looked everywhere for her inside, no one is allowed upstairs so she can't be up there. We asked Daniel and Jesse too, but they haven't seen her. I have a really bad feeling.” Priya gripped her hands together.
I looked past Priya at the rain, as I focused more a tall wide hedge came into view.
“Priya, what is that?”
She turned to look outside. “Oh, that’s a maze.” She turned to me with wide eyes. “We haven't checked there yet. Oh my god, do you think she’s in the maze? I didn’t even think-”
Blake grabbed Priya firmly by the arms. “Hey, calm down, take a breath alright. We will find her.”
Priya blinked a few times before nodding her head.
“Okay,” I began. “Skylar, I can't risk you and Ethan arguing right now so I want you to take Olivia with you to find Jesse and Daniel, introduce them to her, act natural. We will go outside and check the maze.”
Before Olivia or Skylar could object, I turned and headed outside.
Blake, Priya and Ethan were right behind me.
“Spread out, everyone takes a different path.”
“I’ll go with Priya. It isn’t a good idea to leave her alone.” Blake insisted.
“Why? Because I’m a girl?”
“What? No that’s not—”
“Oh, I see. You’re actually scared of being alone. I get it.”
“What? Wait—”
“I’m going right,” Priya announced as we entered the maze, already heading in that direction.
She turned back for a moment and smiled at Blake. “You’re a big boy, you don’t need me holding your hand.”
She winked and started her way into the maze.
“Isn’t she something?” Blake was still staring after her, his smile a big goofy mess.
“Alright get your head back on. I’ll go straight, you both go left.”
“Wait.” Blake’s smile disappeared. “I’m not actually scared to go alone. You didn’t believe her… did you?”
I started my way into the maze. “Ethan, make sure to hold big boys’ hand.”
Ethan snickered before groaning as Blake punched him in the stomach.
“It’s okay, I don’t mind holding your hand, no shame.” I heard Ethan call out as he and Blake made their way into the maze.
I made a left, then another left when I hit a dead end. I backed up and made a right instead.
But as I made another left, I hit another dead end. This place was annoying.
As I made another right, I heard commotion. I followed the noise, my feet picking up when I realized someone was getting hurt.
Finally, after turning many corners, I saw her. Priya walked into the scene a moment after me, and then Blake and Ethan followed close behind. Priya gasped, her hand flying up to her mouth.
The Kryp attacking Ava hit her in the chest, and she went flying into the air straight towards me. I ran straight for her, jumping and catching her in my arms just in time, the impact sliding us backwards.
I braced my foot on the ground to stop our momentum. Everyone else began chasing the Kryp, it was already running away.
Holding her in my arms I quickly threw a barrier of light around us.
She opened her eyes; pools of green staring up at me.
She smiled sweetly at me.
“Thank you.” She muttered but her eyes were already starting to close on me.
I gently rubbed my thumb across her soft check.
“Hey no, no, stay with me alright. Stay awake for me.” But it was no use, her eyes were closed, and her body had gone limp in my arms.
I held her tightly just staring at her face, her right eye was badly bruised, her cheeks were scratched and bruised. Her hair was clinging to her face full of mud.
For some reason I started to feel angry. I pushed it deep down trying to ignore it, I didn’t know this girl, I needed to calm down.
She felt so small in my arms. That Kryp would pay for what it did to her, like they always did when they hurt someone. It was my job.
I looked up in time to see Priya and Ethan running back.
“The Kryp ran off, Blake went after it.”
Priya bent down and started to silently cry. She gently cupped Ava’s face with her hand. “Oh, Ava I am so sorry. This should have never happened.”
“Is she.... dead?” Ethan asked.
“No but we need to get her to a hospital right now. Priya, get her brothers and meet us at the hospital. Ethan, call Blake and tell him were leaving. This party is over.”
We pulled up to the hospital and I ran in with Ava in my arms. “She needs help!”
A nurse ran up to me. “Bring her back here.”
I laid her down on the bed the nurse gestured to.
“Take care of her.”
They started rolling her away just as her brothers came running in with Priya and Skylar right behind them.
“Hey, that’s our sister! Is she okay?” Jesse asked the nurse.
Him and Daniel side eyed me but quickly turned their attention back to their sister being rolled away.
“We don’t know what is wrong yet, but we will take care of her. Please follow me, I need to ask you some questions.” The nurse said before walking away.
“Let's go Daniel, Priya you know what happened so come with us.” Jesse grabbed her hand and they all followed the nurse.
“What did Priya tell them?” I looked at Skylar.
She wiped away her tears and sniffled. “She told them that she was in the maze when she got attacked by a man.”
“Once she wakes up, we tell them all the truth. No more lies.”
“Wake up.”
My eyes flew open, immediately finding a white wall.
I turned my head and looked around trying to get my bearings. It was my bedroom.
I couldn’t remember how I even got here. I sat up rubbing my eyes, still groggy.
“Wakey wakey, mi mariposa.”
I turned my head towards the door. I knew that voice.
The only man who ever called me that was Dad.
The door was opened slightly; I could hear his big stomps coming up the stairs. For a second, I smiled, this was something he used to do every morning when I was young.
He would burst into our rooms to wake us up, always yelling, “Wakey, wakey.”
For a moment, I forget about everything else, I remembered the laughs, the fights, and everything in between. For only a moment I forget that he is dead.
Wait. He’s dead. He isn't coming back.
Now it’s all coming back to me. So, then who was walking up the stairs and why did he sound just like dad?
The door burst opened just as I thought this.
Gasping I quickly sat up, dad was right there standing at the door. His face filled with fear, his eyes wide.
“Ava, wake up!”
Blurry white light filled my vision.
I’m in heaven, I thought.
But my body was screaming, I don’t think you’re in pain in heaven. Everything up to my eyelids felt sore.
I blinked a couple of times; all I heard was beeping at first. As I tried looking around, my ears started making out familiar voices around me.
I blinked a couple more times before my vision finally cleared up.
Sky and Priya were huddled in a corner whispering to each other, their faces stern, they hadn’t realized I woke up.
I tried picking up my hand, but it felt heavy and weird. I glanced down and saw a cast around it.
Everything that happened suddenly hit me, I remembered the maze, the shadow that attacked me, the pain and fear.
Jesse and Daniel were on each side of me, both with their heads resting on my bed, sleeping.
As I started to stir Sky and Priya stopped whispering, they looked at me and tears started to fill their eyes. They ran towards me, both grabbing my hands.
Jesse and Daniel woke up, rubbing their eyes looking confused. They all looked at me in silence for a few moments.
Sky and Priya were silently crying and squeezing my hands. For some reason I felt bad, almost as if all of this is my fault. As if I'm the one to blame for the pain I'm causing them all.
“I'm sorry.” I squeaked; my throat felt rough.
I couldn’t help but apologize. For what exactly, I didn’t know.
“No Ava please don’t say that, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who’s sorry, so sorry.” Priya choked out.
Sky nodded her head in agreement. “I’m so sorry too Ava. We should have watched over you better. There's no excuse.”
I looked at them and shook my head. Feeling guilty, they thought this was their fault. Jesse and Daniel smiled at me. I gave them a small smile back, relieved to see them again.
“We aren't the greatest brothers either. I’m sorry Ava. We should have been there with you; this shouldn’t have happened to you.” Jesse looked away in shame.
“We're going to find the guy that did this and make him pay. I promise.” Daniel said.
This wasn’t their fault either.
“No, this isn't your fault guys. You guys are the best brothers I promise. But this is not your fault, you had no idea this would happen.” I looked at Sky and Priya. “It isn't anyone's, so please, everyone, just stop apologizing and feeling guilty. I'm just happy you guys are here.”
“Mom will be here soon.” Jesse announced.
I nodded and laid my head back, closing my eyes, the start of a bad headache coming on.
I heard Priya and Sky shuffling around, I could tell they had something to tell me. I opened my eyes and watched them. They both looked at me then at each other then back again to me.
“Alright spill it, I know you guys have something you want to say so just say it.”
“Okay well before your mom gets here, we need to introduce you to some people. They are going to explain to you what happened in that maze. Just please promise us you won't freak out and you’ll stay calm.” Priya looked at me expectantly.
I was a little confused, I knew I got attacked by some random guy but what else was there to explain?
I mean yes, was it weird that he was a shadow and too tall to be human…. maybe.
“Is it the cops? Do they know who attacked me?”
“Just keep an open mind, all of you guys. Please.” Priya looked at Jesse and Daniel.
We looked at each other, confusion in all three of our faces.
“Okay, you guys are making me nervous.” I grabbed a strand of my hair and played with it, a nervous habit.
Sky poked her head out of the door, I heard a voice from the other side, deep and warm.
Warm? What was wrong with me?
“Is she ready?”
“As ready as she’ll ever be.”
Three guys and a girl walked into the room.
That sounded like the start of a bad joke.
The first guy seemed so familiar to me, but I couldn’t place him. His hair was chestnut brown, the hint of a dimple was on one side of his right cheek and he was tall. He had to be at least six feet.
I found his eyes and held my breath.
I remembered those eyes, golden brown with a hint of red in the middle of them. I had thought he was an angel.
How embarrassing, turned out he was no angel just a very real, tall, strong....
I shook my head, my thoughts straying.
Concentrate Ava.
The other two guys with him were just as tall. The girl with them looked to be about my height. She was blonde with big blue eyes. She smiled at me sweetly.
I smiled back tentatively, not sure what was going on or who these people were. I looked at Jesse and Daniel and they looked back at me, their eyebrows raised, all of us waiting for an explanation.
