by Levi, Casey
Reed opened his mouth to say something, but Mairland cut him off. “Oh, my god. How cute.” She said sarcastically. “Did you honestly think he could love someone like you?’
Suddenly it became hard to breath, and Kristen could feel the stinging in her eyes as tears threatened to fall. She tried to blink them away but could not. Reed was just sitting there- from shock. But still, why wouldn’t he say anything?
Reed finally tried to speak. “Kristen I…” He stumbled over his words, and Mairland took that opportunity to lean over him. She pressed her lips to his, and Reed did not pull away at first.
“You are such a bitch Mairland.” Kristen gritted out through clenched teeth.
Mairland stood up and walked in front of Kristen. “Did you honestly believe that he would fall for you stupid trick? Why would he want you when he has someone like me? I can give it to him anytime he wants.” She laughed in Kristen’s face.
Kristen could feel her whole body begin to shake with rage, and before she could stop herself from what happened next, she raised her hand and slapped Mairland across the face. “I hate you! Both of you!” She shouted.
She turned on her heels and ran down the stairs and out of the club. As she ran down the sidewalk towards the hotel, hot tears poured out of her eyes. The hole that had been torn in her heart was growing bigger, and she wished that she could just go back in time and take it all back. Everything. She wished that she had never met Reed.
6
Chapter Six
“Kristen, I love you.” Reed slowly leaned down and pressed his full lips against hers. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body against his. She could feel the heat radiating from him, and his blue eyes shined brightly under the full moon. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him, but the words would not come.
A wicked smile formed on his lips, and he let his hands fall from around her. Mairland stood a few feet away from them. Her white blonde hair cascaded down her petite body. Reed grabbed her firmly and pulled her against him. His lips brushed down her, and she moaned out in pleasure. Kristen could feel her heart breaking inside her chest, and the pain hurt so much.
She fell to her knees, covered her face, and began to silently cry. Then everything turned black, and she could not see anything.
Nothing but darkness surrounded her.
She was alone.
Always alone.
Kristen slowly opened her eyes. Her heart was beating heavy in her chest, and it felt hard to breath. She wiped away her falling tears as she heard a faint sound coming from outside their room door. She looked around the darkened room in a haze. Her head was pounding from last night, and her eyes were heavy from crying.
She rolled over on her bed and pulled the covers over her head with her. She tried to close her eyes to fall back asleep, but all she could see was Reed. A devilish look on his face as he kissed Mairland. She opened her eyes again when the noise outside her room became louder. Looking at the clock, she groaned as the red numbers blinked six-fifteen am.
Sitting up, she pulled the covers up around her body and looked over at Reed. He was sound asleep, and she had to turn around and push the thoughts of last night out of her head. Suddenly, a loud cry ripped through the hallway, and Kristen jumped in fear. She looked over at Reed again but noticed he hadn’t even budged. Slowly she climbed out of bed and walked across the room. Pulling open the door, she stormed out into the hallway, intending on yelling at the person who was making such a ruckus at this hour, but she stopped abruptly when her eyes fell on the person before her.
“Mairland?” Kristin looked down the hallway, and then down at Mairland, confused.
Mairland did not say anything as she leaned her head on her knees and started sobbing. Kristen took a few steps forward and noticed that Mairland was covering her left arm with her hand. Blood dripped between her fingers, running down her arm, and spilling onto the multi-colored carpet.
“Oh, my god. What happened?” Kristen squeaked out.
A pause.
“He… attacked… me.” She said through sobs.
“What? Who?” Kristen could not help the skepticism that filled her voice.
Mairland’s sobs became more frantic, and louder. Kristen stared down at her, not sure what to do. She placed her hand on her shoulder in an awkward comforting gesture but stopped. “Mairland your freezing. Come on, let’s get you into the room.”
Kristen wrapped her arm around Mairland’s waist, but she refused her help and would not stand up from the floor. Kristen was not sure what to do, so she hurried back to the room and walked over to Reed’s bed. She hesitated for a moment. She did not want to wake him up, but Mairland’s sobbing was getting louder.
Reaching a hand out, she lightly touched his shoulder. “Reed?” She tried to shake him, but he did not budge. “Reed, wake up!” She shook him harder.
Reed grumbled, and when she shook him again, he swung a hand out and grabbed her wrist. “What… Kristen? What are you doing?” His voice was deep and harsh with sleep, and Kristen could not help but think of how sexy he sounded right then.
Reed let go of her wrist and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. Kristen waited as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. She stared at his tense stomach as he sat up and had to force her gaze away from him.
“Reed something happened to Mairland. She is outside our room crying, and her arm is bleeding… She needs to go to the hospital and get stitches.”
“What are you talking about?” Reed said with a hint of doubt in his voice. “Is this a joke?”
“What?” Kristen was confused. Why would she joke about someone being hurt? “No! Reed I’m being serious.”
Reed stared up at her. She could not read him, but the intensity of his stare burned into her and she had to fight the emotions that were rising. She bit down on her bottom lip nervously and wondered if Reed was going to sit there and stare at her all day. She was about to ask him, but then he stood up.
“Kristen, I think we need to talk about last night-”
“No…” Kristen shook her head “Reed just forget about what I said, okay? We don’t have anything to talk about.” Her voice was wobbly, and she hoped that he had not noticed.
Reed stared at her for what felt like minutes, but then he let out a sigh. “Where’s Mairland?”
“She’s just outside our door.” Kristen was glad he changed the subject. She did not know if she would ever be able to talk about last night.
Reed walked over to the door and peeked out. He turned around and walked over to the dresser. “Take her down to the garage, and I’ll get Aran.”
Kristen slipped on her black and pink Adidas shoes, and grabbed her purse. She hurried and pulled her hair up into a messy bun and headed for the door. She stopped for a moment and looked over her shoulder. Reed’s back was facing her as he picked up the phone. She took a shuddering breath, and walked out of the room, shutting the door.
When she stepped out into the hallway, Mairland was laying down on the floor, cuddled up in a fetal position. She bent down and wrapped her arm around Mairland’s waist and pulled her up off the floor. Mairland’s body was freezing, and Kirsten wished that she had grabbed a blanket for her. She helped carry Mairland towards the elevators, and when they got there, she pressed the down button. The elevator doors slide open, and Kristen helped Mairland into the cart and pressed the garage button.
On the way down, Mairland silently sobbed against Kristen’s shoulder. She tapped her foot impatiently and wished the elevator would hurry. Mairland may be small, but she was getting heavy to hold up.
When they reached the parking garage, Kristen found Bodie’s car and leaned Mairland up against it. She hoped that Reed hurried and grabbed Aran so they could take Mairland to the hospital and find whoever did this. Mairland started to slump over, so Kristen helped her to the ground. She stood up and began pacing back and forth.
“This is not how I pictured my weekend.” She
mumbled under her breath.
Mairland sat up against Bodie’s car and let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry Kristen, and not just for last night, but for every nasty thing I’ve ever done or said to you.”
Kristen stopped pacing and turned around to face her. “What did I ever do to you anyway?” She bit out.
“It’s called jealousy…” She said roughly. “And to the fact that Reed has always had eyes for you.”
“Well I’m sure last night changed his mind… it sure did for me.” She lied.
“He does love you Kristen, and no, you still love him too. I can tell.”
“Yeah right. Reed? Love me? He could never love me. You even said it.”
“You’re wrong Kristen… I was wrong.” Mairland said, defeated.
“How do you know? He did not come after me. Hell, he didn’t even try to talk to me when he got back to the room last night.” Kristen could feel the anger rising inside of her. She had not wanted to talk about it with Reed, and she was not about to talk about it with Mairland. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
Mairland shifted. “Kristen listen to me. If there is one thing I know about Reed, it is that he always goes looking for you… last night, after you slapped me, he went looking for you, but you were already gone. He talked to Aran and Bodie the rest of the night while I got the stare down from Julie. I thought she was going to slap me too.” Mairland let out a deep breath. “I know that he was planning on talking to you this morning.”
Kristen thought about what Mairland was saying to her for a moment. “I’m sorry that I slapped you. I was just so angry, and I have had enough.”
“I deserved it.”
Kristen sat down next to her on the ground, and for a moment she felt truce between the two of them. She still would not consider her a friend or anything, but this could be a good start.
Kristen looked over at Mairland, who was still covering her arm, and she could not help but wonder what exactly happened to Mairland. Why would someone just attack her, and how had she ended up on their floor?
“Mairland, what happened to you this morning?” She nodded towards her bleeding arm.
Mairland sat up straighter. “I couldn’t sleep last night because I felt really bad about what I did. I wanted to fix this mess, so this morning I thought I’d grab some coffee, and come and talk to you and Reed.” She let out a small sob.
“While I was waiting for the elevator doors to open, this guy came stumbling around the corner. He was making some weird grunting noises, and I thought that he was just drunk or something. Then he started running towards me and lunged on top of me. He bit my arm… I don’t remember much after that. Somehow, I managed to get inside the elevator, and then I ended up on your floor.”
“Why did he bite you? That’s a bit extreme.”
“I don’t know…” She sobbed.
“Can I see? Your bite, I mean.”
Mairland turned her body and let go of her arm. Kristen stared at it in disgust. It did not look right. The skin was bright red around the wound, and it looked as though it were infected. “That looks really bad Mairland. He took a chunk out of your arm.”
Mairland covered her arm back up with her hand. “I haven’t dared look at it. Is it really that bad?”
“I’m not going to lie. It’s horrifying.”
“Well at least you’re being honest.” Mairland gave her a light smile. “You know, we should have tried this-”
Mairland’s words were cut off short and replaced by a shrieking scream. The sound pierced Kristen’s ears like a nail on a chalkboard, and she had to cover her ears. She looked over at Mairland, who was now hunched over.
“Mairland what’s wrong?”
“It hurts…”
“What hurts?” Kristen’s heart began to pound against her chest.
“Everything.” Mairland let out another blood curdling scream. “Kristen, please help me…”
Kristen got to her feet and began pacing again. “Where the hell are they?” She growled.
Mairland fell and curled up on the cement floor as she cried in agony. Kristen wished that she could do something to take her pain away. Whatever was hurting her that was? She was beginning to get impatient as she waited for her friends to come down. She did not understand what was going on with Mairland, and honestly it was starting to freak her out. She began pacing faster back and forth, gripping her hair in frustration.
‘What the hell is taking them so long? They should have been here already.’ Kristen thought.
The parking garage grew quiet, and Kristen stopped pacing to look down at Mairland. Her body lay still, and her crying had momentarily stopped. As she began to pace again, Mairland let out a long cry. Her body started to shake violently as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Kristen could feel the heavy punch in her chest, and she wiped her sweaty hands on her boxer shorts.
She started to kneel by Mairland but heard the elevator ding. Standing upright, she looked over the rows of cars to see Aran walking out of the elevator followed by Julie, Bodie, and Reed. And they did not look happy.
“What the hell is going on with Mairland that you had to wake everyone up so early?” Aran stopped a shy foot away from her and folded his arms across his chest.
“What the hell took you guys so long? Something is seriously wrong with Mairland.” Kristen looked over at Reed, but he refused to look at her.
“Everyone just calm down.” Julie stepped in between Aran and Kristen. “Kris, where is Mairland?”
“She’s laying down by Bodie’s car.” Kristen pointed over her shoulder and turned towards Bodie’s car.
They all walked towards Bodie’s car where Mairland was still lying on the ground, folded in on herself. Her body was no longer shaking. Looking at her, Kristen would think that she was asleep; or worse, dead. Mairland was to still. Kristen could not tell if she was breathing, and suddenly she felt panicked.
Aran and Bodie leaned down to grab her but stopped. They looked at each other with an indescribable look, and Kristen knew that something was wrong. But why weren’t they helping Mairland? They needed to get her to the hospital.
“What are you doing?” Kristen stepped closer to them.
Aran stood up but kept his back to them. “Kristen? What exactly happened to Mairland?”
She looked at him confused. “We can go over this on our way to-”
“Kristen, she’s dead.” Aran’s voice was strained.
“W-what? No! She was just…” Kristen knelt down by Mairland, and started shaking her. “Wake up… come on, your fine…”
Aran grabbed Kristen by her arm, and yanked her up to her feet, pushing her against Bodie’s car. “Kristen she’s dead! Now what the hell happened?”
She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes and explained to them what Mairland had told her. When she was done, no one said anything for what seemed like forever. Kristen wrapped her arms around herself. She felt like she was in a nightmare and wished that she would wake up. She even tried to pinch herself, but the pain let her know she was not dreaming, and this was all too real.
“Are you sure that’s everything she told you?” Aran asked her in a softer tone.
“Yes. I swear, that’s everything.”
Aran ran a hand through his honey hair. “We need to call the police and report this.” He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.
While he was waiting for an answer, Julie gave a loud gasp. Turning around, they stared wide eyed at Mairland who was staggering up to her feet. Kristen could not believe it. She was alive.
“Oh my god, Mairland!” Kristen darted towards her, but was caught blindsided when Mairland lunged at her, and knocked them both to the ground. Kristen could feel all the air whoosh from her lungs as she hit the concrete floor. She struggled underneath Mairland who was snapping her teeth at her, and she had to push her hands against Mairland’s face to keep her from biting her.
“Get off of me!” Kristen man
aged to scream out.
Bodie, who was standing closer, grabbed a hold of Mairland’s waist, and tried to pull her off Kristen. Mairland violently turned, and snapped at him, almost biting him.
“Shit! Someone help me! She’s like, incredibly strong.”
Aran stepped forward and grabbed one of Mairland’s arms while Bodie grabbed the other arm. They managed to pull her from Kristen, with more force than necessarily. Reed leaned down, and grabbing Kristen by the arm, he pulled her up to her feet.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so…” Her voice trailed off as she turned her attention back to Mairland.
“Mairland what is your problem?” Bodie let go of her, but Mairland turned on him and lunged. He tried to push her away, but she bit down on is hand, taking a chunk of his flesh out. “What the fuck?” Bodie yanked his hand away, and blood squirted all over the ground around him.
Aran hurried and ripped a piece of Bodie’s shirt off and wrapped it around his hand. Kristen just stood there in horror and watched as Mairland dropped to the ground and began licking Bodie’s blood. She was in shock, and she could feel the bile rising in her throat as she watched Mairland. She was not sure what to do. What was wrong with Mairland?
Kristen tried to think of a rational explanation but could not seem to get a single thought together. Her attention was pulled away from Mairland as a man came screaming out of the hotel lobby, and he was running right at them.
“Help! Somebody, please help me!”
The man was screaming hysterically as he collided right into them. The front of his shirt was covered in blood, and he grabbed a hold of Aran. Aran yanked away, causing the man to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Reed went to help him up, but Mairland jumped on top of him, and bit down into his left cheek, tearing his skin off. He screamed out in pure agony, and tried to grab at them, but they all jumped away from his reaching hands.