Harsh Light of Day
Page 5
**
This is so not a good idea, Will thought as he gathered the strange, beautiful girl into his arms and left the scene as fast as he could, keeping his eyes on his destination and not on the park filled with people who were staring at him.
What was he doing? Will didn’t know this girl. He’d never seen her before in his life. And what she was doing, what she had done, was definitely not cool.
This will not end well, he thought as he shifted her weight in his arms and made his way to his apartment which was luckily across the street.
Will Shepherd was not the kind of guy who rescued damsels in distress. He was certainly no knight in shining armor. Will was used to having women come to him, fighting for his affection, not the other way around. And he couldn’t stand that come-save-me attitude girls always seemed to have, deep down. Vapid, weak girls who cried too much and thought their lives had no meaning if they didn’t have a desirable boyfriend to show off.
Finals week had made him even more oblivious than normal. A weird, possibly crazy stranger in need across the park, far from where he’d been walking, far from where he planned to walk wouldn’t even register on his radar if his brain were functioning normally. But today he was focused on finishing his last final ever in college and he wouldn’t even have noticed the science building on fire unless he was supposed to take his last exam there.
He wasn’t extremely self-absorbed or uncaring towards others. He was just like most people, doing the best he could with what he had, looking after himself and the few people in his life he cared about most.
Not to mention, he hated chit chat, which always accompanied meeting new people. He couldn’t stand the look new girls got when they looked at him, as if they were sizing up what he could offer.
But something inside Will made him go to this girl, to help her despite not being the type of guy to do this sort of thing, despite being distracted by exams, and despite not wanting to meet any new people.
That same something assured him she wasn’t crazy, and anything strange she was doing had good reason. Life and death reasons. And it had to be him. It had to be Will who went to her, because no one else understood.
He didn’t understood why either, but if something occurred to you that out of character, that out of the blue, Will figured he had to listen.
He wasn’t overly strong or athletic, but the girl in his arms was light and easy to carry. Only now did he notice how much she was bleeding. Very dark red blood covered her arms and the left side of her face and head.
Was blood that dark? It looked like the kind in horror movies. Thick, like Karo syrup with too much food coloring.
And it was the wrong temperature. Too cool. He wasn’t sure how he knew that. It wasn’t like he had other people’s blood on him on a regular basis. Maybe it was because her entire body seemed cool. Cold enough to be strange. The heat and humidity of the Midwest summer began early this year. The past week felt more like August than May. Everyone got a sticky layer of sweat on them when they walked outside. But she was dry and smooth.
Another thought occurred to him as he kicked the door open to his apartment building and shimmied through the entry, being careful not to hit the girl’s head. The smartest thing would have been to take her to a hospital. Or better yet, not move her and call an ambulance. But for whatever reason, that seemed like a terrible idea at the time.
If she dies in my apartment, he thought, I bet the police won’t accept that explanation.
Thankful his apartment was on the first floor, Will set the girl on her feet and pulled his keys from his pocket. When he reached to unlock the door, the image of the thick, dark blood smeared on his pale arm sent a foreign sensation through his body. It wasn’t fear, it wasn’t disgust or an intense desire to wash it off.
It was exhilaration.
Creeped out, Will pushed through the door, dragging the girl with his right arm around her tiny waist. Though her shoes squeaked against the wood floor, she stayed unconscious.
Not sure what to do now that they were in his apartment, Will stood in the middle of the room and looked around for a few seconds, confused and feeling completely in over his head.
Will forced a deep breath and told himself, first thing’s first.
He had to set her down. When she woke up, Will was sure the shock of being in a stranger’s apartment would be enough of a surprise, let alone being held by some dude she didn’t know.
Setting her on his bed, then pulling her legs up so she was lying down, Will laid her bloody head onto his pillow gently. He stared at her still face, past the rapidly drying blood, and allowed himself a few seconds to soak her in.
Pretty was not the right word. There was no word. And the inability to define her incredible appearance frustrated him, so he left her there, and stormed into the bathroom.
Her eyes, he remembered from before, were an impossible shade of pale blue. Assuming they were colored contacts, Will curled his upper lip and rolled his eyes slightly at his reflection.
Will couldn’t stand girls who tried really hard to look unnatural. Too much makeup, curling their hair every day, fake fingernails and eyelashes and eye color. Girls and their vanity annoyed him most of all.
This girl must use all the tricks, he thought as he washed all the way up his arms and scrubbed hard, watching the bloody water swirl in the sink.
Her dark brown hair was full and wavy. Her eyelashes were thick and framed her strange eyes flawlessly, not one long, thick eyelash touching another. Her skin was perfect. And her body was…
Will shook his head and soaped up his hands for a second time.
Beauty that perfect had to be fake.