I pushed my way through the crowd, bumping against others. It was stifling trying to get through. I heard grunts as I finally made my way out and looked around. There were way too many people out. I didn’t know which way we came from or which way to go. The streets were completely packed with people, and I was only a short distance away from the crowd when my shoulder was yanked back. I fell slightly backward but caught myself from tumbling all the way to the ground. Looking over my shoulder, a man stood behind me and I could smell—almost feel—the fumes of alcohol rolling off his tongue. His eyes were bloodshot, and I noticed a long, slim scar on his right cheek.
“’Ey, girl,” he slurred. “’Ere ya goin’?”
Taking a step back, his hand slipped from shoulder and slid slowly down my arm. Chills danced up my spine and as I stepped back again, and his hand dropped away from my arm. I moved backward even further, keeping my eyes on him.
“’Ey, I asked ya a questin!” he yelled.
I kept moving backward until I was far enough away from him and then turned around and ran down the street. Covering my ears with my hands—to block out the noise—I continued running, bumping into people in the process. I ignored their nasty looks and made my way down an alley that was empty. Halfway down, I sat down on the ground, with my back up against the side of a building and I let out a breath and buried my head into my hands. This was a nightmare. How could I ever think I could survive living like them?
My head shot up as I heard footsteps running toward me. Gregory grimaced as he got closer to me. He stopped and kneeled in front of me. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I looked at him suspiciously. Was he going to try and make me go back? Because I would fight him before that happened.
“I forgot. You’re not used to this kind of stuff.”
“This happens?”
He nodded his head. “I’m surprised you never heard stories about the festivals. It used to happen all the time in Gildonia, but things started to get really heated, so it stopped a few years ago.”
"Why did it stop?"
Gregory shrugged his shoulders. “I should have warned you or something. I just got really into it, remembering the days I used to go to the festival. We’ve been running for what seems like forever, and I thought we both needed some fun. I wasn’t thinking. I forgot about everything for a few minutes,” he said. “We should find someplace to stay.”
“How long does the festival go on?” I asked.
“A week,” he said. “But I don’t know when this one started.”
I gulped. “Maybe if it’s going on a few more nights, we can go.” I could be nice. This was the first time Gregory seemed like he was enjoying himself. Of course, I wouldn’t watch the stupid fights. But maybe I could get a hat or scarf or something.
Gregory smiled. “That sounds like a deal. And I promise we’ll have fun.”
I grimaced. “I’ll hold you to it.”
“We should go.”
“Okay,” I said. We walked down the rest of the deserted alley. I was ready for a place to sleep.
As we made our way down to the end of the alley, we could still hear the laughter and hollering from the other end. Gregory stopped and glanced around the corner before he walked over to the next street. It was much quieter, the sounds from the festival muffled from the looming buildings. Only a few people mingled in the area, still I kept my head down and watched my feet take one step at a time, wanting to be as inconspicuous as possible.
Gregory stopped and tugged on my arm. Looking up from my feet, I noticed we were standing in yet another alley, with buildings looming high over us on both sides. Gregory glimpsed around, first at the buildings and then at the alley, trying to figure out where to go next. He must have made up his mind because he led us down the middle. The alley seemed more foreboding than any of the others we’d been in. As soon as we walked into it, it seemed all the noise from a couple of streets over were cut completely off. As I strained to hear the festival, I couldn't. When I peeked up at Gregory, his shoulders were tight and his hands were clenched in a fist: I took it as a bad sign. Wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, I kept up my pace with Gregory’s.
Every time I heard a squeak or a crunch, my head would whip around and my eyes would dart all over the place, looking for the object or person that had caused the noise. I had a feeling we were going to get murdered, but no one came jumping out at us. My hands were sweaty and I crossed my arms, bunching the sides of my jacket in my hands. My muscles tensed and my heart raced. I could feel sweat dripping down my face. It wasn’t particularly warm out, but I was sweating like I was walking through a desert. My heart thumped erratically in my chest; something didn’t feel right about this alley. Chills crawled up and down my spine while the hair on the back of my neck stood up. My gut screamed at me to get away from there as fast as possible.
I didn’t even realize I was running until Gregory shouted something at me, his voice muffled. Gregory grabbed my hand and stopped, keeping a firm grip on it. I slipped forward, my knees hitting the ground; I didn’t even feel the pain. I looked up at him trying to catch my breath. He wrinkled his brow and bit his lip, looking worried. “What?” I asked. I looked behind us to see if someone was after us.
“What’s wrong?” Gregory asked. He cocked his head to the side, his voice tense.
I looked back up at him. “Huh?” I slowly made my way back to standing, wiping the dirt from my knees: a small hole formed in the left knee of my pants.
“A minute ago you picked up your pace and started running. I’ve been trying to talk to you since, but you wouldn’t respond. Are you okay?”
I shook my head. “Something’s not right.”
Gregory furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Something just isn’t right. I know this is going to sound weird, but it’s like my gut's telling me something’s been wrong ever since we walked into this alley.” I started to pace back and forth. Couldn’t he feel the danger in here? Was I going crazy? Probably.
“What would be wrong?”
I looked behind us again as I paced. Just as I turned my head to look at Gregory, something black slithered across my peripheral. I turned quickly to see if I could make it out clearly. I didn’t know how long I stood there staring, but I couldn’t make out anything. Gregory lightly touched my arm, causing me to jump. I put a hand on my chest and could feel my heart trampling inside. “Yeah?” I almost shrieked.
“What is going on?” His concern grew. I wouldn’t blame him; you’re going crazy.
I closed my eyes as I tried to take a deep breath. I didn’t know what was happening. Maybe I was going crazy. My chest tightened, and it was getting difficult to breathe. My hands shook, and my body felt like it was ready to collapse. Opening my eyes in horror, I realized I couldn't breathe, so I picked up my pace, trying to catch my breath. I clawed my neck, my fingernails digging deep into my skin, and I bit my lip until I tasted blood. My gaze darted all over the alley and I could hear Gregory's voice, but I couldn't differentiate what he was saying. I put my hands on my head, looping my fingers around large chunks of hair and pulling. Breathe, Mia, breathe. I couldn’t. Tears welled up in my eyes and dripped past my eyelids. How was this happening? Gregory grabbed me by my shoulders, stopping me. Tears were streaming down my cheek. My heart twisted as if a hand was in there helping it.
“Mia, what is going on?” His eyes were full of worry.
“I…I can’t breathe,” I made out between gulps. I put my arms around my upper body, rocking back and forth.
Gregory helped me to the ground and shoved my hair back. “Mia, look at me.”
I looked everywhere but at him. Whatever was happening could be contagious, couldn’t it? And it would be bad if we both ended up dead. Gregory shook my right shoulder.
“Mia, look at me now.” I flinched at his sharp tone and looked up into his eyes. “You’re panicking. You just need to get your breathing under control. Ev
erything will be fine. So take a deep breath with me.” Gregory took a breath in and let it out, and I did the same. I followed his lead. We breathed in and out for five minutes, but it felt like hours. My body seemed to finally calm down. My chest slowly eased out of the tight hold, and my shaking seemed to stop. I was able to breathe again. A few more tears slipped from my eyes. Gregory swiped them gently from my face. “Are you back?”
I smiled feebly. “I think so.”
Gregory stood up, helping me up too. He took my hand, and we started to walk again, much slower this time. “So tell me something.”
I felt exhausted. I could feel my eyelids get heavy. Drained and officially crazy. “Tell you something?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I want to know more about you.”
Keeping my focus on what was in front of me, my brain working slowly, I thought for a second. “I had a favorite doll.” It’s so sexy to tell a man you used to have a favorite doll. Maybe next time you can tell him you wet the bed until you were ten. I ignored myself.
“A favorite doll?” he asked.
I looked up at him. I could see a slight smile on his face. “Yeah. I got her on my fourth birthday from Agathy. My parents never believed in giving presents, or even love for that matter. The doll was the first gift I ever received. I named her Madeline, after my favorite book.”
"Madeline?"
"Agathy had some of these really old books from a very long time ago—the library back home didn’t even have any of these books. Anyway, one of them was called Madeline, and it was my favorite. She let me keep the book, and I always read it, even now, well, before everything had happened. I didn’t care how old I was when I read them, I loved the book. Madeline had become my hero. When things got bad with my parents, I would hide myself in the closet with the doll and the book and just hold on to both. Like I was holding on to my life.” I frowned. I would never see that book or doll again.
“What’s wrong?” Gregory asked.
“It’s nothing,” I said. “It’s just that I won’t ever see that doll or book again.”
“You never know,” he said. “It could still be there waiting for you when we get back.”
I nodded my head not saying a word. “Tell me something about yourself.”
Gregory was quiet for a few minutes. I started to think he wouldn’t say anything, but he surprised me. “I had a dog once. I found him as a puppy when my family moved away. He was the only thing I’d cared for in a long time. He was so scrawny. You could see his bones through his skin when I found him. I fed him and gave him plenty of water. I named him Angus; he had this strength in him that kept him alive. He shouldn’t have been able to survive, but he did. He was a fighter. He had this rich, golden brown fur, and his eyes were as blue as the sky.”
I smiled. Angus sounded sweet. “Where is he?” I didn’t remember seeing him at Gregory’s place.
“He’s dead,” Gregory stated. A frown formed on his face.
I gasped. I wasn’t expecting that. “I’m sorry.”
Gregory shrugged his shoulders. “It’s fine. It taught me not to care for anything but myself.”
I nodded. I ignored the giant drop in my stomach, which was probably my heart, and cleared my throat. I hated when my body acted weird when he made comments like that. “So, how long is this alley?” It felt like it was never ending.
“We should be getting close to the end,” Gregory said.
“Good.” I tried going for nonchalant. “I’m ready for some sleep.”
Gregory just nodded his head, lost in his thoughts. The end of the alley was deserted, along with the streets we were now looking at. The buildings were falling apart. Gregory and I walked forward, then went left and walked for a while before coming up to a half-collapsed building. Gregory let go of my hand and glanced through the window. I looked behind us to make sure no one had followed us. It appeared we were in the clear.
“Come on,” Gregory said as he walked through the door of the building, I reluctantly followed. Why were we staying in this building? It could kill us while we slept. I crossed over the debris of wood and bricks one leg at a time. I had to duck under wood beams. A couple of times I tripped on a brick, but I always managed to keep myself upright. Gregory led us to the very back of the building, and the farther we went, the likelier we were to get crushed to death. At least no one would find our bodies. Gregory opened another door and went through, and I stayed right on his heels; he closed the door behind me and sat down in front of it.
“We should probably stay the night,” Gregory said, rubbing his face.
I looked around the room. It was dark outside but even darker in here, I could barely see. I went to the wall opposite Gregory and moved down slowly to the floor. I stretched out my legs and kept my eyes on my feet, which were sore and needed a rub. “I was thinking about something.”
I could feel Gregory’s eyes on me. “What?”
“I was hoping you could show me some fighting moves.”
“You want me to show you how to fight?”
I looked up at him. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Well, I think it would be good for me,” I said nervously. “I need to learn how to defend myself, especially since we seem to always be in the middle of a fight. What would happen if something happens and we get separated? I need to be able to save myself.”
“I agree,” he said.
I stared incredulously at him. I thought he’d say no and we’d have to fight about it. “Really?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You need to learn to defend yourself.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
He gave me a tight smile, causing my smile to dim. “No problem.”
I looked back at my feet. I wished I could read his mind. No you don’t. Yes I did. No you don’t. I had no idea what I wanted to know.
Slipping off my backpack, I set it down next to me then slid down to my side and lay my head on it. Hoping I could catch some sleep, I closed my eyes—knowing sleep wouldn't come anytime soon. I wanted to say something, anything. “I care about you,” I blurted out. I slapped my hand over my mouth. Way to go. That wasn’t supposed to be said aloud. That wasn’t supposed to be said at all. What was wrong with me? Deep down I knew I cared about it him, even if it was just a little bit. I squeezed my eyes shut and crossed my fingers, hoping he was asleep. My whole body was strung tight as a bow, waiting to hear what he would say, if he would say anything at all. I heard him let out a long breath. Maybe he wouldn’t say anything at all and pretend he hadn’t heard anything. That, of course, would hurt just as badly as if he just plainly rejected my statement.
“Mia,” he said. I held my breath, waiting to be hit in the stomach with a bar. “I care about you too.”
“Okay.”
“I didn’t want to care about you,” he said. My heart started to race as my stomach dropped. Not something I wanted to hear, but he kept talking. “You’re annoying and whiny. I just wanted to help you get somewhere safe and away from me. I didn’t want trouble. I knew if I stayed around you for very long, I would find myself feeling bad for you, eventually something close to caring. I haven’t cared for anyone since Angus. I would take random girls back to my place.” I definitely didn’t need to know that. “And they’d always try to be the one to get something more out of me. I’ve closed myself off to everyone, until you. You were on my mind way before I helped you escaped. Ever since you bumped into me that morning, I just couldn’t shake you. I tried to ignore it. Then I saw you in that dress outside of your house, and I couldn’t stop staring at you. You have no idea the effect you had on me. Then it wasn’t until I caught sight of you in that bar, with those idiot friends of yours, that I knew I was done. It was like you kept haunting me. I tracked you from the minute you stepped into that place. I don’t even know what compelled me, but I changed seats just to have a better angle to look at you. And I was terrified and pissed off in that moment as I stared. You had this look of a broken person. So
meone who was just done with life and ready to give up. I just didn’t understand how someone from your social standing could look so broken. I’d never noticed it from the times before.
“Then, the next day, when I saw you with the bruises, I wanted to go apeshit on the person who did that to you, which confused me even more. Then I understood why you were broken and barely hanging on for dear life. I understood why you wanted to get away. I understood how much you hated those people. But once I got to know you more, I knew you had to be the one to run Lorburn. You're smart, considerate, and understanding. You want to see a change, and that’s what this Nation needs. That’s why I think you need to go back and claim your spot. I understand how much you don’t want to go back, because of the memories and fear. But one day you'll have to confront those fears, or those fears will ruin your life, and you don’t want that to happen.”
I was speechless. I didn’t think I had ever heard him say so many nice things at once before. About me. Everything he’d said went straight through my heart. The good and the bad. He saw through me. I was broken, but now I was slowly on the mend. “Wow.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“But don’t let that all go to your head,” he said. “You’re still the biggest pain in the ass, and you make me want to slam my head against walls at time.”
I smiled and placed my hands over my heart. “My heart.”
I could see him shake his head. “Smartass.”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t be the person you cared about if I didn’t make snide remarks.”
Gregory laughed. His laugh, beautiful to hear. So masculine, so free. “We should probably get some sleep.”
“Shouldn’t we take turns to watch?” I asked as I positioned my backpack as a pillow.
“We’ll be fine,” he said. “No one followed us.”
“How can you be so sure?” I shivered thinking of my dream of the shadowed person.
The Divide (The Divide Series Book 1) Page 23