PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

  Not that that will help us, I think. Unless it just happens to be an exotic, rare vintage, we’ll never find it. And let’s face it, that only happens in shows like CSI. In real life, the getaway car is something plain and common, impossible to track.

  As the two officers confer with each other and talk into the walkie-talkies on their shoulders, the paramedics arrive, sans flashing lights and sirens. The officer must have told them it wasn’t life threatening, because they walk over to us with just a portable medical kit.

  After giving us both an initial once over, the two paramedics lead us over to a picnic table and start cleaning up our cuts and bruises. It doesn’t take too long, and the paramedic working on me announces that I’ll live.

  “Just keep a bottle of pain reliever on hand for the next few days, okay?” one of the paramedics tells me. I nod, but my attention is on Hayden as the second paramedic lifts his shirt to examine his abdomen. I cringe at the red and purple blotches dotting his side.

  Hayden winces a few times as the paramedic presses on his abdomen, but he toughs it out for the most part. The paramedic finally lowers his shirt and says, “I don’t think there are any internal injuries, but if the pain worsens or you have any unusual bruising you need to go to the hospital for further examination, okay?”

  When the paramedics step back, the officer who took our statements, Officer Kimball, moves back in and asks for our contact information. That leads to questions about parents. I don’t think he realized we were both seventeen at first.

  “I’ll need phone numbers for your parents as well. We need to call them and let them know you’re both okay and let them know we’ll be bringing you home.”

  “I can drive home. I’m fine,” I argue.

  The officer shakes his head. “Someone can come pick up your car later. Now both of you follow Officer Carl over to the cruiser, please.”

  “Can you ask my parents to meet me at Olivia’s house?” Hayden asks. “It’ll be more convenient that way.”

  Officer Kimball nods that he can do that and clears us to go gather up our belongings strewn all over the grass.

  It takes a few minutes for Hayden to gather up everything he abandoned when he saw me getting attacked and for me to figure out where I dropped my keys and phone. Once we finally have everything, Officer Carl ushers us over to the cruiser and shuts the door behind us once we’re seated. Hayden automatically wraps his arm around my shoulders and leans his head against mine.

  “Boy, when you say you’re having a really bad day, you meant it.”

  “It’s enough to make a person want to steer clear of me, right?” I ask, not sure whether I want him to agree or not.

  Hayden smiles and pulls me closer. “Not a chance.”

  It seems to take a really long time for the paramedics to shove off and the officers to join us in the car. I can feel the weariness settling into my bones by the time we finally get moving. The officers mainly just talk to each other as we drive. They find my house without any problem and pull into the driveway. Seconds later, my parents come barreling out of the house. Evie is close on their heels. It doesn’t escape me that Mason is nowhere to be seen, but I refuse to dwell on that.

  I want to throw myself into my dad’s arms, but I can’t open the stupid car door on my own. Locked in like a criminal, I have to wait for Officer Carl to let me out. When he does, my dad snatches me up before I have the chance to say or do anything else.

  “Olivia, sweetheart, are you okay? We were so worried when the police called!”

  “I’m fine, Dad, I promise. Just a few bruises and a black eye.”

  Hayden comes around the side of the cruiser and Dad surprises me by releasing me and wrapping Hayden up in an almost violent hug. “Thank you!” he says to Hayden.

  Right away I am smothered my Mom and Evie, but I watch Hayden as my dad nearly strangles him with his hug.

  Dad holds Hayden out at arm’s length and thanks him again. Hayden looks a bit embarrassed and mumbles a quick your welcome. He seems relieved when his parents’ car screeches to a stop in front of my house. They come hurrying up the driveway and wrap him up in fierce hugs as well.

  After that, the questions start flying. The officers fill in both our parents on everything we told them, give them their cards, and let them know that they’ll be in touch to follow up and possibly have Hayden and I sit down with a sketch artist. I nod willingly, but I know they’ll never catch the guy. Not with him being a Sentinel, which I am positive he is now.

  It’s kind of a relief to watch the officer’s drive away. In the back of my mind I know this is far from over, but I want it to be over for tonight at least. I want to crawl into bed, carefully, and sleep for the next two days. Instead of granting my wish, Dad invites everyone inside for a few minutes to calm down and decompress.

  Mom refuses to let go of me as we head into the house. Someone’s hand slips into mine on the way, and I half expect to see Evie clinging to me when I look over. I see Hayden instead, and look away immediately. But I don’t pull my hand from his.

  As soon as we reach the living room, Mom finally lets go of me. She introduces herself to Hayden’s parents and leaves me to escape to the couch. Since Hayden is determined to keep a hold of me, I tow him along behind me and collapse. Neither of us says anything. I don’t want to lean on Hayden, but exhaustion drops my head against his shoulder eventually. As my eyes start to close, I think I hear a noise from the back of the house, but I’m too tired to care.

  Only a few minutes later, Mason steps into the chaos. My whole body goes rigid as I watch his eyes fill with confusion as he surveys the crowd. I shrink in on myself as his eyes find mine and sees me sitting with Hayden, sporting a bloody lip and black eye. The expression on his face is indescribable.

  Chapter 23

  Make it Right

  (Mason)

  Panic. It screams through my veins as I stare at Olivia. Anger and disbelief chase it down as my body goes white hot with rage. What happened to her? My first instinct is to throw my arms around her and never let go. I only get one step into that plan before the crowd of random bodies in front of me ruins it.

  I want to scream at them to get out of my way! It infuriates me that none of them can hear me. All I want is to get to Olivia! I stare at the faces of the people standing in my way in confusion. Who are they? What are they doing in our house?

  Blonde, middle-aged, I nearly push them out of my way until I hear the name Hayden slip tearfully past the woman’s lips. Hayden? What does he have to do with anything? I look toward Olivia for answers, for help, and am stunned when I realize she’s not sitting there alone. What in the hell is Hayden doing with his arm around her!

  Absolutely desperate, I start to push my way through. Evie is the first to get knocked into. Her eyes spring open in recognition even though she can’t see me and her hands grope for my arm. She isn’t strong enough to stop me, but her nails dig into my skin painfully enough that I stop and look down at her.

  She shakes her head violently and starts pushing me away, out of the living room and into the hallway. She doesn’t let go of my arm, though, and listens carefully.

  “What is going on?” I demand angrily.

  “I don’t know,” Evie snaps. “All I know is that Olivia got attacked at some park across town.”

  “What? By who?”

  Evie glares at me. “How am I supposed to know? They didn’t catch the guy!”

  “Why is Hayden Benton here? And why does he have his arm around Olivia?” I shriek.

  Throwing up the hand that isn’t latched onto me, Evie growls in frustration. “She was with him, I guess. I. Don’t. Know! And as for why he’s getting all cozy with her, I suspect you know more about that than I do.” The glare she fixes on me is deadly.

  “What? Why would I know?”

  “All I can tell you is that when Aaron dropped me off, I saw Olivia come tearing out of the house looking like someone just stomped all over her heart and drive off ne
arly in tears. You were already gone. Mom was calling Dad with her voice sounding all weird and worried and she spent the next hour on the phone with him talking about you and Olivia.”

  Evie puts her free hand on her hip and stares me down. “Care to explain?”

  “This is none of your business, Evie,” I snap.

  The look on her face turns absolutely murderous. “My sister just got attacked! She could have been killed or kidnapped. It is my business! And it’s your fault she was out there!”

  Evie whirls around on her heel and stomps away from me. I try to call after her, but she can’t hear me, of course. I don’t think she would have stopped even if she could.

  My feet feel like lead as I trudge back to the living room. Everyone is sitting down now. Evie is parked right next to Olivia, holding her hand and leaning on her shoulder. Hayden no longer has his arm around Olivia’s shoulders, but nausea sweeps over at me as I see his hand curled around hers protectively.

  My whole body feels numb as I listen to the pair of them explain what happened. When Olivia describes “running into” Hayden at the basketball park, a look passes between them that says there was much more to it than that. Right then, I realize that Evie is right and it buckles my knees.

  Olivia glances over at me as I slump to the ground, but she tears her eyes away right after. I look away, ashamed and furious at myself for putting her in this situation. If I hadn’t ditched her to hang out with Robin . . . if I hadn’t been so stupid to think backing off would protect her from pain, I would have been with her this afternoon like always. She wouldn’t have run from the house, scared and broken. She never would have set foot in that park.

  I am sure I can’t feel any more agony than I do already, but when Olivia talks about walking back to her Jeep in the dark and having a man jump out at her, my head falls into my hands. Images from my nightmare flash into my mind like gunshots, each one piercing and wounding me.

  I knew this was going to happen. I was warned that I needed to protect Olivia, to keep her by me so she was never alone to be attacked. I could have kept her from this pain, yet I wasn’t there. I walked away and let her be attacked and hurt.

  The sudden, seemingly orchestrated movement of everyone in the room startles me. I cringe back against the wall as everyone stands before I realize they’re just ready to call it a night. Hayden’s parents shake hands with Olivia’s parents as they are thanked again for their son’s help. He deserves every word of their praise, but my stomach sours listening to it.

  My ears tune them out as I focus on Hayden standing up stiffly and gently pulling Olivia up after him. She hesitates a moment before wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head against his chest. My heart shatters as he strokes her hair softly. He whispers something in her ear and kisses her cheek so lightly I don’t know if she even feels it.

  They walk past me to the front door, Olivia’s hand still in his. They hug again. It’s feels like someone is stabbing me repeatedly as I watch them. I expect relief when the door finally closes on Hayden and his parents, but the misery only deepens when Olivia walks past me without a word.

  She probably would have continued up the stairs if her dad’s voice hadn’t stopped her. “Olivia, is Mason here?”

  “I thought he’d be home by now,” Mom says worriedly.

  Olivia’s feet drag tiredly as she walks back toward the living room. She stops in the doorway and points at me sitting on the floor. “He’s right there.”

  That’s it. She doesn’t even look at me. Her mom and dad look at each other worriedly when Olivia simply turns and heads for the stairs again. Olivia’s mom is the first to approach me. Her hand reaches out, questioning. I touch her fingers so she knows where I’m at, but don’t say anything.

  “Mason,” she says as she kneels down next to me, “are you okay?”

  No. And I don’t know if I ever will be again, but I know that’s not what she’s asking. I can see the fear in her eyes that what happened to Olivia wasn’t an isolated incident.

  “I’m fine,” I choke out.

  “Are you sure? You sound like you’re hurt. Did anyone try to come after you?”

  I shake my head slowly. “No. Robin and I were fine.”

  Olivia’s dad crouches down next to me and lays a hand on my shoulder. “Mason, what’s going on?”

  “I had a nightmare about Olivia getting attacked last night.”

  “What?” they both ask.

  “I should have protected her. It wasn’t a mugger. It was a Sentinel. I should have been there.”

  Olivia’s parents look at each other. I can tell they aren’t sure whether to believe me or not. They’re fools if they don’t.

  “Mason,” Olivia’s mom asks gently, “what happened between you and Olivia?”

  Standing up suddenly and knocking them back a step, but not so far that they let go of me, I say, “I ruined everything, that’s what happened.”

  Neither one of them tries to stop me as I march out of the room and up the stairs. I intend to head straight for my bedroom, but stumble when Olivia steps out of the bathroom and right into my path. Her hands grip the bathroom door frame. For a moment I think she is scared of me for some reason. When I see her knees shaking and the pain in her eyes, I realize she’s trying to keep herself from falling. It kills me to see her in so much pain. I can’t stop myself from crossing the distance between us and reaching for her.

  “Don’t touch me!” she snaps.

  Shocked, hurt, I stumble to a stop inches away from her.

  “Get away from me,” she says with tears in her eyes.

  I take a step back. My breathing escalates as I look into her angry eyes. I have never seen her so hurt and afraid before. Every cell in my body screams at me to make it right, hold her, fix this between us. Thinking I could step back after what happened this morning and not hurt her was the stupidest thing I could have done. I want to tell her I’m sorry, beg for her forgiveness.

  Olivia pushes away from the door frame and marches to her room. The door slams and I sink to my knees in agony.

  Chapter 24

  Confess

  (Olivia)

  Driving to school with Mason and Evie is torture. Mason at least had the decency to sit in the back today. Evie tried to come talk to me last night about everything that happened, but I couldn’t stand the idea of reliving it one more time and refused to let her in. She sits beside me quietly as we pull into the parking lot.

  As I kill the engine, Evie looks over at me as says, “Come find me if you need me today, okay?”

  All I can do is nod. She slips out of the car, and I follow quickly, desperate to get away from Mason. He keeps his distance as I make my way to my locker. Mom offered to let me skip school today and rest up, but I have a research paper to turn in. In all honesty, though, I didn’t want to stay because I knew Mason would stay as well and the idea of being trapped in the house with him all day is a million times worse than showing up at school looking like I got in a bar fight.

  As I step into the building, it’s acutely obvious that my makeup isn’t doing nearly enough to hide the black eye or split lip. Furtive glances dart at me as I walk down the hallway. I’m sure they’re all wondering, but I don’t care to fill them in. I spot my locker and make a beeline for it. I’m yanking open the door when Hayden slides up next to me.

  “Hey,” I say.

  He smiles. “That’s all I get? A hey?”

  “Sorry,” I say with a half-smile—the half that doesn’t hurt to move. “Not feeling like my usual peppy self today.”

  “You have a usual peppy self?” Hayden asks. “Why have I never seen it?”

  I roll my eyes, amazed at his ability to cheer me up. “Okay, I may not have a peppy side, but I’m certainly feeling worse than my usual quiet, loner self. How’s that?”

  “Much more accurate,” he laughs.

  Hayden’s fingers brush along my cheek carefully. I try not to wince, but even breathing on that side of my
face hurts. His fingers slide down to my chin. Thankfully he doesn’t get too close to my lip. His mouth turns down. “You look even worse than last night.”

  “Thanks, that makes me feel better,” I grouch. “You do too, by the way.”

  He grins. “I know.”

  “How’s your side?” I ask. I remember the attacker punching him repeatedly in that area.

  Hayden lifts the edge of his shirt and I gasp at the mottled bruises covering nearly half his stomach. Several of the students around us stop and stare. “Oh my gosh, Hayden! That looks terrible!”

  “Yeah, I won’t be playing basketball for a few weeks, which I’m sure you’re devastated about, but I’ll be fine.” He drops his shirt back down and leans against the lockers. I can see him wince at the movement.

  “I feel so terrible about last night. It was my fault you were there so late. If you hadn’t been there trying to make me feel better . . . ”

  “If I hadn’t been there you may have gotten hurt a lot worse, or taken, or . . . or other things I’d rather not think about,” Hayden finishes. He grabs my hand and pulls me over to him. “But if you’re feeling guilty, you can always make it up to me by having lunch with me today, and every day.”

  “Lunch?” I stare at him. How is he being so calm about all of this? “Uh, sure. Okay.”

  Hayden grins and pushes away from the lockers carefully. “See you at lunch then.”

  The final bell rings a moment later and the hallways begin to clear. I shuffle off to my first class in a daze. I hold the door open for Mason out of habit when I reach class, and nearly jump out of my shoes when I feel him slip in past me. I don’t look at him, though.

  I keep my eyes squarely in front of me as I walk to my desk. I can still see Mason parking himself on the window sill like he usually does from the corner of my eye, but I refuse to acknowledge him. I’m relieved when he doesn’t try to talk to me.

  All morning he follows me around like a ghost. We don’t speak to each other. I pretend I can’t see him anymore than anyone else, but his eyes never leave me. It’s honestly the first time I can say having Mason near me makes me uncomfortable. And that’s underneath the anger and hostility I’m still carrying around against him, too. Needless to say, I am completely drained by the time lunch finally arrives.