CHAPTER FOURTEEN
We read through Mabel's chart and Tara heads back to her room. There's really nothing we can do tonight. Tara is completely drained from her travel. It took a lot of energy for her to grab that chart and bring it back with her. I still can't figure it out. It's scientifically impossible, right? I mean, things like that only happen in the movies.
I fire off an e-mail to my parents, letting them know that I'm doing well, and everything's great over here. There’s no need for worry.
My mom writes back almost instantly, saying that she and Dad are coming for a visit tomorrow. It’s all set up. They'll be here just after breakfast. I miss them so much.
I shut down my computer, and take a quick shower. I'm all tucked in bed and am almost asleep when... someone starts knocking on my door. Its 11:37 pm, on a school night. I get out of bed and open the door. It's Laden.
“Hi, were you asleep?” I don't think Laden cares if I was sleeping or not, because he just comes in. "Is it ok if I come in?" His big glowing white smile is leading the way. The door swings shut behind him.
He walks past me then stops a few feet away. I stand there for a moment, wondering if I should ask him to leave; only because my heart is pounding so fast. I could just say that I’m really tired. I decide to just go with it for now, but if I feel threatened, I’ll ask him to leave using some stupid excuse.
I start walking back to my bed. Laden grabs me around my waist from behind, and spins me around. His lips press into mine. His arms hold me tight. I wrap my arms around his neck, holding his face to mine.
While still holding my waist, he walks me backwards to my bed. Laden lays me down with him on top of me. His movements are so smooth and graceful.
Even though I'm utterly exhausted, he is totally turning me on. I’ve never had a guy take control over me so gently and yet so firmly, before. My other boyfriend dulls in comparison.
Laden kisses down my neck. He coddles my breast in his hand over my nightgown. He is so sensual that his kisses and his body movements are arousing me in ways I’ve never felt before... I feel sexy.
He starts sliding my nightgown up. Goosebumps follow his hand as it slowly glides up the side of my hip, along my waist and finally rests on my bare breast. He slowly kisses down my body.
Laden kisses me in places I’ve never been kissed before. My body is on fire, burning hotter than it ever has. I lose myself in his touch, his kiss. He loves me in an amazing way. I don't know for how long… time is irrelevant.
He kisses back up along my neck, to my lips. “Has anyone ever kissed you like that before?” I shake my head ‘no’. I cannot form words, no matter how hard I try. Laden smiles his stunning smile and says, “I have to go now. Will you miss me?” Again I nod my head, and he gives me another very sexy smile.
Laden stands up from my bed and adjusts himself, before turning to leave. He stops. Something on my desk captures his attention.
“Why do you have this?” I’ve never heard Laden sounds so angry. Even with a fierce expression, he’s exquisitely handsome.
“I found it... on a bench... in a corridor.” I have to lie. My stomach isn't giving me a queasy feeling, but trusting my body right now, after the excitement it just went through, no way. So I lie... not very well either. “Why? I mean, it’s just a folder. It’s probably really old. I’ll put it back tomorrow.”
“You shouldn't have this. Do you know what will happen to you if they found out? I have to bring this back, right now. I know where it comes from, but I have no idea how you got it, and don’t want to. You did not get it from a bench. Does anybody else know that you have this? Have you read it?” Laden’s throwing questions at me, but not giving me time to answer him. He sounds so serious, so worried.
“Maybe, yeah.” I stand up from the bed, but my legs are so weak that they barely hold me, and Laden reaches out to steady me. For a quick moment, I'd swear that I saw him snicker. “Something is going on here. All the kids feel it, not just me. There's some big secret that I have to find the answer to. Maybe I'll get an explanation as to why we're all like this. Someone knows something. Do you... know something? Are you hiding anything from me?”
Laden kisses my lips softly, and turns to walk out the door, but stops. He tucks Mabel Whitson's file under his shirt. “Don't let any staff know that you know about Mabel... for your own safety, and now, mine. Tell whoever knows about this file, to keep quiet about it. I won't tell anyone about you." He pauses for a few seconds. "I only know that Mabel is there, and that I'm not to tell anyone." Then he walks out the door.
If I wasn't worried before, I am now. I lie down in my bed, pull the covers up over me, and look towards my door, wondering if I should lock it. I decide that I'm too tired to get up, and if someone wanted to get me, it wouldn't be hard, locked door or not; the keys are at the nurses’ station anyway. After all, Laden did say that he wouldn't tell them about me knowing anything.
What did he mean about 'them'? Who is ‘them’? My eyes, unable to hold themselves open any longer, slam shut.
Colours are swirling around me, overtaking the blackness that was there a moment ago. Dammit, I'm starting another vision, and I can't make it stop. The bubble starts moving towards me, closer and closer, until I am completely engulfed. I'm forced to go through it. Where am I? I'm in a room with white paint on the walls. This is a hospital room. I’m so tired, why do I have to do this now?
The chart next to a bed has 'Mabel Whitson' written on it. She's waking up. Her eyes open, and she looks straight at me. “Help me, Laura, please! Take me out of here. I can't run away. They’ll stop me if I try. The drugs are so powerful. I can't help myself. Be very careful.”
I wish I could just pick her up and take her out of here, to save her, but I can't. “What can I do? How can I help you? Give me as much information as you can. Quickly, please!”
Mabel lifts her weak arm and points to the room next to hers. “You will be there. Be careful. You can't escape once you're here.”
“Who is keeping you here?” I hope she tells me.
“He didn't know any better, and now there's no choice. It's in the medicine.” She whispers so softly, then closes her eyes. She drifts off to sleep.
I will myself to the room next to hers, scared of what I might see. There's no way that I'll end up here, no way. I see a girl lying in the bed, flat on her back. She's crying. She's me. OhmyGod! I’m seeing myself in a hospital bed. Ok, stay calm, don't freak out.
As relaxed as I can, I ask myself, “How did we get here?”
“In a vision.” My crying self turns her head, and starts sobbing even harder. “Help us. Combine for truth and justice.”
Suddenly, I'm being sucked backwards. My eyes pop open, and I sit up in my bed. My eyes, they hurt, even to blink. They're burning.
I hop out of bed and rush to the bathroom,, only to stop for a second before I flip on the light. What will I look like now? My eyes were still red from the last sleep-induced vision. How bad will it be now? If they appear how they feel, they’re going to be ugly. I prepare myself.
I flip the switch. I can't see anything but blinding light and redness. The light burns slightly less as my eyes adjust, but the red is still there. It's like looking through a red film. I peer into the mirror, and my knees get weak. I thought that I looked like a monster before? It's so much worse now.
Although everything's red, I can still see clearly, which is hard to believe when I look at my eyes in the mirror. The eyeballs themselves look like they're going to burst from all the blood that's in them. I think every blood vessel has ruptured. The blue in my eyes is now a bright purple. My lids, both the top and bottom, are swollen and also purple. I totally look like I was in a fight with an MMA fighter, and I was too stupid to tap out.
I go back to get my phone and check the time. It's just past 6:30 AM. As fast as I can, I text 'I need to talk to you. I'm coming over', to Tara. Then I slip on my slippers and head for her room. <
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Colours In Blackness - A New Life Page 14