6 • Weakening Light

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6 • Weakening Light

I woke up the next morning, feeling perplexed and strained. My whole body was shivering and weak, and I was perspiring coldly. My teeth chattered audibly as I lay there on the canopied bed. I tried to give a huge effort to move my head to the side where my clock was set on the sidetable, peering at it. Suddenly, my visions were a blur, and I had to squint to look at it clearly.

It was only two in the morning, but I couldn't sleep anymore. I made an effort to sit up and swing my legs to the side of the bed until my feet touched the carpeted floor. I groaned and scowled at the sudden weakness I felt and the pain. I hurled myself to stand, my hand gripping tightly on the bedpost.

I made to the walk-in closet in the end, wearing four jackets, two sweatpants, two thick socks, gloves, and a robe. I looked ridiculous, but I suddenly felt so cold, that it was like I was going to break in half in no time.

This is strange.

Why was I like this? I was never sick a day in my life.

Or...maybe I was just too tired and stressed from thinking too much -- especially about what happened yesterday.

Yesterday.

With Roman.

I closed my eyes as I felt the vertigo coming, then I continued walking to my door. I was about to open it when I heard some loud howling. I looked behind me, wincing at the pain it cost me. Nevertheless I walked, one by one, taking each step with great effort, and I reached my window, looking outside.

The sky was still dark. I could still see the stars twinkling and the moon was still there, casting light, silver strands of the twinkling sky shining down upon the great mansion.

All of a sudden...I saw something. It was a white wolf that was lurking in the clear snow, just in front of my window. It wasn't staring in my direction, and so I took the chance to look at it. It was magnificent. Its fur looked so soft and so white, its movements graceful, lurking at two in the morning. Its pink tongue was out, tired from running, I believed.

It howled again, the sound oddly soothing somehow. And then my head began to pound again. I placed a hand to my forehead to rub it. I was still feeling cold, even though I was already wrapped up like a burrito. Aughh.

When the pain stopped, I looked at the window again, wanting to see if the magnificent creature, checking if it was still there -- it was gone.

I frowned, feeling disappointment in not seeing the wolf again. Defeated, I walked carefully to my door.

Maybe I could just go down to the kitchen and get something to eat. Or maybe I could just bring it up to my room and eat here. That way, I could rest immediately without having to descend anymore.

Satisfied with my plan, I opened the door and closed my eyes tightly, feeling a deep flash of pain once more. I clenched my teeth and groaned. What was happening to me?

My head leaned on the door frame, pushed myself up, and walked to the maze of hallways. I reached the corridor of the Van Allen siblings, then everything went silent.

Alistair didn't wake up until four or five, and the others would wake up much later. I continued walking, looking down, my head throbbing badly, while I perspired and felt so cold. I could maybe stay in the living room and light the fire...

Yes! Perfect. My forefinger and thumb was rubbing my temples, feeling agony all over me. As I kept walking, I bumped into someone, and knocked myself backward, my body thudding to the ground.

I couldn't stand anymore. It was too much effort.

I grunted, my head slowly looking up, receiving pain in every inch of movement it made to stare up at the person I got myself knocked down by.

My eyes suddenly widened as I saw Georgie, her hair wind-blown, and tumbling down in glossy waves. Her purple eyes were wide as saucers when she quickly held me and pulled me up. Her hand was so cold, but I didn't care anymore. I just wanted to get up and rest already.

"Are you all right, Venise?" she murmured shakily, steadying her hands around me. "What are you doing up this early?"

I looked at her and winced from the pain I felt in my head and body. "The question is, Georgie: What are you doing here, walking in this corridor looking wind-blown, at this time in the wee hours of the freaking morning?" I was a bit snappy, since it was too much effort even to just talk. Hey, it wasn't my fault I felt horrible.

She didn't answer me and slung my arm on her slim shoulders, instead. She walked me to my room, practically dragging me with so much effort. Was I that heavy? For a hundred and twenty pound girl, I felt like a deadweight. I groaned as we reached the bedroom, then I was laid down on the bed.

Georgie covered me up with my blanket and took out another thick coverlet in the closet, not questioning my burrito ensemble. She eventually sat on the edge of the bed, wiping the hair off my oddly sweating forehead.

"Are you okay, Venise?" she asked quietly.

I shook my head. I couldn't speak. It hurt too much.

"I wonder why you're sick," she mused. She took a towelette from my bathroom and came back to sit on the edge of the bed again, wiping the perspiration from my forehead. She still hadn't answered my demanding question to her a while ago, though.

My mouth and throat began to dry, up, and Georgie's beautiful face was creased into lines of worry. "Do you want anything else?"

I lifted my hand lightly, barring my teeth hard together, and pointed to my water that was placed on the sidetable. She grabbed it in her dainty hands, carefully lifting me up to let me drink the water. As soon as I was finished, she placed me gently back on my back and tucked the blankets up to my ears.

I felt like a little girl being cared by her mother because she had a fever and couldn't get up. Fantastic.

"Anything else?" she asked, waiting patiently.

My throat wasn't that dry anymore, so I talked. "What're you doing up this early?" I demanded hoarsely.

"Are you hungry?" she queried lightly, smiling charmingly. Why was she evading my question? This was the second time.

I glared at her, only it looked like I was half-closing my eyes to sleep, but I did it anyway. I saw her beginning to bite her lower lip, and chewing it nervously.

What was wrong with her?

I eyed her for a moment. I couldn't believe I actually made her squirm. For a girl who wasn't feeling better, I could make this girl wriggle. I felt giddy all of a sudden. A moment of squirming, I raised my eyebrow, and she sighed miserably.

"Oh, fine! You caught me!" she all but exclaimed.

"What were you doing outside?" I probed on.

She sighed again and avoided my eyes. "I went to a party with Luke. It's not that far from here," she said quickly, looking at me with round violet eyes. "And I know Alistair wouldn't let me go, so I waited for everyone to sleep, then I snuck out. Luke just dropped me off here...and then I went up silently, bumped into you, and I --" Her eyes went even bigger. "Oh please, Venise, don't tell my brothers! They'll practically forbid me to go anywhere anymore, and I think Alistair might lock me up in a dungeon here somewhere, if there even was one! Then he'll probably hunt Luke down with the others and interrogate him..."

That was what she was doing outside? She went to a party with one of her boyfriends? I pursed my lips, saying, after a moment: "Um, okay. I promise I won't tell."

She exhaled with relief and hugged me, forgetting that I was sick and lightheaded.

"Owww," I choked, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Oh, sorry," she said, biting her lip, and placing me back down quickly, but with care.

I nodded absentmindedly, holding my forehead and rubbing it with my palm. "Aren't you sleepy?" I looked at her and saw her give a big yawn, her hand on her mouth, her eyes watering. She looked at me sleepily and nodded.

"I am kind of sleepy," she admitted. She got up and gave a little smack on the bed. "Don't go anywhere. The next time you will, you might actually bump into one of my brothers. I mean, Axel wouldn't mind bumping into you, but the others would. Especially Roman."

"Thanks for the tip," I groused.

Georgie laughed and gave one last watery-eyed yawn, then she closed the door quietly, behind her.

Now I was stuck there, shivering uncontrollably, with my whole body in pain. I didn't know what was happening to me. But I couldn't stop thinking so much.

Yesterday...now that was an awkward moment. I didn't even feel so cold the way I was feeling right now. Maybe my being strangely sick was connected to yesterday's happenings?

Maybe.

I closed my eyes and groaned for the nth tine, my hands pressing on my cold, perspiring face. What happened yesterday was unbelievable. I didn't know how the heck I saw things, seeing people I didn't know, as well as watching the younger versions of the Van Allen. Come to think of it...the couple was the siblings' parents. God, I saw them die!

And it all started when Roman touched my arm.

When it made contact, I saw things no one -- unless you're in the situation yourself -- saw.

I watched the cause of their parents' death. It was horrible, and I felt really sorry for all of them. I knew who killed their parents...that man who wanted something from me. The very man who broke into the house to kidnap me.

It was him.

How could I tell the Van Allens that what I saw was their parents and the man who was behind the murder? I couldn't just tell them immediately. They would think I was a lunatic -- which I was beginning to think I actually was, on account of me seeing strange things. But I had to tell them somehow. They had to know.

This was awful. How was I supposed to tell them, if I couldn't believe it myself either? How did I just see those strange things? How did I see the their parents? I was hyperventilating. I needed a paper bag. Now. It was like a weakening light was turning dark before my very eyes until everything swirling before me in the pitch-black darkness that suffocated me.

I closed my eyes and never wanted to wake up again.

|||||

"Venise?"

Ohhh. My head felt like it was axed in half.

"Venise? Venise..."

I opened my eyes and saw Georgie, her face hovering above mine. Someone coughed lightly, and I saw Axel. He was talking on his cell phone.

I looked at Georgie again. Her large, violet eyes were huge, and it was filled with worry. "How are you?" she asked in a rush.

I shut my eyes for a moment. "I'm fine...how long was I asleep?"

"Three days," she quipped. I nearly choked.

"What?"

"I was practically hurling you up and washing you with a cloth and some rubbing alcohol for those three days!" She looked tired and frustrated, but she gave me a weak smile, touching my arm and giving it a squeeze. "I'm glad you're awake now. We thought you were, like, in a permanent coma or something."

I wanted to laugh but my throat was feeling dry, and when I uttered "water," my voice was so raspy like a grater was stuck down my throat. I needn't say more, because Georgie was heading down the kitchen already, leaving me on the bed with her brother by the door, still talking on his phone.

He looked behind him to me, and he said something on the phone and shut, putting it in his back pocket.

"Hey," he said, smiling, and coming up to me.

"Hi," I whispered. It was so hard. My voice was too raspy and so small. He sat down beside me, threading his fingers through my long auburn hair, pushing it away from my face. I blushed at this, but he seemed not to notice.

His handsome face was creased into a frown as he looked at me. I felt much better now than I was three days ago. I couldn't believe that I was asleep for three days. That never happened to me before.

"We were so worried about you," he said, resting his hand on the bed, at the other side of my waist.

"We?" I asked, raising a brow at him, skeptical. Well, I was glad that that didn't take much effort anymore. He laughed. It was nice to hear him laugh.

He nodded, a few chuckles escaping his lips. "Yes, 'we.' Alistair and Gabriel are, too. They're downstairs, talking to the family physician, Dr. Pearson. You should really be proud of Georgie, Ven. You had a nurse before, but Georgie didn't like her. Said the nurse was taking care of you wrongly, as if she herself was an expert. So she said to the doctor that you don't need a nurse, but her instead. And man, was she exhausted! She'll probably be sleeping for hours later on."

"That's really sweet of her," I said, touched. Really. It was. Instead of a professional nurse, she was the one who helped me.

"I helped all I can too, you know," he said with a wink that made my heart do a little flip. "But Georgie says I'm horrible, so she kicked me out most of the time."

"What about...Roman?" I didn't know why I asked about Axel's brother, but it just came out. This was unnecessary. I was thinking myself looking embarrassed and biting my lip, but no. I just looked at Axel, waiting for him to answer.

His turquoise eyes were fixed on mine, looking at me squarely in the eye. He gave a one-shoulder shrug, all nonchalant, and he straightened. "He's been quiet and -- typical Roman that he is -- belligerent a lot. He even broke the glass lamp in the living room three days ago."

That was the vase that I'd probably heard crashing on the floor the day I saw things when I touched his arm...

The sentence that I never would have imagined came tumbling out of my mouth: "Did he ever visit me here?"

Axel seemed a bit startled at that. I was asking too much about his brother -- the one everyone knew I wasn't in good terms with. I knew that, but I just couldn't help it. However, I still did feel plenty of ire for him for his callousness three days ago, but I felt sorry for him and his siblings.

The scene I saw about their parents' death was horrible. I could understand Roman, somehow. Maybe he wasn't like he was now, before their parents had died. A part of Roman that I never knew, never met.

I mean, I still felt very depressed and full of melancholy every time I thought about my family's death. Maybe when Roman felt angry about something, or when he thought about his parents, he broke things and lost himself over that habit to calm him down. Unlike others didn't like to talk about it, and they'd just warn me menacingly -- just like Gabriel did. I didn't want to ask what happened about their parents, especially to Alistair, because I didn't want to know what he'd do to me if ever I asked about them. Georgie and Axel, though, were different but I didn't think the latter would be happy if I asked him.

"He didn't come here," he said quietly, cutting my thoughts. Somehow, I frowned at that. I knew he saw me frown, because he looked at me oddly. I gave him a reassuring smile, leaning up on my elbows, and trying to get up from the bed.

I was in a cream silk and satin nightgown.

Georgie. Always with the fashion. I felt all right already, and I didn't feel cold anymore as I was before. "You sure you're ready to get up?" Axel asked, standing up, and looking down at me.

I was looking at the floor, breathing for a moment, getting ready to lie back down if a sudden burst of headache came rushing to me. But I felt nothing, and so I nodded.

"Need help?" he put in, kindly. He seemed to be checking if I could get up myself or needed any help; my knees were still a little weak, so I nodded again.

He held my hand, placed it on his broad shoulders, and wrapped his strong arm around my waist to support me up. There was something warm about his touch, and I felt my cheeks turn a deep shade of crimson. When I was finally standing by myself with no help, Axel vanished in the bathroom and came back with an emerald silk robe. He helped me put it on, then faced me to put his hands on my shoulders, bending little to give me a charming -- and equally disarming -- smile.

God, I thought I would faint.

"Venise, I got your water and I'm sorry for drinking it while you were sleeping but --" Georgie entered the room with a glass of water and halted in her tracks as she saw me standing in front of her older brother whose hands were on my shoulders, his face near mine. I blushed again and looked away from her.

Axel smiled at his sister. Just lime that, the moment was gone.

"You can give her the water now, baby sis," he said, letting go of me and straightening up, his arms akimbo.

Georgie looked at me and her brother for a moment, then she came up to me and handed me the glass without a word. When I was finished, she took it and placed it on the sidetable, then came back to my side.

"Are you feeling much better?" she asked lightly. Her hands were warm again.

"Yeah," I said, giving her a little smile. "Thank you for caring for me."

She grinned. "Don't worry. And you're welcome. Although, I'll have to hibernate like a bear for hours, after taking care of you and all." We laughed and heard Axel say, "I told you so" to me.

I fidgeted with the rope of my silk robe, then I began sitting on the bed again. Georgie seemed to be worried once more but I smiled at her reassuringly and just sat there for a moment.

"Come on, Georgie," Axel murmured, putting his arm around his sister's shoulders. "Let's give her some time for a while."

His sister nodded and they both went out the room.

I was finally alone.

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