Page 30 of Infinity Chronicles 1
Dante’s phone rings again, jarring me from my thoughts. His eyes don’t veer from my face as he ignores it. This is all too much. I take two steps back, pulling further away from them and shake my head free of the fog that is trying to consume me. What just happened isn’t normal, these aren’t some rampant teenage hormones, this is something I can’t explain. “Who are you people, what are you doing to me?” My eyes scan the room looking for an escape. I can’t be here anymore. I have to get out of this place.
Ollie steps forward, his hand outstretched in an offering of calmness. “Laura, please don’t freak out.”
“Freak out? I’m really close to losing my shit. I need to know what the hell is going on here. You can start by telling me how you’re doing this shit, did you put something in my drink?” My eyes immediately find the iced coffee still sitting on the table with only ice and a tiny bit of watered down liquid in the bottom.
Milo huffs out a breath, then moves around the others, snatching up my cup. With his eyes firmly locked on mine he takes the straw between his lips and takes a deep pull, drinking every drop left, so there’s a loud slurping sound. He lets out an exaggerated sigh before placing it back on the table.
“Really Milo, I’d expect this from Dante, but why are you acting like a dick? Laura, ignore him, this is messing with all of us.” He takes his eyes from hisboyfriend, and stares at me with big rounded puppy-dog eyes.
Dante is frozen behind him; his eyes widen and all the color drains from his face. “We have a problem,” he mutters.
“No shit,” Milo barks out.
“No, a bigger problem.” Dante grimaces before grabbing his forehead and squeezing at the temples. “He’s coming.”
Ollie’s hand smacks down on his leg. “Fuck,” he curses. His neck twists looking between the three of us before he hesitantly takes a few steps closer to me. “I wanted more time to do this. You have to understand, there’s no way we could have known you didn’t have a clue about us. I’m not even sure how it’s possible, but clearly you have no idea.”
My arms cross over my stomach, and I hunch forward. I lick my bottom lip as my teeth sink into the plumpness. I’m afraid. Not really of these boys, I don’t know why, but I don’t think they’re going to hurt me. I’m scared of what’s happening to us.
Ollie reaches his hand out, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry we didn’t understand how very difficult this would be for you.” His eyes stare into mine and his brows pull together. I want to run my hand over the crease there.
“I don’t understand any of this,” I confess. Ollie’s lips turn down in a frown before the hand at my ear drops to my shoulder and he wraps his arms around me in an embrace.
“Please don’t worry Laura, I promise this is a good thing,” he breathes into my ear. After a brief moment he releases me, leaving one arm slung around my shoulders, then turns us to face the other two in the room. Milo is sulking near the table he got my drink from and Dante is still standing where I left him. I look everywhere but at their faces, I don’t want to see the judgment I feel would be there. “The last thing I want to do is leave you without any answers, but Dante said Ares is coming, and if he’s coming we need you to be gone. Things will go from bad to worse if he finds you here.” I glance over at Dante and note his stiff posture, and the hard set of his jaw.
“Can you take me home?” I ask, and as soon as I say it I feel a pang in my chest, like my heart knows I’m making the wrong choice. But my head needs time to catch up with what’s going on; I’m completely overwhelmed.
Milo spins on his heel, turning away from me. There it is, the judgment I knew was coming. I drop my head, feeling shame over something I don’t understand.
Dante rumbles out an affirmative response before I have the chance to change my mind and demand answers. I pull out from under Ollie’s arm and grab my backpack from the floor. When I lift the strap to sling it over my shoulder, the strap snaps, and the contents of the bag spill out onto the carpet. I sigh with defeat while dropping to my knees to shove everything back in.
A large hand lands on mine. When I look up, Dante is crouched in front of me, his eyes searching mine. “This didn’t go the way any of us expected.” I can’t help but feel like I’ve let him down, that I’m lacking in some way.
I tug my hand out from under his, and leaving a few of the papers on the ground I stand on shaky legs. “I need to go.” I can’t meet any of their gazes. I just want to be back in my tiny RV, where I know who I am. I don’t wait for a reply; I rush to the stairs and run down them as fast as my legs will carry me.
Before any of them are out the door I’m already in the backseat, crammed as far into the corner as I can manage, with my useless backpack on my lap as a shield.
Ollie glances into the car, before getting behind the wheel. “Ah, it’s just you and me so you can jump up here.” The lightness in his tone seems forced.
I gaze up to the garage windows, not seeing anyone but knowing Milo and Dante are both up there, before gently pushing the seat forward and sliding out. I pull the door closed with a quiet click, before buckling my lap belt and resettling my backpack on my lap.
I look out the side window to keep myself from watching the house or Ollie. He’s quiet as he drives down the long lane leading from the garage. He comes to a complete stop at the street. There’s no traffic, so I’m not sure what he’s waiting for. He shifts in the seat, and my eyes flick over at him. His hands are in his lap, and he’s staring down not looking at the road.
“Ollie.” His eyes leap up to meet mine. He bites the corner of his lip and gives a slight shake of his head. When he reaches for the steering wheel, I turn back to the window.
The ride home is silent. I have too many questions floating around in my mind to speak to him without demanding answers I’m not sure he’s willing to give. When we reach the diner I almost ask him to drop me off there, but the words die on my tongue as he speeds past.
It feels like seconds later when, without direction from me, he pulls over to the side of the road as soon as the sign for Turtle Creek is visible. I take the hint, I’m so eager to get out I forget to unclip the seatbelt. I grunt when it tugs me back as I try to get out.
“Oh, Laura. You okay?” Ollie winces.
“Fine,” I mutter fumbling with the latch. Once free, I slam the door closed. I don’t look back as I trek down the gravel shoulder to the entrance of the RV park. The car idols in the distance until I’m well into the bowels of the park.
* * *
“Fuck!”I scream, stomping my foot on the ground. The door is locked, and my keys are nowhere to be found. I drop my backpack on the foldaway stairs leading up to the door of the RV. Crouching low I slowly pull out every piece of paper and book, all the bits of my life I’ve tossed in over the last few months, and still come up empty handed.
I stand and raise my face to the sky. “Why today?” I don’t get an answer, not that I expected one. I check each window and door, knowing they will all be locked up tight. Eventually I make my way back to the front of the park, hoping the guy who fills propane tanks and takes care of the bathrooms is in his mobile home, he’ll probably have a phone so I can call a locksmith. It would be much cheaper to get ahold of Dante to ask if my keys are on his floor with the other shit that fell out of my bag, but there are a few problems. I don’t have his or Ollie’s numbers, and even if I did I probably wouldn’t use it.
