Contained (Evolution Series Book 5) (14 page)

“They know,”
I quickly said to Mum.

She shot me a sideways glance from the stage, panic filling her eyes.

“Take her away,”
Mum pleaded to Aiden.

Before I had a chance to object, Aiden transported me back to our little place.

I took one look at our surroundings, pulled away and began to phase out.

Aiden grabbed at my arm. “Don’t.”

Rematerialising, I stood there not knowing what to do. “I can’t just let them take all this shit for me.”

He ran his hand down my arm and entwined my fingers with his. “They want to.”

“They’re probably just worried I’ll kill someone else,” I said with a nervous laugh, realising how true that probably was.

The corner of Aiden’s lip turned up. “Nobody thinks that.”

“Your mum does.”

He stepped closer. “No, she doesn’t. She just worries about everything.”

“You’re forgetting I can hear her thoughts.”

Aiden ran his hand through his hair then sighed. “Look, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks—and I don’t believe for a second that my Mum thinks you’re a murderer. What matters is what you believe.”

I looked at the floor. The thing was that I wanted to believe and try to be a good person but it appeared fate had other plans. And it was getting to a point that I couldn’t deny the probability anymore.

Putting his finger under my chin, he tipped my head up so I would be forced to look him in the eyes. “You’re a good person. And if those visions turn out to be true, I bet there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation that doesn’t have anything to do with you turning into a monster.

I smiled sadly. “I don’t deserve you.”

He cupped my cheek in his hand. “Yes, you do. You’re everything I could’ve wished for. You’re beautiful, funny, caring, loyal and you have a heart of gold.”

“I think there’d be a few people who would disagree with you.”

“Then they’d be wrong.”

I bit down on my lip, trying to suppress my smile. He was the perfect one in our relationship. He was a perfect example of every trait he listed of me. And he took loyalty to a whole new level. To the point where some people might call it stupidity. But I knew better. Aiden was my soul mate.

Looking up into his green eyes I exhaled softly. “I love you.”

He pressed a kiss to my lips. “I love you, too.”

Taking my hand, he led me over to the bed and we finally made our move worthwhile.

***

Lying in bed, wrapped in Aiden’s arms with not another soul in earshot, finally gave me the peace I’d been seeking. For a moment I could pretend that the world wasn’t falling down around us. It was just us. “I don’t suppose we can just stay here for the rest of eternity?”

“Would love to, but I have to go to the bathroom.” Aiden kissed my cheek then pushed off the bed.

Rolling onto my back, I said, “I didn’t mean in bed.”

“I did.” He turned around and winked at me.

I laughed, but stopped as soon as I realised I’d left the mop and bucket next to the toilet.

Aiden popped his head around the corner. “What’s with the mop and bucket?”

I sat up on my elbows and narrowed my eyes at him. “You seriously didn’t hear anything did you?”

He walked back to the bed. “Hear what?”

Geez, my revelation was probably the first time he’d ever not known what was going on around him. “I was sick.”

He studied my face, wondering what was going on with me lately.

I laughed nervously. “It’s probably just my body fighting the change of me turning into a monster.”

Aiden’s face slumped. He sat down on the bed beside me. “You know that’s not going to happen.”

He was right. I would never let that happen. I would stop myself before it got to the point of no return. I just had to have faith in myself to know when that time would be.

My phone beeped with a new message, giving me a way out from Aiden’s need to convince me. I jumped off the bed and fetched my phone from my bag. It was Chelsea.
Just a courtesy mssge to let you know we’ll be there in 2 mins. Make sure you’re decent!!!

I rolled my eyes. That girl had a one-track mind. She probably thought we’d become nudist since moving out.

“Chels will be here in a few minutes,” I said, picking up my clothes off the floor.

“Bet she wants to crash here with us,” Aiden said, pulling a shirt over his head.

I snorted out a laugh, “This is Chelsea we’re talking about. She wouldn’t want to stay anywhere near me now that she has Lucas. She’d want privacy so
she
could be a nudist.”

“Huh?”

Sometimes I forgot that Aiden couldn’t hear my thoughts. “Never mind.” I slipped into my dress.

True to her word, Chelsea showed up with Lucas downstairs. I hadn’t actually been out of the bedroom, so rather than transporting to the lounge room, I transported to her.

Chelsea smirked. “Glad to see you got my message.”

I had to stop myself from laughing. She thought that Lucas had no idea just how perverted her mind really was.

Biting down on my smile I nodded. “Your message wasn’t necessary.”

“Sure it wasn’t.” She slumped down on the sofa and for the first time I took in my surroundings. The place was set up much like I expected a cabin to look, oversized couches facing an open fire. Kitchen to the back and dining to the side.

Lucas sat beside Chelsea. “You’ve got an extra guest for the night.”

“Guest or guests?” I asked getting a little worried that I’d have to tune out the whole world knowing my best friends antics. Either that or leave them alone there while Aiden and I took off someplace else.

“Just this one here,” Lucas said, putting his hand on Chelsea’s knee.

You know, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that shit,
Chelsea thought to me.

I quickly glanced at Lucas and saw the corner of his lips curl up just like Aiden’s used to before I knew the truth.

“Where are you staying?” Aiden asked, walking down the stairs.

Lucas looked to Aiden. “In a hotel in London.”

Aiden sat beside me. “Not wanting to stay with your sister?”

“Nope. The less I have to do with her the better.”

Chelsea twisted in her seat to face Lucas. “You know that she tried to get Jade to make her not such a bitch.”

I chuckled. “That’s not what she asked me.”

Chelsea narrowed her eyes at me. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have made some other improvements while you were inside her head.”

No matter how tempting that was, I would never do that to her. “I’m not like that.”

“Come on,” she said. “You can’t tell me it wouldn’t be a good idea. I mean think about it, no more having to watch her boobs bobbing up and down, wondering when they were going to pop out of her shirt, no more bitchy comments, or her trying to get your boyfriend back. You could also make her want to go somewhere far far away and make her forget we ever existed.”

“You are evil,” Lucas said with a smile.

She grinned. “I think the word you’re looking for is… brilliant.”

He chuckled. Lucas didn’t really want me to go to the extremes of never seeing his sister again but he didn’t think it would hurt if I made her a little easier to get along with.

“Anyway,” Chelsea said with her grin still plastered across her face. “You better get going so I can get my beauty sleep.” She tapped her hand on Lucas’s thigh.

“Not that you need it.” He leaned down and kissed her.

Chelsea blushed and felt stupid for doing so. Why that girl couldn’t understand how Lucas would be interested in her was beyond me. She held him up on a pedestal and was grateful for every minute they had together, because in her heart she knew they weren’t going to last—unless of course my blood changed her so she would never grow old.

“Seeya,” Lucas said to Aiden and me.

“Bye,” we said in unison.

Lucas gave Chelsea one last kiss then transported away.

“So,” Chelsea said standing up. “Are you going to show me to my room?”

I chuckled. “Fine.” I stood and headed to the stairs. “Which room should I give her?” I asked Aiden.

“Last one down the hall on the right,” Aiden said heading into the kitchen.

Chelsea followed me up the steps, the whole way thinking how she was going to approach the subject she wanted to discuss with me.

Going into her bedroom, I went over to the window to check out the view but I couldn’t see a thing. It was pitch black.

Chelsea dumped her bag on the floor at the foot of the bed. “So, I was thinking—”

“That you needed to make up the excuse and pretend that you need some time away from Lucas so he doesn’t get sick of you, just so you can spend some time with me because you think I’m losing it, and I need my BF here to support my breakdown.” I raised my eyebrow. “Is that about right?”

She bit down on her smile. “I’m not going to be able to hide anything from you anymore, am I?”

I grinned. “Nope. I know all. I see all.” Her thoughts instantly went to me knowing all about what Lucas and she had been up to in bed together. “Eww, please stop thinking that. You’re going to give me nightmares.”

Chelsea smirked. “Well, if you don’t want to see then you could always tune me out.” She then started thinking about Lucas, starting with his eyes then lowering them down, down, down…

I screwed up my face when she got to his abs. “Okay, I’m out.”

She grinned. “Glad you see it my way.” Chelsea sat on the bed and patted the spot beside her. “Now, tell me what’s going on.”

Sitting down beside her I decided to play to her little game. “Well, I was thinking you’re probably right—”

“Glad to see you’re finally acknowledge my brilliance,” she said with a smirk.

I shook my head. “Yes, you were right in this instance, but let me tell you how wrong you are in others.”

“Such as?” She was playing right into my plan of side tracking our conversation.

“Such as you and Lucas.”

Her eyes lit up when I said his name.

“You’ve got it bad don’t you?”

With a grin on her face, she nodded. “That obvious?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

Her eyes widened in horror. “Do you think Lucas knows?”

“Uh…”

“He knows, doesn’t he?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “Oh, God. He knows. Lucas knows that I love him and he hasn’t said anything. He hasn’t said it in return—”

“You haven’t said it either.”

She shook her head slightly. “That’s beside the point. If he knows I love him and he hasn’t said anything, then that means he doesn’t feel the same way and he’s just humouring me. He doesn’t see us as anything serious. He was probably glad when I said that I wanted to spend some time with you to see if you were okay—”

“Chels,” I said trying to stop her rant.

“He’s probably out there now trying to find someone he could fall in love with. I mean, all those next gens at those conventions, there had to be at least one or fifty girls there who could’ve caught his eye—”

“Chelsea,” I said, slapping her knee.

“Holy crap.” She shook her head. “I knew I never stood a chance with him. I’m just a normal human with some of your blood in me that nobody knows what will do to me and—”

“Chelsea!”
I yelled into her head.

She sucked in a sharp breath.

I bit down on a laugh. “You have got that all so wrong.”

“Do I?” she asked, looking as if she really believed she was right.

“Do you really think that little of Lucas?” I felt crappy for making her feel so bad just to avoid a conversation about how I’m coping with what I’d done. Great friend I was.

“I… Um…” She lowered her gaze to her lap. “No.”

Bringing my knee’s up onto the bed, I twisted my body so I could face her. “He wouldn’t kiss you like that and protect you the way he does if he didn’t care for you.”

Chelsea still didn’t look convinced.

“Stop thinking you are unworthy of his love,” I said. “Because you are the most wonderful, caring, funny, loyal and beautiful person I know.”

She barked out a laugh. “Have you looked in the mirror lately.”

“Have you?” I didn’t get why girls so often couldn’t see what the rest of the world saw in them? Why females always put themselves down? Chelsea never used to be like that until she met Lucas. She was never the type to love herself but she didn’t think she was unlucky in the gene pool either. But when she was surrounded by people who were the luckiest of them all, her self-confidence took a bit of a hit. Not that she would ever admit it to anyone, other than me, by default.

“I wish you could see yourself the way Lucas sees you,” I said.

Her heart skipped a beat. “How does he see me?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure he’s shown you enough times and this is the part where we have to end this conversation. There’re some things I can’t discuss—”

“Why? Because you’ll be betraying your brother?” she asked. “Because I thought the BF code overruled every other code there is.”

I smiled. “No, Chels. It’s because I don’t want to discuss the ins and outs of your love life with him. It kind of creeps me out.”

Chelsea laughed, a full laugh letting me know she was over the little pity party that she totally deserved to throw, and I completely deserved to be put through, after using it to avoid another discussion. “Then my advice to you, stay the hell out of my head.”

“Oh, I plan on it.”

“Good.” She stood. “So what do you want to do now? You’ve got me for the night—remember? And I don’t want to hear or see you worrying about what you did to that guy.” Her eyes went wide then her lips turned up into a grin. “You manipulated me didn’t you?”

I held my hands up in defence. “I did no such thing.”

She raised her eyebrow.

“I promise I didn’t get inside your head and make you forget, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to remember it now.”

“So you just got me talking about Lucas instead?”

I shrugged. “Guilty as charged.”

Chelsea chuckled then sat back down. “And for that you’re going to get double the inquisition.”

“And give up a night of fun filled activities.”

“I have to be fair. I mean what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t make sure my BF was truly okay with the traumatic incident she was put through that day?”

“The best kind?” I said with a hopeful expression.

She shook her head. “Oh, no. That would be the worst kind. And I am not that person. I am the bestest friend anyone could ever have and in three hours you might just agree.”

“Three hours?”

“The time it’ll take to console my BF during her hours of need.”

I rolled my eyes and flopped back on to the bed. “You know I could just make you think we’ve already discussed this in great detail and you’d be none the wiser.”

She lay down on her side so she was facing me, propping her head up on her hand. “Ahh, but then you’d know, and I know you, and I know that you would never be so deceitful to someone you love as much as you love me. Because that would be a massive betrayal of trust and you would never do anything to jeopardise our friendship,” she said with a humours tone.

“Way to guilt trip me.”

“Whatever works.”

“Fine,” I said, sitting up. I scooted to the head of the bed, plumped up the pillows, and got ready for the long haul. And she wasn’t lying. Chelsea discussed the ins and outs of what I’d done for the next three hours, she did get side tracked one or ten times, so it made it a lot more bearable. We probably only discussed my killing for about half the time and Lucas, Georgia and Aiden filled up the remainder of the conversation, especially Aiden’s birthday, which brought her to our current conversation.

“You have to have some sort of birthday party,” she pleaded.

I shook my head. “It doesn’t feel right.”

“What? You don’t think turning eighteen is a cause to celebrate?” Chelsea asked. She was lying down with her feet up on the end of the bed.

“I don’t think celebrating anything is a good idea while all this crap is going down.”

“You are not getting out of this,” she said, sitting up. “Even if I have to throw you a carefully planned surprise birthday party.”

I glared at her. “You’d better not.”

“I will.”

“Please, Chels. Don’t do this.”

“It’s not for another couple of weeks so you have plenty of time to get used to the idea. And all this other crap will probably be sorted out by then anyway.”

I choked on a laugh. “I doubt it.”

She patted my knee. “You’ll see. Have faith in Oracle Chelsea.”

I snorted. “What the hell have you been watching?”

Chelsea shook her head. “Never you mind. Just have faith.”

Shaking my head, I chuckled. “You are one weird chick, you know that?”

She grinned. “And I’m your best friend so what does that say about you?”

“That I’m extremely understanding.”

Chelsea slapped me. “You’re going to pay. Just wait and see,” she said. “And don’t get any ideas of going in my head to find out because I can assure you I’ll be thinking about the most desirable part of my time alone with your brother.” She winked.

“Oh, God,” I said. “You are really something.”

“That I am.”

I threw the pillow I’d been holding to the side. “Okay. You’ve officially completed your BF duties and now I’m going to do mine.” I hopped off the bed. “I’m going to bed and you can either stay here alone or I can bring Lucas over?”

Chelsea grinned as she patted the spot on the bed beside her.

I smiled. “I thought so.”

Closing the door behind me, I brought Lucas back to Chelsea then went down the hall and into our bedroom. Aiden was already asleep in bed so I undressed and climbed in beside him.

He stirred as I snuggled up to him. “Had fun?” he asked in a sleepy voice making me feel bad for waking him.

All in all, it was actually a good conversation and as usual she lifted my spirits in that wacky way of hers. “Yeah, I did.”

“Good.” He slung his arm over me and kissed my head.

Inhaling his comforting smell, I closed my eyes. “Night.”

“Night.” A moment later he said, “I love you.”

I smiled. “I love you, too.”