Chapter Four

"Honestly, my ankle hardly twinges," I protested, squirming in Patch's arms.

He just watched me, his gaze flat black.

Are you afraid, Elle?

My head snapped up, my eyes searching Patch's face. "What?"

"What?" Patch was a picture of innocence- his eyes wide, tainted with just the right amount of concern- all except for his mouth. His lip was curled back over his white teeth, not a smile. A wolf baring his teeth at his prey.

"You..." I trailed off, not sure anymore. It was as if Patch had spoken right into my mind. Patch messed with my head, turning it inside out into a pile of mush.

We were just at the gym door when the panic kicked into fourth gear. The danger reeking from every pore in his body was choking me, buzzing around my head like an angry swarm of bees. My head reeled as dizziness tilted the world at crazy angles. A small whimper escaped my lips.

"You have to go to the Nurse, Elle," Patch whispered in my ear, his hot breath making me shudder, "you're losing too much blood."

Blood?! I blinked and frowned. "But I'm not..." I looked down.

My whole right leg was stained bright red. Blood was gushing out of a jagged tear in my thigh, spurting through my fingers as I tried to stifle the flow, it soaked my socks and left my fingers tinged red. My breath was coming in ragged gasps as I looked around wildly, waiting for exclaims, cries. No one had even blinked, all were oblivious.

"Help," I murmured, my throat hoarse. I tried to clear it, "Help!" I clutched onto Patch's collar, pleading with him silently with bewildered, burning eyes.

His depthless eyes were like a mirror, reflecting the world around him to show a darker, smaller place. I was trapped there, face very pale surrounded by the dark. I felt like I was going insane.

"Coach!" I shrieked, thrashing against Patch's hold. His arms tightened, fingers biting deep into my knees and ribs. I threw an elbow up, catching Patch on the jaw. Apart from rocking backwards slightly, he didn't loosen his hold. "Let me go!" I shouted, pushing my hands against his chest.

Miraculously, I tumbled out of his arms. I hit the ground on my hands and knees, my chest heaving as I gulped for air. I could distantly hear Patch talking calmly through the roaring in my ears.

"...Don't know what happened," he was saying, "she just started screaming,"

A low mumbling, then someone squatted down to me. "Elle," Coach coaxed, speaking softly as if to an easily frightened animal, "what's wrong?"

I looked up at her incredulously. Isn't it obvious? I wanted to scream. Are these people blind?

I opened my mouth to scream out blasphemy, hands reaching for my leg as I pointed down with wild eyes. And stopped short.

My leg was not covered in my blood, and there was no serrated cut streaming out bright blood into a pool where I sat. The world was no longer tilting, the edges glowing red like an inferno. My stomach rolled uneasily as I stared around, mouth agape. What just happened?

Did I imagine it? Am I really going crazy?

I stared up at Coach, Annie and the surrounding students; every single expression was a mixture of concern and wariness. Did that really not happen?

Then I locked gazes with Patch. He was watching me with a sly expression, a ghostly smile hidden under black eyes that sparked with excitement, humour ticking away behind the irises.

Anger bubbled up inside my chest and I knew right then I wasn't going crazy.

Unexplainable, yet unquestionably Patch was messing with my mind.

And that scared me more than anything.

"Hey, Hun," my mother's voice was chirpy along the phone, filling up the edgy atmosphere of my small car as I shut my door on the school. I press loudspeaker and dropped the phone into the grimy cup holder, ripping the engine and peeling out swiftly from my parking space. "How was your first day?"

I watched as the school got smaller and smaller in the review mirror, my chest finally beginning to ease up. "How was school?" I repeated, nails digging into the steering wheel. Crazy? Terrifying? Life threatening? "It was ok."

"Just ok?" my mother's sweet voice made the back of my throat burn with tears.

"Yeah. Listen," I said, trying to keep the tears at bay, voice trembling, "I'll talk to you about it later. I'm driving."

"Alright." She surrendered, "See you later."

"See you," I muttered, reaching for the END button.

I let out a shuddering sigh, trying to blink away the stupid tears blurring my vision. I reached my home, killing the engine as soon as I made the driveway. Then I just sat there, dazed. I watched as the sky began to gradually darken, the cloud bunch up into one.

The rain pelted down, the sound intensified inside the car. It blurred away the images of my new home, my new town, my new life. As if it was just me here, alone. And that was fine with me. I awkwardly slipped out of my jacket, and left my bag in the back seat, and opened my door up to the torrent of rain dropping from the sky. I stepped out, shutting my door with a slam and turning my face up to the heavens.

The cold, crystalline tears washed away my confusion, the deep unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. I stayed there, motionless, until I began to shiver, startling myself to realise it had gotten dark. I dashed back to my car and seized my backpack, running for the house. Fumbling with the keys in my numb hands, I finally managed to push it into the lock and hear the click, allowing me entrance.

I only felt the barest relief when I shut the door behind me, throwing the bolt home. I slowly sunk to the floorboards, feeling the ridges in the wooden door as my back slid down. I took a deep breath, clutching onto the cold rain's clarity.

Patch couldn't make me see things, it was ridiculous! He was only amused because I was making an ass of myself. Yet, I did see my own blood drip to the gymnasium floor in great, fat globs. I massaged my temples, exhausted. My clothes stuck to me, my socks squelched inside my shoes.

Sighing, I hauled myself upright, using the doorhandle to steady myself. I made my way to the stairs, the prospect of a hot shower luring me like a siren call. Suddenly the lights flickered, and died.

"Oh great," I snarled, throwing my bag down in anger. I was not in the mood for this.

I leaped off the stairs, making for the kitchen. I almost slipped on the rug in shock.

In the middle of the doorway stood a silhouette. Its casual stance, the quiet, rolling laugh made my blood run cold. My breath hitched, caught in my throat. I stepped back, towards the door and the shadow just...vanished.

I blinked, squinting in the darkness. I clutched a hand to my head, the other at my throat where my heart threatened to jump out of. I took a step backward and swung around- coming face to face with the shadow.

The world turned black.

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