Dark Angel
XI
The mundane sound of the garage door lifting broke the silence that descended, and she felt a wave of horror wash over her. Her dad. "H-he—" she croaked, her eyes wide and unseeing, even as Derek pulled on a t-shirt and knelt beside her.
"He's gonna be okay, Chloe." The dulcet tones of his voice brought her sharply back to reality, and the cold shock of his hands made her jolt away, wide-eyed.
She licked her lips, but even with the saliva lubricating them, her question still came out raspy. "W-what...what did you do to him?"
"I hurt him. I didn't—wasn't trying to. Just—reacted." His nostrils flared as he stroked his father's face with a single finger and closed his eyes, concentrating.
Kit sat up straighter and blinked several times when Derek's hand dropped away.
"How do you feel?" the boy asked quietly, his eyes flicking to Tori, standing behind Chloe, and then back to the man. For someone who'd been bleeding out a few minutes ago, he looked like he'd never even been injured.
The lawyer ran a hand through his long hair. "Fine." He peered up at his son with childlike wonder, awe, and then Derek turned away, standing.
"I wish it didn't have to be this way," he whispered, his voice tired and strained, the taut slope of his shoulders making Chloe nervous, "but it is. It has to be. That is the way it's supposed to be."
Chloe climbed to her feet, hesitating before touching his shoulder, and then sensation that rolled through her was so intense it hurt, and it stole the breath from her lungs, and when she came back, Derek's icy arms were around her.
"You shouldn't have done that. Damn it. You're so fucking stupid," he hissed, his face twisted, but his eyes spoke volumes; they gleamed and brimmed with concern and relief, even just for the briefest of moments. And then he turned to Kit, who was being helped up by Tori, and whispered something she didn't catch.
Their expressions went vacant, their eyes unfocused, and without another word, they walked out the door.
"What did you just do?" she asked, already twisting out of his arms, hearing her father greet Kit, who replied something friendly back. The door slammed, signaling their exit, and it felt like a guillotine had just been dropped. Her stomach twisted painfully. She wheeled on Derek, grabbing his arm tightly.
"What did you do?"
He sighed and placed his cold hand over hers, ignoring when she flinched at the shock of temperature. "I erased their memories, rearranged them."
"Why? Because you'd have to kill them like you said? But that's not fair! They just got you back," she said, her words spilling out.
Anger twisted his features, making him feral. She gasped and fell back, fear making her heart race. "Well, life isn't fair!" he snarled and stalked away, his footsteps thudding all the way down the stairs, and she stared after him.
Just what the hell happened?
A week. It had been a week since Derek wiped his father's memories, and he was ignoring her. Which suited her just fine; she didn't care. He wasn't bleeding out anymore, and he seemed perfectly fine—like he'd never been injured at all—so she wasn't too worried over the giant asshole.
Her classes dragged by sluggishly, and she threw herself into her school work, chatting with friends about tests and projects and quizzes.
Kari kept asking her questions about the book they were reading in English, a favorite of Chloe's from the very first page, about a man with two souls.
Balancing her drink in one hand and overflowing binder in the other, Chloe peered around for the over enthusiastic brunette, half-expecting to be tackled in a hug, which was Kari's standard greeting.
"Hey."
She turned to find Rae Rodgers behind her. Rachelle, who preferred to be called Rae, was a year ahead of her and captain of the volleyball team, which wasn't surprising if you glanced at her bronzed arms and muscles.
"Hey," she said, surprised because Rae had never even spoken a word to her outside of school assignments and the occasional hello or good morning.
The dark-skinned girl chewed her lip before she smiled, showing two rows of slightly off-white teeth that were straight. "Are you looking for Kari? She got detention. Something about her being loud in class."
Chloe sighed and offered a quirk of her mouth instead of a smile or grin. "An every day occurrence," she joked, feeling her good mood dissipate at the idea of being alone, "But thanks for telling me, Rae."
She smiled again before she turned way and walked off, back the way she came.
Watching her leave, the blonde sighed heavily before she turned to hide out in the library since she wasn't all that hungry.
"What the hell did you say to me?" a loud, boisterous voice demanded darkly, and she found herself turned back, watching the scene unfold.
Royce Banks was screaming at a much taller, much bigger boy, his face beet red. For a rather short guy, he certainly seemed to feel no fear towards the other boy, towering over him, as he shoved the guy again, sending him stumbling.
"I said," the taller guy began slowly, mocking, a condescending little in his words, and her stomach bottomed out, "to fucking watch where you're going."
Her brain registered who it was faster than her heart, and she shouted the name, the syllables and vowel spilling out like vomit, and every eye turned to her, focused on her.
"Derek!"
