Hello again. I see I got no reviews.
That's cold. I'm hurt.
But I wrote a new chapter anyways, you fiends.
I wake up in a panic with a hand over my mouth, lashing out before I have time to process what's in front of me.
"Jesus, Ivory!" Stryker whisper-curses, removing his hand to grip his torso, where I'd just planted a rather hard kick.
"Sorry." I whisper back, wrinkling my nose. "But you really should've known better."
He just glares at me and nods his head towards the balcony outside the room I'm sharing with the girls.
Well, except Bailey. She refused to leave her twin's side.
I slip out through the door onto the tiny little balcony and lean against the wall, scared that if I lean on the railing it'll break.
Stryker comes out after me and shuts the sliding glass door, sitting on the ground with his elbows resting on his knees.
"So." I yawn.
"So..." He repeats.
"Why'd you wake me up?"
"It's about the clue..." He scratches the spot above his eyebrow. "I don't think that it was really a clue, if that makes sense."
I raise my eyebrows. "Gabe said that it was. I'm not just guessing here."
"I know, but didn't it seem too easy? I mean, the first clue involved you listening to song lyrics in a crowded room and recognizing that they were the more violent songs from your iPod, and for this one, he just hands you a sheet of paper with the answer practically written on it?"
I glance at him. "You think this is a trap."
"Well, yeah."
I roll my eyes. "You think everything is a trap."
He puts his hands up in defense. "I'm just trying to keep you alive." His voice drops to a mutter. "I seem to be doing that a lot."
I set my jaw and drop my voice to a deadly growl. "What was that?"
Never one to back away from an argument, his eyes harden. "All I'm saying is that you keep throwing yourself headfirst into dangerous situations, and you won't listen to me when all I'm trying to do is keep you safe."
"I didn't ask you to keep me safe, Stryker."
"No, but if it weren't for me, you'd already be dead."
My cheeks burn as I scowl at him and stand up, about to push the glass door back open.
"Wait. I-I'm sorry." I can tell he's really trying hard to get through to me, because that boy is more stubborn than anybody I've ever known.
I shift my eyes back to him.
"I just think you should watch your back at that showdown on Saturday, that's all. I don't want you to... you know... accidentally blow yourself up."
I roll my eyes again. "That's the problem, though." I whisper miserably. "I can't watch my back! I'm not given any options! He knows that I'll come, because I can't risk him killing his precious little captives, especially when I know that whatever happens to them is all my fault." I feel my voice crack, but I don't let myself cry.
"Ivory..." He calls after me, but I'm already gone, going out and pacing the endless hotel hallway until I can go back to sleep.
The second time I'm woken up, it's by the sunlight.
I'm alone, curled into a ball on the side of the bed.
I stretch my back and head for the bathroom, noticing a little yellow note on the mirror that tells me they all went out for breakfast with the Charmings and didn't want to wake me.
There's a little smiley face in the bottom corner.
I chuckle bitterly. In their world, apparently being nice means leaving me to fend for myself or starve.
I yank a plain grey T-shirt over the blue tank top I'm already wearing and throw on a pair of jeans and sneakers.
For a while, I try to undo the bun from last night that I never took out, but there are too many bobby pins. I eventually decide not to anger the beast and let it go. It really doesn't look THAT bad.
It's not until I'm almost out the door when I see it.
On the latch over the door, there's a substance almost exactly like dust, but much shinier. Almost metallic, and practically invisible if you aren't looking at it from the right angle.
I run my finger along the latch and press a few particles together between my fingers, biting my lip hard to keep in a scream when it starts to burn.
And I mean really burn.
It feels like I'm holding my fingers in the flame of a candle, but when I look at them, there's no sign of any damage, and the dust is gone.
Shaking my head and yawning, I slide on a jacket to avoid the cold morning air and head to the elevator.
Stryker's brother is already there, leaning against the railing on the inside. He nods in my direction once I enter.
"Going down?"
"Yeah." I scowl, crossing my arms and looking at the shiny floor instead of him. "You didn't go get food with everyone else?"
"Nope." He states. "I was up on the roof for a while."
"Well, what was going on up there?" I question.
"Not much." He gives an easy little laugh. "I was just thinking."
"Right." I bite my lower lip.
Something is really wrong. He's being too nice. It almost seems, for once, that he's not completely absorbed in himself.
I catch something glint on the sleeve of his leather jacket. "What's that?"
He looks to where my finger is pointing and brushes the substance off immediately. "Just some dust from the roof."
My heart beat picks up. If it's ordinary dust, then why is it metallic?
The doors finally open. Jason gestures to a little cafe off in the corner of the lobby. "You want to go get some breakfast?"
I don't answer, cold dread filling me from head to toe, because for just a moment before he steps out, I swear that I see his bright blue irises glow black in his reflection on the floor.
DUN DUN DUN.
What do you guys think is wrong with Jason?
I already know exactly what's happening in the next chapter, so when I update is up to you guys...
-Dictatorship
