Chapter 50

Xxxxx

Long-time no see… I'm sorry, again. I just had exams and am waiting for the results! I just revised like crazy for the past 3 weeks but I should be back into this again soon… if anyone is still reading. I am quite busy now, but depending on how many reviews I get, I will post. Remember, every review counts so much. Even one more can make me change my mind about not posting. It's all up to you. Sorry that this chapter is bad but I haven't touched my laptop for donkey's years!

Thanks to stephcullen2000, Unexpainable Awesomeness and Jayden 19 for the reviews. I am so grateful!

Enjoy this pathetic, rusty chapter if you are still out there.

Wanda POV

Shivering helplessly, I wrapped my frozen arms around my shivering torso, my teeth chattering in agony. It was an unusually cold night here in the caves and since my body was so used to the warmth of either the sun or warm heaped blankets in the winter, the change came to me as a great shock.

My whole body was turning into a block of ice and I couldn't help wishing that I had just woken Ian. I could imagine him wrapping his warm arms around me, sharing his body heat with me. Brushing off the thought, pulling my thin cardigan around myself, I continued on my journey to the bathing room.

'You don't have to act like a criminal', Melanie smirked, laughing at my nervousness.

I paused. 'I'm not. It might just be me but…'

'But what?'

'Something isn't right… I-', I trailed off as I heard her laugh echo through my mind. I didn't know what kind of jokes humans enjoyed but this certainly couldn't be one of them.

'Stop it', I snapped.

'Sorry.'

'Can't you feel it?'

There was no reply.

I whistled to myself softly as my bare feet slapped against the stone ground beneath me, attempting to break through the eerie silence which filled the corridors. Apart from the sounds that I was currently creating, everything else was quiet.

Shortly after, I arrived at the bathing room, switching off the lamp that I had previously clutched tightly in my two hands and placed it against the wall. Once everything had gone black, I then slipped off my clothes, including everything apart from my shirt-( Which just happened to be one of many that I had 'borrowed' off Ian ).

It seemed pointless taking it off when it was dirty anyway and it would be far easier to wash it whilst it was on me. I was also gaining a strange feeling from the strange gloomy atmosphere- something didn't feel quite right.

I couldn't tell if it was just Pet's old paranoid instincts rubbing off on me or if I was actually afraid. I briefly considered waking Ian, once again, but decided against it, as always. I was sure that it was nothing. I just couldn't seem to shake off that same uneasy feeling.

'You're just paranoid'. Melanie scolded. 'You need to loosen up.'

It was almost like someone was watching me… following me…

It was impossible to 'loosen up', as she put it.

'C'mon Wanda, I…'

That was all that I could take before shuffling forwards as the floor sloped downwards, letting the water lap over my toes, my ankles and then my waist. I made sure that I was not to lose the slippery soap from my grasp before dunking myself completely underneath the water, letting the warmth flood my senses until I was no longer afraid.

It was almost too difficult to remove myself from the water, but eventually, I broke the surface, gasping for air. However, to my disappointment, I still hadn't managed to rid myself of the uneasy feelings.

I frowned, disappointed. Next, I decided to make this trip as short as possible so that I could return back into bed with Ian, and automatically began to cover myself in soap bubbles, rubbing the bar up and down my body.

I didn't rinse myself off again until every inch of my body from head to toe was covered in foam. Squeezing my eyes shut, avoiding getting the soapy bubbles in my eyes like I had done many times before, I plunged beneath the surface, once again savouring the feeling of the warm water.

Despite the warmth, my arms were still covered in Goosebumps. It seemed almost impossible to free myself from the cold. It was at that very moment when I began to understand why.

Beneath the water, I gasped as a hand clutched at my ankle, dragging me further into the water. At first, I described the terrifying image as nothing other than my imagination. However, the dragging never slowed and the hand grasping my skin never loosened its hold. Beginning to panic, I thrashed about in the water.

Whoever was under the water must have been holding their breath for quite some time and there was no other question for it. Whoever it was clearly wanted me dead. I tried to scream, but even I heard no sound through my waterlogged ears.

All that was released from my mouth was a rush of bubbles as my breath was knocked out of me. Strong hands wrapped around my throat, the nails on each of the long bony fingers dug into my skin, causing me to cry out soundlessly.

My throat closed in and my head collided with something hard. As I faded away, losing consciousness, we could only think of one person who could be put behind all this violence.

'Rides.' We said together in despair as our thoughts were lost.

I never managed to reach the surface.

Jared POV

In my dreams, all I see is her. Melanie's sweet, brave face always comes to me when I am least aware. Her beautiful voice soothes me and tells me everything is going to be okay. Her soft hand strokes my cheek. She leans in… and then she is gone.

I spend the rest of the dream searching for her. When I do find her, I hold her close, only to look into her eyes and jump back again, pushing her away again. She has those silver rings that glow in the light and all I am thinking is that 'this is not Melanie… this is NOT Melanie.'

But it looks like her and talks like her. Sometimes I am strong and I walk away, others I simply stand there. However, when I am weak and reality begins to crush me, I simply fall to my knees and cry.

'Jared… Jared… Jared?'

A small pair of hands were grabbing my arm, shaking me awake. Almost instantly, I was snapped out of the dream away and the image of Melanie's face disappeared. My arms longed to hold her, to whisper kind words into her ear but for now, I was going to have to make do with nothing but the empty air at my side.

I groaned and rolled over onto my side, opening my eyes to meet Jamie's worried pleading face. He was kneeling on the edge of the mattress, his face set into a permanent frown. I blinked twice as the bright light of the day burned by eyes, shook my head and sighed.

'Ahh…' I groaned again. 'Jamie…? What is it?'

Jamie smiled weakly, but said nothing, refraining from looking at me for any longer. This time, it was my turn to frown. I automatically began to wonder what it was that was bothering, and since his sister had left him unintentionally, I always felt like it was my duty to find out.

'Jamie?' I asked again, sitting up and ignoring my aching limbs demanding attention after last night's battering.

I had gotten angry and had instinctively decided to take it out on the furniture. I still couldn't wrap my head around the situation.

In the present, Jamie stood up from his crouch on the mattress and turned to face the wall, biting the inside of his cheek like he always did out of habit when he was nervous. I shook my head and decided to follow him, taking hold of his shoulders, spinning him round till he faced me, forcing him to look at me.

Before I could ask again, he blurted out, 'It's nothing. I'm fine Jared. I'm fine.'

I crossed my arms and looked at him expectantly. 'You don't wake someone up in what seems like a bloody emergency for nothing. It'd better be good.'

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as his face drooped slightly, and he looked rather stung from my choice of words. I hurriedly changed my tone of voice and attempted speech again, this time trying to comfort him instead of hurt his feelings like I had probably done hundreds of times in the past few months in the absence of Melanie.

'C'mon', I prodded. 'I'm sorry, kid. I know I've been a pain in the ass lately but you can still tell me.'

His lips which were pressed into a tight line, turning the red into white, finally opened and he let out a breath that neither of us seemed to have realised that he had been holding.

In the process of opening up to me, his stiff, tense posture relaxed and he brushed his hand through his hair, becoming more and more relaxed. I was glad that my new layout of words had worked.

'It's nothing really- like I said before', he added while I waited patiently, my arms still crossed. 'It's just… I…'

His eyes suddenly pierced mine. 'You were dreaming about her, weren't you?'

Damn. He could see right through me. I had hoped that I would have been capable of keeping my pain and suffering away from him and to myself, but obviously, that hope had been tied off as a loose end.

All of a sudden, I didn't quite know what to say. I couldn't lie to him, but I couldn't exactly tell him the truth either. That would simply be too painful and he was suffering enough from the loss of his sister already.

Instead of debating over which words suited the situation best, I nodded, saying nothing. There was nothing Jamie hated more than lies. I looked back to the mattress, which now held twisted bed sheets from where my hands had clutched and clawed, grasping empty air instead of the girl that I loved.

'I don't know what to say to you.'

I looked at him, pained. Of course, I knew what he was referring to.

Jamie continued to glare at me. 'I miss Mel- you know I do. But she's here now. She's okay.' He stopped for breath. 'But what I don't understand is why you hate Wanda so much! Why is it so hard to just accept her?' The last part was barely a whisper. 'What did she do to you?'

I placed my head in my hands. 'That's the point Jamie. There's so many different ways of looking at it. She didn't do anything to me- I understand that now. But before, I sure as hell wouldn't take that for an answer. At first, I blamed her, Jamie.'

His face was cold. 'For what?' He spat.

'For everything. For taking Mel's body, for coming here in the first place, for not letting her die… for taking over our planet!'

'But she didn't do any of that! It wasn't her fault that-'

I held up a finger, silencing him with one single look. 'I know, Jamie. Believe me, I know. I messed up and even though it doesn't help anything, I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry.'

He hesitated, and then sat back down, perching on the end of the mattress, rocking backwards and forwards in deep thought, clutching his head like there was a war of thoughts taking place on the inside of his brain.

I sat down beside him slowly. 'I messed up.'

'I know', he muttered.

'If it helps, I'm going to see them now.'

'Who?' He asked without looking up.

'Ian and…' I cleared my throat. 'Wanda. Ian and Wanda.'

He looked up, his eyes wide. At first, he didn't seem to believe me. It was insane that I, of all people, seemed willing to make things right. I certainly never had done before. Although, when he did, he looked back down and smiled.