Chapter 2:
"Naraku, slow down!" I yelp.
"What?" he says, stopping and staring at me. I'm gasping for breathe. "Come on, we gotta get outa here before his pals come!"
I look up at him, desperate. I need to slow down. "I can't…I need air." I say helplessly-I've always been hard of breathing.
"We can't stop, Alicia, don't you get it?"
"Then leave me here!" I cry and drop to my knees, coughing.
"NO!" Naraku yells. He hauls me to my feet, then throws me over his shoulder and starts running. I pass out again.
I don't know how long I was passed out but when I came to, I was still strung over Naraku's shoulder and he was still running, yet slower. Finally he slows to a walk. I have no idea where we are or where we're going. I'm sobbing uncontrollably. I've never been in so much pain.
He stops and slowly sets me on my feet. I stand a minute, then sink to the ground. Naraku drops down beside me and pulls me close to him.
"I'm sorry," he says quietly. "I'm so sorry."
I clasp the front of his shirt and squeak, "Naraku…I can't…breathe"
"Easy," he says trying to calm me. "It's over now. You're alright."
"Naraku…" I gasp again, "I…can't…breathe."
He looks at me and frowns, "Shit!" He picks me up and carries me. We had stopped in front of a large house. Naraku enters with me in his arms. He carries me into a kitchen and sets me down on a chair. Turning, he opens a cupboard and retrieves a glass which he then fills with water and hands to me. I struggle with it, but manage to drink. It helps. I can breathe again.
"Okay now?" Naraku asks, a hand on my shoulder.
I nod and he pulls a chair out beside me. I just stare at him.
"This is where I live," he says looking around.
I drink some more water. I know what's coming.
"I think you should stay here for the night. It's not safe to go out there right now."
I nod. It's coming. Here it is. I start coughing. It hurts. It feels like it's tearing up my throat.
Naraku tries to hand me my water, but I brush it aside.
"Washroom?" I gasp.
"Behind you," he answers and I run to it.
I drop to my knees beside the toilet and start coughing up blood.
Naraku hurries in after me and pulls my hair back out of my face.
I'm done. I flush the toilet, put the lid down and rest my head on it with my eyes closed. I hear Naraku turn on the taps. When they turn off, I sense him kneeling beside me. I feel a wet cloth on my forehead and open my eyes. Naraku's rubbing my back, gently and holding the cloth in place.
"Are you going to be okay? Do you need a doctor?"
"I'll be fine," I smile at him feebly.
"Okay," he says and pulls me close to him. I rest my head on his shoulder and smile. It's so nice to feel like someone cares. My eyes slowly close and I welcome the sweet presence of slumber.
I awake in a soft, cozy bed, wrapped up in a large blanket. The cloth that had rested on my forehead while I slept drops to my lap as I sit up. Yawning, I stretch.
"Sleep well?" asks a voice from beside me.
I look down and see Naraku laying beside me. I smile, "Yup."
"You're feeling better?"
"Yeah."
"Good," he says as I lay back down beside my new best friend. "You had me worried."
"Sorry," I say and lower my eyes. For some reason I don't feel like I'm supposed to be looking him in the eye right now.
His arm wraps around me and he kisses my forehead, "Shhh. It's not you're fault."
I lay next to him for almost an hour, then he sits up. "Come on, I'll make us some breakfast."
I watch him stand up and stretch, slightly puzzled. He can cook? I think. Then I giggle and follow his lead.
"What?" he looks at me.
"Huh?"
"Nothing," he grins, and raises an eyebrow.
I smile back and follow him out of the room and down the stairs into the kitchen.
We eat a meal of pancakes in silence, except for the occasional kick under the table and a following giggle or grunt. I think we're both in a goofy mood this morning.
"Do you live here alone?" I ask as we're cleaning up.
"Yes."
"Cool."
"Yeah. My parents bought this house for me about a year ago. So when they moved to another city, I stayed here."
"Cool."
Naraku smiles down at me and I lightly shove him with my shoulder. His smile grows and he shoves me towards the fridge. I stumble a couple of steps then glare at him. He wasn't fooled. We both burst into laughter as though on cue.
"Lets go watch TV," Naraku says when we finally pull ourselves together.
"Okay," I follow him into the living room and we sit next to each other on the couch. Naraku picks up the remote and starts flipping through channels.
"What do you want to watch?" he asks.
"Doesn't matter," I reply and smile when he stops on a cartoon channel. Looney Tunes!
We sat watching the TV for over an hour. I don't know about Naraku, but even though my eyes were glued to the set, my mind was somewhere else.
"Do you know what classes you're taking yet?" Naraku's voice snaps me out of my thoughts.
"No," I answer. "I'll find out tomorrow."
"Hey, maybe we'll be in some of the same classes together."
"Yeah. Maybe," I smile at him.
We were interrupted by the ring of Naraku's phone.
"I'll be right back," he says and crosses the room to answer the phone. "Hello? Hey. Yeah. No, I was out last night. Sure. Uh…yeah. When? Okay. Listen, I got someone over here right now so when you come, try not to scare her away, huh?...Shut-up," he laughs. "Okay, see ya," he says and with that, hangs up the phone and sits back down beside me.
"Someone's coming over?" I ask, slightly worried.
"Yeah, just one of my friends." He smiles when he sees the worry in my eyes, "Don't worry. He's cool. You'll like him."
"Will he like me though?"
"He likes all girls!" Naraku laughs. I smile up at him, uncertain.
"When is he coming?"
"In a couple minutes."
"Oh." I turn my head back to the TV set, but Naraku turns it off. I look at him, "What?"
"I wanted to talk to you about last night," he says turning to me, his face suddenly serious.
"Why?" I ask.
"Because what happened was serious…look, I know we just met, but I care about you. I just want you to be safe…I think it might be best if you stayed with me instead of your family."
"What? You mean move in with you?"
"Exactly," he smiles.
"No. Naraku, I just met you, I can't move in with you…" I feel my heart skip a beat as his smile fades.
"Why not? I thought you trusted me. I mean…last night…we…I…you, I don't understand."
"Naraku, I do trust you. I just can't move in with you. Not yet, anyway. I need to get to know you better first."
"Fine," he frowns and turns back to the TV and turns it on. I look at the TV too, but I can't stay like that. I look sideways at Naraku. He's still frowning. What do I do? He frowns deeper then snaps, "WHAT!" I jump. He looks at me, "Why do you keep staring at me!"
"I…I…didn't…you…you're…" I'm lost for words.
"Well come on spit it out!"
"I-I-I…I think I better go," I yipe and run for the door. I feel his eyes burning a hole in my back and I want to cry. I open the door and as I run out I'm knocked back on my ass. I look up to see another guy standing there smiling down at me. He's tall, but not as tall as Naraku, with dark, dancing, blue eyes and black hair.
"Are you okay?" he laughs and tries to help me up.
"I'm fine," I say hastily, then jump up and run past him out the door. I keep running with no intention of looking back. Where do I go? I think to myself…..Home! I can stay there until tomorrow. I have school tomorrow, anyway.
I open the door and enter. In the living room, my parents look up from the TV and stare daggers at me. "What do you want?" my mom snaps. "If you came home to annoy us you can turn around and leave right now!" my father yells.
"I'm not here to annoy you," I say, "I just felt like staying here for a while." And with that I walk past them, up the stairs and down the hall to my room. I swing open the door and flop down on my bed. Rolling over, I see a book lying on the floor. Might as well read it, I think, I got nothin' else to do. That's all I do all day. I lay on my bed reading. I didn't even go get anything to eat. I just lay there, imagining that nothing else in the world existed. It's going to have to end soon though. I'll go to school tomorrow and probably end up running into Naraku.