Chapter 5

I spent last night tossing and turning while Luke infested my dreams. I couldn't shake him out of my mind. Luckily I had tonight off and I was going to take advantage of it. I wobble out of bed and head into the kitchen in hopes of finding some aspirin. I take a few pills and finish them down with a bottle of water. My head was pounding.

I collapse in a chair at one of the empty tables and bury my face in my arms. "Rough night," I hear Chase's voice and slowly lift my head to find him standing behind a nearby chair.

"You could say that," I place my head back on my arms forcing myself to face him.

"I can make you a cup of coffee or maybe some hot cocoa if you'd like? The caffeine should help you."

"Cocoa sounds good," I say quietly. The sound of my voice makes the headache worse.

Chase leaves the room and I close my eyes only to be woken up by a growling lion with blue hair. "Why can't you stay out of my mind!" I slam my fists against the table, only to realize I'm being watched.

"Woah, what's got you so worked up?" Chase sets the cup of hot cocoa on the table and takes a seat in the empty chair next to me.

"I can't get that no good Luke out of my head. He's like a parasite, draining my sleep," I make a fist and grit my teeth. Chase chuckles a bit before taking a sip of his cup of coffee.

"Luke gets on everybody's nerves. Eventually you get used to it. Don't let it get to you. It's what he wants."

"Easy for you to say; he didn't call you stupid and forced you to bring him every drink in the whole town," I blow into my hot cocoa trying to cool it off.

"You just got a minor helping of what he can do. He called me a queer the first day he met me."

"He said that to you?" I ask surprised.

Chase takes a sip of his coffee and the silence tells me the answer. "What a jerk. Did you at least punch him?"

"I accidently spilt hot coffee all over him. There was an invisible obstacle in my way that night," he winks at me before place his coffee onto the table.

"Well at least he got what he deserved."

We find a new subject to talk about and I find myself enjoying my time with Chase. He's sarcastic but in a good way. He knows how to make someone laugh and his cocoa was the best. Kathy and my uncle eventually join us and we start discussing about our night off tonight. Chase came in early to practice some recipes he's inventing and asks if I'd like to try them out once they're finished. Not hesitating to try out some delicious food, I happily accept his invitation.

I decide to take a free stroll around the town as I wait for Chase's experimenting to be over. I watch a few seagulls flock around the lighthouse and the fishermen load up their ships for the afternoon cache. I follow the road I came into town on and notice an abandoned house in the middle of a small field. I decide to check it out.

The door is unlocked and I peak inside to make sure no one's living inside. Sure enough it's empty except for a dust table and moldy mattress. The smell of rot and hay fill my nose and I pull my shirt up to cover it. I take a step inside and look around. Broken picture frames decorate one wall where the wallpaper is slowly peeling off. Spiders have made homes in the nook and crannies of the decrepit old house.

I take a few more steps inside before I hear the noise of wood snapping. I turn around quickly looking around for any sign of human life but no one's around. Enough light is peaking in from a rotted hole in the roof that allows me to see. I hear the sound again before I realize the house is slowly falling in on itself. A piece of plywood falls next to me and I eagerly make my way towards the door but a long piece of wood falls in front of me and I scream in surprise. I try kicking it out of the way in hopes of squeezing out of the doorframe but the wood won't budge.

I start calling out for help just in case someone passing by will hear me. A few minutes go by and a few more piece of wood collapse but luckily on the other side of the house. I continue yelling but no one's showing up. I try picking up the piece of wood but instead of making a way out, I've caused the wood to dislodge a few boards that it was holding up. I jump aside quickly but my leg gets caught under a heavy piece of wood.

I close my eyes as the pressure sends pain through my leg and I can hardly tell if I'm screaming or if I'm imagining it.

The pain suddenly lightens up and I feel like my leg is free. I slowly move it and sure enough I'm able to move it around. I open my eyes to see an arm lifting me up and carrying me outside. I see the roof of the house collapse and gasp as dust flies up everywhere.

"Are you trying to get killed?" a familiar voice says. I turn to look at my savior only to find myself getting angry.

"No, I was just exploring," I cross my arms as he continues carrying me and sets me down onto a broken tree stump.

"Just like you were exploring in the forest and happened to get lost? You really are stupid," Luke starts lifting up my pant leg and looks at the area where the log fell. "Looks swollen," he gently presses his hand against the newly forming bruise and I cringe as a horrible stinging sensation shoots up my leg.

"Ouch!" I blurt out and shake my leg hoping to get him off.

"We need to see a doctor. This looks serious," he scoops me up into his arms again and I try resisting but fail. He tightens his grip as I wiggle around. We near the town and I feel him slow down his pace as we get closer to the clinic. He has trouble opening the door but he manages without dropping me. Irene looks at is in surprise and I give her an apologetic smile.

"What happened?" She runs over to me and notices the huge bruise on my leg. "Oh dear."

"I caught her in the abandoned house and the roof collapsed but luckily I got her out in time before it crushed her," Luke doesn't look me as he says this and I can hear no anger in his voice.

"Let's have the doctor look at her." Irene ushers us into a nearby room where Jin is steadily looking over some paperwork. "Sorry to interrupt you Dr, but it seems we have an emergency," Irene bows to Jin and leaves the room.

"What happened?" Jin asks and Luke fills him in. "You should be more careful, Akari, you could have broken your leg or worse. If Luke wasn't there, well, let's not think about that," he says and grabs an ice pack from a nearby freezer and hands it to me. Luke sets me down on the patient chair and leans against the wall.

Jin examines my leg and confirms it's just some bruising and nothing's broken or sprained. I thank him happily and Luke helps me out of the door. "Luke, thank you."

"You're welcome. You owe me twice now for saving your life. I'll let you know what I intend for you to do when I think of something," he winks at me and all sincerity leaves my body. He leaves me outside of the bar as he walks away quickly before I can say anything.