by Amy Richie
Chapter Nine
My head jerked violently off the pillow, startling me awake from a fretful sleep. My eyes couldn't have been closed for more than... I glanced over at the clock. A few hours?
I rubbed the grit from the corners of my eyes, sure I was seeing the numbers wrong. It felt like I had just closed my eyes a few minutes ago. It would be morning soon.
Morning.
My eyes opened a little wider as the thought fully circulated in my foggy brain. They would miss me at Nine Crosses soon and then the police really would be looking for me. How did people run from the cops? I could already feel my chest tightening.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
I sucked in a breath and held it in my aching chest. Someone was knocking at the window. Had that woken me up? Maybe it was just my imagination.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Raising my head slightly off the pillow, I scanned the darkened room for Toby. The room was empty. Everything inside me screamed to just throw the blankets over my head and stay in bed until he got back, but I had no idea when that would be and someone was out there.
Heart racing, I forced my head to turn enough to see the window. I let out a sigh of relief at the lack of shadows outside. I was just too jumpy.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
My head swirled as the noise changed direction. The room was still empty, but I did notice something strange. A thin slice of yellow light spilled across the dark carpet from under the bathroom door.
My eyebrows furrowed low on my forehead. How did the light get on? I had turned it off earlier when I laid down. I was positive that the light was off earlier.
So, how did it get on? Better question, why was it on? Who would come into my hotel room just to use the bathroom? Instinctively, I checked the front door- still closed tight. What was going on?
I pulled the light sheet off my legs, unsure what I was planning to do even as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Sitting up slowly, I let my feet touch the carpeted floor.
The light stayed strong under the bathroom door, daring me to go investigate. I bit down hard on my bottom lip, wondering if it was possible for me to just go back to sleep and wait for Toby.
No one was in the room with me, I told myself firmly. The door was locked and I would have heard if someone broke it down.
Staying in the bed wasn't an option anymore. Even if I did lay back down, I wouldn't be able to sleep until I knew that no one was in the bathroom. A hundred arguments shot up to question my sanity as soon as I leaned forward.
What if I did find someone in the bathroom? What did I plan to do about it? I was just a skinny, barely old enough to be considered not a kid- girl. There was probably no one there anyways. I must have left the light on earlier.
It was all useless though. I rose to my feet with a heavy sigh already escaping my chest. You'd think I'd be good at freaky by now.
The carpet felt gritty under my bare feet, like it hadn't seen a vacuum in a while. I considered calling out to Toby, in case it was him, but the other side of that coin kept me silent.
If it wasn't Toby, the only chance I had was surprise. And that wasn't a very good chance. Puffing out my cheeks, I blew the air out quickly before shuffling forward a few steps.
The room wasn't very big, so it didn't take much for me to be standing just above that thin slice of bright light. Was someone really in there?
“You see something?” a voice called from behind me.
My heart slammed down past my feet and took its time coming back to where it was supposed to be. Someone was in the room with me. Someone other than Toby.
Who even knew I was here? Was it the police? Had the guy behind the counter recognized me? Toby was wrong; he did care that I was a crazy girl that escaped from the mental hospital. Of course he would care. Who wouldn't?
I wrapped one arm across my stomach, which was knotted with anxiety. I was going to have to turn around and face them. There was nowhere to run.
I took a deep breath, a poor attempt to calm my shaking limbs enough to be able to turn around and face my intruder. I expected to see a whole room full of swat team people and Doctor Moore from the hospital, but there was only one man there with me.
Tristan.
He stood with his back against the wall, his arms crossed lightly against his broad chest. His lips were just barely lifted as he watched me trying not to have a full blown panic attack.
My tongue darted out to run quickly across my bottom lip. My worst fears had come true; Tristan had found me. And Toby was gone. Would he at least be a little sorry when he came back and found me dead?
Tristan shuffled forward slightly, causing the noise that was stuck in my throat to come out in a soft whimper. Hopefully dying wouldn't hurt too bad.
“I'm not going to hurt you,” he called out softly. “I just want to help you.” His voice coated across my skin, lulling me into a false security faster than I wanted to admit.
My heart was still racing, but the longer Tristan just stood there watching me, the calmer it became. He had never threatened me before. Maybe Nona was wrong about him. Maybe...
“Are you here alone?” His head tilted to one side, sending the blonde curls fluttering.
Should I tell him that I was with Toby? I didn't even know where Toby was. He had left me and for all I knew, he wasn't coming back. Toby wasn't my friend, I couldn't count on him for anything.
“I'm not going to hurt you,” he continued before I'd finished deciding what to tell him.
I stood very still, knowing there was nowhere to go. Even if there wasn't a tiny closed off bathroom behind me, running there wasn't going to be effective. If there was a way to run from Tristan, I didn't know how.
Tristan smiled wide, his white teeth almost glowing in the shadowed room. It was a friendly smile, offering nothing but kindness. His whole face transformed, becoming open and concerned at the same time. Almost against my will, I felt my heart thawing out towards him.
Even if I could run, why would I want to? Tristan was cute and he smiled a lot. I caught myself just before smiling back at him. Where was Toby when I needed him?
I caught the inside of my lip between my teeth. Where was he? Shouldn't he be back by now? Nona told me to trust him; that he would keep me safe. If Tristan had any plans to kill me, Toby left the door wide open.
Not that Tristan needed an open door.
Whatever Toby was doing, it must have been really important. What could it be though? My entire life, he had been there almost everyday- all the time. It didn't make sense that he would leave now just when I needed him.
Unless...
“I know that the... ghost people tried to scare you.” Tristan’s words pulled me back from my thoughts of Toby. Tristan called them ghost people too?
“They can't hurt you, though,” he continued with a lopsided grin that dimpled only one side of his handsome face. “I know you're afraid of them, and I don't blame you; but they're harmless, really.”
I doubted if that were true. Even if all they could do was invoke fear- fear was more powerful than Tristan realized.
“I saved you from them, don't you remember?”
His stare was intense, but it didn't wreak too much havoc on my memory. I did remember when Tristan had saved me. Would Toby have done the same? Could he?
I nodded my acknowledgement to his words. Not really sure if I should talk to Tristan or not, I didn't want to say too much. Or maybe nothing at all. I knew how to be silent. I had done it for years. The key was to stop listening; it was hard not to hear Tristan’s voice.
“I've watched you from afar,” he said in his soft tones, “nearly your entire life.”
One eyebrow shot high on my head. It wasn't impossible to believe, that he had watched me; I just would have assumed he had better things to do. Did he really find me so interesting?
“It's kind of creepy, huh?” He blushed and looked down at his feet, his laughter light and embarrassed.
I le
aned forward, towards Tristan, without fully realizing I was moving. He really didn't seem so bad. He had once saved me and now he was just standing across from me- perfectly harmless. And perfectly perfect looking.
“You can say hi to me,” he teased lightly, “I won't bite.”
I wasn't afraid of him though, I realized abruptly. Not really; not like Toby and Nona thought I should be. Toby had caused me more harm than Tristan, and I trusted Toby just fine.
Then he left me to fend for myself. I glanced towards the door, then back to Tristan. I couldn't understand why my face was so suddenly blazing hot.
I tucked a few stray strands of hair behind my ears, suddenly conscious of how badly I needed a shower. My lips trembled with the effort it took to smile back at Tristan.
He waited patiently, careful not to move too suddenly. He was much more considerate than Toby and I had run away in the middle of the night with him. What harm would come with a simple hello? It was an insanely acceptable form of greeting. All I had to do was open my mouth a little. It wouldn't be hard.
Tristan’s smile widened.
“Hi,” I murmured at last.
