The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)

Chapter Sixty-Eight - Ship Sails, Bruh

RILEY

I OPENED the terrace door first.  Rubbing my gloved hands together, I hobbled inside the cabin, Devin and Ben tailing behind. Stupefying cold had seeped through the wet coat layers. My hair had turned rigid like icicles. My teeth were chattering. 

"I'm going upstairs to change," I articulated numbly. 

We'd returned from the mountain with Ben carrying me again. After the plunge in the river, my muscles were too frozen to run. The speedy wind had worsened the effect. I'd clung to Ben thinking I'd transform into a statue. 

I shed the coat and drenched sweater on the back of a chair in the kitchen, leaving the tank top on. Socks, hat, mittens, scarf and pants were all discarded. 

"Well, well, look who's home," a voice issued from the living room. 

A wave of embarrassment rushed over me. Raymond was standing over the coffee table, watching us with curious eyes. He looked dashing as usual, but telltale shadows under his eyes spoke for themselves. His canines poked out every time he smiled widely, giving off a mild menacing look even if he was at ease.

Luc loomed near as he studied me up and down with an arced brow and pressed lips. I hid behind the chair with my clothes, shaking. All over again, his mouth on mine in the Rover submerged my thoughts and it turned sour. I felt like a desperate brat, and it almost made me physically recoil.

I shouldn't care about what just happened between us given everything else... but I definitely did. Not. Ugh, I didn't know. My brain cells were malfunctioning. 

The boys assessed the soaked garments and my hair. 

"Do I want to know what had you pulling down your pants like that?" Luc asked. 

Devin drew her hood back. She threw her phone carelessly on the table. "Doing what you should have made her do a long time ago."

"Really?" 

"Minnie learned how to run so quick, it came in the snap of a finger!" Ben said, clapping my shoulders. "She's a fast one, too."

Luc stared at Ben and then back at me as I struggled to not shiver. My voice came out thin. "Can someone pass me a blanket...?"

Luc's silhouette stirred. A blur and a wind later, he sauntered over with a brown cotton blanket he found God knows where. He draped it over me. A disapproving look gripped his face.

"I don't recall that bringing the onset of a hypothermia. Her lips and nails are blue."

Devin knocked my ribs with an elbow. "Idiot here wouldn't stop so she drove off the cliff at NASCAR speed."

I avoided his eyes, which I could feel burning into me. I wrapped the blanket tighter and settled on a nearby chair, finally reveling in some sort of comfort. Raymond huffed in the background. He bore a little smile. 

As a pause reigned over the house, I looked around. "S-so what... happened in Columbus?" 

Both boys' stares connected, appearing like they didn't know where to begin. Raymond joined Luc in the kitchen, bringing us all together. He grabbed a chair for himself, facing me as I tried to make myself comfortable. 

"It turns out that Lauren had come to Michael for a place to hunker down. He accepted, but obviously, he didn't tell any of you about it."

Ben scrubbed his cheek. "You talked to Michael and only got that out of him?"

"The rest is... confusing." He exchanged another look with Luc, and he tensed. "He knew things that we never did about NIO until now... Freecore has had links with them for a long time, it seems. Apparently, the day Lauren visited him to talk about the hunters and the barn with the emblem of the organization, he tried to sidetrack her but it didn't work. She knew it was real, that NIO was present, and was going to tell everybody. Michael didn't want that. It would ruin his relationship with them, their "peace deal". Soon enough, she was gone."