Cursed [Jai Brooks]

Bring Me Back To Reality- Chapter 42

“Hope” a voice whispers from a far, I lift up my head and my eyes connect with his, his deeply haunting yet comforting gaze.

“Jai?” I whisper in disbelief, my eyes dart around, searching my surroundings. I’m back in the forest, trees crowding in on me, the mud beneath me crumbly and soft; I dig my fingers into the dirt, revelling in the comfort of recognition. “What am I doing here?” I ask, fear quickly consuming me. It’s dark, the stars are twinkle unknowingly, and the wind wisps through my hair, I look down to my attire which is nothing but a plain burgundy t-shirt.

“You’re here because it’s where you want to be” he divulges, his words breathy, his voice rough. Do I want to be here? Is this real? I reach out for him, desperate to feel him.

“Is this real?” I ask him, afraid that he’ll quickly confirm my fears.

“Yes, Hope, this is real” his eyes dance with amusement, a small smile tugs at his lips and I can’t help but smile back. “I and you are real, as long as you want us to be” he leans forward and kisses me lightly on the lips. “And I love you, that is real” he kisses me again and this time harder, I fist my hands into his hair deepening the kiss, his tongue pushes through my parted lips and kisses me with desperation, he needs me and I need him.

He quickly pulls away and rests his forehead against mine “I love you” I whisper feeling every word, I love him, I’m so sure of it, this is real. This has to be real.

“This is real” he promises, lacing his fingers through mine. He moves beside me and leans his back against the giant tree trunk, he lifts his arm up in gesture for me to snuggle into him, I oblige and rest my head against his chest while he drapes his arms over my shoulders.

“Jai, I need to know everything, from the very beginning, your version, our version, the truth” I demand, I have to know his version.

“What do you want to know? What do you want me to tell you?” he asks, his brows furrowing with concern. What do I want him to tell me? I want him to tell me that everything that happened has been real; I want him to tell me that this isn’t my fault, but I cannot influence his opinion.

“I want you to tell me everything, from the very beginning, the day we met, or the day you became so obsessed with knowing me, you tell me your version” I breathe, nervously awaiting the story that is about to unfold in the depths of this haunting forest.

“Okay, from the day we met” he sighs as if he’s almost afraid, his reaction immediately putting me on edge.

“Please” I nod in encouragement.

“Okay, so the day we met” he begins “the morning has been an average morning, I woke up and I felt the overpowering feeling of fatigue that comes with a night of raging sex and then the following fallout, honestly I was going to cut classes and ditch school but somehow I felt almost compelled to go, so I did” he pauses for affect before he continues “but it led me to meeting you, you put a spell on me before I even knew you, I was immediately drawn to you. I left for school on my bike, contemplating turning back, but I didn’t, I couldn’t. When I arrived at school I felt completely befuddled, it felt so unnatural to feel so strongly compelled by something, I was so unnerved. When I walked into the school I felt something inside of me, it was like my heart had thousands of strings attached to it and it was being pulled forward, some girls began their daily pining for me, lurching themselves at me, greeting me, twirling their hair, you know that kind of thing?” he turns to face me, raising one brow with his signature smirk plastered over his lips “but I couldn’t even glance at them, my mind wouldn’t allow me, I kept walking forwards, increasing my pace, that was when I realised...it was you, I’d never noticed you like this before, so beautiful and captivating and so unwillingly innocent, it was like I knew you, I knew what you wanted, I knew how to please you and every fibre of my being needed to please you” he takes a deep breath and takes my hands in his “you have to know that everything I tell you was back then, before I realised I love you, I wasn’t prepared to admit to myself that I loved you at first, the feeling was so alien that it only seemed fit to avoid it” he rushes his words, his eyes scanning my face for any signs of emotion but in this moment I can’t decide what to feel.

How was he compelled to me? How could he feel my presence? It just all sounds so absurd but I have to believe him. I love him. I will myself to nod, accepting his warning and gesture for him to continue.

“Okay so, I felt this compulsion taking over me, I had to know you and fulfil your needs and that’s what I aimed to do, it was like my entire existence revolved around making you happy and in that moment I couldn’t think of anything other than knowing you. As soon as I approached you, I noticed your apprehension and I found some joy in that, it excited me, you weren’t just going to give in to me, not without some answers, not without some kind of graft, so boy did I graft for you. I had to get you alone, so I cornered you in the classroom, I knew that you wouldn’t have spoken to me by choice so I had to find some way that you couldn’t escape, so I did what I did and we both know how those events played out” he makes an attempt at avoiding admitting what he did to me.

“No, tell me what happened” I demand through gritted teeth “you tell me everything that happened that day and I mean everything. Why the notes? Why stalk me? Why kidnap me from my room? I understand your infatuation; I understand that you were so called ‘drawn’ to me but why?” I ask, my voice rising in frustration, he can’t lie to me not now, there’s no avoiding this anymore.

“Because I had to find a way to get to you, if I didn’t- “he stops himself, his eyes dart around our surroundings as if someone is watching “if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have survived, not like this, do you know how lonely it gets? Being here, being none?  I couldn’t do it anymore, I didn’t feel anything, not until you” his voice lowers to a comforting whisper, he rises his hands and grasps my face forcing me to look him in the eyes “you made me feel alive, you made me feel something that I have never felt before, I love you Hope and you have to believe me, I can’t do this without you” he rests his forehead on mine, I can feel his pulse radiating through me, the fast beats sending slight vibrations.

“I believe you” I whisper, he brings his lips to mine and kisses me tenderly.

“Will you do what I say?” he asks breathlessly “I need you to say yes”

“Yes” I whisper in response “I’ll do anything you say”.

So here is another intense chapter, we intend to surprise you throughout the rest of this book and I hope that this chapter has achieved yet another element of surprise. Have any of your theories changed? What are your opinions? Is Luke a liar? is Jai leading Hope astray? The next chapter will be in writer's POV so be prepared for that one and the next chapter will either be up tomorrow evening or the following evening. And then we move on to the FINAL chapter, although after there will be an epilogue so be prepared for that one! Thank you as always for all of your comments, please continue to comment and vote.