Distorted Affliction

Chapter Three

"How do you know me?" I asked, watching the stranger as he took a long drag from his cigarette. He had been silent for far too long and I was trying to gauge if he was still a threat or not. It had occurred to me that if he did want to harm me, he would have tried a lot harder to subdue me instead of taking me outside with him into the cold night. I was eyeing him, trying to decide if I could outrun him again when he glanced at me, almost as if he could tell what I was thinking.

He drew in a deep breath and flicked his cigarette, turning to face me so that he was towering over me. His eyes looked deep into mine, and he reached out to touch my arm softly. Instinct made me pull away, but he gripped my arm a little tighter and my body seemed to relax on its own accord.

"Your mind is a mess," he said, his brow furrowing in frustration. "I can't tell what happened, why you don't remember anything, but I have my suspicions."

"Care to share that info with me, maybe?" I looked away from him, out into the darkness of the night as if it would somehow give me the answers I was looking for. I had a feeling that the trees would probably be more willing to share what they knew. 

"I'm not sure how much I'm capable of telling you at this moment," he answered reluctantly, letting me go and turning back to the room. "Come sit with me, and I'll try to answer as much as I can."

When I was comfortable in the chair across from him, my legs folded and my fingers playing at the hem of my work apron that I had forgotten to take off, he crossed his ankle over his knee and made no move to speak. We sat in silence for a while, as if he was contemplating what he was going to say, but never made a motion to share his thoughts, which didn't feel fair since he seemed to be reading mine.

I sighed in frustration and stood from my seat to pace the small motel room. I felt caged, anxious and ready to bolt any moment. My skin felt uncomfortable, if that even made sense, and it crossed my mind that Lucas had asked me to meet him someplace with the understanding that there was danger lurking. I ran my hand across my forehead absently, trying to come to terms with the extreme change happening in my life.

Would he let me go? If he did, when? Would my life go back to the way it was before, the monotonous autopilot I had fallen into since I had lost my son? I didn't see things just going back to usual after this, and I certainly wouldn't be driving myself out of here tonight.

"I wrecked my car," I heard myself breathe suddenly, and I could feel my legs working quicker as my pace picked up. "How am I supposed to get to work without my car? I'm gonna lose my job."

I felt a strong hand grab my arm and pull me to a full stop, and I could feel myself getting ready to break, to crumble into a million pieces. My breathing was ragged, and I did my best to avoid his gaze. Everything felt so strange, so offbeat to what I had grown accustomed to, that I wasn't sure I would be able to handle it all. What the hell was even happening to me?

"August." His voice was low, deep, and yet somehow grounded me. "You're going to calm down; everything is going to be alright, you have no reason to worry."

Everything inside of me eased, the knot in my stomach loosening as my gaze found his. His eyes were soft, and everything inside of me felt like I could trust him. It occurred to me then that whatever was happening was of his doing, though I wasn't sure how. I had so many unanswered questions, and I wanted to ask him every last one of them, but I couldn't bring myself to open my mouth and speak. It was as if I wanted to, but my body was out of my control.

His eyes glanced down at my wrist, and I could see something change in his face as his fingers traced the veins that ran down into my palm. He glanced back up at me for a moment, his gaze holding mine as he moved my wrist to his lips.

"I'm going to bite you," he said softly. "But you're going to be okay, I won't take much."

Everything inside of me was screaming as his lips parted and his teeth seemed to grow before digging into my skin. Pleasure shot through me, replacing the fear in seconds, but I wasn't able to move to respond, my body still not my own. My eyes slid closed, and I felt a breath escape my throat in a way that could have been mistaken as a moan.

When he pulled away, I couldn't help the disappointment that flooded me, and then reason took hold, and I felt embarrassed. My eyes opened as he wiped at the wound on my wrist, his gaze holding mine as if he were searching for the answer to an unspoken question. Something about this felt familiar to me, something about him felt amicable in a way that I had no way of rationally explaining.

"My name is Sinclair," he finally offered, wiping a spot at the corner of his mouth. "But you know me as Sin, at least you did before Lucas took your memories."

"Lucas?" I asked, blinking several times as if it would make the answers come quicker. "What do you mean? I haven't seen Lucas since..." My voice trailed off, unable to say it out loud in that moment.

"Since Silas disappeared?" Sin offered, and my gaze jerked back to his, stunned. "Like I said, I have my theories, but without Lucas neither of us are going to get the answers we're looking for here."

"I don't understand," I said, holding my hands out in front of me as I took a deep breath. "How do you know Lucas? How do you know about my son?"

Sin stood, his tall frame towering over mine as he held my gaze. It seemed like he was searching for something in my eyes, but he didn't speak. It could have been my imagination, but I thought I caught a glimpse of anger pass in his eyes before he blinked it away.

"You need to take me to Lucas."