Stolen

Chapter Seven

I could barely lift my head when the thief dug his nails deeper into my temples. A scream erupted from my lungs before I was thrown back into the labyrinth of memories. How much longer could this last? How much longer could I hold onto whatever parts were left of me...

The rain was coming down in heavy sheets as Knox had his body pressing mine against the wall, shielding me. Not this memory, I pleaded, please don't take this from me...

"I need you to stay close to me," Knox breathed and for a moment I let myself imagine that he was saying that because he wanted me, not because the guards were scanning the area and we were hiding from them.

I could feel the warmth of his skin against mine as he hid my body from view, praying that the guards wouldn't see us huddled there in the dark. I laced my arms around Knox's waist as he peered over his shoulder, watching the guards walk casually through the buildings. They had no idea we were down here. The rain was causing his clothes to stick to his body, revealing every curve of his muscles. I admired it silently until Knox's hand pulled my chin up to him. He had been watching me intently. There was a hunger in his blue eyes that I had only dreamt of seeing before now. Before I could talk myself out of it, I pushed up on my toes and let my lips brush against his. I was holding my breath, giving him the chance to pull away, but Knox only pressed me harder into the bricks. His mouth crashed against mine like he'd been suffocating and needed the air from my lungs to live. I tangled my hands into Knox's wet black hair. I could feel his hands gripping desperately at my hips, pulling them against him. A fever spread through my body like a wildfire as his lips worked furiously against mine. Every nerve responded to him. There was electricity spreading between us. I wanted to live in this moment with him forever...

The rain slowed to a stop. I pulled my lips away from Knox to realize that it hung silently in the air. Drops frozen in time. When I reached out to cup one in my hand, everything shifted away and I was in the library reading aloud from one of the many history books I'd taken from the shelves. I was sitting at my usual window bench with my feet propped on Rhett's lap. He had his head leaned back against the window, his eyes closed as he listened to me read. If I hadn't known any better, I would have thought that he'd fallen asleep. But that wasn't like him. Rhett was the most attentive person I knew. I paused for a moment, lying the book in my lap as Maya walked up. She glanced from Rhett to me and for a second I thought I saw a hint of jealousy on her face. I wanted to explain to her that we were only friends but she spoke before I could get it out.

"Carrson is looking for you." She announced, "He's waiting outside of your dorm room. Told me to let you know if I saw you." She shrugged and walked off quickly.

Rhett sat up slowly as I sighed. Carrson had been demanding so much of my time recently and I was growing very tired of it.

"What is it?" Rhett questioned. His eyes followed Maya to where she sat down.

I shook my head, "Carrson. Something has changed in the last few weeks...I don't know. Maybe I'm just reading into things but he's gotten...." I let my words trail off but Rhett already knew what I was going to say.

"Possessive?" He finished for me and I nodded.

"Maybe I should go talk to him." I followed Rhett's eyes over to Maya, "and maybe you should go talk to her." I laughed as I stood up from the bench. Rhett looked at me with a smile playing on his lips, "Is it that obvious?"

I nodded and waved goodbye to him only pausing long enough to watch him walk over to her. She would be really good for him. Rhett deserved someone like her, and Maya deserved someone like him. I didn't know her very well. We'd been in a few classes together and I never got the sense that she liked me very much. But, I knew Rhett. I knew Rhett better than the back of my hand. He was adventurous where she was safe. They balanced each other out in a way that most people only ever hoped to find. I turned to walk through the library door and find Carrson but the room went dark. I hit an invisible wall, darkness creeping in at every corner. When I turned back again, the library was gone.

A black sea stretched out in front of me for miles. Endless. Trapped. I was trapped. I screamed for help but no sound came from my lips. Turning quickly I pounded my fists against the invisible barrier, trying to find any break in it that could release me from this hell. There was nothing. No one was coming to save me and I couldn't save myself. Slowly, I dropped to my knees and pulled my head into my hands, closing my eyes tight to block out the emptiness that was consuming every inch of me.

Silent tears streamed down my face as the memory thief withdrew his talons from my head. I didn't have the energy to fight him anymore. There were so many pieces of my soul missing from me that I wasn't even completely sure who I was anymore. It had trapped me there in the shell of my mind. What was stopping it from doing that to me permanently? Why would anyone want this? What had I done?