What Lies Beneath The Clearing

14.5

Lennox gasped as she woke up. Her eyes seemed to need no time adjusting to the light filling the room, but she didn't take notice of the time until she had scanned the room for any sign of Kaila. As she examined her surroundings, she realised that she wasn't in her own bedroom, but Jay's. She also hadn't noticed until then that she was wearing Jay's clothes; a subtle reminder of the way he had found her in the forest. The noise in her mind began to slow and soften in volume, allowing her to hear his voice coming from the living room. Kaila's words echoed in Lennox's head as she cleaned herself up in the bathroom. Five days. Five days to do what? She thought. She didn't even know what day it was. Dragging herself out of bed, she went into the bathroom, and was shocked at what she saw looking back at her in the mirror. She looked exhausted; the dark circles under her eyes were comparable to someone who hadn't slept in days and been sucker punched. But the black veins visible on her chest were what caught Lennox's attention. She frowned as she leant forward, moving her shirt aside. The cut she'd gotten at the manor had blackened in colour, and spiderweb veins were visibly shooting off from the old wound. 

"What the hell?" She said quietly, covering it with her hand and leaning back from the mirror. Do I tell Jay? What is it? 

Whatever it was, Lennox was even more worried now than she was before about not being able to remember what had happened during the night at the manor. But there was nothing she could do about it yet, so choosing to ignore it, she jumped into the shower to freshen up before going out to see Jay. 

Jay was on the phone in the kitchen, making a cup of coffee in a mug rather than a flask since he had some time before he had to go into work. By the look on his face it seemed as though the conversation he was having wasn't one he was enjoying, but when he saw Lennox standing across the apartment his mood seemed to instantly improve a little. 

"I gotta go, I'll call you back...Yeah, I'll be there at two." He ended the phone call as he turned his body towards Lennox. "Hey." 

His smile was sweet, as always, and encouraged her to walk over to the kitchen as he came to stand against the island. 

"You feeling okay?" 

"I think so. What time is it?" 

"10:30. You slept for quite a while, I was gonna come and check on you. You hungry?" 

"No." Lennox shook her head quickly. Even the thought of food gave her a nauseating sensation in her stomach. 

"Okay, but you need to eat something. I'm going to work at two, so I'll make you something before I leave." 

He went over to the cabinet, pulling out a glass and filling it with water for her. 

"Thank you." She said quietly, taking it from him as he watched her. 

"Do you remember much about last night?"

She spent the next five seconds trying to reflect on the events of the night before, but even with all her efforts she couldn't muster a single thought as to how she got to the manor, or what she'd been doing there. 

"I remember going to bed. I don't remember going to the manor. I remember waking up in the field this morning." 

She looked almost ashamed as she spoke. When the image of embracing Jay with her bare body crossed her mind, it caused her cheeks to flush a cherry shade of red. She turned slightly, attempting to hide it. 

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have called you, I don't know what I was thinking."