Red in the Blue

Chapter 28

Someone leaned over me in bed. A man. He bent at the waist, almost at a 90˚ angle, hovering close over me, his hands around my arms as he pushed me into the bed hard, the mattress swallowing me, gathering me into its center as its sides folded around me and I was crushed by the weight of it and the oppressive shadow over me. I flailed, swinging wildly, and woke sitting up, gasping, choking, my limbs still swinging. I lurched back from the edge of the bed where he'd been standing, but he wasn't there. I looked around the dark room, every corner, the curve of every piece of furniture, but he was gone. I put my hand to my chest and tried to breathe. I didn't know where I was. I had never seen this room before. It was large and rectangular. The bed beneath me was still made, the pillows depressed from where I'd been lying. The gray outlines of a dresser and a chair across the room. Dark echoed in the plane of a mirror. Above me, stars.

Their light slowly penetrated my consciousness. A ceiling of stars. Cade's room. It was Cade's room, and it was dark, and it was night. The possibility that the shadowy man hadn't been there at all only then crossed my mind. I continued to scan the room for movement, but there was nothing. My breaths were starting to come more easily. I switched on a lamp beside the bed, warm light springing out over the space, casting shadows, forcing me to wince. No one. Nothing. The entire house was silent.

I had no idea what time it was. No clock in this room. I didn't have a phone anymore. I was parched, my head pounding. I had to pee. I was torn between my current light sensitivity and my fear of the shadows. I tried turning on the big overhead light, but it was too much. I tiptoed over to the bathroom and flipped the light on, stepped back with my eyes closed for a minute to get used to the brightness.

The bathroom was painted a dusty navy blue. The color appeared to extend all the way past the clear walls of the shower. The floor was all the same white tile. No step into the shower. A lip around the outside of it. There was a wooden sink with two basins, two faucets, above which were two mirrors separated by wall sconces. There was a red and navy and beige patterned rug. A whicker laundry hamper with a lid.

I cupped my hand under the faucet and drank. My painkillers were still downstairs, as far as I knew, in my bag, in the other bathroom. I opened the door quietly and hesitated in the total, inky darkness. The light from the lamp eased down the first few steps of the stairs, but the entirety of the rest of the house appeared to be dark. I could see fine, I just didn't like the feel of it. Maybe Cade wasn't here at all. I didn't like that. I didn't like the massive silence of the house. I knew there would be enforcers outside. Maybe they would come in. Maybe they would talk to me. I hugged the wall as I crept down the stairs, holding my breath. I flicked the hall light on at the base of the steps. I couldn't see anyone sitting on the porch out the front windows. Maybe they moved to a car at night. Maybe they moved to the back porch. It had to be strange for the neighbors to see people just...chilling on either side of the door at all hours. I wondered if everyone knew who Cade was.

I rounded the corner into the living room and stopped short. I could feel someone in the room. Cade. The house was full of his scent but suddenly stronger here. He was asleep on the larger of the two couches in a t-shirt and shorts, a blanket kicked off onto the floor, one hand draped over his head. He was so still. He looked smaller somehow. I watched him a minute to make sure he was breathing. Back down the hallway on the other side of the stairs, I could see his office light was on. Past the French doors, someone's legs were propped up on the desk from a chair in the corner. I recognized Dev's scent. His legs dropped down from the surface of the desk, and he leaned forward, rotating his body to see out the doors. He smiled at me, gave me a little wave. He had brown skin and curly black hair shaved short at the sides and long on top. Thin gold-framed glasses. I returned his smile as well as I could but felt like my face was smushed in. I stepped into the bathroom and took my meds. I was tired, but now that I was already in the room the shower was too appealing.