Soul (Chaos #1)

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

On New Year's Eve, I awoke with a start. It was pitch black outside, apart from fireworks in the distance. Alone and bored, I had fallen asleep long before midnight.

A voice called my name. I climbed out of bed and looked out the window. Two people were at my front door. Bleary-eyed, I assumed my parents had forgotten their keys.

I ran downstairs and opened the door. "How did you-"

I stopped and stared. A beautiful young woman with black hair stood on my stoop. I didn't recognise her, but next to her was a pale shimmering creature I thought I would never see again.

"Drake?"

He touched my arm, and a shudder ran through me.

"What are you...how...?"

He stared at me with cool green eyes. Wrong. All wrong.

I narrowed my gaze, brushing away his hand. "I don't know who you are, but leave me the hell alone."

I slammed the door and leaned against it, waiting for something to happen, the house to burst into flames or something. The pair exchanged murmurs, then they went away. I ran up to my room to look out the window, but they were both gone. Whoever they had been, I couldn't help feeling they would be back.

I sat on my bed and chewed my nails. He had looked exactly like Drake... except for those eyes. But why? Drake had warned me about illusions and glamours, but the guy had seemed so real. The wings, the shimmering veins, it had all been Drake. But the eyes were a dead giveaway.

And he had touched me, which renewed the longing I had felt since leaving the fae. That hadn't been accidental.

When my parents returned, I pretended to be asleep. I could give my mother one decent night without an argument. But more importantly, I needed to think about what I would do if Fake Drake returned.

Seeing the fae pair had unleashed everything I had been trying to outrun. The need and the yearning burst out of their hiding hole and set me aflame all over again. I wanted to go back. I needed to spend a little more time with them. But Drake hadn't saved my life for nothing. I couldn't repay him by playing fae games again, no matter how much I desperately wanted that.

***

Zoe and I had plans to eat out on New Year's Day, but she was late, so I sat in front of the television while I waited for her to show. Mam had gone shopping since Dad had been hungover all afternoon.

I was already getting impatient when Dad came into the living room, took one long look at me, and changed the station to some boring golf game. He didn't even like golf. I sensed his anger, felt it bristling in the air, so I decided it would be better to avoid the inevitable confrontation.

I rose and strode toward the door. He stretched out his feet as I passed, almost tripping me. I kept walking, but my fists squeezed tightly by my sides. One day, I would reach my limit. One day, he would be sorry for every petty thing he had done to me. And one day, I'd lose my mother because of him. I didn't want one day to come any time soon. I pulled on my jacket and went outside to wait for Zoe.

Five minutes later, she came rushing down the street, her over sized bag bouncing in her hand. "Sorry, sorry! I'm not that late."

I had to laugh."You've made me wait for longer."

"Come on then. I'm half starved."

We strolled toward the bus stop. My hands kept shaking-partly because of Dad, mostly from the fae visit the previous night. What had they wanted? I kind of regretted not finding out more. Maybe they would never return.