Bound By Starlight

CHAPTER 8:

(Karina's POV)

My head pounded with a pain source that I couldn't quite locate. I haven't felt this bad of pain in a while and that's saying something.

I sat up, relishing the pain when I noticed there were voices close by to me but they abruptly stopped. "Where am I?" I muttered, still in a slight daze. Things like this shouldn't become frequent for someone like me. I tried to focus on the person next to me, a guy with dyed tips of his hair. He looked kinda cute.

"You're at my house. Mateo dropped by via taxi. Don't bother trying to get up, I'll fix you up as soon as I get the supplies."

Ughh. "Whose Mateo?" I had no clue who the hell that was but to be fair I was struggling to get hold of what happened in the whirlpool that was today.

I saw him side-eye his friend that was now facing towards me. Even with my vision still hazy I could tell it was the stranger that rescued me and saved me from that hellhole.

"This is Mateo." He replied, gesturing over to the guy I now know the name of. When he didn't greet me back he jabbed an elbow in his ribs, causing Mateo to wince in pain.

"What???!" The other guy I still don't know the name of hissed to Mateo.

"You've been through so much with Karina and you haven't even bothered to tell her your name??" The guy scolded Mateo and to my utter surprise he didn't bother choosing violence as the answer. All he said to retaliate back is, "Well she never bothered to ask."

"Well maybe I would've if you actually let me ask questions instead of just telling me to shut up and follow you."

"She's freaking Karina and you aren't treating her with any respect??"

They shot each other looks dirty enough to compare with Mateo's apartment before he rolled his eyes and strolled out of the doorway and into a room slamming the door shut, making his friend wince as if it hurt him physically.

"To be fair, it doesn't really hurt physically, more like hurting my wallet if you want me to be honest." I blinked, once then twice in realisation. Can he read my mind or something? His chuckle made my heart swoon before I registered the fact that he may or may not have access to my thoughts. "Yes, I'm a mind reader. It's great to know that you like my laugh. There's not many people that get to hear my voice because Mateo insists I stay here in isolation to keep others from knowing that I possess this 'talent'."

I gave him a sad smile that I hoped depicted how I felt about his whole situation. "Uhhh... Just a question. What's your name?"

"Oops, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Asher. You can call me either by my real name or just Ash if you prefer it shortened out."

I chuckled slightly to myself. "Ok. Nice to meet you Asher. Officially. I'm Karina."

"Oh I know."

A nervous giggle passed out of my mouth and I asked him, "Were you guys talking about me when I was asleep? Is that how you know who I am?"

"Uhh... no. Yes. Wait wha- We were talking about you but you're also like... Internationally famous. Why would it be surprising that I know who you were?"

Oh yeah. "I guess it just doesn't seem that way if you've been tortured, stolen back, survived a bomb and been declared dead without anyone recognizing me." A pause in our conversation has me realsiing that he wasn't paying attention and my mind was feeling like it had just been ransacked and numb.

" Can you like, get out of my head or something? I can feel things prodding around in my head and it feels really really gross."

"Huh?" Asher looked back up at me when I snapped him out of his trance. He looked really sheepish and gave me a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I just lose control sometimes. Wait here for a second." I speeded off into his hallway and I just sat there on his couch, glancing around at my surroundings awkwardly.