Sirens (Theo Raeken) [1]

Diabolical Plans And Other Aphrodisiacs

My eyelids are too heavy to open.

I can feel every other sense coming to me but they're disjointed, almost as if they're cuts of different movies mashed together to create one massive hodgepodge of confusion.

My head bobs up and down as if I am on a boat. Each time my body jolts at the cause of a bump, I feel a sharp stabbing pain in my head. My tongue is parched and my mouth tastes metallic. Blood. I make an effort to open my eyes but they wilt down again unconsciously.

"Arden?" I furrow my eyebrows. The word swims through whatever is clouding my mind and worms its way into the small part of my brain that is actually working. I make a small noise in my throat, almost like a whimper.

"Arden?" There it is again. Someone is calling my name. I muster up enough strength to raise a finger just slightly. "Arden." It's not a question anymore. They know I'm awake. I make that small noise in my throat again. "Arden," they repeat again.

Theo. My brain is making vague sense of what's happening now. I'm in a car. Theo is here. My whole head feels like it's about to explode but I'm alive. I made it.

I gather up all of the energy that I can. I open my eyes. It's only a slit, but still enough to make out my surroundings. Theo is holding me in the front seat of his car. I attempt to raise my head, but it lolls back onto his chest. I don't mind. I like being in his arms, my head on his chest.

"Oh, god, you're okay," he says. His voice is drowned out by the beating down of rain on the roof of the car. He strokes my face and I lean into his hand.

"Hayden?" I rub my head gently.

"Not so good," someone says from the back seat.

I prop myself up. "Easy, there," Theo mutters and puts a hand under my arm.

"Liam?" I croak out. "Are you alright?"

He nods slowly. "I could ask the same about you."

"I'm alright," I say, even though my head is swimming. I don't want anyone to waste any of their time on me when Hayden could be dying.

I rest my head back on Theo for the rest of the ride. He sometimes brushes his fingers across my cheeks, my jaw or my neck. I intertwine my fingers with his.

The car comes to a stop. Liam carries Hayden out to the animal clinic. Scott looks back at me and Theo before getting out. "You'll be okay getting her in there?" he asks. Theo nods.

Theo places his hands under my arms and lifts me as if I weigh no more than a doll. He leans over me slumped in the car seat. "I'm sorry," he mutters.

I tilt my head to the side. "Don't be sorry, Theo. You're not them."

"I should've done something to stop it," he says.

I plant my fists on my seat and move to push myself up. I groan. Theo holds his hand out. "Are you sure you're alright to walk?" He raises his eyebrows.

I nod. Theo puts an arm around my waist and helps me up. As soon as my feet are on the ground, I begin to waver. I take shaky steps across the pavement, leaning on Theo for stability. The rain douses me in wetness, chilling me to the bone.

I grunt as the ground seems to tip under my feet. My vision is slightly blurry at the edges.

"Are you sure you're okay to walk?" he asks again.

"I'm sure," I say, and I project vomit right across the parking lot.

My first instinct is to let out a shrill shriek of disgust. "I'm so sorry," I say. My voice is slurred.