Twisted

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

(Let's rewind a bit, shall we?)

Gabriella's POV

Where the hell is Chase? He stormed out a little over an hour ago, and I heard screams coming from the floor above us. From the looks on Jake and Alice's faces, they had heard it too. It was a girl, who had a very high-pitched, bloody-murder scream. My face turned pale and ashen as I realized what she was yelling. "Erik!" She screeched, and in that instant I knew it was Megan. She had been traveling with him, I remember from what Chase had told me a few days before. It hit me again that it was Megan who was shrieking at the top of her lungs. I jumped into action, pulling Alice and a bewildered Jake behind me. They looked at me with confused expressions. I rolled my eyes.

"That's Megan, you idiots." I said quickly, tightening my grip on Alice's wrist. I darted down the corridor and up the steps. I burst into the room where the screams were coming from and halted immediately. There, in the middle of the room, was a tall, muscular man with jet black hair and beautiful golden eyes that bored into mine. I assumed that this was Erik, and beside him stood a slightly pudgy, grinning guy with sandy hair. They both turned toward me, confusion in the blond's eyes, and absolutely no emotion in Erik's. "Uh, hi." I said as I stepped forward slightly. "You must be Erik." I said smoothly. He looked slightly taken aback, and then returned to his stone cold expression.

"I don't believe we have...formally met, mademoiselle." What the crap? Was this guy French or something?

"I'm...Gabriella." I said after a moment's hesitation. I stuck my hand out stiffly to shake hands with Erik. He absolutely towered over me, and stared at me unrelentingly. I almost gasped at the shock of how cold his skin was. I quickly dropped my hand back to my side. "And that's Alice and Jake." I said, gesturing to each in turn. Alice looked terrified, and Jake gave him a nervous smile which Erik didn't return. There was a short awkward silence for a moment. "Umm...where's Megan?" I asked, slightly nervous for her. God, if this was the guy she'd been traveling with, I hoped he hadn't hurt her! His toned arms and stomach hadn't escaped my vision.

He sighed and relaxed slightly, a look of pure angst in his eyes. "Chase Hawkins...do you know him?" I tensed slightly at the mention of Chase, and nodded quickly. The feeling of my skin tingling as Chase had placed his hands on my shoulder a few days back burned slightly. My face turned red for a second, embarrassed that I was even affected...in that way...by Chase. "Well, he took her." Erik's eyes flashed with pain briefly, but soon hardened into an angry gaze. "Maudire ce garçon! Si je mets la main sur lui..." I looked at him, confused. He saw my expression, and he softened his gaze a bit. "My apologies. I am French, you see, and if I get carried away I start speaking my native language."

"It's alright. Continue, please." I encouraged. He hesitated, but soon nodded.

"He took her," he repeated, "and left. I have a good idea of where he's taking her, and for what purpose." I felt a slight pang of jealously. But what for? Okay, fine. Maybe I was a bit jealous that Megan got to be carried by Chase. A little bit. "He's using her as bait, that idiot." Erik rolled his eyes and I had to stifle a laugh. He eyed me suspiciously.

"I know you don't hate him." I said in triumph. He tried to protest.

"Of course I do, that insufferable little-"

"Come on, Erik. You two would make excellent friends." I said, enjoying the horrified look on his face.I remembered what Chase had mentioned about Megan and Erik. I played my final card. "And I know you've got the hots for Megan." I said, laughing as he turned a shade of pink.

"I most certainly do not, mademoiselle." Erik said feebly. Alice, Lucas, and Jake had now joined me in laughter. I decided I would take the liberty of embarrassing him just a tad bit more.