A Slave to Love

Chapter 8: Rubber Ducky

"Kiana!" someone shouted from behind me.

I quickened my pace but Landon caught up anyways, not even slightly winded. Great. Just what I needed. Another asshole guy come to ruin my day.

"Oh come on! You can't still be mad at me for the lake thing last night," Landon whined as he adjusted his stride to mine.

"Lake thing?" I asked tiredly.

He gave me a weird look and it took me a moment to remember what happened last night. Landon dumping me in lake. Me freezing my ass off while soaked. My flip-flops that I'd never seen again, lost to the bottom of the lake.

Oh.

"Fuck off," I muttered, too tired to even bother putting in the energy to be mad. I was exhausted from being up all night; thinking about Sinbad and vampires and my tattoos and conduits and blood. Then Katie came back and then Jill came back as well, both making noise and I just couldn't stop thinking so I was going on no sleep and no answers and no patience for irritating men hellbent on pissing me off.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately, putting a hand on my arm to stop me from walking.

"What do you mean?" 

"You're not being as snippy with me as usual, so something must be wrong. Plus, you look like hell."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, shaking his hand off of me and walking around him.

"Kiana!" he said, exasperated as he caught up to me again, "Would you just tell me what's wrong?"

Well, let's see now. After you dumped me in the lake I go to my dorm only to pass out, have you carry me to my room, take a shower only to find some random man in my bathroom with me and he shows me a memory of what happened that one week in June I couldn't remember before he claimed he was a vampire and that I was his slave and then jumped out the window.

Yeah. I'll be keeping that to myself, thank you very much.

Especially as Landon wasn't someone I wanted to confide in about anything anyway.

"Nothing," I muttered, stomping off down the hallway.

He caught up again but this time didn't say anything and we walked to English in silence. Who knew Landon could take a hint?

I didn't talk to anybody all morning until we got to lunch. The four of us, Nate, Katie, Landon and I, all went to go eat outside by the lake since it was such a beautiful day.

Even at lunch I ate in silence, scanning the campus occasionally for that black haired Sinbad guy, but I couldn't find him, didn't feel so much as a twitch in my tattoo. That old paranoia I'd felt over the summer was starting to claw its way back to life and I did not miss it at all. I'd had such a good couple of days there, why did that Sinbad guy have to show up and ruin it?

"Kiana!"

"What?" I asked, jerked out of my thoughts as I turned to the voice.

Landon's eyes met mine and he seemed both concerned and a tad annoyed with me. "Why are you so quiet?" he asked, letting go of my arm.

"I'm just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Nate asked, lying down on his back next to me.

"Just...stuff," I said casually, "Nothing important."

More like super important! As in life changing important!

"Ah, then you must be thinking about Landon," Nate joked.

"Nice one." I high-fived him for that. Even if I was a little grouchy, that was a good roast.

"Why is everyone always so mean to me?" he whined.