Departure ↠ Argent [3]

07. Hypnotic

"They came out of the dark?" Allison asks, furrowing her eyebrows as she looks up at me. I could tell that she was more than confused, but she also could tell that I knew what Lydia was talking about. "Corey, why do you have that look on your face?"

I try and think for a moment. "Jade, she...she said something came after her last night; something that came from the shadows."

Allison's eyes widen. "What does that mean?"

Lydia stays in my arms as she shakes uncontrollably, almost as if she was having a seizure. I try and hold her still and to get her warm, but it felt like whatever I did, it didn't help. "It means something is after them, and I'm not sure what."

Allison breathes for a moment, her eyes searching the floor as if it held the answer. "Okay, I'm going to try and find a blanket. I'll be right back."

I didn't like the idea of her leaving. "Allison-"

She was gone before I could get her back, so I let her go. I just prayed that whatever was doing this left her alone; but I knew she could defend herself. However, I also knew Jade could as well, and even she looked terrified just talking about them.

I look back down at Lydia, seeing now that her bottom lip was trembling. "Lydia, it's okay. You're okay now."

"I-I'm so c-cold," she stutters, her fingers clasping my arms harder than they were before. It hurt me a little, but I wasn't going to tell her to stop. I was only focused on getting her warm. We were by the heater, but it didn't seem to be doing much.

"Lydia?" I hear someone say, causing me to look up and see Aiden standing there with a pained expression on his face. His eyes connect with mine for a split second before he's running over and kneeling beside the two of us, trying to take Lydia from my arms. "What happened to her?"

"We don't know," I say, keeping her close to me and the heater. Aiden realizes that she's cold the moment he lays his finger on her, so he stops trying to take her.

He shakes his head as Lydia tries to look up at him. "This isn't working. She needs more heat-"

"I'm next to a heater, what more do you want me to do?" I say, getting a little snappy. I was trying. I was trying desperately hard to get Lydia warm, but whatever I was trying didn't seem to be working.

Aiden notices my snappy tone. "Let me see her; I'll take her somewhere-"

"Everyone, get out!" I hear another voice ring through the loft, causing everyone to stop moving and the music to stop playing. When Aiden and I looked back up to see who it was, I was alarmed to see that it was Derek standing there.

Everyone flees the loft as I start to pick people out that I knew; people like Jade, Isaac, Danny, Ethan, and Allison. They stayed put before Danny runs over to us, taking Lydia from my arms and helping her out of the loft. I only let Danny take her because I trusted her, and I sure as hell didn't trust Aiden. I wanted to follow after them to make sure she would be alright, but before I could even think about leaving, I turned back to the center of the room and saw five shadow figures standing there in the emptiness.

Allison's eyes connect with my own as she takes a step backwards, Scott and Kira suddenly appearing behind her as well. Scott stops in his place as his eyes narrow, and I knew then that something bad was about to happen. Not to mention that Kira was here to watch it all go down.

Suddenly the five figures turn and face towards Aiden and I, but I couldn't tell if they were looking at him or me. I guess my question was answered when they all took a step forwards, causing Aiden to furrow his eyebrows. "Guys, why are they all looking at me?"