Selected

Fifth

"He went out the window." I could hear someone shouting down the hall. I turned to see who was standing in the doorway. It was Vox. He rushed over to the side of my bed, "Emmary, are you okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

He walked over and closed the window with one touch. How in the hell did he do that when I struggled to close the damn thing? "I called security, so they should be tracking him down."

I don't know why, but I kept my mouth shut. I should have told him that it was Captain Pike, but I didn't. And I had no idea why. I just sat there in bed with the covers strewn all over the bed and my legs tangled in them.

"Did you open this window?"

I shook my head, "Your brother did."

Vox frowned. "What were you even doing in here?"

"Hal insisted that we traded."

The events replayed in my head. How I struggled and screamed. The blinding light. Captain Pike's face as he jumped out the window. I wondered how he had run away after jumping out the window. Or how he had gotten up here in the first place. "Emmary?"

I looked up at him, I hadn't noticed he was still talking. "Yes?"

A small smile played on his lips. Like he was amused for some reason. "I asked if you wanted to be alone."

I swallowed. I certainly didn't want to be alone. But I didn't want to be alone with him. I knew I couldn't sleep now. Not after that. I knew that if I was by myself, I wouldn't be truly alone. I would have the company of the events that had just occurred. And I definitely didn't want that. I kept my eyes on the ground as I shook my head.

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Would you rather stay in here, or go to my room?"

A pit in my stomach formed. Did he just invite me back to his room? I had never been asked that, well besides by Koontz. Koontz was the last person I wanted to be thinking about right now. I didn't look up as I responded, "I don't care."

He walked over and took my hand, "Come on. Let's get you out of this room."

I stood up and followed his lead out of the room. He walked down the hall and opened a door. The room we entered was dark, and Vox didn't bother turning on the lights. I could make out the bed as he walked over and grabbed some pillows off of it and placed them on the floor. "You can take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

I didn't say anything as he grabbed a blanket off the bed and placed it on the ground. "Are you sure you're okay, Emmary?"

"Yes."

He walked closer to me, "He didn't touch you, right?"

I shook my head and whispered, "No."

"Come here." He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. It was comforting. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged back. This is what I needed, actual contact with someone. Of course it wasn't the person I wanted. I stood there, pretending that I was hugging Koontz. Pretending that he was the one comforting me, not Vox. I could feel tears starting to stream down my face. I wasn't crying about being attacked. I was crying because I knew that only pretending to hug Koontz was the closest that I would ever get to the real thing. I buried my face into his chest. His skin was warm. I jerked away at the realization that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

I wiped my face, "Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded, "Yes."

He looked at the clock behind him, "It's late, you should try to go to sleep. I locked the windows and the door, so don't worry, you'll be safe. We will sort everything out in the morning."