Chapter 6••• Finally that darkness flourishes. Every second it gets lighter and lighter until it's blinding. When I open my eyes, images swim into vision. I'm laying in a cot in what looks like an abandoned warehouse. My instincts start to kick in again, and I begin to worry. I become aware of my surroundings. Where is Liam? What is this place? I slowly sit up, which brings a shooting pain to my side. I life up my tank top and see a purple and blue swelling mark. As my senses sharpen, the pain kicks in. My foot kills, and so does my head. I step off of the bed and try to stand. I immediately crash to the ground. I have to find Liam! I have to be strong. I stand up again, bracing myself with the cot's edge. The room is big with rows of cots, but no one in them. There is a door at one end of the room, and an open supply closet at the other. I carefully step across the room, bracing myself for the pain. And it comes right on cue. My ankle feels like it's cracking and crumbling in on itself more with each step. I take careful steps towards the door as I try to remember what happened exactly. I remember the noise, the man, Liam carrying me, and the others. There were other people. Did Liam get away? By the time I get to the door, I hear voices. I walk down the hallway through the door. It branches off in different doors, and two other halls. I have to find Liam and get out of here. The voices it hear are coming down the right hand hall, and that's where I go. I limp down the hallway towards the only door, on the end, using each doorframe as a crutch. The pain burst my vision, and colors pop under my eyelids each time I blink. My head begins to pound again, and it think I might pass out. I finally reach the door and push.
At a table there are 10 people. 10 guys. They all look up, some smiling some laughing, and only one looks worried. Liam.
A tall boy stands up. He looks about 17 maybe 18 years old. "You finally woke up, sleeping beauty," most of the boys around him snicker. I step through the door way and crumble to the ground. Liam jumps up from his seat and lifts me up, and into a chair.
"Who the hell are you?" The words come out in a hiss. He smiles, a smirk really, and bows.
"James ma'am. And yours? The jerk next to you never thought to mention who the chick was."
"I'm not 'chick' okay? I'm Lane," I answer back. I lock eyes with a different boy across the room.
"Lane, hmm? Well it's not that much better than chick," he says. Something inside me snaps and I think I would have killed him right then and there if I hadn't caught eyes with the guy again. H i m. The guy who attacked me. I think he connected my realization, because he lowered his head. I stand up, about ready to pounce on him, when a James pushes my shoulders, causing me to land back in my seat.
"Why are we here? Why did you attack is last night?"
"We didn't know you were marked. We thought you were agents for the government. They patrol the ungated areas and try to kill the marked off. We are the marked too. All of us," James says motioning to the group of guys, "are from Chicago. There are cities just like yours around the U.S."
"So there are more of us? More communities with dreams," I ask.
Liam speaks next. "Some are tested by dreams, and some are by personality. But we all share that our current lives have a way of telling us the future, and it makes us very dangerous." I start to feel anger towards my city, towards all the cities for keeping such a big secret. Then I look around the room again. They all look around my age or a year or two older. I need air, I need my thoughts to clear. I start to stand up, but James steps down on my bad foot. I cry out in pain. James spins around towards my attacker. "Charlie, I think you broke her foot!" I roll my eyes. I stand up and limp out of the room. My thoughts are going haywire and I think I might pass out.
"Lane! What's wrong?" Liam grabs my shoulder and spins me around.
"Nothing. I'm fine. It's just a lot to take in," I reply and he nods. "Thanks for saving me."
He smiles. "It was nothing. There was nothing really to save you from. Just a misunderstanding." I smile back and look down. I feel his hand lift my chin so I stare at him. At his beautiful green eyes, and him staring back at my ugly purple eyes. He smiled. "Did someone ever tell you, you have beautiful eyes?" And then...
We were kissing...
YOU ARE READING
The Marked
Ficção AdolescenteI sit on the end of my bed with my hair standing on end. My face is drenched in sweat and I can't see anything. They called my name from what seemed like miles away. They were trying to reach for me, but I wouldn't help them. I kept trying to move b...
