Hacker (Book 1)

Veronica Chapter 15

Alarms blare. The sound of hissing air fills the room. I start to panic. The air is getting thicker and thicker. The world starts spinning like a top.

Sebastian stands on the other side of the glass. His hand is pressed against the glass. He's saying something that I can't hear. He's pounding against the glass.

"No," I scream, "Not again."

Yellow smoke surrounds me. I feel it enter my lungs. A severe burning sensation comes upon me. A scream rips through my throat. I choke on the deadly air.

I stumble toward him, but I fall. I land on the ground with a thud. My limbs are sprawled in different directions, but all I can think about is breathing. Just one more breath.

"Sebastian," I call out, but it comes out as loud as a whisper. Tears fall down my face.

I hear the opening of a door. Sebastian barrels in, and slides down next to me. He puts my head in his lap. Hot tears stream down my face. Some are mine, but some are his. His gorgeous face looms above me. He has a sad smile, but tears are streaming down his face.

"Just hold on," he pleads. His voice is shaking. His hand strokes my hair.

My breaths are ragged. Every time I breath in it gets harder. I start wheezing.

"Goodbye Sebastian," I say.

"Veronica," he whispers, "Veronica wake up."

Then the world fades into inky blackness.

***

I wake with a start gasping for air. I can feel wet tears on my face. I glance around desperately. I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for though.

"Veronica calm down," Sebastian's soothing voice says, "You're safe."

His arms come around me forming a protective shield. I sob into him forgetting about the promise I made to myself. I feel his hand stroke my hair.

"Shh," he whispers soothingly, "I got you, you're safe."

I gently pull away from him and ask, "What are you doing here?"

"I told you I would take you to the library," he says.

I laugh and say, "Sebastian, it's the middle of the night."

"You'll see what I mean when we get there," he replies pulling me up.

I stand, and slip some shoes on before I say, "Lets go."

"Okay," he says. Then his hand comes up and brushes a tear from the side of my face. His hand goes down to my hand, and he pulls me out of the room.

We walk up several flights of stairs. His hand wrapped around mine the whole time. We climb for who knows how long before we reach the top. A wooden door stands at the top of the stair case.

"Close your eyes," he says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Just do it," he says.

I do as he says. He guides me through the door into what I guess is the library. He brings me to a stop.

"Okay you can look now," he says.

I open my eyes. For a moment, that single moment, I forget about everything, and just relax. There must be thousands of books in front of me. To say it is massive is an understatement. This is massive times twenty if that's a thing. I feel a smile creep on to my face.

I step forward, and walk around. There are shelves upon shelves. I've entered a utopia.

"This is amazing," I say.

Then he turns off the lights. I look back to try to find him in the darkness, but he's right behind me. We face each other. We stand only inches apart.

"Look up," he whispers.

I tilt my head back to look at the ceiling. However there is no ceiling. It's clear, showing the night sky. If I thought there was a lot of books I needed to look at the sky. It's like a thousand diamonds shining in the darkness. I've never seen so many stars.

"There are no words," I say breathlessly, "It's beautiful."

"Yeah it is," Sebastian says, but when I look at him he isn't looking at the sky. He's looking at me.

My heart starts to race. Why does he have to look perfect? It's not fair.

"There's just one more thing, and I've saved the best for last," He says taking my hand.

"Better than the ceiling," I question, "I doubt it."

"Just wait," he says, and we start climbing a ladder.

We burst into the fresh air. Sebastian guides me towards the edge. The sky was amazing inside, but outside it's marvelous.

"Okay," I admit, "This is wonderful."

"I told you," he says.

We come to the edge of the roof. As I look out I just see land. I've never seen this much land without buildings scattered across it. I could get lost up here.

"I love it up here," Sebastian says, "I come up here after a long day. It calms me."

"I can see why," I say.

We stand there in silence for a little bit before I say, "Thanks for not asking about my nightmare."

He turns to look at me and says, "Veronica, you can tell me when you're ready to tell me. I just want you to know that I'm always going to be here for you, even if you don't want me to. That is a promise."

"You know it's been along time since anyone's cared about me," I say looking up at him.

He smiles that perfect smile and says, "Well you better get used to it."