Keep Me Wild

5

Skylar shrugged,

"I have no idea. I have no idea what's going on Josh...and who are you?" she asked, suddenly overwhelmed with what was going on. It all hitting her at once.

Josh quickly moved by her and wrapped an arm around her, bringing her against his chest.

"Hey, hey. It's okay Sky. We've got you." he said reassuringly.

"But why? I don't understand." she exclaimed raising her hands up gesturing at nothing. Evidently the girl was confused, and there was no questioning why. Anyone thrown in her current situation, where within a matter of hours everyone spoke to her in riddles and avoiding sentences would go mad. Josh rubbed her arm and shushed her.

"Sky, we protect people like you." He said simply, a short answer to a complex question. Despite the fact he had actually given her an answer unlike everyone else, it was still short and left room for a lot of follow-up questions.

"Like me? What does that even mean?" she asked looking up at him, her eyes filled with tears.

"People with targets on their backs..." he started and he was holding back, "Listen, you really need to let Cole handle this. He's running this operation. But just, please Skylar, understand that everything you saw, and heard, and everything going on right now- just remember that we're the good guys." he said reassuringly, she wasn't sure what to think. They really hadn't done much to inspire trust other than protect her...Well, maybe that was good enough reason.

She was digging her nails into her hands, something her mother had always done when she had no other means to an outlet for her emotions. Something Skylar had always watched her do, and over time picked up. One of the only things she ever picked up from her mom, and it wasn't the healthiest of habits. She dug her nails into the cuts that had been made previously, and she didn't even bat an eye. The pain stung a bit, but it reassured her that she was there. That she wasn't dreaming.

The door swung open, Cole came in.

"Thank you Josh, would you touch base with Silas and Lincoln?" he formulated as a question, but once more it was an order. Josh nodded,

"Yeah, sure thing. Hey Sky?" he said looking down at her, "It'll be okay." he said. He had such a friendly personality, it was reassuring. But looking up, Cole seemed impatient for the boy to leave. He got up and left the room. Cole went ahead and closed the door without him.

Cole looked a little rough. Sweaty she would say. As if he was out of breath, tired. His knuckles were bloody and she knew why. Skylar glanced up at him, making eye contact. Cole walked up to her and put his hands out for her to take, as she took them he pulled her up so she'd face him. He took her hand very carefully, and led her to the washroom. As soon as they set food inside, he picked her up by the thighs and dropped her gently on the counter by the sink. He took her hands into his and flipped them palm up to observe.

"Did you do this?" he whispered quietly looking at the cuts from the glass and the new cuts she had formed by digging her nails in. The original cuts had started bleeding profusely again, and the slim cuts done by her finger nails barely broke skin enough to draw anything but little trails of blood. Skylar was reluctant to answer,

"Skylar, you can tell me. Did you do this?" he asked again and she nodded.

"I- I..." she stuttered and he put a hand on her cheek forcing her to look up at him.

"Skylar, it's okay. It's okay, we're going to handle this. Does it hurt?" he asked and tears rolled down her face as she nodded.

"I-it all hurts. It all hurts." she sobbed quietly as she sat there, her head hung low. "Can I go home tonight?"