Fallen Stars

Chapter Seven

The next day Blake and I went to buy several pairs of clothes from a small boutique not far from the hotel. Our walk back to the hotel was quiet, but eventually I couldn't help but open my mouth.

"When can I call my mom?" I ask quickly.

"As soon as we get our room." He said, walking up the stairs to our floor.

I'd been too scared to try to contact anyone, and I had turned my phone off yesterday after charging it in Blake's car. I dial my home number while walking in the hotel room and after two rings it goes to the answering machine.

"Blake, when was the last time you had someone check on my mom?" I turn to see him sitting at the desk.

"Yesterday evening, why?"

"The phone rang twice, I think it's off the hook, or something. She doesn't have a cell and she isn't at work right now." I say, worry beginning to fill me as I realize how bad this is sounding.

"Um- I'll have someone go check by the house as soon as I can, but we really need to talk about what happened last night." He says while texting on his phone, probably making arrangements to have someone go by my house.

"Yeah, what about it? The fact that you denied me even though you're the one who said we have this 'special connection'? Does that make any sense to you?" I ask, trying to prove a point.

Blake stands, towering over me as I sit on the edge of my bed.

"I'm not saying that it makes sense. You just don't know what a bad idea it is for us to get involved. You're already at risk, and you'd be even more at risk if you and I were.. together." He looks at the ground while running a hand through his hair.

A moment of silence passes, chilling me to my core.

"Fine," I say, standing up from the bed,"but you better start explaining things a little more. I'm not going to just sit here and wait to be killed by the Caden's."

I head into the bathroom and close the door. I look at myself in the mirror and only now do I realize how tired I look, and how much I miss home. Just a few days ago I had a normal life, in a normal town, with a normal home life, and normal friends. Now I've discovered that my entire existence is far from normal, and it all becomes too much.

I decide to shower, as if the water can hide the tears threatening to stream down my face. I turn the water on cold, hoping that maybe the chill would take my mind off of what's going on around me.

After I've finished shampooing my hair and crying as much as humanly possible, I get out of the shower and blow dry my hair. The black strands are naturally wavy, but when blow dried become straight.

Once I've come to realize how long I've been avoiding Blake in the bathroom I decide to come out. The hotel room is empty, looking ransacked. My bag is in the floor, it's contents strewn across the room. Bed sheets are ripped and laid across the bed. The tv lays on it's side, as well as the lamp and desk chair. Blake's belongings look much like mine, but the gun he stores in it is no where to be seen.

Rykan's room is beside of ours so I decide to see if he knows what's happened here, and if he knows where Blake is. The door to our room is cracked, another bad sign. The hallway is dimly lit by several old lighting fixtures on the walls.

As I glance down the right side of the hall, a hand grabs me from behind, pulling me against their body. The next thing I know, I'm being held above the ground by a man of Blake's size, my hands being tied behind me with what looks to be the torn bed sheets from the hotel room.

"Who are you and what did you do with Blake?" I hope that maybe they don't know of Rykan's whereabouts, and maybe he would come to my rescue.

The man smirks, as if unsurprised by my asking. "Your little 'guardian' is occupied at the moment, and his friend, well, it seems he wasn't as trustworthy as you believed."

Rykan comes out of the hotel room next to mine, and I can't help but wonder if he is the one who ratted us out to the Cadentibusque. As if reading my mind, he says,

"Why yes, little angel, I'm the one who let the Caden know of your whereabouts. I would have done it sooner, but I wasn't sure of your abilities until I saw what you did to those who attacked Drake."

Rykan walks until he is inches from my face, so close that I can smell his bitter cologne. The palms of my hands begin to tingle, and only now do I realize that I can protect myself. Before I can do so, a damp rag is placed over my nose by a third man I hadn't noticed yet.

"Now it's time to be reunited with your true family, Caroline." Rykan says as sleep envelops me.