Forbidden Darkness (The Forbidden Darkness Chronicles, #1)

Twenty-Four

"Are you okay?"

That was the first thing my mother asked, who was kneeling by my bedside with a cup of hot tea. I grabbed the cup slowly and nodded, though I was sore all over. That was the worst pain I'd ever felt and I felt as weak as could be. The tea was so soothing as it slipped down my throat, and I moaned in pleasure. It was definitely Lena's tea and boy was it good!

"Do you feel different?" Philip asked. Even looking at him made my heart hurt, along with everything else I was in pain from.

"Not...really," I managed to say. "Just...sore."

Lena nodded. "The tea will help. It's herbal healing and that's what your body needs right now. Your change could have been a lot worse and we're lucky it didn't go any further than that. The last few minutes were different than the other changes I've seen, though. What happened?"

I thought back to the pain I felt, all the emotions, and I shrugged. "I just...felt everything. Saw flashes...of faces. Emotions...were going crazy." I couldn't believe how hard it was to talk, let alone think. Yeah, this was just great.

"That's unusual," Lena said. "I've never heard of a Monster Hunter being able to feel other people's emotions, nor have I heard anyone say they've seen faces when they changed. Are you positive that's what happened?"

That time I could only manage to nod.

"Phenomenal," Lena said. "I think so anyway. You really are one special girl. Whatever happened during your change means something. We just need to figure out what. In the meantime, you need to rest. If you need anything, please let us know rather than just leaving. You'll need to be home for a few more days before your abilities to fight come in."

Resting actually did sound quite lovely then...

***

Morning came and when I woke up, I was feeling much better. According to Kristen, I had changed at 2:36 in the morning, and I was grateful for that. That gave me all of Friday morning and afternoon to be carefree and not worry about when the god awful pain was going to begin. It already passed and I was happy about that.

There was a knock on my door around nine o'clock and I said, "Come in!"

It was Philip. Today he was wearing a dark clean shirt that was tight fit and straight blue jeans and he smiled when he saw me. In his hand was a tray full of food. "Are you hungry?"

Actually, until he mentioned it, I didn't realize how hungry I truly was. I swear, if I didn't eat right then, I thought my stomach was going to eat away at my organs. I nodded and he brought the tray over. On it were waffles with raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries on top, with a bottle of syrup. There was a tall glass of orange juice as well, a smaller cup of cranberry juice, and eggs and bacon.

"D-did you do all this?" I stammered.

He shrugged. "The change can make you very hungry. I didn't know if you'd like it."

I did, and him doing this for me made me like him a lot. "I don't know what to say...thank you, Philip." I didn't even hesitate and I picked mercilessly at the waffles, which were actually homemade! He went to leave, and with waffle in my mouth, I said, "Stay."

He laughed and sat down in the chair across the room. "Talking with your mouth full isn't polite." His smile seemed to send another wave of heat throughout my body.

I shrugged.

A few minutes went by and by then I'd devoured the entire plate of food and drank both the orange juice and cranberry juice. Philip didn't look surprised and just smiled. "Want anything else?"

I did but I wasn't going to keep eating. I'd make myself look like I have no self control. "No, I'm good. Where's Kristen?"

"Sleeping on the couch," he said. "I have your late morning and afternoon shift."

"Oh, don't say it like that! You make it sound like I'm in a hospital!"

Neither one of us said anything for a moment, but Philip was the first to speak again. "Do you like me?"

His question nearly killed me. What kind of question was that? Did he want me to confess my need to be with him, my desire to lie next to him, and my yearning to kiss him? If he thought I would, he was wrong. "I don't know."

"You seemed like you knew yesterday."

Of course I like you! I wanted to scream, but if I admitted it, it would change everything. He was going to be my trainer, my teacher, not my boyfriend. Plus, while he felt sorry for cheating on Kristen, my "once a cheater, always a cheater" philosophy still rang true. If he could do it once, surely it'd be easier to do a second time. I wasn't into getting hurt by guys, considering all my life boys thought I was a freak because of my hair and eyes. He was the only one who thought I was pretty.

But I couldn't hurt my best friend by being with him.

"We can't do this," I said to him. "We can be friends but nothing more. I don't like you." Saying the words almost made me choke up because I knew it wasn't true.

Thinking back on the last couple of days I'd known him, there had just been so much about him. Since I first laid eyes on him, I knew I wanted him but I couldn't be with him. I also couldn't make the feeling go away and the kiss yesterday proved that they weren't going away. He wasn't going away and I knew that I was going to have to get over it eventually.

"I'm sorry," I said, "but we can't be together. I don't want to be with you."

I expected a fight or an argument. I expected him to fight for me. I expected anything more than the simple nod I got. He stood up and said, "I actually should go take a shower. You'll be okay alone, right?" There was no hint of harshness. He was just saying it as it was.

Ouch. All I could do was nod.

When Philip left, I couldn't help but wonder if he ever truly liked me.