The Night Rider

Chapter 21

My fingers slide along my wrist, following the black lines that I cannot see at the moment. In the darkness, I look at the ceiling. The only light in the room is the moon. I can only let a sigh slip from my lips. I have hardly slept for weeks. The pain that keeps my life lines awake is no longer tenable, especially at night.

I turn my head towards Chea, who is sleeping deeply on the other bed. I take off the covers and decide I've stared at the ceiling long enough. My bare feet slide over the floorboards, and with a slight creak I continue towards the door. I open the wooden door as quietly as possible and walk into the living area of the house.

I softly close the door behind me and then let go of the held breath. I tiptoe through the house, without a goal. It is pitch black in the house so you can hardly see anything. I take a candle from the windowsill and look for something to light it with. I pull open a drawer but find nothing but papers full of text.

I pull open the drawer of the kitchen cupboard and am lucky to find a box of matches. I put the candle on the counter and draw a match across the edge of the ignition. A flame emerges on the small wood. I hold the match to the wick and wait for the string to catch fire. I blow out the match and take the candle from the counter.

I let the candle glide through the room, not necessarily with a purpose. My eye falls on the wooden table, where the open book still lies. I put the candle on the table, giving me just enough light to read what is written there. I cannot stop myself from taking the book from the table and letting my eyes slide over the unfamiliar characters.

Drawings of animals, plants, but also creatures, colour the paper. I wonder what the words, which I cannot read, are saying. A murderer and a thief. Startled, I drop the book from my hands onto the table, a loud noise fills the hollow house. Out of reflex, I turn around in a second and try to strike my target.

The one behind me is faster. I end up with my back against the wall with wide-open eyes looking deep into Noa's blue ones. A grin, clearly inherited from his mother, marks his lips. My hands are pinned against the wall above my head. Noa's head is so close I can feel his breath against my skin.

'Not fast enough princess'. Anger bubbles up in my veins, especially at his backhanded grin. He's having a great time, you can't miss it. He slackens his grip a little bit and I seize my chance to get loose, but in vain I end up against the wall even harder this time. My hands are once again pinned above my head, harder this time. He is fast, very fast.

Noa's head is even closer than before, I can feel his breath slipping past my lips. I can feel the blood in my veins, not just rage harder anymore, there is a tension in the room that I would rather deny. Let go of me,' I try. His grin only grows bigger. 'Try to get loose,' he challenges me.

I try to move my wrists, in vain. The boy is clearly stronger than he looks. My knee ends up in the wrong place for him, which weakens his grip once more. I grab my chance and push him away. I cannot deny that I am not enjoying myself. I try to get away by speeding up my stride, my bare feet running across the wooden floor.

His footsteps follow far too quickly behind me and for the third time I end up against the wall. His grip tightens again, his eyes look even deeper and his face even closer. His nose almost touches mine. My heartbeat quickens. I want to deny that I am attracted to the black-haired boy, but I would be lying.

His dark eyes slide away from mine, following my body. I follow his eyes. I am dressed in nothing more than a large shirt that Chea tossed me when she entered. On the contrary, his gaze does not make me feel uncomfortable; a small grin marks my lips. A little surprise is evident in his eyes as soon as our eyes meet again.

'I know a way to stop the pain'. The words leave his mouth in a whisper. His breath slides along my skin like a warm wind. Somehow I wish we were carrying the same thought at this moment, on the other hand I know how strange this situation is. I can't deny the fear that Chea will come out through the door and find us like this. Whereas a few hours ago I wanted to wring his neck, now I am intrigued by those blue eyes.

He is silent and just looks at me, waiting for a reaction. The moment I can see what I have to lose, nothing, I come to the words. 'Let's see'. The words also leave my mouth in a whisper. We have not let go of each other's eyes. I feel his heartbeat against my chest, he is so close.

The next moment his eyes close and not even seconds later there is no more space between our lips. A feeling that I only know from the moments when I see someone leave life, now enters my body again. The thought that Chea could find this scene at any moment slips away from me like water.

His grip on my wrists weakens, so I move my hands to his hair. As our lips glide past each other, I plait my fingers into his black hair. The tingling sensation of the kiss shoots through my body like fireworks. Our lips glide past each other, ever faster. His hands grab my hips and pull me closer to him.

I have kissed a boy before, but the feeling this kiss causes is something I have not felt before. His silky soft lips feel like a drug I could become addicted to far too quickly. As soon as his mouth makes a little room to change the kiss to one with more passion, I grab his hair tighter. His tongue, sliding along mine, almost causes me to miss the creaking of the door, almost.