Craving Them (Book 1 - SAMPLE)

Chapter 4 - Bryce

"Instinctively we naturally
want to guard or protect
something we view
as precious."

~~Sunday Adelaja

****************

~~Bryce~~

Several hours had passed by since Andi had collapsed in the middle of the book store, her skin ghostly white as she flailed and screamed. The manager of Binding Words had called an ambulance as I had tried to calm Andi, my attempts going ignored by the belligerent girl in my arms. Her wild eyes and panicked screams had ripped through me like shards of glass with each second that ticked away, my prayers for relief going unanswered until we had arrived at the hospital.

Rory had met us in the ER, quickly diffusing the situation between the staff and I, then easing her little sister's distress while I stood by helplessly. I had witnessed episodes like this many times over the years since that fatal night, but nothing had ever been like this except for the first few months afterward. It was like she had been thrown back into those early days where she was physically experiencing the attack all over again.

My heart ached as I held her close, the dimly lit bedroom casting odd shadows across the room. I could hear the distant sounds of Rory downstairs, china clinking and silverware rattling as she worked on whatever comfort she had planned. Sighing, my arms tightened around the trembling girl beside me, gently kissing the top of her head. Andi hadn't said a word in hours, her stormy eyes haunted as tears silently slipped down her cheeks.

"I'm here, baby girl," I whispered, resting my head atop her's. "I'm not going anywhere."

Andi nodded, but no words left her mouth as she pressed herself closer to me. I hated this! I hated not knowing what had happened, or how to fix it. It was my job to be there for her and I had failed horribly, with no idea how to take her pain away.

It was something I had struggled with since the night I had found the two sisters, broken and dying in their childhood home. I wasn't supposed to be there but Andi had forgotten her phone so I had told the driver to take me back. Closing my eyes, I let the memory play across my thoughts, unable to shake the feeling of failure from my mind.

Part of me knew that I had only been a thirteen year old boy, but I wasn't like other boys my age and never had been. My childhood had been filled with training, ruthless violence to harden the boy into a man and prepare me for a future that ran in my veins. Because of that, I knew the moment I had stepped out of that car that something was terribly wrong. I should have walked her to the door, I should have done so many things differently that night. If I had, then maybe Andi would have been okay.

The light click of Andi's bedroom door opening had both of us snapping back to reality and our gazes flicking towards it. Rory came in with a tray filled with three steaming coffee mugs and a plate of cookies, a forced smile plastered on her face.

"Look what I brought, hot chocolate and some chocolate chip cookies," she said with false cheer as she placed the tray beside the bed. "The perfect recipe for happy thoughts."

She handed each of us a mug of hot chocolate, the porcelain warm against my palm as I leaned my head back against the headboard. I was emotionally and physically exhausted even though I hadn't been the one to experience the ordeal, only watching it happen from the sidelines.

Andi repositioned herself slightly so she could take a tentative sip of her drink, my freehand moving to her thigh to absently rub circles over the outside of the flannel pants she had changed into after we got back. No one spoke, Rory taking a seat on the end of Andi's bed and I could see the gears turning inside her head as she studied her baby sister. She wanted to say something but after glancing at me she seemed to change her mind, opting instead to reach for the drawer on the nightstand.