Page 22 of Dead End

I woke up gasping and clutching at my chest as my heart thundered. I was a sweaty mess and disoriented.

“Bad dream?” someone asked as the bed dipped at my side.

I was startled so badly that I ended up getting the sheets tangled around my ankles as I scrambled to move away. I somehow found myself spread eagle with my legs sticking up in the air after I fell to the hardwood floor with a soft thud. “Shit!”

“You just can’t help spreading those legs, can you?” Jason peeked over the edge of the bed, grinning wickedly. I hated the way those wide lips made my stomach flip.

“Only in your dreams. I promised myself a long time ago that I’d only spread my legs for...,” I grunted as I picked myself up off the floor, gripping the bed sheet. Then I closed the space between us, secretly enjoying the way his gray eyes darkened when my breath fanned his face. “A man who knows his alphabet.”

I tried to control a grin at his confusion but waited for him to ask because Jason just had to know the answer to everything.

“What the fuck does that even mean?”

He’d caved quicker than I thought, then sat back against the headboard with his arms crossed over his muscular pecs before taking a look around. My room still had all my belongings—from the standing wardrobe in the corner full of black clothing to the shelves lining my dark walls adorned with little trinkets I’d collected over the years. What my parents allowed me to own, that is. They didn’t exactly approve of my macabre taste in collectibles. Definitely not my collection of skulls, framed insects, and candles.

The only thing I could immediately see that wasn’t there before was the honest-to-god cluster of cobwebs hanging from my ceiling and a gigantic tree branch spreading across my whole room, originating from my opened stained glass window. The tree branch was thick and black, and it was covered in cobwebs. Looking closer, I realized Jessica had suddenly taken up residence in the highest branch and was currently snoozing away.

“Earth to Carrie! I asked you a question.” Jason snapped his fingers, rolling his eyes, when I just stood there looking around like an idiot.

What were we talking about? Something to do with the—Oh right, now I remember.

“Honey, if you don’t know your ABC’s by now, I’m not sure I’m the right person to ask. Sometimes, it’s good to play with your food.” I winked, feeling abnormally cheeky. Having him in my bedroom again after a year was doing all kinds of things to my body. Speaking of… “What were you doing in my bedroom, Jason?”

I could tell I caught him off guard, as he was still digesting my alphabet comment, and then his eyes filled with realization. I started to giggle, but before I could so much as squeak, he was off my bed, grabbing me by the waist with a snarl and tossing me on the mattress. Landing with a bounce, I moved my messy orange locks out of my eyes and gaped in shock as he prowled closer, kneeling on the bed over my prone body. He grabbed both my wrists and shoved them up, holding them above my head with surprising strength.

“I’d be happy to show you how well I can spell. I know my letters backwards and forwards, and maybe if you’re really nice to me, upside down.” He was inches away from my face, his lips curling upward.

It was hard to breathe, and the room felt at least ten degrees hotter. I could feel something hard digging into my pelvis, and it took all my strength not to grind against it. He knew exactly what he was doing. The way his eyes darkened to a gunmetal gray and the way his heavy breathing matched my own told me all I needed to know—he was just as turned on as I was. His heaving chest grazed my pebbled nipples, which he no doubt could feel through my thin dress.

“I love when...eyes...color of icicles...

His lips weren’t moving, not in the slightest, but I heard his voice in my head like a soft whisper. He’d been talking about my eyes... But why weren’t his lips moving? It was just like on the road—breathy voices and words they’d never say to my face.

“I wasn’t watching you sleep,” he whispered, his breath washing over my lips. “After you fainted like the drama queen you are, the aunties assigned us the guest rooms, but I couldn’t sleep with all the screaming going on in here.” His palm skimmed down my arm while the other hand held my wrists. “So shut the hell up so I can sleep.” His lips grazed mine, and my head spun, delaying my rational thought process. It took me a moment to realize what he’d said.

“Get off me,” I gritted out, pulling my wrists against his vice grip. “You lost the right to touch me a long time ago.” I twisted in his grip, but he wasn’t budging.

“No, I’m not going to fucking kiss her!” he said with his eyes narrowed, leaving me confused because I didn’t say anything about kissing me. But if he wanted to... I didn’t think I’d actually stop him. “She got us into this mess in the first place—shut the hell up!” he spat as he turned his head to the side, whisper-yelling at absolutely nobody.

I glanced around my empty room in confusion, seeing nobody but a still-sleeping Jessica in the tree. Was he arguing with himself?

“I have no idea what kind of acid trip you're on right now, Jason, but you need to get your hands off of me. Stop blaming me for everything.” I struggled once more to get free of him. “I had a choice to leave you dead or alive, and I don’t care what you think about it. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I’m glad I fucking did it!”

He squeezed his eyes shut as he ground his molars together, and it wasn’t just anger I saw on his face. It was also a sort of bone-deep pain. If I could reverse time, I would do it all over again, because the memory of them lying there cold and sightless would play in my mind for years to come. I couldn’t go through that pain again, and I wouldn’t let it happen on my watch. I saved them, and they could hate me for it all they wanted.

“I had plans, you know,” he whispered, his face sobering. “Plans that didn’t involve getting stuck in a town full of nightmares and you were never supposed to get hurt.” His voice was so quiet, I could hear the creaks and groans of the old manor over each word. It was like he didn’t want to say it, but this moment was real and raw.

“I’m not in danger, babe,” I said with a small smile, breezing past the endearment. “And I’m not hurt. I have everything I could possibly need right here.” I didn’t mean to spill my guts right now, but watching the bone-deep worry flicker in his eyes had it all spilling out.

Taking a chance, I hesitantly lifted my hand and stroked over his short five o’clock shadow, the bristles tickling my fingertips as he leaned into my touch. It suddenly felt like old times, where we could just be. Tears pricked my eyes, but I fought them. I wanted to savor this moment—just him and me, without all the hatred and memories.

“You don’t understand,” he breathed wearily, shaking his head. “This wasn’t just some freak accident. Can’t you feel that? Someone or something caused our bus to crash on Halloween night, at exactly midnight. It’s too much of a damn coincidence!”

He shoved up on his forearms, holding himself over me. I stared up into his eyes but drew back, hissing a breath through my teeth. Those weren’t Jason’s eyes anymore—not the stormy grays I knew. They were bright yellow and slitted like a cat’s eyes. He stared down at me without blinking, observing my every heavy breath.

“Jason?” I asked shakily, afraid to move or even exhale. “Jason, what’s going on?”

His whole body started trembling and shaking, while his head whipped left and right rapidly. He was only a blur, almost to the point that I couldn’t see his features at all anymore. I tried to scream, but it was like my voice was stuck in my throat. I just watched him with wide eyes as he spazzed out, wondering if I needed to punch him or hit him over the head with the candlestick by my bed.

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