Copyright 2014 JC Wallace
Holding his head, Levi focused on moving his feet and
pushed to get by the masses of bodies on his left and tried to avoid being
pounded into the wall to his right.
Bam!
He ran into a hard wall of chest. The collision pushed
him back. Protecting his side, Levi was about to go around the large person
until he saw it—a
large red dragon in a sea of black—the
black of a hooded sweatshirt.
Was this the man who’d been outside of his house? Was he
some kind of a modern day Grim Reaper, exchanging the hooded cape for a hooded
sweatshirt, a hipper, up to date version of Death. Looking up, a pair of dark
eyes glared down at Levi. The man’s stern mouth was clamped shut and his jaw
clenched so tight that the muscles bulged at the sides. Then, a ripping pain
traveled straight to the center of Levi’s brain and doubled him over.
Levi cried out, his shout absorbed by the noise of the
crowd.
When he stood up, the man towering over him reached out
and laid a large hand on Levi’s shoulder. The contact brought on a swell of
horrific pain, a ringing in Levi’s ears, and stinging tears to his eyes.
Covering his ears, Levi tried to muffle the deafening rumble, but the sound
increased. Within the pain, there emerged a distinct sensation, a pulsing
energy licking at his brain with the intensity of a thousand suns—and it was coming from
the large man. Memories coalesced—that
man in the black hoodie had been there, outside of Levi’s classroom, in the
school parking lot, as well as outside of Levi’s house and now was right in
front of Levi—an
assailant with an invisible weapon.
Was he trying to kill him?
Whatever his motive, Levi had to get far away from him.
Yanking his shoulder from under the heavy hand, Levi turned and struggled to
pass anyone in his way. Terrified, he refused to look back to see if he was
being followed.
Levi heard his name called from within the crowd. Melissa
waved frantically, but Levi continued weaving through bodies. Finally, at the
end of the hall, Levi burst through the exit, into the stairwell and leaned
against the railing. The pressure had subsided slightly, but then surged with a
new intensity.
The door opened behind Levi. Whirling around, the
dark-eyed man stood before Levi again. With a thunderous echoing roar, the door
slammed behind the man, his stare fixed on Levi.
“Stop it!” Levi screamed through clenched teeth.
As hard as he tried, Levi couldn’t keep his gaze on the
man. The pain forced his head down into his hands.
Boots scraped against the floor, echoing through the
stairwell. As the man came closer, Levi backed up against the wall, scrambling
to get away.
“Get away from me,” Levi cried, swinging a fist toward
the dragon covered chest, but he only swiped the air.
Another sickening wave struck and a warm trickle seeped
from Levi’s left nostril. Swiping it with the back of his hand, he saw it was
bright red.
Blood.
“Y-You’re killing me!” The words came out as a guttural
cry. “Go away!”
The footsteps stopped. Levi peered up expecting the menacing
face to morph into a hideous monster. Instead, there was only a man bewildered
and possibly even stunned as blood ran down Levi’s face and stained his gray sweater.
The man’s mouth opened as if something to say something, but there was nothing
but silence.
The burly man took a step back, his eyes unwavering. Levi
grabbed his head again and closed his eyes for a second. In that moment, the
man turned and bolted for the stairs.
The door opened again and Noah barreled through almost
missing Levi, his face horror stricken when he saw the blood. He glimpsed down
at the fleeing man then back at Levi.
“You okay?” he asked, his wide eyes darting back and
forth from Levi to where the man had disappeared.
Levi nodded and Noah descended the stairs.
Levi slid down the wall and sat on the floor. The
bleeding had slowed. His stomach churned, threatening to empty. He swallowed
hard. The sickening force in his head subsided as rapidly as it had emerged, a
ghost of its former self. A warm tickle in his chest was all that remained.
Rapid footsteps echoed on the stairs and Noah reappeared,
hastening to Levi. On Noah’s face was enough anger to break someone in half.
“He’s gone. What did he do to you?” Noah growled, kneeling
beside Levi.
What did he do? To Levi, it felt as if he’d tried to rip
his brain out through his nose, but the man had only touched his shoulder. What
could he say that wouldn’t sound totally insane?
“Did he hit you?” Noah roared when Levi didn’t answer.
Levi shook his head. “No. He didn’t touch me,” he lied.
Noah frowned with a puzzled look. “But you’re bleeding?”
Chapter 9
Levi glanced down at the obnoxious deep red stain on his gray
sweater.
“A bloody nose.” He brushed at his nostril with his
fingertips to make sure it had stopped. “I was in the hallway and my head
really started to hurt and then I literally ran into that guy. When I came out
here, he followed me. I guess I got a little freaked.”
That was putting it mildly.
“So he didn’t touch you?”
“No, really, he didn’t,” he lied.
Yes, he’d touched Levi and then tried to kill him with
some kind of freaky mind meld or something equally weird. “How did you know
where to find me? Levi asked, surveying the blood staining his hands.
“Your brother’s girlfriend. She mentioned you ran out here acting all
strange. That was quite the bloody nose. How about we get you cleaned up?”
Noah reached for Levi’s arm to help him to his feet.
Goosebumps covered Levi’s skin again and there was a foreign stirring of warmth
in his chest. Noah’s green eyes had softened. Concern for Levi reflected in
their deep richness. A slight smile and Levi melted a bit. Of course, Levi
probably looked like a walking corpse.
They went down the stairs to avoid the crowded hall. Levi
was weary, waiting for the man in black to jump out at him but he appeared to
be long gone. What did he want? Was Levi manufacturing his paranoia that this
man was following him? Maybe he hadn’t been around each time Levi had felt that
skull-crushing pain? Maybe he was hallucinating?
Downstairs, the bathroom was vacant. In front of the
mirror, Levi gaped at his reflection. Damn, he looked like the walking dead.
The blood wasn’t the only horror. His skin had taken on a gray, waxy pallor,
highlighting deep black circles beneath his eyes. The color had drained from
his lips. Turning on the water, Levi scrubbed at the dried blood on his face
and hands. For having just survived a near miss with a hipper version of Death,
Levi was feeling surprisingly good.
Stripping off his gray sweater, Levi was relieved that
the blood hadn’t soaked through the thick wool onto the white t-shirt he wore beneath.
The sweater went into the garbage can. No way he’d be chucking that into the
laundry at home for his mother to uncover. Her gloating about being right would
never end. Kind of like Gia’s.
Again, Noah had come to his rescue. A surge of heat
rushed from Levi’s chest and flushed his cheeks, bringing him back to life. A
knot twisted in his stomach with the thought of Noah’s green eyes, his seductive
smile, long dark lashes. And that hair, all wild and unruly. Levi imagined it
would feel soft against his fingers as he ran them through the auburn curls. He
imagined Noah’s arms wrapped tight around his waist, Noah’s hot breath on his
neck, Noah’s lips pushing against his. A shudder raced down his spine. Fuck,
that was hot.
Pushing open the bathroom door, Levi found Noah leaning
his shoulder against the wall, arms folded across his chest. Like the day Noah
had rescued Levi, just the sides of his hair were pulled back. When Noah
smiled, the smallest amount of breath escaped Levi’s lips. He wiped his sweaty
palms against his pants. Pangs of desire rose quickly and right then he knew he
had to feel his hands on Noah.
##
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