The warmth was gone, replaced by a chilling cold.
My eyes cracked open but I didn't see the blinding sun as I thought I would. In fact, I didn't see much of anything. Darkness surrounded me, except for the small lights twinkling in the sky. The stars were out, and a full moon rested high above me.
It was night.
Slowly, I pushed myself into a sitting position, scratching at my head as I yawned. I felt a leaf or two tangled in my hair, maybe even a twig. How long had I been sleeping for?
Something buzzed near my upper thigh and I jumped, fearing that a large bug had crawled up my leg. But the buzzing continued and I recognized it as my phone vibrating. I pulled it out just as the buzzing stopped. My screen showed that I had twenty five missed calls; some from my father, my cousins, Rico, and even Lucas.
My hands ran through my hair and I let out a long breath. I was in a ton of trouble, probably more than I realized.
I dialed Lucas' number. I didn't want to talk with him but he was the only one I could call. My father was across the country so he couldn't help, and I didn't want to call Rico or my cousins at such a late time, they were probably sleeping. But I didn't mind disturbing Lucas this late, in fact, it would please me to know that I had woken him up.
The phone barely rang once before I heard Lucas answer rather stressed, "Kimber, where are you? Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you?"
"Calm down, I'm fine." I grumbled back, covering my mouth as I yawned again.
"I've been trying to find you all night, do you have any idea what time it is?" Lucas exclaimed, his voice raising, "It's three in the morning! I've been trying to track your phone all night but the signal sucks ass, I can't get a lock on you. Where are you?"
My eyes roamed the nearby darkness, vaguely remembering that I had walked miles outside of town, trying desperately to forget what I had watched Lucas do. I yawned yet again and shrugged to myself, "I'm not really sure. I followed the main road outside of town and just kept walking."
"Why didn't you come back?"
I didn't want to. Of course, I didn't tell him that, I only said, "I fell asleep on the side of the road."
Lucas cussed on the other end of the phone, "Are you fucking insane? What if someone kidnapped you? Or the animals got to you?"
"I didn't really think that far, I had other things on my mind." I snapped back, growing angry again. How dare he lecture me on dangers when he himself was a danger. If he wanted me to be safe, he'd let me leave this damn town for good.
Lucas sighed and was quiet for a moment. Then I heard him speak quietly, "I'm on my way. Get out of the ditch, or wherever the hell you were sleeping."
Then the line went dead. I momentarily thought Lucas had hung up on me, but then I realized my phone had died. I groaned to myself in anger because since arriving in Division, my luck had tanked.
I stood from my sleeping nest under the tree, gathered my things, and stepped up to the side of the road where I waited for Lucas. I was still disgusted by what Lucas had done but I was far too tired right now to be pissed at him. I just wanted to get back to my bed and sleep off the rest of this awful day.
Honestly, I wanted to go home. I wanted to see my mother and my father, I wanted them to hold me and tell me this was all a bad dream and that everything would be okay.
But the nightmare continued.
Headlights appeared in the distance. By the rate of their approach, I could tell the driver was speeding far beyond the limits of the law. When the car finally reached me, I saw black paint and tinted windows. It was definitely Lucas.
The car screeched to a stop in front of me and the driver's door opened before the car had completely stopped. Lucas emerged, sliding out from the car and appearing at my side in one quick and smooth movement. He reached his hands out to me as if I actually wanted his help or his comfort, "Are you okay?"
I stepped away from him, wrapping my arms around myself, "I'm fine. I told you that."
His face hardened and his hands fell. His mouth sputtered for a moment, as if he were going to say something but couldn't find the right words. Undoubtedly, he was astonished that I had the audacity to speak to him like that, but so what else was new? Eventually he shook his head and glared at me, "Yeah, you did. Get in the car."
I waited until he returned to his side of the car before I climbed into the passenger seat. Remembering how crazy Lucas enjoyed driving, I buckled myself in quickly, stuffing my bag into the space near my feet. Lucas gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white, but the car didn't move. Instead Lucas turned to face me, his eyes burdened by anger, "What the hell were you thinking?"
"About which part of the day?" I fired back, listing them off on my fingers "About following you to your little druggie meeting? About spying on you while you killed someone? Or maybe about walking away from you because the very thought of you makes me sick? Or could it be because I told my father, a Secret Service agent, that you murdered someone? Go ahead, take your pick."
"I meant about sleeping on the side of the road." Lucas answered without hesitating, "That's extremely dangerous! You could have been hit by a car or attacked by animals or any number of things. What the hell is the matter with you, do you have a death wish?"
That wasn't what I was expecting. In fact, I was prepared to argue about any of the reasons I stated but not the one that Lucas provided. My mind blanked as I tried to find a snappy comeback to piss him off but none were coming to mind.
"Yeah I killed someone, I actually do it more often than you apparently seem to think." Lucas continued on, the light from his dashboard tossing half of his face into shadows, "But if you had taken two minutes to try and understand why I did what I did, then you'd understand why I had to kill that man. You'd understand why some people are better off dead."
"No one deserves to die like that." I responded heatedly.
Lucas threw his hands into the air and shouted, "Oh please, save me the speech."
I crossed my arms defensively, "What speech?"
"Then one you've been giving since the moment we found out who you really were." Lucas yelled, letting his head fall into his hands. He scratched at his scalp while he spoke to me, his voice deep yet loud, "The speech about how your dad is a good and lawful man, and how he would never do the things my family has done. The speech about how you're his daughter and you were raised by a lawman, and how you have to be just like him. You have to make him proud. I'm so sick of you telling me how much better you are than my people."
My mouth fell open, "I never said any of tha-"
"You've said enough! It's in every look that you give me or my family or my friends." Lucas thundered, "Well I hate to disappoint you, princess, but we can't all have the perfect father who has a perfect job and perfect ethics and raises his kids to uphold those perfect morals. Some of us have to fight to survive, we don't just get life handed to us on a silver platter. So I'm sorry if that makes me a bad man or a criminal or whatever else you think of me. I do whatever it takes to protect my family because if I don't, no one else will and I'll be damned if I let anyone hurt my family ever again!"
My voice was lost.
Lucas was gripping the steering wheel again, his hands so tight that I feared the object would crumble in his grasp. He was breathing heavily, his furious gaze locked on the road illuminated before us. His entire body was rigid, coiled in rage. I had known Lucas for a little over two weeks and I had never seen him like this. Not when that man punched him, not when we got in the car accident, and not when that man pulled a blade on him.
So far, I was the only one who had angered him like this.
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
His head shot sideways, his eyes wide. For a long time, neither of us said anything. I was waiting for Lucas to calm down and he was waiting for me to further elaborate but I didn't know what else to say. I didn't know he thought I was so judgmental...I didn't know I acted so judgmental.
Eventually, Lucas released the steering wheel and let his hands fall into his lap, "What did you say?"
I groaned openly, "Don't make me say it again." When Lucas didn't respond, I gritted my teeth, swallowed my pride, and continued on, "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know how much I bothered you."
"No, you don't bother me." Lucas informed, his tone much softer than before, "Your utter lack of seeing anything other than the way you want to is what bothers me. I understand that what my family does isn't exactly encouraged by people like your dad but our actions are justified. We do what it takes to keep my father's domain under control."
"Then help me understand." I turned in my seat to face him. This was it, this was his chance to put everything on the table. Now was the time for him to tell me why he killed that man and why I shouldn't consider Lucas and his family as FBI's most wanted, "Tell me why you had to kill that man, tell me why some people are better off dead."
Lucas ran his fingers through his hair, pulling at the strands. He stayed this way for a long time while he tried to find the right words. He knew as well as I did that he would only have one chance, "That man, the one you saw me kill, he called my family rotten. I know you heard him say he wanted to kill me as a message to my father, which is encouragement enough to end his pathetic life, but when you label a person or group as rotten...it's like placing a hit on them. The attacks would have never stopped."
"You couldn't have just broken his fingers like you did to the guy that punched you?" I wondered, then quickly added, "And just for the record, I don't condone that either but it's better than killing a man."
Lucas sighed, keeping his head in his hands, "You don't understand. Fred was a coward, he punched me only out of blind anger. His punishment served as a reminded to the laws my father has created. The man that I killed, he sought me out deliberately. Breaking his hand would have done nothing, it would have show everyone else that my father is weak. Soft. Do you know the kind of chaos that would erupt is people thought that my father was afraid to kill?"
"But he wasn't the one who killed that man, you did." I reminded rather harshly. Still, it baffled me that I was even having this conversation. What kind of normal, sane person sat in a car with an attractive guy at three in the morning talking about how he killed someone only hours before? If this were a different situation and we were in a parallel universe, there were a few other things we would be doing that I could think of ...
"I am a representation of my father. If I'm weak, then he is weak." Lucas ground his teeth together, obviously trying to control his temper. He was better at it than I was.
"So killing is the best solution?"
"Killing is the only solution." Lucas finally lifted his head to stare at my, those ever vibrant eyes drowning in an emotion I couldn't quite place. He wasn't sad, he wasn't angry...he looked, tired. As though he hadn't slept in days.
I sighed as well and folded my hands in my lap to keep them from shaking, "I'm sorry, Lucas, but I just don't see things the same way that you do."
He laughed humorlessly, placing his hand on his chest as if he were suddenly breathless, "Of course you don't. I wish we could all live in your world where everyone is best friends with everyone, but unfortunately, I have to live in reality. And in my world, it's kill or be killed."
"There has to be another way." I informed, watching him carefully while he tried to catch his breath. One would think he just ran a marathon.
He shook his head before letting it fall back against the headrest of his seat, "There is no other way, Kimber. When are you going to realize that? I'm sorry if you think my way doesn't solve anything but in actuality, it does. And once my father finds the real snitch, he'll find the traitor as well. Then you can go back to your unrealistic world."
He finished his words with a cough, a rough one. The hand over his chest gripped his shirt, his eyes shutting tightly in pain. My own heart sped up at seeing him like this, I had no idea what was going on but it was very similar to the first time I spoke with him at the party a few weeks ago.
Something was definitely wrong.
"Lucas-"
"Can you drive?" He cut me off, now gripping his head with both hands. I had seen people with migraines before but never like this. Never so...scary.
I whimpered my reply, "Yes."
Before I had time to think, Lucas unbuckled my seatbelt and lifted me into the air. Then I was sitting in the driver's seat and he was sitting passenger. I re-buckled myself and scooted my seat way forward because my short legs couldn't reach the peddles. Then I threw the car into drive and made a sharp u-turn to head back into town.
"Where am I going?" I asked, chancing a peek at Lucas. But I shouldn't have because it only made things ten times worse. His chair was reclined back, one of his hands still tangled in his hair while his other hand clawed at his heart. He was gasping for air at this point, but still coughing as though his lungs were rejecting the oxygen.
But because of his condition, he couldn't speak. He tried a few times but I couldn't understand him. In a panic, I reached for my phone and tried dialing Rico's number but the realization hit me like a planet. My phone was dead.
I threw my phone down and reached over, digging Lucas' phone out of his pocket and clicked the screen on but it was protected by a password. I looked to Lucas helplessly, "What's the password?"
"Fuck." Lucas grumbled through clenched teeth, gripping his head like it might explode if he didn't hold it together.
My heart thudded violently, "I can see that you're in a lot of pain Lucas but I need to know the passcode so I can call Rico."
Lucas let out a pained growl before he shouted, "The password is fuck!"
Oh...
I typed the numbers corresponding with the letters that would spell out the word fuck. Then I searched through Lucas' recent call and saw Rico's name at the top. I dialed his number while trying extremely hard not to crash into anything.
Rico picked up on the fifth ring, groggily and yawning, "Lucas what the hell? It's like three in the morning. Did you find Kimber yet-"
"Something's wrong with Lucas." I interjected, shifting my gaze back and forth between the road and the man suffocating beside me, "He picked me up and we were arguing, then all of a sudden he was coughing and now he can't breath. I don't know what to do, I don't know where to go-"
"Kimber, calm down. Are you driving?" Rico asked, suddenly alert and wide awake.
I nodded but cursed at myself, Rico couldn't see me, "Yes."
"Okay, you need to bring him home immediately. Do you know how to get there?"
Tears were welling in my eyes at this point while I listened to Lucas fight to breath, "No, I don't know how to get there. Please tell me what to do."
"First of all, take a deep breath otherwise you're going to pass out." Rico instructed. It sounded like he was rustling around on his end, he must be getting ready to leave wherever he was, "Now listen closely. Do you remember where we crashed into each other?"
"Yes."
"Okay go back to that intersection, then take a left and follow it all the way down. You're going to come to a stop sign. Turn right and you'll see the subdivision on your left." Rico explained carefully and slowly, "You can do this, Kimber, everything is going to be fine. But you need to drive fast, very fast."
"But what if-"
"No cop will stop you in Lucas' car, they know better." Rico replied, then the line went dead. Without Rico to talk to, the sounds of Lucas dryly sucking for air became much louder. I glanced at him again and saw his eyes shut tightly. Both of his hands scratching at his neck as if there were an invisible force choking him.
What the hell was going on?
I slammed my foot against the gas pedal and the car lurched forward. We flew through town and returned to the back roads. I didn't stop for any traffic lights or stop signs, I think I even hit a bunny by accident. But nothing else was on my mind except getting Lucas back to his house.
"You're going to be okay. Lucas, can you hear me?" I tried speaking with him but he never responded. Slowly, his thrashing stopped and then his movements ceased all together. His arms fell slack and his head limply rolled to the side.
Fear capture my heart and my stomach threatened to revolt.
"Lucas? Lucas, wake up!" I ordered, shaking his body violently. His skin was still warm, and he looked like he was sleeping. But he wasn't and I knew he wasn't. He was dying.
I pushed the pedal down harder but it met the floor, reaching it's limit. We rocketed down the roads, everything flying by in a blur. This was the fastest I had ever gone in a car. I reached the intersection and took a sharp left. It took approximately fifteen seconds to reach the stop sign and I drifted to the right. Before long, the subdivision appeared on my left and I sped past the security booth without a single thought.
Glancing at Lucas every few seconds proved to be disastrous because every time I saw him laying there, completely still, my heart ached more and more.
At the end of the street, I saw Rico waiting for me outside of Lucas' house along with Mr. and Mrs. Vasquez. None of Lucas' cousins were in sight, they must be at the clubhouse. That's where we were supposed to be all along but I left. This is all my fault. If I had just listened to the boys and let them explain everything, maybe I wouldn't' have ran away.
Maybe Lucas would still be breathing.
Vaguely, a thought passed through my mind about texting Nash and Nicole but I would worry about that later. There was only one important thing to do right now and that was save Lucas.
I soared around the circle driveway and slammed on the breaks just as I reached Rico. Instantly, Mr. Vasquez opened the passenger door, leaning in to check on his son. Mr. Vasquez took Lucas' face in his hands, turning his son's head to face him. When Lucas made no inclinations of moving, Mr. Vasquez lightly slapped Lucas' cheek, "Lucas? Can you hear me? Come on, hijo, wake up."
Without knowing what I was doing, I jumped out of the car and rounded the hood to where Rico and Lucas' parents were standing, "He stopped breathing a few minutes ago. What's going on?"
"Rico help me." Mr. Vasquez called as he lifted Lucas from the car. Rico rushed to Lucas' other side and the two of them carried his wilted body up the stair and into the house, his feet dragging lifelessly behind him. I watched them disappear into the house, abruptly feeling exceedingly light headed.
Mrs. Vasquez came to my side, taking my hand in hers as she too led me up the stairs, "Kimber, honey, take a deep breath okay? You did very well, Lucas is going to be fine."
She didn't sound too convincing.
I assumed we were going into Mr. Vasquez's study, that's where they seemed to bring all the injured people. However, Mrs. Vasquez led me into the kitchen then to the back of the house where a set of stairs disappeared downwards. I didn't even know they had a basement.
How big could this house possibly be?
After descending the stairs, I found myself in what looked like a infirmary. There were hospital beds lined against the walls, each bed area outfitted with different machines and separated by a white curtain. Each of the beds were made tidily, readily awaiting their next patient. Seriously, it looked like I had stepped into an episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Mrs. Vasquez led me to the back where Lucas had been placed on a bed, his shirt disposed of. Rico had backed away, watching closely as a man I had never seen before, stepped up to the bed. He was dressed in a pure white lab coat and had a large syringe in his hand, the capsule filled with a dark brown liquid. Mr. Vasquez stepped back as well, his arms folded over his chest while he stared at his unconscious son. I waited patiently for the doctor to insert the needle into Lucas' arm as I had seen on television but he never did.
Instead, he lifted the needle high into the air...
...then plunged it into Lucas' chest.
I heard a scream sound through the air and realized a second later that it had come from me. No one else reacted to the fact that a psychotic scientist had plunged a long metal needle into Lucas' heart. Mrs. Vasquez squeezed my hand tighter, I think it was meant to reassure me but it didn't help.
The doctor pressed the end of the syringe down until all of the dark liquid had disappeared into Lucas' body. Afterwards,the doctor removed the needle. Then everyone waited. Rico stood at the foot of the bed, leaning forward as if the closer he got would somehow signal Lucas to wake up. Mr. Vasquez didn't move and I wasn't sure if Mrs. Vasquez was even breathing.
I wasn't sure if I was breathing.
Moments passed, then a minute. Nothing changed, no one moved, and I prepared myself to accept that I had let yet another person die right in front of me. And this time, it was Lucas. A stab of pain entered my heart knowing that the only person to blame was myself once again. His family was going to hate me, they'd probably kill me.
Suddenly, there was a dry wheeze that sounded from Lucas' chest as he sucked in a huge breath. Life crashed into the room again as Mr. and Mrs. Vasquez both smiled in relief. Rico ran his fingers through his hair before shuffling to the side of the bed.
Lucas coughed for a few minutes, still holding his chest in pain, but after a while he was able to regain his normal breathing. Then Rico placed his hand over Lucas' forehead, "Hey man, welcome back to the land of living. You really scared us that time."
After a few more deep breaths, Lucas nodded and chuckled lightly, replying in a hoarse tone, "Yeah, scared the hell out of me too."
Mr. and Mrs. Vasquez approached their son, hugging him and kissing him. I heard them talking softly, in hushed tones, about how he needed to be more careful and vigilant. He agreed and hugged them back, taking the time to recover.
But I still had no idea what was going on. None of them appeared to remember I was still standing there so I slowly backed up, feeling like my own heart was going to stop. I placed a hand over my chest and brought the other one up to my head. My entire body felt drained, the same way it felt after a very strenuous work out. I wiped at the tears that had gathered in my eyes, there was no need for them now that I knew Lucas was going to live.
I closed my eyes, calming my pulse with deep breaths.
"Kimber." I heard that powerful voice call out just as I had made it to the stairs. I froze, unsure of whether to run to Lucas and hug him or collapse on the floor and take a five day nap. Both options sounded pretty good to me.
Slowly, I turned around.
The first thing I noticed was that Lucas was now sitting up, his legs hanging over the side of the bed while his parents and Rico stood on either side of him. Then next thing I noticed was that he was still shirtless and his heavenly abs and upper chest were decorated with dark tattoos. The last thing I noticed was the dark mark on his chest which was already bruising from where the needle had pierced his heart.
This was too much.
I lifted my trembling hands to my head and took a very deep breath, in through my nose and out through my mouth, "What is going on?"
Silenced followed my question. They weren't going to answer, I knew they weren't going to. This family had more secrets than a damn cult. It shouldn't surprise me yet it still hurt to know they didn't trust me enough to keep their secrets.
"Sorry you had to see that." Lucas finally spoke, though they weren't the words I wanted to hear. I wanted him to tell me why he almost died and why no one was freaking out except for me. Lucas rubbed at the back of his neck, as if he were embarrassed, "Thanks for driving me back here though."
None of them were going to tell me about what happened here tonight and my heart physically couldn't handle any more. Knowing that I wasn't going to get the answers I wanted, I turned around again to leave. I needed about a week of sleep and a lot of ice cream, neither of which would come easily.
"Kimber wait." I heard Lucas call again. I stopped but I couldn't be sure why, maybe because I was scared to leave just in case this was a figment of my imagination and Lucas was really dead. I waited for him to apologize, I waited for him to explain.
But he said no more.
Eventually, Mrs. Vasquez came to my side again, "You look exhausted, dear. Why don't you stay here for the night? Marisol has some pajamas that will definitely fit you and the guest bedroom is just upstairs."
I only nodded, too fearful of how my voice would shake if I tried speaking and too tired to argue against her suggestion.
"I'll call Nash and let him know we found you." Rico informed lightly, offering me a warm smile as if that could fix my otherwise atrocious day, "Sleep tight, hermosa."
I didn't answer, and Lucas said nothing.
Mrs. Vasquez escorted me to the top floor and into an elegantly decorated room. But I couldn't focus on any of the details. Marisol wasn't in here which lead me to believe she was at the clubhouse with everyone else. I was given a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt which I changed into quickly, happy to be out of my jeans. Then Mrs. Vasquez took me to the guest bedroom which was cute and cozy. She said something to me but I was already heading towards the bed.
I was asleep before I hit the pillows. Whether that was from physical exhaustion or emotional exhaustion would forever be a mystery but personally, I'd like to believe it was from a strained heart.
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Wrote this whole chapter in a day, guess I should study for midterm's now...
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Thanks agains everyone!