Gravity (33 page)

"He can't hate Red that much. They loved each
other like brothers. They're best friends."

I can't hold it back. She needs a wake-up
call. The guy is holds a huge grudge against Red. He's the prime
suspect. Is she blind? "Not anymore!" I shout.

Violet gasps.

I didn't mean to say it so harshly. Grey is
not what she thinks. I hate confirming her heartbreak, but it's the
only way to move forward.

"So are we just breaking into his room?"
Violet cries. "I have to talk to him? I can't believe he would do
anything to Red. I mean he might be angry but accusing him of
having anything to do with Red's disappearance is ridiculous."

"Right, so I'm the liar? Thanks Vi."

"Alex!" Dash scolds. “We don’t know
that.”

"Why don't you believe me? I spoke with the
guy. He's suspicious."

"I'm going to talk to him." Violet
stands.

"No way!" I grab her arm. "We can't trust
that he won't hurt you. He's not the same person."

She shakes me off. "You don't know him!"

Violet isn't listening. She doesn't want to
believe me. It hurts; she doesn’t trust my judgment. She insists
that she can talk to him and everything will be okay. I look at
Dash and Gabriel, aggravated that she refuses to understand that
Grey is a totally different person than the one she remembers.
What's worse is she still loves that guy.
That fucking
guy...

"You're right, we don't know him," Gabriel
says. "But if Alex talked to him and Grey didn't seem right to him.
I think we need to trust Alex, Violet. Red chose him to help."

My mouth twitches. Gabriel of all people.
Shit.

Violet purses her lips. "You don't know him
like I do."

I feel another stab to my chest.

Dash shifts in his seat. He's afraid of
angering her. "I think its best Grey doesn't know, Violet. If he's
as dangerous as Alex expresses, then interacting with him might be
a bad idea. If we break into his room, we can see what he’s been up
to."

Violet folds her arms and looks away from all
of us disapprovingly.

Dash clears his throat and continues, "If
he's not in the building, we'll check the room for clues. It isn't
much of a plan, if we can even call it that."

"Fine. Let's go." Violet walks away, hastily
putting on her jacket. None of us trust her.

We'll have to keep him away from her; or
her away from him—whatever it takes
, I say in their thoughts
while Violet anxiously waits at the door.
There's something
wrong with that guy. I'll be damned if he lays a finger on
her.

***

Gabriel

I'm glad the
club isn't as crowded as the other night. There's room to move
which gives me the confidence to focus on keeping my aura in check.
Most of the people are hovering by the bar until the live music
starts, making it easier to scope out the area for Grey.

"I got nothing." Dash
makes his way to Alex from searching the other side of the club. "I
asked the bartender, he said he left hours ago. It'll be hours
until he gets back. He said he's usually out all night."

"Out all night?"
Violet perks up hearing the information about Grey.

Alex rubs his necks.
"You don't think he would slip pass us, right?"

"The trail I saw outside was old." I watch
Violet when I know I should be watching for Grey. She's anxiously
scanning the room again. I wonder why such a guy would leave her
all by herself in the Sanctuary. She seems so worried about him. It
must be nice to be missed by someone.

"Let’s give it a once
over again. We'll split up." Alex says as Violet starts walking
away.

"Follow her."
Alex says to me. I'm astonished he trusts me that much.

We
walk the perimeter of the club. I
don't even think she's notices I'm trailing her. She stares up at
the staircase leading up the second floor. She touches the
railing.

"Violet!" I reach out to her arm and retract
before I touch her. "Violet, we can't just leave." I look back at
Alex and Dash who also part ways.

"
You see
that?
" Her eyes are affixed at top of the staircase.
"Gabriel, do you see?"

I shift to my auric sight
.
A dulled silver mist floats up the stairs.
"Grey."

Violet's eyes light up and she darts up the
steps.

"We can't just go without—"

"I have to see him, Gabriel." She says as she
jogs up the stairs. "Please understand. I can't wait another
minute. You can go tell the others, I don't care."

I look to where Dash was, but I can't see
anyone with glasses. The lights have dimmed for a band to play. The
crowd at the bar begins to spread across the floor, making it even
harder to spot Alex and Dash. Shit. I clutch the banister. "I'm
coming with you."

She's already nearing the top of the stairs.
I
follow
her
up. The live music begins to vibrate under foot. Alex
is going to be pissed and everything seems more dangerous without
Dash by my side. They'll worry about Violet for sure. I never
needed a cell phone. I wish at this moment I had one.

I
follow closely behind her down a
narrow corridor. I concentrate to see
the silver auric trail
end at a particular door
. It doesn't
feel right.

"Violet, what
if Alex is right?" My stomach feels sick.

It's seems she
didn't hear me
. She clutches
the door knob and hesitantly raises her fist to knock. She had to
have heard me. She's ignoring me. She knocks and the sound makes my
body stiffen. Should I run and get Alex and Dash? What if he's
inside?

"I guess he's not
here." She says disappointingly.

A sigh of relief escapes my mouth. I don't
have to defend her from her crazy ex-boyfriend. An adult telepathic
Hybrid living above a bar is probably a scary guy; more threatening
than Eric Anderson. I think Dash said he has tattoos too. I'd
definitely get crushed.

"How are we supposed
to get in?"

She's probably
regretting leaving Alex who would just break the door. Dash would
probably take a part the whole damn handle.
I reach in my pocket and whip out my lock picking
tools.

"There were times
when I needed shelter when the weather was bad." Gabriel says
softly. "I never thought I'd have to use them again."

"Hopefully this will
be the last," she smiles. "Thank you."

It takes a few
seconds before the distinct clicking sound tells me the door is
unlocked. Violet pushes it open to a small dark room. We step
inside.

Scarlet dust
hovers in the air like a thin mist. The origin of the trail seems
to be coming from the corner of the room. "Um... Violet?" She's not
listening. She's heading straight to the dark corner where the red
aura emanates.

The sound of
metal on metal squeaking echoes through the room. "Caw! Caw! Caw!"
The bird doesn't sound right. The call sounds stressed. It makes me
want to cover my ears. I feel the wall and find the light
switch.

There he
i
s; a large crow crammed in a
small swinging birdcage. I recognize him. His kaleidoscope eyes
shine brightly while his weak aura pulses like a dimming light
bulb. His feathers are ruffled. He looks like he has a broken leg
dangling between the cage bars. Blood drips off the edge collecting
in a small red puddle beneath it.

Violet whimpers.

"Red?" She
approaches frantically. The crow squawks sounds like it's crying
out like baby birds do when they've fallen out of their nest. They
make those horrible sounds because they know they're going to
die.

My backside
alerts
me; someone is too
close. Before I can turn around, a painful knock to my head makes
my vision light up like a camera flash. My body hits the floor with
Violet's scream ringing in his ears.

***

Violet

A
tattooed arm locks across my neck and
a hand muffles my mouth. His body closes in from behind. A familiar
chill creeps slowly up my spine. Grey is strong and his grip
tightens as I try to push away. My body gives way to the floor as
my energy is stolen from me. I'm a doll in his arms once
again.

Grey
sniffs my hair and my
neck.

My
eyes focus to see him. "Grey..." I
say weakly.

He lets go and
my body collapses to the floor.

"You
r little friend here
looks an awful lot like Red." Grey's black boot kicks Gabriel's
leg, but he's knocked out.

Red squawking
is deafening. The metal squeaking is torture to my ears.

"Shut the fuck
up!" Grey
hits the cage. It
swings from its chain. "I've tried killing him." He kneels beside
me. His face looks worn and foreign eyes are as cold as granite.
He's the Grey that tried to hurt me once. He was so angry with me
for kissing Red, he almost violated me. Now he's furious. Now, he
knows that I love Red. There's no denying it.

"I tried
setting him
on fire, tried
ripping his wings off, I shot him, stabbed him hoping he'd bleed to
death, but he just won't die." He sneers. Those toxic eyes look so
unfamiliar, so insane. His menacing smile waits for me to respond.
I cover my mouth at the sight of Red reduced to an injured animal.
All this time he was here, in that cage
.
The
thought of Red enduring the agony of all those things makes me
furious enough to stand up. I hold my shivering body up by leaning
against the wall. Grey took so much energy from me I can barely
stand on my own.

"Oh, tough now, are we?" He snickers. "Don't
worry about him. He's caused more pain to me then you will ever
know." He snatches my arms with his icy hands and placing them at
my sides. I try to clench my fists and pull back, but I'm starting
numb. He pulls me from the wall and throws my down on his bed.

Red squawks and
the cage swings
.

"Fuck you!"
Grey thro
ws a book at the
cage. What is Red saying? He gives Red another stare and Red stops
his noise. There's no telling what this Grey will do.

H
e climbs on top of me.
His noxious stare corrupts my will. Great satisfaction curling his
lips as his cold energy spreads across my body, sweeping my skin
just like the he did on his bedroom floor.

"
How old are you
now?"
He examines my face.
"You're not so young anymore."
His smile grows deviously
from ear to ear. The crow in the cage is making an awful lot of
noise.

"
Why did you do this to
Red?" I whimper.

"He ripped my
heart out." His forehead wrinkles.

"He saved your
life. He's given you everything."

"Only to take
it away." He growls.

"This isn't
like you. Where's the Grey I know and love?"

"He's fucking
gone. Don't you get it?" He caresses my cheek with his icy finger.
"Who you were in love with died when you chose
him
. If you even were in love with me."

"I still
love
my
Grey."

With those words, the darkness recedes from
his face like a fog lifting. Clear gray eyes gaze back at me. His
silver aura shimmers without anything clouding it. For a moment,
he's here with me—my best friend; my lover; my Grey. I smile. It's
been so long since I've seen his face. I've dreamt of him every
night since he left.

"You still love me?" His gray eyes tear and
the corners of his mouth twitches.

"Get off her
you son of a bitch!" Grey is pulled off of
me. Alex stands at the foot of the bed looking down
at him. His murky aura returns quickly.

Grey tackles his legs
and Alex hits the floor hard.

"Stop
fighting!" I try to prop my weakened body up.

Dash is helping
Gabriel to his feet. They back away from Grey and Alex rolling
around on the floor.

"Red!"
I point to the squawking crow. Dash
nods. Gabriel starts picking the lock. His hands are trembling so
much he keeps dropping the pins.

Grey straddles Alex
with his hands firmly around his neck. "Grey, no!" Violet shouts.
"Stop it! You'll kill him."

"That's the idea."
Grey grinds his teeth.

This can't be
happening. This isn't Grey.
My Grey
isn't a
killer, but there he is, with his hands wrapped around Alex's neck.
Red is nearly dead. Alex was right—he dangerous. It's strenuous to
inches to the edge of the bed. It feels like my muscles are still
asleep. How am I going to stop him? Tears blur my vision. "Grey,
please!"

Dash takes a wooden chair and swings it hard
over Grey's back. I feel the pain twinge on my spine. His hands
loosen from around Alex's neck. Alex gasps for air.

Grey rises off Alex
and stands before Dash.

"Grey,
stop!"

My
plead falls on deaf ears. Grey's fist
plunges into Dash's stomach, sending him the floor.

I
clench the bed sheets as he eyes
Gabriel trying to pick the lock. His trembling hands drop the pins
to the floor when Grey takes the broken chair leg as a
weapon.

The feeling of
the floor is nonexistent beneath my feet, only pins and needle
sensations tingle throughout my body. There's no way I can stop
him. There's nothing I can do except for beg. I feel so
powerless.