Never Letting Go (Delphian Book 1) (3 page)

I
SAT IN
the kitchen the next morning, alone. I glanced toward the clock that hung from the wall, hearing the tick, tick, tick of the second hand. Half past ten: Dante had been incorrect in his timing. No one else was awake as of yet—the entire apartment was quiet.

My stomach grumbled loudly and I looked down in surprise at the sound. I knew my body hungered for food, but I sat, motionless, the way I had for hours, since I had first awoken.

I would wait.

My stomach growled again and I finally heard the sound of a door creak open, then footsteps coming toward me from down the hall. A head peeked around the corner.

“You’re awake.” Kaede gave a tired smile and waved his hand in hello. The clothes he wore were ruffled and I watched as he took off his glasses and rubbed the lens with the bottom of his t-shirt.

He shuffled into the kitchen as he adjusted his glasses back onto his face. He’d looked so different without the glasses, his long dark hair hanging loosely around his face.

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, Kaede took an elastic band he had wrapped around his wrist and hastily tied his hair back, continuing to look at me in interest. His eyes got smaller as he furrowed his brows together.

Kaede pulled a chair out adjacent to me and sat down. “What are you doing sitting alone in the kitchen?”

I surprised myself once again, my stomach giving the response, a loud growl.

“Ahh.” He gave a nod of his head and stood up once more. “You’re just hungry, little one.”

Kaede walked over toward the refrigerator and stuck his head inside. “What do we have in here?” he mumbled to himself as he rummaged. He then backed away and closed the fridge door with his leg, his hands full. I looked down to see that he had placed a jug of milk as well as a jar of strawberry jam in front of me.

“Sorry, we don’t really have much else to eat.” I looked up to see Kaede putting two pieces of bread into a toaster, then grabbed an empty glass as he poured the milk and handed it to me. “We’re more of the take-out or delivery kind of people.”

I didn’t move at first, then slowly raised my hand as I took hold of the glass. Kaede nodded at my action, then picked up an extremely ripe banana from a fruit bowl on the kitchen counter, absentmindedly peeling it and taking a bite. He made a face at the consistency of the fruit but kept eating.

I sipped the milk slowly, watching Kaede over the rim of my glass. He continued to chew his banana as he returned my gaze, slowly analyzing me.

“You’re not the bad guy, are you?”

Still holding the glass with both hands, I took another sip and then set it down on the counter, shaking my head slowly.

He must have seen something in my eyes because he nodded once. “Good,” Kaede replied, tossing the banana skin in the garbage. “Because I really don’t like bad guys.”

At the same time, the bread popped out of the toaster and he took both pieces, plopping them on a plate as he presented it to me along with a butter knife. It was as if he’d never asked me such a question.

I looked at the metal instrument before hesitantly taking a hold of it, then opened the jar of jam, using the knife to slather it on my toast. Although I had no recollection of the taste, its familiarity was instantaneous as I bit down on the toast.

Strawberries.

“You guys are eating already?” I looked up mid-chew to see Amy standing at the entrance of the room. Although it was morning, she still wore that black choker around her neck, along with a long flowing nightgown that was almost translucent. She sat down in the exact spot Kaede had been earlier and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why didn’t you wait for me?”

Kaede scratched the tip of his nose at the sight of Amy in her outfit as he leaned against the fridge. His cheeks reddened slightly. “Amy, darling, why don’t you put on some clothes?”

Amy slowly looked down at herself, then back at Kaede with a pout on her face. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

She didn’t wait for Kaede to answer and instead directed her bright blue eyes at me. “Is there anything wrong with what I’m wearing, Mia?”

In all actuality, I didn’t know how to answer that question objectively. I looked down at myself to see that I was wearing the same thing as yesterday: a dark blue t-shirt and loose-fitted sweat pants. Although a contrast to what Amy was wearing, both outfits did seem comfortable.

I had decided that I would agree with Amy, and just as I was about to shake my head that no, nothing was wrong with her attire, I was interrupted by another voice.

“Don’t answer her. She’s just humoring us all, most of all Kaede.” Briggs propped himself against the wall as he looked in on us. He still wore his sunglasses—Amy had referred to them as
shades
—perched lightly on the tip of his nose.
Light sensitivity,
she had offered as explanation. Briggs gave a cruel smile and continued. “Amy here has this huge crush on Kaede and likes to flaunt her body around our living quarters. She’s hoping that eventually Kaede will give in to temptation.”

“Shut up, Briggs.” Amy huffily walked up to him and punched him on the arm. Briggs didn’t flinch from her assault and instead easily pushed her aside as he came into the kitchen to grab an apple. I saw him quickly glance in my direction as if he wanted to say something again, but then quickly shook the hair out of his face and walked across the living room and toward the stairs. Placing his boots on, he exited the apartment without another word.

“And as quickly as he appears, he disappears,” remarked Kaede, looking toward the front door.

“Did Briggs leave again?” Dante gave a huge stretch as he walked in, also heading straight for the fruit bowl, but paused when he saw it was empty. He grimaced and took a granola bar lying on the table, and ripped open the package. Just as Dante was about to take a bite he paused and looked over at Amy, then rubbed his brow in exasperation. “Ah, hell, Amy, go put some clothes on.”

“You too?” Amy almost looked as if she were ready to cry but didn’t say another word as she sulkily followed Dante’s orders and walked back into her room to look for a change of clothes. A few minutes passed and I wondered why Amy was so quick to abide by Dante’s rule but ignored the comments from Briggs and Kaede.

Kaede must have seen my look of interest because he looked down and then nodded warily in the direction of where Amy had disappeared earlier. “Our Amy has a mind of her own. Only one here who can reel her in is Dante—a benefit of being the big brother.”

“Dante is only one year older than me,” exclaimed Amy, raising one finger in the air for emphasis as she quickly re-entered the room. She was more conservatively dressed, at least for her, wearing black leggings that displayed her long legs, and an oversized multi-colored shirt that hung off one shoulder. As per usual she was still wearing the same black choker, which she was fingering with her index finger.

“I’m still your big brother, nonetheless,” Dante responded, tossing his granola bar wrapper in the trash, then sat across from me at the table. He glanced over and we locked eyes. I nodded and he gave one of his casual one-sided smiles.

“Good morning, Mia.” His voice was warm and I continued to stare back at him, analyzing his tone. It was different from the day before.

It was almost more … personal.

Amy’s eyes instantly flicked from Dante to me as she looked with narrowed eyes. Then she glared back at Dante and frowned, sticking her tongue out at him. She walked over to me, grasping my arm unexpectedly.

“Don’t get any ideas, brother.”

Dante glanced at Kaede, who was snickering quietly behind him, and then back at his sister. “What are you getting at?”

“If I can’t have Kaede, you can’t have Mia,” she exclaimed as she continued to hold onto my arm, as if claiming me.

Dante scoffed at the idea. “Are you crazy? What makes you think I want to
have
Mia? Stop with that overactive imagination of yours. You’re reading too many of your romance novels.”

“You know I’m right, Dante. I can tell about these things, you know.” Amy looked at him with untrusting eyes.

Dante laughed at her response. “Yeah, you’re so right. You know, being so worldly and all.” The sarcasm in his voice was apparent.

“Um, guys,” Kaede interjected as he opened up the refrigerator, pointing inside. “I hate to interrupt but we have another issue to deal with.”

Amy and Dante walked over to Kaede. I quickly finished my toast and drank the last of my milk. I approached them as they stared into the fridge and looked over Dante’s shoulder to see what they all were looking at.

It was empty.

“Hmm,” Kaede slammed the refrigerator door shut and rested against it, folding his arms over his chest. He shook his head. “I ain’t going. It’s your turn, Dante.”

Dante ran his fingers through his hair, making a face. “Already?”

Kaede answered by pointing a finger at a piece of paper that hung on the fridge door by a magnet right next to his head. Analyzing it, I realized it was a schedule for grocery pick-up, alternating between Dante, Briggs and Kaede.

It was indeed Dante’s turn.

Dante smiled when he saw me looking at him. “We rotate for who goes shopping for groceries.”

Amy looked at the schedule and gave a pout. “I used to be up there too, but now I’m not allowed.”

Kaede playfully pulled a strand of Amy’s long hair as he spoke. “And for good reason.”

Amy made a face at Kaede, then turned her focus on her brother. “Can’t I go with you, Dante? I want to go outside.”

“No,” Dante immediately answered. “It’s dangerous.”

I frowned at Dante’s response.

Dangerous? Again, what did they mean by that?

Kaede glanced at me, further explaining. “It’s dangerous out there, Mia. For females, redheads especially … like you. There’s been a lot of kidnappings in the area. Almost at an unusual rate, to be honest.”

Dante interrupted by adding, “And when the police do manage to find the girls, it’s too late, if you know what I mean.”

I saw the serious look on his face, glanced toward the window, and frowned at his words.

I did know what he meant.

Kaede broke the troubled silence. “So we try to stay inside—at least, Amy stays inside. Like a lot of people in town have been doing. The police didn’t order a lock-down per say, but it seems to have happened that way. People are getting nervous, even mentioning the S word.”

“S word?” questioned Amy.

“Serial. As in, serial killer.”

“The world has gone to shit,” Dante responded, a sickened look in his eyes. “People are vanishing in hospitals and prison cells, on top of the kidnappings and murders. It’s no wonder we’re all hiding out. Did you see what happened to that teen they discovered a couple days ago? He was carved up like some sort of Thanksgiving dinner with all these markings on him. That’s messed up.”

Amy shook her head, looking like she’d cry at any moment. “I went to high school with him. His name was Jared and he was a couple years younger than me. I remembered he liked to draw. He always drew these murals around school—they were beautiful. There was this … beacon of light in him that I always admired. Now it’s gone.”

“Just like Dante said. The world has gone to shit. We’ve changed our routine but we manage.” Kaede looked at both Amy and Dante as he replied, “We’re family. We gotta stick together.”

Family.

It was a term I couldn’t relate to as of yet. But smiling was … kind of. Seeing the understanding smiles on the faces of the three before me, the love that they obviously had for one another, it was something that I instantly knew I wanted in my life. Perhaps one day I would smile without purposely thinking about it and it would be instinctive, like breathing.

I wanted to know more about the kidnappings, the murders, and the deaths that were apparently accumulating across the city. I, too, longed for the sense of fresh air, as I could no longer remember what that felt like, having no memories from my past.

I focused back to the trio and realized that time had carried on, and I needed to catch up with it. Amy had given up on wanting to leave the apartment and was now sitting in the living room as she watched a show on the television screen. Kaede popped open a can of cola and took a drink while Dante was walking toward the front entrance. As he took a step on the first rung, I instinctively moved in his direction, my feet having a mind of their own. For some reason, I felt a connection with Dante. I couldn’t quite explain it but I knew it to be true. It was different from the interactions I got with Amy and Kaede. Even Briggs.

Although there was something about Briggs I couldn’t put my finger on.

“Hey, where are you going?” Dante put a hand on my shoulder, causing me to stop in my tracks. He had just opened the door and I stood below him on the stairs.

I frowned up at him, then gestured toward the opened doorway, looking into the hallway.

“You’re gonna stay here with Kaede and Amy. When we said it was dangerous out there for girls, that meant you too, Mia.” He looked me up and down and laughed as he noticed my bare feet. “And it’s not like you’re dressed for the outdoors.”