The Divide (The Divide Series Book 1) (28 page)

The ticket master took our tickets and let us through. We walked to the very back of the train until we’d made it to the very last room. I went straight over to the chairs, sat down, and smiled: my legs thanked me too. Gregory shut the door behind him and sat down next to me. I bent my head and leaned on his shoulder. It wasn’t until the train started moving that either one of us started talking.

“I’m hungry,” I said, my stomach growling in agreement.

Gregory chuckled. “Alright, I’ll go find us some food.”

Gregory stood up and walked to the door. I looked out the window and watched the fields of grass fly by. When the door opened a few minutes later, Gregory was holding two trays filled with food. “I figured you would eat all of this,” he said, motioning to the food.

I smiled up at him. “Yes, I will.” He handed over the tray, and we sat there, eating in comfortable silence.

I was out of breath. I didn’t know how long I had been running, but I knew it’d been a while. Sweat dripped down my forehead and onto my cheeks. I kept swiping at it, but it seemed the more I tried to wipe the sweat away, the more there was. My hair was up in a tight ponytail, but some loose pieces kept flashing across my face while others stuck to my sweaty skin. My legs were burning. They were tired, and I just wanted to find a bed and crawl into it. I couldn’t even remember who I was running from.

I kept looking over my shoulder to see if I could see the person I was running from. All I could make out was a black shadow slowly coming toward me. I looked back forward just as I slammed into a hard, muscular chest. Hands cupped my upper arms and my eyes locked onto the naked chest, which was softly littered with dark hair. My eyes slowly made my way up from his toned abs, to his toned pecs, and to his strong, square jaw. Finally, I made it to his eyes—eyes the color of grass right after a downpour. His mouth moved, causing my eyes to look at his delicious lips. I wanted to kiss them. Half of his mouth smirked and I licked mine in anticipation. I looked up at him, his face now serious. His eyes roamed me, taking in every inch of my body. I wanted to keep staring into the depths of his eyes.

“Gregory,” I said breathlessly. “What’s happening?’’ My heart pounded so fast that I swore it was going to turn into a train and leave my body. I was sweaty. Why was I sweaty? Something wasn’t right.

“Shhh,” Gregory said, his rough, calloused finger sliding down my soft lips. “Let me take care of you.” His hand softly caressed my cheek and slowly slid down, down my neck, onto my shoulder. He squeezed it and when I looked down, I was horrified by what I was seeing. 

“My clothes,” I said, trying to cover my naked body with my arms and cross my legs. “What happened to my clothes?”

“Shh.” Gregory lifted my head so my eyes could meet his. “Let me take care of you.”

I backed away. Something was very wrong. How had I ended up here? How had I lost my clothes? “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Gregory said. He stepped closer, our naked thighs caressing each other. I shivered at the contact. “You are where you need to be.”

“What does that mean?” I asked. I was about to take a step back when the place shook. I grabbed his arm to keep my balance, but the place started to shake faster. “What is that?” I yelled as I looked around, spotting the shadow looming closer. The shadow? Then it came back. The running. The shadow was dangerous and it was coming closer and closer. I positioned myself in front of Gregory to protect him from the shadow, but he acted like he didn’t even notice it. He started to trail kisses down my neck, murmuring that I was where I needed to be, whatever that meant. The shadow was moving faster, an arm reaching out toward me. I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed.

I jolted awake, my forehead slamming into someone else’s. My eyes popped open, and I was looking into those same green eyes. Rubbing my forehead, I moved back and looked around; I was still on the train. Hastily, I looked down and let out a relieved sigh: I was still clothed. I felt Gregory move back to his seat next to me. I looked over at him to find him studying me.

“Are you okay?” he asked, pointing toward my forehead.

“Yeah,” I said, dropping my hand. “Where are we?” I asked. The train was stopped, and I could hear people moving around in the hallway.

“We’ve stopped in Centonia,” Gregory said. He stood up and stretched, his shirt rising just enough to see his V. “They’re refueling the train and picking up and dropping off passengers. We’ve been here for a good half hour. I was going to wake you, but you looked so peaceful. It’s nice to see you quiet and not mouthing off. Well, that was until you started talking in your sleep.”

I watched him move his way to the door. “What do you mean talking in my sleep?”

“You started mumbling something, but I couldn’t figure out what you were trying to say, and then you started rocking back and forth.” He opened our compartment door. “So I started shaking you, and then you woke up screaming. Are you alright?”

There was no way in hell I would tell him what I had just dreamed. “It was a nightmare. Where….um…where are you going?” I cleared my throat. That dream kept flashing in my mind.

“The train will be stopped for another ten minutes, so I was going to look around and see if I could find out what happened to the Wiberts.” With that, he exited the compartment before I could say anything.

Getting up from the chair, I moved toward the door and shut it. My body protested when I stretched my arms over my head and bending down toward my feet; I needed a massage. I walked around the empty room for a few minutes until I was officially bored. If Gregory could leave and find out information, why couldn’t I? Opening the door, I swiftly exited and moved my way down the hallway, passing a few compartments. Two men, who looked a little bit older than me, were in a heated argument and blocking the way.

“Excuse me,” I shouted, trying to move around them.

“Move it,” one of the guys said. He had tie-dyed hair and dark blue eyes. He was a little taller than me, but not by much. His arms were as thin as mine, and his clothes ripped. I looked over at the other guy, who was the complete opposite of the first guy. His hair was blond, and he had hazel eyes, towering over both me and Tie-Dye.

Tie-Dye pushed me out of the way, hard enough to knock me off my feet and I hit the floor hard. “What are you, five years old?” I yelled, getting back to my feet and wiping dirt off my backside.

“Mind your own business,” he said with a scowl. Blondie just looked at me curiously. He seemed to be richer than Tie-Dye, and I hoped he wouldn’t recognize me.

“It became my business when I couldn’t walk down the aisle,” I said. 

Tie-Dye continued to scowl at me until finally he looked at Blondie. “Stay out of my way next time,” he said, and then he stormed off.

I started to turn back toward my compartment when Blondie began to speak. “Wait, do I know you?” I picked up my pace and ignored him, but Blondie just followed me. I stepped into the compartment and closed the door in his face. I had just made it to my seat when the door opened and Blondie stepped in. 

“Umm…can I help you with something?” I wrung my hands together, hoping Gregory would be getting his ass back here soon.

“Nope, not at all,” he said, taking the seat across from me.

I gaped at him. “What are you doing?”

Confusion crossed his face. “What do you mean?”

I pointed to him and then to his seat. “Why are you sitting there?”

He pulled out his ticket and held it up. “Because it’s my seat.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“My ticket is for this room. You do know that people share rooms, right?” He peered at me through narrowed eyes.

I didn’t know that. Why hadn’t Gregory warned me? “Yes, yes I knew that.” I turned away from him and looked out the window. The view showed dead brown grass, and the sky was overcast. Great, the weather matched my mood.

“So, where are you going?” Blondie asked.

I looked over at the door, hoping Gregory would walk through. But nope, he wasn’t there. “Umm…Minonia.”
Way to be smooth
. 

“Ah, family?” he asked.

I looked over to him. “I’m sorry?”

“Are you going there for family?” he asked, curiosity covering his face. 

Say nothing.
“Um, no.” I looked back over at the doors.
Didn’t I just say “say nothing”?
I ignored my inner self. 

“So are you by yourself?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes before looking back at him. He was starting to get on my nerves, and I didn’t know why. He was just curious and being friendly.
Stay paranoid. Nothing good can come from talking to him.
“No, I’m with someone.”

“Oh.” He stretched out his legs and crossed them at the feet. “Your brother?”

Just ignore him.
“What’s with all the questions?” I snapped.
I said ignore him, not me!

He put his hands up in front of him. “I’m sorry. I like to get to know people I share a room with. It helps pass the time, and you always come out making a new friend.”

My sudden annoyance vanished. I was being mean to someone who didn’t need it. I usually saved it for Gregory. “No, I’m not here with my brother.”
How did he know you were with a male?
I looked at him closely. Something about him nagged at me and he seemed to be sitting there casually, but his eyes were on alert. “Why did you ask if I was with my brother?”

He shrugged. “I figured you would be with your brother.”

“Why not a sister?” I asked.
Where the hell is Gregory?

“Usually, girls always travel with their brothers. Kind of dangerous if it’s just two girls.”

I was officially being paranoid.
But still, something isn’t right about him.
“Oh. I’m sorry. It’s been a long day, and I haven’t slept very well for the past few days…or maybe weeks. I honestly don’t know. Days seem to run together.”

He smiled. “It’s fine. So what’s your name?”

“Her name’s Melinda,” Gregory said from the doorway. I breathed out an annoyed breath. Melinda? Really? I watched him close the door and sit next to me.

“Melinda?” Blondie said, and I nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand for me to shake. 

I took it gingerly, murmuring, “Nice to meet you.”

Blondie held on to my hand a little bit longer before letting go. “I’m Darren.”

I smiled softly at him and pointed toward Gregory. “This is Tony.” Gregory coughed next to me, either to laugh at my stupid name choice or warn me I might have to pay for giving it to him.

“So, you are both going to Minonia?” Darren asked.

“Sure,” Gregory said, staring down Darren. 

“So why were you arguing with that guy out there?” I motioned toward the door. Gregory gave me an accusatory stare, but I just shrugged my shoulders and ignored him.

“We were both getting on the train, and he tried to take my ticket.” Darren put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. “Thankfully you were there to stop us from putting on a terrible show.”

I rolled my eyes. The tension in the compartment could’ve been cut with one of the hunting knives that were currently hiding in my backpack. I looked over at Gregory—who was staring daggers at Darren—grabbed his hand, and squeezed it. Hard. Gregory gritted his teeth then continued to squeeze my hand a bit harder. Gregory raised a brow innocently and smiled wickedly. His eyes darkened. I looped my arm in with Gregory’s and faced Darren. I lay my head on Gregory’s shoulder and sighed. I could feel Gregory stiffen. “So, Darren, why are you going to Minonia?”

He looked back and forth between Gregory and me before answering. “I live there with my wife. I’ve been busy traveling for work.” He scratched the side of his head. “How long have you two been together?”

I looked over at Gregory and giggled. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “What has it been sweetheart? One, two years? We’re celebrating our anniversary to see his family.”

“That’s nice,” Darren said.

“Isn’t it?” I smiled sweetly at him. I turned to look at the horrified expression on Gregory’s face, and my smile grew. So this was how I made him uncomfortable? I leaned up and kissed his cheek. When I moved back, he glowered at my wink. 

I lay my head back down on Gregory’s shoulder, ignoring how nice it felt to have someone to lean against. Honestly, it was nice to have someone to share this terror with. Gregory was strong, smart, and scary at times. A person you would want on your side. I’d been hard on him. Yes, he annoyed me, but he never stopped protecting me. Was it coincidence that I’d met him that day after school? Or were we meant to meet? Did we have a destiny linked together? Or was I over-thinking it? Could this “adventure” turn us into friends? I looked up and into Darren’s eyes.

“Yes?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing.” Darren smirked. “You just look like someone I know.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” I said. “But I’ve never met you before. I’m one hundred percent sure about that.”

The train started moving, making our bodies rock back and forth with the motion. Gregory's shoulder was rock solid, but I kept my head on it. Staring down at our combined hands, I started humming a song Agathy had taught me when I was little. She told me that this song was from way back before Lorburn was split into different regions. I loved the song. I hummed under my breath and could feel Gregory taking a deep breath and letting it out.