Page 24
Bayla
I needed to stop putting myself in stressful situations over and over again. I probably just attracted all kinds of problems like a stupid magnet. There was no other way I could explain how everything around me was always blowing up.
It had only been a week since we lived in Blairville, and already life here was an absolute disaster.
First, Mady’s ex-boyfriend had gotten into a fight with a billionaire at the bar. Mady had stormed out and disappeared without a trace, and since then, none of us had spoken to her, and now Emely again, reacting more and more aggressively to everyone.
It couldn’t get any worse.
I hurried along the trail where I had last seen Emely. But now she had disappeared, and I had no clue where she had gone.
God , how fast was she?
Completely out of breath and about to fall down, because that was my absolute strength, I quickened my sprint one last time. But it didn’t help.
Emely was nowhere to be seen. Not even behind the next path branching, where I came to a halt too slowly, overlooked a root, and landed straight on the ground.
That’s exactly what would have happened if two strong hands hadn’t grabbed my arms. I was familiar with that pressure. As soon as I stood upright again, I turned around.
There he was, just like the first time. Only this time, there was something else in his face besides the cheeky grin. Worry .
I quickly looked around, but other than the trees, the path, and a few birds, I couldn’t see anything of concern.
“Balance isn’t one of your strengths, is it?”
He grinned. And for once, he was right.
“Very funny, Julian...”, I murmured, playfully annoyed, because I really wasn’t this time.
I still had to find Emely, who obviously didn’t want to be found. But where had she gone? Really into the forest? Of course, it was nice here, but somehow it was also a bit creepy to be out here alone like this. Especially after what the Blairville Daily reported.
“Why are you out here alone?”
As if he could read my mind...
But Julian just looked at me in a haunting way, and I got goosebumps. The grin that had adorned his face until just now slowly receded. And what remained was worry.
“You should be careful. There are dark creatures roaming around here.”
“Dark creatures?”
Did he mean wild wolves? I’d never encountered one before, and I definitely wasn’t planning to. So, if he was trying to convince me to get out of here, he had just succeeded.
Once again, I looked around. This time I paid attention to the various sounds that made the forest more peaceful than scary. Many different bird songs mingled in the distance. And the evening sun was also climbing through the treetops of the leafy trees.
Actually, it was beautiful at this fork in the road. Where one could not really speak of a path, but rather of a murderously uneven trail.
I looked at Julian again, who hadn’t taken his eyes off me until now.
“Yes...” he whispered and looked even deeper into my eyes.
His seemed to take on a different color in the sunlight, a softer green. This time I also saw the little yellow sprinkles that I hadn’t noticed the last time.
Wait, had he just said yes ?
“Do you think there are wild animals here, something like wild boars?”, I tried to avoid the wild wolf topic in order not to scare myself.
I looked at him in disbelief, but immediately regretted having asked this question. Because suddenly he twisted his mouth into a grin again and ran his hand through his slightly tousled hair.
I gave him an annoyed look. “What? You said dark creatures.”
“And the first thing you think of is wild boars ?” Julian laughed, visibly amused.
“What else?”
Not fucking wolves at all.
I prayed he wouldn’t bring up the subject. On campus, fine, but please not in the middle of the woods.
He didn’t answer me. Instead, he moved a little closer.
“Listen. Actually, I wouldn’t care if you weren’t the daughter of the woman who used to invite us for dinner.”
Now, I had to grin.
So that’s how it had been. Pretty typical of Mum. Once again, I realized that she must have actually had a life here, besides Sacramento.
Partly, the thought stung my heart. After all, she could have told me something. Instead, she had preferred to remain silent and had said nothing about the Bardots, nor about her past here.
I suppressed the rising feeling. It was not my right to be angry. Mum was going through so much I couldn’t even imagine. Maybe it had made her uncomfortable, and she wanted to keep her past away from me. But why? Why did she always make such a secret of everything?
“You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here,” Julian remarked again, a little more seriously.
“I should rather ask you that,” I returned.
He was just like my mother, who was also dodging my questions.
Because he wasn’t responding, I gave in. “I’m looking for Emely.”
“ Emely? What do you have to do with her ...” For a very brief moment, he looked at me in thoughtfulness, until his expression softened. “ Oh , I see, you share a lodge, don’t you?”
I nodded dumbly.
Yes, I had ended up in a fucking house with Emely. And I was starting to get the feeling that all these girls here hated us on principle.
Emely wasn’t the worst one there, and I couldn’t blame her hostility toward Vivienna, Amber, and Barbie either.
Julian eyed me, still searching. His eyes were locked on mine. His jaw was tense, and his lips were pressed together.
Did he want to say something else?
Before I could ask him, something happened that left me completely speechless. His eyes turned slightly yellowish.
I jerked back. In doing so, I stumbled over the root again, but he reflexively grabbed my arm without breaking eye contact.
There was a clatter as the white-blue box hit the ground, and the little white pills scattered across the dusty forest floor.
But I didn’t move because Julian’s eyes were the only thing I could focus on.
We had kept eye contact. Something wouldn't let me take my gaze away from his fascinating eyes. Something about his yellow irises triggered a strong feeling inside me, like I was in control of something. Something very powerful. This feeling was so intoxicating that I stared at Julian even more insistently and stepped closer again.
His eyes were wide, as if he was seeing something he had never seen before. I intensified my gaze and tried to concentrate, wanting to see more, to feel more of this sensation, even to dive deeper into it and surrender to it completely.
Finally, the loud pulse beat made me startle, and I glanced at my arms, where the veins stood out suspiciously dark.
Shit. Not now. Not here. Not in front of Julian.
Quickly, I stepped back, this time without tripping over that stupid root.
Protectively, I held my hands over my arm, but I couldn’t stop it from showing anyway. You could see the veins disappearing all the way under the sleeves of my dark blue t-shirt this time. And out of nowhere, my body began to shake.
In a moment, I would get the worst headache and would have to lie down on the forest floor. I could already feel my legs trying to give way under me. I felt nauseous. Then I heard a distant voice calling my name, but a loud beeping almost drowned it out.
“Bayla?”
“Hey, Bay, can you hear me?”
I was shaken badly.
Finally, I collapsed.
All around me, things went black. And the last thing I heard was the thunder in the distance.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24 (Reading here)
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71