Under the Devil's Claws

Chapter 13

LAYLA:

Although I had been reluctant to step out of my room tonight when Caleb had forced me to, I’m glad I accepted to do it. Would have missed the beautiful scenery of the nighttime as the stars lit up the sky. Haven’t seen something as beautiful as this in a long time.

I let out a satisfying sigh as I keep gazing upward in my seated position on the balcony. I stretch my body alongside, relieving my bones of some tightened joints. If I was in for it, I would get a means of getting my bones cracked for me.

“You seem relaxed,” Caleb states to my hearing and it makes me let out another sigh.

“Of course, I do,” I respond in a tone that almost sounds to me like I was moaning.

“Thought you didn’t want to head out before,”

“I was exhausted. That was good enough reason not to get out before you forced me out,”

“So I forced you out?”

My head shifts to the side as I stare at him lying on the balcony while still sitting. It was a weird way to describe it but the stairway was what made it possible for him to be in that position.

“Didn’t you?” I ask, before looking away from him.

A cool breeze blows softly to my face. I close my eyes to take in the moment and before that, I had noticed two guards pass by. Apparently, they were the ones on night duty.

“When is your next night shift?” I ask Caleb after the breeze gas simmered.

“In two days, I think,” he says. “Why?”

“Nothing,” and I shrug to let him know it was not a discussion that needs to be upheld.

We both sit in solitude after that and when I start to feel a little ache on my back, I join him in his position, lying down to get a better view of the night sky.

If I had a thing for astronomy, I would find myself trying to decipher the way the stars are and the things related to them. But I have no prior knowledge so all I can do is watch and appreciate the gift given to us by nature, probably.

“You know, Derek came to me today,” I say, igniting a topic of discussion with Caleb after staying in silence for long.

“What did he talk about with you?” was Caleb’s inquiry.

“We hardly talked,” I admit. “I would say he only approached me just to clear the impression I have of him.”

“That’s all you two talked about?”

I cannot help but look at him because I have a feeling that he is driving somewhere else with this and I have to find out where before I get confused. “Something tells me you have another thought going on in that head of yours,” I say.

“What would I be thinking?” he asks he looks at me in return.

I scoff. “I know you have something in your mind. What else would you rather expect us to talk about when I do not even like his guts after what he did that day?”

There is a ten-second silence in which it involves Caleb giving me a look that I have nothing to link it to. Only that I can tell is fishy because he is about to say something ridiculous, I’m sure of that.

“Are you telling me you’re not noticing the spark between you two?”

I am genuinely confused by that. “What spark?” I have to ask.

“You do not feel it? That there could be something between you two without you realizing?”

I roll my eyes, shake my head a bit and then look away from the most annoying being I might have ever come across. Where does he get such ridiculous thoughts from anyway?

“I expected you to bring on worthy of a discussion but I guess I anticipated too much from you.”

“Yeah, call me stupid to my face. At least it’s not the first time I’ll be hearing it from you.”

“No,” I say. “I had no plans to call you stupid. But it didn’t mean that I had nothing else for you.” That is when I look him in the face because he is still staring at me. With a creepy smile across my face, I announce, “Dimwit.”

He gives no reaction to my comment but his gaze is upward in no time. I follow suit because it would be a bother to wait for him to drop a counter. Pretty sure he is preparing his comeback in his mind but is deciding to take his time in dropping the bomb.

“It’s beautiful,” I whisper when suddenly I notice a shooting star in the sky. Made me think of the ideology that involves wishing stars. But I do not even seem to think of anything to wish for.

“Did you wish for anything, Caleb?”

The response I get from him is actually unexpected. “Dimwits never have the brain to wish for anything of importance. So, no, I didn’t.”

I have to raise my brows because it seems my best friend has taken the issue too far. Is something wrong with him?

I sit up and look at him with a questioning gaze that feels plastered to my face. “Are you taking what I said personal? I thought we were only kidding around,”

“Dimwits are too dumb to even know how to process the question you just asked.”

I swear I wish I could just hit him in the face. What was this all about?

“Are you okay?”

“Dimwits are never okay.”

“Oh, f**k off.” and instantly I am up on my feet as I prepare to leave him alone. I wouldn’t want him ruining my night by changing the atmosphere that I came here to enjoy.

But before I could even move, he has already grabbed me by the ankle and with a sheer strength that felt like too much, I am pulled down back. The i***t had to use his body to prevent me from hitting my body on the ground. Especially on the steps of the stairs.

“Get your hands off me!” I declare as I push myself off him. “What was that all about, you p*****t?”

“p*****t? Me? I was only trying to save you from hitting your back on the ground.” was his response which has a hinge of surprise in it. What the hell is he being surprised about?

“By making me straddle you? Good work trying to save me there,” I hiss out loud, not minding that we were dead into the night. “Why did you even pull me back that way? You want to damage my back again?”

“You’re overreacting, Layla. It was a mistake. I was just playing around with you. Isn’t that what we’re both doing?”

I give him a once-over with a scorn. “Pfft,” I look away after that because staring at him more was making me more annoyed than I was that he actually pulled me down that way. Could have resulted in an injury for me. Or has he forgotten I am not like his kind that heals easily?

“Okay, I’m sorry,” I hear him apologize, but of course, I am not buying it. “It was all part of the joke. I didn’t mean to hurt your, uhm, back, is it?”

“Perhaps you should learn that jokes never tend to be serious with the way you pulled yours out. I thought you were zoning me out when you ignored me initially. How is that even a joke to you?”

“I’m sorry. Just forgive me and let us carry on with the night. Please?”

I look at my legs and then at my hands. And when I see I am still fit enough, I say, “Nah, I’m not interested anymore. I’m going to my room.”

I space myself away from him as I stand up from there to head to my room. Luckily he does not reach out to grab me but I am still being wary because I know what he can do. He is about ten times faster than I am and before I can even blink, I am sure he can get to me if he wants to.

Until I get inside the building, he does not attempt to pull that stunt out on me. I was totally glad because I do not want to even have the chance to struggle with him about what I want and do not want to do tonight.

The exhaustion kicks in as I notice I am about to get to my room. I am certain that as soon as my body hits the bed, I will be drifting off into the land of the dreams.

But the night had a different plan that would keep me up for a little while longer because as soon as I handle the door knob into my room, I hear the sound of something smashing to the floor that instantly catches my attention, startling me in the process.

And just then, Caleb rushes in.