Chapter 4
“How was school?”
Indianna’s mother, Iris, was by the door when Indianna arrived home after school. She was smiling kindly, but Indianna didn’t smile back. Indianna had a difficult relationship with her mother, and she was quickly growing tired of it. Iris had been a wonderful mother when Indianna was younger—she adored her and did everything she could for her.
That was until Indianna’s father died. From then on, Iris had retreated into herself and didn’t show Indianna the love or affection that she once had. She still cared about her daughter, but Indianna often felt unwanted.
She didn’t think her mother cared anymore, so on the rare days that Iris seemed to perk up and take an interest in Indianna’s life, Indianna knew it wouldn’t last. She knew that her mother would lose interest the next day or the day after, and Iris would go back to walking around the house, lost in her own mind, not talking to Indianna about anything personal. The only conversations they would have would remain basic and simple.
“It was fine,” Indianna said and continued up the stairs to her new room, which was littered with cardboard boxes containing her belongings that she had yet to unpack.
She sat down on her double bed and fell back onto the soft duvet. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she sighed, her mind going back to the day. She thought of the voice in her mind and then of Greyson, before realizing that there was a pushing feeling in her head. The voice was in her head.
Indianna’s eyes flew open, and she sat up, ready to prepare herself to talk to the voice—but her world started to spin as she sat up, and she raised her hand to her mouth, suddenly feeling very queasy. A wave of nausea made her gag, and heat washed over her body. She could feel sweat forming on her back already. Indianna looked across the room to the door that led to her en suite, and she cautiously rose from the bed, focusing on the door that was swaying slightly in her eyes.
“Oh no,” Indianna whispered as her stomach churned, and she scrambled to the bathroom, throwing herself onto the floor by the toilet.
She gagged, and seconds later the contents of the day’s lunch were sitting in the toilet bowl, with a gasping Indianna clutching at the side of the toilet, gripping the seat tightly to hold herself up. She suddenly felt very weak, and she groaned as she was sick again. Afterward, she found herself lying back on the bathroom floor, feeling too weak to hold herself up. Her heavy eyes closed, and it wasn’t long before darkness overtook her.
***
Indianna woke up with a start, jolting up from the bathroom floor. Her skin was slick with sweat, and she was breathing heavily. She rubbed her eyes and pulled herself up from the floor, stumbling weakly back into her room. It was dark outside, and after checking the clock, she realized that it was morning—she had been asleep on the bathroom floor all night.
Indianna sighed and returned to her bathroom, squinting at herself in the mirror when she turned the light on. Her skin was pale, and she had dark circles under her eyes, making her look as bad as she felt.
She decided to shower, hoping that the cool water would help tame her temperature and soothe the headache that was starting to form. It offered her temporary relief, but as soon as she stepped out, she felt the heat washing over her again—and she felt ten times worse than she did the previous evening.
She dried and dressed in slow motion. Any fast movement made her vision blur, and sickness formed in her stomach. She pulled a vest top over her head and stumbled, reaching out for her bed for support. Eventually, she dressed fully and fell back onto the bed, panting with effort.
Her body felt like it was being engulfed in tiny needles, and she whimpered quietly, hating this feeling. She reached down for her shoes, not wanting to go to school, but she hoped that a distraction was all she needed. She was sure that she’d feel better once she was on her way to school.
‘Why are you going to school? You are clearly ill, sugar.’
Indianna had been waiting for the voice to say something. She had felt his presence before she fell asleep the night before, and she had felt him since she had woken up.
‘You took your time to speak up.’
‘Why are you going to school, sugar?’
‘It’s my second day. I can’t skip it already.’
‘Yes, you can, and you should.’
‘No, I shouldn’t. Besides, I am not being stuck at home with my mother.’
‘You don’t get along?’
Indianna frowned. ‘Not really.’
‘That shouldn’t be the reason you are going to school.’
‘It’s not the only reason.’
‘You should stay at home, sugar.’
‘I’m fine. This will probably all be gone in a couple of hours.’ Indianna sounded like she wasn’t only trying to convince the voice, but herself too.
The voice scoffed. ‘It probably won’t.’
Indianna ignored the voice and stood up. ‘I guess we’re going to find out.’
***
The sun was shining brightly, and it was making Indianna feel worse as she walked into school that day.
‘You shouldn’t have come in, sugar.’
‘If you aren’t going to answer my questions, then don’t talk to me,’ Indianna was quick to reply and narrowed her eyes at the ground as she entered the school building, her temper particularly short today.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Indianna stopped in her tracks when a brown-haired boy appeared in front of her, and she looked up, her eyes going wide.
“Are you new around here?” the boy asked, and Indianna felt extremely uncomfortable as she watched this boy’s eyes shamelessly trail up and down her body.
Indianna hadn’t dressed as modestly as the day before due to her soaring temperature, but she didn’t think that her shorts and vest top were an invitation for boys to stare at her like predators.
“I’m sure I would remember somebody like you,” the boy continued, smirking. He clearly thought he was charming, but Indianna just felt very wary, not liking the sleazy glint in his eyes.
“Sorry,” she apologized quietly and stepped to the side. “I have somewhere I need to be.”
“Where are you in a rush to?” The boy placed his hand on Indianna’s arm, and she stiffened, not liking the touch of his clammy skin on hers. “I can show you around, sweet cheeks.”
“I’m good, thank you,” Indianna murmured and tried to step back, but she was suddenly pulled forward. The force at which she crashed into the boy’s chest left her slightly dazed, but his now tight hold on her arm quickly brought her back to reality.
“You should be more grateful!” the boy snapped, and Indianna shrank as far away from him as she could. “A pretty little thing like you shouldn’t be left alone. There are some mean guys around here.”
“G-Get off me!” Indianna whimpered, her heart pounding in her chest. She tried to push the boy away, but he was strong.
“You need someone like me to look after you, darling.” There was an edge to the boy’s voice, and fear filled Indianna.
“P-Please!” Indianna begged. “Please, let me go!”
“You—”
The boy was cut off by a very familiar voice, and Indianna looked behind him to see Greyson. His eyes were locked onto the guy holding her, and he looked angry.
“The girl asked you to let her go.”
The boy scoffed, not turning to face Greyson. “Fuck off, mate, I’m busy.”
There was a pause, and Greyson raised his eyebrows at the back of the boy’s head.
“Big mistake,” he murmured, and Indianna gasped when she saw Greyson’s fingers wrap around the boy’s throat.
The boy froze, and his eyes widened in fear when he saw Greyson beside him. “Shit, man, I didn’t know it was you. I—”
Greyson applied pressure to the boy’s neck, and he was cut off, gasping for air.
“Let her go,” he whispered menacingly into the boy’s ear. His dark tone sent a shiver down Indianna’s spine, and he wasn’t even talking to her.
Immediately, Indianna was released, and she stumbled backward, crying out in surprise when she crashed into somebody. She panicked and stumbled. She wasn’t sure if it was shock or how ill she was feeling that made her lose balance, but she was steadied by the person she had stumbled into.
“Relax,” a calm voice said, and Indianna looked into the kind eyes of Greyson’s friend, Ace—the nice one. “Relax, it’s just me. I’m not going to hurt you. Are you o—”
Indianna’s attention was ripped from Ace when she heard a loud crash, and she looked over at Greyson, who had thrown the boy into a row of lockers. He crumpled to the ground in pain.
“Mate, I’m sorry—”
Greyson grabbed the boy off the floor and shoved him up against the now dented lockers.
“Don’t fucking call me mate,” Greyson hissed.
“What happened?” Brooklyn appeared at Indianna’s side as a crowd started to appear around Greyson and the boy. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
“I…” Indianna looked back at Greyson and cringed when he punched the boy, his strength making the boy’s nose bleed.
“Apologize to her!” Greyson growled, and all eyes went to Indianna, whose eyes widened and whose skin went paler than she thought possible. “Apologize now, Josh, or I’ll make sure you won’t live to see the sun, mate! Now!”
“Fuck!” the boy, Josh, shouted and pried at Greyson’s arm that was across his throat. “I’m sorry! Fuck, I’m sorry!”
“I don’t think you mean it,” Greyson hissed, applying more pressure to Josh’s throat.
“I do!” Josh yelled, his eyes wide with fear. “I’m sorry! I am.”
“Better,” Greyson snapped, and dropped Josh to the floor. “Now get out of my sight before I do something I will not regret!”
Josh was up from the floor and rushing away from Greyson within seconds, and Greyson’s eyes were immediately on Indianna. Her mouth was slightly agape, and she was staring at Greyson in shock. She didn’t think that he could be so terrifying.
“What?” Greyson suddenly barked and looked around at the crowd of curious students that had formed. “Move along!”
“What happened?” Brooklyn asked Indianna as the crowd started to disperse.
“I…” Indianna’s eyes were locked onto Greyson’s, and she took a step backward as he started to approach them. “I… I have to go—”
“Indie, wait!” Before she could turn around, Greyson grabbed her wrist, holding her gently. “Wait.”
“No, no, I need to—”
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Greyson said seriously. “Josh is a sick bastard. He won’t bother you anymore.”
“O-Okay,” Indianna stuttered. She wasn’t sure how to view Greyson after what she had just witnessed.
“You can stop looking at me like I’m going to hurt you,” Greyson said, raising his eyebrows at Indianna.
Luckily, Kal and Harry approached them before Indianna had the chance to say anything.
“Dude!” Kal exclaimed, grinning at Greyson. “We heard what happened!”
“What exactly did happen?” Brooklyn asked, looking around the group as Harry stood next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
“Josh was being inappropriate and manhandling Indianna,” Ace explained.
Brooklyn’s eyes widened. “God, he never learns! He’s such a creep! Are you okay, Indianna?”
All eyes went to Indianna, and she groaned internally. “I’m fine, thank you. I think I’m going to go.”
“Indie, are you really alright?” Greyson wondered, looking Indianna up and down—but not in a sexualizing way. “You really look like shit.”
“Thanks,” Indianna said bluntly.
“He could have said it more politely,” Brooklyn said and gave Greyson a look, “but he’s right. You don’t look well.”
“I’m fine, really,” Indianna insisted, and she turned around, walking away from the group.
She wasn’t fine. The incident had provided her with a brief distraction from how she was feeling, but now the symptoms were flooding back. Her head was thumping, she was sweating, and her whole body was aching.
‘Go home, sugar, you’re ill.’
Indianna groaned when she heard the voice. ‘No…’
‘Go home,’ the voice repeated. ‘Now!’
‘Make me.’
Indianna walked into the girls’ toilets, and a sharp pain suddenly appeared in her head. She cried out in pain and clutched at a sink as it got worse.
‘Stop it! Stop it, please!’