Chapter 5 Ruby

Ruby

I rolled onto my side and frowned, surprised I wasn't greeted with a view of the sky. I got out of bed sluggishly and pulled my curtain back, the way I always keep it. I wasn't a morning person. To get myself out of bed, all I need is to see the sky.

I sighed and rubbed at my eyes before looking down at the street below, my eyes following a couple as they strolled by hand in hand.

Cute couple, I thought to myself as my stomach began to growl loudly, like an animal was in there. I wasn't hungry, I was starving. I dragged myself to the bathroom to brush my teeth and tame my hair before making my way to the kitchen. I wasn't sure why I felt so tired or so hungry, but the sooner I had food in my system the better. I already felt like shit and didn't want to risk getting a headache.

"Oh my God!" I clutched at my chest as I walked in on Natalie sitting at my tiny island. "What the hell are you doing in my kitchen? How did you even get in?"

Natalie raised a brow. "Your door was open. I've been calling you all day. You missed class."

"What?" I looked away and frowned. "What do you mean I missed class? It's Sunday."

Her eyes narrowed at me. "Ruby, it's Monday. I've been calling you since yesterday, which was Sunday, and then all day today. I was worried about you, and your ass has been sleeping all this time."

What the hell was she saying? There was no way I'd been sleeping for two days. I held my head and sat down and she slid her mug, rather my mug, toward me.

"Have some coffee. You look like shit. What happened to you?"

I sipped the coffee and sighed. I wish I had an answer for her, but I was busy trying to understand how I had slept for two days. Why was I still so tired then? I pressed my fingers to my temples and peeped at her from under my lashes.

"Sorry I missed your calls. I must have been more tired than I thought after work on Saturday." My eyes widened. "Speaking of Saturday, your creepy ass cousin attacked me."

Natalie blinked slowly. "Xavier attacked you? Attacked you how?"

"In the diner. And he didn't literally attack me. He was staring at me, so I asked him what his problem was, and he, I don't know, reacted. I thought he was going to hit me."

Natalie looked away, her brows furrowed in thought. "He would never do that. Do you remember anything else? What else did he do?"

I gripped my cup with both hands and took another sip of my coffee, already feeling my energy returning. "Nothing else. He left, and I got back to work."

That's odd. Something tugged at my memory as I looked at my left wrist. Slowly I placed my cup down to swipe a finger across my wrist. It was smooth, with blue-colored veins showing beneath my skin.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked. I looked up at her and then down at my wrist again. Something was wrong here; something was really wrong. First, my curtain was drawn at my window; my curtain is always open. And now my scar was gone. A thought occurred to me and I looked over at Natalie once more.

"How did you know where I live?"

She shrugged and puckered her lips. "I went to the admissions office. I told you, I was worried about you."

I didn't believe her.

My eyes widened as she faded, becoming almost transparent right before my eyes, and I got up, almost falling off my stool.

"Who the hell are you?" I reached behind me and grabbed a knife. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

She tilted her head to the side and dared to look concerned when I was the one looking through her body. "Ruby, you need to calm down."

The wall to my right cracked and I lost it. "Are you fucking kidding me? Tell me who you are right now! What have you done with Natalie? Where is she? What the hell is going on here?"

The knife dropped out of my hand as more walls began to crack and Natalie started to flash in and out of existence. I hadn't taken any drugs, I was sure of it. I've never even done drugs, not even once, so why was I tripping? I must be tripping, because none of this was possible.

My hand fell to my side as I looked into Natalie's eyes. "This isn't real."

I sat up in bed with a start, my breathing shallow as I clutched at my chest. I was under sheets that weren't my own, black silk sheets at that. And when I looked to my left, I backed up so much I almost fell off the bed.

Natalie was sitting in a chair by my bed. No, not my bed. I wasn't even in my room. She was holding her head, her face twisted in pain, with Xavier by her side. His hands were on her shoulders as he begged her to speak to him.

What the hell is going on?

I tried to get out of bed and away from them, but my focus was going in and out, my eyes blurry. Before my very eyes what I was seeing changed from the room with Xavier and Natalie to just Natalie and me in my kitchen.

"What the hell are the two of you doing to me?" My head felt like it was going to explode. There was a weight on my chest so heavy it was like something was sitting on me. "What's going on!?"

Xavier looked my way, his jaw clenched tightly, and Natalie held her hand out to me, her face red. "Sleep."

I wasn't given the chance to fight it. I was hit with a wave of drowsiness that was so strong I was out cold before my head smacked against the cold hard floor.