Insists?
This nightwalker is strange. But as much as I have more questions, the look on everyone’s faces as they walk past, and Jax’s name slipping from loose lips, has me nodding my head stiffly and saying, “Okay. I will see him again if I can go and rest, and if my friends are given the food you would have given to me.”
“Of course.”
Of course. He nearly sounded human.
As I follow the Bleeder up the stairs, my friends stop. I sense their sharp gazes following me when I walk past and up to our floor.
I know what they will say. I know it because if they were in the same position, I’d do the same. Still, I’m not ready to face Jax. I’m also not ready for the questions.
It’s quiet when I enter the room. The Bleeder quickly leaves, closing the door behind him. Running my fingers through my hair, I sit on Cole’s bed and drop my headbetween my legs. Whatever is in the airshaft is quiet, but I suppose it has only been active at night.
“Saya?” I suck in a breath and lift my head to see Emily entering. Her brows are knitted together, her wet hair knotted at the base of her neck, while patches of wetness seep through her thin gown. “Are you okay?”
With a tight-lipped smile, I say, “Just tired. What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to bleed soon?”
“I told the Bleeder I was feeling sick and asked if I could bleed later instead, and he agreed. It was weird he let me, but I guess you are important.” I shuffle over on the bed as Emily sits beside me. She looks ahead, and with a slow nod of her head, she says, “Did you get the answers you needed?”
“No.”
“So you will go back?”
“Yeah,” I say hoarsely.
“Jax won’t like that.” Emily faces me. “And the other women are already wondering if you’re turning into a nightwalker.”
My eyes crinkle as humour stirs in my chest, but I keep my laughter at bay. “Wouldn’t that be funny?”
Emily chuckles as she leans back more comfortably into Cole’s bed. “I don’t believe it. At least not yet. You’ve always been curious about new things.”
I pick at the skin around my fingernail. “Curiosity will kill the cat someday.”
“Someday, but not today.” She nudges my shoulder. “I bailed on food to make sure you were okay, so you better give me at least half tomorrow.”
I nudge her shoulder back. “Only if you tell me the real reason you came in here.”
“Smart.” She tips her head back and stares up at the metal bars. “I never told you how I ended up in here, did I?”
I shake my head. “You said you were caught by a Bleeder while scavenging.”
Emily scoffs out a laugh. “Yeah…I was. But I didn’t tell you how.”
Kicking my feet up, I lie down on Cole’s bed, and Emily does the same. Flat on our backs, shoulder to shoulder, she tells me her story.
“There wasn’t any food where my grandma told me to scavenge, so I ventured out farther than usual. I was desperate. Reckless. So, I went to the nearby shopping district. There was a pharmacy there, and I hoped to find something that could help my grandma.”
Emily, as silly as she can be most of the time, always looks out for others. She was the one who tried to drag Vinny’s body back, even knowing he was dead. All I did was stand there in disbelief while Jax walked past, muttering about another failed escape.
“That’s when I met him.”
I turn my head to see a shimmer in her eyes as she grits her teeth.
“He was clean. Most in the village never cared to clean themselves up. So, seeing someone around my age who was clean—well-dressed, in a way—and scavenging like me was something else. Without a single word, our bodies collided, and I fucked him senseless.”
“Oh…” I say as I slowly nod. “Nice…”
Emily barks a laugh, but tears slip freely from the corners of her eyes. “It was the first time I’d had sex in fuckingyears, so the first clean dick I saw, I hopped right on it. And it became a regular thing. I’d return to the pharmacy, and he would be there. We would exchange goods—he said he scavenged further than me, so he always had food—and we’d have sex.”
