Page 38 of Desolation
I throw my hands up in exasperation with the situation before falling onto my back on the mattress. “I’m just so angry at the world right now. Not just Lana. I’m angry Beth was taken from us. I’m angry Lana didn’t allow us to comfort her when she clearly needed it. I feel this fire inside of my soul attempting to consume me and it’s just … overwhelming.”
“Maybe you should go shower and try to cool down metaphorically. I’ll go after.”
Blowing out a deep breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, I nod my head and rise off the bed, grabbing a clean pair of boxers. Making my way to the en-suite bathroom, I remove my ruined clothing and get into the shower after giving it a few seconds to heat up. Stepping in, I hiss as cold water meets my foot.
I swear I turned it on hot.
I look at the shower handle to confirm and see it’s all the way towards the ‘H’ side. Frowning, I put my foot back in to test the water again. Once again, ice-cold water meets my skin.
But there’s steam rising into the recessed lighting, which just confuses me further.
“Luke!” I yell out to my twin as I wrap a towel around me loosely.
His head peeks through the door with a cheeky grin. “What’s up? I’m not washing your back.”
Rolling my eyes and holding back a smile, I asked, “Can you test this water temperature? It’s turned all the way to hot and there’s steam but it feels ice-cold to my skin.”
“That’s weird. Yeah, move over and I’ll try it.”
Moving to the side to make way for him, he sticks his hand in and pulls it back with a hiss, shaking his fingertips.
“See! Isn’t that so odd?”
Instead of a nod of agreement, he looks at me worriedly. “Leo. That water just burned the shit out of me. It wasn’t cold at all.”
“No fucking way. Maybe it finally heated up and I just didn’t give it long enough.”
He nods. “It’s an older building. They probably have old hot water tanks.”
Sure that that’s it, I push by him to try again and curse as freezing cold water runs over my hand.
“Ow, Leo! What the hell?”
I glance over, perplexed by his outburst, and see the red mark on his forearm. Did I do that? I barely brushed his arm—with my elbow!
“There’s no way I did that,” I say. “I’m not holding anything hot. Run it under the faucet though to relieve the sting.”
What is going on right now?
He goes over to the sink and as he runs his arm under the cold water, he gasps in surprise.
“What now?” I asked, wondering what the hell else can possibly happen.
“My skin … it’s healing.”
Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.
Walking to the sink in two quick strides, my mouth drops open as his burn slowly fades into his normal pale skin and the wound above his eye begins closing.
An all-consuming sharp pain shoots through my head, causing me to fall into the wall next to me. I sink to the ground and cradle my head. With the last reserves of my willpower, I try to look up and check my brother’s okay between the slits of my eyes and find him curled in the fetal position on the floor next to me.
I open my mouth to ask if he’s okay but black dots litter my vision and I promptly lose consciousness.
Zedd
A somber mood settles over our room as Ash and I unpack the measly belongings that we could stuff into our duffle bags. I’m unsure if I should comfort him because I know he’s hurting from what Lana said earlier but I imagine he needs space to think. I’m hoping he’ll talk to me when and if he’s ready. It stung me when she threw me off of her and yelled at me to stop touching her, so what she said to him ...
I can’t even imagine how deep the wound’s running there.
