Читать книгу Soul Fulfiller - Ар'лан ис'Дрекхэм - Страница 7

“Aria, you coming out?” Ian peeked out from behind the car door, squinting at me.

I jumped, snapping out of my thoughts as though someone had snapped their fingers right in front of my face.

“What? Oh, Ian… yeah…” I muttered, losing touch with reality for a moment.

“Alright, spill it,” he narrowed his eyes, and I felt like his gaze was literally burning through me. “What’s going on?”

I lowered my gaze, hiding my thoughts deep inside.

“I was just thinking… about the future.”

“About what, exactly?” Ian’s voice softened, but it only made the question sound even more probing, as if he were looking straight into my soul.

I sighed and shook my head.

“Just… everything, I guess… Honestly, it’s nothing. Everything’s fine,” I forced out weakly, and to steer him away from digging deeper, I kissed the corner of his mouth — lightly, almost like an apology.

He stared at me a little longer than necessary, as if reading something in my gaze.

“Alright,” he finally said, “but we’re coming back to this. You know I won’t just let it go.”

“Fine,” I smiled, trying to make it look sincere, but inside I felt uneasy.

Meanwhile, the guys had started building the fire — the flames slowly came to life, scattering golden reflections across their faces. The air smelled of smoke, wood, and sea breeze. Kate and I focused on making everything cozy: laying out blankets, setting up thermoses, arranging snacks, and hanging lanterns on the branches of the small trees lining the beach.

“This… it’s Darina,” Blaine suddenly said, nodding toward the path leading from the parking lot.

I squinted, trying to make out the approaching figures. A tall girl in a tight black dress — yep, that was definitely her. No doubt about it. And beside her…

“Shit,” Ian cursed under his breath. “Wait… is that Toby with her?”

“It looks like it,” Kate added, her voice measured, but there was a spark of irritation in it.

For a moment, the entire atmosphere seemed to shrink, as though the fire had suddenly stopped giving warmth. We all silently watched the approaching pair, and tension hung in the air — like someone had just pulled the pin from a grenade.

They reached us. Darina kissed Ian on the cheek, and Toby walked up to Blaine.

“Aria, meet my best friend Toby,” Blaine cheerfully introduced him. We shook hands. Ian came up to me, hugged me, and kissed me on the forehead. Darina’s smile immediately disappeared.

“If you want, stay with us,” Kate offered.

Our sharp gazes turned to her. She instantly realized she’d said too much.

“We’ll stay,” Darina said, sitting down on a blanket.

“Aria, you’re going to be in our class, right?” Toby suddenly changed the subject, looking at me a little too long, with that same half-smiling expression that always made me uneasy.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Blaine cut me off:

“Yeah,” he said confidently, maybe too confidently, as if putting an end to the conversation before it even started.

“Wait, Blaine, this is…” Toby began, looking at him in confusion. He didn’t finish his sentence, but the tone of his voice clearly asked, “Are you, like, taking responsibility for her now?”

Blaine shot me a quick look, one that carried a silent warning — don’t say anything — then immediately turned his gaze back to Toby, as if some invisible current had passed between them.

“Who wants some skewers?” Blaine suddenly perked up, standing up and clapping his hands. “Let’s go make some! Fresh air, fire, meat — that’s what we need right now.”

He didn’t give Toby the slightest chance to steer the conversation back. And as everyone reluctantly started getting up and exchanging glances, I felt Blaine’s hand linger for just a moment on my back — almost weightless, but enough for me to know: he could feel something was off. Or maybe he just didn’t want that conversation to happen.

They went off to cook the skewers. Ian was talking to Darina about something, and I decided to sit down on the sand by the sea, lost in thought about that strange incident with Greg. It all felt so… strange…

Two text messages came through. One from my mom, letting me know she was doing fine and wishing us a good time. The next message — again from an unknown number.

“I know you read my message, baby. I miss you… and I’ll find you.”

The world froze for a second. Everything around me — the sound of the waves, the chatter by the fire, the smell of smoke — vanished. There was only the screen, pulsing with that line, and the chilling cold that ran down my spine.

Oh God. He’s writing again.

My hand instinctively tightened, my fingers turning white with tension. I wanted to throw the phone into the water, delete everything, run, hide. I read the message again — and my heart skipped a beat, then pounded violently in my chest, as if it wanted to leap out.

“I’ll find you.”

Where is he? How did he get my new number? Who told him where I was?

Panic surged up my throat like a salty wave. I stood up and, without looking back, started walking along the shore. The wet sand bounced beneath my feet, mist drifting above the water. But inside, everything was burning. I could feel the fear slowly, but steadily, creeping in — its cold fingers tightening around my thoughts.