Viper's Kiss

Chapter 4

I woke up in the infirmary tucked snuggly underneath the blanket. I didn't question it instead I just closed my eyes back and hoped that I could go back to sleep. But then it hit me: How the hell did I get into the infirmary without waking up cause surely the moment someone touched my back I would've been flailing around like an asshole. The blanket was warm and every muscle in my body was telling me not to get up and honestly I was going to agree with it but I hear rustling next to me.

I pulled the blanket over my head and closed my eyes hoping that whoever was in here would just leave so I can rest peacefully. Although their presence was still noticeable by the heavy breathing I could still feel myself slipping into another peaceful sleep. My eyes grew heavy, and my body was relaxing letting good thoughts cross my mind. I wanted to think of Dameon, more importantly a way to get closer to him without getting hit in my back or sacrificing another part of my body to get bruised. Unfortunately my mind was blank but my imagination was running wild at the thought of him being shirtless, revealing a sexy six pack that would greet me. My mind was reaching for stars, he could have a big gut underneath his huge hoodies and yet my mind wanted to give him the body of a mafia don. I wasn't going to protest either, I wanted him to have strong muscles underneath to go with all that glory he could be hiding.

"f**k!" A deep voice shouted followed by a loud crash. The voice was stringing out a slur of curses as the person grumbled and it honestly sounded scary, but my body was now fully awake once again.

Peeking through the blanket, not so much as to expose myself I stared at who could be cursing like a sailor. I didn't have a clear look because the person was facing the other way so instead I was greeted by their back. Honestly it was disgusting covered in scars, some were old and faded while others looked new as if they were just made. The flesh around the new ones were still raised, with some looking as if they were going to bleed with slightest bit off strain. I didn't even know that I let out a gasp until the person flinched. I quickly close the gap in my cover and tried to act like I was still in a deep sleep, hoping that he would ignore me. A few seconds passed and eventually they turned into minutes, I didn't hear any movement and it was starting to get hot underneath the blanket. I was determined to stay underneath the blanket until I knew I was alone, and thankfully my wish came sooner than expected.

I heard the door to the nurse's office open and close, I even waited a few seconds just to be clear and when I heard nothing I yanked the blanket off and sat up cautiously enough to not hurt my back. Unfortunately, I met eyes with the one and only Dameon Halloway, who was shirtless and gripping the doorknob in his hand with his eyes fixated on me viciously. My breath was caught in my throat but my body was on autopilot. I gripped the blanket and threw it back over my body when I shifted to lay down, ignoring the slight discomfort in my back. I even threw in a couple of believable snores, hoping he'd think I have narcolepsy or something.

The blanket was yanked off of me and I was left to lay there with no protection against the man who was clutching my blanket with eyes filled with murderous intent. "How much did you see," he growled out, dropping my blanket. I was now sitting up on the bed trying to push myself close to the wall hoping it would open up and swallow me alive but my life wasn't a JK Rowling novel which meant I wasn't going to magic myself out of this situation. Judging from the look on Dameon's face, he wasn't going to let me disappear either.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I turned away to look at the medicine cabinet. My eyes skimmed every bottle trying to find something to focus on rather than the thought of him being close to me. My eyes skimmed over all types of pain medication and cold relievers but I just couldn't focus. My heart was pounding in my ears and I could feel the sweat forming on my face. "Anyways you're too close."

Before I could react he had taken my chin in between his fingers in order to pull my face close to his. We weren't in kissing distance however our eyes were locked. I could feel his cold stare burning into my soul and despite the messy situation I was in all I wanted to do was figure out how I could turn a problem like this into a scene for my story.

"Don't play dumb. What did you see," he growled out. All the pent up anger that I would've had in me from yesterday had disappeared and I was left with awe and fear. His sharp green eyes that were adorned with flecks of emerald had been searching my face for any signs of betrayal especially ones that didn't match up to my words.

"Nothing," I managed to get out in the steadiest voice that I could. My mind had returned from the frenzy that it was in and was graceful enough to bless me with some sternness in my voice. Dameon hadn't responded though, instead I noticed his jaw clench and his fingers holding my chin had tighten reflexively. He quickly let me go and the space between us had grown wider. I knew he didn't believe me but he didn't want to keep pressing me for information considering that I wouldn't budge.

Now that I was free my body had physically slumped as much as it would let me without harming myself. My shoulders fell forward however I couldn't stop my body from flinching from the quick stab of pain that hit me in my back. I had tried to suck in air as quickly as possible between my gritted teeth because I knew he was still watching me. His gaze was deathly even as he was putting his hoodie back on I couldn't help but feel rooted to the bed.

'It could have been my imagination but I thought I saw a ghost smile on his face,' I thought to myself. I watched him carefully as he made his way over to the cabinet with all the medicine in it. He pulled back the screen and started gliding his hands over the bottle until he managed to stop at a small red and white container. Pulling it from it's spot, he tossed it at me, more precisely at my lap. I kept my face blank as he walked to the door and proceeded to open it. Before he left Dameon had given me one last harsh glare, "Keep your mouth f*cking shut about what you saw." And with that he had left me in the infirmary clutching the medicine in my hand.

I hadn't even noticed I was holding my breath until I reflexively sighed out loud. "What the f*ck was all that about," I mumbled. I pushed myself off the bed and grabbed a cup quickly filling it up in order to take a pill. He had given me a 600mg medication and I planned to go right back to sleep after taking it. "Bottom's up," I sighed, placing the pill in my mouth and quickly washing it down with water. Before laying back down, I pulled my phone out of my back and made myself comfortable. The screen flashed on showing me two texts messages and 99+ notifications from the Gizmo reading app.

One text message had been from my mother who told me she was going to make pasta before leaving for work for a double shift. Which meant that I wouldn't see her tomorrow when I wake up for school, it bummed me out that I hadn't properly hung out with my mother for quite some time now since she was always busy with work however I didn't want to be that kid that pesters her parent. In a way I was glad that she was working so hard instead of drinking her life away after my dad died.

The second message was from Zarina who has told me that Greg had carried me to the nurse's office after class had ended simple because they didn't want to wake me up. She also made a note of how angry the teacher was that I was sleeping during class and had assigned a few pages from our math textbook for homework and that was it. Another message underneath it from her had simple told me she'll let me know about all the other classes after school.

I sighed, thanking Zarina through text and then closed out of our messages. Swiping through my phone I had clicked on the Gizmo app. The screen flashed a bright green with a huge white 'G' in the middle. It only took a few seconds for the app to fully loading up welcoming me with a, "Welcome Back Casper's Pickle" underneath that show me a section to continue reading the books I had in my library. I clicked on the tab that had the 99+ notification symbol, most of them were new readers. One notification managed to catch my eye right before I closed my app. It was a message from "Cloud Publishing'. Oddly enough my body froze and my mind was drifting.

Why would Cloud Publishing message me?

The obvious answer would be to open the message however I was scared. Although if it was good news I would want to read it with Zarina so I decided to hold off. I closed out of Gizmo and rested my phone against my stomach. My mind was drifting to the thought of Dameon, not because I thought he was sweet for giving me medication but because it was weird. It was weird that his back was covered in bruises and scars especially for an 18 year old. The skin on his back almost looked as if it had been split open and stitched together too many times. What could he be doing? I thought that maybe hardware jobs would give those cuts however it wouldn't be that prominent.

It was also weird that he walked into a guarded door at the club. I texted Zarina quickly and told her to ask Derek why the club was guarded by bouncer by one door specifically. My mind felt like all the information between yesterday and today was hard to wrap around my mind. From the intense feelings I had gotten from the club to the fact that Dameon was hiding something. Was it abuse? If so what could I really do?

I couldn't get the thought of his back out of my head all those scars were dancing furiously around one another. They each had their own story to tell and I couldn't even begin to understand how someone like him; quiet and, from what I could tell, unmotivated in classes managed to make it through the school day. I also wanted to think that he was a good guy despite initially scaring the f*ck out of me when we first interacted in the infirmary. It could be my 'bad boy' complex just nipping at my skin but I was going to take my frustrations out when I write later. Sexually and annoyed frustrations because I was too scared to pay attention to his shirtless body. Way to go Reiya.