I can't believe Elias Gauthier is sitting right next to me, driving my car. If someone were to tell me this morning that this was going to happen, I would have told them that they were crazy. But then again, for the life of me, I wouldn't have thought that Dillon and one of my best friends would betray me this way.

My phone has been beeping several times with incoming messages but I choose to ignore it. When the song A Thousand Years by Christina Perry plays on my phone, signaling an incoming call from Dillon, it connects with the car's android system and fills the car with a ringing tone. The name Dillon My Bae simultaneously comes up on the car screen.

My fury blazes. That lying cheating dog!

A thousand years...hah! I know, it's cheesy, but I put that song for his calls because I binge-watched Twilight last year. That was when we first went out together and I stupidly thought that he was going to be my Edward. And I programmed that stupid name on my phone for him because... Well, there's no excuse for that, except that I was lame and stupid. I should remember to change it to Dillon the Cheating Baboon or Dillon the Jackass on my phone later tonight- even though that wouldn't be fair to baboons and jackasses everywhere. Maybe I should block his number. But that feels so final...

"Aren't you going to get that?" Elias' voice sounds terse. His jaw is tight and he's staring straight ahead with that aloof look on his face. The playful and amused Elias is gone. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he looks and sounds almost like he's jealous.

"No," I say, and violently jab the red sign on the screen to reject the call.

When the ring starts again, I fish the phone from my purse and hit the power off button, ending the incessant ringing.

My anger quickly turns to sadness...and confusion. What have I done to deserve this? I'd never have betrayed my friends like this. I'd never have done this to anyone. Years of friendship and trust are now gone. Just like that. Why did they do this to me?

Tears are threatening to come out again and I blink rapidly to keep it at bay. I wrap my arms around myself and stare out the side window, feeling very sorry for myself.

I feel his curious stare on me several times but I'm not ready to talk to anyone about it. Besides, I know I'd lose my battle with the tears if I start talking now.

The road is deserted without any traffic at all at this time of the night. It's miles and miles of private properties and woods on either side. It's darkness all around except for the streetlights every now and then. It feels like we're far away from any living soul.

A while later, he's leaning forward to go through several different radio stations. He stops when the song Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO blares out from the speakers.

Curiosity got me watching him from the corner of my eye.

He's driving with one hand bracing the top of the steering wheel while nodding his head to the tune. When he starts to move, flexing his muscles and lip-synch to the song, I lost it. I burst out laughing.

It's hilarious and he looks sexy doing it too. My god, so sexy...

He rolls his shoulders, showing off his flexing muscles. Then he runs his hand down his chest towards his flat abs and lower. When it gets to the part "I got passion in my pants and I ain't afraid to show it", He does a restraint thrust of his hips and I get all hot and bothered but I keep laughing.

I'm still laughing when he's done and his gaze catches mine.

"Didn't know I could move like that, did you?" He has that sexy little smile playing on his lips.

"Didn't have a clue," I agree, smiling back.

Something passes between us and there's that awareness of him again. The air between us feels charged.

He takes his enigmatic gaze away to look ahead as he continues driving. But then I catch him sneaking glances every once in a while. Butterflies are flying wild and free in my stomach and my heart jumps whenever our eyes meet.

The tension is thick between us and I rake my brain to think of what to say to break it.

"You're driving me home in my car. How are you getting home? Are you going to walk?" I can totally let him take my car home and ask our groundskeeper slash driver, Norman to drive me to school in my grandmother's old Town Car tomorrow morning.

"Why a sudden concern for me, Duchess? Are you worried some wild animals are going to get me?" he teases me in his usual arrogant tone of voice.

The thought of wild animals getting to him makes me feel sick. But I raise an eyebrow and give him a lofty look before I say, "I'm not concern about you. Why would I be concerned about you? I have a..." boyfriend. No, I don't have a boyfriend. Dillon is no longer my boyfriend. And Jane is no longer my friend.

I swallow hard at the sudden reminder.

"Hey," he says quietly, sensing my mood and impulsively takes my hand in his. His touch burns my skin in the best way and a jolt of electricity shoots up my arm. He instantly releases my hand as though he feels it too.

We sit in silence as the car eats up the distance. I wonder what he's thinking.

After a while, he comments, "You don't have to worry about me, Duchess. Douchebags taste awful, even wild animals know to stay away."

I don't think he's a douchebag...not really. I might have thought so a few hours ago, but not so much now. But his comment got a little smile out of me.

"I drove with Ronan to Bradley's. I've texted him to come and get me," he adds a while later.

We stay quiet the rest of the way until he makes a turn into our private drive. He stops the car when we face the tall iron gates to the estate.

"Wait here," I tell him as I slide out of the car.

In contrast to Bradley Hammond's house, the path up to my house is inky dark. The headlights from the car are the only thing that illuminates the heavy wrought iron gates.

These gates were open when I left this evening. Norman usually closes them sometime during the night. This is not the first time I have to deal with unlocking the gates late at night after a party- that's why I have the key to the padlock with me.

I hear the car door being opened as I work on unlocking the gate. Elias stands beside the open car door. I can see the outline of him in the glow of the headlights and the light from inside the car.

"You shouldn't be out here by yourself after dark," he calls out, looking around us. There's really nothing much to see except for darkness and tall trees everywhere. There are funny noises of screeching wild birds or something, somewhere. This place is eerily private and deserted. Most nights, all you can hear are the sound of the wind between the trees and the cries of wild animals in the dark. "Next time you should let me do it," he says.

"Oh, is there going to be the next time?" I ask him, smirking a bit as I push the heavy gates open.

He ducks his head into the car without any smart remarks for that one. He remains very quiet- almost apprehensive and observant as he drives us up the hill, along the long winding driveway that is lined on both sides by looming trees.

"Would you like to come in?" I ask him awkwardly when we stop in front of my house. "I mean, while you're waiting for Ronan to come and get you."

"I don't know..." He keeps his gaze on the house. His eyebrows furrow as if he's trying to solve a puzzle. I try to look at our house the way that he's seeing it. I think this is the first time that he has seen our house despite being our closest neighbor.

The house is in total darkness as well. The turrets loom threateningly. The grey stones look ghostly white in the pale moonlight that illuminates the roof and the sides of the massive estate, leaving the rest of it in deep shadows. As usual, the dark windows leave this unsettling feeling deep in my gut. I wonder if he feels it too.

I know my home doesn't generate a welcoming feeling nor does it improves when you get inside.

He runs a thumb over his bottom lip before he glances back at me and carefully says, "Would you like to go somewhere else instead?"

"Somewhere else? Where?"

"I don't know..." He sighs as he runs his fingers through his unruly thick curls, then grips the back of his neck as he stares at the house again. "Is your grandmother home?"

"Yeah, she's...she must be asleep by now." I glance up at one of the windows as I tell him this. It feels like I'm looking into a deep dark pit of a chilling abyss that is staring menacingly back at me.

"Would you...like to come back to my house for a bit?" He seems uneasy and reluctant to leave me at my own front doorstep. "You seemed upset earlier. I have a broad shoulder if you want to talk about it..."

"That's okay, Elias. That's very nice of you, but it's a school night and we have to be up in..." I glance at my phone to realize that it's off.

"In less than five hours," he finishes for me. "It's after two now."

"Yeah, I better go to bed soon. So should you...but seriously, thank you for tonight."

*****

A part of me wishes that I took Elias's invitation to go to his house tonight- a big part of me.

He has the ability to make me forget about other things and to just focus on him, whether to be furious with him or puzzled or some other feelings that I don't want to admit to feeling. He makes me feel safe - which is rare these days.

Now I'm lying in bed, hiding under my blanket as I cry myself to sleep.

Tonight, the house isn't whispering. Tonight, the walls are weeping and wailing. Tonight, whenever I fall into a brief, restless sleep, I dream that they're shedding tears of blood.

************************************

Hey ya, dear readers!

My next update is going to be on Monday evening (est). If you want to read two chapters ahead, go to:

https://inkitt.app.link/RA_NicoleRidd3y

Thank you for reading, commenting, voting, and the follow.

Have a wonderful weekend and stay safe and healthy!

Much love,

Nicole♥