Free. She had gotten free from the White Room. Free from Lawson. Free from the basement. She had managed it all on her own and she was proud of herself but she was beaten in, that was for sure. Immediately she had set off for Cole’s room, needing to be reassured that this was real. Tossing open the door without knocking, Lillian called his name but she stopped halfway through and stood in the doorway.
Cole wasn’t there. But the room wasn’t empty.
Keera and Derek sat on the bed, across from one another, a bottle of Cole’s special mix between them and a deck of cards scattered. Keera’s eyes lifted to look at the blonde and she immediately rolled them and looked back to her cards. “She’s here.” She grumbled the words to Derek who turned his head and looked her over slowly with a raised brow. She wasn’t sure what it was about that look, but she felt as if he knew something she didn’t, as if he was seeing right through her.
A shudder went up her spine as she stood still and gently rubbed her arm. “Where’s Doc?”
Derek’s eyes were still on her, but it was Keera that responded. “He took off a few minutes ago, he must have known you were coming.” A wicked grin was on the brunette’s face as she lifted her eyes to look at Lillian once more. Lil’s eyes darted between the two. “Did he say where he was going?”
This time, Derek answered, he shook his head slowly as he gracefully slid from the bed. “No ma’am.” The boy moved toward her with ease, until he was standing almost uncomfortably close to her, completely out of his character. He didn’t say anything as he stepped up into her. One hand reached up to grab the door, the other gently took her arm and pulled her into the room. “We should really have a talk. The three of us. In private.”
The tension in the air was ridiculous and Lillian felt so wrong and out of place it wasn’t even funny. But shestill allowed Derek to pull her into the room and close the door. Keera’s eyes were on them now, her cards had been dropped to her laugh. “Don’t be too rough on her now,Der.” Though it if was possible, she looked even more creepy than she had before.
Lillian’s eyes went up to Derek and she took a step away from him, but he stopped her. “Lancaster… you’re pushing it. What do you want to talk about?” She stood strong, frim, her arms folding across her chest staring at the boy while her anger was already beginning to grow.
“Talk? Well there’s not much talkin’ to be had from you, just me and not ma’am here. My mom told me it was always best to be honest, so here it goes.” Derek had almost backed her into the door and his smile spread. “Being honest, I only bothered talking to you in the first place to get to your friend. Who really wants to be with – and excuse my language but – the school’s tramp. The girl who, honestly, I think you’ve probably been ridden more often than my horse has.”
The color, or whatever was left of it, drained from her face as she looked from Derek to Keera who was giggling. Trying to focus on her anger, she straightened up staring at Derek and shrugging. “Nothing I haven’t heard before, and while we’re being honest, it still doesn’t bother me, I can have sex with whomever I want, whenever I want and I don’t give a damn what anyone has to say about it.”
Derek only shook his head sadly and backed away from her. “It’s like damaged goods, ma’am. No one wants to use something that someone else has thrown out. It’s like a broken toy.” The boy shrugged and dropped back down to the bed as Keera got up and came toward her.
“Hey blondie.” Smirking widely Keera’s arms folded in her particular stance. “It pisses you off, doesn’t it? Not only does Derek want me more than he wants you, but Noah wants me more than he wants you too… looks like that makes you second choice, doesn’t it?” The girl let out harsh laughter but kept her arms folded and continued in her tirade. “Do you know why I even bothered to be friends with you at all? It was hilarious to watch you fall flat on your face over and over again. You’re pathetic. You’re not a person. You’re a bitch with a special little power that you can’t even control.”
At the moment, Lillian was somehow resisting the urge to slap the girl, but she only closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, attempting to calm herself down. She was raging internally, but a small part of her was agreeing with every word the two said, and it was beginning to break her down. Maybe Doc was wrong, she wasn’t strong at all. She was just some girl with a big mouth, a big power and open legs.
Her eyes closed as she moved back away from Keera, her back pressing into the door, but Keera only pressed on. “Seriously, Lillian, did you really think that anyone at this school really cared if you were alive or dead? No, of course not. We all knew you were downstairs, but none of us bothered to come and get you, now did we? Why? Because we are better off without you. We like you down there, it’s what you deserve and where you should be. Nobody wants you here, no one needs you here. No one even cares if you just disappeared. So do us all a favor and disappear, Graham. Get the hell out of our life.”
Derek got off of the bed and came up behind Keera, his arms went around the girl’s waist and he stooped she he could drop his chin to her shoulder. “I hate being rude, but my girl’s got a point you know. We’re all better off when you’re not around, and we don’t have to deal with you. I haven’t even known you that long – but it’s still too long.”
Keera was smirking again, she let out a small laugh as Lillian’s fingers went over her eyes. God she wanted this to be a dream, she wanted to wake up. Stilled pressed into the door she slowly slid to the floor and that was when Keera reached down and pinched her arm painfully. It was almost as if she had read her mind. “This ain’t a dream, Graham. This is reality, so deal with it and accept it. We don’t want you here… now get out, because the sight of you is turning my stomach.”
Keera and Derek broke into wicked laughter as Lillian forced herself to her feet. Oh well. She didn’t need them. She didn’t need anyone. She didn’t care what anyone thought. Struggling to find the doorknob she ripped the door open and went out into the hallway. She wasn’t dreaming, she was out and back in the school, but she was still alone.
The laughter was echoing down the hallway and she shoved her fingers up into her hair as she spun in a slow circle. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she tried to focus on something, on anything, but none of it was making sense. Pressing her head against the wall, her hands slammed into the brick beside her head and a loud sob tore through her whole body. She needed to get herself together. It didn’t matter. It was fine. She was alone. Her own ‘family’ was abandoning her. No, they were kicking her out because they couldn’t stand her. She was a disgrace of a person… not even a real person. Jackson was right – NO. Jackson hadn’t been real… had he?
Now she was just confused, reality and imagination were beginning to blend together and she couldn’t tell the two apart. She needed to talk to someone who could help her work it out. Someone who would make it make sense. The same someone that always made it make sense. Danny. She needed to find Danny.
Lawson’s fingers lifted from the sedated whimpering girl and he smirked to the attendant in the room. “We’re nearly there, you know, this is actually a bit of fun…” The man chuckled as the girl drifted back into consciousness she was still drowsy from the sedation. Upon seeing her eyelids open, the attendant hurried the release another sedative into one of the many IVs inserted into her body. While her confusion was only growing, where in the hell was she now? What was real? When she drifted back under, she had no idea which way was out and which way was in.