The Gift

Chapter Twenty-Two-Answers

I woke up, and I was in a bed. I frowned and sat up, looking around the warm room. The walls were painted pure white, and there was a nice, soft light brown floor, and a big window with white lace curtains, like my last room. The sheets were thick, and the heat was coming into the room. Altogether, I felt warm, and safer than I did in the car.

I wondered how my family and friends were doing...

I wondered if they thought I was part of Eli's little scheme.

Sneaky bastard!

"Hey," Eli peeked his head in, and smiled at me. I still felt a little mad at him, even though he was doing all these nice things for me and he really just wanted the best for my friends and family. Maybe. Unless he wanted it to be easier for him to get close to me and then turn me in to one of the men that wanted me. Like Micah's dad, who chased us off the side of the freeway just to get to me.

"Hi." I muttered, looking away. I wasn't about to trust him that easily. Just because he's been nice and given me so many reasons to trust him, I had to make sure. And if that meant not being nice to him for a little while, so be it. I wasn't going to be played over again.

"Look, I know you're mad--"

"'Mad' is the understatement of the year." I told him, still not  meeting his gaze. He was next to me now, sitting down on the other side of the bed, making me scoot a little the opposite way. I refused to look at his charming face, or listen to his nice words. He was too gentle with me, kind of like Cole, but more careful. He didn't lose his temper. He just laughed at my stupidity, instead of correcting me. I had to stop comparing him to Cole, but they were still twins. And I haven't questioned him about it, or anything else. I needed to know him.

"Nichole--" he sighed.

"Tell me, Eli, how did you find me? Why did you want to help me?" I changed the subject, and looked at him, needing to see his expression to my outburst. He was a little shocked, but mostly confused. 

"I heard about you in the Hidden World. And I thought you'd need help." He frowned and almost spoke again, but I knew he'd just ask a question, so I started with a new question I've been dying to know.

"What's the Hidden World?" I asked him. His expression changed.

"It's literally a hidden world. Like Jeremy and your friends got drove off an invisible exit, and they got put into the Hidden World. It's really pretty, but dark. It's just forest. But it's beautiful. I can't wait until you can see it." He told me. 

"How did you find Micah as a kid?" I went to the next question.

"I don't know, we both ran into each other along the road and just stuck together. At first we were both just using each other, but then we ended up being friends and we just helped each other." He said.

Next question.

"Why did you and Cole part?" I asked. I was waiting for hesitation in all of his words, but he didn't at all. It's like he was waiting for the question to come up.

"As kids, we were total opposites, even though we were identical. He was always more of a daredevil, while I was more of the guy that sit back and watched him do stupid things. We never were really that close, seeing as he never really accepted me for who I was. He always said I wasn't going to be a good fighter. He said he was the most loved in the family, and I grew up thinking that. And as we got older, and we were finally to the age of nine, when we were finally allowed to be treated like we were capable of things, he kind of changed. When we went out to go spy, he always led, and he always treated me like some kid that was still in training. He never let me do things. Almost like he was worried about me, but not really. I got fed up with it.