To Rescue a Villain

Chapter 4

When I awoke it was pitch black, making me believe it was still the middle of the night. I must have covered my bedroom window last night but...why couldn't I remember doing it? I couldn't remember doing anything yesterday. All I could remember was...

Oh no! I wasn't in my bedroom!

Gradually running my fingers around the bed, searching for my familiar pillows and stuffed animal, everything came flooding back. As my hands made contact with the top of the bunk bed, everything that had happened yesterday ran through my mind like a distorted flashback.

It took me a few minutes to think about it, then a second realization struck me. I had fallen asleep on the top bunk. So why could I feel that same bunk hanging above my head?

"Am I..."

Taking a deep breath, I turned away from the wall I was facing and looked to see if anyone else was lying in the bed.

Someone was.

Still sleeping, his hair messy and shirt wrinkled, was Dark or, rather, Derek. Why was I sleeping next to him? Had I started to sleep walk? But I never did at home.

Now, I want to pause for a second and be honest. I am sure that most girls would have loved to be in my position in that moment. Dark was the rugged, bad boy type, probably what many girls dreamed about. But, at that moment, thoughts of marrying him and being romantic were the farthest things from my mind. At the time, I just cared about protecting him like a sister or friend. So lying next to him only made my heart jump out of fear, not love.

Priorities came first. If I had crawled in while I was asleep, maybe he didn't know. And, based on how he'd acted yesterday, when he did wake up he'd probably be angry to see me in here with him so I needed to sneak out before that happened.

It took a lot of concentration to slowly inch my legs, one after the other, out from under the blankets. Unfortunately for me, I was up against the wall which meant I'd need to climb over Derek in order to get out. How on earth had I climbed in here last night?

I was right above him, one leg on either side of his body, ready to leap onto the floor and escape, when he woke up.

I was expecting him to get mad or shove me off but, as he slowly rubbed his eyes and looked up at me wearily, all he did was give a small chuckle.

"I know I'm handsome but isn't it a bit early to jump me?" he asked, still tired but amused.

How dare he?! "Don't flatter yourself," I muttered before finally freeing myself from the awkward position I was in. As I brushed myself off and felt around in my pockets for my phone, I inwardly applauded myself for responding so quickly without stumbling over my words. For me, that was an accomplishment.

I wanted to check what time it was but, unfortunately, my phone didn't seem to be working. The screen stayed black no matter what I did, which was annoying. Maybe it's battery couldn't work in this world or something.

"Do you guys have electricity?" I started to ask before remembering that he'd turned on a light earlier today. Maybe they had electricity but weren't advanced enough for cell phones. I hadn't bothered to notice such things in the book.

"Why? Do you need to call somebody?" Derek asked as he stumbled out of the bed at a far slower pace than I had. "And you're asking about that instead of what happened last night?"

My eyes popped out of my head. "What happened last night?!?" So I hadn't been sleep walking?

After running both hands through his dark hair to make it look presentable, he gave me a one over, then smirked like the villain I wouldn't let him become. "Maybe I shouldn't tell you."

"Maybe you should!"

"Okay. Okay." He laughed. "You kept having nightmares and would only stop screaming when I touched you so, after the fifth time, I gave up and just brought you down here..." He pointed to the bottom bunk. "So I could finally get some sleep."

"Oh. Sorry." How embarrassing. And how unusual. I never had nightmares at home. Maybe it was another side effect of the world changing thing. I wonder what I'd been dreaming about.

"Good thing it was only for one night, right?" he asked and stepped toward the door, preparing for school.

Realization struck me as he brushed past. He only planned to let me stay over once. Now what should I do? I didn't know anybody here. And...

"Wait!" I whimpered and grabbed his arm, embarrassed at how pathetic I sounded but unable to come up with a better idea. "Please, I have nowhere else to go."

"Not my problem."

"I can pay rent! I can get a job! I can—"

"Deal."

"...What?" Why had he agreed so quickly?

Derek smiled and brushed off my arm. "If you pay rent and keep grandma off my back, I'll let you sleep in my room. I'll even hold your hand if you like," he added mockingly, a cheeky grin on his face.

My face fell as I realized he was using me. He really was a jerk. How was I supposed to save this guy from becoming the villain when he was already like this?

"But if I tell you to leave, you'll have to go without a fight, understood?" His face told me that if I made one wrong move, I'd be back on the streets in a minute.

Well, it was better than nothing. At least I'd have a place to stay. Gulping and chewing on the insides of my mouth, I held out my hand. "Deal."

"Good," he said before ignoring my offer and stepping into the living room, yawning dramatically as he went. I had to keep myself from kicking him. What a piece of work! If he wasn't such a sympathetic character and if I wasn't trapped in this world for who knew how long, I would have left him right then and there.

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Thanks again for reading. I know this is the third time I've said it but I really do appreciate it. I also appreciate votes and comments but reading is enough to satisfy me (you see, reading the story allows my stories to steal your time and give your minutes and hours to me so I can live forever!