Unravelling

Chapter 29 - Vulnerable

Will's completely unexpected appearance surprises me so much that I fall off Jack's bed.

Once I have established that, apart from a small bump on the back of my head thanks to banging it against the bed frame, I am still fully functioning, I just lay there on the floor, staring up at my brother in shock. Will has walked around the bed and is standing by my feet, fixing me with an intense glare.

Jack has shuffled towards my side of the bed and is looking down at me with confusion written all over his face. I think he is not quite sure if he is allowed to laugh at my misfortune or if I am hurt. I wave him off and focus on the more pressing matter, which is the sudden presence of Will.

Did he just appear out of thin air?

"How did you get in here?" I press out.

"Magic," Will claims with an insanely creepy grin that makes Jack Nicholson in The Shining look like a well-adjusted choir boy.

And yes, I have watched that and many other Stephen King films, thanks to being surrounded by a bunch of guys who love thriller and horror movies. Luckily, they don't scare me at all. I just find them annoying and quite frankly, stupid. Not that anybody cares about my opinion, of course.

"First things first: you good?" Will asks, scrutinizing me.

I nod wordlessly, still kind of stunned by his being here. He sighs and shakes his head before holding his hand out towards me. I hesitate a moment, not really trusting his intentions.

"Come on, really?" he groans. "Quit the bullshit."

Quickly getting tired of waiting for me to do something, Will leans forward and grabs my wrist. He unceremoniously pulls me up and I pretty much fly through the air towards him because of the force he applied.

"We definitely need to fatten you up a bit," my brother claims when I almost collide with his chest due to his actions. "Sit down."

Will grabs my shoulders and pushes me to sit down on the edge of the bed I only just fell out of. He hunkers down in front of me and stares into my eyes. My initial instinct is to look away but then I remember that I want to work on my courage so I hold his gaze. He smirks when he realises that his intimidation tactics are not working.

"I was having a smoke on the roof," he then nonchalantly answers my earlier question.

"Oh," it escapes me.

I automatically turn my head towards their bedroom window and find the curtain fluttering lightly in the wind. I hadn't even noticed before that the window was open.

"I thought you had gone out," I state quietly.

"Well, you thought wrong. It was quite a riveting conversation to listen to, by the way."

"You shouldn't be eavesdropping. It's rude."

The moment these words leave my lips I know how stupid I just sounded. Like he cares. This is Will, after all. It's not like he worries about being disrespectful or breaking rules.

"Oh really? Well, whatcha gonna do about it?"

He wriggles his eyebrow and grins widely at me.

Jerk.

"Why did you come in now?" I decide to change the topic.

"To put a stop to all your questions. You're way too nosy for your own good, doll. Besides, I had run out of smokes and it started to get cold," he explains with a shrug.

"Did you know he was out there?" I turn to Jack with an accusatory glare.

Immediately, Will's hand grabs my chin and forces my head back so that I have to look at him. I try to shake him off but it is to no avail.