DUSK by Esther Machethe (top books of all time txt) 📕

“You know very well that if it wasn’t for Ashton here, Chloe would be dead. I would advise you; Mr Jacobs, show your respect to my right hand man, if you disrespect him then you have disrespected me and you know I don’t tolerate that very well.” His voice was firm and very authoritative.

“But—but he is a failure, you need someone who has very sharp skills. Ashton is full of disappointment.” The man tried to counter but this time I had an answer for him.

“At least we both know where I got it from; Dad!” I sneered, both pairs of eyes turned to me, one full of amusement and the other full of anger. I guess you can tell which belong to whom. “Show your respect boy! I am still higher in command than you.” He roared but I only sent him a smug smirk.

“Mr Jacobs, I would appreciate it if you left this room. My daughter is injured and we do not need your brooding attitude at the moment.” Mr Elroy’s firm voice countered and I almost cheered when he bowed his head and left. It was a brief moment of triumph for me.

“He’s got issues; I think it would be best if you both moved in with me.” He said in a warm tone, completely different from what he sounded like five minutes ago. I only sent him a grateful smile.

“Leo moved out, so I guess it’s just me; if you’ll have me.” I said in a small voice.

“It would be an honour son.” He said as he pat my shoulder. For once I had hope for the future; all I needed was for Chloe to wake up.

^^^^^

It was too quiet for me; the darkness I was floating in made me almost feel comforted. It was a short chance I had since I found out the truth about myself.

To be honest, this has been the longest and most tiresome week I’ve had in my entire life and I was just glad that today I could sleep in and I wouldn’t have to worry about school or Emma being mad that I was late—wait, Emma was missing and the last image I remember is Ash holding up a bloodied hand; Oh my God!! He was hurt!! And here I was thinking that today was trouble-free and I didn’t think about my friends.

I willed myself to open my eyes and I immediately groaned when I was met by blinding lights and had to momentarily close my eyes again. I felt my bed dip a bit and I pried my eyes open to see who dared to sit on my bed. My sight trailed towards the white walls and I realized that I wasn’t in my bed and it definitely wasn’t my room. My eyes landed on a relieved Dad with a joyous looking mom and a guilt-filled Ashton. Talk about mixed emotions in the same room.

“What—“I tried but my voice was too hoarse and my throat burned. Dad handed me a glass of water and I sent him a grateful smile before taking a big gulp before I attempted to sit up. Hands shot up and stopped me from sitting up and I looked up at dad; confused

“What happened, where’s Emma; did you find her?” I asked curiosity combined with fear threatening to eat me up.

“You were shot darling so don’t try to move or it will hurt like hell.” Mom tried to explain and my eyes widened in shock; how did that happen? I turned to Ash and silently asked him to explain hoping he would get the memo which obviously he did.

“Sapph set you and Emma up but you escaped. Emma is missing but we’ll find her, I promise.” He tried to assure me and I believed him.

I sat quietly trying to remember what really happened but all I could remember were brief flashes of me telling her to run and sneering a woman whom I suppose was Ilana and fighting three guys before I remembered something.

“Mom, dad, could you guys give me a minute with Ash, there’s something we need to talk about.” I tried to sound nonchalant but given the situation, my voice was really croaky. Dad looked from me to Ash then he sighed and ushered mom out of the room. I looked at the boy and let out a sigh.

“Look, you are a great guy and any girl would be lucky to have you but I’m not yet ready to get out there again. I’m sorry but we can only be friends. Maybe in future after everything has blown over but not now.” I tried to put it across in the nicest way possible but he only furrowed his brows in confusion.

“What are you talking about Chloe?” he laid out his confusion for both of us to see. This was harder than I thought.

“Have you seen my phone?” I asked in a low tone hoping that he knew where it was.

“Yeah, you left it in my hand before you collapsed.” He said handing it to me. I almost let out a smile when I saw that it had a full battery. I quickly unlocked the screen and searched for something before showing the screen to him. His face paled and his eyes widened in panic.

“Where did you get this?” he asked in a low tone.

“Sapph showed it to me, it was taken on my birthday after we came back from the arcade. She thinks you’re in love with me.” I mumbled. This was really getting awkward.

“I do love you Chloe,” he mumbled before lifting his eyes from the screen, they were a warm shade of green that looked lovely. His words broke my heart and I was about to talk when he cut me off; “but only as a sister. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you and I would never want to complicate what we have. I had my eyes set on someone but not anymore.” He said the last part in a low tone but I heard it.

“She broke your heart didn’t she?” I asked in a low tone.

“No, I hadn’t got there yet but she did hurt me” he said but tried to smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Am I allowed to have some ice cream? We need to have a movie marathon—if you want, I can’t force you to because you are a grown up and maybe you have something better to do…”I rambled but I was cut off by his soft chuckle and I turned to see an amused Ashton with humour dancing in his eyes.

“Of course I want a movie marathon, as long as we watch an action movie” he smirked at me but his eyes had that warmth that always made me feel comforted. I found myself nodding to what he was requesting because I would watch action over romance any day. He left to get the ice cream and as soon as he did, mom and dad walked in.

“Well, you look happy, everything okay?” dad asked and I just smiled at them.

“Yeah, Ash went to get ice cream, we’re having a movie marathon” I almost cheered but the pain in my throat reminded me that I couldn’t do that quite yet.

“Are you sure that’s good for your throat, it will only make it swell and you won’t be able to talk for another week.” Mom frowned at me making me realize my mistake. If moving about wasn’t so painful; I would have face-palmed myself for being such an idiot.

“I knew it was too good to be true!” I scolded myself before I heard dad’s amused chuckle.

“Mom and I are going home so that we won’t interrupt your movie marathon. No funny business while we’re not here.” Dad said and emphasized so much on the last sentence. The door was opened and Ash walked in holding a bag but his body stilled as he turned to an equally still dad.

“Sorry Ash, I can’t eat cold things so ice cream is a no.” disappointment laced my voice making it sound like a dying whale.

“Yeah, being the best friend I am, I figured that part out and opted to get you warm chocolate, not too sweet; just the way you like it.” He said moving away from my parents to hand me that great piece of chocolate goodness.

“Take good care of her Ashton, we’re going home.” Dad said as he linked his arm with mom’s and escorted her out of the room.

“So, what do you want to watch?” he asked as he pulled a chair next to my bed.

“I want a good action movie, preferably if it had Tom Cruise.” I tried to sound cool but today my voice was full of disappointment but he didn’t comment about it.

“I think you’ll love this movie. It’s the latest Tom Cruise movie; Jack Reacher: never go back” he said as he moved to put it on the laptop he had brought. I would have squealed but I just settled for hugging him when he came back. He stilled for a moment before he chucked nervously and patted my back in an awkward way.

The movie was something I had been waiting to watch for a very long time. I waited anxiously for the movie to start and I almost cried happy tears when an amused chuckle sounded from him making me turn and face him.

“What?” I asked in confusion but he just sent me an amused smile

“You look like you’ve been given the keys to heaven.” He said and my cheeks instantly flamed in embarrassment. We settled back into watching the movie and when it got so heated, I felt his hand intertwine with mine and I froze.

“Relax, your hands are shaking.” He shrugged. I tried to ignore but somehow my mind couldn’t move from the sight of his hand entwined with mine. It felt oddly nice and his hands were a bit rough but still soft and warm and for the first time it didn’t feel awkward but I felt a bit comfortable.

“Stop creating a storm out of it and watch the movie.” He scoffed at me and my cheeks reddened because he had caught me thinking about it, that sounded really creepy but it was true.

I turned and looked at him; noting how crinkles formed on his forehead when he didn’t understand what happened, how his eyes lit up when he saw something cool, how his lips would curve to the right to form a perfect smirk and his eyes turned a shade darker when he looked at me, how—wait, what? I blinked and found him smirking at me, I was caught staring and for once I was mortified but I wondered how he made his eyebrows look so perfect and how he looked so good, was that even legal?

“You should take a picture, it lasts longer.” I could actually hear the smug in his voice.

“There’s something wrong with my chocolate, this never happened before.” I mumbled to myself trying to find a good explanation to it because noticing that about my best friend is never a good sign.

“Maybe it’s the drugs?” he offered and I turned to him. Yeah maybe it