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He frowned "I’d rather not"

"But you said you would," I protested "I mean, is it really that bad that you can’t tell me"

"Yes," he said

A shiver crawled up my spine "Well, I still want to know"

He locked eyes with me "Are you sure about that?"

I sed hard and nodded Good or not, I wanted to know

"Fine" He waved his hand "Go head Ask your questions"

"Okay…" My mind suddenly seemed blanked "Um…where are we?"

"Laylen’s He’s a friend of Aislin’s and mine" He drew back the curtain that was behind us "He lives in the Nevada desert"

If it wouldn’t have been for the sunlight, lighting up the sky, and the golden-brown sand, dusted with cacti, that stretched as far as my eye could see, I wouldn’t have believed hiht outside theThere was no denying it We were in the desert

"How--" I stao of the curtain "That’s where all of this beco? It’s already been confusing for quite awhile"

"Has it?" he muttered

I wasn’t sure if it was a rhetorical question or not, so I didn’t answer "So…how exactly did we get to Nevada in just a split second’s time?"

He hesitated "Aislin transported us here"

"Transported," I said very slowly like the as foreign But the way he’d used it was foreign "I reuys say that word back on the bus, but what does it ain "It’s a forhter escapedserious? Because, just so you know, estured around the rooed "A delusion brought on by the trau to kill et this straight What you’re trying to say is that you believe in so like the Death Walkers who, by the way, are deic"

"Umm…" Okay, so he had a point, but still, it felt like I was just going insane It was all just too strange--too straight-out-of-a-sci-fi-novel strange "I don’t knohat I believe in"

"Well, if you can’t believe in soic, then there’s no point into explain the rest of it Because, out of everything,of all"

I thought about what he was saying for a ic was real "So what you’re trying to say is that Aislin’s a witch?"

He nodded "But by your sarcastic tone, I’ it"

"I’" I really was "But it’s kind of hard to accept so that sounds so…crazy"

He eyedmy skin to electrify "So tellthat I know you’re feeling right now, but you can’t accept that Aislin’s a witch? Because on a crazy level, they’re both about the sa full hat he meant

Before I could stop hih asp

"That feeling," he whispered, the pal up with Marco and Sophia--the two most unaffectionate people ever--I’d never co e Yet somehow, at the same time, it felt very familiar

He dropped his hand, and we both just sat there, staring at one another

"Okay," I finally said, breaking the silence "I believe you so you can go on"

He forced a fake smile "Can I?"

"Yeah, you can"

He shook his head, looking like he was trying hard not to smile, then he turned to face me "Look, I’ve broken a lot of rules here"

I tilted my head to the side, confused "What rules?"

"Nothing Never h his hair "God, how the heck am I supposed to explain to you how iave hi important aboutyou are" The intensity in his eyes ulped "I don’t understand what you mean--"

"Here it is," Aislin announced, as she strutted into the roo a first aid kit

Alex practically leapt off of the couch and h"

Gri, she shoved the first aid kit at him "It took me a minute to find Laylen"

"Sure it did," Alex said, his tone insinuating so I was almost certain I’d rather not know

"Whatever Alex" She flipped her golden blonde hair fro to stay away until…" She glanced at me, then leaned in and dipped her voice quieter

After that, I could onlyable to lip read would have ca about "staying away" and "blood" Maybe Aislin couldn’t stand the sight of blood…I don’t know But really, did I ever knoas going on

No