There was no other explanation she could conjure. Other than the fact that Chadwick, himself, possessed some untamed gift he was unaware of.
Smoke cleared the crowded room. Malina could feel the small shoulder purse disappear from her side again; Rapidly copped by a handsome man in teal. His icy blue eyes seemingly gazed over hers for a reaction, then returned back to searching it.
He puffed his cheeks, frustratedly dropping a tube of lipstick to the floor.
How did she almost not recognize him every time?
Malina was beginning to blame the mustache.
A small women glanced over in there direction, her stare mainly focusing on the man who just ransacked her. Chadwick bent forward to pick up the item, shoving it back, clearly with no care. “Twenty-nine,” he murmured in her ear, pressing the purse over her arm. His fingers slipped a cold metal key in her palm.
Twenty-nine was the room they stayed in. She couldn’t tell you why she agreed to it. Chadwick brought things in. Clues he assumed would help them figure out why the hell they were stuck there. He also took things out. Like the small coffee table-just disposed of it in the hallway, like a set piece in a film.
Which lead to him arguing with hotel management for a solid hour.
She didn’t think he believed her when she told him she was real. Until she realized he didn’t want her to be.
Chadwick never physically called her. He'd told her he’d leave a message. Only to ghost her entirely. Soon Malina began to believe he wasn’t real herself.
Of course he was.
“I go when you go,” she lied.
He was settled shirtless on the edge of the bed, fresh from a shower. His hair was still damp and slowly curling at the ends. “So, it all stops then? When we go, this doesn’t exist?”
She shrugged.
“You’re not helping,”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Something. Anything.”
Malina fell back into the small loveseat, propping her heels up. The jazz music from downstairs coursed lightly in the background. Chadwick stood swiping the towel from around his neck. Once ruffling his hair with it a few times, he tossed it towards the claw bath literally two steps away.
She eyed his back when he turned to began pulling the sheets down. Chadwick could sense when he was about to return. He told her about it the third time they arrived. And at first, Malina couldn’t help but be a bit jealous. With Baby, it had taken months of training her body. But when he explained to her how he knew, she immediately regretted it. “My seizures,” her right eye twitched at the memory.
“It’s coming,” Chadwick breathed between a convulsion. He pushed himself half beneath the covers. She could hear the thrashing in the bed for a few moments until his breathing stabilized.
She couldn’t look at him whenever it happened. It felt strange to see Chadwick staring blankly, blinking rapidly, only to pass out. Sometimes in front of other people. Usually she could tell too. But only at obvious times.
Like when his words started to become mush. Or,when he began to suddenly sweat from his brow.
Malina never went when he went despite telling him she did. She gained control of that part of her a long time ago.
When she finally glanced over at him, a study breath fell from her lips. Chadwick appeared like he’d only fallen asleep. Body rising and falling softly.
Was this how Baby saw her? Unable to awake yet so close to touch?