Uncontrollable

Chapter Thirty-Two

Vanessa stood up a few minutes after speaking of our kiss as part of a plan and went back to her bed, pulling the light out of the room when she did.

My heart was pounding and my mind was racing. Was she manipulating me just as Grey had? Did I hear it incorrectly? She had been muttering after all.

With a long breath, I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes. I'd just ask her in the morning.

"Ryder, I know you're awake," Vanessa said suddenly. My eyes flew open.

"Yeah, I am," I answered, not totally sure what I could have said.

"I also know that you heard what I just muttered to myself," she said with a sigh. The light that had been illuminating the room before was sent back up to the ceiling once more.

"I did hear what you said," I confirmed, still not sure how she wanted me to be answering.

"I can assure you it's not the way that it sounds."

"Really? Because it seems pretty crystal clear what was happening," I said, a hint of anger giving my voice an edge.

She sat up and got out of bed, walking over to me.

"You might think that it is, but it's not. I promise it seems worse than it is," she said, sitting next to me and staring into my eyes with her emerald ones.

"Explain it to me," I said sitting up as well. The anger had left my voice and my body, replaced only by a hunger for the truth. When you never know what is true and what is false and who to trust, it can all become tiring very quickly.

"Grey thinks that I'm helping him and still on his side," she began, looking away. "So, I've been writing letters to him trying to fake an alliance and make it sound like I'm informing him on everything that's happening, but I've not told the truth in anything. An example of that is when I told him that we were told how to go to Westbell instead of Eastbell to try to find him. He believes me, Ryder, I think we can truly trick him into believing that we're not on his tail until we catch him. And then we can have out revenge."

I looked towards her. Her face suggested that she wasn't lying and the anger in her eyes showed she still did hate Grey as she said, but I still made a mental note to be careful and cognizant of Vanessa's actions because being to trusting of her could get us all killed if she wasn't telling the truth.

"Alright, so why was it necessary to tell him that we kissed?" I asked. She blushed slightly at the mention of the kiss.

"Because I need everything to go as I planned it. He thinks that I will get close to you so that it will be easier to manipulate you and he thinks if you have feelings for me it will make it all the more simple, so I told him that. I promise it's not real," she said.

The whole idea of this sounds too complex to be fabricated while she's speaking but considering that Grey is her grandfather, it wouldn't surprise me if it was some type of manipulation or a lie they already planned. 

I nodded, and smiled.

"I believe you and I'm glad that you're not working with him," I said, trying to muster as much of a happy and believing tone as I could. I'd just make sure she wasn't doing anything too suspicious.

"So if you've been communicating with him, does that mean that you guys agreed on a place to send letters to?" I asked, trying to pry as much information out of her as possible.

"Yes, I know where to send letters so that he can receive them. Well, I know how to send letters so that he can receive them to be precise," she explained, leaning into my chest. I looped an arm around her, and closed my eyes for a moment.