Page 21 of Scarred in Silence

He gets off of me, and I hurry out the front door.

The cold air hits me like a freight train. I run. I don’t know how long it will take me, but I don’t care right now. I have to get away.

* * *

My feet ache as they hit the pavement. The road seems to go on forever. I have been running for about 30 minutes. I see my street up ahead, and I push through.

I make it to the front door, and I use the code to enter the empty home. My parents are away at a Halloween party themselves tonight. I run up the stairs into my bedroom and call Evelyn.

“Hey, what’s up?”

It’s hard to hear her over the loud music. She went out with Amara, my older sister. They are at a low-key party. I should have gone with her instead.

“H—hey,” I whispered, my voice tight.

“Oh my god, are you okay? Where are you?”

“I’m home now…”

“We are on our way. Don’t leave.”

I cry silently to myself as I hang up the phone. I can’t live with myself. What have I done?

I run over to my dresser and take out my stash of pills that I have been collecting from my friends. No one has to know.

I open the bag and take all 5 of the pills I have. Tears fall from my eyes.

I lie down on the floor and let the pills do their magic.

At first, I feel weightless, numb. Then I feel heavy, and like I’m drowning. Next, it feels like my body doesn’t belong to me. It feels foreign.

Lastly, the darkness filters in. Everything goes black. I did it. I don’t have to live with the judgment.

7

Lucien

It’s Wednesday morning, and I’m on edge. After our conversation, I realized how delusional she is. She thinks she’s special. That used to be the case, but now, she’s nothing.

I stand in the shower, letting the scalding water sear my skin. Fuck. The burn feels so good. I let it wash the irritating thoughts from my brain.

How can she sit there and act like she did no wrong? She left me and then pimped herself out. What the fuck?

I still have a plan, though, and we will see just how loyal she is to me after that. I still don’t trust the bitch. The second I turn my back on her, she will stab me. That’s what she always does.

She has kept Evelyn as her friend all these years. Even though she has treated her like shit, it’s because Evelyn is empathetic. She cares. She is gentle. Astra isn’t. Evelyn is the calm before the storm, and Astra is the storm.

I turn off the water and step out onto the cold tile floor. A chill runs through my body. I grab a clean towel out of my towel warmer. The warmth calms my nerves. I’ve been using the same soap as my little Siren. Honey-scented.

She infiltrates every part of my being. I hate the fucking slut, but I crave her. I want to remind her of why she fucking belongs to me.

I slip on my black jeans, pairing them with a fitted navy t-shirt, and my black combat boots.

I open up the live feed on my phone and see that she is lying on the floor, looking up into the light. She is just staring at it like she’s lost her goddamn mind. She is lying right where the ladder would fall if I put it down into the cell.

She has always been so reckless, but that’s what I love about her. I love the chaos that she brings.

I slip my phone into my back pocket, and I grab her breakfast from my counter. I stride out the front door, and I am greeted by an unlikely suspect. Evelyn.