Page 77 of Unspoken Lies

“Yes, sir,” I breathe, feeling as if he just gave me a piece to my puzzle. How much is too much pressure?

Jared said that she was getting better, and she doesn’t have any recent entries in this journal. These are her darkest days. Sometimes, I swear I can hear some of the voices that must exist in her mind when I read her words.

They’re cruel creatures who lie. She deserves some gentleness in her life, I simply don’t know if I’m capable of it.

“You’re going to have to figure that out. If you hurt her, I will blow your brains out and not think about you again,”Emil Reyes promises.

Shit. The line disconnects and I drop the phone on the cushion as I stand. I need to know how many broken pieces it takes before they won’t fit in the same places anymore. I know that doesn’t make sense to most people, but I need to fucking see it.

Walking to the kitchen after I carefully put down the journal, I open the cabinets until I find a plate that has a pretty design on it. It’ll help me figure out where the pieces need to go. It should be easy right?

My eyes memorize how the pretty sunflower looks before I move outside to the backyard. The pavers offer a solid surface to break shit on. Lifting my arms, I drop the plate to the ground, watching it shatter. Jumping up, I stomp on the pieces with my combat boots over and over again until my chest begins to heave.

Stepping back, I watch as the sun glints back on the shiny dust left behind. There’s not a hint of anything to fit back together.

“Theo?” Calvin asks.

I can feel Jared’s gaze on me from inside of the pool before he twists away to dive to the bottom to sit until his lungs beg for oxygen. He’s been doing that more and more lately, and one day I worry I’m going to have to jump in after him.

The quiet he finds from being underwater is addicting. Elijah and I know that’s why he is obsessed with swimming, though he’s never told us that.

“I do believe this one isn’t salvageable,” I say thickly.

“Do you wish to try again?” he asks.

Calvin never judges, despite how oddly we behave at times, and I appreciate it.

“Please,” I breathe, gazing down at the ground. It has been a long time since I’ve felt any emotion the way normal people do, but the back of my eyes burn. “I’ll clean this up, I just need a dust pan.”

A moment later, something is pushed into my hand, and I drop into a squat to clean up my mess. The shimmer of dust is almost pretty, but it’s not what I’m going for.

After dropping four more plates, I stare at the ground, examining the jagged edges of the glass, wondering how they’ll fit back together. Without asking, Calvin hands me a square section of cardboard and a bottle of glue, and I fall to the ground to get to work.

Working to put the glass pieces back together, I still can’t. Instead, I get a Frankenstein type of design. Rachelle has been broken for a long time. What if her strength lies in building something better instead of trying to fit into spaces she’s outgrown.

They’re pretty thoughts, but all I have for now. I’ll have to see if I can put them into practice.

LILIANA

I know Rachelle worked last night, but she has a couple of days off starting today. I pay close attention to her schedule, because I want to steal her away without any distractions.

Knocking on her apartment door, I check my watch, wondering if she’s eaten yet. If she hasn’t, I’ll make us both breakfast because I’m starving after my run this morning. It’s been almost a week since the guys chased her through the streets, and while we’ve texted and called each other, I haven’t had a chance to see her.

I’ve had class and work get in the way unfortunately.

The door opens very slowly before her gaze meets mine. Rachelle relaxes slightly as she slides the bolt free and pulls it open wide. Holding up her finger to show she’s on the phone, she waves me inside, her hands shaking slightly.

Curious as to who she’s speaking to, I walk inside and lock us in. Rachelle hits the mute button on her phone, appearing annoyed with the person she’s speaking to.

“You can listen as long as you’re quiet,” she says softly. At my nod, she puts the phone on speaker and removes the muted feature. “Yes, I’m still here, Dr. Michaels.”

“I’m concerned, Rachel,” he says. “Jumping out the window to evade three men trying to break into your apartment feels like an exaggeration.”

My jaw drops as I follow Rachelle to the couch and sit next to her.

“As they’re the same men who buried me alive, I can assure you that it is not,” Rachelle says coldly. I am confused about what’s going on here. “I also am not prone to hallucinations.”

“No, at least not lately,”Dr. Michaels murmurs. “Does your stepfather know about this?”