Page 39 of Bound By Threads
The one that feels like it’s now going to beat out of my chest at the sight of her…alive.
Her dad. Bile rises in my throat.
“Is that her?” Roman mutters under his breath.
Crew’s breath hitches as he stumbles away from us and throws up in the nearest bush. “She’s dead.” He rasps, “We grieved her.”
“Yougrieved her. She was no one and is still no one.” Roman barks.
I take a step back, trying to swallow down the disbelief that’s choking me.
I can’t breathe.
“She might be no one to you…” I snap, my voice tight with a mix of anger and confusion. “But you know we weren’t the same after she died.”
“She didn’t die, though, did she? She’s stood right there, smiling and laughing like nothing ever happened,” Roman tries to reason, but I’m done listening.
I try to stop myself from looking, but my eyes are drawn back to her—alive and standing in the arms of that Marine.
The crowds dispersed now;only her, the Marine, another guy, and a girl are standing there. The Marine doesn’t move away from her even after he’s set her on the ground, and her arm reaches up, cupping his cheek.
I feel like the ground beneath me shifts.
My stomach churns with something like jealousy, something darker, and I want to hurt her for ever making me feel like this. The marine pulls back, smiling and laughing at something, and I can see from here that he stares at her as if she’s his entire world.
I don’t care about any of that. All I care about is how Scarlett looks at him—like nothing in the world has mattered more, as if he’s her hero.
And I can’t stand it.
Then she moves, making her way towards where we are.
She freezes. Her eyes are wide as she stares at us.
Crew makes a choking noise, and I force myself to look away from her, my eyes sliding over to him. He’s frozen, his eyes wide. Not a word is said as his stare flickers from Scarlett to the Marine. The look on his face is dark and unreadable.
We all know his addiction began when she passed. It was like the world shattered around him. Losing her, along with the belief that it was us who pushed her to jump into the water… was his tipping point. It broke him, and from that point, he spiraled. Giving in to his demons, succumbing to the drugs.
“I can’t do this,” I mutter to myself under my breath, turning on my heel.
I don’t care if I can feel Roman’s eyes locked onto my back. I don’t care if Crew’s unraveling right before us. I need to get the hell out of here.
I hear Roman call after me, but I don’t slow down. I push forward, my shoes slapping against the pavement, desperately trying to drown out everything. My mind is a tornado of thoughts, and I feel like I’m losing it.
How? How is any of this possible?
How is she alive?
The ocean took her from us, and I was left with fragments of memories of her. The only thing they found was her backpack, stuffed with ten thousand dollars—enough for a fresh start—a few pieces of clothes, and her shoes.
Her shoes…
I push through the building’s door, only half aware of where my feet are taking me, but my legs are moving faster than my mind can keep up.
I want to scream. I need to.
But I can’t.
I can’t let it out. I’ve been hollow since the day we found out she was gone, and I was barely a man then. I was a shell of one, and the only times I ever felt whole again were when I was ever in her presence—taking pieces of her, clutching them in the desperate hopes of feeling whole.
