Cody stands before me, a knife glinting in his trembling hands, crimson splattered all over his face. Killing with a knife is personal, and these deaths were woven into that of revenge.
His eyes are wild open, betraying the aftermath of the shock he must feel. His expression falls into that of a crazed one, rapidly switching between looking at me and the car.
The thoughts overwhelm all rational sense.
They’re dead—they left me and abandoned me. I should have come sooner.
“W-we were fighting. Things e-escalated.”
“You think?” I roar, and he flinches, looking back at the corpses of our parents—it’s as if he can’t believe they’re trulygone.
God, do I hate them. They were shitty parents, but fuck, why does it hurt so much?
Anguish claws at my heart, reality crashing into jagged fragments of a broken mirror that won’t mend. The sensation feels like a punch to my gut, leaving me hollow inside.
Rage replaces grief, burning hot and fierce within my soul. How dare they leave me? How fucking dare they do this to us, ruining our childhood, and leaving us before they could make amends?
My head spins, the hollowness taking over me once again. Another second pass, Cody merely staring at me, his hands trembling so badly that he drops the knife to the sodden earth.
Sirens wail in the distance, blaring as it comes ever closer.
“How?” I grit out.
His face pales, losing all its color. “Mom managed to call them before...before I...”
I swallow, cursing this entire damned situation and my stupid fucking brother.
I look at him as the sirens piercing the air draw nearer, their urgency matching the pounding of my heart.
“Run,” I tell him.
He stares at me, eyebrows drawn, as if unable to comprehend my words. “What?”
“Fucking run!”
He doesn’t hesitate before he bolts, never looking back. I reach down and pick up the knife, unable to conceal the trembling of my entire body.
Seconds later, the sirens blare right outside our house. I fall to my knees as the world tilts upside down.
My hands are cuffed tightly behind my back by one of many officers who doesn’t even ask me any questions.
I realize that nothing will ever be the same again.
Chapter 10
Grey
Remembering your past canbe daunting. As the memories come pushing through the barriers in your mind, tearing down the walls you so carefully constructed, it feels as if someone is carving out your heart, leaving you to suffer in the aftermath.
I push my hands against my eyes, as if doing so could rid my mind of the memories I desperately need to forget—the day that damned my already stained soul.
This time, I cannot stop the nausea rising up my throat, and I fall to my knees on the damp earth, throwing up whatever’s left in my stomach. I don’t stop until I heave, the taste of bile lingering, but the memories refuse to get the fuck out of my mind, like a damned curse.
A subtle touch upon my shoulder causes me to flinch, and I reluctantly look up at the beautiful woman who saved me when I didn’t know I needed saving—the one who gave me a purpose in life. I don’t notice I’m on the verge of crying until Naya’s form appears blurry, my eyes stinging from the unshed tears.
My heart sears in my ribcage with the pain of heartbreak, and I pull away from her touch, unable to meet her mismatched eyes—the same ones that always make me feel like I’m drowning, yet being rescued all over again. Now, fear creeps up like a cord strangling me from her touch.
“Please, don’t touch me,” I grit out, moving to sit on my ass on the earth, my hands fisting my hair while I stare down at the ground between my knees dragged up to my chin.
