Like a possessed creature, I resurfaced, horrified by what I’d done.
He deserved it.
Every torturous second.
He waged war upon my body. It was fitting I returned it.
Everything he did to Sophie…
He deserved this end.
As much as I try to justify the horrors I just waged upon the man who made me, there’s a new vacancy inside my chest, a hollowness that wasn’t there before. I'm petrified but frozen, staring down at him, waiting for his last breath.
Just die. Just give up.
He wheezes, his pale mouth parting to inhale. I shake my head, looking away, unable to stand it.
What have you done?
Xavier,what have you done?
“X—”
My eyes close. No.
He tries again. “X?—”
Snatching up the blade in an act of mercy, I slam it into his heart. My name dies upon his lips, his gaze forever locked with the ceiling. I watch his chest cave in gruesomely, his mangled body laid out for me to observe.
I thought I’d feel better.
I thought this would be justice.
But I’ve dragged myself to hell. There’s no going back.
Sinking to my knees, trauma cripples my limbs. A special kind of suffering that can destroy a mind, a body, a soul.
There’s no telling how much time passes before the clearance alarm sounds and the door opens. Enough time for his body to begin to reek. My eyes are stuck on my quivering hands covered in blood. His blood. My father’s blood.
I hear a sharp intake of air at the iron bars.
Hands seize my arms, spinning me around. It’s Bo.
I’m gone. Too far gone. He knows it. I know it. The guards who heard my father shrieking for hours know it. Emotion is as difficult for him as it is for me, so when he gives my shoulder a firm grip before his arms eventually drive me to him, I’m not sure how to respond. For a moment, there’s no correlation between my brain and my body. I’m shell-shocked, completely frozen despite his embrace, staring at nothing.
Just as easily as I lost my mind, it returns to me.
My arms wind around him. My chest heaves as I lose the war with myself. Ibreak.
Months of torture.
And more before that knowing she was enduring worse.
Everything has led to this moment.
“Bo.” The name rips out of me. “Bo.”
“This doesn’t define you. Youcancome back from this.”
