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What a crock of shit.
Don’t let your guard down.
“He’s a sweet old man,” Monty said as he leaned in, sniffing the man like he was ready to take a big bite out of him.
“The way you look over people’s shoulders freaks me out,” Layne stated. She shifted, her subtle banana split scent hitting me for a moment. It wasn’t as appealing as Hiro’s had been but it wasn’t making me want to gag like Vane.
That got a frown from Mr. Rogers himself.
“Layne, we don’t talk disrespectfully to our peers. We all have our own battles to fight. This is Harlow’s and we respect her for that.”
“Sorry,” Layne added, rolling her eyes. From the personality I’d seen in her so far, I was a bit surprised she even bothered with an apology. But he seemed appeased, nonetheless.
“Well, we are pleased that you could join us Harlow. As you know now I’m sure, we do daily group therapy during the week. Weekends are your time to yourself but we always have staff if you need a one-on-one session. This is your safe space to share. We left off last week talking about defining moments, and finding the good in them to move forward.”
“Yeah, Drake was telling us how he killed a man for trying to mug him at gunpoint,” Layne said excitedly. Her entire body language went from indifferent to eager, and she was gripping the seat as she leaned forward to study the man who was still a mystery to me.
My eyes widened at that. Drake let out a grunt of annoyance at having the attention flock to him. When he raised his gaze from the floor and met mine, the entire world seemed to freeze. Terror pulsed at the edges, and his green eyes were startlingly vibrant as he locked in on me. It felt like he was ripping apart my soul.
His scent was stronger this time, spicy chili and dark chocolate tickling my nose and slithering into my soul, as if letting him see deeper than anyone else ever had.
What the fuck. Why was I having this draw? How could you be both afraid and enraptured at the same time?
Monty said something, but I ignored him, unable to look away. Drake had me under his spell.
“Stop!” Monty’s scream was loud enough I gripped my ears and curled in on myself.
It was echoed by the disembodied screams of his shadows that pulsed in my ears despite me covering them. Fear shuddered through me, surging through my veins and making my heart pound in response. My own screams soon joined theirs until my throat was raw and hoarse, the sounds overwhelming enough that I couldn’t see or think to do anything else.
“What did you do to her?” Crew demanded on a growl. I felt someone’s hands on me which had me backing out of my chair, moving away and across the room.
Then the noise abruptly stopped. The silence that followed was almost deafening, my ears ringing when I finally dropped my hands. Relief flooded me, so intense that I almost sobbed at the change. There was also no sign of Monty here. The bastard seemed to always be popping out of existence lately.
Apologies were a sign of weakness. So, I simply shook out my tension and walked back to my seat like nothing ever happened.
Honestly, I was glad Crew didn’t get slaughtered for yelling at Drake, the supposed psycho of Dark Haven... and that felt like a feat to earn a title like that in an asylum.
“Let’s move back to Harlow,” Dr. Bradley said with a warning glance at the others. His smiles were officially off the table now, his lips pursed together in a thin, strained line. It made him look older and a whole lot less kind.
Everyone else was radiating tension, sharing weary glances. Day one of group therapy and I’d already caused a scene. Well, that didn’t take long. Nothing like a quick freak out to shake off fake masks.
My lips twisted in a grimace. “You want me to find the good in my trauma?” He nodded and relaxed a bit as he launched into an explanation about how trauma wasn’t good, but we had to find ways to combat it.
I tuned him out as I tried to find something I could use to move this conversation along.
After my welcome, I wasn’t about to not participate. Not today at least.
“Do my hallucinations saving me count?” I asked, cutting him off from a long winded explanation.
He didn’t even flinch, simply waved me to go on.
“They got me away from the alpha my dad sold me to, to pay off his gambling debt. I don’t really know what happened, but the monsters that haunted me killed them both. It was a bloodbath. Murder-suicide was the ruling. All I remember were their screams and blood. So much blood. I was covered in it but at least I wasn’t alone.”
The silence that followed was painful, and I almost laughed at their shock.
They didn’t bat an eye at Drake’s insanity but at mine they’re all stunned.
Well, except Drake, he looked intrigued.
