He just shook hishead at me with a glare and shut the door behind him, the sound ofthe lock vibrating in the pit of my stomach. I turned my headtoward the tray sitting on the nightstand and walked over to it.There was a plastic bowl of what looked like a thick potato soup, aplate of Greek salad, and a cup of mixed fruit. There was also agiant bottle of water with a small folded note next to it. I pickedit up and unfolded it to find Darren’s writing.
Your practice ofmeditation is impressive.
Use it to containyour outbursts next time
and I may not haveto punish you as often.
-Darren
Fury raced throughmy veins as I crumpled the note in my hand and chucked it at thedoor. Fuck him for watching me. He was alwayswatching,though, so Ididn’t know why I was surprised. I snatched the bottle of waterfrom the tray and gulped down nearly half of it. I nibbled on thesoup and salad and had only a few bites of the fruit. With all theknots in my stomach, I didn’t have much room for anythingelse.
Exhausted andfull, I laid my head down on the pillow and curled into myself. Iclosed my eyes and hoped for the first time that maybe I justwouldn’t wake up and this would all be over.
ChapterThirty-Five
Crumble
I heard screaming.Sharp screams that pierced my ears. I could see the gardenerscreeching in fear, hisfaceand body covered in blood as he watched while his family wasmurdered in front of his eyes. But someone else was standing in thebackground, someone I had forced myself to forget long ago. Megan,the girl from the warehouse, whom I had tried to instill hope inonly for her to have her neck snapped by Darren right in front ofmy eyes. I now had two deaths to claim responsibility for and itmade me weep.
“Your fault,”Megan said in the background as she watched the gardener with calmindifference.
“No,” I whisperedback, my tears ready to drown me.
Then a loud bangshattered my ears and a small black and red bullet hole appearedbetween the eyes of the gardener.
My vision warpeduntil I suddenly saw my family, my friends … Jason. They were allrunning, running from a storm of bullets that rained down on themfrom all directions. Blood spilled and splattered everywhere,coating everything in a dark glossy red. I fought to save them, butI felt paralyzed, unable to move even an inch to try to help them.I watched as both of my younger brothers fell to the ground, deepcrimson soaking their clothes, the light slowly draining from theireyes.
I jolted from mysleep as a scream ripped from my throat, shredding my vocal cords.My breath came in and out in heavy gusts as I fought to calm myselfdown. Sweat covered my body while my fingers gripped the tangledsheets around me. I tried to get a grip on myself and released thesheets before my knuckles decided to burst through my skin. I ranmy hands through my hair and took several long, deep breaths, butas I started to finally calm down, I realized I was back in my roomand I was not alone.
I raised my eyesto find Darren sittingonthe chaise next to the window watching me. Shadowed indarkness, I couldn’t see his face very well, but I knew exactlywhere his eyes were.
“What are youdoing here?” I asked him angrily.
“Do I really needa reason?” he answered calmly.
Isuppose not.
I let the questionlinger before he stood from the chaise and walked over to the bed.I shot out from the covers and moved to the other side to avoid himas best I could. As I moved, my clothing felt different. I was nolonger in the torn dress I woreearlierbut in one ofthose silky nightgowns. No bra or panties.
“Now is not thetime to fight me, Jaden. It’s after one in the morning. Getbackintobed,” he said ashe slowly sauntered toward me.
“Get. Out,” Ispat, my body turning to the side as it prepared for afight.
Darren shook hishead at me disapprovingly, his light footsteps beginning to closethe distance between us. I could feel the panic mixed with ragecreating a storm of hatred and passion inside of me. And fuck if itdidn’t drench me.
“Getbackinbed,” he orderedsternly, pointing at my messy bed.
“No,” I repliedharshly.
Oh,shit. The forbidden word.
Darren then lungedfor me with an animalistic scowl on his face. I quickly backed upfrom his advance, but just before my back was about to hit the wallbehind me, I brought my foot all the way up and shoved it rightunder his chin at his throat, nearly stopping him in his tracks. Myleg was in a full split as it stretched as high as it could go toreach Darren’s trachea.
He stood there,towering over me with my foot neatly tucked under his chin as itpushed against his Adam’s apple. My fists remained in front of me,tight and defensive as I stared him right in the eye, glaring witheverything I had, but all he did was smirk at me with a certainknowing smile.
Then he quicklyjostled with his pants, grabbed my hips, and suddenly entered mynow fully exposed opening with so much force, had he not beendirectly in front of me, I would have doubledover.
“Oh, fuck!” Igroaned loudly from shock as his cock was now firmly nestled in mycore. How fucking stupid was I to leave myself so exposed forsomething like that?
