“Wouldn’t want you to drop dead in the middle of the gym, now, would we?” I murmured, voice a calm threat in juxtaposition to the violent chaos beneath my skin.
The vein protruding from Tyler’s forehead pumped to the erratic beat of my heart. My head ached, my eyes burned, my muscles twitched.Release it all. Release it into him.
“No, we wouldn’t.” Brandon said, grasping Tyler’s shoulder. The brute didn’t move. Vince bent to pick up Brandon’s discarded racket, frantically glancing between me and Jack.
My best friend’s stance widened.
Eyes on fire. Head pulsing.
Release. Release. Release.
Finally, Tyler allowed Brandon to pull him backwards, the three of them heading towards the indoor courts. Jack whirled around, taking in my unstable state.
“Back door,” he demanded, grabbing me by the wrist and yanking me past a slew of confused onlookers to the emergency exit. The second fresh air hit me, I locked on a dumpster-
The screech of metal ricocheted off the solid cement wall of the gym. The dumpster crashed to the ground again with a bang, a crumpled heap. I fell to my knees, eyes stinging as all that hoarded power purged from them. A jagged howl scraped out my throat.
Jack crouched beside me and passed me a towel. I sat on the concrete, dabbing the wetness on my cheeks, staining the rag bright red.
“Who's the skinny one? How does he know you?”
“Vince.” I spat. “Courtney’s ex.”
Jack plopped on the ground. “Fuck.”
“I shouldn’t have let him live. He knows- he has to be with Merit,” I stammered, my breath coming in faster and faster.
Jack’s arm hooked around my neck, his forehead pressed against mine. “We don’t know for sure, you said you scared the shit out of him, maybe he’s just trying to get revenge.”
“What better revenge than to sell me off?” I asked, hysteria rising up my throat. The stinging in my eyes wasn’t from power. Blinking rapidly, breath stuttering. “What if-”
“We’ll figure it out. Together,” he insisted.
Even though I nodded along, a little voice in the back of my mind whispered of weakness. Failure. Eminent danger. Hopelessness.
Too much. It was all too much pressing a weight on my chest, heavier and heavier.
Oblivion is waiting in a suitcase under Marty’s bed.
35
Courtney
Perfectlyfuzzy.Thelightsdance and streak off the drenched road. I’m running. One foot in front of the other, arms out at my sides. A familiar voice yells at me, and I know I should slow down, but I’m so close to getting out of the rain and I’m hungry and I want to fuck my boyfriend already.
I glance back over my shoulder. The world blurs, rain pelting on my hair, my face, my eyes. I throw my head back, letting it wash over me. My thoughts tangle over each other, something nagging at me.
I need to move.
I need-
My heart slammed in the cage of my chest like a wild animal raging to break free. I blinked the fog from my eyes, the remnants of the rain in my vision making me shiver. I rubbed my arms despite the warmth in the studio. The vision had hit me mid-dance.
Somehow, I beat out Juniors and Seniors for a solo in the spring performance. The congratulations came with passive aggressive remarks from Hannah, who hadn’t even secured a group spot.
The absence of music meant I’d been out longer than two minutes. At least Ollie hadn’t seen it. He’d gotten adorably fussy the last time he witnessed one, but an undercurrent of fear kept him up at night. He barely slept as is with his own recurrent nightmares; I didn't want to make it worse.
I stretched my aching muscles, peeled off my pointe shoes and wiggled my toes, massaging blood back into the leg I’d collapsed on while I filtered through the confusing images.
