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“You hate me that much?” His eyes are begging me to say no, to stop the pain even if just a little. Unlike him and Amias, I will never lie to any of them.
“I could never hate you Noah,” I fall to my knees, landing in front of
him as I take my hand from his grip and place them both on either side of his face. His breath is stuttering out of him and I hate that he’s hurting. “I will always love you, it’s impossible for me to hate you but I can’t do this. Not now, it’ll only hurt more if I delay this. You have to let me go,” there’s not enough air in the room and our tears meld together as I allow myself just one moment of weakness, one last kiss.
He thinks I’m doing this because he misled me, but it’s not. I’m letting him go for another reason, because I’m scared. The letter I found under my door this morning made my blood turn to ice. If it’s true, then I won’t put them through it. Better they lose me now than later.
“I get slapped, and he gets a kiss,” Amias is dripping with sarcasm right as he lets out a whoosh of air.
“Don’t worry about him, he just got an elbow in the sternum,” Elijah says with this cocky note in his voice, I just can’t look away from Noah.
“Please Henleigh,” Noah tries one last time and I pull away, slowly shaking my head while squeezing my eyes shut.
“Guys, we should go,” Elijah says he hasn’t even tried to talk me round. I’m not sure if I’m relieved or even more saddened by this.
“We are not giving up Henleigh,” Amias says with such a sense of surety that it scares me a little. What if he doesn’t let me go?
Once they’ve gone Roxie wraps her arms around me and I can feel her shaking her head, but she knows why I can’t do this.
“You need to tell someone Henleigh, you can’t go through with this. I’ll lock you in my attic if it comes to it,” she says with wide eyes and worry encompassing every feature.
“It’s okay, I’m not doing it. You were right,” my first lie to Roxie, but will it be my last?
HENLEIGH MONTEREY,
I have this feeling that you’re the kind of girl who does not take warnings to heart so here we go, there’s a clock ticking on your life and I’m the one who’s going to make sure it stops ticking for good. You can run, hide or face me but first, would you like to know why I’m doing this? Why your brother died? I bet I have your attention now don’t I? In pirate terms I’ll offer a parlay. I’ll tell you why your brother died and you answer any question I ask. You’re going to die either way, don’t you want to know why before it happens, or will you die happy knowing you were forever kept in the dark?
And just a little side note, I don’t care for your little collection of boyfriends. It may be best for their health if you cut them loose for good. Wouldn’t want them to get in the way of all our fun.
See you soon pretty girl,
Dante
I’VE DECIDED I don’t want to make Octavia’s punishment fancy and lingering, I’m done with this place and I’m done with the Shepherds. I attach the video of her and the others beating me, couldn’t have got a hold of it without Mattias being a whiz on the computer, and our conversation is recorded from when she admitted everything she had done and I’m hitting send. This is going out to everyone, the school, all the students and members of staff. The family members of everyone involved. No one is getting away with it. They left me for dead. They can reap what they sow.
Now all I need to do is pack up my things and hit the road, I’m staying with Roxie until I figure things out. I just know it won’t be for long. How could I allow my best friend to come under fire? If she’s connected to me, she could get hurt. Dante, the guy who sent me that letter, has already threatened my now exes, I will not have him threatening my friends as well. I don’t know if Dante is Mr. Terrifying, but I’m presuming that’s the case. If not, then I’d love to know how many people are out there that want to do me harm.
I can’t hold back my deep sigh as someone knocks on my door, I don’t want to see anyone right now. I don’t know how much longer I can act composed and collected. I close my eyes and breathe deeply, trying to find some reserved strength deep inside.
Opening my door, I’m staring up at Harrison and I don’t understand why he’s here. School is over, we’ll never have to see one another again. Why doesn’t he start celebrating that fact and leave me alone? I’m white knuckling my door frame. Why is this affecting me so badly?
“Can I come in for a minute?” he’s ducking his head slightly, so he doesn’t feel so opposing and his eyes aren’t filled to the brim with hate anymore.
“What’s going on?” I ask over my shoulder, as I turn my back on him and try to act as though I have anything left to pack.
“I’ve come to say bye,” his words have me pausing, why has he come to say bye to me of all people. “I’m not sticking around until the end of the day, I’m done with this place and all the people it houses,” he sounds angry and his tone holds definite heat within it.
Turning around to face him, I keep my face passive. I am a mountain and cannot be shaken, or some crap like that.
“That’s fair enough, it’s been... interesting,” I say with a smirk and he looks like he can’t decide if my attitude is irritating or amusing.
“You off on some wild adventure or are you going to go to a top university? I’m pretty sure you could get in anywhere,” he says, but he sounds so somber.
“Harrison, why are you here? And don’t give me that bye crap, enemies for life so why lie?” I sound irritated but it isn’t at him, not really, it’s at this whole damn situation.
“I told my parents I’m going to live my life for me and I will be going to college, they just don’t want it to be at home. I’m a big disappointment now, dad said Amias should have hit me harder,” he goes from sounding angry to heart broken in one fell swoop.
“Your dad said that, and I thought I had parent issues,” I can’t keep the disgust from my voice, how could his dad say something like that? He almost lost his son for fuck sake.
