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Us?
“I don’t…” I trail off again, eyes locking onto Professor Solomon’s. “You,” I accuse, like I don’t need any other part of the argument to be said aloud.
“Oliver’s so sweet,” he agrees readily. “And you were practically in love with him when you first met. Even before you took what you saw from his stream and copied it for yourself. I only watched you because he asked me to help. He said he didn’t want you getting bullied, and he knew I’d step in. But then?” He shrugs. “And don’t lie. You liked me before you knew it was me.”
“Don’t worry,” I assure him. “I don’t like either of you anymore.” I can’t help but writhe once more, but I don’t get far with their hands on me. Especially when I don’t kick out at Professor Solomon, and I see in his eyes the confidence that I won’t do it.
“I didn’t mean for you to get so close today,” Oliver explains sweetly, his lips brushing my ear and making me shudder. “I didn’t know you were up, let alone at that coffee shop. It was five am, Blair,” he laughs disdainfully. “What were you evendoing?”
“You killed her,” I breathe out, closing my eyes hard. “I thought it wasyou.” I let the words go, aiming them at my professor, who shook his head.
“No, Love. Not me. It isn’t me who’s lost a bit of control these past couple of weeks.” He pins Oliver with a glare, and I can feel the younger man shiver behind me.
But that just makes it even worse. IfOliverwas killing them and ifOliverknew that they looked like Juniper, then the answer towhyis obvious.
“You want to hurt her,” I accuse, fingers tightening on Oliver’s wrist. “You want to killJuniper. Why? She’s never done anything to you. Jun’s my best friend. She’s myonlyfriend, Oliver. Why would you—”
“Because she just. Won’t.Stop,” he goes on, desperation and frustration tinging his voice. “She keeps trying to pull you away from me. She thinks I’llhurtyou. Even when you aren’t around. Even when it’s just me and her, and I’m trying sofuckinghard—” He breaks off and turns, burying his face into the side of my throat so sharply that I can’t pull away from his bared teeth.
“I want to kill her,” he admits against my skin in a tone almost mournful enough that I think, for a moment, he’s asking for absolution. “I want tohurther, Blair, that’s true. But I won’t stop at that. I’ll take her apart and teach her that she never should’ve stepped between us.”
“No—”
“But I won’t, because it would hurt you. I wouldneverhurt you.” His teeth scrape against my throat, and wildly I wonder if he’ll bite down hard enough to draw blood. “So I kill them instead. They remind me of her, so I replace her withthem. Because I don’t want to hurtyou.”
“That’s… You’re insane,” I whisper, unable to look at either of them and closing my eyes instead.
“I didn’t think you’d be there. I wanted to be closer, so I could pretend… Just pretend it was her, especially with the way she looked and the way she fucking smiled—” he exhales against my throat. “Really, I’m doing it foryou.”
“Don’t say that, Oliver—”
“I’m doing it so I don’t hurtyou,Blair, I—”
But I don’t let him finish. I’m afraid of what he’ll say, of what’s going to come out of his mouth. So I scream, and lash out, kicking out at Professor Solomon hard enough that he has to catch himself on the table in order not to fall backward. The momentum allows me to slam Oliver back as well; the chair toppling with our combined weight and cracking against the floor. I don’t know if it splinters. I don’t stick around long enough to find out as I dizzily scramble to my feet and look around, trying to find the way out.
Except that isn’t going to happen. Professor Solomon rushes to his feet and darts toward the hallway, blocking it with a warning clear on his face.
Shit.I don’t know what to do. My head pounds, and my chest feels tight as I pant for air. Is this hyperventilating? Every time I try to drag in oxygen, my lungs refuse most of it and my chestburnsas I frantically look for a way out.
“Be careful.” My professor’s eyes are on mine, but he isn’t talking to me. “Don’t scare her. She’s panicking, Oliver—” I don’t stick around to hear the rest of it. I dart off toward the back of the kitchen, realizing belatedly that it leads to a half-flight of slick wooden stairs that I scramble up.
Near the top, something catches my ankle and I scream, throwing myself forward so hard that I rip free, and my feet hit the landing above.
But I’m going too fast, and I’m too uncontrolled. Panic has my vision reduced to a pinpoint, and I can barely see anything except the door at the end of the hall. I just need distance and space. I need a wall between us, so I use my momentum to lunge forward, ripping free of Oliver’s hand on my hoodie.
It’s just enough, however. Just enough to pull me off course and cause my feet to tangle up with one another. I meet his worried gaze with wide, panicked eyes as I fall backward, hands flailing and floundering for anything to catch myself on.
A sharp pain in the back of my head lets me know that I haven’t succeeded, and the floor finds me sooner than I could’ve righted myself. I gasp once, as blackness floods my vision, and smothers my consciousness until even Oliver’s panicked face has faded from view and I’m alone in a sea of blackness.
“You’re an idiot.”The words echo and reverberate like a worn out violin inside my head. As does the sigh that accompanies them.
“I didn’t mean to! How was I supposed to know that she’d do that? It was crazy, Rook. How thefuckdid she even kick you likethat?” He laughs in spite of himself, and I can’t help the groan that leaves me, though most of it is muffled by the soft, fluffy pillow under my face.
“You’re all right.” Gentle fingers touch my face, stroking down my cheek, and the ice pack on the back of my head is pressed a little more firmly against my skin.
“No, I’m not,” I mumble, too afraid to open my eyes. “Not if I’m still in your fucking house.”
