AllFreeNovel
Share Us
E
A small huff of indignance leaves me. He’s such an overbearing idiot. Maybe if I text the girls and reassure them I’m okay, it’ll get him off my back.
Or maybe I could just end things right now and save everyone the trouble.
The intrusive thought hits me so out of left field, I clutch the doorframe and inhale a ragged breath.
I don’t want to die.
I don’t.
But the thought of living—of surviving—without my father, without any family, feels so overwhelming right now.
When the thought passes, I head into the bathroom, ignoring the broken mirror. Sure enough, Elliot cleaned up in here too. But I’m too exhausted to find it in myself to care.
I have no idea what time it is, how many hours have passed since he left, but it doesn’t matter.
All I want to do is sleep. To close my eyes and fall into the darkness. At least there, nothing is real. Nothing can hurt me. Even the monsters that haunt me in the shadows.
After flushing, I wash my hands. Something glints in the light, and I discover a shard of glass behind the taps.
Elliot must have missed it.
Carefully, I pick it out and hold it up.
It would be so easy…
I drop it and stumble back, hit by a wave of shame that makes me retch.
Falling to my knees, I manage to shove my head into the toilet right as the pizza makes a reappearance.
8
ELLIOT
Sweat beads my brow as I scrub the bath. My head spins and my back aches like a bitch but it’s not enough to stop me.
Every single inch of the Chapel has been cleaned. All the shit the guys left around the place has either been tossed in the bin or thrown back into their rooms, the doors slammed quickly behind me so I didn’t have to see the state they left them in.
I don’t want to clean up after them, I really fucking don’t. But I need to do something.Anything to squash the feeling of being totally out of control.
A feeling that I hate down to my bones.
I’ve never felt it so keenly as the moment Abigail’s bathroom door opened and I found her in the shower shivering and sobbing.
Looking up, I stare at the tub and see a vision of her curled up in it.
My grip on the sponge in my hand tightens sending a rush of bubbles down the side.“Fuck,” I hiss, starting the scrubbing all over again.
My skin prickles with unease, my muscles burning from the awkward angle.
But it could be worse.
I focus on the pain, letting it feed the mania that’s racing through my veins.
When it has been cleaned within an inch of its life, I fall back on my arse.A huge rush of air spills from my lungs as I pull my legs up to my chest and wrap my wet arms around them.
My heart races and my chest heaves.
