Venom [Book 2]

Chapter 4

I sat in Parrish's chair at the station as my brother and Scott talked with my father.

   Pretty soon, my father and brother and Scott came out just as Parrish and another officer held a young man, escorting him out to a police vehicle to do jail time.

    The young man looked at my father with hatred. "I'm going to get a knife, and I'm going to stab you with it until you're dead."

    "Wow. Wow. That was awesome." Stiles said after a dramatic silence filled the room.

    "Stiles." I said to my brother, giving him a "what-the-heck" look.

    "You know what? It's fine. I'm sure you'll have time to rehearse it. You know, when you're stuck in a tiny cell."

    "Stiles! Shut up!" I warned him.

    "Get him out of here!" Dad ordered the officers.

    The officers took the man out of the building and I stood up, heading for the door.

    "Where are you going?" Dad asked.

    "To Lydia's. I'm going to crash there for tonight." I answered and walked out of the station, unlocking my navy blue Camaro and getting in, texting Lydia I was heading over to Theo's, in which she replied with an "I got you, girl"; driving down the dark, foggy road.

    I drove down the streets and took a turn into the woods, pulling up to the Raeken house and getting out of the car, honking the horn.

    A light came on from Theo's room and he looked down at me from the window, opening it and jumping down.

    "Hey. Why are you here this late?" He asked.

    "Just got away from the station, actually. I told my father I was heading to Lydia's for a sleepover." I answered.

    "And are you?"

    "No. I just wanted to see you, to be honest."

    "Uh-huh. And why is that?" He asked, crossing his arms over his dark blue shirt.

    "My brother doesn't think I am strong enough to be around you. If I'm being honest, I still think he sees me as the dying girl."

"Wait. What? You almost died?"

"I did die." I corrected him. "This was a few years back when I was still with my ex Isaac. His father was a total sociopath and tortured me for the fun of it. He thought it was amusing somehow. And when it came down to it, he didn't even blink twice before slitting my throat and letting me bleed out."

"Oh. Wow. That's a lot to take in. W-why'd you tell me this?" He asked, stepping closer so I had to look up at him.

I shrugged, "Because I trust you?"

A slight frown formed on his face. "You formed that as a question."

"I did."

"Why?"

"Because the only person you can really count on is yourself." I replied.

"You can count on me."

"Can I?" I asked.

"If you feel like you can." He looked up at the night sky and back at me. "Come on. Let's talk inside."

I followed him inside and up into his room, where he shut the door and sat down on the bed next to me with The Graveyard Book on his nightstand.

"You read Neil Gaiman?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm a bit more into the darker writers. Like Steven King and all that."