Fire and Silk

Chapter Thirty Five

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." – Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace.

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MY HANDS are splayed open in the dark as i feel around to locate the light switch in the kitchen, the silence was deafening and it felt as though someone was watching me. I flick on the switch to see blood splattered along the walls and cabinets; my eyes float down to see a pair of feet blooded and still. I take a deep breath as i walk towards the body and realise it was Matt, a large hole in his stomach; i gasp and fall to the ground gathering him into my arms and pulling him close as i break into sobs. My heart falls to the pit of my stomach as the man i love eyes look up at the ceiling no life clung to him.

"You should of killed me when you had the chance," her voice sent a chill down my spine; the pain of my wound aches at the memory of what happened in the forest, "You took my brother whom i loved so i took what you loved."

"Fuck you," I hiss looking up through my tears to see Delilah no longer there, she was replaced by a version of me.

"It's your fault, you can't protect anyone he died protecting you and so will everyone else."

"No, no they won't." I tell myself as i look back down at Matt, my tears falling onto his face.

My body begins to shake and i close my eyes praying that this would end; when they open again i see Matt looking down at me with fear in his eyes. I suck in a deep breathe quickly and sit up, my heart racing and my bodied covered in sweat. I wrap my arms around him and feel myself calming down as he whispers, "you're okay." in my ear.

It's been six months since the incident in the woods, four months since i deferred from collage and five months since i moved in with Matt. For those last six months i have had constant nightmares about Delilah and it ranged from the exact moments that happened to happening in this house or somewhere in the dorms at collage. I had been going to a therapist that Matt had suggested; it's been really nice to speak to someone about everything including my parents death because after the whole ordeal everything truly hit me and i hadn't stopped crying for at least a week after my first appointment with her.

"Another nightmare?" Matt whispers as we lay back down against the silk sheets; my whole body was on fire and i knew i should get up to shower, i felt disgusting.

"Yeah," I whisper back; he had been such a great help with me dealing with these nightmares that strike at any moment in the night, "I might just go for a shower and start my day," i say looking at the alarm clock it read 4:58am.

"Want me to come?" He asks, "I don't mind starting early."

I smile, "Get some sleep, last night was bad enough and you stayed up all night until i fell asleep."

"Wake me if you need me," he says kissing me on the cheek, "I have to get up in two hours anyway for work."

When i deferred Matt was unsure whether he should continue to work at the collage -due to the fact that Penny and Zac were currently overseas and wanted us to join them- and for the fact that i was home alone most of the days. But he was really into it so i begged him to stay with it, Jackson was still attending his classes and ended up coming over to stay a few nights because he missed Penny and I much to Matt's demise.

I crawl out of bed and get into the shower, after the incident with Delilah, Matt and I have grown a lot stronger together. He has been teaching me the role of how to boss my father's/now mine employees around and how to settle deals. There was rumours about the Green's having moved states but according to Matt he had a close eye on them because there was no way Delilah was getting away with almost killing me. It was nice now not being in collage, we could openly do things together as technically he was no longer my professor. The word of our relationship was out a month after i deferred, Penny had sent me screenshots of group chats going crazy over a photo of Matt and I at the local grocery shop. Most were supportive and others hated me for taking Matt 'away from them', Matt had to tell the school that we got into a relationship after i deferred because he was starting to get questioned.