Tainted Love | ✓

Chapter Twenty-Two

a sharp tongue or pen

can kill without a knife

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　-: ✧ :-゜・．

THE NEWS BROKE.

Tyler Jones had been seen being taken by the police down to the station. Pictures and videos were captured of him, with his hands behind his back, being dragged out when he seemingly refused to cooperate. With my phone held in my hand, I re-watched the same video I had been watching for the past half an hour. Curled inside my bed, the dark light of the phone illuminated my room, casting an eerie glow over the room.

"Get off me!"

In the video, he struggled against their hold, trying to snatch his arm out of the police officers tight grip. Despite the intense flashing of cameras and shocked neighbors standing around him, whispering into each others' ears, he seemed to have forgotten that he was in the public view. His mouth was curled up into a vicious snarl as he spat at the onlookers - eyes nearly as black as the night sky. Red veins protruded out from his neck, his entire face turning a dark shade of purple, almost.

"I didn't do anything! Don't touch me, you fucking assholes!"

The clip was short - only a minute and a half long, but I couldn't stop watching it and my eyes were glued to the screen. Somehow, he looked different than I had last seen him - scruffier, with wrinkled clothes and dead, slit-like eyes. However, each time his gaze connected with the camera, a shiver ran through me. It felt like he was directly looking at me - even if he wasn't.

"Naomi?"

A light knock sounded on my door, breaking me out of the daze I was in. Turning the video off, I tucked my phone under my pillow and called back:

"Yeah?"

"Toby is at the door, hun," my dad's soft voice spoke from the other side, "Do you want me to tell him you're resting?"

Excitement lit up in my chest at the mention of my best friend. He hadn't texted me all day - mentioning that he didn't want to stress me out more and corner me for information. Whenever I was ready to talk to him, he would be there waiting for me. Toby was someone I knew I could depend and lean on when I needed to - and he would do that same to me. We weren't just best friends - he had somehow made his way into my soul. When life tried to hit me with a thunderous storm, he was the boat, keeping the water out from my lungs.

"No, it's okay. I'll be down in a minute!"

Slipping out from the warmth of my bed, my feet hid the cold, tiled floor of my bedroom, making me shiver. Gently, I padded across my room and made my way down the stairs - heading straight for the door.

Night had fallen over our neighborhood when I stepped outside. No longer than an hour ago, the sky had been painted with a beautiful hue of red, orange and purples. Now, however, the darkness was thick and choking, with only a few stars lighting up the sky. The cold breeze blew right through my sweater; my hair loose about my face - tousled and tangled. Wind rattled the guttering - the dark lullaby of an abrupt storm. Moonlight spilled down from the sky in soft rays.

Just under the orange streetlight, stood Toby. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, a red and yellow scarf wrapped around his neck, pulled right up to his nose. On hearing the door click shut behind me, his head snapped over in my direction, a bright smile illuminating his face.

"Hey, Omi."

His warm, brown eyes - made up of a million different hues, gazed back at me. His eyes were the colour of brown that was like a sweet chocolate, mesmerizing me. Yet, if I looked close enough, they held flecks of gold that swirled around within the deep cocoa.