DARKNESS

DARKNESS | Chapter 13

"Sometimes I wish I was invisible."
- Unknown

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Kale and I exit the dining hall as fast as we can, trying to appear casual. Dinner was... interesting.

"Do you have no idea as to what the word 'behave' might mean? Are you incapable of following rules, of just not adding in snarky comments?"

"I thought I'd done pretty good," I mumble, as I kick at the floor with the toe of my sandal.

"Yeah, well you thought wrong. You need to learn not to overstep boundaries. I'm pretty sure you've successfully managed to piss my father off. Yet again."

"I can't help it if he wants to try and dehumanise me with every word he says! He wants to make me bow down to him, and become loyal to him above all else- I can't bring myself to do that, Kale!" I rant frustratedly.

It's in the few seconds that we both halt our walk and stare at each other in pure silence that I realise my mistake.

Slowly, I start to back away, shaking my head to myself out of disappointment.

I slipped up.

I just told Kale everything; the opposite of everything I'd came here to do. Everything I've tried- and failed- to portray myself as.

He's supposed to think I want to follow Ash. He's supposed to think that I've forgiven his father for his wrong-doings; for killing my parents. He's supposed to believe I've been feeding him nothing but the truth.

Great.

I swallow a nervous lump in my throat as I turn around and start running in the other direction down the hallway.

I'm screwed. This is hopeless. I've ruined everything.

It's game over.

Kale doesn't call after me as I bolt out the front door and run across the lawned area surrounding Ashleigh and the Shadow's domain.

Why do I keep ruining everything? Trouble seems to follow me wherever I go.

Or maybe Kale's actually right.

Maybe I am the trouble.

Pausing briefly, I slip my sandals off and discard them, throwing them across the lawn as far as I can in frustration. I pull my hair out of the bun I had actually bothered to create, letting it fall free around my shoulders.

And then I run.

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My intention was never to run away. My intention was to clear my head. To vent all of my anger, frustration and worry by escaping the clutches of Ash and his son for a mere hour.

And I can already feel the effects.

Kale had explained to me that because we are 'newly attached' we feel a strong need to be around each other. He said we need each other or we feel physical pain. It's apparently supposed to be stronger than any bond that can exist between two people.

And I truly don't doubt his words.

Originally I'd thought I was hurting all over from practically an hour of sprinting through the dense forest like a crazed lunatic, but now I realise there's actually more to it than that.

As much as I wish it were otherwise, and as much as I hate to admit it, I need Kale.

As in, I actually need him.