Quiet Not Innocent | ✔︎

Chapter 22:

A S P E N ♡ W I L S O N
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I'm watching Spongebob and eating Mrs. Arian's second batch of cookies that were delivered this morning when April runs down the stairs, almost tripping as she scrambled into the living room.

She looked like a mess; hair unruly, eyes puffy, complexion pale, and clothes crumpled.

I shove the last bit of the cookie I was holding into my mouth before grabbing a water bottle and pills off the coffee table. "Come sit and drink these."

I probably could've used the pills too. I didn't sleep at all last night because my thoughts kept me up.

Specifically, April saying "they're going to use my pictures against me if I tell you" was what I couldn't get out of my head.

April drags her feet against the rug until she's sitting besides me, timid. Her hands are shaking as she takes the water and painkillers from me.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the air as we both stayed silent. I was simply watching her, wondering what her thought process was.

"I—I'm...did I....did I—" She stammers over her words, her shaking getting incredibly worse as she fiddled with her fingers nervously.

"Do you remember what you said last night?"

She finally makes eye contact with me, her green eyes unnerving and frightened. "Y-yeah. Why?"

"Perfect." I stand up and then reach under the couch to get out the weapon I'd looked for all of this morning. "Let's go then, we have a job to do."

"No, Aspen! Put the cleaver down!" April jumps to her feet, reaching for my hand that was enclosed around the handle of the huge knife. I step away from her though, hiding my weapon behind my back.

"No. I'm going to skin the person who is threatening you alive." I pause, "I'm going to need you to tell me who that is first, though. You passed out before I could ask."

Her shoulders slump and she suddenly is too weak to keep herself up. Her knees buckle under her and she falls down, onto her knees.

My eyes widening, I put my cleaver on the coffee table before going down on the floor. "April, what's wrong—"

"I can't—I can't let...no....stop, don't do anything. P—please. Just forget—never mind. I didn't...I never said anything. I didn't—please." Her voice is hoarse as she looks up at me, her lower lip trembling.

I was confused, worried, and angry all in one.

"What is it? What's got you so shaken up? Wait, never mind that, who were you talking about last night? What kind of pictures? Who is they?"

"Please. Don't." She puts her hands around her head and rests her face on the ground and I watch as her shoulders shake, indicating that she was crying.

Frustrated with her and myself, I get up on my feet to calm down a bit. I pace the room and breathe, trying to relax as April stayed hunched over on the floor silently sobbing.

There was a bigger factor to all of this, something I wasn't seeing. All I wanted right now was to make the ugly bitch who was messing with my sister pay, but I couldn't because I didn't even know who it was. And seeing how April was reacting, I wasn't going to find out from her. She was scared of whoever this person was, that much was obvious.