Mindless

Thirty

~Callie~

"My god it's like a fucking sauna in here." Stepping into the apartment, the first thing I'm hit by is the shockwave of excessive heat and as I run to the bathroom, it's almost unbearable. The very second I'm done, I decide it's the first thing I need to sort and head to open the balcony door. The air feels thicker in here than it did when we left and it's beyond unnerving. The heat is churning my stomach and opening the door manages to give some kind of release. A cool early  summer breeze instantly drifting into the apartment. 

It's when I turn around that I realise exactly why the air is so thick and heavy and it's nothing to do with the fact that Cole left the curtains open in the living room, allowing the floor to ceiling windows to trap all the heat inside. No. This is much much worse than stagnant sunlight. 

I stare across the room at the very last person on my mind for the past 6 weeks. His brow low, snarl across his upper lip and a gun held in his right hand. My heart rate vanishes. There's no blood in my body. No oxygen. No organs. Nothing but heat and fear. Because right now Cole is downstairs moving too many suitcases out of the back of his car without a care in the world and he's going to come upstairs, unarmed, unprepared, and find his girlfriend dead on the floor covered in her own blood. 

"Nice of you to come home." Sebastian's voice curdles any remaining blood cells in my veins and I find myself inching towards the lamp closest to me, flicking one of the dozen panic buttons Cole has around the house. 1. 2. 3. 4 times before flicking the lamp on. Sebastian doesn't notice. Or if he does, he doesn't say anything. 

"What are you-" 

"I didn't fucking tell you to speak Caroline." He steps closer, climbing over the sofa like he owns the place. "I told you. I told you to wrap things up by your birthday. I was expecting a little push back but I thought after the fucking car you'd realize I wasn't fucking around and you'd give up. I told you not to run from me so imagine my surprise when I get here on your birthday and you're nowhere to be seen." I try to swallow the rock growing in my throat, stepping back as he tries to close the space between us. 

"I'm not leaving with you Seba-" He leaps forward. The back of his hand slamming across the side of my face before he closes his hand around my throat, tight enough to make me immediately gasp. Warm liquid slides down my cheek from the cut he's left on my cheek bone but that's the very least of my worries. I can't breath. He clamps his hand tighter around me and my lungs start to burn. 

"You don't have a choice on if you're leaving with me or not Caroline. You had the chance to come calmly. You had the choice to come home at your wish and settle into the life I've built for us. You decided not to do that." Sebastian's jaw clenches as I step backwards, digging my fingers into his wrist as I try to get out of his hold. "This was supposed to be easy. I've put up with all of your shit Callie. 4 years of waiting for you to work your crap out. Didn't say a word when I knew you were sleeping with ever Tom, Dick and Harry. Didn't call you a whore, didn't worry that it would fucking ruin you, I kept my mouth shut because you were coming back to me eventually." 

"Seb-" I wheezed, backing up more frantically until I could feel the glass railing hit my back. That summer breeze that 5 minutes ago felt like a saving grace now felt even more terrifying. The cold air was freezing into my bones and I needed Cole. I need Cole here to save me and tell me I'm okay, that he's got this under control because I can't do this. I can't do it alone. 

"I didn't want you to fear me Caroline. I didn't want to put a drunk driver on the road to intentionally run you off the road. I didn't want you to get hurt. I needed you to understand there's nothing here for you. Your safe at home in my house I bought for you. But now I know, you need to fear me. You won't come unless you do. So I'm going to show you exactly why you're coming home with me. Because this - this- scum you've spent the past few months with- he's a dangerous man Caroline. This is his gun. The drugs I found in the closet are his. The 6 dead bodies that turned up this week all have his bullets from this gun in their heads, his confessions in their pockets. You're living with a murderer and he's going to try and do the same to you."