The Perfect Rejection

Chapter Three

When the bell rang I rushed out of the classroom. I darted into the girls' bathroom, praying he wasn't psychotic enough to follow me.

I sat down on the floor and hugged my knees to my chest. I buried my face in my knees and took deep breaths to try to calm myself.

"Did you really think hiding in here would work?" A voice growled and my body started to shake.

"Liam, why do you do this?" I whimpered, staring at the floor.

"Because you are pathetic, worthless, and the reason that my mom and dad are dead!" He snarled, grabbing my hair and yanking me to my feet.

"They were my parents too, it isn't my fault they're gone," I sobbed.

He smacked me hard across the face and my cries grew louder. I tasted blood in my mouth and my lip quivered. He let go of my hair but not before shoving my head against the tile wall.

"It is your fault, you were the one who killed them!"

I doubled over when his knee connected with my stomach and fell to the floor. My head throbbed and tiny spots filled my vision.

"I had no choice! He was going to kill me!" I screamed, sobbing hysterically from the pain. My body was starting to go numb, but remembering what happened that day was excruciatingly painful.

"Then you should have let him kill you," he spat, kicking his foot into my healing ribs.

I howled in pain and a sickening crack echoed through the bathroom. A hand slapped over my mouth and my cries were muffled.

"Shut up," he snapped.

I quickly nodded my head, terrified to anger him further. His hand suddenly wrapped around my throat and my eyes widened when I felt him start to lift my body off the ground.

My hands clawed at his and I gasped for air. He shoved me against the tile wall of the bathroom and laughed when my feet were no longer touching the floor. His fingers tightened around my neck and I saw black spots flood my vision.

My body started to go limp and I saw his mouth twist into a grin before everything went black.

***

"Liam! Slow down!" I huffed, wishing I could run faster.

"Hurry up! Come on Roxie, we're going to miss it!" My brother called, waving his hand. I took a deep breath and pushed my legs to run faster.

We burst through the trees and I gasped in awe. The entire clearing was decorated for the beginning of the Summer Festival.

Lanterns hung in every tree, flowers blanketed the shrubs, and little tent shops were set up every few meters. I caught sight of my brother. He was smiling at me.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to a small shop that was selling beautiful jewelry. He whispered something to the older woman behind the table and she chuckled with a smile.

She glanced briefly at me before walking to the back of her tent. She returned a few moments later with a small red box and handed it to my brother who gave her some money in return.

He turned to me and my eyes widened in surprise when he held out the box.

"It's for me?" I asked.

"Yeah, go ahead Rox, open it," he urged and I pried the lid off the box. I squealed and bounced up and down.

Inside was a beautiful necklace with a bone pendant that had been carved into a howling wolf. There were small purple crystals for the eyes and the chain was gleaming black metal.