Forbidden

~Chapter Thirteen~

~Chapter Thirteen~

Meaghan leaned against the plush pillows behind her, her uncontrollable hands longing to break something. An annoyed groan escaped her lips as she closed her eyes. She knew that she could procrastinate no longer: although it terrified her to look back and observe what damage Hayley and Jenna had done, she was being forced to do it every day.

            Meaghan had been at peace until that moment. Her morning had been spent in solitude, succumbing to her true being and tuning out her mind. No rain had fallen, surprisingly: instead, pity was taken on her. The prairie sky had been a beautiful bright blue, stretching endlessly in all directions, with only a few friendly clouds in sight. The sun had shone warmly on Meaghan’s skin, composing her emotions into one calm, joyful ball. She was ashamed that she still held her affection for the sun after all these torturous years, but Meaghan couldn’t hide that fact. The sun still produced a sense of bliss and happiness for her; it contained that one small remnant of how important her past life had been to her…and how much she missed it.

            Meaghan shook her head, quickly dismissing her disturbing thoughts before someone heard them. She turned to the task at hand, a contented, malicious smile forming across her mouth.

            Wincing over the painful start to her morning, Meaghan rewound the day and witnessed Hayley and Jenna’s every movement. The vicious smile remained on her mouth until she saw their two wretched mistakes: irremovable, completely detectable, and unfixable.

            Meaghan’s eyes flashed open, a furious snarl ripping out of her throat, sounding suspiciously like that of an angry wolf’s. She leapt off of her bed, bounding over to her curtains and savagely tearing them open. She cursed under her breath, glancing at the mid-day sun directly overhead. Get. Over. Here. Now, she spat, trembling in her attempts to regain her composure. She received her response quickly: Jenna’s angered sneer flashed through her thoughts, as well as Hayley’s frightened squeak of acceptance.

            Meaghan paced the floor as she waited, her impatience growing with every passing millisecond. She could tell that Jenna was purposefully taking her time, dragging a horrified Hayley along with her. “Ari is going to kill me,” Meaghan whispered aloud, digging her nails into her upper arm. Her breath came out in seething puffs now, her teeth clamped together in a hopeless effort to control herself.

            The piercing ring of the landline shot through the house. Meaghan jumped, her ears ringing with pain. Catching her suddenly lost breath, she hurried to the phone and flung it to her ear.

            “Meggie, darling, is that you?” a feminine voice asked.

            Meaghan grumbled under her breath, too quiet for Michelle to hear. “Yeah, Mom, it’s me. I’m the only one home,” she replied, her voice dripping with undisguised irritation.

            “Meaghan Anne Burke!” Michelle exclaimed, shocked. “That is no way to talk to your mother!”

            “Sorry, Mom. I was working on a really annoying project for Anatomy,” Meaghan lied smoothly. “What’s up?”

            “Meggie, I’m so sorry. It seems that your father and I won’t be home for another couple of weeks. Will and Ellie need us for a bit longer. I’m so sorry, honey.” Michelle’s voice was saturated with feigned remorse; even without her improved sense of hearing, Meaghan would have detected it.

            “It’s totally fine, Mom,” she assured her. “I’m almost eighteen: I’m completely okay at home by myself.”

            “Oh, thank you, darling.” Michelle’s fake relief sent a wave of nausea cascading through Meaghan. She shook it off, eager to cut off this conversation as rapidly as possible. Her annoyance and rage could easily be taken out on her two delinquent friends rather than Michelle.