Kayla (PART 2)

Chapter 8

"Michael.." I think I heard myself mumble. Before I could make a move, he grabbed me by the shoulders and threw me to the cold ground. I felt so weak against him. I remember one time, another life ago I felt like I was superior to him. I felt like I was the stronger one and I had more power. But now everything has changed.

I thought I saw him grab some wire pushed to the side with a bunch of boxes but it all happened way too fast. Hands were tied behind my back and I was forced to stay put where I was. This would be my death bed, on this ground.

"Why are you..Why are you doing this Michael? I changed. I am not like that anymore. I—"

"You have not changed. No one can change. Everyone will always be the same person." Michael huffed. The basement was dark except for the light towards the stairs.

"Anyone can change. Your mom, she was changed." I blurted out and regretted it immediately as soon as he spun around and met my eyes.

"How..how dare you bring her up! What the fuck is wrong with you Kayla Parker?" His fist connected with my cheek and I cursed under my breath. He wasn't satisfied yet, he punched three more times and pushed my body against the wall, all of the pain adding up.

"Why don't you kill me then? Right? Isn't that why you came here?" I said. I could feel the stinging sensation on both sides of my face.

He paced back and forth and stopped right in front of me again.

"I prayed every night since the day you let me free. I prayed for forgiveness when you made me do what I did to that little boy. You made me take his life for your own satisfaction and you think of it as some little mistake, you think you are a changed person. You are the same Kayla, you are the fucking same." His voice croaked and I felt like he would break down into tears but he didn't.

"You set me free, you told me, 'go, just go,' and you told me not to tell a soul because I knew you would kill me. I was feared for my life, I was a young boy that feared for my life. You ruined my life, Kayla. All because you think your life was ruined, so you ruined mine." His words burned throughout me.

Flashback—

"Okay class, in our next writing assignment, I want you all to pick out a quote and I want you to write about it. Just write a brief summary of what you think it means. That's all." Mrs. Young explained the lesson and I just sat at my desk, staring off into space.

There was a recyclable box with quotes cut out of newspapers and stories. I got myself up and walked to the front to grab a quote. Most of them seemed to repeat themselves. I could look at a quote and immediately connect myself to it, but maybe not all the happy ones. Saying that I was happy would be a lie, I'm not. My fingers reached into my short, dark hair that almost made me resemble a boy. I heard a snarl behind me and I turned around.

"Can you hurry up?" Leslie scrunched her nose; the stupid face she would make whenever she was mad or annoyed at me. It was always me she was annoyed at. That's because her best friend Ramona hates me. She hates my guts and I don't know why. "Come on now, hurry up won't you?"

My fingers reached into the box and I carelessly grabbed a scrap of paper with a printed quote on it. I walked back to my desk and tripped over something, causing me to fall to the ground.

I looked up to see Ramona laughing with all of the other kids in the class.

"Oops!" She said and the teacher just went back to writing on the chalk board.

Now the only thing I decided to focus on was the quote in front of me. Although, I could always focus on Ramona and how she always managed to torture me every second she got, but I decided the quote would be better to pay attention to. I squinted to read the print:

"Those with an evil heart seem to have a talent to destroy anything in which beauty will bloom."

I read it over and over, what did it mean? It could mean anything. I was always told I was too mature for my age and I seemed to understand anything when I put my mind to it. A quote could never be wrong; it's how you think about it.

"I'm..I'm sorry. For everything." I pathetically apologized.

"Sorry is not going to help anything. You can't 'sorry' your way out of this. You have to pay for all of your sins." Michael inched closer.