Locked in Love

Chapter 12- How To Ruin Everything

Chapter 12- How To Ruin Everything

“Home?” Caleb scoffed, jerking me closer to him.

 His breath on my neck felt toxic. Like it was burning my skin. Eating away at the surface. Searing, scorching, baking, blistering. Every time he exhaled, the venom bore deeper into my body, contaminating me. He leant closer to me and with one hand on my chin, he tipped my head back so my face was parallel with his.

I held my breath and gritted my teeth. My lime green eyes locked onto his slate blue ones. His hand didn’t leave my jaw.

“Caleb.” I said through clenched teeth. “Let. Go. Of. Me”

He dropped his hand and sniggered as I wrenched my head away from his and staggered away from him.

“Alright, Alice.” He sighed. “Where exactly is your home?”

I blinked at him. My jaw tightened. He smirked and took a step towards me.

“What are you gonna do?” He leered, “Go crawling back to Jason?”

My heart clenched at the mention of his name.

“No way Elnora will let that happen.” He drawled, taking another step closer to me. 

I backed up against the tree, narrowing my eyes. 

“Since when have you and Elnora been on a first name basis?” I spat.

Caleb faltered mid-step. He stumbled slightly to the side as if I had caught him by surprise.

His powder blue eyes widened in surprise for a second before he regained his composure. The usual smug smile returned to his face.

“You know what?” he sneered, snatching my wrist and pulling me away from the silver-birch. “I think it’s time I let you in on a little secret.”

I tucked a loose, blonde curl behind my ear and clenched my jaw even tighter. Could this day get any worse? 

“What?” I hissed. I didn’t even care what he had to say. I was done.

“Not here.” He nodded towards the derelict house. “Let’s take this inside.”

Without waiting for my answer, he strode towards the house, dragging me behind him.

He kicked the door open and walked inside.

The air, was dank and heavy. Like it had been trapped inside for years. It was pitch-black. 

Caleb shuffled around until he found the light. He flicked a switch and the room was lit with dim yellow luster. 

The walls were lined with peeling, blue wallpaper. The floorboards, dirty and faded. The furniture, stained and coated with dust. I don’t know how Caleb found this place. Or who it previously belonged to. And I didn’t care. All I wanted was to get out of it.

I perched on the edge of a lumpy brown sofa, and raked my fingers through my hair.

“Well?” I snapped, “Am I going to sit here all night or are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

Caleb slumped down into a grungy, red armchair, opposite me.

“Look...” he started, hunching forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “When we first found out about the whole.. ‘old-family-contract-first-born-daughter-has-to-marry-family-heir’ etcetera... I thought it would end differently. But... Obviously... It didn’t. After you married that guy... Well, I was furious.”

I rolled my eyes. These were things I already knew. 

“Are we nearly up to the part of the story where you get to the point?” I interjected sarcastically.