Hybrid (BOOK 1)

Chapter 19: Unwanted Betrayal

Skyler sat in silence on her bed as Chris fiddled with his phone. She could tell that he was in undefinable pain.

"I did not mean to hurt you Chris," she finally told him. Chris looked at Skyler and nodded.

"I know you didn't," he replied slowly. "Man it even hurts to speak," he thought to himself.

"I'm sorry about that too," Skyler said guiltily. Chris looked at her in surprise. "Yeah I read your mind, I wanted to make sure you meant what you said." Before Chris could respond, Melanie and Shiloh entered the room.

"Okay Skyler I told the others everything. So can you tell us what happened?" Melanie asked immediately. Skyler glanced at her sister before responding. She wanted to know if Shiloh actually cared about what had happened, but Skyler stopped herself from reading her sister's mind.

"I don't know," Skyler finally said. "When you told me that something inhuman was inside of me all I felt was rage and denial. I just couldn't listen to you anymore and then I felt a volcanic eruption in my stomach and before I knew it, I was no longer in control of myself." Tears poured down Skyler's eyes once more. "These powers make me feel like a monster! What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?" Skyler fell on her knees, her hands hitting the floor hard. Shiloh went up to her straight away and tried to take her hand but Skyler moved her hand away quickly.

"You don't want to do that, trust me," Skyler said quickly.

"Why wouldn't I Skyler? Wait, is it because I'm just a normal human? Is that why..."

"No Shiloh, if you so much as touch my hands with the tip of your fingers I'll be able to see your whole past up till now! There are parts of our lives that I don't wanna relive again!" At that very moment Skyler felt all eyes on her and it made her feel very uncomfortable.

"When did you find out that you could do that?" Shiloh finally asked. Skyler's eyes shifted guiltily towards Melanie. Melanie slowly understood what Skyler's look meant.

"Wait... You mean when you and I shook hands the other day... You... You. Saw. My. Life?" Skyler could not respond and she just gazed down at the floor.

"Oh my God you did! And you didn't think that it was important to tell me? SAY SOMETHING!"

"Yeah I'm gonna go," Chris said. He knew that things were going to escalate quickly and he knew that the situation was going to get even more uncomfortable. Down deep inside he felt sorry for Skyler but he knew Melanie all too well, she hated when people knew or found out things about her without her knowledge. He quickly darted out of the room. Shiloh rolled her eyes as she looked at her sister, she wanted to remind her sister that once again she had been selfish and that she should've told Melanie everything from the get go but whatever was going on between Skyler and Melanie was none of her business.

"I'll leave as well, clearly the two of you have a lot to talk about," she said as she stood up to leave, "good luck Skyler!" Skyler did not have the courage to look up at Melanie. She knew that hiding the truth from Melanie was wrong but she didn't exactly know how to break the news to her.

"Skyler there are things in my past that you had no right knowing! In fact nobody had a right to know!" Melanie start off coldly. "And you just casually kept everything to yourself! I need to know why and I need to know now!"

Skyler fiddled with her fingers for a couple of seconds. She could feel Melanie's anger without even looking at her. She knew that she couldn't go on hiding her powers from Melanie. She was the only person who really treated Skyler like an actual human being. Now she found herself in a trap that could cause her to lose Melanie's trust. Skyler knew she had to come clean and tell the truth. Skyler let out a long tired sigh before she started to speak.

"Look Melanie," Skyler started off without even looking at her, "when I shook your hand I didn't know I could do that. It took me completely by surprise and I then found myself in the very web of your life and I couldn't do anything to stop it, up until...' Skyler's voice faded off as soon as she realized something.

"Until when?" Melanie asked impatiently. "Until when Skyler?"

"Until the day I met you," Skyler replied thoughtfully. "Everything just stopped abruptly."

"So you got the bits and pieces of my life that you had no idea about!"

"Listen Melanie," Skyler said as she finally turned around to look at Melanie, "I am sorry. Please please please understand that all this is new to me. I told you before, I've always been someone who has always minded my own business, I never ever butt into things that don't concern me. But the problem is that I didn't know that my hands could... I mean can... I don't know what to say!" Skyler sat abruptly on her bed, tears flowing down her face. It was then and there that Melanie really analyzed Skyler.

Skyler's hair was in a mess, it was obvious that she hadn't combed it much. Her straight black hair looked more tangled than ever. She approached Skyler slowly and realized that Skyler's clothes weren't even ironed, and her shoes were not tied properly. She could tell that Skyler was just one big giant mess that did not know what to do with herself. However, she could not forgive Skyler so easily. Time and time again she reminded Skyler that she would be there for her and that she should trust her even if things were tough. She couldn't even care about that fact that Skyler just kept looking at her own hands in disgust.

"These," Skyler suddenly said as she showed Melanie her hands, "these hands of mine are a curse! They have so much power in them, sometimes I can feel it! And... Well... that feeling... it travels through my veins and I feel a surge inside of me. That surge takes me to a place that I cannot describe, I feel a darkness inside and all I want to do is hurt anyone who is in my way. Coz everything has been taken away from me... I can't stand this! I know I should've told you. I know I have no right to know the stuff I know about you, but it took me by surprise and I had no idea what to do..." Skyler tried to read Melanie's expression but for some reason she couldn't.

"I'm..."

"I know what you'll say next! I don't feel like hearing your excuses Skyler! Everything that you just told me, I know very well. Ever since you got here you've been saying that everything has been taken away from. I understood you! When Chelsea wanted you gone, I defended you! When you found it hard to put your trust in someone else's hands, I offered you both my hands with all my heart! You can read people's minds but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that I liked you since day one and wanted to help you!"

Guilt consumed Skyler like fire devouring dry wood. Everything that Melanie had said was truth, it was the absolute truth. It was true, Melanie had treated her better than her own sister, Melanie had always tried to understand her but she chose to remain silent. She chose to keep what she saw to herself and not tell Melanie about it. Skyler had been afraid that if she had told Melanie the truth, she would've lost the only person who actually gave a damn or two about her.

"I know you don't want to hear me apologize Melanie but I need you to understand that it was never my intention to hurt you. I just didn't know how to tell you but I never wanted to hurt you so deeply and to be honest, I was afraid of losing you. You are the only true friend I have here."

"I need some time to think about all of this. In the meantime, I need you to keep my personal life to yourself please. As I said, no one had a right to know about parts of my life that I didn't choose to share." Skyler watched Melanie leave her quarters, she had no idea what to do next as things were changing too fast for her. She got up and went to her bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror.

"With whatever is running in my veins, I'm not even human anymore," she said to herself, "Shiloh I wish you were here for me... Instead you still choose to judge me over and over again..."