Annalise

Chapter 30: Chaos Truly Begins (Pt. 2)

Thick brown gravy pooled near my vans and mushy mashed potatoes drooped down my left knee, all this happening as my skirt thirstily absorbed the punch that splashed from the broken bowl. Glancing down, I spotted corn littering my baby blue turtleneck, some pieces even found itself on the waves of my hair.

"Oh my God! What the hell is wrong with you, asshole!?" Hannah's high-pitched voice screamed, shock coating her anger induced words.

"That slut fell on her own," the familiar Imperishable sneered, dismissing Hannah's accusing tone and defending Tate.

My throat constricted unbearably tight, painfully creating aching throbs to ignite as my heart rate spiked. I stifled the gut-wrenching cry that had a desire to emerge to the surface, a desire that demanded for Tate to be aware of the mental and physical strain he was putting on me.

"Sucks to suck," I heard the Imperishable comment again, snickering directly at me.

My eyes stung as if I were a little girl challenging the sun with a staring contest and losing almost immediately, tears welling up the rims of my blue orbs. I clenched my teeth exceptionally hard together, restraining myself from what they wanted.

My tears, my pain. I wasn't going to dare let them have that sick satisfaction.

No way they are, a dark voice echoed throughout my mind.

"Does your mouth have a fucking off switch?" Hannah viciously glared at the guy, marching away from him and coming towards me.

She bent down and gingerly grabbed my arm, helping me rise up as she softly spoke. "It's going to be alright. I'll get you out of here, I promise."

I gripped her back in a death grip, unable to trust my wobbly legs to securely balance me. Half the weight on my chest alleviated from Hannah's words.

"Shit. Oh, fuck! Shit," she panicked, looking down at my side where my hand was.

And then the weight dropped back, making me feel like my organs were centimeters away from being absolutely crushed.

Ragged breaths broke out from me.

"Damn it," I heard Tate's low voice.

I glanced up to him, finding his charcoal eyes intensely staring at the location Hannah was, and for the first time in awhile, anger melted off his face as it was replaced with what looked like guilt.

I leveled my eyes to my writing hand, dramatically halting my breathing as I did. A deep gash sliced through the skin on my palm, causing a dark red substance to ooze at a steady pace to the ground, forming a small puddle. Droplets of blood roll down my skin as they find their way to my fingertips, taking a plunge off and making a splash to the puddle below, the one swiftly expanding.

Strange, I couldn't feel the injury before but it was now throbbing immensely, feeling as if little needles were piercing the cut all over due to the sharp stabbing sensation.

"Hey! What's going on over here!?" I heard a familiar voice bark out, causing me to jerk tensely.

My head whipped to the side, finding light brown eyes staring hellfire at Tate and the Imperishable. The tall guy's dirty blonde hair was tied in a bun, which instantly caused a connection in my brain, easily making me realize this was Alessandro, Asher's secret friend.