Infliction

16. Found Out

A week had passed and she was standing again in the kitchen, leaning over the sink to wash off the knife she just used on her arm. Noah had tried to hide every sharp object he could find but Jason kept asking questions of where the knives went and eventually they ended up back in the same spots.

Riley had cut herself a few times that week and each one Noah had found out about. It was actually getting harder to find any time alone from him these days as he was watching her like a hawk. Yet she couldn't stop herself from cutting and she was starting to need it more and more. Noah couldn't help her with this and she even started to care less about him finding out. 

The need to cut herself was too strong and as much as she initially resisted she found herself easily slipping back into old habits. Her nightmares were worse than ever and she was barely sleeping. Her appetite was pretty much non-existent and the only thing that made her feel better was slicing that knife deep into her skin.

The sun glared in her eyes as she looked up, watching it set through the kitchen window. She was busy in her thoughts while cleaning up the knife when a rough voice startled her from behind.

"What are you doing?" Noah asked, already with a hint of frustration in his voice as he moved towards the sink where Riley was standing.

Riley jumped and the knife went clattering into the sink. "N..Nothing."

"That's it!" he said as he grabbed the knife from the sink, finished drying it and shoved it back in the drawer. "I've had enough of this Riley. As soon as Jason is back we're going to talk about this."

Riley's body tensed, the hairs standing up on the back of her neck. "Please Noah, you said you wouldn't," she reached over, trying to get a hold of his hand to make him calm down.

Noah jerked his hand out of Riley's. "No, I told you the rules when I agreed to keep it secret for you. I'm seeing now that I made a mistake."

"You can't Noah, he'll kill me for sure. Don't do this to me, I'll try harder," she pleaded.

Noah reached back and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm out of ideas Riley. You won't open up to me and every time I turn my back you just keep doing it. Jason needs to know," he said exasperated.

"Know what?" said Jason curiously.

Riley and Noah had been so distracted that they didn't realise Jason was home from work as he came in casually and put his keys on the kitchen bench.

"It's nothing," said Riley, trying to deflect the tension between herself and Noah and she moved casually out of the kitchen, hoping Jason didn't hear anything of their conversation.

This time Noah wasn't backing down. "It's not nothing Riley. He's going to find out, so either you tell him or I will," he said in an authoritative tone.

Riley froze in her spot, gulping loudly as she turned around to look at Noah. From the look in his eyes, he wasn't lying. He was really going to tell Jason and that scared her more than anything.

"You wouldn't," she said softly, panic starting to rise up through her body, but she knew he would. She wasn't getting out of it this time and with Jason standing right next to him she knew he wasn't going to let it go.

Jason paused when he sensed the tension coming off both of them. He listened intently to their conversation but he was starting to get impatient and he tapped his foot on the floor, crossing his arms. "Know what?" he said in a loud voice that caused both Noah and Riley to jump.

Riley looked to the front door. She needed to get out of here. There was no way she wanted to be in the vicinity of Jason when he found out. If she thought Noah was bad, Jason was going to be ten times worse. It was a fight or flight situation and this was definitely the time to bolt.