Ego's Trap | ✔

37 | His Frustrations

☆☆☆ Chapter 37 ☆☆☆

His Frustrations

*Daniel's Point of View*

Several days have passed since the day Roger and I brought Ane back to the residence. My mother and company have already arrived from their time at the hotel as well, and Father, even, has come back from the Campbell estate, but Ane is still shocked, speechless. In certain moments, Ane becomes completely unresponsive, not processing much, allowing everything that is said to pass over her. If she were to see Hilery or Joel during such moments of vulnerability, I do not know what could happen to Ane's psyche. Because of that, I have done my best to keep her away from them and everyone in my family. Teresa and I thought it would be best for her to not be exposed to any potential triggers. Even Roger, who has dropped by a few times, hasn't seen her, and understands it should be kept that way for a while.

Everyone besides Roger and Teresa believed Ane just wanted some alone time, and I want it to remain that way until Ane's ready to talk or let it go── whichever one makes it more comfortable for her.

From what Roger has told me, Ane was held at gunpoint, threatened and taunted, ready to take the blow, even though the gun's safety was on. Typical of Joel to make such a "good scare," but I hate him for that. Such a closet sadist. Why to Ane? She was already vulnerable, and yet he dared to put her in a situation where she's comfortable to die, ready to die. I already understand my brother; he lost his wits after being outed for his moral deviance──  but I don't want to understand him anymore, I don't want to see his side of things anymore, not after hurting Ane. I want to feel the heat of anger rise within me, to boil over for once, instead of having it be cooled down to nothingness with reason and empathy as I often tend to do.

He hurt Ane and I couldn't stand it. She's already been through enough.

While staring at the flashes of lights from the TV in front of us, I found myself squeezing Ane's arm a little too hard. She didn't flinch from it. That fact tore me apart, because after surrendering herself to a bullet, a squeeze has become nothing to her. 'Nothing' is all that she is at the moment. Does she have a death wish? What exactly happened at the hotel; how exactly did she process what she saw there, if she's not at it right now? How did it get to this, why?

I should have seen it coming from the moment "vacation within a vacation" came out of my mother's mouth. Everything and anything involving Hilery or Joel is pure trouble. No matter how well they play their roles as "harmless people," they're on par with Jade in more ways than one. Jade, who has brought nothing but pain in Roger's life as well as Ane's and her entire family, is on par with Hilery and Joel in more ways than one. They all live in their own sick worlds.

I cannot tell who's the worst amongst my siblings, and it sickens me.

I, myself, am not a goody two-shoes, either. Ane's with me for a reason I can never deny; I know her in ways I know are far from what's even remotely healthy. There's more than enough evidence of that hidden in my bedroom, and I could easily be arrested for half of it, if Ane ever feels the need to notify the authorities. The things I've done for love are sick. The things I still do for love are. And yet, they can be and are, so very pure. So sickeningly pure.

My body tensed up, but once Ane, my adorable zombie girlfriend, made herself comfortable on my chest and snuggled up against it, my shoulders let go of their tension. Every part of my body followed immediately after.

It made me feel special, really, how she gave most of her attention to me in her darkest moments, but it was a constant reminder of how much she's hurting, too. I can only wonder what's on her mind, if it's not on a hiatus. Her last two visits to Dr. Connor's didn't help much in figuring that out, either, seeing how she barely spoke during their time together, so trust me when I say I was both spooked and surprised when Ane actively reached for the remote to turn off the TV, preparing herself to speak. I prepared myself for the worst, or at least I thought so.