A FEW HOURS LATER, IN THE MIDST of the party, Maddie was beginning to feel unwell. Her stomach twisted into knots, and she was quite sure that the music was too loud.
Slipping past the drunken teenagers in a labyrinth of flashing strobe lights and vigorous dancing, she made her way outside.
A rush of cool, crisp air enveloped her, and she clutched her throbbing head. Could she have had too much to drink? As she pondered over the thought, she caught a familiar whiff of cologne in the winter air.
"Lucian." she drawled, puffs of opaline air leaving her flushed lips in the cold. He smirked smugly, happy to be have been acknowledged. A presence like his own never went unnoticed.
To Maddie's surprise, Lucian grabbed her arm and yanked her towards the wall. Staggering slightly on the asphalt, she looked at him with wide eyes. "Lucian, what the hell,"
Lucian sneered, digging his nails into her skin so much so that she winced slightly. "It's your own fault, Dominic. Did you even think of what would happen if you humiliated me like that?"
Maddie rolled her eyes, despite the fear that had begun to creep up her spine. His words and malicious grin, mirroring the wicked curve of a knife, turned to white noise which poured through her skull. She groaned.
Lucian took this as an opportunity to worsen her aghast state, tightening his iron grip. She writhed under his grasp.
"Let go-" she spat out, as he placed his grimy hands on her neck. His thumbs laced the center of her collar bones, the small dip between each end. He caressed it slightly. Maddie noticed the white powder that lined his lips, the grime that coated his nails, the revolting grease of his hair.
Head reeling, Maddie went limp in his arms. Her limbs felt numb, her lungs slowly but surely running out of air as Lucian's torturous grip tightened. Chapped and powdery lips ran up and down her neck.
Soon, her skin was exposed, bathing in the moonlight's gaze as Lucian Michaels slammed his fist against her cheek.
She let out one last scream into the barren night, the cracks in her voice lost in the booming music and deafening buzz of clueless teenagers, and never found again. It rung in the ears of the crows perched on the roof, the screeching cats hiding in the trees. But her screams, however powerful, were never heard by whom she wished.
At three in the morning, Maddie had begun to pick her clothes off the gravel surrounding Elle's house. The party was still going, and she despised the fact that no one had come to look for her.
She slipped on her clothes, bruised and battered, wiping stray tears from her cheeks. Lucian had left only minutes prior. Sobbing slightly, Maddie fruitlessly attempted to brush away the dirt on her clothes, her fingers hovering over bruises scattered amongst her skin.
The dust on her clothes was not what bothered her most - it was the impurity she felt drowning her soul, her mind, the kind you could not remove with a bar of soap.
The sense of uncleanliness, the thudding of her heart every time she thought of Lucian's act. His skin on hers, his muffled groans.
God, she despised him with every inkling of her horrid soul, every atom in her body buzzing with furious rage, her blood boiling and sizzling at the thought of her feeling so utterly helpless, her teeth clenching, her lungs struggling to hold the sobs she caught in her throat.
Yet she felt so weak. So little, so insignificant. Her head was pounding, her lids shutting to a close for a few seconds too long. Cracked lips and drooping eyes. The world spun about her, the lights of the wrecked garden flashing dangerously, and she wondered if that was what the light of death would look like.
With one last effort, she forced herself up. Her legs wobbled as she leaned against the wall for support. Blinking rapidly, she decided she would have to drive home.
Stars twinkled in an effort to cheer her up. They did no good. All they did was make her wonder how it would be, to escape the clutches of Earth and flee to the moon, the sky, the stars. To duck beneath them whilst feeling afraid, to gaze down at Earth a safe distance away. Laughing hysterically at how stupid all these dammed people were, how much damage they had caused themselves.
Bitter chuckles escaped her lips. As she trudged to the car, high pitched screams came from the garden. "Maddie, what happened to you? Why do you look like that?!"
Maddie chocked back another fit of sobs, avoiding the shocked people's gaze. By now, a majority of the school's student body was in front of her, gaping at her like she was the newest addition to the gorilla exhibit in the zoo.
Furiously, she unlocked her car and clambered in. Slamming the door, she stamped her heel on the gas. Cool wind whipped at her hair. The car lurched to a start, and she drove off with a misty fog of tears in her eyes.
In her peripheral vision, she caught Alex running down the porch steps, cursing loudly. He shoved the shell shocked bystanders out the way, shouting for Maddie to stop as her car speedily rounded the corner, escaping their sight.
As Maddie arrived home for the final time that night, she cried a little. Squelching against the white fluffy rugs and up to her room, she eyed the bruises on her arms and shoulders. She shivered.
Pausing on the staircase, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Shades of black and blue ran up from her jaw to her eyes, and her lips were swollen and cut. Blood was smeared onto her cheeks.
Her bottom lip quivered. She let out a heaving sob.
Crouched on the stairs, she soon thought of snuggling into her bed, to escape the horrors of reality, even if just for a little while. She ran up the stairs, flinging the door open to her room.
Collapsing on the bed, she paused to look back to her left as her heartbeat rose. In the corner of her eye, she spotted a white and red blur on her bedside table. She froze. Slowly, and full of blood-curdling dread, she turned her head to face the nightstand.
It was a gun.
Maddie knew a lot of people wanted her dead. Though this was different. She'd never received a weapon as a gift before. She eyed the gun, eyes widening at the sight of roses beside it. Crimson, like a deadly drop of blood.
Frantic, she reached out to grab the roses as well as the gun. Both she'd never seen in her life. Her eyes skimmed the roses before spotting a small scrawl engraved in each and every delicate petal – DIE.
She shoved them in her drawer before passing out in horror on her silk sheets.
Hi. There's so many things going on in this chapter. I have huge plans for this book. Spoiler alert (not really) though she hasn't committed suicide yet, she will soon. Thank you for reading, if you enjoyed this chapter please leave me a cute comment and vote to make my day. Love you guys, and I'll see you soon♡