Chapter 17
I walked faster and faster. It was getting darker, just how I wanted it to. When I realized how far I still needed to walk, I frowned. I could not afford to get there tired, I needed my strength. When I was sure no one was looking, I focused my energy and instantly transmitted myself to a neighborhood I hated.
My lips twisted in disgust when I passed the huge houses with their tall walls and fancy gates. I walked on, eager to get to my destination. When I saw the gate I was looking for, I smiled. I was in no mood to climb over walls so I did the only thing I could.
Instant transmission had its flaws. For one, I could not use it unless I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Focusing my energy on one place that I had probably seen once, I instantly transmitted myself and landed on the pavement outside Matt's room. Matt's room was on the third floor, the top level.
Despite being able to levitate objects, I could also levitate myself, which came in handy. I focused my energy and felt my legs leave the ground. It was dark now, so no one could see me. I increased speed steadily. Something pricked me, catching me off guard, making me lose focus. It was a tree I hadn't seen before. I had levitated straight at one of its branches and luckily, only the leaves had gotten to touch my skin. I cursed quietly as I almost landed on my butt. I tried again, that time avoiding the tree, resulting in me doing zigzags.
I finally arrived at Matt's balcony. I climbed in and went to the door. I looked around me and cursed. A balcony was a luxury Matt did not need or deserve. But it was all too well for me that he had it.
I opened the door a bit as quietly as I could and peered in. Matt was in the beautifully decorated bedroom, pacing up and down. He had a phone to his ear.
"No, no sweetheart, you really should not be insulting me you know", he said, pacing up and down.
"...So?"
"Hmm, I think Matt is too popular. How about you give me a nickname?"
"Yes Cassbear, I'm listening. Your voice is just so enchanting".
I stopped breathing. Cassbear? He could only be talking to Casey, unless he met a guy or girl named Cass, which was highly unlikely. Cassbear huh..? Who gave him a right to call him Cassbear? My body tensed and my hand balled up into a first. I was going to kill that son of a...
"You like kitten?" he said, stopping dead in his tracks.
I moved to the wall on the side of the door and sat against it.
"I give up Cass. I might as well call you cute monster", he said. I heard footsteps, he was pacing again.
After what could have been 30 seconds, he said, "Don't act like you didn't enjoy it. You kissed me back".
That was it; he was pushing me too far! I was losing control of myself.
"Right cute monster, I have to go", he said.
In a few seconds, he would wish he had not hung up. The only thing that had kept me from charging in on him was the fact that he was talking to Cass and I did not want him to hear anything that would make him suspicious. If I charged in and made Matt hang up, Cass would call just to make sure he was okay, because, that was how he was. I smiled when I thought of him and swiftly, my lips twisted in disgust. Matt did not deserve him. I had to make sure he knew that.
I pushed the door leading to the balcony slowly open. I did not make any sounds, which made me glad. It would not make any difference to Matt's fate if it did, but catching him off guard would serve me a purpose. I could not wait to see his terrified face. My blood warmed up when I thought about it.
I walked in carefully. Matt was facing the other direction, which made creeping up on him easy. No doubt sensing motion, he turned swiftly. I had expected to see fear in his eyes, I was majorly disappointed. His face showed confusion, and then anger.
"Riley?! What are you doing here? How did you get in here?" he bombarded me with questions.
"I came to see you", I said.
"...This late? How did you get in here?" he asked, closing the distance between us. It was a wrong move on his part. The last place he needed to be was close to me.
He tapped on the floor, indicating that he wanted an answer. What right did he have to be impatient with me?
"Stay away from him", I said slowly, though clearly.
His lips moved upwards in a grin. "So this is about Cass?"
"I won't repeat myself", I said.
"Can't help it if he chose my dick over yours", he said shrugging. "By the looks of his ass, I'm sure there's a..."
Wrong move. My hand was itching to close itself around his neck and watch him turn purple. I craned my neck a bit to see his. From where I was, it looked soft and delicate.
Without him aware of what I was doing, I had my hand around his throat, squeezing tightly, with his back in front of the left wall. I pushed him harder into the wall. He immediately had his hands around mine. He clawed on my hand, scratching me in the process. I saw panic in his eyes when he realized I was not letting go. If he thought this was all a joke, it would do him good to think again. I smiled smugly when I realized there was no oxygen entering his brain. His brain cells would begin dying at some point.
He tried to scream, but only a gurgling sound came out. I pressed my hand around his neck tighter. Finally realizing that my hand would not give way, he grabbed at my shirt. His face was turning purple and his eyes were bulging. His feet started to give out under him. He was dying. I immediately let go. That was not how I wanted him die.
He slumped to the ground, and burst into a coughing fit. He took in the air like it was a drug, closing his eyes. I sat on the bed and watched him, a smile lurking on my lips. We stayed like that for a while. My eyes diverted from him to my surrounding. I realized the room was huge, could be two times my bedroom. He had a large bed and a closet that seemed to go on forever. The door to the bathroom was ajar. What the hell? He had his own bathroom!
The sound of footsteps brought me back to him, or at least where he used to be. At the corner of my eye, I saw him heading to the door. So he had finally gotten the strength to stand up and now he was running away! What a coward he was. I closed the distance between us in a few seconds.
He had already opened the door when I got there. I pushed him from behind swiftly, forcing him to close the door since he was still holding on to it. It closed with a bang. I held him against the door and my eyes bore into his.
"Running away so soon Matt?" I asked.
"Leave me the hell alone Riley!" he shouted.
"Why should I?" I asked simply.
"What do you want?" he asked.
Before I knew it, he kicked me on my leg and shoved me backwards. The kitten wanted to play. I grabbed his hand and held it behind him. He squirmed.
"There is nothing I could want from you", I said quietly.
He managed to get his hand out of my grip. He raised his hand to punch me, but I stopped him midway. He kicked my leg fiercely, forcing me to the ground. I grabbed onto his leg, forcing him to fall with me. He fell on top of me and I managed to move him underneath me and pin him to the ground with my weight. I started punching him, on his face, his stomach, chest, everywhere. I hadn't been myself all night and the desire to hurt him kept increasing. It was too late to stop it.
He groaned in pain and I kept the punches coming. I pulled his hair and focused my punches on his face.
"Matthew, what are you doing in there?" a foreign voice invaded my ear. The owner of the voice could not be more than two meters from the door.
I got off the red-faced Matt. His nose was bleeding and his eye was swollen shut. I could already see bruises start to form on his arms and face. His lower lip was cracked and blood oozed from it. His good looks had vanished, just like that. How relatively easy it had been to ruin them. I started walking and felt pain on my leg. This was not over yet, it had just begun.
"Dad, come in. There's an intruder in here!" Matt shouted frantically.
I smirked at him. "Goodbye Matt, for now. This is not yet over", I said.
Focusing my energy, I instantly transmitted myself to my house. The last thing I saw was Matt's horror look.
Chapter 18
Casey's POV
"At his house!" someone was saying.
"His high-walled, electric-fenced house?" someone else asked.
"Exactly there. Shh, it's supposed to be a secret. But you know my uncle is a police officer, right? He was there last night. I overheard him tell my dad. He said Matt was beaten within an inch of his life!" the first voice said.
"I'm not going to believe that", a new voice joined in.
"Why on earth would my uncle lie? And have you seen Matt today? He's not here because he's lying at bed in home receiving intensive care!" the first voice said.
That is how I got to know about the incident at Matt's house, by listening in on a conversation near the girls' bathroom. Everyone had their own theories about what had happened. It was all hush-hush so no one volunteered to say, this is what happened for sure.
I couldn't help but be concerned enough to want to know the true details. Despite all the idiotic things Matt did that made me angry, I had started caring for him. He was a jerk, but a nice jerk. He was a lovable scoundrel.
I hummed as I made my way through the eastern part of Aqua town. This was where the rich lived. Tall walls and fancy gates surrounded me.
I saw the gate I was looking for and pressed the buzzer on the side.
"Hi. How can I help you?" a female voice came through the intercom.
"Hi. My name is Cass, a friend of Matt. I'm here to see him", I said.
"I'm sorry dear, but Matt cannot see anyone right now. He needs to rest", the woman said.
I sighed heavily. "Please mam, I need to see him. I will only take a few minutes. I just want to see if he's okay", I said, my fingers crossed inside my sweatshirt pocket.
"He's fine", she said, bring an end to our short conversation.
I turned to leave but decided to try again. Some voice told me I had to see him. Just to make sure he is okay, I told myself. I pressed the buzzer and waited.
"Hi. How can I help you?" the same voice from before came on the intercom.
"It's Cass...again. I know you said..." I said, but was interrupted.
"It's Cass, let him in", I heard Matt's weak voice.
"Sir, you should not be here, let alone see any visitors. Your father said you should rest, so did the doctor", the woman whispered to Matt.
"Just let him in Emma. I'll be in my room. Dad's not here, is he?" Matt said.
I tapped on the ground as I waited. Matt seemed to be on his feet. That didn't sound like someone who was beaten to within an inch of his life.
"Um, right, you can go through", the woman said clearly.
The gate swung open. I walked through the pavement surrounded by immaculate lawns. I rang the doorbell and waited. A maid opened and ushered me to Matt's room, two flights of stairs up. I was tired when I got there. The maid waited until I knocked on the door and Matt said "come in". She left as I entered the room.
Matt lay on his bed, covered with a blue sheet. His right eye was swollen shut and tears came out every time he blinked. He had bruises on his face and arms. His lower lip was stitched up and his cheeks appeared bigger. His nose seemed to have moved a bit to the left. He had an adhesive bandage on his forehead and on the left side of his chin.
"Hi", I said quietly.
"Hi Cute monster", he said trying to smile and failing miserably.
He produced a handkerchief and dabbed on his swollen eye.
I sat on the couch facing him. I could not look at him any longer. I looked at the door leading to the balcony.
"So, how are you feeling?" I asked.
"It's no longer so painful. You can look at me, I don't mind", he said.
I shook my head. "Did you see who did this to you?"
He coughed and I turned around, alarmed.
"Do you need anything? Water?" I asked quickly.
"No, I needed you to look at me", he said, smiling with his one eye.
I smiled slowly.
"As I told the police, the person was wearing a mask; I did not get to see who it was", he said, staring at the ceiling.
"How did the person get in here? What did he/she want?" I asked.
"I don't know how and I don't know what he wanted", he said.
I stood up and sat on the bed beside him. I held his hand, avoiding the bruise.
"I'm sorry", I whispered.
He looked into my eyes for a while and then at the ceiling.
"Do me a favor, stay away from Riley", he said solemnly.
My eyebrows met halfway. "Why?" I asked quickly.
"Just do it Cass, it's for your own good", he said. His expression had not changed, he was serious.
"...but, he's my friend", I protested, letting go of his hand.
"Cass, he is going to do it to you too, he's going to hurt you".
I searched his eye, but he refused to look at me.
"Riley did this?" I asked as it dawned on me. He is going to do it to you too... the words echoed inside my head.
Matt tried to nod, but obviously feeling pain, he whispered a "yes".
"...but you told the police you didn't see your assailant's face. You just told me you didn't", I said, confused.
"I lied to the police because you love him. But I can't lie to you", he said simply.
I moved away from the bed.
"How can you Matt? How can you accuse him of something like this? Riley would never do such a thing! I have to go!" I shouted, walked out and closed the door with a bang.
I ran down the stairs. At the bottom step of the last staircase, I met a maid.
"You shouldn't run in the house. It's disruptive and you will fall and hurt yourself", she said.
I nodded, giving her a sheepish look. I walked until I exited through the gate. I broke into a run again. I had told myself I would avoid Riley until I had gotten my feelings in check, but I had to see him then. Riley had a temper, he had gotten into a few fights at school, but none were serious. To beat up someone like Matt was beaten up, Riley would never do that! What possible motive could he have?
I ran and ran, but I seemed to be getting nowhere. Damn my truck for breaking down! I slowed down into a walk, thinking of what Matt had said. He had seemed so sincere, but was not that how he got to break girls' hearts? Telling them he loved them and leaving them for the next best thing?
Something just didn't make sense. Just the previous day he had a plan to get Riley and I together and now he was telling me to stay away from him. Something had to have happened and now Matt was framing Riley.
I sighed in relief when I saw Riley's house. The door was ajar. I walked to it and knocked. I waited, but no one answered. I walked in.
"Riley!" I called as I walked through.
Riley was in the living area, sprawled on the couch. His eyes shot open when I stood in front of him, like he sensed me.
"Hey", I said.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"Hey", he said.
His usual smile when he saw me was not there. The past few days had been... well, awkward.
I'd planned on going straight to the point when I got there, but for a few seconds my mind focused on how Riley's hair looked when he woke up, all tousled, making him sexier.
He look at me intensely. It was starting to become awkward.
"You look fine to come to school. Why don't you come?" I asked, taking a seat at the single couch.
"The doctor has not given me clearance yet", he said.
I looked as his lips formed each word. He licked his lower lip at the end, making me choke on my saliva.
I coughed. "The door was open. You trust this place too much", I said.
"Aqua Town is full of sissies", he said.
He yawned and brought his hands to his mouth, stifling the yawn. I noticed scratches on his hand. They were not many, but visible.
"What happened to your hand?" I asked.
"Oh, I met a cat down the street. The little sucker found it fun to flex its claws on me", he said.
I nodded and looked away.
"Speaking of Aqua Town being full of sissies, Matt was beaten up at his place last night. The person who beat him up was definitely not a sissy, because he managed to beat him up well", I said, managing to sound casual.
"You would think people surrounded by tall fences and security guards would be safe", he said nonchalantly. He didn't seem the least bit surprised or concerned.
I watched him closely. Nothing gave him away. There was really nothing odd about him.
"That's what I thought. No one knows how he got in. He did not steal anything, only beat up Matt. Matt did not see his face", I said.
"Yeah, that's odd...but hey, Matt breaks a lot of hearts. I wouldn't be surprised if some girl he messed around with had decided to get revenge and hired some guy to beat him up, or maybe he stole someone's girlfriend", he said.
The way he said the last possibility disturbed me. It was casual, but I sensed something. I could not make a positive identification as to what it was. Was he talking about Mandy? Mandy could be the motive! Matt liked Mandy and was determined to get her. Mandy was Riley's girlfriend. Riley could have beaten up Matt to discourage him from making advances on his girlfriend!
"Excuse me, I need to drink something", he said standing up.
He limped or tried not to limp to the kitchen. When had he started limping? First the scratches and now the limping, what was going on here? The possibility that Riley had beaten up Matt came to me again slowly. He could have gotten the scratches trying to climb the gate, the wall, the house...