Slowly, my distress for the boys' safety at home edged away after being assured many times that they would be alright.
Tyler's mother had come rushing up the stairs to Tyler's room, where we had situated ourselves, when she finally found us.
She had been sleeping this whole time -through the lightning and everything.
How the woman did it, I didn't know.
We were currently eating dinner at ten o'clock, still surrounded in darkness as the whistling of the wind could still be heard over our chatter.
The flashlights dotted around the table didn't do much to help so only our food and faces could be seen.
The storm had not dulled and it didn't show any signs of dying down anytime soon.
I lifted the spoonful of milk and cereal to my mouth, some of the milk spraying out of my mouth when I saw milk spilling out of Zach's mouth.
Guess I looked the same as him now.
He seemed to notice this as he let a laugh out, nearly choking on the cheerios he chewed on.
I had opted for some cinnamon toast crunch, the squares floating in the now sweet milk. But I didn't regret my choice one bit.
It had been so long since I had these.
I wiped at my mouth with the tissue that lay next to my bowl, getting rid of any milk.
Tyler's mum, Mel as she insisted me calling her, sat around the table as well.
It was a family dinner.
Only, two members were missing.
"Hey, what was that question earlier? The storm interrupted us, you had answered yes to a question and we didn't get to find out what."
I was brought out of my thoughts at Lyla's words.
Unintentionally, I fixed my glare on her for bringing it up.
I had gotten away with that.
She didn't back down from my stare and only raised her eyebrows at my murderous look, though I saw a glint of fear swirl through her eyes.
How ironic. My murderous look had been the one to get me to answer that question in the first place.
And here I was using it on Lyla.
She took her eyes off me to look at Zach, as if asking him what the question was through her mind.
He ignored her, carrying on eating his cereal, no milk dribbling down his chin this time.
He looked directly at me, trying to get across his words from earlier.
They won't judge you for it.
But they would see me in a new light. Be wary around a killer who is new to the group.
Their trust in me would be lost and right now, I couldn't have that.
I always mentioned pushing them away but I delayed that, knowing I didn't have the strength to do that.
I was too selfish.
Tiffany was right.
He caught the slight shake of my head, casting me a look that I took as disapproval.
How did he expect me to tell them so easily when I could barely get my head around the fact that I did it?
That I was a cold blooded killer.
A chair was scraped back from the head of the table as Melody stood up, taking her bowl and Carter's bowl from in front of him, having been the only other one to finish their dinner.
I swirled the cereal in the bowl, only seeing the faint tops of the soggy cereal as they sunk to the bottom.
I never liked soggy cereal.
It was the main reason I poured milk into the bowl first.
Standing up as well, I hurried after her to put my bowl away before she left, hardly knowing my way around the house –especially not in the dark.
Not thinking to take a flashlight with me, I just managed to catch sight of her shadow cast by her torch as she rounded a corner.
I quickened my pace, stumbling into some furniture –a table I presumed- making me inhale sharply at the unexpected pain coursing through my hip.
I looked up, hoping to find some source of light or her shadow but was met with complete darkness, my hand resting over the place I just hit.
She had already gone.
Dammit.
I held my hands out as I walked forward, only bumping into a few more objects before my hands found a wall.
The shuffling of feet from behind me alerted me of someone walking towards me causing me to whirl around to face the person.
Except I couldn't see.
The same hip knocked into another table of some sort and in a moment of surprise I let out a squawk.
I picked up on the steps that increased in speed as they advanced towards me only to release a short laugh when I heard them knock into an object, expressing their irritation through a string of expletives.
It was Zach.
"Are you alright?" He asked, still muttering about the unnecessary furniture adorning the house.
"Yeah, you don't seem to be though." I commented, holding in a giggle.
"No. No- shit- agh. Bloody tables that are everywhere." I couldn't help it this time, I snickered as the sound of him colliding with something else became too much.
"Yeah, yeah laugh it up. I can't see a thing, can you help me please?"
I snorted at that, pushing off the wall that I had been leaning on, following the sound of his voice.
"Little shit," I exclaimed in frustration when my foot came in contact with the leg of a table.
How many damn tables were there? Or had I just been bumping into the same one most of the time?
"Not so funny now is it," I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
I made my way over to him as he did to me, nearly falling when we smacked into each other.
My hand shot to his bicep, holding me upright as his arm snaked around my waist, securing both of our balance.
I stepped out of his hold. "What are you doing out here?"
"Well, you kind of left without a torch and knew you wouldn't be able to see so I came to help you."
"Really? So you came to help because I couldn't see yet you forget the torch. Not so heroic now, are you?"
My voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Yeah, I kind of realised too late and thought, well there's no going back now. So here I am." He stepped forward, his large hand holding my elbows, the milk in the bowl swaying.
His touch caused goose bumps to spring onto my forearm, warmth surrounding the place he rested his hand on.
I tried to back out of his hold but it was too secure.
Or maybe you just don't want to move away.
I heard some shuffling as he dug into his pockets, trying to find something.
He let out some kind of noise of satisfaction once retrieving it before I was blinded by a shining light.
His hand fell from my elbow as I raised my arms to cover my face, releasing a groan in the process.
"Shoot, sorry." The light moved away from my face and I blinked multiple times to come face to face with Zach's face.
There was still an ever present black blob in the centre of my focus where the light had previously been.
I looked down to his hand to find the source of the light –his phone.
As the mark faded I asked, "So, do you want to go find the kitchen. I've kind of still got my bowl." I lifted the bowl sheepishly, emphasising my point.
Through the dim lighting I saw him nod before slyly taking my hand into his.
I didn't comment on it and once realising this, a smile creeped onto his face as he led us to the kitchen.
Remembering all the horror stories I had previously watched I voiced my question, "Hey, what percentage are you on?"
I hated horror movies, the fact that some of them could be real terrified me. And I wasn't going to star in a new horror movie anytime soon.
He held up his phone, "Uhh, 68 percent, why? Scared?"
I chuckled at the thought, of course, and with that we settled into silence. Not long after we made it to the kitchen, Melody sitting on the counter tapping away at her phone.
In one swift motion she held up the torch to the intruders entering the kitchen, mine and Zach's hands dropped as they defended our precious eyes from the light.
Again? Really?
Once seeing it was us, she lowered her flashlight, apologising profusely at our temporary loss of eyesight.
Once everything came into clear view I moved towards the sink, away from the light, considering I was still able to make out the simple object in the dark room.
The torch and Zach's phone provided enough light to be able to make things out at this side of the kitchen despite the size of it.
"So when do you think the lights will come back on?" I heard Zach ask Melody casually, obviously quite acquainted with each other.
As if a mother figure to him.
I wish I had a mother figure in my life, I bitterly thought, jealous at the fact that he had a mother who was alive and people like Melody who treated him as her own.
"Oh sweetie not too long. I'm sure by tomorrow everything will be back to normal."
Her soft, caring tone made me drop the bowl in the sink. The sound of the ceramic material breaking was heard as they rushed over towards me.
What is wrong with you? Get it together.
Being jealous of someone else for the love they are being shown has never affected you before, don't let it start ow.
I agreed with my inner self, hoping to return back to my normal self.
It was probably everything that had been happening lately.
"Honey, are you okay? Come, away from the sink." Melody ushered as she guided me away from it,
She peered down at my hands, squinting in the dim lighting as she inspected for any pieces in my hands.
I went to pull away from her hold, "Don't worr-"
"Shhh," She cut me off. "Do not tell me not to worry when you may be hurt."
After scrutinising my hands for a few more moments, she let out a sigh of relief at the realisation that I wasn't hurt.
I told her not to worry.
Her soft delicate hands glided over my rough knuckles before she let go, her lips dropping into a frown and marring her beautiful face.
She didn't voice her hesitancy for the girl standing before her who had such coarse knuckles that they had even become accustomed to the neglect from the owner.
There was no point in caring for them if they were only going to scar again. Zach helping me was an exception –I didn't have a choice.
I saw the slight shake of her head, guilt settling in the pit of my stomach, as she walked away. She was disappointed in me.
I couldn't tell her though.
She would never understand.
I turned away from her, not wanting to see her retreating back as she walked away from me.
My eyes found Zach's blue ones and as if sensing my devastation he held his arms out, taking a step towards me.
Don't do it. Don't do it. Look what has become of you since you've met these people. Depending on them so easily. You're pathetic.
My body betrayed me as soon as he moved closer and I stepped into his embrace, my arms wrapping around his torso as his snaked around mine.
I rested my head on his shoulder, his scent enveloping me causing my body to relax.
This is what I needed.
I loosened my hold on him, pulling away from the hug but he only held me tighter as a sound reverberated from the back of his throat, voicing his displeasure at me moving away.
I ghost of a smile hovered on my lips as I tightened my grip on him.
I turned my face, nestling it in the crook of his neck, my hot breath causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand.
My smile widened at the affect I had on him. So it wasn't just me.
I placed a soft kiss on his warm skin. There was no reason why –I just felt like it. It was so gentle I wondered if I my lips had even touched his skin.
I couldn't deny my attraction towards him.
I really did like him.
He was so beautiful, had such a kind heart and made me feel special, as if he really did care for me.
I wasn't about to tell him that though –it would only add to his ego.
My lips tingled as I kissed him again in the same place I had done previously.
I was so focussed on his smooth skin underneath my lips that I hadn't noticed my top bunched up in his fists as he tried to control his breathing.
He removed one arm away from my body as he manoeuvred my face directly in front of him, his fingers holding my chin.
His eyes held me captive as I gazed longingly into them. They were a blue so bright, like ones I had never seen before. Tiny flecks of grey dotted his irises which made them seem slightly darker from afar. I understood how they could look so cold now.
"Skyler, babe, you don't even know what you're doing to me right now," his low voice rasped.
He gazed at my lips momentarily before finding my eyes again.
"Not babe." It was an attempt to show him how unaffected I was by his voice. A failed attempt. It had come out as a breathy whisper.
"Princess please," he inched closer, begging me to comply with his wishes.
A sound of distaste escaped at the nickname.
I was not a princess. Nowhere near.
That didn't stop him from fulfilling his desires. His breath fanned over my mouth, our shallow ones mingling together as his lips brushed against mine.
His voice came out in a soft whisper, "Cupcake."
My reaction, however, definitely stopped him from going through with what he wanted.
My body tensed at the word used as I squeezed my eyes shut not wanting to see the monster before me.
He must have sensed my body go rigid under his touch as his hands left mine.
My heart beat raced, the idea of him in front of me, I didn't even want to imagine what he would do this time.
My hands shook as I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to shield myself away from his advances towards his victim.
Towards me.
Not again. No please, not again.
Despite my closed eyes, my feet moved backwards, escaping him before he could get to me.
The counter behind me coming into contact with my body told me there was nowhere else I could go.
Oh God, I was stuck. I couldn't escape.
The only way possible would be to open my eyes. But I didn't want to face his grey eyes. They were lifeless, cold, and unhuman like.
For, anyone who could do what he did could not be human. They couldn't be. They didn't show any remorse –he was a monster.
As soon as a hand fell on my shoulder a scream erupted from me and it didn't stop until I ran out of breath.
Though satisfied at the fact that my scream caused him to remove his hand I didn't want to stop.
I inhaled sharply ready to let out another ear piercing shriek but apparently my body was tired of it as only a croak escaped my dry throat.
How had it changed so quickly?
I heard some noises in the background but the pounding of my heart was too loud in my ears and I was sure he heard it as well.
He fed off of fear.
I felt my chest rise and fall with every inhale and all of a sudden his hands were back on me.
One large hand on my right cheek, his other had on my other.
I tried so hard to shake them off as my head thrashed around in his hold but they stayed firm on my face.
They secured me in place as his low voice sounded from in front of me.
"Open your eyes," He had always told me to open my eyes, I didn't know why. I didn't understand it. Any of it.
It was as if seeing my eyes fuelled his anger, it was what granted him the reassurance he needed to carry on.
But this time I wouldn't.
I wouldn't let him carry on, I wouldn't grant him that reassurance. I wouldn't open my eyes.
His thumb caressed the skin where my nose met my cheek and I was left disgusted at how much he was willing to try to coax me into opening my eyes.
It wouldn't be long until he resorted to anger and added to the bruises littering my body.
"Open your eyes, Sky. Please." There his voice was again.
But his thumb on my skin ridiculed me, as if telling me the longer I waited the worse the outcome.
Fear resided in my body, he terrified me to the core.
And so I opened my eyes.
His dark figure had changed since the last time I saw him. Though I didn't have much time to dwell on it as his hands guided my face to view him directly.
"Look at me Skylar."
Blue eyes.
Blue eyes stared back at me. Not grey. Blue.
Zach's sapphire eyes flickered between each of my eyes worriedly, not knowing what just happened.
What did just happen?
My brows furrowed in confusion before relief flooded through me. He hadn't been here, it wasn't him.
The tears flowing down my cheeks were wiped away by the very thumbs that caressed my face.
Not his thumbs. Zach's thumbs.
A sob left my mouth as it all came crashing down on me.
My hands that still shook circled his waist, pulling him towards me as I gripped his jumper so tightly, as if letting go would take me back to him.
I held onto him tightly as he hugged me back with just as much force.
"You're alright. I'm sorry, so sorry Sky."
I was safe.
My taut muscles relaxed against him.
He craned his neck back so that he could look at me.
"Skylar, I am so sorry. I-I didn't know- just please. What happened?"
I shook my head, not wanting to tell him, I didn't want to go through that again.
He noticed this and dropped it. His hands combed through my hair, comforting me.
"Alright." My trembling fists that gripped the material covering his body became evident to him as his other hand rubbed my back.
"You're okay. You're safe Sky."
And those words hit me like a brick. I stumbled out of the hug, backing away from him.
I noticed the boys behind Zach, keeping a safe distance, as if any closer would set me off again.
They must have heard my screaming.
I was safe. But Dylan may not be.
"Oh my gosh. Oh no –I." My quivering fingers raised to my parted mouth, "I need to get back to Dylan."
Zach's hand raised in front of him, moving side to side. "No Sky. No you don't. He's safe with Shaun."
A cry left my mouth, "But he's not. What if- what if he's gotten to him?"
All over again my breaths came in shallow pants, scared for Dylan's life.
"He could be doing anything to my baby. I'm such a bad sister, I'm supposed to protect him. I'm-"
"Shh Sky. Stop worrying ab-" Zach tried to calm me down but I wasn't having any of it.
Didn't he understand? Dylan was in danger.
His words only riled me up. "Stop worrying? Stop fucking worrying? How can I when he knows where I live? When he's always one step ahead of me without me realising. When he would do anything just to get to me. Anything. Including hurting my baby. My Dylan."
"Who Sky? Who?" The panic in his voice was evident. Panic for Dylan's safety or a repetition of my earlier episode, I didn't know.
I wasn't ready to tell him, to tell anyone. Saying it out loud would make it all real.
"I-just please get me to Dylan. Please." My eyes begged him, pleaded him to comply.
He seemed to contemplate this before sighing in defeat and moving his hands towards his back pocket.
A hand on his arm stopped him –Tyler.
What was he doing?
"No Zach. No. It's dangerous out there. You'll both be killed, we can't have that."
I directed my glare to Tyler.
"That's why I was going to go on my own to see how Dylan was."
My eyes snapped over to Zach at this news.
He was going to go without me?
Tyler shoved at Zach's arms. "No Zach. Don't be so fucking stupid, hand the keys over. No one is going anywhere."
Apparently Zach didn't like the way he was being ordered around if the authoritative tone in his voice was anything to go by.
"Watch who you're fucking talking to." He growled, "I'm the leader, you listen to me."
Tyler stared back at Zach with just as much anger, "And I'm also a best friend who is worried for your safety. Why is Dylan in danger? Did you ever ask that? What is so dangerous about this person that you need to put yourself in danger just to assure Sky? Huh?"
"I don't need to know why? This is Sky we're talking about."
"Yeah Sky. Who we know nothing about. Because she hasn't told us anything. There are so many secrets that we don't know who she really is. Why didn't she tell us what the question you asked was? Why?" Tyler pushed.
He spoke about me as if I wasn't there but towards the end he looked at me, searching for answers.
"Do you regret killing her?" I uttered. "That was the question. Do you regret killing her?"
My eyes that previously held fear were now emotionless. "I said yes, I regret killing her."
I realised the only way to get out of here and to Dylan would be to tell them.
"W-when my dad left, he started to become more involved. You know, help us out more, look after us when mum was working."
I sighed, I was really going to do this.
Zach's arm encircled my waist, studying my eyes to see if I was fine with this. "Hey, you don't have to. You don't need to tell us."
I gave him a small smile to ease his worries. "But I need to tell someone. I've kept it in all these years and I don't think I can go on any longer without saying it."
He nodded, "But whenever you want to stop, then stop. Don't force yourself."
I leaned into his side, "But tell me once I've told you we can go. I need to see Dylan."
He squeezed my side gently, "Of course."
And that was all I needed to tell them.
Zach guided me to the living room, the others following behind us.
I sat with my feet on the sofa, cross-legged as Zach sat beside me, his thumb tracing patterns on my right hand that he held.
The others dotted around on the other sofas silently waiting for me to start.
"Like I said, he was around more when Dad left. Mum never noticed what he was doing, she was working. It wasn't her fault though. If she had known she would have stopped straight away. But she didn't so she kept sending us over to their house. Sometimes it was the other way around."
"It wasn't much at first. The occasional name calling from him, not too long after she started as well. But it was him that did the most."
"As time went on, it became more consistent. It was alright though, I got used to it. By the time I was thirteen it got worse though and I was over a lot more considering Mum was pregnant –they were only helping her." My voice was bitter.
"When the hell did it start?" Carter muttered to himself. But I heard it. And it only added to the disgust I felt for them.
"Twelve. I was twelve years old. The very month Dad left –February. He couldn't even fucking wait for a month. No, a week after he left was when he found out and started looking after me."
The same month Mum found out she was pregnant with Dylan.
"It started getting scary. With Dylan ready to come out and their verbal abuse becoming more intense, I was worried that Dylan would have to go through the same thing. But I realised, after she gave birth there was no reason for her to send me to them anymore."
I sighed, "I was wrong."
"She started to work more and more, the reason as to why I only found out much later. But more work meant more time away from us, and more with them. With him."
"He got angry. It wasn't the same as before, he had agreed to look after a baby as well as me. A crying baby at that with a lot of needs."
"Not that he ever dealt with it, she did. While she looked after Dylan, he watched over me. If you could call it that, he hit me. Initially it was because I was naughty then it came down to it being my fault for Dylan crying. Leading onto my fault that I was there – any reason he had to hit me, he would."
My fault that I was there? I had thought he was crazy when I had heard that the first time. He was the one who offered for us to go there.
Now I knew, he was crazy.
"They got worse. Boy, did it get worse. Slaps became punches, occasional kicks. But he concealed the bruises from everyone, from her, my Mum, the world. He only hit specific places, not wanting anyone to know about what he was doing behind closed doors."
And there was so much more he was doing behind those doors. Only, I wouldn't be telling them about that.
"Eventually bruises turned into broken ribs. We spent our school breaks there or sometimes at our house while Mum worked. I tried to persuade Mum to let us stay at home, I was old enough to look after Dylan, I mean he was already passed the age of one."
"And that only made Dylan more of a threat to him. Dylan could now walk, became annoying to him, wanted to play with me too often."
"By now, she knew about it, loved him too much to say anything about it though. Didn't try to stop him hitting me but I was grateful in a way, she never joined in with that. She never laid a hand on Dylan or I, it was only verbal abuse from her."
"He never laid a hand on Dylan either, he never got close enough. I was always there to stop him if he ever wanted to. And he did want to. Because he knew it would get to me."
"Who are they?" I heard another voice whisper but I chose to ignore it.
My mind drifted off to the time where he wouldn't stop trying to get to Dylan. Why couldn't he have just stopped? Then I wouldn't have killed her.
I wouldn't be the monster I was today.
Dylan wouldn't stop crying and she was around too much that day for him to have his way with me.
It didn't help that he was drunk. Glass bottles scattered the ground where I lay, bruised and exhausted.
He wasn't aware of how hard he was hitting, or maybe the alcohol just made him stronger.
Of course, any other person's weakness could only be this man's elixir. He wasn't human –he was a monster.
The sticky brown substance that I lay slumped in didn't bother me, my fear was the black dots that littered my vision as my sight became blurry. My body was trying to slip into unconsciousness.
I wouldn't have it though, I was fighting a battle with myself, attempting to stay awake.
This time he had not held back, he didn't care that anyone would see the bruises.
Something was different, I had sensed it as soon as he punched my face.
It was then, a couple of hours ago, that I realised he was drunk. I had been too focussed on trying to avoid his attacks that I hadn't smelt the foul stench on him.
Now he was done with me. She tried her best to calm Dylan but nothing would get him to stop. Nor could I help, I could barely move, my arms struggled to lift myself off the alcohol stained floor.
I collapsed back onto the carpet, not having the strength to get up.
But through my dazed state I saw him advance towards her and Dylan.
That set off an alarm in my head. He was going to harm Dylan.
I had to do something.
I brought my knees to my chest, only having to lift my upper body up with my unsteady arms this time.
Succeeding in sitting up, my hand rested over my ribs –my broken ribs- as I breathed with short, shallow breaths, the pain overwhelming.
My head shot up once hearing a crash.
She sat with her head down against the fridge as he made his way towards her, obviously having thrown her to the ground.
My heart slowed as I realised he wasn't going for Dylan.
Yet.
All he gave her was a slap around the face before he swivelled around, somehow stable with the amount of alcohol he had taken in, facing me.
A sinister smirk appeared on his face as his grey, stormy eyes bored into my green ones. They looked murderous. And I didn't doubt for one second that they weren't capable of doing exactly that. Murdering.
His eyes flickered over to Dylan in his high chair and just like that, my heart was racing again.
"No," What I had intended to be a scream came out as a whisper, my body too drained to cooperate.
He turned away from me –to the same direction as Dylan- as I tried to form words. "Stop. Stop! Sir, please stop." This time I was able to get my scream across, practically begging him to not do what he wanted, out of fear.
Too bad he fed off of fear.
Both my quaky legs managed to stand me up somehow, "Stop!" My shouts did nothing.
I tried to move but my leg nearly gave way under me as I lifted one in front of the other to take a step.
My arms shot out to balance myself and once steady, I shuffled my feet towards the table. It was too far to go all the way towards them, I would be too late by then.
And I knew it was here somewhere.
Once reaching it, I turned to see how far he had gotten. What I saw caused beads of sweat to roll down my forehead.
He was already at Dylan's highchair. His large hand coiled around Dylan's chubby arm.
My hand patted down the underside of the table, trying to find what I was looking for.
Where was it?
As soon as my hand came into contact with the metal barrel, I snatched it out from underneath the table, turning around to see the scene unfurling before me.
One of his hands bunched in Dylan's hair, not pulling hard but just telling him –warning him- that he was there.
He had never gotten this close before.
His other hand grasped Dylan's cheeks with enough pressure to get Dylan to look at him as tears rolled down his cheeks, onto the hand of the monster.
I raised the gun and directed it at him. He didn't notice, Dylan was his only focus.
She did though.
She fucking noticed.
I switched the safety switch off but she was able to stand up in that time.
I made sure he was in direct line of fire and without a second thought I pulled the trigger.
Only, I hadn't noticed her moving towards the direction the bullet was heading.
However, I saw it.
Too late.
The moment the bullet ripped through her skin as she jumped in front of it, allowing her to be the target.
Her body flew across the ground as blood poured out of her head.
Not his. Hers.
The sound of the gunshot caused his angry eyes to shoot to mine. They were pitch black.
"What the fuck did you do?" He growled with his low voice.
"I-I didn't mean to." I tried to reason.
"What the fuck have you done?"
"Please, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shoot her."
I had meant to shoot you.
"You didn't just shoot her, you bitch. You fucking killed her."
"I didn't mean to. I wasn't supposed to kill her."
The bullet was supposed to soar straight through your fucking head. You're supposed to be dead.
I finally looked at the body, the blood that pooled around her head and the lack or movement from her chest really settled in me.
Oh God. She was dead.
"I killed her." My shaky voice whispered.
"Yeah you killed her. You murderer. Like father like daughter."
I didn't understand the last comment so chose to ignore it, he always spat thing out in anger.
I had assumed that now was no different.
"Stop. Stop, I didn't mean to."
He approached me with heavy footsteps, Dylan's wailing still heard in the background but I could only focus on him.
What would he do this time? I had killed his wife.
I had killed my Aunt. All because he had gotten in the way.
All because Uncle Anderson had gotten in the way.
And though I regretted it, had there been a next time I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Because despite the glass that cut my back as a punishment that night, it meant the focus was off of Dylan.
And as long as Dylan was safe then I was happy.
But had there been a next time, I would make sure that the bullet hit the right person and killed them.
Not my Aunt. My Uncle.
My eyes drooped as exhaustion hit me, it was all too much. Telling them, reliving the first time I killed someone –my Aunt at that, it took a toll on me.
Still, I hadn't told them about my punishment, only Zach knew of the scars on my back.
I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the disgusted looks on their faces.
The ones directed at me. The murderer.
I felt a squeeze on my right hand.
"Sky, open your eyes."
Knowing it was Zach, I did and came face to face with the blue orbs that I loved so much.
After seeing those grey eyes for so long, it was what I needed to calm me.
"Look around you Sky, at the faces of the people who care for you."
I shook my head, "I don't want to see their rejection."
He gave a small smile of reassurance. "Trust me. Look."
My eyes searched the room and they stopped on Blake's. I saw his eyes pool as he quickly swiped away the tear that fell from his eye.
Because of me. He was crying because of me.
"He's crying because he's upset, just like the rest of us, that you had to go through that alone." Zach's voice cracked mid-sentence and I raised my hand to cradle his face in my hand. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there."
The emotion swirling in his eyes was too much for me to handle so I looked at the last person in the room.
Pity.
Fucking pity.
Tyler looked at me with pity and in that moment I knew, I would rather have a disgusted look on his face.
Because pity was not something I wanted. Not now. Not ever.
I turned away, back to Zach, not able to look at Tyler.
"Let's go then. Just as promised, we'll go to Dylan." His voice whispered.
I had already begun to shake my head. "No. We'll stay, I mean I can't cause anybody else's death." I forced a chuckle.
He leaned over my body and placed a lingering kiss to my forehead.
"No Sky. Don't say that, not like that. You did what you had to do, to keep Dylan safe. If that doesn't make you a good sister I don't know what does."
His hand took hold of my hip, "Thank you Sky, for telling us that."
I nodded, a small smile on my face as my lids closed, sleep taking over.
I felt his lips on my cheek as he whispered, "Goodnight."
Just before I was enveloped in darkness, I mumbled "Goodnight" back but couldn't even finish the word as I fell asleep.
~~~~~
A/N:
I know I know I said the weekend but I hadn't finished it. I thought about splitting this chapter into two but went against that idea because I'm not that mean.
I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for this explanation for that long.
So what do you think of Uncle Anderson?
I know what I think of him.
And thank you so much for the votes and comments and just for taking your time to read this story. I've said this so much but it genuinely means the world to me.
Just remember more comments motivates me to upload quicker to please my happy reader ;)
Anyways...
Leave a comment and tell me if you're liking the story so far and what you think should happen next...