Page 50 of Apathy
But I didn’t stop as I walked out of the dining room, heading upstairs.
“Skylar!” His hand wrapped around my upper arm, halting me in my steps. “What the fuck?”
“You heard me,” I answered and shook him off me. “You can fuck off for all I care. I’m tired of the constant hovering, constant yelling, and it needs to stop. I can’t fucking breathe, Dylan!” My chest heaved as I fought for breath. “You are suffocating me. You and your overprotectiveness.”
“Sky—”
His face shattered at my words, but it had to be said. I loved him, God… I loved him more than anything else in this world, but he had to stop with this nonsense.
“I-I didn’t,” he stammered and cleared his throat. “I’m just worried about you.”
I crossed my arms across my chest, letting the anger fuel me. “Well, don’t be. I’m fine, and no one is coming to get me.” The crushed look on his face pulled at my heartstrings and no matter how much he annoyed me lately, I couldn’t be angry at him for caring about me.
He was the only one that truly cared.
I took a step toward him and lifted my hand to his face. He didn’t shave today, and my fingers tingled as I ran my hand over his cheek.
“Dy,” I whispered. “I love you, you know?” He nodded, gulping at the same time. “But I can’t live like this. I can’t be locked inside the house anymore. I need to go out, see other people. I don’t wanna let that monster control my life.”
He placed his hand over mine, holding me hostage for a minute, or two, or three, but it felt nicer than our other conversations since he came back. His eyes sparkled with something unknown, something I couldn’t quite understand, but I wasn’t going to rack my brain over it now.
“You need to let go, Dylan.” I placed my other hand over his other cheek, bringing us closer.
“I can’t,” he croaked. “You’re the most important person in my life. If something happened to you—”
“But nothing is going to happen, silly.” I smiled. “I’m fine, you’re fine… We are all going to be fine.”
I was a motherfucking liar, because I knew, some part of me always knew… I was never going to be fine. Some things in life were survivable, but others… Others ate you alive until the only things left were a hollow soul and a skeleton carrying the body you didn’t want to own anymore.
But I had to make him believe that I was okay. I couldn’t let him see what was really happening behind closed doors, when the monsters we both trusted came out to play. I couldn’t utter a word, because the monster feeding me poison was closer than Dylan thought, which was why I wasn’t as afraid as I should be of the killer out there.
“But you’re my little sister,” he started again. “You will always be mine to protect, no matter what.”
“I know.”
“And this situation… I don’t know what to do, Sky.” He shuddered underneath my touch. “I just don’t know what to do.”
I came closer, plastering our bodies together, and hugged him like our lives depended on it. He would never know how close the darkness lurked. He would never know how poisonous the streets of Winworth were.
Winworth was founded on blood and secrets, and the darkness still clung to it like a newborn to its mother.
His strong arms embraced me, cocooning me, creating a safety net around me. He thought he was protecting me, but I was protecting him. I would always protect him until my last breath.
“I really do need to go, Dy.” He gripped me tighter. “Dylan,” I warned. “Please.”
I could feel his muscles flexing underneath his shirt, but after a few seconds he released me, stepping away from me.
“Okay.” He nodded. “I’ll try to be better.” Oh, Dylan. He didn’t have to be better, he just had to let me go. “But you need to be safe. Okay?”
“Yes,” I agreed. “I will be. Trust me.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I reached for it without thinking, my mind a million miles away from here. I thought it was going to be Lauren, or even the psychopath stalking me, but it wasn’t them.
It washim, and he wanted me to come to our place. He wanted to take one more piece of my soul.
Skylar
My scalp burned as he continued pulling my hair, keeping me on my knees.
