Page 112 of Delirium
I still didn’t like the man, but he did have a point—we had to work together, one way or another.
“Cas,” Ash interrupted him. “I think that we should continue this some other time. Everyone looks just about ready to fall asleep at the table.”
“Shit.” Casimir smiled. “You’re right. I’m sorry, everyone,” he apologized, which surprised me. “I got carried away. I know you’ve been through hell and back tonight. Storm,” he looked at me, giving me his business card, “contact me when you want to talk more and we’ll arrange a meeting. Ophelia,” he looked at the sleeping beauty next to me, who was glowering at him, “it was a pleasure, truly. Sorry about before.”
She simply nodded, leaning into me, turning her face toward mine. “If he didn’t stop talking, I would’ve stabbed him tonight.”
“Tired?” I chuckled, imagining it already.
“Dead tired,” she grumbled. “You might have to carry me away from here, because I definitely can’t walk properly.” Her melodic laughter swept over me, and I remembered the moment from earlier where I thought I would never get to see her again.
When that soldier came at me, running with the knife. If it wasn’t for Freddie and his fast reflexes, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here.
“I’ll take care of the bill,” Ash said as he stood up from the table, going to the waitress who was glaring at us, wanting us gone. I couldn’t really blame her. It was past eleven already, and I knew she needed to close up and go.
“I need to talk to him,” Ophelia mumbled, following Ash’s every move. “I feel bad for what happened. Those kids didn’t deserve it.”
“No, they didn’t, but it isn’t your fault.”
“I know.” She huffed. “But I just wish that there was something we could do.”
Ash pulled out his wallet and took out several notes, giving it to the waitress without waiting for the change. His entire posture was rigid, the turmoil evident in his eyes, but he still smiled at us as he approached the table. “All done,” he said, plastering that fake smile all over again. “I’ll wait outside,” he told Casimir. Ophelia jumped up from her spot, pushing Cillian out of the booth.
“Ash,” she called after him. “Wait. I need to talk to you,” she told him, and I braced myself for the possible mess this could end up being.
Ash frowned, contemplating her words, but with a small nod, he let her follow him outside, right where I could see them.
“He’s not okay, is he?” I asked, looking at Casimir and Cillian, both of them frowning at Ophelia and Ash as they spoke in front of the diner.
“No,” Casimir said. “He’s not. None of them are and I have no idea what to do.”
“Neither do I,” Cillian added. “What happened to them… I wouldn’t wish for it to happen to anyone, truly.”
“Where are Dylan and Skylar?” I asked. Casimir winced, telling me everything I needed to know.
“I’ve seen bad things in my life, you know?” Casimir said. “I’ve seen broken people and I’ve seen them heal, but Dylan…” he trailed off. “I don’t know if there’s enough life left in that boy, to be very honest with you. I’m worried that when he decides he doesn’t want to stick around anymore, it will destroy both Skylar and Ash.”
Notifbutwhenhe decided to get out. When he decided to—
“Are you saying he’s suicidal?” I asked.
“I’m saying he doesn’t want to live anymore,” Casimir answered. “I’m saying that Judah damaged that boy so much, even Skylar isn’t able to bring him back.”
“Fuck,” I cursed.
“Exactly my thoughts,” Cillian added. “We’ve tried everything, Storm. Every single thing, but the kind of trauma he went through, it’s hard.”
“What did they do to him?” I asked. Both of them fell silent, avoiding my eyes.
“They, uh…” Casimir cleared his throat. “I don’t have all the details, and I don’t even want to have them all, but they raped Dylan, Storm. They raped him right in front of Ash.”
“Jesus,” I breathed out.
“I spoke with Dylan after they had just come back, when he still wanted to talk to us,” Cillian added. “He, you know, finished. He blames himself. Thinks there’s something utterly wrong with him.”
“He couldn’t control his body.”
“Yeah, try telling that to the person who went through such trauma. We’ll try to get him some help, but so far, he doesn’t want it. He doesn’t want us to touch him. He doesn’t want us to talk to him. He doesn’t want anything.”
