Page 158 of Tempting Venom
There’s Jude’s place lately, but we both know it’s temporary and barely lived-in. We spend more time outside than inside.
There’s nothing of…this. Whateverthisis.
In every corner of Marcus’s home exists affection and warmth I’ve never experienced. Despite the chipped edges and marks, there are also signs of a childhood well spent, like the wall where June’s scribbled Marcus’s height alongside his age and countless hearts.
Mom would’ve never done that. It’s not that she didn’t love me; she did, more than Dad, probably. But her affection fluctuated depending on her mood.
One day, we’d be shopping and doing some cosplay and singing all over the house, and the next, she’d be drinking and grumbling and whining about Dad nonstop.
Whining and whining and fuckingwhining.
I wonder if June did the same about Andrew.
She better have. I already hate that prick Marcus more since I stepped into his house, seeing just what type of privileged upbringing he had.
Sure, I might be richer, but he has something a lot more valuable than money.
A parent who protected him when he needed protection.
I sink sideways on the mattress, staring at Marcus’s desk in front of me.
This is…weird.
I shouldn’t be here in Marcus’s house, in his bed, but I don’t move as I inhale him sharply, briefly closing my eyes.
Just a second.
It’ll only be a second.
Dark.
It’s all so…verydark.
Even the stars that used to accompany me are gone, their neon light snuffed out by the black fog that’s dragging me under.
A dense wave of smoke scrapes down my throat, and my stomach heaves in response, on the verge of spilling my guts on the floor.
But I can’t move.
It’s as if my body is made of heavy cement that keeps on sinking me down.
I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out.
Just silence.
And the dark.
There’s so much of it—the dark. Layers upon layers upon layers of pitch-black that cram into my throat, invisible hands asphyxiating me.
I can’t breathe.
A creak filters through from the door. The haunting squeak is low, but it crushes through my bones.
A franticthump-thump-thumpbleeds through the silence. It’s too fast, too loud, and I try to shield my ears.
No. It’s not coming from outside.
It’s coming from the cage in my chest.
