Page 46 of A Perfect World
“Then tell me.”
Throughout the drive back, he alternated between hyperventilating and mumbling, only falling silent once I parked on the top of the parking garage beside the BMW. We exited the car, my phone buzzing with a text from Jack insisting that Ollie couldn’t return to his dorm with the temptation of Marty’s stash. He’d gone inside to get some of Ollie’s things to spend the night with me.
Ollie’s silhouette illuminated in moonlight as he gazed out at the sleeping campus.
“You were right. I was a coward. It was easier not to tell you. You would've tried to stop me, and I would've let you.”
He turned to face me, the streaks of dried blood cracking on his skin. I held his tortured, glowing eyes hostage, waiting for him to continue.
He took a shaky breath. “Mom wanted to protect me, but Dad was terrified of me. I was five the first time I spoke in his head. He hit me for it. I remember telling him I loved him, that I’d be better, but it didn’t matter how discrete I learned to be, I’d always be a monster to him. I took his beatings, his words, his anger- all of it, because I believed I deserved it. Then, a month before my eighteenth birthday, I came home from school and there was a letter on the table. I read it and-”
He swallowed hard. “He was going to sell me back to Merit. Return me like a defective product and I- I couldn’t take it, I dove into his head, and I detonated like a goddamn bomb.”
Shock trickled like ice water through my veins. I took a step closer to him, at a loss for words. He looked away. “The doctor’s declared he died from an acute brain aneurysm. A tragic sudden death. My sister was his princess. She blamed me, but I didn’t regret killing him. I couldn’t- I wouldn’t be locked in a cage like an animal.”
“Is that why you left me?” I whispered.
“No.”
His eyes connected with mine again, studying me for any adverse reaction to his confession. I willed him to see that I didn’t judge him for what he’d done to survive.
“They hadn’t known they were successful in creating a living weapon. They probably tried to check on me, but Mom sheltered me. She only took me to homeopathic doctors, taught me to hide my eyes, and never let anyone get too close. Call it maternal instinct, but she knew I was in danger before she learned that Merit had altered me on purpose. Dad- he feared me enough to reach out to them and accuse them of giving him a defect. Not a son-”
He choked, his hand finding in mine. Tears were openly falling down our cheeks.
“Tell me,” I whispered.
“They were going to pay him millions to get me back. When he died, we expected them to show up, but they never did. I didn’t understand. Mom begged me to go away for college, to live a normal life and get out of town, but I knew they weren’t done with me. And I was right. They found another family member to sell me off.”
“The phone call-”
He nodded, dropping my gaze. “They contacted my grandmother with the temptation of money. Together, they demanded that Mom convince me to turn myself over to them or they’d-” He squeezed his eyes shut. “They’d kill the otherfailed weapons.”
“Failed weapons?” My voice sounded so small.
I’m doing this for you.
He left to save the rest of us.
He cupped my cheek. “I couldn’t let them threaten you- all of you. I went to the pick-up location where my grandmother waited, and I killed her. I’m sure they’ll try again, but I won’t let them-”
I kissed him hard, wrapping my arms around him. He melted into me, cradling the back of my head. I held his shaking body against me like I could absorb the pain if I held him tight enough. He broke our kiss, searching my face.
“After everything I’ve told you, why aren’t you running from me?”
“The only way I’ll run istoyou,” I promised and kissed him again.
22
Ollie
Worndowntosemi-consciousnessafter confessions and withdrawals, I allowed Buddy to accompany me to the bathroom while I vomited over and over again. Jack left to get Pedialyte and whatever else Courtney demanded.
My angel.
Like an eight-ton semi was lifted off my chest, I basked in her acceptance. I didn’t understand it, but I wasn’t going to question her anymore. All that mattered in my fevered, shattered state was that girl stayed.
I stumbled from the bathroom, sweat and blood and spit and mud covered my skin. I made it one step before she began fussing, pulling off my shirt, pants, and boots, leading me to the shower.
