Page 119 of Mortala
“W-what? What are you talking about?”
He lets go of Miles and walks over to me. I take a step back, scared of what he might do to me, but that angers him. His face says it all. I try to stand still as he walks closer to me and then brings his hand up to my face, slowly caressing my cheek.
It feels like acid on my skin and I close my eyes, trying not to show the emotions that I’m feeling. I don’t want him touching me. I don’t want him anywherenearme.
I open my eyes and they quickly flicker over to Miles, who's watching everything. When my eyes flick back over to Austin, he gives me a look filled with pure venom. My body is shaking and I know he feels it.
Kaitlin walks over to us and grabs Austin's hand that’s on my cheek, causing him to pull back. He looks at her with so much anger on his face, I’m afraid of what he might do. She takes a step back, and he takes another step into her. He grabs her violently by her jaw and brings her closer to him.
“Donottouch me like that again. Do you understand me? Know your fucking place,” he spits, pushing her away by the hand that held her jaw.
She falls backwards onto the floor, and I can’t help the gasp that falls from my lips. She looks up at me and I quickly cover my mouth with my hands. Her gaze shifts over to Austin and with just as much anger and fury as he gives her, she stares at him until she stands up and begins to walk off the stage.
“And where the fuck do you think you’re going, Kaitlin?”
She turns around and scoffs at him.
“Away from you! You don’t want me! You never wanted me. You were just using me to get to her.” She points at me and I cringe backwards. This is probably the most frightening and awkward situation I’ve ever had to be a part of.
“So, I’m done Austin. I don’t want to have any part of it anymore.”
She walks down the aisle of the theater, making her way towards the exit as Austin shouts at her.
“Fine! If that’s your choice.”
And then he pulls a gun out from the back of his jeans, and he shoots her in the back.
I scream and crouch down on the floor, trying to shield myself from the man I once thought I knew, as if my arms will protect me from him. I can hear Miles struggling, trying desperately to escape the ties that hold him back just to get to me.
“Shut up! Both of you shut up! Before I put a bullet through both of your heads!”
Miles listens, but I can see in his eyes that he’s absolutely broken. He wants to protect me so badly, but he can’t. He can’t get to me. I hold my hands over my mouth, trying to keep myself from making any noises as I sob into them. Kaitlin's body islaying on the floor of the theater aisle bleeding out, and there’s nothing any of us can do about it.
Austin crouches down to my level on the floor and tilts his head to look at me. His eyes are filled with evil as he just stares at me. I’m terrified, but I don’t move, afraid that would only just make things worse.
He brings the gun to my head, and I shut my eyes, hoping to god he doesn’t shoot me, and if he does, I just hope it’s quick and painless. He uses the gun to move the hair from my face and tucks it behind my ear.
“Look at me, Madelyn.”
I listen to him, opening my eyes to stare into his.
“The night of graduation, I went to your house. I was going to kill him for you. Forus.”
My tear-filled eyes grow wide at his confession. He was there?
“You said you couldn’t be with me because of him, so I went to go take care of him. But when I got there, I heard you screaming, and I took off running, only to see you running away from him. I found the closest thing I could find to stop him from getting to you. I smacked him across the head with a tree branch.”
I look away from him, trying to take in everything he’s telling me. I go back to that night in my mind, trying to recall him being there, but I can’t remember. Everything happened so fast, I was just trying to escape.
“You didn’t see me when you turned around to look back. I didn’t want you to think I was some sort of monster, but then you went to check on him and I saw him attack you. I didn’t know what to do.”
I look back at him, suddenly angry that he did nothing to help me.
“If you saw everything happen, why didn’t you fucking do something to stop him? Why did you just let him attack me like that?!”
“I was going to!” he screams in my face, grabbing me with both of his hands, his gun pressed firmly against the side of my head, painfully digging in. I can hear Miles yelling at him to let go of me, but he’s not paying him any attention.
“But then I saw you hitting him over the head multiple times, and fuck Maddie, I was so fucking proud of you.”
