Page 48 of The Boy I Loved
That made sense. The other three lived here and didn’t have to stop anywhere to grab their belongings. Plus, it would give me a moment to breathe.
They’d grab Tory, and by the time I was done packing, we’d head out. Bitterness settled deep within my bones.
I wouldn’t even have time to tell my family goodbye, nor would I be able to tell Hazel.
But that was the way of the life I lived—always running, no time for looking back. Hopefully she’d forgive me one day, and if not … at least she was alive to hate me.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HAZEL
A yawn tumbledfrom my lips as I stepped into my bedroom, sloppily running a towel through my damp hair. There hadn’t been much time to clean myself up before leaving Rodney’s party, and as much as I enjoyed what happened there, the mixed releases from both Dom and I were making me feel dirty. Now, I could go to sleep and hope that Dom hadn’t changed his mind from now and tomorrow.
Tonight was more than I could have ever asked for. Dominic finally let his guard down after giving me the cold shoulder for the last couple of weeks, and he even told me he loved me again. Hell, he told me he was sorry. I still didn’t understand why he’d treated me the way he had, but I was willing to let it all go if it meant I got the old him back.
A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth, my mind drifting to the time I’d spent with him in that room. It wasn’t the ideal place for a hookup, but I’d do it over and over again if we had no other option.
I dropped the towel in the bin beside my door and crept through the dark bedroom until my knee bumped against the side of my bed.Reaching for the comforter, I tugged it back some and slid beneath it, the soft mattress pressing into my side as I adjusted myself into a comfortable position. Exhaustion weighed heavily on me, the alcohol and sex taking its toll—not to mention, I’d been up nearly all night, which was unlike me in itself.
Just as I was beginning to drift off to sleep, a thump echoed throughout the house, causing my eyes to fly open again in response. Dad had probably already left for work. He was working out of town right now and had to leave by five in the morning, which meant he was probably long gone by now. Mom usually didn’t wake up until eight or nine, but she might have had to get up to use the bathroom. Deciding that was what it was, I closed my eyes again and forced my body to relax once more.
Sleep slowly began pulling me under again, but just like last time, that thump sounded again—closer this time. I pushed myself into a sitting position, my eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness blanketing the room. My heart thudded rapidly, fear sparking deep within me, coiling around my heart like a cold, crystal of ice.
“Mom?” I whispered through the darkness, fear clogging my throat.
Even if it was her, which it most likely was, there was a high chance she wasn’t able to hear me through the barrier of the wall, not with how softly the words fled my lips. One thing I knew for certain was that someone was one hundred percent in the hallway.
Maybe it was the house settling, and I’d convinced myself otherwise. All this talk about girls disappearing could have simply been getting to me, and it was nothing more. Still, it didn’t stop the pulse along the column of my neck from fluttering wildly.
Blowing out a breath, I kicked my legs over the edge of my bed and rose on shaky legs. I’d just peek out into the hallway for my own sanity. When nothing was there, I’d be able to sleep—hopefully. I crept along the wooden floor, wincing when it creaked beneath my feet.
God … I wastotallythat girl in the horror movie who went out looking for the source and inevitably got killed. A shudder rumbled through me at the thought, but still, it didn’t stop me from reaching for the doorknob and pulling it open a crack.
“Mom?” I whispered again, glancing down the darkened hallway.
Eerie silence greeted me in return, not even a sliver of light from my parents’ bedroom at the end of the hallway.
I was just about to say screw it and lock myself in my room when another thump sounded, this time, much like heavy footsteps. Scratch that—multiplefootsteps. They were fast, loud, and shuffled across the hard flooring, moving closer and closer toward me before I could even process where they were located.
Something latched onto my arm, a gloved hand. It jerked, tugging me forward until I was stumbling the rest of the way out into the hallway. A scream got lodged in my throat, but before it could make it past my lips, something sharp pierced the side of my neck.
A garbled sound escaped me, and I swayed, my vision blurring as the world tilted around me. And then it all went completely black.
Cold.
A faucet leaking.
Whimpers.
It all surrounded me in a tight cocoon of despair, barreling deep within me until they were the only things I could feel or hear. Something rancid reached my nose, causing me to scrunch my nose in disgust, but my eyes refused to open. My head was heavy, lolling tothe side, but the energy in which it would take to move it, eluded me.
This had to have been some kind of nightmare. I’d wake up again in the comfort of my own bed, hating myself for how long I’d stayed up the night before.
Slowly, I forced my dry eyes to open, blinking a few times. It took a while, but my vision began piecing itself together like a broken puzzle. That was when I saw it—the bars, the cold cement surrounding a thin mattress, the mattress in which I resided on, and a bucket in the corner of whatever fucked up cell I’d been thrown in.
My throat was raw and dry, and I hesitantly swiped my tongue over my lower lip in a pathetic attempt to add moisture to it.
Where the fuck am I?
