Page 22 of Borrowed
I didn’t even think.Just listened to my instinct.But I wasn’t ready for the moment her hand shook the door open, her eyes wild.
She was shaking, but not with fear.
She was cold.
My denials of her fucked version of ‘love’ had pushed her too far.I was going to leave.Take my sister out of this warped hell and leave our parents to wither.
Mother never feared anything except that someone would see behind her mask of poise and perfection.The number of times my sister had tried to overdose had enraged our Father enough to snap Tabby like a twig.Anything to keep her own hands clean.It was all too much, and now she was angry at me.
She tossed the can, and I lunged.But she was quick…quicker than I was.She slammed it down on the floor, pouring the gasoline over everything she could reach: the chairs, Tabby’s crafts, and the dining table.Nothing was left clean.
“Get back, Tobias,” she hissed.“You’ve made your choice, and now I’ve made mine.I’m finishing what I started.Ridding the world of the broken children I created.”
My heart slammed in my chest.I could feel the desperation clawing in my throat.I didn’t know what to do.I dropped to my knees at Mother’s feet, trying to touch her like she liked, begging her to stop this insanity.
“Mom,” I grunted.“Stop.Please.I will do whatever you want.Don’t do this.”
I fumbled with my belt and tried to get my body to respond, even though my stomach felt like rot was surfacing.
She stared at me, watched my frantic hands, eyes wild, lips pulled back in a sick smile.“I told you last time you weren’t worth saving.You’re just like him.All of you.Every fucking last one of you.”
Her hands trembled, but it wasn’t because she was scared.She was sick, not scared.She was done pretending like we weren’t just mistakes she could bury under her heel.
I couldn’t let her burn Tabby for my mistake.
I saw the lighter through my tears.
Before she could flick it, I was on her.Slamming her into the wall with everything I had, but she fought back.She fought like I was a stranger to her.Her nails dug into my skin, ripped at my body, and she hissed in my face like a demon.“You think you’re gonna save her?You think she’s worth your love, my sweet Toby?”
Her breath reeked of liquor and gasoline.I could taste it in my mouth.
I fought with my mind.I tried to replace her honey-laced words with the poison that she was.
My Mother, a monster.
I hit her again, harder this time.My vision blurred, but I didn’t stop.
Not while she was still holding the lighter in her hand.
Not while she was going to burn my sister for existing.
But then it happened, in her other hand.She pulled out the lighter and flicked it, and the sound made me freeze.
Flooofff!
A bright, fiery heat began to take hold.
It was like the whole house groaned under the weight of the flame.
I turned to look toward the hallway.
Tabby’s room.
Tabby.
My poor Sister.
I took off from Mother, heading for Tabby’s room.But before I could even get through the hallway, Mother was on me, clawing at my body and kicking me into the open door of the bathroom.
