Page 220 of The Perfect Spiral
I was watching a movie, a horror movie, but I wasn’t watching it properly. I was zoning in and out, thinking about the news I got today.
He will come for me. I know he will.
He might succeed this time.
I’ve prepared myself for this day. But it hit me hard today. I didn’t prepare myself for that. I couldn’t.
Seeing the credits roll, I switched my TV off and threw the remote on the floor. I was afraid to fall asleep. I know I’ll have a nightmare, but which one will it be?
A) Finding Drew cheating on me
B) Walking in on him and her together
C) My own father hunting me down to finish me off
I switch my light off and put my phone in the charger. I lie on my back, staring at the ceiling, listening to the trees rustle in the wind outside.
My phone buzzes, indicating I have a message. Then it buzzes again. And again. I turn on my side, I know it’s him. He does this every night. But it’s usually one message.
Drew has been calling me and messaging me, asking to talk, and I haven’t replied. He’s not giving up, but I have. The same goes for Wes. I talk to him, but I’ve told him I need time to myself.
I’m fragile and I need to help myself. He was understanding but wanted to know what happened? I told him that Drew was bothering me and left it at that.
With his messages being the last thing I see before sleeping, I usually have nightmares about him. I don’t know why I look at them. It just makes me feel heavy.
I feel even heavier when I hear her moan, moan his name and scream out in pleasure. Her familiar moans haunt me. But why do they seem familiar? Maybe because she moans on a daily basis to everyone? Maybe.
I shift in the bed, making it squeak a little, and I let my eyes drift close. Letting myself go.
Chapter 77
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!” My mom, along with the rest of my family, bursts through the door, causing me to jump off my bed in surprise.
Another week and a few days have passed, and I still haven’t looked at him. I haven’t spoken to him since my meltdown on the Fourth of July.
Feeling bodies bounce on my bed, I slam my own back down into the sheets, covering my head from them.
I grumble out, “It’s too early for this! Let me sleep,” feeling the covers rip off me. I see Kyle grinning cheekily, my other brothers and Sam lying across my bed.
“But it’s your birthday, sis! Come on,” Kyle whines with a pout on his lips.
“It’s a normal day, Kyle—”
“There is nothing normal to me about the thirteenth of July, Alex! You were born on this day twenty....”
“Four!” My mom fills him in because he doesn’t remember how old I am today. Math wasn’t his strong point.
“—twenty-four years ago! It’s a special day to me and everyone else here. I can’t think of one person you know who wouldn’t think it’s a special day today.”
“I can,” I say, dampening the mood and causing silence in the room. You could hear a pin drop. They all know who I’m talking about. The one person in my life who wishes I wasn’t born. My own blood.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like tha—”
“It’s fine, I know you didn’t, Kyle,” I smiled down at him. His face is slightly frowning. I know he meant well, but this will forever haunt me until he’s finally out of my life. Completely.
I sit up just as Lovey walks in and hugs Kyle to make him feel a little better.
“It’s okay... really!” I whisper to him and stand up to hug my grandmother.
