Every day, but today especially, love should’ve been the victor… yet all it beat for was grief.
… and a sliver of anger that made me want to scream.
“You didn’t come when I called for you.”
I solidified.
Agile, icy fingers draped themselves over the nape of my neck, squeezing my pulse point until tears filled the corners of my eyes.
“Sebastian.”
He always did this… came at me from behind, as though my fear was some kind of twisted game. As a child I used to believe he lived in the shadows, but I knew now that he controlled them.
It’s why I’d never been able to escape.
“I don’t like being ignored.” He seethed.
Drops of his spit dotted the back of my neck and curve of my jaw. The liquid was warm as it slid across my skin, but still I shivered. It made me feel… unkempt. Unclean. Utterly and impossiblygross.
“Do you know who I am?”
The headmaster?
My sperm donor?
I couldn’t be certain which answer he sought… so I waited, bones rigid and muscles unmoving so as not to agitate the hand he had around my throat.
“Did you not receive my message?”
Oh, I’d gotten the message my English teacher placed in the corner of my desk—the one from the headmaster’s office, demanding my presence at his desk.
I simply… disregarded it.
It was almost fortuitous that I was incapable of speaking in his company, because what was I even supposed to say?
My daddy told me not to go anywhere near you, you abusive, murderous son of a bitch?
I didn’t imagine those words would bode well for me or my seizing windpipe.
Nostrils flaring, I grappled with my breaths. My fingers twitched anxiously at my sides, my eyes pinging from one corner to the other, perilously searching for a human my father respected more than me. One that would force his mask back in place.
I found no one.
Not a soul.
These halls were as desolate as ever, concealed by the darkness he’d crafted under greed and malice.
“Pathetic.” He snarled.
His grip tightened, pulling an ugly cough from my throat seconds before he shoved me.
Hands surging forward, I landed on my palms, my knees hitting the cement with an unpleasantcrack.
A wince ripped through my muscles, and I felt a notable lick of pain spread through my thighs before scrambling to my feet.
Arms around my middle, I dipped my chin and backed away from him one step at a time. It was a technique I’d learned in biology… the same one humans used when they came in contact with a wild animal looking to strike.
His cruel laugh filled the narrow space, and though I avoided looking him in the eye, I saw the rings on his fingers and the way he twisted them in anticipation.