Because of Karson

Chapter 24

"You're so beautiful," Jason whispered as he grabbed my waist. I felt my body tense under his touch as I whimpered in pain.

"P-please, let me go," I trembled as I stared into his black eyes. He wore an evil smirk as he kissed down my neck. I struggled, trying to push him off, but he roughly punched me in my abdomen in return.

I heaved, coughing as I tried to catch my breath."S-stop."

"Don't tell me what to fucking do," he growled as he tightly gripped my hair. He pulled my hair as my head jerked up, looking directly into his eyes. I screamed in pain, my scalp burning as he continued to pull. "Take it off, now."

My body jerked up, breathing heavy as I looked around the room. I felt disoriented as I stared into the darkness. My hands began to shake as a bead of sweat ran along my forehead. I had tears streaming down my face as I remembered the nightmare I just had.

It was a recurring dream that only started after a few nights ago. When he touched me, it triggered memories from a few years ago. I vividly remembered the encounter that happened when I was only 15. I whimpered as I remembered every detail from that night.

I trembled, covering my mouth with my hand as I tried not to wake anyone else up. I shakily looked at the clock on the bedside table. 4:15am.

I rubbed a shaky hand over my face, wiping away the sweat that grazed the back of my neck. I moved my legs over as they dangled on the side of the bed before I slowly got up. Tears still streamed down my face as I let them fall freely.

My knees gave out as I got up, holding onto the nightstand to regain my balance. I took a shaky breath as I walked to the bedroom door. I reached my hand out, grabbing the doorknob and slowly turning it so it wouldn't creak open.

I looked down the hall to make sure no one was there. I released a huge breath, relief washing over me as I slowly made my way to the nearest bathroom to freshen up.

I dragged my hand along the wall to guide myself to the bathroom. There were no lights on, so I struggled as I squinted my eyes to try and see ahead of me.

I ran my hand along the wall and stopped when I felt something unusual. I gasped in surprise when someone caught my wrist.

"Princess?" I almost screamed in horror when I heard Karson whisper my name. My heart began to pound in my chest as more tears streamed down my cheeks. I stumbled back, I thought no one was awake.

I violently shook my head as I felt him grab wrist once more. I flinched as his skin made contact with mine, memories of Jason touching me clouding my thoughts. I whimpered as my body felt weak.

"I-I'm sorry for waking you up," my voice came out shaky as the hallway light turned on. I squinted my eyes as they tried to adjust to the bright light. At some point, Karson let go of my hand and turned on the light. I was too shaken up to realize it.

"You're crying," Karson pointed out as he narrowed his eyes at me. His eyes scanned every inch of my face before meeting my gaze. I looked at his beautiful green eyes, noticing that his under eye bags were darker than before. He's been awake this whole time.

"Why are you awake?" I sniffled, quickly rubbing my eyes to eliminate any trace of me crying, even though he already saw my tear stained cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" He pushed, his arms crossing in defense. His eyes grew darker as he stared at my tear-brimmed eyes longer. I felt a lump grow in the back of my throat as I choked down the tears.

"I'm not crying," I lied.

"Cut the bullshit, Dakota," he growled as he took a step forward.

"So what if I'm crying?" I hissed, my emotions turning into rage as I pushed my sadness down further and further. I didn't know how much longer I was able to keep everything inside.