𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 [𝟏𝟖+] ✔

40

The dome is in an uproar.

As I'm sitting on the stairs of the manor, watching the guards flit in and out of the entranceway, the world around me moves in painfully slow motion. Words are muffled, bodies passing by me are reduced to nothing but a blur while I stay in my head.

Guilt is burning me alive.

This is all my fault.

If I had listened to the threats thrown at me by Robbie and called everything off with Eric, then everyone wouldn't be panicking. Hysterical about the potential extinction of the human race sooner than expected.

If Eric hadn't silenced the communication system in his house, would he have been able to stop it? What if I'd told him in the first place, would it still have ended up this way? Would most of the oxygen still be here?

I was warned not to tell Eric.

I was warned to stop seeing him.

I was warned not to be a distraction.

Or else.

And now I've doomed everyone. I've no idea how long we have, or what other resources got blown up, or what this even means.

There is one thing I'm sure of, I need to either tell Eric and let him deal with it, call this whole thing between us off, or hide for the remainder of whatever amount of time we have left in here.

What do I do?

Do I risk another explosion by telling him?

Or do I listen to what I'm told and tell Eric it's done between us? At least that way there's no chance of more havoc, no more threats, or further catastrophic destruction.

It makes me feel physically sick.

He's in the office on the top floor with three of his men, Hank from the labs, and my dad. Mum is trying to calm Orla down and Ainsley has gone straight to the medical building to make sure Gareth is okay.

Before she left, she hugged me, told me she would be right back, and I couldn't even tell her. I couldn't tell my best friend that I was given an ultimatum, and I had selfishly ignored it and allowed this to happen.

Eric hadn't let go of me the entire way from his house to here. He kept asking me if I'm okay, if I'm hurt, and not to cry because everything will be alright. I wasn't bawling my eyes out because I had been scared, I was in tears because I knew what this meant.

He made sure I got to my bedroom here at the manor, kissed my forehead, ordered me to lock the door, then rushed off to try to find out exactly what had happened.

His message from half an hour ago is still open on my band, and every time I look down, my heart breaks, a twisting sensation grips me like I'm being stabbed repeatedly.

Osprey#001: If you need me, I'll leave this meeting, okay?

A tear slips down my cheek, and I wipe it away with the back of my hand, sniffling. I wish I could reply and say yes, to tell him to please come and sit with me, to take me away and hide somewhere. But instead, I stare at the words, the message rippling into a haze as my eyes water even more.

Skye and Diesel are lying at my feet, both at the bottom of the stairway. Their heads lift every time someone passes, inspecting their surroundings as if another eruption is going to go off.

They are most likely traumatised. When the pair ran into Eric's bedroom, both of their hackles were up, whimpering, and haven't touched a thing to eat since.

It's been four hours since my ears heard that devastating sound, but I can still hear it. The unforgettable noise is taunting me, laughing at my misfortune of losing everything that I've ever wanted.