Lamb To The Slaughter ✔️

14

I haven't seen these four walls in a long time. I nearly forgot how headache-inducing the fluorescent lights are, how loud patients scream from their rooms, how on edge everybody is.

I stepped into the room, looking over my shoulder once to make sure nobody was behind me. Seeing that nobody is there, I shut the door, and quickly walk over to the drawers.

I place my bag down on the desk and begin pulling out page after page.

"SURVIVED ELECTROCUTION."

"JUMPED FROM TOP FLOOR; NO INJURIES."

"CAN ENTER PEOPLES MINDS; BUT DO THEY KNOW?"

Then, I pulled out the last page. I don't just toss it onto the desk like the others, I hold it, I hold the answer to what I've been working for in my hands.

"KILLED BY PREVENTING HEARTBEAT AFTER LOSING MASS AMOUNTS OF BLOOD."

My eyes scan the words, the words that could change my life.

I quickly grab all the pages. I shove them into my locked drawer, and I double-check that it's locked after. It's a safe place. Somewhere the information can be stored.

I place my palms against the desk and lean forward, letting out a deep sigh. My hair falls forward, I shut my eyes, I think.

Him. It had to be him, didn't it, Aria?

A dangerous man, a cold-blooded one, one unable to feel. It had to be him to touch your heart for the first time, to make you feel alive.

It had to be the one man that I should never have.

"Oh!" Maria's voice suddenly says, making my posture snap up and I clear my throat. "Sorry Aria, I didn't know you were in here."

I force a smile. I say, "It's fine, Maria."

She smiles back.

"I'm glad to see you're back," she says. "You've been off for so long."

"Yep, I'm back," I try to sound excited.

I begin walking to exit the room.

"You know, I've been thinking," she says right before I'm about to exit the room, making me stop. "It wasn't right that Dr. Ross got that award. Or that Mr. Sanchez gave it to him. If I were you, I'd be pissed. Probably even want them dead."

She laughs after. I have to force myself to laugh.

"Well, Atlantic Sinclair took care of that," she says. "Hey - when you went to visit him, did you guys become close? I'm just curious what he was like."

"You know, Maria, I'd love to talk but I actually have to go," I say. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I turn and start walking. She calls out to me, "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, Aria."

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

A T L A N T I C

The second the door opens, I'm jumping off the couch and walking toward her. Snowflakes cover her dark hair, she brushes them out as she says, "I have something for you."

I notice the bag in her hands. She kicks her shoes off, and I follow her into the kitchen.

My eyes fall onto the calendar on her fridge. February. It took me by surprise. In that place, time passed so slow, that I thought I was under a curse where every minute felt like an hour to me. Outside of there, with this girl whose father made me a monster, time passes so fast.