Of Pain | COMPLETED

Chapter 25

‘You’re late,’ came the accusing voice from behind me.

I let out a sigh as I ran a hand through my hair absentmindedly before closing the door lightly. Noting the darkened lights and also the sudden rev of Mitchie’s motorcycle engine leaving the area, I turned around to face Henry’s wife. I think her name was Heather or something along the line.

‘It’s only seven thirty,’ I answered her flatly, watching her with a mild expression on my face. My own mother didn’t even treat me like this. A pang rose in my chest as I thought of her and her safety. Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I stared at Heather. She was wearing her pyjamas, silky stuff and she looked pretty pissed at me. I had to wonder why.

‘Where were you? Why were you out? Was that your boyfriend?’ she asked me furiously. Question after question were fired at me, making me look at her with an amused expression on my face. Man, Mum wasn’t this irritating and annoying. I don’t even know what she’s doing now and I don’t like it.

‘I was in school because I had softball practice. He’s my bestfriend not my boyfriend, god why are you asking me so many damn questions? You’re not my Mum and you don’t even care a hoot about me,’ I replied her flatly and raised an eyebrow as a challenge. ‘I’m going to go.’

‘I’m talking to you young lady!’ she hissed at me, making me roll my eyes at her as I passed her by the living room and she grabbed my right arm tightly, making me wince. ‘Don’t just ignore me when I’m still not finished yet with you.’

I let out a sigh and yanked my arm back, glaring at her. My stare made her falter, almost making her question herself. I ran a hand furiously through my hair, not liking the anger that was brewing inside my chest. ‘Don’t touch me, I don’t like being touched and secondly, Henry knows I have practice so this isn’t my fault,’ I told her emotionlessly.

I brushed past her without another word.

Muttering under my breath and feeling even worse about myself, I made my way silently towards the guest room where I had been living for the past week. It was bearable living here, mostly because Heather ignores me. She treats me as if I didn’t exist for most part of the day, only talking to me when I leave for school or whether I want more coffee but I always see her smile that was plastered on her face was forced.

I didn’t mind.

‘How was softball?’ Seth’s soft raspy voice could be heard from his bedroom. His door was left ajar and I could hear him strumming his guitar as he hummed a melody. I peeked through the door and saw him sitting on his bed, his back leaning on the wall as he strummed his acoustic softly.

His room was filled to the brim with CDs. He had installed floor-to-ceiling shelves all over his room and everything was filled with CDs, even with vinyl copies. I have no idea when he finds the time to listen to everything and I don’t even know how he manages to do that. If the wall wasn’t filled with CDs, it was filled with his guitars.

Plenty of Fenders and Stratocasters.

I broke into a small smile at his relaxed position and hovered by the doorway. ‘It was fine,’ I answered him softly and ran a hand through my hair again, feeling a little distracted at the moment. ‘I’m going to go, I talk to you tomorrow.’ I left the room without even waiting for his reply.

Nudging the door open with my foot, I made my way into the guest room where the familiar sight of the bed greeted me. I dropped my bags beside the cabinet and let out a groan, feeling the effects of not sleeping for weeks taking a toll on my body. I wish for sleep but the nightmares will wake me up, making me scream in the middle of the night and I didn’t want that to happen. I was too ashamed to admit and tell everyone what happened. I was ashamed to let them know how haunted I was.