The Dark (DEVON) // ✔️ // [NEWADULT]

|| Chapter Six - Drown Me Out ||

   The car journey was painful, the relentless ache in my back wasn't dulling and I made a note to chastise Devon about it...

   That'll never happen.

   I couldn't deny the fact that I was actually even more terrified of Devon than I was originally, but there was something about him that was enticing.

   "So, Harrison was cute..." my mom said, I forced a laugh before hiding my face to wince in pain, "Is he... a friend?" She pushed.

   I rolled my eyes, "Just a friend, I mean it." She groaned, "plus, he happens to be-"

   "Is he gay?" She huffed, "the good looking guys are always-"

   "MOM!" I hissed, "let me finish." I let out a long breath, my back stung with the effort, "he's dating my friend, I haven't got many and that's not a road I want to go down." I distracted myself with the scenery outside the window. Despite the amount of times I've moved, I have never lived in the suburbs.

   The houses we passed were larger than the ones in the cities, each one was uniquely painted with lush green gardens and stone pathways leading up to the door. Ours was the same but it was painted a soft yellow with white trimmings around the windows and doors.

   "Right, Sorry." She adjusted her hands on the steering wheel and pulled into our driveway, she paused and brushed some hair from my neck, "seriously Aria?"

   I looked at her, "What?" I said slowly, I prayed that she hadn't seen through my facade at the mall.

   "You have some red on you." She brushed her hand along my neck and I cringed. My mother had involuntarily wiped Devon's blood off my neck with her hand.

   I smiled tightly and slipped out of the car, trying to walk as normally as possible in my condition. My mom frowned as I walked towards the door and let myself inside.

   Choosing to ignore her, I continued inside. The walk up the stairs was hell but I pressed on anyway. When I reached my room, all the events caught up with me.

   I sat down on my bed and took a deep breath as bile rose up my throat, I saw Asher again as he chased me into the store, my fear returned to me as I thought about my hiding spot behind the shelf, then... the fear vanished.

   I saw Devon's face again, his arm around my waist as he kept me quiet. Just to save my life. I sighed and calmed my nerves, refusing to remember anymore.

My back felt tight, I gritted my teeth and stood up to prepare myself a bath. When I entered the bathroom a cold wind greets me, goosebumps rose on my arms as the gust swept in through the window. I walked over to it and reached for the handle.

Something moved below, I frowned and looked down to see a figure standing close to my fence. They had their hood up and their arms securely tucked into the pockets. They lifted their head to my window, the only visible feature was their mouth, their thin lips stretched into a predatory smile as they beheld me.

I swallowed my fear and shut the window, making sure I'd locked it. My keys were resting on the side table in my room, I grabbed them - forgetting the pain in my back - and ran downstairs to lock the front door and the back one.

My mother payed no attention to my stunt and continued to type on her laptop, her eyes flicked up as I lingered by the back door, "Everything alright Aria?" She laughed.

I continued to check if the windows were securely shut and the blinds were drawn, all the while my mother was studying me carefully, "What's going on? You're acting like someone's trying to break in." She giggled and looked back at her screen.

"Maybe someone is..." I said quietly.

She scoffed, "Don't be stupid child." Her typing got considerably louder, my mothers usual method of drowning me out. Still, I remember playing with my dad when I was little and she'd put earphones in or something just to drown us out. One of the few things that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

This time, I wasn't letting her drown me out. Not anymore. I shuffled towards her and slammed her laptop screen down, she swore under her breath and glared at me, "Aria, I need to work." She gritted out.

"No, you need to listen to me." I challenged, "there was someone outside, by the fence, I saw them from the bathroom window." Her face contorted for a moment before she cracked up.

"The neighbours in their garden concern you?" She rolled her eyes, "sweetie, this is called a neighbourhood for a reason." My anger roiled in my head.

Letting out a long breath, I calmed myself, "Do neighbours really look into your bathroom and smile?" I countered, "with a hood covering their eyes and their hands in their pockets! They looked like a shadow, literally!" My hands flailed around for emphasis as my mother considered my pitch.

She stood up, "Fine, fine, lock the doors." My mom leant back and lifted the screen up, going back to her typing.

"Fine? Fucking fine? No, not fine." I stated, storming upstairs.

   I heard my mother mutter "Language" before her typing ensued. I passed on the bath, unsettled by the recent event. My thoughts raced as I considered who would do something like that.

   What kind of creep watches someone's house?

   And why did they smile?

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Awful chapter.
Awful.

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My other stories link: 🔗 ✔️
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Changed the cover again but I'm leaving it alone now so I hope this'll do. I was advised to make the cover more appealing so that it helped with views but I'm content with the progress right now.