Our Fatal Failings (Twisted book two)

Author's Note + Chapter One

Author's Note:

Hi, guys, it's me, BurntWitch. This is book two in the twisted duology, so I'll leave the link for book one below.

https://www.wattpad.com/story/149146891-twisted

(If you only read the second you're going to be confused)

I like it when you guys comment, so go ahead and do that throughout the story. *Don't be a ghost reader :)*

I have no official updating schedule. Sometimes it might be every day, other times every other day. It depends on how busy I am. 

Anyway, let's get into the story. 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

                      -BurntWitch

Three years after the epilogue, four years after the escape.

The alarm clock rouses me from an otherwise peaceful sleep. I slap at it, looking for the button that would turn it off. It went silent. I lay under my warm comforters for a little longer, relishing how warm it was compared to the cold air of my room. The alarm clock begins to blare again.

"It was only a matter of time anyway." I bring myself to my feet, rubbing my hands over my face. I'll be late for class if I keep at this, but my comforter is warm, my bed is soft and the weather outside in the negatives.

"Ay, Nia!" Iris calls from the bathroom. "Can you fry bacon?"

I sigh. It was only a matter of time anyway. The smell of scrambled eggs comes from the kitchen. Hopefully, it's Nia making them, because Iris can't cook, not to save her life, not to save mine, not at all. And god willing, she never has to try again.

I grab my towel and head towards the bathroom. The hot steam will wake me up. The sound of running water comes from inside. I knock on the door. "Just one minute," Iris says. "I'm exfoliating."

"Do that at night, we all need to use the bathroom."

"You don't understand, you never had acne. I need to follow a schedule."

"Can your schedule be shorter? Please? I need to pee!"

"Five minutes."

I lean against the wall, waiting. Byt the time she gets out it's been longer than five minutes, much longer and now I'm in danger of running late.

"Five minutes," I say, voice raised imitating her. "I thought summer was going to roll around by the time you were out."

"If you don't hurry you're going to run late." She walks down the hall to the room her and her sister share and I rush inside, locking the door behind me. Seven-minute shower, three minutes at the sink. That works.

I set the water to hot and let the steam wake me only to have to step out a few minutes later. After going about a condensed version of my morning routine, I bring my bag into the kitchen, still incredibly tired. A cup of tea will fix that and if not, nothing will. "How are you doing?" Nia asks, putting a cup of tea in front of me. She's so sweet, I don't know what Iris and I have ever done to deserve her. Christmas is coming anyway. I need to get her a bomb gift this year.

"Terrible." Nursing school is kicking my ass. The late nights, all the homework and the hours on my feet during my clinicals were taking their toll. Most nights after classes I wanted to fold up onto the floor and cry.

Iris enters the room. "Better than yesterday." She's majoring in chemistry, while her sister is majoring in psychology. Their reasons? Chemistry is the magic of man and psychology is the magic of the mind. "Yesterday it was completely horrible and unbearable."

"True." I drink my tea hot and finish eating a half bagel topped with whipped cream. I check my watch--looks like I'm taking this one for the road...again. "I gotta go." I slip on my shoes, toss on a coat and jog down the stairs.

I board the first bus on my way to Boston University. My SAT scores were good, not perfect, but really good considering my grades plummeted after I left Evansville. The stress, the trauma..it sent me into a slump. After graduation, I couldn't leave the East Coast, so after Marywood All Girl's Academy, I decided on Boston College. It was a good school, with a good nursing program. And better yet, it was safe.

A guy around my age makes eye contact with me. "Excuse me, ma'am. You can take my seat."

"No, I'm fine."

"You look tired."

I chuckle. "And if I sit down I may fall asleep."

"Please, I insist."

I scan the bus, looking for pregnant women and the elderly. It's a packed bus, but the ones who are here are seated already. "Well, if you're dead set on it...." he stands and we swap places. My back thanks me reliving it of the load of my backpack. "Thanks."

"No problem."

I bury my face in my phone until my stop comes. When the doors open, the cold creeps inside. I step out into the snowy terrain. I don't like the cold, But I love the snow. It turns the city into from a grim, grey, greenless place, into a beautiful winterscape. My boots crunch in the fresh snow. It's such a shame that in a few hours so much of it will be a dirty brown

While I walked to the next bus stop, I run my notes over in my mind. It was the first day of midterms and I'm not quite sure I'm ready. The more I think about it, the clammier my hands get. Nothing more I can do now but hope I'm ready. And after all the testing was over, I would get a much-needed break. I rub my hands together to stave off the cold. I should've brought my gloves.

I'm pulling up my hood when I feel it. Uneasiness boils up in my stomach. It's a dark, early morning and I'm not completely alone on the street, but still, I can't shake the feeling and I've learned that sometimes those feelings are more correct that you'd ever believe.

I walk faster.

Someone is watching me.

Someone is following me.

Should I risk it? Should I see who's there?

No that's stupid, they might get a picture of your face.

My heartbeat won't slow until I know no one there, until I know that I'm panicking for no reason.

Don't look. Keep walking. Start running.

It's like there's an angel and a devil on my shoulder at all times, but it's never an angel and a devil. It's reason vs the animal instinct that even Wolfsbane wasn't able to turn off once it was activated.

Stiffly, I look over my shoulder. I almost laugh, but I stop myself when an old lady furrows her brow at me. But there's no hooded figure stalking me from behind.

No, it's only me and my delusions.

I smile at her and wince upon turning back around. At least now I can focus on getting to class and only that.

The door is about to close when I arrive there. My professor curls her lip and points to the open seat at the back of the lecture hall. It's a big class, with almost ninety kids enrolled and my cheeks flush with shame as so many turn to look at me. Here I am, late....for the twelfth time this semester.

The teacher professor begins to talk and pass out exams and while I stress over the questions on the page, I forget all about my morning scare.