Bombshells ~ Complete

Chapter Forty-Four: The Rain

After a while, sobbing took up too much energy. I needed to keep running, even if I couldn't hear footsteps behind me. I needed to keep running, even if I had no clue where I was. I needed to keep running, even if it was starting to rain cats and dogs. I sniffled, the cold finally seeping into my bones.

Why couldn't it be a clear night whenever I decided to run away from my problems?

The lights that illuminated the concrete path I was jogging down, showed lots of leaves and lots of green. Was it sad I didn't even care where I was? That I didn't mind not knowing? As long as no one could find me ever again.

My phone buzzed. I looked down in shock.

I hadn't even realized I still had it in my hand as I was running. I watched the name's flash over and over again.

Kade.

Ethan.

Gabriel.

Nathaniel.

Lila.

Zander.

Lucas.

Lila.

Kade.

Xavier.

Xavier.

They were calling me over and over again, trying to get some sort of response. For the first time in a long time, I was thankful that I grew up with nothing. I didn't grow up with a family, so it made it easier to lose this one.

That's what I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe that they hadn't hurt me with their refusal to trust me. But I think my running away in the rain showed how messed up their refusal to believe me had made me. I was screwed up trying to protect them.

There were over a hundred calls. I hadn't even realized I'd been running for two hours, walking and jogging at some points. I pressed the cold metal up to my ear to listen.

"Ariel, what you said was sick and a cruel joke. Just... Come home." Lucas's voice sent shivers down my spine. I wanted to lose myself in his comforting arms. I wanted to go home but I didn't know where that was anymore.

Could I live with a bunch of people who blew off the biggest secret of my life? Could I live with myself, knowing they never really trusted me in the first place?

Oh God.

My father.

What was he going to do? What was he going to do to me? What was he going to do to Lila? What was he going to do to my brothers? If my father thought he was being figured out, especially by someone as powerful as Lila, he would freak out and do something stupid. Like try and kill Lila.

And it would be my fault.

Oh God.

"Ariel, please come home. Mom isn't happy with you, but we're starting to get a little worried over here." Zander's voice broke through my panicked thoughts. I looked around. It was nightfall. Three or four hours must have passed since I left the house.

That's what it was. A house. The people were my home. But they didn't believe me. And now it was going to get all of us killed.

What if I just left? Left and never looked back?

My father would lose his punching bag and head straight for Lila. But the boys would protect her. Actually, she wouldn't tell them. And if she did, she would make it to where they wouldn't be able to do anything. She would hate to drag them into her problems. That, and she was stubborn. She didn't think she needed to be protected.