Bombshells ~ Complete

Chapter Forty-Eight: The Dinner

I was being released. I was going back to the house. To say I was terrified was the understatement of the year. My father was ecstatic about my going home, Lila and the boys were hesitant about my going home because of the fight we'd had, Nurse Mia was suspicious, and Kamrie was sad at my leaving. 

Me, well, I wasn't really saying anything. 

It was like I had become a ghost.

I didn't talk, didn't make sounds, when I walked it was always silently, I didn't stay in rooms that had people, I didn't smile, I didn't laugh. 

It may have been an overreaction, but I had told someone that I trusted my deepest, darkest secret and she said I was lying. I had asked someone I trusted to tell his mother I wasn't lying and he looked away. 

Can you blame me for overreacting?

"Are you even listening to me?" Thea asked, sitting on my bed. Kamrie and Thea were the only people who, outside of my legal guardians and the boys, had come to visit me. Thea had heard about what happened, though I made sure not to mention the exact words of the fight, and so she was glaring daggers into Jaydon's back. 

"Not really. I'm always zoning out, aren't I?" I asked awkwardly, trying to push my lips into a smile. Thea rolled her eyes and flipped her new dreads out of her face. 

"Yep. According to the girls at school, you've been sent to Area 51 for involvement with a hostile government take-over." Thea smirked, watching as my facial expression morphed into a combination of humor and horror.

"People actually believe that crap?" I asked. Thea nodded, laughing at the expression on my face. The door opened and father entered the room, his presence consuming all the air that was in my lungs. 

"Ariel, it's time to go." He said sternly, glancing at Thea out of the corner of his eyes. She waved at him, mumbled a goodbye to me, and skipped from the room. Father grumbled something about her being a bad influence. 

I winced as I got out of the bed. My bones were sore and my muscles hadn't been put to use. I gathered up the few things Lila had brought me from the house, and walked towards my father. He apparently thought I was moving too slowly, because he grabbed my upper arm in a painfully tight grip and dragged me towards the door. 

The car ride was silent. Lila was answering emails the entire way, shooting me concerned glances when she thought I wasn't looking. The boys were either on their phones or muttering to each other softly, openly staring at me. Father was driving and humming along to the smooth jazz that was floating on sound waves. I was staring out the window, watching tree after tree and building after building pass.

When we got home, everyone went their separate ways. I suppose I was desperate to get away from everyone, so I rushed up the stairs and into my room, locking the door behind me. I flopped down on my bed with a deep sigh. 

I wanted to go home. 

At home, I didn't have to worry about hiding the bruises. At home, my mother was still alive. At home, I didn't have any friends that I could lose. At home, my mother believed me. 

I was homesick for a place that used to be my personal hell. How did that work? 

I rolled over onto my stomach and stared out the window. The bright, sunny day didn't reflect my mood at all. I wasn't sure how I felt, in all honesty. My head was empty of thoughts, my soul empty of emotions. 

"Ariel, we need to talk." Lila knocked on the door. I was tempted to not open the door, but I figured that I needed to eat sooner or later, and I didn't want to be caught while trying to eat. That always ended in me not eating. So, I unlocked and then opened my door. 

Lila was standing there, her lip caught between her teeth, twisting her hands. She looked like a bundle of nerves. 

"I don't know what you want to talk about." I whispered. She perked up at the sound of my voice. Then again, I hadn't spoken to her since that night. 

"You accused your father of something horrible." Lila said simply, straight to the point as always. I wanted to scream at her that I was telling the truth. I wanted to yell out the truth. I wanted the shriek from the pain of it all. But I kept my mouth shut.

"It wasn't an accusation. It was the truth." I whispered, hoping to not draw attention up to my room. God only knew what my father would do if he found out I was still trying to tell Lila the truth. 

"You and I both know that it was a lie." Lila put her hand over my own comfortingly. Her lips parted in shock when I jerked my hand away.

"I know a whole lot more than you do." I snarled at Lila, who's eyes widened at my words. I didn't know what else to say. I had said all I needed to say, and if she refused to believe me, it was her own fault. But I didn't want her to get hurt. I wanted to protect her, but I couldn't do that if she refused to believe the truth. 

Maybe she didn't want to believe?

"Ariel, if you would just admit it was a lie-"

"It wasn't a lie!" I shrieked, feeling my blood boil at the thought of someone else believing that I was lying. I slapped a hand over my mouth when the scream finished echoing in the house. My father would've had to be deaf to not hear that. He knew.

Oh God.

He knew. 

Lila nodded and left. That was easy. Way too easy. She didn't believe me. She thought I was just another attention seeker. 

Forty minutes later, father opened the door and smirked arrogantly at me. I thought the next thing I would feel was my life slipping from my hands, but instead he stayed by the door. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. 

"I made dinner." He said, smiling at me. I cowered further into my blankets. His smile turned into a frown. I made him angry with my obvious defiance. I didn't want to go eat dinner. No supper was worth dying. 

"I'm not hungry." I said in a small voice, even though my stomach was protesting. Why was I always hungry at the worst times?

"Yes you are." He snapped, then exited the room. I grudgingly followed after him, my eyelids drooping from exhaustion. The stress of everything was finally getting to me, taking over my body in the form of weariness. 

My nose was instantly met with the smell of baked potatoes and hamburgers when I entered the kitchen. Father's smile was a little too wide as he pulled my chair out for me. 

There was something off in his eyes. It was like he had lost that single light of sanity. It was like he had completely lost his mind. I shrugged the feeling off. 

"This looks delicious, Elliot. Thank you." Lila said warmly. I shook my head in disappointment, wondering what could be going through her mind. Did she really not have any doubts after my screaming and crying fits?

"You're welcome. Let's eat up." He said, smirking as the boys dug in. Lila picked at her potato, taking small yet steady bites. The boys were inhaling their hamburgers, gulping down their drinks, not even breathing.

I started eating my burger, knowing father would be furious if I didn't eat. I didn't want to make his punishment any worse than it was already going to be. 

The funny thing was that father wasn't eating. He was just kinda sitting there, sipping at his red wine while chuckling.

Jaydon was the first to go. Slumped over into his plate, not making a sound. I tried to jump up, but it was like everything was moving in slow motion. Including my legs. I looked down at them, trying to get them to move. It looked like everyone else was having the same problem. 

Lila went next. Then Ethan. Then everyone else.

I was able to look at my father for a split second, taking in his gleeful expression, before face-planting on the table. 

And then all was dark.