Too Good To Be True?

Chapter 16 Ⅳ

I had to fight the urge to douse myself with ice water, the depths of Tartarus having boiled my blood. Screams and explosions split my head in half, thousands of neurons firing more than D-Day on steroids. David Spencer, the one and only, had broken into my house, gone through my room, and had the nerve to stand in front of me and lie to my face about everything.

I groaned as the skin on my arm burned and blistered from the acid that was his touch. His fingertips had barely grazed me, but it was more than enough to set off every smoke alarm in my body. I doubled over in pain, pressing my hands against my head, trying to crush it like rubber bands squeezing a watermelon. There were so many images searing my corneas that I was sure the powerpoint presentation containing my memories had blown up, plastering scenes wherever the hell it felt like it. The only thing I could make out for sure was the one moment that had been haunting me for weeks- a police officer, a pair of handcuffs, and the frightened face of a mister David Spencer being dragged away from me.

My knees hit the ground and I curled into myself, shaking so violently I was sure I'd start my own earthquake. I felt so disgusted, so violated, and so incredibly stupid. 

Had I never told my friends about what he'd done? There was no way they ever would have pointed me back to him if they knew what a monster he truly was. Had he threatened me to keep quiet? Was my whole life before the accident lived in fear?

Tears seared my cheeks, each drop representing a million questions that I would never have the answers to. I'd had my suspicions before, but now I was certain. I could never go back to my old life. My memories were gone and I was a new person now. I could not let the past hurt me anymore. After all, I had no past.

I slowly unfurled from my turtle position, my chest shuddering as I fought to control my breathing. When my eyes finally pried open, they landed on something that brought me right back to that dark corner of my mind, the temporarily doused flames springing back to life. My nails drew blood from my palms as I stared at the pristine white cover glowing up at me, mocking me. 

A clean slate. 

How fitting.

I seized the book and hurled it at the wall, screaming as I watched it fall pathetically back to the ground. How was he still able to make me miserable without even being in the room? How had I let this man do this to me?

I pushed my hands against the floor to force myself up, focusing whatever was left of my energy on trying to make the little white monster spontaneously combust with my glare. The cover was now bent as a result of my temper tantrum and though I tried to ignore it, I couldn't help but notice illegible writing peeking out from under the compromised cover.

I let out a huff and crossed the room to where it was lying, trying to convince myself that this was a horrible idea. I worked my jaw as I stared down at it, nervous about what I could find inside. "What the hell could be so important that you had to fly across the ocean to find..." I muttered, hesitantly bending down and picking up the damaged item. As soon as I held it, a sort of calm feeling washed over me, something I couldn't quite pinpoint, but... it was somehow familiar.

Apart from the obvious recent damage, the cover was more worn than I'd originally perceived. It was well taken care of, there were no rips or stains, but the spine was weak from frequent opening and closing. I told myself that no matter what was in this book, I would not break my vow to never speak to him again. He was evil and anything that suggested otherwise was just a trick.

I held my breath as I flipped open the cover, but I was confused by what I saw. Written in scraggly cursive across the first page was the name AshDubh.