Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Constantly being self-aware of any triggers that would keep me up at night was just the consequence of trying not to lose my shit on a daily basis. Which was another reason to become cold and detached. If I didn’t care, I didn’t get hurt. Having two parents who were junkies didn’t help my anxiety. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, and I never forgot it as much as I tried.
Right when the stillness was becoming too much, I reminded her, “You have an hour.”
She grabbed the paper, writing:
* * *
The only clothes I own are black.
* * *
With that, she gestured to the closet, and there in the corner was a pile of pitch-black darkness. Most of it looked old and tattered, and for another reason I couldn’t explain, it pulled at me. My gaze shifted to the stuffed animals that were on the floor in the corner of the closet. I recognized them immediately. They were comfort items from CPS.
Did she run away from them?
She noticed what I was looking at and reached for the handle to close the bifold door, but I stopped her.
I blurted, needing to know, “You were in the system?”
She hesitantly nodded, eyeing me cautiously.
“Is that what you’re running away from?”
The question lingered in the air, along with her worry about what I’d do with the information, as I answered the question for her.
Not ceasing my interrogation, I pressed, “Where are your parents?”
Again, I should have known better because she wrote down, challenging…
* * *
Where are yours?
* * *
I argued, “I asked you first.”
Her stare narrowed in on me.
* * *
I don’t know.
* * *
There in three little words, I was shoved to the edge, crashing to my demise, and I sincerely replied…
* * *
“Me neither.”
Chapter
Sixteen
Kraven
We stood there at a standstill, neither one of us moving or making a sound.
What can I say?
She’d seen my true colors, flashing bright and bold in front of her eyes. My truths were like a warning in the night, telling her to steer clear of the jagged rocks that approached. Like the current of a river, the force of gravity dragged her down the stream right along with me.
There was beauty in her pain.
Realizing we had a lot more in common than I ever considered was magnetic for me. We’d been taken by CPS a few times, but through it all, in the back of my mind, I always knew Julius would reunite us. I wouldn’t admit it to him, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. I had someone who loved me and made damn sure we weren’t separated after all these years.
Despite often bumping heads, we fought to stay together. I couldn’t imagine battling that alone. If she had someone to look out for her, they would have found her already, and it took this moment between us for me to truly grasp that concept.
Question after question plagued my thoughts. Each one more unforgiving than the last, tumbling around in my head. I didn’t give any thought to what happened next. I swore I moved on autopilot.
One minute, we’re in Julius’s room, and the next, I’m leading her into my parents’ bedroom, only stopping at my mom’s closet.
I glanced at Isla, who was standing frozen behind me. I couldn’t remember the last time I was in there, let alone with someone.
And not just anyone.
Her.
My brother’s girl.
I wasn’t surprised when she mouthed, “You don’t have to do this.”
Our mom kept everything. She bought stuff simply on a whim, leaving clothes with tags still on them. I didn’t have any personal attachment to the clothes I handed her. They were all new and never worn. The second Isla grabbed them, I was out of there. Slapped in the face, I hastily realized what I’d done and who I’d done it for.
I left her in there.
Not with just my demons…
But with my parents as well.
Isla
I think I just stood there, shocked for a good minute, contemplating what the hell just happened. I’d never been in this room, and now I was in there alone, trapped with the ghosts that were still very much living inside these walls.
I didn’t snoop. I grabbed the first dress that looked like it would fit me and hightailed it out of there. After I was ready, I stood there in front of the mirror, looking at the girl staring back at me. Her hair red and vibrant, beaming against the white color of her dress that fit her body like a glove.
I didn’t recognize my own reflection. I had decided to go light on my makeup too. I felt like the girl I was never allowed to be, the one I was supposed to be. It was such an eye-opening experience I never expected to have. I never considered things like this.
Parties.
Outfits.
Boys.
Now, throwing in wearing a dress their mother picked out added a whole lot of confusion into the mix. She had good taste. She must have been petite like me since the dress fit as if it were made for me.