Chapter 101 Full-blown Chaos
1335words
My heart was on fire and I was beyond exhausted. I couldn't wait for the school day to be over, but not so that I could go home. I wasn't ready to face my parents. That was if they were even my parents, to begin with.
My mind kept pulling back to Kayn. I needed to tell him what Rake had told me, and to be honest, just freaking cry. I never imagined I'd turn to him, of all people, first when my world shattered. Yet, here we were.
I didn't know how I was going to tell him about Aria. I couldn't even begin to imagine how this must feel for his family, when they find out she'd been held captive in some facility somewhere, no doubt getting tortured and experimented on. To think my mom, or well, the person I thought was my mom, was now working for these horrid people.
I sighed, rounding the corner into the girl's bathroom, almost walking into Belinda.
"Watch where you are going," she snapped. When she took notice of the depleted look on my face, she stiffened. "Is Kayn okay? What did you do?"
I pushed past her. "Just go away. I'm not in the mood for your crap."
Of course, Belinda followed me to the cubicle. As I tried to shut the door, she pushed it back open. "I haven't seen or heard from him since Wednesday, and he hasn't been to school. And you don't look so great." She leaned closer. "I know about that dumb connection thing you two have. So, something's up."
Of all the things she said, the only thing I registered was the part where she mentioned that she hadn't seen or heard from Kayn. The ugly, little green-eyed monster stirred inside my chest. "You are talking to him?"
"Yes, of course I do," she scowled. "We go way back. You can't just expect us to never talk again."
I huffed, trying to close the door, but she blocked it with her foot. "Belinda, go away. Please."
"No." She crossed her arms. "What did you do to him?"
"I didn't do anything to him," I raised my voice. "Go talk to Ember if you have any concerns regarding him."
"She refuses to talk to me," Belinda snarled. "She's also very defensive over you. Which is clearly another indication that's something's off."
"Yes, but it has nothing to do with you," I scowled.
"If it has anything to do with Kayn, it has everything to do with me," Belinda hissed. "You stole him from me!"
"You're crazy," I huffed. "How can I steal him if he isn't mine? We're not dating, idiot. Don't think because we have this, as I also like to call, this dumb connection thing, that we're together. We're not. Okay? So get over yourself and accept he dumped your ass because you're just a shitty person."
A hiss escaped from Belinda's throat, her eyes glowing. You know, like angry mermaid glowing. Unfortunately, unlike when it made Kayn look utterly mesmerizing, Belinda just looked downright scary. I stepped back as she waved her hand and the main door to the girl's bathroom slammed shut and the lock turned.
"Didn't Kayn warn you not to mess with our kind?" she snarled.
I gulped, suddenly regretting my choice of words, even though I did mean them. "Belinda, whatever you're planning to do. Anything you do to me affects Kayn immediately. You know that, right?"
Hopefully, that would work as a diversion. A frown marred her forehead before her lips cracked a malevolent grin.
"Good thing toilet water won't hurt him, then."
"Water?" My eyes widened. "Wait, Belinda—"
My protest got replaced by gasps. The kind you made when you couldn't breathe. I wanted to scream until my lungs exploded with fire, but no sound escaped me. Belinda's eyes shot wide as my legs went limp beneath me and I dropped like a dead fish to the floor, clawing the tiles with my fingers in desperation to fight the agonizing pain rippling through my body.
I fought to utter the word, "Help," but it came out as another torturous gasp. The world swam in my vision as I felt water roll off me and onto the floor beneath and around me.
I couldn't move, talk, or dare to breathe.
"Carly? What the hell?" Belinda squealed. "Crap. Crap. Crap!"
"Help," I spoke into the toilet water on the floor. I was in too much pain to even care that some of it were getting into my mouth. I was going to die. I could feel it.
The bite to my skin was worse than acid, and I could feel bones snapping inside my legs and weaving back together.
It was a special kind of hell no one should ever go through.
Belinda cursed, snatching up her bag from her floor and withdrawing something from it. My vision zoned out, and I drifted off to blackness. For how long, I couldn't say for sure but I could hear her frantically asking Ember for help.
Help, yes. I need help.
I tried to move, claw my way out of purgatory, but my body felt glued to the spot.
"Don't move," Belinda breathed. "Ember is on her way."
The words barely left Belinda's lips when the main bathroom door rattled. "Belinda," Ember whispered. "Open the damn door."
Belinda unlocked it, cracking it wide enough for Ember to slide in. Just as she was about to close it, Rake followed, pushing back the door and locking it. When his eyes fell on me, he muttered a curse. "Well, this is unfortunate."
"What the hell is he doing in here?" Belinda scowled. "Get out."
"And risk other students seeing this?" he asked pointedly. "I—"
"Just shut up," Ember hissed at them. "Before you two screw this up even more. Carly is in pain. Now is not a great time for your crap!"
They both fell silent as Ember gently placed a hand on my back, fishing out her phone from her pocket and pressing it to her ear. "Mom, go to Kayn. He's going to need you."
In my hell, his name was like a beacon. "Kayn…"
"Shh," Ember instructed. "It's okay. You'll be okay."
Hysterical screams pierced the cellphone and Ember sighed. "Mom, he's okay. Just stay with him. Carly—uhh, she's in water. It'll be over soon."
Kayn's agonizing screams mixed in with Adriane's panic was almost worse than the pain I felt. "Make it s...stop," I croaked.
"I can dry her up in no time," Rake offered.
Ember shook her head. "No, then she'll have to go through the process again. We need to speed it up. Belinda?"
"Fine." Belinda sighed, heading to the first sink and opening the tap. When she was done, she moved on to the next one. And the one after that, until all of them were open.
"No," I heaved. "Please. I can't...No."
Ember plucked down beside me, linking her arms around my body. "You're going to be okay. I'm staying with you. It'll be over soon."
Before I could muster another protest, a wave of water washed over me, knocking the air from my lungs. My body felt like ice, even when the water burnt like acid, eating away my skin. I couldn't hold back the horrific noises spilling from my mouth, and Ember reached to cover it.
"Is it locked?" she asked I don't know who.
"Yes. No one can get in," Rake answered.
"Good—shh, it's okay. It's going to be okay."
Through the hellfire, I could hear Kayn's piercing cries and Adriane screaming for us to hurry the hell up.
If only she'd know how badly I wished to hurry this up. I couldn't fathom how anyone believed we'd be okay.
We were going to die.
