She wanted to die.
He wanted to live.
•••
A hand grabbed onto my wrist, yanking me back just as the train rushed past, before I'd even had time to comprehend whether or not I'd carry out the action. I stumbled back into the person's chest, my hear...
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It was dark when I woke up.
Not just literally, but the air was riddled with something sinister as an eerie silence rang through the house. My bedroom curtains were drawn but no daylight from outside could have entered regardless, since the sun had said its goodbyes while we'd been sleeping and swapped roles with the moon, casting a faint glow across the bed as the moonlight flitted in through the gaps.
It was never silent.
Shouting, or music, or the TV, or His snoring, or another glass being thrown against the wall - there was always the sound of at least something, if not more.
I glanced towards Theo's resting figure besides me, my sleepy disorientation taking me a few seconds to remember why he was on my bed as I immediately thought the worst. It wasn't until I caught sight of my rucksack leaning against my bedside table that the events of today flushed over me, and I let out a small sigh as the memories didn't hit with any less force despite the time that had passed.
Romeo. Tate Modern. Graffiti. Stars.
Removing Theo's arm around me with careful movements so that I wouldn't wake him up just yet, I slowly sat up, fumbling around for my phone before I picked it up from the tabletop adjacent to my bed. I rubbed my eyes before covering my mouth as I let out a yawn, turning on my phone and doing a double take when I saw the time on the screen.
"Eight hours..." I whispered disbelievingly to myself, blinking at the device as though the numbers would magically transform into an earlier time, but all that changed was the digit on the end as a new minute begun. I lowered the brightness on the screen in a daze as my brain failed to comprehend the numbers I was seeing, although the darkness from outside was a confirmation of the evening nightfall setting in early as it did around this time of year.
That was the most amount of sleep I think I'd ever had. Getting six hours was a miracle in itself - and that would barely get me through a school day if not for Theo's presence - let alone a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. My body felt groggy after being still for so long, as though not being jolted awake was an unwanted change to the routine I had learned to accept would never change.
Reluctantly, I rolled out of bed with an ungraceful drop to the floor as I landed awkwardly on my side, causing Theo to stir slightly in his sleep before remaining still again. My heart was hammering against my chest and it appeared as though I was on guard for no apparent reason, but the sound of silence so late during the day couldn't mean anything good, and I could sense the tangible disturbance that the air was swarming with.
And then came the footsteps.
Booming as He climbed the stairs, the echoing shouts of his movement caused me to stand up in a panic, my gaze darting between the sleeping boy in my bed and my dented bedroom door without a functioning lock. I could be naive and assume that He wasn't on His way to find me, but considering my luck so far I wasn't willing to risk a run in between Theo and my dad - especially since it was silent.
