Calloused

12

I laid in bed, staring at my ceiling. It had been several weeks since H and I had trained at the gym. My father was pleased at my progress with getting along with H. Although we spared a few details. My father was also very pleased with the latest information we had gathered on Vincent.

It took a lot of digging and harsh interrogations to finally dig up some leads.

It turns out he had a place downtown, a warehouse where he had been making illegal drugs and selling them to the local crackheads. He was practically using them as guinea pigs to test out the different kinds of concoctions he'd been creating.

Long story short, he was killing them due to the fact he had been mixing in different rat poisons and fertilizers.

Sure they were drug addicts, but they were still human beings. As soon as we discovered what was happening, my father went on a rampage around the house. He couldn't contain his anger any longer. H and I sat in the kitchen for a while until he finally managed to calm down. My mother wasn't very happy about my father breaking all of the things in the house but... I suppose it would give her something to do. An excuse to rearrange and redecorate again.

I slipped out of the back door and out on to the back patio. I pulled out a cigarette from my pack and lit the end of it with my lighter. I inhaled and exhaled the smoke, feeling my nerves calm a bit.

The night air smelled crisp and clear as a breeze blew by.

"Didn't realize you had acquired such a nasty little habit, Princess." H's voice sounded from behind me.

"Don't act like you're so innocent." I scoffed, taking another drag.

"No, I know I'm not innocent. Although you don't see me trying to hide it." I could hear the smirk on his face.

"I'm not.. hiding." I grumbled as I turned to glare at him over my shoulder.

He had one lit up, the cancer stick pinched between his thumb and finger. He placed it between his lips, and sucked on it for a few seconds before pulling it away. He exhaled the smoke, staring back at me.

"Sure, if you say so." He shrugged.

"Fuck off." I growled, taking a few more drags from my cigarette before tossing it on the ground. I stepped on it to make sure it was out before walking towards the pool area.

"Where are you going?" H asked accusingly.

"For a swim." I called over my shoulder. I knew he'd follow me, he was my guard dog after all.

"In the middle of the night?" He questioned my decision once more as we walked down the pathway and around the corner of my large house.

Once the large, heated pool was within eyesight I started to strip down to my underwear. I left a trail of clothes behind me, not giving a fuck that H was hot on my heels.

"This is stupid, put your clothes back on." He continued to complain. I didn't listen as I continue to walk up to the edge of the pool.

"Skylar. Why are you doing-" Before H could finish his sentence I dove right in, head first into the deep end. I sunk to the bottom, letting my mind go blank. I didn't worry about H's complaining or my father's outburst. I was content in that very moment.

I sat at the bottom of the pool for a few more moments before I decided to return to the chaos above.

I resurfaced only to find a very upset H glaring down at me.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He growled. I rolled my eyes as I continued to float in the water. I stared up at the sky, ignoring H altogether.

I yelped as I felt a pair of hands yank me towards the shallow end of the pool.