Some Kind of Evil; 𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏

chapter twenty-one

゜✧*̣̩☽⋆゜

[ chapter twenty-one ]
"Like dominoes, a whole row of them came crashing down in a cataclysm of wood, dust, and books."

゜✧*̣̩☽⋆

Liv could feel the thrum of blood boiling in her ears, could feel the heat of anger rise from somewhere deep inside, buried in the hollow pit of her core, painting her cheeks the colour of lively flames. She didn't even have time to think, she just ran, taking Jason's fall as her only chance of escape.

     "Olivia!" He lashed out, voice echoing off of the walls and filling the once-quiet library with a cascade of roaring syllables.

     No doubt people were starting to look up from what they had occupied themselves with, curious as to who was disturbing the silence. Liv could hear the stir—the folding of papers, the closing of books, the hushed murmurs that all seemed to ask one question: What's going on?

     Liv hurried past volumes lined on shelves, her breath coming out in huffs, and her sneakers scuffing the floor. She crossed in between another set of shelves. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, Liv thought to herself as she navigated through the labyrinth of books, trying to find a way to the basement. Get Nancy and Robin. Get out of here.

     But just as she fled the aisle, a hand reached out, digging into her wounded shoulder like a claw. For a moment, she was unkindly reminded of the monster. The one that had infiltrated her home, the one who showed her Chrissy's pleas for saving. But it wasn't the ugly creature. "You bitch," Jason spat in her face. Blood ran down his nose in streaks of violent crimson.

     "Fuck you!" Liv brought up her knee with all of the force she could muster, all the pent-up grief and anger she'd yet to process. It landed in the center of his groin. His mouth fell open, eyes wide as he stared at her with agony glazing over the fury. The library was silent once again, save for the sound of Jason's knees meeting the floor.

     Get Nancy and Robin. Get out of here.

     But there was no way she was escaping him like this, not without a distraction.

     Stopping in her tracks, a smirk crept across her face. She started running in the direction she'd just come from, avoiding where Jason was undoubtedly still writhing in pain, but close enough that he saw her pass by. "Hey!" He called out, trying to grab hold of her, one hand pressed to his crotch as he tried to stand.

     But Liv didn't stop, she couldn't be stopped. Not now. Jason's words were playing in her head, over and over again, like a scratched record. You wanted it, didn't you? What she wanted was to scream a bloodcurdling scream.

     You wanted it, and you got it.

     No.

     Was that why you lied?

     Stop it.

     She was embarrassed to be your sister.

     Make it stop, make it stop...

     She was scared of you.

     Fuck off!!

     Before she could stop and pull herself back out of making yet another poorly calculated decision, Liv was screaming. The library echoed back her grief in a horrible symphony of woe. And then suddenly she was running head-on into a shelf of books, arms outstretched.

     It was moving under her hands, she could feel it tilting, could hear the books on the other side begin to fall off the shelf one by one, hitting the floor in a jumbled mess of echoing bangs. Something wet was staining her face—tears, they were tears—as the shelf finally tipped.