WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD ✸ Joel Miller

xx. Parker

[ CHAPTER TWENTY ! ]

parker.

2018

"SHE'S DEMENTED, MIKE. SHE KILLED both of her parents! Stabbed them seventy-two times each." Shelby's exaggerating. I'm not demented. And the two bitches deserved it. 

I told Jim that in confidence too, so why he told his loud mouth wife is beyond me. 

"She's our niece! We can't just toss her to the curb." Jim has his hand raised for a moment before stuffing it in his pocket and letting out a deep sigh. Then, he glances at me in the corner.

"We need to go to the police!" Shelby's face in almost as red as the blood that poured out of my mother's neck. And the image makes me almost smile. Almost. 

I let go of the shoelace I had tied around my finger and clear my throat. "Don't act like you didn't want her dead." 

"What?" I don't have to look at her to see the furrow of her eyebrows or the frown on her lips. 

"You hated her just as much as I did." 

She doesn't say anything, but I can hear the hard steps of Mike's boots against the floor as he walks toward me. 

He crouches down, eye to eye with me. "Parker," He blinks, and his blue eyes soften. "I'm not going to let anyone take you. Alright?" 

I don't know if I should believe him. I don't want to believe him. But something deep down--in my gut--is telling me that I should. That he might actually be the total opposite of my dad. I find myself nodding before being able to help it.

He smiles. "You can stay here for as long as you'd like, alright? I--" 

"If you do this," Shelby cuts him off, but I keep my gaze focused onto Mike. "Mike, I swear to god. I'm going to the police." 

Mike turns his head but doesn't quite look at her. He thinks for a moment. Then, he reaches for his gun and he shoots Shelby. His wife. My aunt. 

2022

"HEY, DID YOU, UH, GET THE bandages like I asked?" Mike questions, tossing his backpack onto the ground. His voice is huskier than it usually is and I can tell something is up.

I close my book shut with a shake of my head. "No, I didn't think it was urgent." Then, I stand up and approach him. I grin, nudging him with my shoulder. "Did you have fun with Aria last night?" 

He doesn't respond at first, he just stares at the ground with blank emotion. There's so much going on behind his eyes but I can't read anything in his features. The color of his skin fades and he turns to me with a sorrowful gaze and I'm now really fucking aware that he's going to tell me something that just might change my life. And it's when he pulls his hand up and pushes it through his hair that I notice the giant bite mark on his wrist. 

My mouth opens, ready to say something, but no words come out. I want to say something but my mind has gone blank and my mouth has run dry. 

His face shifts as he watches realisation creep upon my face. "It was bound to happen sooner or later, P." 

I can feel my eyes well with tears as my vision grows blurry. I can hardly make out his face when a warm tear slides down my cheek. "Mike." 

He just looks at me. Doesn't utter a word, doesn't try to. Just stares at me with broken hope and curled lips. I think he realizes just how much I'm falling apart inside because he pulls me close to him and allows me to break down. 

His scent is still strong and I know this is going to be the last time I'll get to smell this. Him.

This is goodbye. I can tell. 

And honestly, I really don't know how to feel. I'm overwhelmed with emotion but feel so empty. 

"We'll figure it out. You'll be okay." 

a/n

this is just a filler chapter i needed to get the whole 30 chapters so..