Knife's Property

S I X

Strawberry is 21 years old in this chapter and Knife is 22 years old.

Brandon thought he was doing a nice thing by handing me my pencil and touching my arm, but he couldn't have been more wrong.

His kind eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled at me and handed me my pencil but all I could do was stare at him in horror.

He touched my arm, his fingertips lingering against my bare skin. That was a death sentence in my world.

I closed my eyes, trying to imagine how I could save him, but I knew there was no way. When I would try to defend them, it would make Knife angrier. They wouldn't just have their necks cut open; they would be tortured. Their mutilated bodies never found again.

I opened my eyes and stepped away from his hand. I walked away without looking back, hoping to all of the gods out there that he would be okay. I would see him in class tomorrow and he would be beat up, I knew how to lower my expectations by now, but he would be alive.

I slipped an earbud into my right ear, still listening to the world around me but this time it was tinted with Taylor Swift. I didn't stop walking until I reached our tree. I slid down the trunk until my ass was on the ground and my feet were crossed in front of me.

I started college a few months ago. It was a college that wasn't far from home and wasn't too close either, I could stay the weekend without feeling guilty for ignoring dad but could also drive back when I was homesick.

It had a great psychology department and didn't focus too much on timed tests but assignments. Lana and Evelyn were also studying here. Lana is studying business and Evelyn is studying biology. Our schedules weren't too bad that we never saw each other, we still met up at least twice a week. The rest of my days were spent in class or studying with Knife. Or just with Knife in general.

The main reason why I chose this college was because Knife went here, I wouldn't have had a choice anyways about going to a different college, it was out of the question.

Knife wants to be a surgeon, he'll still be in the club but his career with say 'Surgeon', or whatever the title will be. When he told me this, I found it both comical and extremely fitting. He liked seeing people's insides, liked the warm liquidness of blood and he didn't care if they lived or died. I once read that psychopaths made the best surgeons, I didn't doubt it for a second.

Knife has leaked into every single part of my life the past three years. When he went to college and I was still in secondary school, I was a lost mess without him always by my side. He still had tabs on me, I always felt eyes on me wherever I went. I knew not to step out of line or to talk to any males because they always ended up injured or dead.

My stomach twisted uncomfortably as I remembered Brandon's smile handing me my pencil. He was only doing something nice for me and he would wish he didn't. He was a late starting student, today had been his second day of classes because of his previous sports team back home. I only knew this because of the ice breakers we had to do in class again so he wouldn't feel left out but Knife wouldn't see it that way. He would see it as betrayal and like Brandon was trying to pull something.

"What happened?" Knife's low voice asked suddenly. I startled, my hand flying to my chest.

"Jesus, Knife! Don't sneak up on me like that." I tried to calm down, something not entirely possible when his amused chuckle reached my ears. I glared up at him, ready to tell him to go away. My words died in my throat at his expectant face. He wanted me to answer the question.

I lifted my hand in the air and he easily pulled me up, his arm moving to wrap around my waist and slam me into him. I grunted with the force of it and his smirk widened.