Undead

9; all falls down

Akila

I called myself a quiet storm. I got my point across much better when I was subtle with my anger, rather than bursting a blood vessel from yelling. Silent but deadly is what I call it. I was seething with anger, grinding my teeth together, but nobody on the outside would never know because I would never show it. I didn't need to.

I grabbed my silver iPhone and dialed a number as I trudged into the apartment and locked the front door. I kicked off my shoes and tugged off my jacket and hung it up on the coat rack, all while the phone was ringing in my ear. As soon as it clicked, I started getting angry all over again. "Are you alone?"

"I answered the phone, didn't I?" There was a chuckle on his end of the line, and I wanted to yank his jugular from his neck. "Yes, I'm alone."

"I will fucking murder you, Kane," I grumbled to him, gritting my teeth. "You're out of your damn mind."

He laughed again. A smooth, unnerving laugh, but I wasn't laughing with him. I was furious. "Akila, I'm already dead. Halfway, anyway."

"Then I'm going to finish the job, Kane. Are you crazy?"

"Define crazy, Kila. What're you talking about?"

Initially, I didn't put two and two together that the Kane I knew was the same Kane that Chris met at rehab. Hell, he's his roommate. What're the odds? But now that Chris mentioned him while having lunch with me, I connected the dots. Kane made up some twisted backstory to get enrolled in the same exact program that Chris was signed up for, charmed his way into getting roomed with Chris, and now he was driving him crazy - which is the total opposite of what Chris needed; Chris needed to get better, not dig a deeper hole for himself. I wanted him home with me for good, not bouncing in and out of rehab for the rest of his life - and certainly not trying to commit suicide every so often.

"You followed my boyfriend to rehab." I flipped off all the lights in the apartment, padded my way to the dresser and grabbed one of Chris' hoodies to wear for bed. "What, you didn't think I would find out?"

"I knew you'd find out," he muttered nonchalantly, "That's why I did it, Kila. You can't keep an eye on him, I can. I'm doing you a favor."

"I didn't ask you to do me a favor." My phone was on speaker so I could switch clothing, but I didn't bother raising my voice so he could hear me. It wasn't my problem if he couldn't hear what I was saying. "I don't need you following my boyfriend around, Kane. I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself and him."

"So tell me how he ended up in the hospital from trying to kill himself," he fired back, and I could hear his jaw clenching.

"He's still alive, isn't he?"

Kane scoffed to himself then sighed out loud. "Look the nigga will be back any minute, I'll talk to you later or whatever. Bye Kila." The line clicked when he hung up, and I threatened to call him back and give him a piece of my mind like I really wanted to - but it wasn't worth it.

I called him back anyway. "He's catching on to what you are, Kane. He talked to me about it this morning."

"Whatchu mean?"

"I mean, you're doing a terrible job at staying hidden. A paper cut, really nigga?"

"You want me to just not react when the nigga is bleeding three feet away from me?" I didn't answer him and he clarified. "You know how long it's been since I fed on someone? A fuckin' week! You know how hard it is to get blood while I'm stuck in this bitch?"

I groaned as I slid into bed and laid on my back. "Nobody told you to follow him, Kane. That's on you. I'm sure you can hypnotize someone to let you out for an hour or two."