Off-limits

Chapter 17

"I want it the other way around Ryan. She's my sister and he hurt her, I will see the light leave his eyes myself. You will stay here with Kayla, tell her I had to go back to work, I assume she's already fallen back to sleep."
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"Kayla we only kept the truth from you to protect you. You shouldn't have kept this from us, this kid has been abusing you for who knows how long."
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"Shut up Ryan. I want -no I need, to know the truth. And I need it right now. Be honest for once In your damn life, is Justin going to kill him?"

"Yes."
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" Don't worry Kayla this is all a bad dream."

Just a bad dream.

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I sat up straight in my bed, tears streaming down my face.

'What the f*ck was that?!' I thought to myself, sobs tearing through my chest.

The dream was too real, more of a memory than something that my subconscious could ever make up.

Why? Why was this happening?

I felt a stabbing pain in my head as though it had been slammed into a wall of concrete countless times over.

I hadn't forgotten this dream when I awoke and it felt so real. I could almost feel Ryan's arms around me, his breath hitting my neck, and then a sudden pinch of pain before everything went black, with those words constantly repeating; It's all a bad dream.

I reluctantly rolled out of my bed with a raging migraine and shakily pulled on a pair of sweatpants. I glanced over at my bed side clock to see that it was 11:30 in the morning.

I made my way downstairs to the kitchen to find Justin sitting at the kitchen island with a mug of coffee in his hands.

"Morning Kay." Justin cheerily said before he looked up from the caffeinated beverage.

"Damn you look like you were hit by a bus, are you okay kid?" His eyebrows furrowed in concern as I walked past him to the medicine cabinet to grab a couple drugs to try and ease the hemorrhaging pain.

"Kayla what's wrong?" I felt Justin come up behind me and place a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

I felt a tear fall down my face purposely keeping my back to him as I trying to form the questions I so desperately wanted answers for.

"Justin, you would never keep important information from me would you? You're my older brother and I love  you so much, but lately I've felt that you aren't you I've always thought you are. Please tell me that I'm crazy, tell me that I'm wrong." I let out a shaky breath before turning to face him, tears streaming down my face as I looked into the eyes of the one person that has been there for me, guiding me, and supporting me as long as I've been alive.

My goofy, overprotective older brother.

"Kayla I think you need to rest you're not making any sense right now and I'm-"

"Justin. Please. I need answers, cut this I need rest bullshit and give them to me.  Who are you? And why have I been feeling this way?" I stared deeply into his eyes and swore that I saw a completely different person lurking behind them.

"Kayla Marie Adams. I am your older brother and I love you more than anything in the world. I would do anything to keep you safe, and that will never change. I would say that I've never kept anything important from you, but I respect you enough not to lie to you. I'm sorry that you are going through this right now but now is not the time to-"