Split- The Company She Keeps

Chapter 9- The Mess

Casey sat with her eyes closed on her bed, legs tucked up against her chest. Dennis had been stood in the corner of the room with his back turned for what must have been around an hour. Her fingers were brushing through the blood on her wrist that she had not allowed to dry. She could feel it. Something was changing. Something was shedding its scales.

Dennis had stayed kneeling over her for a long time, staring at her face. When he finally moved, it was to lift his hand and brush the matted mess of hair from her face. Casey's legs had gone dead from his weight for a while and she didn't notice him shift them off of her to instead kneel either side of her thighs. And then there he was, leaning down towards her. Oh, God. Her eyes had closed as she got ready for him to close the gap between them, but then flashed open as she felt his bloodied hand turning her jaw and his nose on her neck, by her ear. Too scared to move, the teen remained perfectly still as he breathed in the smell of her. It was terrifying and intoxicating at the same time. Or rather the feeling of a hot breath on her neck was intoxicating. But it was only seconds later that he was torn away, hands on his head. Stumbling to his feet, Dennis mumbled to himself without looking at Casey and turned into the corner where he had remained in silence, taking deep heavy breaths. 

The blood that had smeared on her face had gone unnoticed by the girl who had remained in a stunned silence. He was there and then he was touching her and then he was gone. Just like that. Again. Dennis and his rules that harnessed him into such a tight hold. Casey wasn't comfortable with how much it made her want to see him unleashed. The real Dennis. 

Opening her eyes at the sound of movement after so much stillness from the corner of the room, Casey spotted Dennis in the bathroom. He ran the tap and proceeded to wash his arm. His face in the small mirror was complex and hard to read. His OCD had got the better of him then. He had to clean up the mess. He was definitely reigned in. But as his eyes met her face in the reflection , he stopped washing his arm and instead got a hand towel, soaking it in the water before turning off the tap. 

The man didn't speak and neither did Casey as he sat in front of her on the bed with the towel in hand. She could hear her heart beating in her ears as he began to reach for her face. The wet towel was warm as Dennis gently wiped at the dried smeared blood on her jaw, eyes focused through those glasses on getting every spot. Casey was letting herself blatantly stare at him as he cleaned her up, trying to see the others in that face but finding it impossible. It was just Dennis. She couldn't even spot her little Hedwig in there at all. It was all Dennis and could never have been anyone else. She may have seen him change into this man but it still seemed impossible that there was anybody but this mysterious intimidating man within that body. This was just Dennis. 

His last wipe of her face was then repeated with his thumb, raising goosebumps on Casey's arms and thighs. She wanted to touch him back. No. She didn't... Yes. She did. Raising her bloodied fingers ever so slowly and careful not to make him jump or flinch,  Casey placed them on Dennis' cheek. It seemed so bizarre to her. A girl who had only known the violence of what she had been told was love.  Who had been shown that intimacy was painful and rough and scary. Casey could not comprehend how the light touch of skin against her face or her fingers against anothers could make her stomach flip and her breath catch in her throat. But she didn't want it to stop.

Dennis hadn't even pulled away from the mess she had made on his face, letting her trace her fingers from his cheek down to his mouth, curiously stroking over his bottom lip, an unreadable expression on her face. He was no better. Casey could feel his eyes burning into her face as she focused on her fingers leaving the shiny trail of red as she explored. But she didn't meet them with her own, worried about what she would find there. The rise and fall of the man's chest was heavy and rhythmic, lips parting when his nose didn't give him enough oxygen to process what was happening in his mind. 

Caseys fingers remained on his lips and time seemed to stop. She was scared, only a fool wouldn't be. This identity was dangerous, maybe the most dangerous. It could be the danger that caused such an attraction. It wouldn't be unheard of for someone damaged like Casey to find someone so overbearing and controlling almost a comfort. She scolded herself for trying to justify what was occurring between the two of them and reminded herself that it was taboo and wrong. That didn't stop it meaning something though.

Any kind of brain function ceased however when Casey's fingers met with the lightest touch of her captors tongue, testing, tasting his own blood. Seeing her eyes grow wide at the sensation, Dennis sealed his lips shut and pulled away, removing his hand from her cheek and pushing the towel into the teens shaking one, rising from the bed.
"N-no-" The word came feeble and weak from Casey's mouth, watching him move away from her, hand on his forehead and walk with purpose out the room. He left her unmoving on the bed, dumbfounded and a little hurt at his skittish exit. Casey stared at her fingertips that had just been, what she considered, kissed. 

// Morning all, I was a little unsure about this chapter but I thought the best thing to do would be to upload it and see what you all think. It explores the idea that neither of them have experienced what we would consider 'love' and it's so interesting to discover what each one considers that to be. It's a massive change from anything I have written before on other sites etc and I'm loving it. As usual, thank you all for reading and leaving such lovely comments! Please stick with me even if you didn't feel this chapter and if so, let me know why. I know it's a slow burn but I'm trying to keep it as I believe it would be between these two characters. See you with an update soon!//