When dawn came, it was around five in the morning. I was still awake, and staring at the wall had been fine until I realized I had been doing it for the past two hours. I shook myself out of my sitting form before sliding off the bed, shivering, and making my way to the bedroom door, blanket wrapped around my chest.
I snuck down the hallway careful to make as small of an amount of sound as possible. When I got to the ninth step up on the stairs, I used the railing to help lift myself up and over it, knowing it was the one that squeaked when much weight was put on it.
That step was how Luke had gotten me to calm down after many scary movies that got too far under my skin.
He told me that the stair would act as an alarm system if anyone came upstairs to kill us and I had been freaked out enough to believe anything.
I stumbled through the living room, looking at the empty couch Luke should have been in in confusion when he was nowhere to be seen. Making my way into the kitchen, Melissa nearly made me die from a heart attack when I saw her there in the same 'middle of the night sneak' stance I was in. She let out a quietly horrified gasp at the same time that I jumped back from terror.
"Did I wake you?" Melissa asked in genuine worry. I shook my head, swallowing hard.
"I haven't been able to get to sleep tonight?"
"You haven't slept at all?" She clarified. I nodded.
"Yeah, I actually have something for you..." I trailed off, thinking of the reason I couldn't sleep. Melissa cocked her head in interest. "I'll be right back."
"I'm going back to my room so I'll meet you upstairs." She suggested. I nodded once more. While she filled a cup of water, I started making my way upstairs, not as quietly, still suspicious of where Luke was. When I got into my bedroom, I noticed my hand shaking. I picked up the letter I had written for Melissa, watching it flutter in my trembling fingers.
I met Melissa by the door she was going into. We stared at each other for a moment. I took a deep breath and then I held out the letter.
"I really appreciated that letter you gave me. And I knew there were some things I would never be able to choke out orally but I was pretty sure I wanted you to know no matter what." I explained. She took the letter.
"Thank you, Madeline." Her lips quirked gently into a smile. I nodded again before awkwardly dismissing myself from the conversation and walking back down the stair way.
YOU ARE READING
Stepbrother (Sequel to Stockholm Syndrome)
General Fiction"I just want you to know how terrifying it is to have no control. Like, physically, no control over what happens to you. Nothing. Being at the mercy of someone else's hand." The look he gave me was glazed over with pain. "The thing is, you aren't th...
