Gangs Aren't My Style (A Black Death Novel)

Chapter 56 - The Girl Who Could Scream But Never Be Heard

Gangs Aren't My Style

Book I of the Black Death Trilogy

PART THREE :: Cast Your Armor Down

Chapter 56 - The Girl Who Could Scream But Never Be Heard

He was doing to again, and he didn't even know it. Ally's walls were crumbling right in front of her eyes and she was powerless to stop it. Kyle was creeping back into her heart little by little, but if she was completely honest with herself, he had never actually left.

"What's up with you?" Kyle asked suddenly, sounding as if he'd been holding the question in but couldn't take it anymore.

Ally looked up from her hands in surprise, her eyes flying to meet his, two shining sapphires that could see right through her. Shying away from his gaze, she hoped that, by some miracle, it could shield her heart from him. "What are you talking about?" she asked, knowing exactly what he meant but hoping that he would let it go.

When his sigh of frustration rang through the room, Ally knew he wasn't. "I'm talking about how when you're alone with me, you're tense and won't look me in the eye. You were fine when Damon was here and now that we're alone, you're back to flinching every time I so much as accidentally brush your hand in passing."

She shook her head, not wanting to explain to him the real reason for how she had been acting. He couldn't know that when he touched her, if even barely, it made her want to pull him in to her, wrap her arms around him, and never let him go. She could not allow herself to believe her life could actually be normal once again.

"It's late, we should be getting to bed," Ally said finally, standing to her feet and effectively dismissing the topic.

Kyle didn't make any attempt to move for a good two minutes as she stood there shifting awkwardly under his gaze. Finally, he sighed, moving towards a small closet to pull out a blanket and pillow. "You can have my bed, I'll take the couch," he said, moving to lay the bedding on the couch.

Those innocent words triggered so many hideous memories. Ally cringed and backed away from him, knowing he would not hurt her, but unable to vanquish the memory of another man voicing that very same statement. She reacted quickly, fully aware of the flashback that would over one her should she not intervene, and took the pillow and blanket from him. "I'll take the couch."

"Why? My bed would be much comfier..."

Ally cringed, her eyes flickering nervously as she fought for a cover answer. Kyle did not deserve the burden of all the pain and memories she had carried on her shoulders those past few years. "It's your room, I'll take the couch."

Something in her gaze must have made him back off, because he simply nodded before making his way back to his room. Sighing in relief, Ally spread out the blanket and laid down, wondering how a day that started so well could end so horribly. Being with Kyle was supposed to be the one time she didn't have to flinch away, yet there she was doing it for a completely different reason. She punched the pillow and bit her lip, wishing for just a moment in which she could scream out her frustration. All the stress was wearing her down and bringing back memories. Kyle tearing down her walls unknowingly making her face them. Ally knew to get over them she would have to tell someone what had happened. She knew that to be with Kyle she would have to tell him the truth. But, sometimes the truth was just too hard to tell.

This was her way of dealing with the pain. She pushed it away and locked it in the recesses of her mind until all that was left were the scars. It was her agony to deal with, her story to tell.

With the thought of silence in mind, she closed her eyes and attempted to get a few hours of sleep.

Ally walked away from her car, wrapped around a tree directly behind her, as the sirens began to fill the night. The cop cars pulled into the circle surrounding an old town square with one tree planted in the middle, long since overrun by the muck of the town. She pulled her jacket around her tighter, shivering from the cold as she sunk further into the alleyway, shadowed in a blanket of darkness. Blood ran in a stream from her forehead and one leg of her jeans had been ripped. The material was smeared in blood, rapidly becoming more soaked as she stumbled forward.