At Second Sight

Chapter 9

***I have six more chapters left, but I've already hit my word count for this book...what is life? LOL AND read this: If you're triggered by abusive situations, do not read the part encased in bolded braces (they will look like this: '{' and '}'). No sexual abuse occurs. Okay, uh...hope you like :) ***

***(Kai's POV)***

Skylor sighs, burying her head in her hands. "You're not going to like this," she warns me.

"I wasn't expecting to. Your ex sounds like a jerk, Skye."

She wipes at her eyes. "He was." Then, she steels her face. "Kai, where did I leave off when I was last talking to you about this?"

"Uh, I think it was about how he took all your friends away, both boys and girls." I could knock this guy's teeth out.

"All right. Um, so anyway, he separated me from everyone I loved. He tried to tell me he could be it all, but...he didn't try to be it all. He was always late for our dates, yet he yelled at me when I was running behind. He made me call him at the same time every night, yet he almost never picked up. But when I failed to call, he told me I didn't care about him. He kept threatening to leave, but I didn't know who I was without him."

I find a rock and throw it as far away as possible, letting out a growl. "Skye, tell me who he is, and – "

"He's nobody, Kai. He doesn't matter. Not anymore."

My eyes search hers. "Did he hurt you physically?"

She sighs. "Not...really. Not the way that you think."

My eyes widen in alarm. "You're not telling me he – uh, for lack of a better word..."

She shakes her head. "No, Kai, he didn't...sexually assault me."

"Then tell me," I beg her.

She brings her head to her knees. "It all happened one night when we were supposed to be on a date. The sun was setting, and the color reflected off – why am I telling you this?" she frowns.

"Why are you – Skye, you have to tell me! I can't help you if I don't know – "

"That's not what I meant, Kai." She comes to sit in front of me, training her tear-stained eyes on my angry ones. "I can share my memories with you," she whispers.

I clear my throat. "If you can share things you remember, does that mean...since you read my mind and now have resulting memories, you can share with me the night of my parents' death?"

"No. I've tried that kind of thing before, but because I only have memories of memories...the experience only translates into associated emotions for the other person. So I could make you feel sad and in pain...but what's the point, if you don't get anything out of it?"

"Oh," I sigh. "Okay. Well..." I gently grasp her wrists. "Please share your memory of your ex-boyfriend with me."

She inhales deeply. "Okay." Her hands come to rest at my temples again. "Just relax."

"That's kind of hard to do when the best kisser I know is this close to my lips."

She doesn't laugh. "Clear your mind, Kai. This is serious."

"I know. That's why I'm trying to take the edge off things, but I guess only Jay's any good at that." I stare deeply into her eyes. "Skye...no matter what happened, I still care about you. You know that, right?"