Scarlett Romero has spent her entire life as an ordinary citizen; going to school, getting a job and definitely not killing people in the middle of the woods on a Friday night.
Until one Friday night, she does.
All she can remember is acting out of...
*feels an emotion* Who in the fuck authorised this?
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Chapter Twenty-Two "Does This Count as a Mental Breakdown?"
Scarlett's POV:
My world stops. In front of my eyes, I see every moment I've had with my best friend. From pushing her off the park swings, to helping her cheat on her French test, to comforting her after her first heartbreak, and to everything in between.
The problem is the rest of the world keeps spinning. No one else is bothered by the announcement, time doesn't stop, and I can't pause this moment like it's a bad movie. Nobody else cares, and that hurts just as much as knowing saving Natalia and Mason has led to Kylie's death.
"And it's all your fault," Tolkien finishes, keeping his gaze locked on mine, and I realise the hold up in the music room wasn't their plan. This was. To have me know everything, to not keep me in the dark. They want to show me exactly what exposing myself has done.
They can be as cruel as they goddamn want.
Alexander stands in front of me, blocking Tolkien from view and bending so we see eye-to-eye. He's trying to say something, but I can't hear what it is. There's a ringing in my ears, so loud all I can do is watch Alexander's mouth open and close.
I grip my hair in my hands and squeeze my eyes shut, like it'll stop the "Kylie is going to be executed" from playing like a broken record in my head. Then the whispers start, of the earth, fire, air and water, feeling my anguish and wanting to dosomething about it.
Before I can get a handle on them, I feel the ground beneath my feet groan and split. I open my eyes with a gasp, wrapping my arms around my waist. The crack in the floor grows steadily, creeping between my feet and reaching for the guards, like a monster in the dark.
Alexander grips onto my shoulders and shakes me. The ringing in my ear's fades, and I almost wish I had it back. Guards are yelling, only just noticing the two prisoners in their midst. Alexander isn't loud, but I can hear him over everyone else.
"Go now, Kylie later. Come on, Scarlett, got to snap out of it," he says, and despite the steadiness in his words, his grip on me tightens. I try to swallow past the lump in my throat, but it just makes everything feel heavier.
"Okay, yeah," I nod, latching a hand onto his forearm and blinking the fog away from my eyes. Alexander wastes no time, spinning around and nearly running back into the first floor. The guards let us go, and I'm unreasonably pleased at that, until...
"Get them," Tolkien announces as the door closes, and a raucous of heavily armed prison guards launch themselves after us. Alexander swears, and I'm not sure if it's because I know of Kylie's fate or the fact I triggered this series of events, but I don't care if we're caught.
