Page 44 of Promise to Break

He found me. Killian, not my dad. Now that I admit to myself who's running after me, I want to hide even more. To hide from him and from myself.

"Move out of my way," I call to the people around me. The dress Raven convinced me to wear is slowing me down, and so do the heels.

"Wild Child, stop."

"No. I can't stop. I don't want to stop. Fuck you, Killian!" I yell over the music, and the moment I curse him, it stops, and my scream sounds like an echo.

"You can't hide from me, child." The voice of my father is still there in the back of my mind. Keep running, Maricela. Just keep running. You'll be safe if you run. Just a little bit more, I promise myself.

Someone grabs me by the hand. I yell as loud as I can, knowing no one will come for me. No one ever has.

"Maricela!" It's not him. The smell of tobacco and alcohol isn't here. Instead, a fresh hint of spices and mint hit me at once. An expensive smell, his smell. I'm safe. It's not Dad. He's dead. He took his own life with alcohol. I'm safe. Or am I?

The events of a few minutes ago play in my mind, and all I want to do is scream as loudly as I can. Those games he plays hurt people. He purposely hurt his fucking fiancée.

What do you want from me? Why me? The questions beg to be let free, but I don't allow it. Killian may not be my first tormentor, but he's a monster, nonetheless. He's probably done worse things than my sperm donor father.

Killian is dangerous to my sanity and to my recently found morals. Still, I stop running. The promise I made when I escaped the House of Dreams is still in effect. I'll stand up for myself no matter what it takes.

My breathing is shallow as I look at those dead, vacant eyes, the glimpses of life and humanity I've seen in them gone. The man standing in front of me is The Ax himself. The need to run takes over again, but this time, I don't move. I don't run, I don't ask questions, and I don't give him the satisfaction he's seeking.

"Don't touch me. You don't have the right." His hand leaves mine. I'm sure a mark will appear there, reminding me of my weakness for days to come. I walk away, my steps steady and slow now. Determined.

A group of clowns, who look as if they came out of a horror movie, smile at me with huge teeth and beg me to take a balloon. "Just one balloon," they say.

"How is it worse than the laxative trick?" Killian asks behind me, but I don't answer him because he's right. I'm no better than he is. I could have hurt Killian terribly if I had gone forward with my plans. Hell, I did hurt Kai with my plans of revenge. Would I make Killian suffer as he did with Lila? After all, that was my initial plan.

What was that Liam said? That Kai needed a doctor and that he was lucky they had one on call? And I know that if Raven and Julian hadn't stopped me, I would have hurt Killian with that poison ivy just the same.

It scares me to admit it. It fucking terrifies me to no end.

"Stop!" he barks again, and I do. I'm too tired to even walk away from him.

Looking around, I notice for the first time how far from the party we are. We're practically alone here in the shadows of the trees. I don't know how big this place is, but the clowns and people who were here a second ago are gone, and the music sounds far away. A few guests walk by, but for the most part, I've left myself vulnerable.

I stop near a pool that looks as though the water has been painted red. It's creepy. Why would someone want to swim in such a place? I just don't get rich people.

"You walk fast for someone so small, Wild One." We both know that if he wanted, he could have stopped me much sooner, no matter how fast I can walk or run.

"What do you want, Killian?"

"I had to do something to pay back for what she did."

"No, you didn't. You wanted to show me who you really are. I get it. You're a dangerous man, more than I'll ever comprehend. But she's going to be your wife, the mother of your children, and you purposefully hurt her. Do you have any idea how painful that stuff is?"

"I don't, but you do."

"Fuck you, Killian. You don't have the right to avenge me, especially when she did it because of you. Your future wife did your bidding. So now what? You want to fuck me so badly that you'll throw away your human side? Just like that?"

"She won't be my wife."

The sound that comes out of my mouth following his statement isn't nice. He doesn't try to apologize because people like him accept the monster within themselves. They live in a world of havoc and distraction. They're the ones who create it.

I say, "Even if you're able to escape your promise, you shouldn't have done that. She's hurt."

"She hurt you." His tone is harsh, but he doesn't scream. He just states it as fact, a fact that annoys me.

"Because of you," I repeat. "You're responsible for every single bully who's come for me since I came to this school. You're responsible for every time I had to walk through the hallways with shit being thrown at me, reminding me that I couldn't do jack shit about it because if I did, you would hurt my sister. You're the reason I don't take showers in the locker room. You're the reason I take my school books everywhere I go and why I've had to pay for more uniforms than the other students with the money I earn on my own. All of it is your fault."

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