Page 36 of Darkest Deception

That was long before this, and since I hired her, there is no need for me to be here anymore, yet here I am.

She takes a deep breath in, closing her eyes for a moment too long.

I take this time to watch her. To just look at her.

For one second.

Two seconds.

Three.

I keep looking at her, watching the way her slim nose twitches slightly when she breathes out. Her lower lip is just a fraction fuller than her top one. I see her dark lashes, the faint purple veins on her eyelids, the tinge of red to her cheeks from the shower, and the faint sparkle of water on her face.

Everything. I see everything.

And only then, just as I am about to count the droplets on her face, does she open her eyes.

Earthy brown, swirling with tinges of a softer honey colour.

They prove to be a lot softer, a lot warmer, than when she is biting at me.

My heart bounces inside me.

“What touch?” she whispers, her eyes wide and curious. “I-I will give you anything, but don’t touch me.”

When I raise my hand, she cringes back against the door, shutting her eyes tightly. I drop my hand.

“Why? Are you repulsed by me?” I tease.

“I hate my body. I hate to be touched. So please don’t,” she whispers.

My amusement flees.

12

Age sixteen

“Make sure you don’t talk to them, okay?”

Aurora nods, her lips pressed together as her determined eyes watch me.

How could I protect my sister from the horrors within the walls of this school?

Warning her would do her good. She will know what to expect, will know what to do, so she doesn’t make the mistake I did.

Aurora smiles at me, then turns and walks away. It feels as if a piece of my heart has walked away with her.

It’s my last year in secondary school, the last year before I can leave and never look back at this place. It may be a private school, and Dad has paid big amounts of money for us to study here, to get a good education, to live and learn amongst the elite. Yet the only thing I have learned to do is to hide my fear well.

My heart drums inside of me as I make my way towards my first class of the day, of a long final year, while my heart twists inside of me in terror.

One last year of fighting. One last year of surviving where no one sees my battles.

As soon as I enter the classroom, the lights dim and I realise no one is here. My breath catches in my throat, and panic sets in.

It’s like I have been locked inside a small place with no way out, thrown into deep water with no oxygen tank as I struggle to breathe. Like something is wrapped around my neck, strangling the life out of me.

The door slams shut behind me. I flinch and spin around.

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