Page 73 of Dare To Fall

But he couldn’t hide the truth of who he was for long.

The video changes. In this one, the boy is a little older. He’s dressed in a dark suit, with one arm in a cast strapped across his chest. I know without looking that the left side of his face is swollen, both his eyes are bruised, and his nose is broken. He moves carefully, and tosses a single red rose down into the hole in the ground.

This, students of Churchill Bradley, is where the monster was born. Brought to life by the death of his mother.

The video changes to a set of photographs—of my face after the accident, my broken bones, my back.

Look your fill, students of Churchill Bradley. Behold the Monster.

The cell phone drops from my hand.

***

“Oh my god!”

“Let her go!”

“Fuck. He’s going to kill her.”

“Eli!”

“Eli. Stop!”

I blink, and the voices reach me as though through a wall, muffled and faint.

Where the fuck am I?

I shake my head.

Blue eyes, wide and fearful.

Red lips parted on a silent cry.

A hand wrapped around a throat.

Everything comes into focus in a rush of noise and images.

I have Arabella pinned against the wall, my hand around her neck. My face is close to hers and I’m swearing, snarling, and snapping at her. Her fingernails are biting into my wrist as she tries to break free.

Hands are on my arms.

People are shouting.

And then one voice reaches me.

“Leave Arabella alone!”

My fingers flex and drop from her throat. She sags, sucking in gasping breaths. But she’s no longer my focus. I turn slowly, eyes searching out the person who’d called out.

There he is. Ginger hair, and freckles across his nose. A nose my fist connects with almost as soon as I see it.

One punch becomes two, becomes three. Blood sprays from his face and my knuckles. He raises his hands, trying to protect himself, while others try to drag me off him, but I’m beyond reason, beyond fury.

And then a voice I recognize reaches me.

“Eli, enough. You have to stop.” A hand touches my shoulder.

My next punch falters and I drop my hand to the ground, bracing myself while I catch my breath. I don’t stop Kellan from hauling me to my feet. Words are being spoken, but they’re unintelligible, washing over my head. All I can hear is one voice, over and over.

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