Page 76 of Altered

The house was a total wreck and I knew I should get up and clean, but I just didn’t have anything left inside to give.

I could hear the sound of Jordan retching and gagging from the bathroom upstairs, and still, I remained on the couch. Just staring lifelessly at my phone.

I sat like that, empty and frozen to the bone, for what felt like an age before finally giving into the overwhelming feeling of exhaustion.

Reaching up, I pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around my body, desperate to ward off the cold in my bones.

I kept the light on because the dark affected me now.

I was no longer the carefree woman I once was.

The woman who was unafraid of the shadows lurking in corners.

I was wary now.

The loud, booming knock on the front door several hours later caused my nerves to go haywire, and my heart to slam against my ribcage.

I knew exactly who was at the door, he came around this time every night, and it made me sick to my fucking stomach.

The knock sounded again and was shortly followed by heavy footprints on the floorboards upstairs.

Anger coursed through my body and I threw off my blanket and stalked into the kitchen. Grabbing the sharpest knife I could find, I hurried to the door, desperate to get there first.

When I swung the door inwards, I was greeted by the same tall, disheveled, rat bastard drug dealer who'd been preying on Jordan's addiction for weeks.

"Get the fuck away from this house," I snarled, holding the knife out in front of me.

"Hey, lady," the guy said, hands up when he noticed my weapon. "I don’t need no trouble."

"You better leave him the hell alone and never show your face at this door again," I warned. "Because if you do, I will cut your fucking heart out."

"Hope!" Jordan shouted from behind me, but I didn’t stop. Instead, I feign-lunged towards the dealer, causing him to stagger backwards in surprise.

I slammed the front door seconds before I was being roughly yanked backwards by Jordan.

"Why'd you do that?" he demanded, shaking me like a ragdoll, eyes crazed. His pupils were so dilated there was hardly any green left. "Fuck, you're so stupid."

"And you aren’tyouright now," I screamed, dropping the knife so I could literally wrestle myself out of his hold. "You don’t know what you're doing to yourself," I hissed, backing myself up against the front door to barricade him from going outside and getting his next fix.

I was terrified that the next time would be hislast.

"Get out of my way," he barked, twitching violently. When I didn’t move, he roared, "Get the fuck out of my way, Hope!"

"No!" I screamed back, finally managing to shove him off me. "I can't watch you do this to yourself –"

He hit me.

Shock encompassed my features and I could do nothing but gape in horror at the stranger in front of me and hold my stinging cheek.

His hand bit down on my arm, and I was dragged away from the door, causing me to land roughly on my butt. Shocked to my core, I watched as threw open the front door and stalked out of the house, chasing after the man who held the ingredients that had turned him into the monster he had become.

I'd read all about this; how crazy and selfish and plain evil addicts could be when they were chasing a fix.

And now I'd witnessed it first-hand.

My face bore the brunt of his addiction.

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