Page 128 of A Love Like Venom

When he finally looks in my eyes, his that have grown dark with a fine glass sheen, I realize the pain I see in them is for me.

"Alice.” His voice is strangled with choked emotion. There is so much that he wants to say but doesn't know how. There is still so much that my mind can't seem to understand. I think he sees that. That even if he did say something I wouldn't be able to process it.

"She knew.” My voice is barely above a whisper. Then it grows stronger as the anger begins to return. "She knew and did nothing."

"Angel, I am so-"

"Don't you dare say sorry, Reed. This isn't on you. You're not to blame. She is. Her andhim."

Moving my gaze from him I find myself staring down at my sister.

My older sister.

A sister who was meant tocareabout me.

A sister who was meant toloveme.

A sister who was meant toprotectme.

And she did none of that.

I always thought she was poisonous but this . . .

This is the definition of evil.

"What did I ever do to you?"

Slumped on the floor she swallows in large quantities of air. I hope each one she intakes burns more than the last.

"Tell me, what did I ever do to you?!” I demand, my voice vibrating with unbridled fury.

She begins to laugh but it comes more out as a wheeze. "You were born. Isn't that enough?"

Reed's hand squeezes tighter in mine or is it me squeezing his hand tighter? Either way it's the only thing holding me back from striking her. "No, that's not a good enough reason."

Rolling her eyes she replies, "What do you want me to say, Alice?"

"I want a valid reason for why you hate me. One valid reason, Caitlin!”

Her eyes turn sinister as they narrow at me. She spits out, "Because you ruin everything. We could have been a happy family if you weren't born. Dad would have stayed. Mom wouldn't have to spend the extra money on you. And every time she found a new guy they found a particular interest in you. Not only did you do all of that but you took something that belonged to me."

My mother's words have warped her mind. In her eyes I can see that she believes everything that she has just said.

She believes that I'm the root of all their problems.

I’m the villain in their story.

Despite all her false claims there's one I want to make clear. "I never took anything from you or anyone. I'm not you and mom. I don't steal."

"But you did. You took him from me. You took Reed. I would see how he looked at you. Saw how he would drop everything including me when you called. I was his girlfriend yet you were his number one priority. Tell me how that's not stealing."

Then I explode. "Because he was never yours! He doesn't belong to you. He never did! I met him first. I befriended him first. I fell in love with him first. He was mine before he was ever yours. And you want to know something Caitlin? Something you will find incredibly hard to understand. I. Love. Him. I love him so much that I can't breathe without him. My love for him iseverlasting. Wherever he will go I'll follow and you want to know why because he's myhome. He's everything to me and you have no idea what that means. You might have been in a relationship with him, Caitlin but yourlovefor him was shallow. You did nothing for him. No, you only hurt him more. You took a damaged heart and crushed it further. I didn't steal him from you. You can't steal something when it was never yours to beginwith. He might have been with you but it was me he loved. It was always me, Caitlin. You never stood a chance."

"You fucking bitch!" She then begins to charge at me but the sudden draw of Reed's gun causes her to freeze in her tracks.

She stands a few inches away from me and I can feel the heat coming from her. Her face is boiled with rage as her eyes are crazed.

"You take one more step closer to Alice and I will pull the trigger this time." His warning is more of a threat.

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