Page 76 of Bleed for Me

Rosalie’s smooth voice sliced through my thoughts again. “I just want to be left alone.” She sighed, dropping her gaze to her hands where they were wrapped around her knees.

My eyes darted to the scratch on her neck and then back up again. “So you can kill yourself?”

She scoffed. “I went to Seven for a reason. This place is locked up tight. Figured he could slice my throat or choke me out or something.”

The way she said it was so monotone—like she had no will to live. Like the thought of death didn’t scare her as it did most people. Even if that were true and she didn’t have a way tomurder herself, she still had the desire and motivation to get it done. If she saw an opportunity, she’d take it. I shouldn’t care. She wouldn’t be the first person to die in this place and she certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Despite everything I’d gone through after killing Kaydence, there hadn’t been a single moment where I thought death would be better for me. Somehow, I knew it would get better even if it felt like hell at the time. That was my motivation to keep pushing forward. I wasn’t scared to die. If it happened, it happened. That was life.

My eyes snagged on the small, faded cut decorating her left cheek. I’d seen it before, but never had the chance to ask about it. “What happened to your face?” I asked, ignoring her earlier comment.

Instinctively, she raised her hand and allowed her fingertips to brush along the wound. “Alina and Rachel.” She snorted as if it were amusing to her. Then again, why would she take it seriously if she was so obsessed with dying?

I couldn’t fault her for that, though. She didn’t know the sadistic twins like we did. They were the kind of girls who would set you on fire, watch as you burned alive, and revel in the scent of cooking flesh like it was a new trending fragrance. They weren’t the kind of girls to attack like that unless they had you cornered with no way out. Since Rosalie was obviously alive, something had to have happened.

“Did they say why they went after you?” I pressed, absentmindedly.

“They told me to stay away fromyou, more or less.” She shrugged.

Annoyance flickered inside of me, awakening the darkness that danced along the edges of my skin. Those bitches thought they owned me and Jordan. I’d only fucked Alina a couple of times, and it hadn’t been much to brag about. Not that shewasn’t good. She just neededmore. She enjoyed inflicting pain. Not in the way Seven did. Seven’s version could be a turn on for both parties involved. Alina would have severed my hand while riding me if she could and would proceed to lick the tears from my face. She even managed to choke me out once while on top. When I tried to pry her hand from my throat, she punched me. That was the last time I fucked her. Never again. I could deal with some pain during sex but fearing for my life while getting laid wasn’t exactly appealing to me.

“You’re doing a pretty shitty job of that.” I smirked smugly, even though I knew we were the ones following her around.

“Yeah, well…maybe you should leave me the hell alone. I’m not your problem.”

She seemed different—not that I knew much about her, but the first couple of weeks she was here, she was quiet, reserved, easy going even. Now, she seemed hopeless. Like she had no will to keep moving forward. The light had faded from her eyes. She just seemed to be a carbon copy of the person she used to be. What had changed between now and then? What was she like before she came here?

There was a red ring around her eyes like she’d been crying or was on the verge of it. Her skin was blotchy and dry, and she refused to look me in the eye like she was ashamed of what I’d see if she did.

I remembered seeing her mom at her first visitation but haven’t seen her since. I’d overheard her useless boyfriend talking about how hard everything’d been for her, like he had the right to know her mom better than her. It struck my curiosity. I wasn’t ashamed that I’d been eavesdropping. It was a public area, and Rosalie had been positioned between my table and Seven’s.

I turned on the bed, my body facing her completely. Her knees were still drawn to her chest, my gaze trailing down herlong legs to the curve of her round ass where her feet hid it from view. “What’s your mom like?” I asked.

She scoffed, glancing at the wall behind me where the door resided. If she was thinking about making a break for it, she wouldn’t make it off the bed before I caught her. She must have realized that because her shoulder dropped in defeat, and she finally met my eye. “She’s a drunk and a junkie. Yours?”

My parents might not have been alcoholics or pill poppers, but they also had their own faults. They still tried their best, but I doubted that knowledge would make Rosalie feel better, so I shrugged instead. “They’re alright.”

“They?” she asked, amusement laced with curiosity sparkling in her eyes. “You have two moms?”

A huff of laughter escaped me, and I shook my head. “Just the one. What’s your dad like?”

As soon as the question fled my lips, I winced. She had a stepfather whom she killed. Obviously, her father didn’t live with her. That didn’t mean she didn’t have one, though.

She drew her lips into a tight line, glancing at the wall behind me again. “Never met him.”

I nodded, deciding to leave it at that. She could tell me on her own terms what she thought of her stepfather. If she murdered him, I doubted he was anything to brag about.

She let out a sigh, a flash of vulnerability crossing her features. “My stepdad didn’t kill my sister, if that’s what you were wondering. I did. It was an accident, though.”

“Maybe we’re more alike than you think.” I winked despite the tightening in my chest.

She shrugged. “Maybe. Do you ever hear things, or seethings?”

My heart started racing at her question, my eyes darting back to hers. She wouldn’t ask that if she wasn’t experiencing it herself. “No,” I admitted. “Jordan hears things, though. Why?”

She rolled her lower lip between her teeth in contemplation before she shook her head. “Nothing,” she muttered.

“Does Dr. Blake know you hear and see things?”

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