Page 17 of Dollface

“Why?” I sobbed into him. “Why me? Why did you choose me? Why won’t you let me go?” He squeezed my body while I hit him some more. “Why, Sabbath? Why?”

Sabbath kissed my head. “Because.” He hugged me. “Because I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t choose you, Rosie. It just happened. You can’t choose who you love?—”

“No!” I ripped away from him. “You don’t get to say that to me!” I pounded his chest in absolute rage and heartbreak. “You don’t get to use that word!”

“Rosie.” Sabbath stepped closer, but I stepped back as he did. “I swear, I didn’t know when we first met.”

My hand raised, and I pointed at him. “Liar. Liar!” He shook his head. “You chose me. You chose to trick me and lie. You seduced me and used me. And then—” My chin quivered as I tried to speak through my sobs and the pain of the memory. “You killed them. All of them. You killed my brother,” I wheezed. “You killed Ozzy.”

Sabbath stepped closer again, and I just shook my head and grabbed my arms. “Rosie, please.” He didn’t stop. “I didn’t know until it was too late!” He grabbed my arms and shook me. “But I had no choice!” I cried at his words. “You can hate me until the day you die, Rosie, but I swear, all I ever wanted was you. I love you, Rosie.”

“No!” I slapped him away. “Liar!”

Sabbath’s face darkened. “Stop calling me that.”

I stood tall and raised my chin while I glared back at him. “Why? You don’t like hearing the truth?” He clenched his jaw. “Well, here it is, brother.” I stopped directly in front of him. “You never loved me. You learned about your dad’s new family and decided to seek your own sick and twisted revenge on him for leaving you. You used me. Tricked me. Made me think you loved me. All while what you wanted was to make him pay for not loving you.” Sabbath’s face burned with anger. “Yeah. There it is. That pain you feel in the depth of your stomach? That burn and ache? It’s called hatred. And that's all I have for you.” My eyes burrowed into his. “I hate you, Sabbath. And even though you scarred my body and think you bound us that night, you willneverhave me.”

Sabbath smirked and grabbed my waist. He pulled me close and kissed me hard. My hands pushed against his chest as I tried to break free, but he only kissed me harder. He only stopped when he whispered into my mouth. “The fact that you speak so fiercely of hating me proves that you still love me, Rosie. That fire burning within may seem like hatred and rage to you, but it’s not. It’s much deeper than that.” He kissed me again, only this time, his tongue slithered up to the roof of my mouth. And no matter how much I squirmed or hit him, he didn’t stop until I slapped him across the face.

I was able to break away enough to breathe as his jaw hardened. His face immediately turned bright red, and I felt fear trickle up my spine. Shit.

“There she is,” he purred. “There’s my spitfire.”

I hated when he called me that. “I’m not yours.”

Sabbath ruptured into laughter. “Deny it all you want, but our souls are tied together.” He stepped closer and tipped my chin up towards him. “Just feel the proof forever imprinted on your back.” Sabbath dropped my chin and brushed past me.

My back ached, and my arm swung around to touch the center of my back. The scar was tender; the same scar I woke up with after the night everything happened. The night he claimed we bound our souls in a blood oath on the basement floor. I turned as he kept walking. “Where are you going?”

Sabbath looked over his shoulder. “To the bonfire.” My face hardened. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep our past a secret. Just try to behave yourself, sis.” Sabbath winked before he continued down the path.

Don’t call me sis.

I waited until Sabbath was a few steps ahead before trekking behind. “I’ll fucking behave myself,” I muttered. “Should just push your ass in the fire. That’ll fucking do it. Behave myself,” I mocked Sabbath.

“Not even close to how I sound!” Sabbath called back to me.

I made a face.

God, I fucking hate you.

FOUR

ASTER

“Well, look what we have here!”Solomon shot a gleeful smile back to the rest of the counselors as we lined up in the cafeteria line. “Looks like Dirty Doug can’t get enough of the kitchen!” We all giggled and laughed.

Doug was standing on the other side, wearing a hairnet and apron, shoveling food onto the campers’ trays. After the bonfire last night, Nurse B had caught him trampling around drunk. Pretty sure this was his punishment. But I wasn’t sure who was more upset about it. Him, or Beatrice.

Doug made a long face. “Ha-ha. Yeah, just sit there and laugh it up, pretty boy. You should be thanking me. If old Nurse B hadn’t caught me, she would’ve found you doing something much worse.” Doug grinned, and Solomon’s smile fell. He then dropped an extra piece of breakfast sausage onto Sol’s tray with a wink. “I know how much you like your meat.” Sol threw it back at Doug and walked off.

Beatrice walked over next to Doug, and he instantly stiffened. You could tell she was annoyed and fed up with him, which only made his punishment a bit funnier to the rest of us. She ordered him around and swatted his hands with a spatula every time hemade a simple mistake. I looked away to see Solomon and Wolfe at the counselors’ table. They were whispering about something.

That’s odd.

“You seem to be drawn to that counselor.” I turned to see Sabbath standing next to me. He was dressed in a camp t-shirt, but instead of the uniform shorts, he wore his usual preference of jeans. Always the rebel.

I gripped my tray and tried to control myself. Sabbath had remained oddly quiet and somewhat normal at the bonfire the night before. He interacted enough with the others, and they seemed to accept him, but I didn’t. I knew he was up to something. Something bad.

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