Page 37 of Sour
I groaned in pain as he stood and walked over me. “Now look at what you made me do, Koven.” He gripped his head, his midnight blue hair rustling in all directions as he began to panic. “I never wanted this. I never wanted to hurt you! But you just keep pushing and pushing. Poking your finger deep into my wounds. Fuck!” He kicked a chair across the room, and I jumped at the aggressive display. “All I’ve ever wanted was for us to be together. That’s all I wanted! Don’t you see that? I want to protect you, to give you everything you could ever need! Why won’t you let me do that?”
Ziggy’s face had turned red from his loud shouting.
I slowly rose, groaning as my head throbbed. “I’m not some possession for you to own and do with as you see fit, Ziggy. You want me to protect me? How? You didn’t protect me from your father, or BJ, or anyone else that’s used me just like you have.”
“I never used you, Koven,” he growled.
“Yes, you did. You always have! Thisthingbetween us is nothing more than a sick bond, formed from our shared trauma! It’s poison!"
“Shut up,” he groaned.
“You’re poison, Ziggy.”
My stepbrother shook his head. “No. Shut up. Shut up!”
My head pulsated. “You’re the only one hurting me, Ziggy. You.” I stumbled to my feet and glared up at him. “And you can’t protect me from yourself.”
Ziggy shoved me back again. My back slammed into the side of the operating table, and before I knew it, Ziggy had his hands around my throat. “I told you to stop,” he gritted through clenched teeth. “Why can’t you just listen to me? Why can’t you let me love you, Koven? Why?”
My mouth gaped open as I desperately tried to breathe, gasping for air. “Z–iggy.” My nails clawed at his arms.
His eyes were bloodshot and a single tear rolled down his face. “I just want you to love me, Koven.” Ziggy began to cry as he tightened his grip. “Why can’t you love me? Why does no one love me?”
And there it was, the real pain he’d been carrying his entire life. Ziggy wasn’t traumatized from being beaten or enduring his tortuous treatments here in the asylum. He wasn’t scared of losing me. He just wanted the one thing he never had. He wanted someone to love him.
“Ziggy,” I wheezed. I dropped my hands and stared up into those haunted ocean eyes. “If you kill me—you kill the only person w–who ever loved you.”
I’ve died once before. And if this was my time to die again, then so be it. But I would die trying to survive.
Ziggy’s entire demeanor changed. His face softened as he translated what I had just said. “Skittles.” And just like that, he released my neck.
My body fell to the floor as I inhaled sharply. Air surged into my lungs, and I coughed, clinging to it. Ziggy fell to his knees and grabbed me, slamming his mouth into mine. “Koven,” he breathed into me. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He reached into his pants and pulled out a small key, unlocking my handcuffs. They fell into my lap as he grabbed my face and kissed me. Instead of fighting or pushing him away, I let him kiss me, melting into his arms as I too lost myself. And soon, I was grinding against him, moaning between passionate kisses and desperate cries.
Time felt as if it had frozen, leaving us stuck in this little pocket of hell as I let him fuck me, enjoying myself a little too much. We didn’t stop until we heard a loud bang in the distance.
“What was that?” I asked.
Ziggy quickly dressed and placed his hand along the side of the operating table. “It must be the driver coming for Eydie’s organs.” He turned to look at me. “It’s our way out, Koven.”
“What?”
Ziggy smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear. “I did it, Koven. I found our way out of here. Just like you wanted. All we have to do is run. You and me. And then, we’ll be free.”
Free. What a foreign concept to even comprehend after so many years of suffering.
Ziggy stood, helping me to my feet. “I’m sorry for hurting you.” He leaned against the operating table, his hands on either side of me as he kissed me.
His head pressed against my forehead. “I’m sorry too.” Ziggy slowly lifted his head as the sound of the cuffs clicked tightly around his wrist. He looked down into my eyes, and then moved past me as his gaze fell to his wrist, now cuffed to the operating table. “I’m sorry, but the only way for me to be free…is without you.”
“Koven.”
I ducked around his body, kicking the key across the room. Ziggy tried to yank his hand free, but it was no use. The operating table was bolted to the floor. The only way he could escape was to unlock the cuffs.
“Koven. Koven!”
I turned and began to walk towards the sound of the driver he mentioned.
“Koven, you can’t leave me here. Koven, you can’t leave me! Koven!”
