Page 29 of Torment

He fell forward on his hands, but he didn’t fall over. Hunter kept his face up, like he was offering it to her as a goddamn sacrifice.

“I told you to leave me. I told you I didn’t need your goddamn help, but you wouldn’t fucking listen,” she screamed. “You should have walked away from me when I told you to, but you goddamn didn’t.”

“Scarlet,” he whispered, his entire face covered in blood. It still wasn’t fucking enough. More punches, and she kept on crying, screaming while she punished the man who gave her hope.

She wasn’t done. She wasn’t close to being done. Her fists pounded away at his face while images of Brent, Willow, Hunter, James—all of them blurred her vision to nothing but bright, blood red. Finally, all her anger had taken control of her. Her insides were a fucking mania of everything black, dead, and destructive.

“I’m sorry, Scarlet,” Hunter said, out of breath, blood oozing out of his mouth. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

“Fuck you! Fuck you, Hunter! You don’t get to say sorry.”

He hung his head down for a few seconds. “I’m…so…sorry.”

She could see his arms shaking while he kept himself upright. He was on the verge of collapsing, but he slowly lifted his head, turning his face up toward her.

He wanted more. He wanted her to keep on going, to keep on punching him—to make him bleed.

“Hunter…” She breathed out when the red fog started to slowly clear from her mind. Faster and faster her heart beat, her blood turning colder by the second as she started to slowly catch her breath. What the fuck was happening to her?

She sucked in a breath. “I’m done. I’m so done.”

Hunter spat out blood, pushed himself up, and stammered back to his feet.

When he managed to stand up straight, wiping the blood on his face with the back of his sleeve, she moved closer.

Keeping her gaze locked on Hunter’s, she gave two more steps closer. “You know what the worst part is about all of this?”

Hunter looked away, down to the floor, but she kept her eyes fixed on his bloody face.

“You made me hate her. Because of you, I now hate my dead sister.”

His gaze found hers, and Scarlet relished the look on his face, a look of pain, a look of defeat. She allowed herself to wallow in the pain he was feeling. She soaked it all up, letting it feed her anger.

She cocked her head to the side. “I will never forgive you for that. Never.”

“Scarlet, I’m so—”

She turned around and walked away. All she wanted to do was get away. She needed to get away from it all. Brent, Riggs, James, Hunter…Willow.

All of it.

Chapter 9

Hunter flinched as the nurse stitched up the cut above his eye. Good thing they had a nurse on the premises, or Hunter would probably still be bleeding all over the gym mat.

“Feel better?”

Hunter glanced up and saw James leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

He turned back to the nurse. “Oh, I feel just perfect. Can’t you tell?”

James snorted. “Did it work?”

“Did what work?”

“Your plan.”

Hunter flinched again as the needle pierced his flesh. “What plan?”

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