Page 3 of Madness & Mayhem

The girl below me tries to fight back, attempting to get me in any way she can, but I’m too far gone, my anger too high, and I can do nothing but continue to pin her against the sand, my bloody, cracked knuckles dripping across her pale skin.

She stops fighting.

She stops moving.

AndI. Can’t. Stop.

My head tilts toward the starry sky, darkness above me, darkness inside me, and I inhale the tangy scent of blood and death as it fills the air around me.

A scream rips through my throat the same moment I’m lifted off of the girl. Strong arms wrap around my waist, and I’m pulled away from the crowd. I arch my back, feeling possessed by death, a sob breaking from my chest as I see my best friend, my fuckingCreed,lying face down in the sand.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

I scream rips from my throat, and I’m sure I look like a monster, a savage animal with blood and sweat across her face and body.

“Shut the fuck up, Lakyn. The police are here,” Kyler growls, gripping me tightly.

My body locks up, my spine arched against his hard muscles, and that’s when I hear it.

The sirens.

The ambulance.

Shit, it even sounds like a damn firetruck is here.

The groaning of a door opens, and my body grows limp with each step as Kyler’s feet pound quickly through the empty lighthouse. It’s smells like liquor and mistakes as he pulls me across the first level, through a door behind the stairs, which I realize is a small bathroom.

He slaps the light on and sets me roughly on the small counter. The cool tiles are a shock to the back of my thighs, my skin on fire, though quickly turning to ice in the room that feels like a damn morgue.

“What the fuck!” he roars in my face, his eyes red, cold, and tormented.

Glossy with tears.

My chest opens a new slew of pain to see the agony filling his face, and I can’t help but reach forward, my fingers curling into the flesh of his chest. His pec twitches under my grip, and I want to bury into his warmth, though the look on his face has me shuddering in place. He’s vibrating with an energy that could shake the world.

His heart pounds, erratic, thumping heavily against his suit coat.

“I didn’t kill him,” I croak, pain bleeding from my pores. A sob breaks from my chest, and I want to crawl on my hands and knees back there until I’m in front of Creed and I can weep for him.

Mourn for him.

Kyler growls, his fingers gripping my jaw so tightly, I’m sure I’ll have bruises on my cheeks tomorrow. He tilts my gaze to his, and all I can do is breathe in the rage emanating from him.

“You didn’t kill him, but you may have killed her. In front of everyone, Lakyn. I think you just committed murderer in front of over a hundred fucking people!” he roars, his fist flying out. I flinch, afraid of Kyler for the first time ever.

But he’s not coming for me.

The glass behind me shatters, loud, noisy shards cracking like a spiderweb and falling into the sink behind me. They fall over my shoulder, scraping against my bare shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” I weep, sobs racking my spine. I feel broken, lost, unsure where to turn or who I can even turn to.

Everyone thinks I murdered my best friend.

I was just exiled from the one place I call home.

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