“She knew,” I choked out. “She knew the truth all this time, and she protected him.”
“Alayah—”
“No! I want her dead. She deserves to fucking rot right next to that nasty son of a bitch. I’m her daughter. Her fucking daughter. How could she let something like this keep going?”
I wanted to throw something. Bang my head against the wall. Anything to ease the blow of my suspicions being true. She knew those tapes would prove my story. She knew he had them, and she hid them.
I could feel a panic attack coming. Covering my ears, I began pacing like a madwoman, reciting my affirmations.
I am resilient and can overcomeany obstacle.
I am becoming the best version of myself.
I deserve success and happiness.
I am in control ofmy thoughts and emotions.
I choose peace and tranquility inmy life.
I am deserving of respect and kindness.
That shit wasn’t working. Aunt Penny was trying to talk to me, but it was just making me angrier.
“Leave me alone,” I screamed.
Anger surged through me at a level I’d never felt. It was overwhelming…consuming. I felt like I was back in that bedroom with those scissors in my hand. I could almost feel them imprinting my palm as I gripped them tightly.
I stopped pacing when I caught sight of a reflection in the mirror, only it wasn’t mine. It was Rodney staring back at me. I could hear his voice in my head.
“Hey, pretty girl. I miss you.”
I frantically shook my head as the image shifted from him to Kennedy. She wore the familiar scowl on her face. Her reflection said nothing. She just looked at me with disgust and hatred.
“How could you?” I whispered.
“Alayah,” Aunt Penny tried.
“How could you?” I screamed.
As though the scissors were in my hand, I raised my arm and struck the mirror repeatedly, asking the same question.
“How could you? How could you?”
I felt a strong pair of arms around me, and my first instinct was to fight back. I thrashed about wildly, trying to break free. In my mind, I was back in that room, pinned to the bed, begging and pleading for mercy.
“Alayah, it’s me,” Killian yelled, putting me in a bear hug. “It’s me, baby.”
I caught sight of his reflection in what was left of the broken mirror. I looked down at my hands, finally realizing that they were cut and bloody. My blood was smeared all over Killian’s shirt and arms from him trying to hold me back. He was breathing heavily as he held on to me.
“Killian, she knew…”
“I need you to calm down. We need to get you to a hospital so they can tend to your hands.”
I shook my head as I went limp in his arms.
“I just wanna die. Please, just let me die.”
That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.
