She doesn’t know me, but she trusts me with this.
I don’t really know her, but I can feel the hurt behind her eyes.
My eyes flutter shut on instinct as she inches forward a bit more.
Something presses into the muscle on the side of my neck, followed by an intense burning sensation.
I stumble a few steps back as my eyes widen in confusion. “What-”
My legs begin to tingle and start to wobble from underneath me. Not seconds pass by when I tumble into the floor, barely able to place my palms on the ground in time to catch myself.
The room spins violently as I try to lift my arm, to reach for her, for anything. But my muscles ignore me completely.
She places a hand on each cheek of my face and slowly eases me to the ground. She’s becoming more blurry over time.
My vision is fuzzy and any light that sneaks through the warehouse starts to fade out.
Chloe’s face hovers above mine. Her head tilts to the side with no specific emotion shown. “I’m sorry.”
What is she sorry for? What the fuck is going on?
My tongue is useless and won’t allow me to question what she means.
I try to hold onto the anger, the confusion and the betrayal.
I keep seeing the same image of Dante lying dead in the room behind us.
Instead, the shadows reach over my sight, clouding it entirely.
The last thing I feel is a light caress of my cheek before I succumb to the drug entirely.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Finnic
“Fin,honey. Do you need anything? Some tea or lemonade?”
Mom placed her hand on my upper back and rubbed small reassuring circles before removing it. I turned to look at her, taking in the way her face was lined with small smudges of her mascara. From the crying, no doubt.
“I’m alright, Ma.”
I gave the smallest smile I could, doing my best to ease any worries she had. But I knew my mom. She wouldn’t give up that easily.
She’d make sure I’d have everything I needed whether that be abeverage, a shoulder to cry on or possibly even a alibi for going to kill the motherfu-
“Are you planning on staying in school?” She leaned down to meet my eyes.
I shook my head, “I’m not really sure I even want to think about school right now.”
She nodded, “Of course, I understand. I just didn’t know with everything going on… People tend to grieve differently.”
My head lifted to meet hers but I didn’t say anything as she continued.
“Some overwork, some sit inside and cut out the world and some..” She looked at me as if I were a wounded animal that she’d scare off with her next sentence. “And some don’t know how to work through those emotions and do drastic things, I just don’t want you to-”
I placed a gentle hand on top of her shoulder, “Mom, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not suicidal, nor will I ever be. I’m not crazy. I’m just.. coping the best I can. The cards I’ve been dealt aren’t the easiest to handle, but I’ll be fine. Eventually.”
She sadly smiled, but nodded before leaving me in thekitchen alone.
