I bask in the peaceful two seconds of silence before her struggling renews, noticing I’m not walking toward her dorm, but the parking lot.
“Dr-Dread, l-let me g-go.”
I ignore her, my eyes beginning to burn from the lack of sleep and frigid air. I’m more than ready for bed, and I’ll be damned if I let her delay that any longer than necessary.
When I make it to my car, I practically toss her in the passenger seat. She goes to scramble back out, but she’s far too sluggish, and I have the seat belt around her and clicked into place before she can manage to poke a foot out.
“Dr—” I slam the door in her face.
By the time I’m sitting in the driver’s seat and finding instant relief from the hot air blasting through the vents, she’s unclipping the seat belt.
Rolling my eyes, I grab the buckle before it can slide back and pin her with a glare. My annoyance only heightens when she whines like a puppy being deprived of a treat.
“Keep it up, and I’ll fucking strangle you with it,” I snap.
She looks on the verge of crying, and while I’m happy to have a front-row seat, I’d be even happier to be lying in my bed again.
I click the buckle a second time then turn down the air so the rapid change in temperature doesn't send her into shock. Then, I quickly pull out of the parking space and slowly drive back toward the road.
I make it five goddamn feet before she goes for the buckle again, I grab her frigid hand and squeeze it until she squeals from the pain. It’s jarring how icy her skin is, but I shove any thoughts or feelings on the matter out of my head.
She attempts to pull it out of my grip, but I hold tight. She’s fucking insane to think I’d ever let her go.
Trapping her with one hand, I maneuver the car with my other. It’s nearly impossible to see through the white wall of snow, forcing me to drive at a snail’s pace.
It’s slippery as hell out, and it requires every ounce of my attention to ensure I don’t crash.
Yet, most of it is still on her.
“P-please,” she whispers.
Such a rare word to hear from her mouth. I've seen her near her breaking point many times these past several years, but she was always too stubborn to beg for mercy.
My pranks started off smaller—spreading a variety of rumors, from her helping Lionel with the murders to cannibalism—but they got moreintense as time went on. Waiting until she got in the shower before stealing her entire wardrobe and burning them in a bonfire at a party. Hijacking her car and letting it roll toward the edge of a cliff, forcing her to get in and stop it just before it crested the edge. Among other things.
I suppose this is the first time I pushed her this close to the brink of death, though.
After a few long seconds, she deflates, giving up the notion of escaping me tonight.
The drive back to my dorm goes from a two-minute drive to ten. Meanwhile, she turned her body toward the door, curling into it as the heat slowly defrosts her.
If only it could reach her heart. But I don’t know if a fire-breathing dragon would even have the strength to thaw that shit out.
By the time I’m parked outside my dorm, rounding the car to the passenger side and scooping her out of it, I’m thoroughly irritated. Especially because I’m on the second floor and have to carry her up the goddamn stairs.
Just as I kick the door shut behind me, she makes another attempt to dislodge herself from my hold, so I let her, loosening my grip and chuckling when she flops to the floor with an unceremoniousthunk.
She whimpers and weakly sits up while I kick off my snow-caked shoes. A lingering chill still clings to my bones, but it’s a feeling I’ve grown used to in her presence.
The snow that covered Reverie’s body has melted, turning her wet hair a light brown from the moisture. Icy droplets cling to her skin, the grayish-blue pallor making her look closer to a zombie. Yet, as I stare at her, I feel nothing but contempt for the barely human being on my floor.
The twinge in my chest sharpens, as if to prove me wrong, but I ignore it as easily as I have since the moment I laid eyes on her chained to the flagpole like a dog.
And now, she trembles like one on the floor.
“Take your clothes off, darling, or else you’ll freeze to death,” I tell her casually, my tone bored as I pull my hoodie over my head.
I’m tempted to just take her to the showers to warm up, but I’m too goddamn exhausted to deal with carrying her there and back.
