Chapter Seventy Eight
Raleigh
When we got back to the house, eating something was the furthest thing from my mind, even if we had just picked up some food from one of the fast food places in town.
“Hey, where’re you going?” Rowen asks as he grabs hold of my arm, stopping me from making my way towards the stairs. “Foods this way,” he uses his thumb to motion over his shoulder to the kitchen, his attention focused solely on me.
“I...yeah...I know. I…” I hesitate, knowing if I tell him that I in no way have any interest in eating, that he’ll just get mad and just make me do it anyway, I go with the easiest out, “I was just going to go up and get a shower first.”
He gives me a look that tells me that he doesn’t completely believe me, but then shakes his head and with a sigh says, “Okay, but just hurry back down. You’ve had a stressful day, and you really need to take better care of yourself.”
*Way to make me feel guilty*, I grumble to myself as I nod and begin making my way up the stairs, knowing that he’s right but also knowing that If I force myself to eat right now, that there’s a really good chance that it won’t stay down, and I really don’t feel like throwing up.
Once I get to my room, I drop my backpack next to my desk and make quick work of grabbing everything that I need before heading across the hall to the bathroom.
I turn the water to the hottest setting that I can handle, but then remember that lava isn’t safe for the babies and turn it down to just below boiling, grab a towel from the cabinet behind the door and begin getting undressed.
Slipping beneath the water, I begin to feel each of my muscles relax as the hot water runs over them. The events of the last few hours play out in my mind like a movie reel and slipping to the bottom of the tub, I finally let myself fall apart as big, heaving sobs break free from deep inside me.
My chest aches so badly that I wouldn’t even question it if someone were to have split it open and run my heart through a meat grinder.
The water is cold and both my hands and feet are pruned by the time I’m able to get a grip on my emotions. I quickly go through the whole washing and rinsing routine beneath the frigid water before shutting the water off, using the towel I’d placed on the counter to dry off and then stepping from the shower onto the soft mat covering the floor.
I quickly get dressed and cringe at the reflection of myself in the mirror when I find red, swollen eyes staring back at me from a paler than normal face.
“He’s going to be okay,” I murmur, wanting to believe them more than anything in the world right now.
Going back to my room and ignoring Ro’s order to *hurry back down* after my shower, I sit at my desk and pull my books out of my bag, ready to pick back up where I left off earlier, knowing that I could use the distraction and hoping that I’m able to actually get my head in the work this time.
I flip through my notebook until I find the page I had been writing on before my whole world turned upside down, and then I open the book and find that it opens to the exact page that I need.
*That's weird*, I think, as I find a bright pink sticky note stuck in the middle of the left-hand page, one that I don’t remember placing there.
Pulling it from the page, I read over the words written on it, my hands begin to tremble, and my stomach turns moments before a blood-curdling scream rips from my throat.
Dropping the note, I stand up, knocking the chair over in my haste and falling onto my ass as I try to scramble away from the desk. In a crab walk, I continue putting as much distance between me and the note as quickly as I can, only stopping when my back hits the foot of my bed.
It’s only then that I comprehend the sound of stampeding elephants preceding my brother's arrival. When they burst through my bedroom door, they all rush in looking wild and ready to protect me at all costs.
Ryker crosses the room, stopping only to kneel down next to me and pull me into his arms as he asks, “Hey, what is it? What’s wrong?” Rowan and Ryler begin searching my room for threats and when they don’t find anything, they come to stand next to Ryker, not bothering with dropping to the floor.
Unable to use my words just yet, I just point at my desk where I can still see the bright pink sticky note lying on the edge of the book *Romeo and Juliet*.
Rowen barges over to the desk and picks up the note, reading it silently at first.
I hear him mutter, "Holy fucking shit!" and then the other two are up on their feet, completely forgetting about me as they cross the distance to the desk. Before they get the chance to pull it from his fingers though, Ro turns to face me, his face pale as he looks at me with fear written in every inch of his being.
"Dude, what's it say?" Ryker asks, trying to snatch it from Rowens' hand.
Moving it out of Ryle's reach, Ro shakes his head as he pulls his phone from his pocket and dials a number before putting it to his ear.
"We have a problem," he says in way of greeting.
I have no idea what the person on the other end says, but Ro then answers with, "Someone left a note in her notebook. I think it's from *Him*."
And then he reads the note out loud, this time for the person on the phone, as well as for my brothers to hear.
*You got lucky last time,
But you will always be mine.
I’ll come for you again some day.
And this time, you won’t get away.*
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