Legion- Burn them to the fucking ground. That’s what I say. Burn them all, then rise like a phoenix.
One chat and I already felt like this Legion guy got me better than anyone else I knew. He got my situation, anyway.
LadyStoneheart23- I plan to.
I replied, then shut the window down, smiling to myself. At least someone had faith in me.
My insane hunger was turning into an unquenchable thirst. I’d hungered for redemption for so long it’d become an everyday emotion for me, a need that burned deep. But now, since her, I needed to know more. I was thirsty for knowledge. I wanted to know more about her. What made her tick?
I’d seen her cry at her brother’s funeral. I’d watched her rage and go wild at Ryan’s garage. And I watched her swing from fear to defiance at my little calling cards. And through it all, I couldn’t ever get a handle on the girl. I could never second guess her. Like yesterday, she’d gone into that office building to do whatever the fuck it was she was doing, and when she came out and saw my rose, she smiled like it’d been left by her fucking boyfriend.
I used the car I’d hot-wired to follow her, expecting her to go straight home, but no. She’d rocked up to the fucking Lockwood’s of all places, and then totally blew my expectations out of the water when she started getting arsey with them. I could see she was arguing with Lockwood, and when his dad came out, she turned on her heels and left, flying down the driveway like a bat out of hell and looking like she was ready to go nuclear on all their asses.
She wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met before. She was unstable, unpredictable, and slightly psychotic. It was like looking in the mirror at a daintier, blonder version of me. Hell, she was me. A female version of me, anyway, and I needed to find out more.
That was why I’d ventured a bit further over the line tonight, coming out from the shadows where I usually stood. I was on her back patio, looking up at her bedroom window. I knew it was hers. The glittery pink skull in the windowsill gave it away.
The window was open, and it crossed my mind to climb up the drainpipe at the side of her house. Maybe use the flat roof of the extension to help me get across and through into her window. But I didn’t. Instead, I tried the patio doors that led into her dining room, and sure enough, they’d been left unlocked. Pretty stupid when you considered all the criminal damage that’d been going on around Sandland over the past few weeks. You couldn’t trust anyone these days. The Yates’s obviously thought they were safe. Looked like I wasn’t doing my job properly. I’d have to do something to rectify that.
I stood at the door for a few seconds, letting my eyes adjust to the dark so I could pick my way around the furniture by the light of the moon without making a noise or waking anyone up. I’d have hated to have to up my plans so soon and start using violence to get my point across. Best they all stayed asleep. The bogeyman works better when he’s left alone to do his bidding.
They had an open-plan kitchen diner, and I made my way around the table towards the breakfast bar, ready to leave my next surprise for her. The electrical buzz from the kitchen appliances gave the house a comforting feel, and I could smell the vanilla from the plug-in candle thing her mum had next to the door, wafting over me like it was trying to calm me down. Must be nice to live in a house that pumps out a fresh scent even when you’re asleep and can’t smell that shit.
I laid the white rose I’d stolen out of the next-door neighbour’s garden on the work surface and took the paper out of my back pocket, tucking it underneath. Then I got an apple from the fruit bowl and placed it on top of the paper, just to make sure it didn’t blow away when a door opened. I wanted her to see it. I couldn’t wait for her reaction, knowing I’d been inside her house. Would it scare her to know I could get to her anywhere? Or would it give her a thrill? I had no idea, but I’d enjoy finding out.
Standing in her kitchen, power coursed through my veins, and I didn’t want to leave yet. I hadn’t quenched my thirst for all things Harper. So, I walked over to a sideboard that ran the length of the wall opposite the kitchen area. I took my mobile phone out from the pocket of my jeans and clicked the flashlight on. Probably a shit move if the neighbours saw it, but I wanted to get a better look at what lay in front of me.
There were framed photographs of the family on the top of the sideboard, lots of them. I loved my nan, and she’d done the best job she could at bringing me up, but we didn’t have framed photos in our house. The only photos I’d seen from my childhood were faded, curled at the edges, and kept in a shoebox at the top of my nan’s wardrobe, like she was trying to hide away the reality of our shitty lives.
In this house, there were photographs from holidays; skiing, at the beach, and trekking in the mountains. I hadn’t seen the sea until I was ten years old and we went on a school trip to Brighton. I’d certainly never been skiing. Our lives were worlds apart, whole galaxies even.
In the photos, every one of the Yates’s was smiling. The photos I had weren’t like that. Most of the time I was grimacing into the lens, or I wasn’t even looking, too engrossed in whatever I was doing as my nan made a feeble attempt to document my life on film. I was never dressed for the occasion like these pictures either. In our photos, I usually had mud all over my knees, a dirty face, and clothes that looked like they’d seen better days. Mostly homemade by Nan, using fabric that was already threadbare.
I picked up a photograph of Harper and Brodie with their heads together, grinning into the camera, and then I noticed a smaller frame that’d been hiding behind it. It was of Harper on her own. It looked recent, and in it she was sitting on a rock, surrounded by hills and little wooden houses. It didn’t look like it’d been taken in this country. It was probably Switzerland or somewhere posh like that. The style of the houses looked European; pretty. But she… she was fucking stunning. Her blonde hair that framed her face made her glow like an angel. The light in her eyes was mesmerising. I’d never met this Harper. Sure, I knew Brodie had a sister before that night, and I might have caught a glimpse of her in a darkened room or at one of our parties, but I’d never seen this side of her. The side that shone like a fucking beacon.
I’d done that.
I’d taken the light out of her eyes. I’d made her the shell she was today. And looking at the photograph, I realised I hated myself for it.
I should have walked away. I should have taken the fucking rose, my message, and my fucked-up self and left her alone. Finn was right, she didn’t deserve this, and yet, I couldn’t. The force that drew me to her was too strong. I couldn’t walk away now even if I wanted to. But I knew one thing, looking at the angelic face staring back at me from the photograph. I wanted her to get some of that back. I knew she’d never be the same after losing her brother, but she wanted to feel powerful. She wanted back control of her life. I could give that to her. Even if it was in exchange for my own. Maybe, just this once, I could do something selfless.
I kept hold of that photo frame. It was mine now. A reminder of what my new plan was. There were people in this town I was coming for, that’d never change.
But her?
I was going to save her.