Chapter 45 Aston
Aston
Trauma.
It really is the gift that keeps on giving.
The next morning, I have Tillie drop me off early.
A group project thingie, I told her.
She didn’t look like she fully believed me, but must’ve decided to give me the benefit of the doubt. Probably because she’s still half-expecting me to go full-on Carrie White one of these days, and decimate the entire student body in a grizzly, bloody explosion. All with the power of my mind.
Now, wouldn’t that make for a rad plot twist right about now?
Alas, we’ve still got the sequel to contend with. Gotta save something special for the grand finale. I mean, unless you’re just expecting Vale and I to drive off in the sunset together.
Yawn, much?
Digging out a Blow Pop from my bag, I unwrap it and shove it in my mouth as I head for the main doors. All the while, I’m acutely aware of the rumbling engine idling along the curb and Tillie’s watchful gaze.
It’s like she doesn’t even trust me!
Dense fog blankets the woods surrounding Grady Prep. It’s been raining on and off since last night. And if the state of the sky is anything to go by, it’s not looking to clear up anytime soon.
Between the mostly deserted front lot, and the fact the sun’s yet to do more than lighten the sky to a dull, miserable gray that is only a shade lighter than the mottled gray brick making up the school’s exterior…
Well, I’m not going to lie—it’s feeling real spooky around here today.
Spookier than usual.
If ever there was a time to blow the lid on their vampire operation, it’d probably be now, at the ass crack of dawn, when they’re sleepy and readying for slumber after a long night listening to opera and feasting on the blood of their victims.
Hopefully cows and not humans, like that cute movie with the two boys who were clearly smitten with each other, despite the fact one of them was cursed and fanged, and it was the early 2000s, so we didn’t talk about things like boys having crushes on other boys.
Not unless you wanted to get weird looks and even worse commentary, that is.
God forbid we acknowledge queerness existing before puberty!
But I digress.
Stopping in front of the double main doors, I twist around to give Tillie a little wave. Satisfied, she pulls away, the exhaust gunning a cloud of smoke into the misty morning.
Once the Beetle's out of sight, I release the handle, and turn back around. I take the steps two at a time and cut a sharp right, following the side lot that will take me around back.
The field house—a sleek chrome and glass building that stands at odds against the creepy vine-infested stone castle that is the school—sits on the other side of the student lot.
Built into the hill overlooking the football field, at first glance, you’d never know it’s home to not only two gymnasiums and an indoor track that is a floor all on its own, but an Olympic sized swimming pool as well.
On top of all that, there’s two fitness centers—one located on the ground floor, near the locker room, that the football team primarily uses. And the larger main one students and faculty make use of near the front lobby.
Striding across the mostly vacant lot, I sweep a glance around, looking for Vale’s car, wondering if he’s already here.
And he is.
I twist my lips together at the sight of his sleek black Audi, my stomach fluttering with a mix of nerves and dread.
I should know better, at this point, than to think he asked me here to tell me he changed his mind—that he’s been just as lost without me as I am without him, and he wants me back because he’s hopelessly in love with me, and it’s you, Aston, it’s always been you, and I want to have your babies and—
Ahem. You get the picture.
And I was saying, I should know better…
And yet here I am, as ready as ever to have my heart shattered all over again.
The lights in the lobby are on, shining faintly through the glass sliding doors and tinted windows. I don’t know who else is here this early, but I’m not about to walk into the lion’s den and risk bumping into anyone who might want to beat my face into a pulp.
Only Vale’s allowed to want to throttle me.
No one else.
If someone’s going to break my pretty face, it’s going to be the love of my—
No. Nope. Too far. That’s too far. I do have some sense of dignity. Some.
Maybe.
Oh, who am I kidding?
I’m weak.
I know I’m weak.
When it comes to Vale, I’m hopeless.
Ruin me, little mouse. Break me. Snatch all my pieces for yourself and never let them go.
Truly though, for the record, if it came down to it, I really, really don’t think Vale would actually hurt me, okay?
Even knowing what I do now about his condition…
choking me in the heat of the moment to shut up my yappin’ is one thing, but using his fists on me to hurt me? Like, seriously, genuinely hurt me…
Okay, so, earlier in the year, maybe I would’ve considered it a possibility. Which, yeah, that says a lot, seeing as we were basically in a relationship then and domestic violence is a big no-no.
But after what happened in the cornfield?
After how we left things the next day?
The fact he changed his mind and left his sweatpants for me to have…
I don’t know.
Either it’s all part of some grand, elaborate evil plan to lure me into a false sense of security, before he ultimately kills me.
Or…OR…
He’s as hopelessly, irrevocably in love with me, as I am with him. But it pisses him off, because he’s stubborn and is allergic to joy, so what else is a starving, repressed man to do but wreck my butt when he inevitably loses the battle with his desires?
Which is what I’m banking on happening this morning.
I mean, why else would he ask me to meet him on school grounds of all places, in this building where there’s all sorts of fun we can have before students and faculty arrive?
Vale isn’t exactly Mr. Healthy Communication, as you’ve probably noticed. I sincerely doubt he asked me here to hang out and shoot the shit until school started.
Bolstered by the thought, I roll my shoulders, grip the straps of my bag, and round the building, heading for the unmarked side door I used the other times I was here. It leads into a narrow stairwell, making it so I can go straight down to the pool.
The sharp scent of chlorine greets me on the bottom floor, as I emerge into a white, brightly lit hallway.
I look both ways, straining my ears for any signs of life. Assuming Vale wants to meet me alone, he probably picked this time and place for a reason, so I'm not surprised when I don’t hear any voices. Only a low mechanical hum coming from the direction of the natatorium.
Along the walls there are signs and arrows indicating where things are. Boys locker room. Girls locker room. Weight room. Offices. Pool.
The chemical smell grows stronger as I draw near that last one, rounding a corner to where it opens up into a cavernous space.
The pool is empty. Uncovered. And while the overhead lights in here have yet to be powered on, the ones in the pool are, making it so the walls ripple with a faint blue sheen.
I dart my eyes around, looking for a familiar dark imposing figure.
But I’m alone.
Maybe he went to the bathroom? Or ran into someone upstairs?
My Oxfords squeak quietly over the tiled floor as I slowly walk by the bleachers, but given how silent it otherwise is, it sounds obnoxiously loud and I’m feeling a little self-conscious now.
I burrow deeper in my coat, chin buried in the scarf I wrapped around my neck.
I’d actually made an effort on my appearance for school today, you see, something I hadn’t done in weeks, not since Vale and I broke up.
I can’t do much about the uniform, but the charcoal peacoat and pale green pashmina scarf I wear over it helps.
I also used the styling gel I gifted Eden a while back, in an effort to tame my unruly mop of hair.
Overall, it’s admittedly a little more understated than I’d typically go for. I did consider wearing my fur coat, but after what happened yesterday, I decided not to chance it.
I also figured the more reserved I come off, the better. I need to really drive home just how affected I’ve been by this distance between us. I can’t have Vale thinking everything’s all fine and dandy, and that I’ve moved on.
But I also won’t have him thinking I can’t function without him (I really, really can’t, but he doesn’t need to know that…yet). Hence, the effort. Minimal that it be.
The scarf, fortunately, more than makes up for any would-be drabness though.
It makes my sage eyes pop. Eden said so.
I stood over his bed early this morning, before the sun was even up, shook him awake, and asked him if it made them pop.
And he sleepily mumbled, “Sure.” A winning endorsement if there ever was one.
He didn’t even need to open his eyes, because he just knew.
We’re connected like that, me and him.
True bosom buds.
A door clicking shut somewhere yanks me from my thoughts, and I freeze. It sounded like it came from behind me. From the hallway.
A moment later, I hear…something.
I can’t pinpoint what it is. It’s faint, but growing louder by the second. It almost sounds like a…motor? But a small one.
I wait for Vale to appear around the corner.
But he never does.
I frown and take a cautious step forward, then another, back the way I came until the hallway comes into view once more. Someone’s out there. I can feel another presence.
And that…sound…
What is that?
Something niggles at the back of my head—a sense of wrongness—but I tell myself I’m just being paranoid.
“Vale?” I call out quietly. “Is that you?”
No response.
Okay…
Louder, I say, “Look, as fun as it was getting chased down in the cornfield…I’m not so sure we should be playing that kind of game at school, you know?” I expel a breath and strengthen my stride.
As the end of the hallway comes into view, I see movement. A shadow. Someone just out of sight. “Someone might get the wrong idea,” I go on, rounding the corner, “and think you’re—”
Whoosh.
My gaze drops to the floor just as something red streaks toward me.
Oh.
A grin creeps up my face as it clicks what I was hearing—the red remote control Hot Wheels car I left Vale on his birthday. To replace the one he told me about years ago, the one he lost somewhere in the shuffle between getting taken in by his grandmother and moving into the Baders.
It was his favorite.
I doubt it’s the same model. I don’t remember if he even told me. I just remember him mentioning that it was red, so I ordered the coolest looking red one I could find online using Eden’s account.
The car runs into my shoe, reverses, before running head-on into my shoe once more.
I crane my neck, looking up and down the hall, but I don’t see him anywhere.
He can’t be far though.
“Aw, did you ask me to meet so we could play with your new toy?” I tease. Reaching down, I pick it up, eyeing its little wheels as they spin in place. “You should’ve said. I would’ve—”
It happens so fast.
The shock hits before the pain does, exploding across the back of my head.
I catch sight of a gloved hand. Black pants. White sneakers.
Somehow, I’m on the ground.
The toy car is on its back, spinning across the floor away from me, out of reach.
I don’t know how I got here.
I’m vaguely aware of something clamped around my wrist, and my arm being pulled like it’s going to snap. I’m being dragged. I catch a whiff of cologne…something woodsy, but also citrusy. Fancy. Familiar…
I can’t keep my eyes open. I can’t find my body.
I try to say something, but whatever comes out gets lost in the ringing in my ears.
It’s all stars behind my eyes.
And then, it’s nothing.
Just darkness.
Endless, cold darkness.
To be continued…