Chapter 11 Cait
Cait
Istormed after him, pissed as hell and ready for the long overdue confrontation that this would become.
He had tried to kill me. There was no other way to view what he’d just done.
I wanted to say that it was surprising or shocking in any way, but ultimately I knew what stepping out of line would eventually do to me.
Though this time, something had clicked and I didn’t care about the consequences anymore.
There was a distant but distinct wail I knew all too well and, this time, Mikey turned to face me with a disturbed look on his face.
“Do you hear that?” Confusion turned to panic.
“It’s probably just the wind,” I said, not caring to hide the malice in my voice any longer. As I said it, the doors to the balcony blew shut and I knew my ghostly friend was out to play even though I couldn’t see her just yet. He could stand to be on the receiving end of some gaslighting for once.
Hell, he could stand to receive far more due karmic justice than just a bit of gaslighting.
I picked up a vase from a nearby shelf and threw it in his direction.
It hit the mark perfectly and he had to duck out of the way before it shattered against his stupid head.
Violence wasn’t in my nature, but this time I didn’t feel bad about lashing out.
“Do you like it, Mikey? Huh?” I goaded him.
I picked up something heavier, not caring to look down at the artifact I’d chosen before I chucked it across the room too.
“You worthless piece of shitty trash.” What turned out to be a golden bird impacted and dented the wall next to him.
I’d ask the butler about paying to repair any damage later, but I needed to get out of here alive first.
I grabbed my duffle bag from the floor and began packing it with my clothes from the drawer.
I wasn’t staying here a moment longer. I wasn’t going to deal with this for another day, let alone years of my life.
I was young, I wanted to live. I needed to thrive and he was nothing but a poison sapping the life from me more and more every day that I stayed.
He came over to me and grabbed me by the wrists again, flinging my clothes to the floor in the process.
“Stop this, Caitlyn. We can fix this. You can change—”
I pushed out of his hold and shoved his chest hard enough to make him step back.
He was delusional. Another wail came and it was louder this time, just like the one when this fight escalated earlier.
Mikey looked across the room trying to discern where it came from, but I didn’t let him ask that stupid question.
“I don’t need to change!” I heaved a strained breath and pushed him again, mustering all my strength to knock him back a few steps. “I’m not the one who’s an abusive piece of shit. I have been the model girlfriend and I followed all of your stupid rules.”
“Caitlyn, baby…”
“Don’t,” shove, “call,” shove, “me,” shove, “baby!” My arms ached and my back muscles were taut.
The doors to the balcony crashed open of their own accord and I knew she was there.
It made sense now, give him a taste of the fear he instilled in me.
He deserved it. He deserved everything he got tonight.
There wasn’t a shred of guilt or remorse inside me now.
The Cait before would’ve wanted this to end and would accept his apologies to just keep the peace, but I’d been pushed—literally—too far tonight to care about silly feelings such as guilt.
“But you’re my baby; we can fix this.” His voice was soft, but it was a lie.
It was always a fucking lie with him. He stumbled back across the threshold.
The moon was high in the sky and illuminated us both.
It was then that I realized I was still stark naked.
I stood straighter in all my glory and didn’t care who would happen to see.
This would end tonight. One way or another, he and I were done.
“Get this through your thick skull, Mikey. We are done. We are over. There is nothing to fix because there is nothing left between us. You can beg and plead all you want, but I refuse to take the bait and the bullshit any longer.” My voice was strong and steady.
It didn’t waver under his hateful gaze as his mask of faux sympathy slipped back off. I meant every word.
Standing out on the balcony after nearly being shoved off it moments ago was empowering.
He’d tried to kill me, yet here I stood, alive and so fucking pissed.
I had my supernatural guardian to thank for that.
I had felt her wrapped around me. I didn’t know how she managed to keep me from toppling over the edge, but I was grateful.
I also questioned why she would want to save me.
We shared a moment of phantasmal intimacy, but who was I to her that she would do that?
Whatever the reason, whatever her motive, I didn’t question it any longer.
Cold pressed against my back and it felt like a reassuring hug from behind.
I was enveloped in her embrace. My nipples hardened with the temperature change and I decided it wasn’t going to be me leaving this room, it would be him.
I wouldn’t abandon this vacation, he would.
I’d find a ride back with someone else but I wasn’t leaving her just yet. I had a debt to repay.
“You’re fucking crazy, you know that? You just went all psycho on me for no reason.”
“No reason? Do you honestly hear yourself, Mikey?” Just then the wind picked up, blowing red curls into my face and the mess of hair on his forehead back.
“I went psycho? Me?! Did you conveniently forget throwing shit at me, nearly pushing me off the balcony, or how you threw me around on the ground? Does it not register with you that you’re abusive? That you're the fucking psycho?!”
“I only did those things because you made me.” His excuses were weak and he could never take accountability for his actions. I wasn’t afraid of him anymore.
Fuck you, I signed.
“You know I don’t understand it when you talk with your fucking hands. Grow up and speak out loud to me.”
“Fuck. You.” My hands shot out in front of me, but before they connected with his chest, pale long-sleeved arms came in front of mine and rushed into him. He stumbled back into the banister hard and then…
And then the world stopped. It was like a slow motion film scene playing out in front of me.
If I had loved him I would have been horrified.
The banister shattered and splintered as it broke beneath his weight.
He toppled right over the edge and I didn’t move.
I couldn’t move. There was nothing I could do anyway.
I accepted the outcome of this within a fraction of a second.
He deserved everything he’d get tonight.
Including his death.
Would he die? Was I hopeful that he would? Were we just high enough up that he would break something and I’d have to endure him still? I wanted to be free of him.
He mouthed something before his body dropped below the balcony.
Was it my name? A plea for help? I don’t know.
I wasn’t listening, couldn’t listen. Not over the ear-piercing wail of my banshee.
It was like I had felt her fury in that moment her body came through mine, like she was angry for me.
How many times had someone come to my rescue, even just upset on my behalf?
Very few times, especially in the last year or so. I was met with pity more than anything.
The sound of liquid dripping and cracked bone along with the scream and groan of iron broke through my thoughts.
I walked to the edge, feeling a cold embrace around my hand.
I looked down and this time, I saw a hand.
The same long-sleeved dress I had seen moments ago.
I saw the woman who had saved me holding my hand as if to say—
Be careful, she signed to me. I nodded and took another step forward.
Looking over the edge, I saw what had caused the screech and groan of metal.
Mikey lay gasping and choking on his own blood, impaled by the wrought iron fence.
It went clean through his chest and a wretched thought crossed my mind.
That’s how I would have ended up had it not been for her.
He gasped and gagged, mouth moving… asking for something, but it was carried away by the wind and I was out of fucks to give regardless.
I turned to the woman who still held my hand firmly.
“What’s your name?” I asked her aloud. She could hear, but I imagined that she could only wail when she tried to speak.
B-R-E-E, her fingers moved delicately as she signed the letters. Bree.
“Bree,” I said, heaving a sigh of relief. “Thank you, so much.”