Cowardly Actions

After shutting my locker I lean back against it, trying my best to avoid the crowds of teenagers walking down the hall. I hate the end of the school day, and all the crowds and noises it brings. I get some off looks here and there from people wondering why I'm not trying to get out of this hell hole. Others give me polite smiles, the people who have no clue who I am but have made awkward eye contact and don't know what else to do.

I start making my way out when there are all but a few stragglers left in the hall so it doesn't take long to get outside. Glancing around the parking lot, I can't seem to find Damon. He offered to take me straight to his place to do our assignment and although reluctantly, I did agree, after making sure my babysitter, Emily, could retrieve Lily from school.

I finally spot Damon leaning against the hood of his car, talking on the phone with a hand out on the hood behind him. I've seen him sweaty but even not sweaty the long-sleeved shirt he always wears clings to every muscle of his chest and shows every movement of the muscles in his arms and back.

My eyes follow those enormous arms as he puts his phone away and fully leans back on his hands, looking stunning beside a stunning car. His car is spectacular looking. I'm not sure what exactly it is but I quite like it and it's somewhat familiar. Spotting me, he pushes off the car and nods, the sun reflecting off his black sunglasses.

"Hey," he greets me as I reach him. He opens the passenger door and gestures for me to get in, so I do. He shuts the door behind me and gets in the driver's side. We're on the road quickly, hitting the speed limit but not going over it. I have to bite my cheek to resist the urge to ask him why he's staring at me again.

Looking ahead of us, he asks me, "Did you manage to finish the rest of Romeo and Juliet? You looked pretty close."

I nod, "Yes."

He nods in response, biting the corner of his lip and slowing to a stop at a red light. Knowing I should be polite I swallow, working up the courage to say something else.

"How, um, how far are you? Uh, the novel, I mean."

"I'm not far through it yet, you know it's not my thing. I'll get there though."

I nod again. He's never been great at academics. He's never liked school anyway. I'd say that P.E is his favorite subject if someone were to ask but even that's a stretch. For a while, he actually liked to bake. He was amazing at it. I'm not sure if he still bakes or not.

We pull onto my street not long later, my heart accelerating as he slows the car right before my house. However, he doesn't pull in. He pulls into the next house, going weirdly slow and on an angle up the driveway. His house is tiny compared to the one I live in.

Pulling the handbrake and sliding the car into park, he then looks at me.

"Well," he sighs awkwardly, "This is me." He didn't live here when we were friends. The corner of his lip pulls into his mouth as he also rubs the back of his neck. I can tell he's embarrassed as his cheeks bloom with pink and he won't meet my eyes. So I take a moment to look over the house, never having taken much notice of it before. The grass is going brown with splotches of bright green equal distances from each other, immediately telling me that he has broken sprinklers. The house is wooden, half the size of mine in every direction. Almost the exact opposite of mine actually.

My house is white, shiny and three stories tall. With an immaculate front garden complete with a fountain and koi pond. Damon's little cottage house is the opposite. For some reason though, I much prefer it. Maxwell likes the flaunt his wealth and his position as Chief of the Police Force, I like that Damon sticks to basics.

"This is where you live?" Damon's brow raises and he pulls his bottom lip further into his mouth, his hand lifting to grip the steering wheel again.

"I guess it's not what you thought, huh."

I shake my head and it's enough for him to let go of the breath he'd been holding.

However hesitantly, I point to where I live, "That's mine."

How have I never noticed I live beside him? How has he never noticed me? How does he not hear what goes on behind the walls of my house?

His brows fly towards his hairline, "Really? Guess you've moved places too," he chuckles, "I didn't realize, to be honest with you." He chuckles again and gets out of the car. I stay seated, seeing Jake's car in our driveway. Damon's car windows are tinted so he can't see me in the car. I can't exactly say the same for outside it. If he sees me with Damon when I'm meant to be home, I don't know what he'll do.

My car door opens though and I look up over the door to see Damon's face, noticing his brows have furrowed together. Tossing him a smile, I get out of the car and hurry with him into the house. It's warm inside. Not in temperature, in temperature, it's actually kind of cold. It has a warm feel. The couches look soft and inviting, there are bright fluffy rugs and despite the drawn curtains there seems to be a fair amount of natural light. I almost smile when I realize that the delicious smell throughout the house is the smell of freshly baked cookies. It feels like a home. It's a wonderful feeling. I almost forgot the feel of a home.

"Do you want anything to eat? Drink?" I shake my head, politely declining. I know things like that come with a price. Besides, I ate this morning. If I eat again today it'll just come back up.

"Okay, well make yourself at home. I'll just grab my stuff." He leaves the room and I stay right where I am. We might have grown-up together but he could have changed. Jake did.

As I take a closer look around the room a frown works its way onto my face. Although this place feels like a home, it does not look like one. It looks like no one lives here. There are no pictures, no flowers, no clock, minimal dishes, and no rubbish or clothing laying around. The couch doesn't even have a pillow, and there's no TV either. Everything is spotless, dusty even. It's no wonder I've never noticed Damon here, he must barely be here.

Damon re-enters the living room, his brows furrowing when he sees me still standing. I hope it isn't disrespectful. It definitely isn't my intention to disrespect him or his home. He gestures to the couch and basically flops down on it, half-dropping his laptop and novel on the low-lying table in front of the couch. Carefully, I sit beside him, not too close and not too far.

"So," he starts, opening his laptop, "I was thinking we do the scene right before their first kiss."

I nod in response. It's their most powerful scene in my opinion. I'm glad he doesn't think that their death scene is the most powerful like everyone else does.

"Now, do you want to be Romeo or shall I?"

He smirks at his own joke, chuckling lightly. It makes me want to smile.

"Oh, and I think we should act out the modern translation of the scene. You'll probably get extra credit for it."

"That's a good idea," I praise him quietly, nodding. Although, the fact that he doesn't want extra credit for himself is troubling.

"Okay, now what page is it on," he mutters, flipping through the pages of his novel. I open my backpack on the floor beside me and pull out my own copy of the novel. I find the page at about the same time that he does and wait patiently as he reads over the scene. Watching his brows furrow at certain points and then relaxing as he works himself out the next minute is a super cute thing to witness. I've missed hanging out with him.

After a while he's finally finished the scene and looks up at me, looking mighty proud of himself.

"Okay, I think I've got it. Want to give it a go?"

A scream sounds from my house, and a violent string of vulgar words. At the sound of that voice, I'm on my feet within half a second, my heart pounding and my face becoming hot. Damon jumps to his feet as well, staring at me with utter confusion written across his face. The sweat from my clammy hands begins to soak into the spine of my novel, so I drop it.

Staring back at him and his lovely green eyes, I blurt out, "Do you hear that often?"

His lips press into a line as he nods, "The yelling? Yeah, I just tune it out by now. It's just Jake, isn't it? I remember how mad he can get at stupid shit." I shake my head and he steps towards me, reaching out to touch me. The room spins as I continue shaking my head. Jake is raging because I'm not home. He expects me home after school. I have to be there for him to release his anger on and then to do his homework so he can stay on the football team, and then make him and Maxwell dinner. I'm supposed to be home.

"I've got to go. I forgot I have something today. I'll um, yeah, I'll see you, uh, tomorrow." Chucking my novel in my bag and the bag on my back, I rush out the door, accidentally slamming it behind me. Up until I reach my front door all I can feel is Damon's eyes burning holes into my back.

Hearing the door, my step-brother immediately barges into the living room. The sight of him makes my long-forgotten magic thrum inside me, urging me to defend myself or to run. Every single instinct, both young and ancient, screams at me to run. He's livid. He'd have steam coming out of his ears were he a cartoon character.

"Where the fuck have you been?! I told you to make my food after school! I have fucking football! I don't have fucking time!"

My stomach tightens, curling in on itself. He did no such thing. He never asked me and he knows it, he just doesn't care.

He stomps over to me and I barely have time to drop my bag before he grips me by my hair and drags me to the kitchen. He throws me down onto the kitchen floor and the world flashes an excruciating white as my head meets the white tile. A shriek rips out of my throat as the pain catches up with me a moment later, and then tickles as a trickle of blood slides down the side of my face. The room goes in and out of focus as I watch Jake fiddle with something on the stove. My head surges in pain with every noise he makes, pounding with a migraine I'm going to have for days. A sharp, knife-like feeling pierces my temples as I'm picked up by my hair, the pain shooting down my cheeks and right down to my jaw. The pain returns to my cheek as the back of his hand makes contact with me, my world teetering as the pain almost becomes unbearable. While I'm disoriented, pure terror makes me scream as my face stops inches away from a red-hot stove plate, Jake's fingers almost choking me as he grips the back of my neck. I clamp my mouth tightly shut as the heat from the hotplate seats into my skin, listening to him laugh at my fear, to the sizzle as my tears hit the plate.

"Fucking worthless cow. You made me do this! If you just stopped disobeying then this wouldn't happen as much!" My tailbone screeches as I hit the floor again, and he suddenly acquires a horrible smirk.

"Or shall I get Lily? Maybe she is better at obeying. Maybe she will see to my needs better." His lips curl upwards as my heart stops, fear surging in. But anger sneaks in with it. It does not matter that she is not here. She is my child, our child.

Spitting blood onto the floor is a start. His lip twitches.

"Is that all you've got? Threatening me with our daughter? You're a fucking coward!"

His face and ears take on a red hue, "Yell at me again, girl, and I'll give you a real reason to scream!"

Grabbing the only thing within reach, a stray shoe, I hurl it at him, "Fucking coward!" At that moment, I know my mother would be proud of me. I'm proud of myself. However, the pride is brief.

He lifts me to my feet by an arm and I don't realize what's happening until it's happening. My sweatpants tearing is a horribly loud sound and I hate the sight of them as they fall to the floor. Gripping my waist, he lifts me onto the bench, sitting me back against the red splashback wall, and the backs of my thighs against the hot stove plates.

The pain is blinding.

Everything disappears. Every sight and every sound. I can taste my tears but I can't feel them. I can't feel my sizzling flesh or the blood likely running from me but I can smell burning flesh.

I scramble to get off the plates, not hearing my screams but feeling my ravaged throat. That ancient magic within my blood barrels through me. One moment Jake's hands are holding me down and the next there is a bright flash of violet and he's hitting the opposing wall. My senses come flooding back to me as he hits that wall, and my magic grants me enough time to scramble free. However, when my feet hit the floor, I crumble.

This is a nightmare. I don't want to be here anymore. I don't want to live my life, and whether I want it to or not, it's coming to an end. My body is dying, finally after years giving out. The start of the end.