Page 19 of Madness & Mayhem

“You killed Creed,” she whispers, hurt weakening her voice. My eyes fall to the side, but not before her face twists in anger. She reaches up, her nails digging into the skin on my neck as she pulls my face toward hers. “You killed your best friend, the least you can do is fucking look at me.”

I growl, smooshing my hand into her bloody stomach. Bringing it up, I drag my hand down her face, covering her skin in blood. She lets out a gasp, and I glare down at her.

“You were there, Lakyn,” I breathe, pain growing by the moment. I need to fix my stitches, even though the bleeding has slowed. My throat aches with the need for a drink, wishing I could dull the pain that I know will become unbearable soon. “You fucking saw what happened. Don’t for one moment think I did it on purpose.”

She stares at me, her face covered in red. “You could’ve stopped it,” she snaps.

I snarl, my fingers wrapping around her neck. I pull her up, her back sliding against her sheets, until her back is flush with her headboard. “I tried to fucking stop it.” I lean forward, until my nose brushes hers, my upper lip curled back, my teeth bared. “I tried.”

She brings her hand to her stomach, wiping away the thick blood there. Bringing her hand up, she pushes on my mask, wiping the blood down the side. “Sometimes trying isn’t good enough,” she mumbles, her voice detached.

My eyes flare in rage. “You stabbed me!” I quietly lash out. I shove myself up, pulling my shirt up and showing off the irritated wound, begging for fucking ice and TLC. “It would’ve hurt less if you picked my heart from my chest with your bare fingers. Right?”

Her eyes cloud, shutting down, blink by blink. “I didn’t know it was you.”

A nasty snarl covers my face. “Right, you thought it was the fucking killer you were fucking behind my back.”

Her face pales, and she goes to push me off, but I pin her harder, wanting to smother her into the mattress. Wanting to suffocate her for lying to me. For cheating on me.

Even if she really wasn’t, as she didn’t have a clue it still feels like a betrayal in some way.

“That’s right, baby Lake. What would’ve happened if I wasn’t… me?” I growl in her ear. “I’m almost offended you didn’t realize who I was, but that was the entire point. You never touched me. You never got close enough to smell me, or feel me. The only thing that touched you was my gloved fingers and me fucking you into oblivion. You never knew it was me, and it’s a fucking knife to the gut, Lakyn.”

She lifts her head, her lips painted red. “I always knew… I always… felt something was there.”

I smirk, though it’s deadly, and I swear if I wasn’t in love with this girl, I’d gut her right here. Stab her just as she stabbed me.

“You had no idea who I was. Don’t play pretend and try to fool yourself. You were being fucked by a stranger and enjoyed every fucking second of the mystery.” I lean closer, seething, angry, every bit of emotion coming out of me. “You were doing all this behind my back. What the fuck, Lakyn?” I growl under my breath.

She squeezes her eyes shut, arching her head back and looking up at the ceiling. She blinks, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. “I knew it was you.”

I open my mouth, ready to interject, but she slaps her palm against my lips.

“Wait. Just… listen.”

I grab her wrist, pulling it above her head, holding her steady while she stares at me.

“I knew it was you, Reign. Even if I had no idea, I knew it was the love of my life behind that mask. In the darkest part of my heart, I knew it was you, even if my mind didn’t connect the two.”

I grind my teeth, wondering how it’s possible, not believing it, but wishing I did.

“You didn’t fucking know,” I snap.

She shakes her head, more tears leaking free, tracking through the bloody marks on her skin. I hate the tears. Reaching forward, I grab onto her jaw, pulling her head to the side. Leaning down, my lips caress her ear.

“You’re lucky it was me behind the mask, because if it wasn’t, it would’ve been you flying through that fucking window,” I growl, smirking as I feel her shiver.

She reaches forward, grabbing onto my arms, and it’s too much, the feel of her, her anger, her relief.

Lakyn is too much.

Leaning off her, I grab her by the hips, flipping her over until her stomach slams against the mattress. She lets out anoomph, and I climb back onto her, grabbing onto her hair and pulling it aside.

“How much damage have we caused, baby Lake? What have our actions done to this tiny town? To our own friends?”

She trembles beneath me. “I did nothing. You killed people. Why, Reign? Why are you the slasher?”

She attempts to turn her head and watch me over her shoulder, though I keep hold of her hair, keeping her facing forward.