Between The Lines

Chap. 10

Nightmare

Black fingernail polish. Crimson red hair. A tattoo of a pentagram just below her left hip. All of these tiny insignificant details might have meant nothing to me now but I knew that they were going to somehow haunt my dreams later in life. Amelia was eating me up and spitting me out like some kind of black widow on the prowl. I swore that somehow she must have known that I was coming to visit Kelly and that was the reason why she had taken that shower, that was the reason why she had the nerve to answer the door in her barely there underwear and that was the very exact reason why she had lured me onto the floor of the bathroom until I was half naked. What a conniving and sneaky bitch. Hmmm… conniving, yet… somehow I had still fallen for it. Maybe I was her bitch?

Her lips moved away from mine and focused themselves on my neck, her tongue tracing circles against my earlobe and I silently moaned inside my head. I no longer wanted her to have the satisfaction of pleasure. No, I was NEVER somebody's bitch! Her vibrant green eyes gazed up at me in question.

"You alright?" She asked.

It took me a moment to find words.

"No," I began as I let go of her waist. "I'm not… this isn't good."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can make it better." Her hand went to reach between my legs and I grabbed hold of her wrist.

"No, no. I mean, you are fine. This whole entire situation just isn't good, you know?" I questioned.

She nodded slowly, her eyes focusing on my bare chest in a thin squint. "Right. I see."

"You seem utterly pissed." I noted.

"I'm not pissed off. I'm just confused, Criss. That's all. I personally don't think that you know what you want." She sighed as she reached over and tossed my shirt on top of my head.

"What I want?" I exclaimed as I pulled my arms through the shelves. "I wasn't expecting this to happen…"

There was a long pause before she replied.

"It wouldn't have happened unless you let it." She muttered as she reattached her bra.

I stood up, aggravated with the conversation. "YOU were the one who initiated it. Not me."

Amelia sarcastically laughed and rolled her eyes, her right leg in one jean leg and her left hanging out the other. "Seriously, Criss! Oh my God… you never cease to further piss me off."

"Good, I'm glad that we are both on the same terms now." I grumbled as I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and quickly glanced at the name displayed on the screen.

Incoming call from Melissa

I pressed ignore and exhaled a rough sigh, hoping that she'd leave me a voicemail letting me know that she was safe.

"Goodbye Amelia."

She bit her lip ring and nodded in my direction. "Later."

I was halfway out the door before I felt her hand on my shoulder.

"Before you go, I wanted to tell you one thing…" She said in a near whisper.

I hesitantly turned around. "What's that?"

"Remember that night in Cabo on the beach?" She questioned seriously.

My eyes closed tired of her wasting my time and toying with my emotions. "Yes… what?"

"I wasn't lying when I said that I saw that girl Marsha… as much as I hate you right now because you love that psychopathic bitch so much, I just want you to know that I wasn't lying about what I saw… so be careful."

"There's no ghost, Amelia." I rolled my eyes.

"Sure. Whatever…" Her arms folded into her chest and I heard her eerily mutter, "Be sure to say 'hello' to Kelly on your way out."

Sure enough right as I was walking out the door Kelly was about to head inside.

"Criss?" Kelly questioned as I practically knocked her over.

"Oh, hey." I uneasily half smiled.

"Where are you running off to so fast?" She giggled as she tightened the towel over her bathing suit.

"'Riss Angle!" I heard a small boy yell out behind her and I chuckled.

"Yes, honey… Criss Angel…" Kelly scooped him up into her arms and noticed how alike they both looked.

"Criss, this is Mathew." Kelly glanced down at him and I smiled widely taking his tiny hand into mine.

"Hello, Mathew. Nice to meet you."

"What are you doing here?" Kelly asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ummm," I paused as we both heard a banging noise come from behind the closed hotel room door which was followed by Amelia loudly yelling, fuck him.

Kelly's hands immediately covered Mathew's ears and I nervously chewed on my bottom lip.

"What the heck is going on in there?" Kelly's eyes searched mine.

I shrugged wishing that my nightmare would just end already.

Sweet home Indiana. God, I forgot how small my town was. After a long and expensive hour and a half taxi ride to my apartment I quickly brought in my mail and unloaded my suitcase. Then I jumped in the shower and changed into my scrubs for work. Once I was done changing my clothes, I hurried with my hair, pulling it back into a half pony tail. I didn't bother with much make-up besides the necessary eye shadow and lip gloss. I left my apartment at exactly 5:49pm.

As I sped through traffic, I anxiously checked my cell phone to see if Criss had called me back yet. Hmmm… I wondered why he never answered in the first place. Maybe he was busy with a meeting or something? Maybe he was away from his from his phone or had no signal? Oh well, he'd get my voicemail sooner or later, right? Was it stupid of me to say that I missed him already?

The second I walked into work Maria nearly dropped a stack of papers that she was filing behind the counter and excitedly stood up.

"Melissa! I'm so happy to see you!" She exclaimed, her eyes growing large.

I smiled as I walked up behind her. "You too!"

"Was your flight alright?"

"It was okay, yeah." I replied with a shrug.

"Dr. Julian is in his office waiting for you." She explained.

I swallowed hard. "Alright… I guess I'll go get this over with then."

"Good luck. Be careful." She replied.

"Where's Paul?"

"In lock down." Her eyes seemed to glaze over with a memory that she didn't care to remember.

"Figures. I'll see you soon." I muttered as I headed down the hall and towards Dr. Julian's large office.

I knocked on his door twice and he let me inside with a rather thankful smile. He informed me that Paul had been placed on lock down since he wasn't responding in group or single therapy anymore. He was no longer speaking to anyone. He wasn't taking his medication and he was only eating once a day, if they were lucky. Which personally I didn't care if the son of bitch ate or not or if he even spoke another word as long as he lived, the only thing I cared about was what happened to my mother.

Dr. Julian handed me the key to cell number 3. Cell number 3 was our 3rd out of 3 padded rooms on the ward. If you were sent to the padded room you were placed there for a duration of time, usually starting off at an hour's length, with no human contact besides the camera which was placed on the upper corner of the wall for the patients safety, the clothes you were wearing on your back and your thoughts. If you were still not willing to cooperate then your time in the cell would increase. I was told that Paul had been in Cell 3 for nearly two days. I shivered as I remembered back to the time I had spent in a padded room way back when I was teenager. Luckily, I was only in that god forsaken room for an hour. An hour was enough to drive the mentally distraught more than completely bonkers.

Dr. Julian stood outside the heavy metal door of the cell as I turned the key.

"I'll be waiting outside and Maria is watching the camera, don't worry." He assured.

I nodded. "Alright."

Paul was laying on the cement floor when I walked in using his hands as a pillow. His eyes lazed at my shoes for a moment as Dr. Julian shut the door behind me.

"You only get 5 minutes, shit head." I sighed as I watched him sit up, his brown hair a complete rats nest.

"That's all? Nothing for old time sake?" He laughed through a wheeze and I felt my fist clench.

"What did you do to mom?" I nearly begged.

His dark brown eyes found mine and I shivered. "I told you, I didn't do anything to your mother…"

"You're wasting my time! Don't lie to me, they have her hospital records and it all points to you." I protested.

He snickered. "I'll tell you the entire story… IF you come closer…"

I glanced at the distance between us and hesitantly took one baby step towards him. "There. Now, spit it out."

He widely grinned. "Jesus Christ, I love it! You're still petrified of me!"

My blood ran cold with anger. "Just tell me!"

"You know something Melissa," He paused to stand up. "I've always had to be the first one to make a move…" He walked towards me and I drew myself backward into the door until my back bumped into it.

"Paul, please." I pleaded. "Mom loved you so much."

He shrugged, resting his hand above my head. "Fuck you're mother… hey, why did you take off?"

"Take off?" I nearly stuttered.

"You cut out of here right after I came… so rude. After all." He reached out and ran his hand through my hair. "We're family."

I instinctively swatted his hand away and grimaced. "You 5 minutes are ticking by fast. Cut to the chase…"

He chuckled and drew away from me with a sigh. "Oh, Melissa… you're still so foolish… still so naïve. Don't you see? I'm not stupid enough to confess anything to you. I just wanted to see how far you'd come to visit me… and if that man of yours was really worth something. I thought maybe he'd throw me a punch," He paused and shook his head. "Hmmm… obviously not."

Before I could reply Dr. Julian cracked open the door behind me and I muttered, "I got nothing out of him. Pump him up with 3 doses of liquid tranquilizers. I want him to have nightmares for weeks."

NOTE: Thank you for all of the reviews! Seriously, they are awesome! I would like to adress a few subjects and questions that have been brought up to me about this story and about past chapters.

1. When Melissa qouted to Criss that she was a "Virgin", that meant that she has not had "real" sex with anyone before... that DOES NOT mean that she is virgin. Yes, TECHNICALLY Paul took her Vigrinity... but I didn't think that rape belongs in the sex catagory. I think that rape is disgusting and a horrible act and anyone who rapes someone who should be put in jail for life. ***just my theory*** but anyway...I hope that cleared up any missunderstanding with that.

2. I had a review about the blood on Paul's shirt... that is explained in the Chapter entitled "Fear". Paul slit his own wrists.

3. It was also brought up to me that lately I have been making Criss' character out to be kind of an asshole. Hahaha! Actually, now that I think about it... that's kinda true. I don't mean for his character to come off as a dick but I'm trying to keep his POV as "honest" and "realistic" as possible and if you really think about it, I think that most men would probably react the way his character has... then, again I'm not a man... (at least the last time I checked lmao!)

NOTE TO ALL OF MY LUCKY13/QOH/3OAK READERS: no that story is NOT on hiatus... I will update as soon as possible, there hasn't been updates lately because I have felt more creatively inclined with this story. I will get back to Three of Kind as soon as my mind re-focuses on it, lol! However, currently I have a new poll up about it. It's on my profile. Check it out. If you would like to me re-write chaps. in Criss' POV. Let me know. Please pick out some chaps, if you want me to and send them either in a review or in a PM. I will re-write chaps from any story in the Lucky-13 series if I get enough requests to do so. Thank you! PS. THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED AND READ MY "GRAMMAR NOTE" AND SUPPORTED AND BACKED ME UP!

Always,

Deppdependant