Chapter Six: Runaway

Blood…

There was blood everywhere staining the tile floor—which was once a pristine, lemon- scented white. I sat against the wall, the whispering in my head had gone silent and I quickly stood and turned to the sink, turning on the tap with my elbow before I began to wash myself up. The water went from its clear color to an opaque red as I scrubbed roughly at my skin to rid myself of the ruby ichor from my hands, face, arms, and even my knees; which had rested in a puddle of blood as I… ate him. I shivered at the thought before realizing how sick I was.

I killed him.

I killed someone who was willing to help me after I was wounded. And I murdered him. All because of those stupid whispers… I grabbed a dry cloth, which hung off of a rack in front of the kitchen window, and dried my now clean skin. I hid my face in the cloth for a little after I had dried myself, and I sobbed. I just let go of all my emotions and sobbed hard and long. I leaned against the counter shaking hard before I moved the cloth away, and the scent of blood hit my nose.

I sadly and regretfully turned my head to stare at the boy who had helped me. He now lay on the ground, his organs stretched around him on the floor. I didn't gag at the sight, didn't vomit, and didn't even blink. I just stared, emotionlessly. I made my way past David's corpse and out of the kitchen, heading for the backdoor. My bike was still out there, and I heard Knight bark at me as soon as I exited the house.

A smile crawled across my face as I walked over to my fallen bike and kneeled down, petting Knight who eagerly licked my face before nuzzling against me. I comforted myself by petting Knight before getting up onto my bike, I looked around and saw the boy I had seen much earlier today standing in the alley-way across the street, his grin always present on his face. It was… tempting to confront him, but I got a chill when I looked at him. He tilted his head to the side a little before I pushed off with my foot, heading down the street on my bike with Knight barking at my heels.

It was getting darker as the sun crawled across the sky, as if desperately trying to leave the sights of mankind. It had dipped just below the horizon when I got home, and I heard loud drunken swearing coming from inside of the house. I sighed out heavily and got off my bike leaning it against the house, I slowly opened the door, only for a bowl to crash right into the wall by my head.

"W-Where have you b-been, Cadence!" he swayed in the doorway, a bottle of beer in one hand as he then leaned against the wall, "With your new b-hic-boyfriend?!" he stumbled forward angrily, and I knew what was coming. He had started calling me by my mom's name for the past two years now, thinking that I was somehow her; despite the huge differences.

"I was visiting Collin, dad." I calmly spoke as I walked into the house, stepping on broken pieces of the bowl. Knight quickly ran inside, almost knocking my father over before he regained his balance.

"I-I knew i-it you little sl-slut…" he growled out his words, and I calmly walked into the bathroom to get him his medication.

"Dad, stop it… Collin is my twin, your son. Try to remember."

"Sh-Shut up Cadence, Y-You haven't got any b- brothers!" he stumbled into the bathroom door as I searched through the medicine cabinet to get his meds. He growled deep in his throat when he didn't get a response from me and as I was opening the bottle of pills he lashed out punching me in the side, causing my to cry out and drop his meds into the sink. I fell sideways, leaning against the cold wall before I looked at him, my eyes full of anger.

Kill.

I tensed as I heard the whispers start up, and I mentally yelled out a firm 'NO' to the insane whisperings. Which almost stopped them instantly, yet they still simmered in the back of my mind. My father smirked at me and moved closer.

"What's wrong S-Sweety? I thought y-you liked it r-rough…" he placed his hands on either side of me, palms against the wall. I tensed up more and glared harshly at him.

"Dad… that's enough of this twisted fantasy. I'm not mom, I'm not Cadence… I'm Nicole!" He apparently didn't care in his drunken fit as he suddenly attacked my neck with rough bites and licks; I placed my hands upon his chest, fear filling my body, turning my blood cold as I pushed against him. "Stop it! Stop it!" he only laughed at my cries for him to stop as he moved his hands to roam along my body trying to remove my clothing. I screamed in fear and rage before gaining a strength I didn't know I had, most likely an adrenaline rush from a fight or flight instinct, and I pushed him away before running out of the bathroom.

I could hear him swearing loudly in rage but I didn't care, I had to go, I had to leave. I ran for the door and he grabbed me by my shirt. I screamed and quickly started undoing the buttons of the shirt to get out of it, glad that I had an undershirt on today, and I slipped out, calling for Knight as I ran. Knight, being my faithful and diligent friend, tackled my dad to the ground, snapping at his face before running off after me. I ran for the forests. The same forests that Derrick had died in, but they always brought me comfort. Especially now that I needed someplace to hide.

Knight ran next to me, constantly sniffing the air for danger. I could hear my fathers yelling echoing all around the place, I continued to run, trying to just get away right now. I eventually found a run-down cabin, covered in vines and moss. The stone and wood, that supported and framed the house, was worn down by time. Hoping that the cabin had no one living in it, I searched for a way inside of the time-eaten house.

I clawed my fingernails at some rotten boards that covered a small hole in the side of the house, big enough for me to get through. I heard my fathers drunken voice get closer as I forced my small body through the opening, depositing me into the musky cellar. It was so dark down there, I could barely see my own hand in front of my face. I crawled away from the only source of light, that being the hole I crawled in through. I held my breath, held Knight close to me as i heard my father come closer, before a face suddenly blocked the light from the top of the hole. This caused me to tightly close my eyes, fear coursing through my veins as i awaited the upcoming torment from my father.