Obsessed

Chapter 9

Chapter 9
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I spilled out the contents of what little amount of breakfast I had this morning. Spilled it all onto the dry earth of the forest floor.

My body trembled violently as I both sobbed and tried to gasp for air. It hurt so much, I couldn't breathe. I could feel my ribs closing in around my lungs and crushing my chest.

I fell back against a tree and slid down to the ground. The bark of the tree scraped against the skin of my back, leaving behind a burning sensation. I ignored it.

I pulled my knees to my chest and wiped my mouth with my sleeve before wrapping my arms around my legs. My throat burned from the stomach acid. Tears and vomit were not a good combination.

I cried so hard I wanted to scream. If there weren't people less than 10 feet away from me, I just might have.

I heard footsteps cautiously walk towards me. I wiped at the tears that streamed down my face, but it was no use, more tears just kept falling.

I turned away from the sounds of the footsteps approaching me. I hated letting people see me cry. It was already bad enough that everybody could hear me.

Whoever it was didn't say anything, just sat down next to me. They put their arm around my shoulder and pulled me in. As much as I hated to admit it, human touch felt good right now.

I complied and let my head rest on their chest as I sobbed into their shirt. They squeezed me tighter and for a second it seemed to relieve me from some of this pain. Being held this tight felt as though all my broken pieces inside were being pressed back together.

But all the pieces went loose again the moment they released their grip on me.

Alex had been spoiling me lately with all these hugs and with moments when he would just hold me. He didn't used to be this affectionate, but given the circumstances, maybe it was something he needed as well.

Sometimes I wondered if his new found affection stemmed from fear. Fear that, through all of this, very soon, one of us will be gone.

I looked up through blurry vision at whoever held me, instantly being received by warm brown eyes. My gaze fell to the ground again. He kissed the top of my head as I cried into his shirt.

"Daniel?" I sobbed.

"Yeah, Ev?"

I inhaled deeply before speaking, fearing my voice would fail me as I spoke. "I did that, Daniel," I pointed towards the direction of where Lila's body lay. I didn't have the heart to look back at her, I wanted to remember her alive. Not cold and lifeless, lying distorted on the forest floor.

My attempts at blocking that image out were useless, though. It was forever etched into my brain. And it hurt. "That was me, it was me," I cried.

"Don't say that. This wasn't your fault."

I shook my head against his chest, "It was my fault, Daniel. I should have walked her home. I should have known this would happen."

If she weren't associated with me in anyway, whatsoever, he wouldn't have targeted her. She would still be alive.

Daniel put his hand on my shoulders and pushed me back trying to get a good look at my eyes, "No. You shouldn't have. If you walked her home last night that would be you right now."

That was Danny. Always straight to the point. He didn't sugarcoat things, which I had grown to appreciate. Want an honest opinion? Go to Danny. He'll give you brutal honesty at its finest.