♦♦♥April♥♦♦  

Cyrus Bishop. They call him the Prince. He has almost all of the female population of our school ogling at him, the teachers love him for his good grades because good grades mean good personality, bright future and all that crap. He's the star of our school, adored by every fucking person which makes him the perfect guy any girl would want.

Except me.

Unfortunately, I know his other side, the one he keeps in dark, hidden behind his picture perfect face. The side which makes him a disgusting monster.

My throat has dried up just by looking at him. My house is so near that my scream will easily reach Austin, but I have no voice in me. My body is frozen and my eyes are fixated on him. Pure terror occupies my mind, I want to scream, but I can't, I'm helpless and this time, no one is coming to help. 

"April, long time no see." His lustful eyes roam on my body as he diminishes the distance between us.

I have to get away from him. I can't let him touch me again.

"After you lost that Logan guy you needed someone, didn't you?" His hand is dangerously close to my face and I can feel my legs shaking, tears cornering my eyes. 

"Why didn't you come to me Munchkin? I could have given you everything you needed." The threat in his voice makes my skin tense, I struggle to move, even an inch enough but I can't. Last year's freshman party, that dark night, everything flashes before my eyes, those life threatening events play in my head.

I just need something. Anything! I have to escape, if he traps me again, he will....

"Hazel?"

My head whips at his voice. Suddenly my legs regain their strength. I force my legs to move, taking several steps, I leap at him.

He's here now! I'm not alone. Relief spreads in my heart as I clutch him tightly, my arms curl around him, making him suck in a short breath.

I push back tears which are on the verge of falling down along with a sob which I can hardly keep in. Christian hesitates for a moment, but then his arms envelop me suddenly making my body warmer, I tighten the hug longing for more of his warmth.

"McKinney Why are-"

"Leave. Leave now Bishop." Christian's voice is deep, it calms down my rising heartbeats somehow as I let out a shaky breath.

"I was just here to have some talk, trust me." Cyrus retorts back. That asshole.

"I don't give a damn about that. If you don't leave within three seconds, one call, and you know what's going to happen to you." Christian takes out his phone still holding me with his other hand.

"Fine. As you wish." Cyrus mutters under his breath.

I hear his steps as he walks away and with every second I feel more and more secure. I look up at Christian who is still staring at Cyrus but when he confirms that Cyrus has left his eyes fall on me. His eyes look worried as if he's asking me, are you okay?  

Without saying a word he holds me in his arms. My face gets buried in his chest and I let out all the emotions I was suppressing in. 

I don't care if I've just met him, I don't care if my brother doesn't like him, he has saved me twice today from the monster I scare the most, he has shown care for me, for a girl he barely knows. That's why I feel secure in his arms as if  no one will be able to hurt me now.

"Shhh.." He softly kisses my hair, murmuring in my ear slowly, "It's alright Hazel, you don't have to worry, he'll never look at you again, I promise."

"What the fuck!?"

Both of us freeze for a moment, but then my head turns in the direction of the voice which painfully belongs to Austin as he practically runs towards us. I immediately let go of Christian, and wipe my tears quickly before Austin can notice.

"You." He points at Christian. "We need to talk." Then his eyes turn to me. "You, go inside." I nod and walk away without protesting. I've had enough for today.

I glance back just for a moment and catch Christian staring at me in silence. As if he knows what I'm thinking he mouths 'don't worry' at me before joining Austin in his little walk. Both of them disappear slowly as they keep walking down the lane. 

I sigh, tired of everything, I just want to hug my bed and sleep. But since my luck really sucks today I come face to face with Gracie the moment I step in.

"Hi." I greet and expect her to at least move a little so I can go in but she just stares at me coldly. What has happened to her?

"Grace, I need sleep, please let me come in." I beg, sleep heaving my eyelids.

She comes closer, her brown curls touch my forehead. She pushes the door close behind me and my body leans on it.

"What's wrong Gracie?" I try to figure out what her silent eyes are hiding. What's going inside her head? Since this morning she's been acting weird, I tried not to think about it the whole day but now my mind is flooding with questions.

Before I can continue to think her hand swiftly moves towards my neck grabbing it tightly. A small scream escapes my mouth. Terror fills my mind as I realize she is trying to kill me, suffocate me to death. I try to speak, but her grip is so tight that my mouth can't form any word. I stare at her in fear while she stares back with a twisted smile. She looks like she has lost it, which makes me panic even more. I try hard pulling her hand away, but my power is failing me miserably.

My bag falls on the floor while my body struggles, I beg Gracie in my mind to stop, why is she doing this? She's been living with me for a while now, never did she showed any signs of dislike towards me, she was my favorite, she was happy, cheerful girl who came into my life and helped me become human again, and now that same girl is trying to kill me.

Someone up there has decided to turn his back on me, I think.

The next moment Gracie loosens her grip and I suck in deep breaths, desperate for air. My lungs hurt, so does my heart. 

My body slops down, losing all its power to stand. First Cyrus and now this, I can't handle it anymore! I touch my neck, shivering at the thought of her grip on it. It was terrifying, I could have died today.

"April Grey, this is the real me." Gracie speaks with hatred lacing her voice. She's nothing like she was before or maybe she was just good at disguising herself as a bright and cheerful girl.

 Can someone change so quickly? If I'm not wrong, if a person cannot change as quickly as she has then it only means one thing. That she was like this from the beginning.

"What?" I speak, but only manage to whisper. The insides of my throat are screaming pain.

"Do you know why I agreed to shift here with you after that accident?" She bends down, her wide and round gray eyes are scary.

"You don't, because I never talked to you about it, I talked to Austin. But that doesn't mean he knows the truth though, as doesn't know the real reason." She continues talking like a robot, her monotonous voice reminds me of those creepy dolls of horror movies.

"Can..can we talk later?" I blurt out pushing the words out. I can literally fall asleep on the floor at the door that much tiered and powerless I feel right now.

"No. I have to tell you this now. Are you scared of me now April?" She pulls me forward by clutching my chin in her hand.

"Let me go!" I scream, and she drops my chin, making my face crash on the floor.

"So you're afraid. You should be. You should be afraid of me, much more than this." She whispers in my ear as I still lay on the floor helplessly. My body shivers at her touch as her hand slides on my legs coming up to my waist.

I hold back tears, my lips are tightly pressed. I curse my life in my mind over and over. I curse it because there is nothing left in my life that I can hang onto. Austin and Gracie were my last hope, I trusted them, I thought they were family now I don't have any.


After several minutes I realize that she's gone and find it in myself to get up. Her words keep ringing in my head. But I push them away making my way to my room. My stomach grumbles notifying that it needs food. I decide to freshen up and eat, I won't be able to sleep with an empty stomach anyway. 

I stand leaning on the kitchen island thinking about Gracie. It is scary to think that she's still here in this house which means she can try to kill me again. But why would she? I try hard to remember what I have done to make her act like this but nothing comes to mind. Ever since she has come,nothing serious has happened between us. We grew close to each other during these months but now I'm so puzzled by her behavior that I can't even call her my cousin.

As if on cue, I hear footsteps behind me. Gracie makes her way to the kitchen and I shift nervously. When there is a safe distance between us I feel calm. Although the look she's giving me is enough to tense my nerves again.

"I should tell you why I'm doing this because you're too dumb to figure it out." She keeps her eyes on me without blinking. Her face is grim, not really suiting her fair complexion.

"I'm all ears." I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

She pauses for a moment and then speak. 

"Because I love Austin Grey." 

****END OF CHAPTER****

Hi everyone! I know this chapter was a bit intense! I enjoyed writing it ^^ I hope you enjoyed it too! What do you think about Gracie? Creepy right? Tell me in the comments! Also don't forget to vote if you like this chapter! Thank you :)

See you on Monday xoxo