Trouble

You look up through clouded eyes, the world around you distorted in a subtle way that makes you wonder if anything is really different at all. You can feel the words that you want to say sitting at the bottom of your throat – they want to bubble up and god, do you want to let them, but something stops you. Something always stops you.

The sinister smile that has spread across his face chills you to the bone. His lips are moving in a hypnotizing melody, but you can’t see the difference between his I love yous and I hate yous anymore. He steps forward, slowly closing the gap between your bodies, and you hold your ground despite how your insides churn.

He drags his fingers along the side of your face, tracing the reddened marks that have settled into their typical formation, and the haziness grows across your vision. You take a slow, deep breath and hold it in the bottom of your lungs until he pulls his hand away, and you let it go in one big gust. He reaches down and entangles his hand in yours, the warmth you wish for is just cold and lifeless, and you stop yourself from crying out as the grip tightens and drags you along behind.

“I would never leave you behind.”