Terror (Part 1 of the Valeska Series)

Bitter Pill to Swallow

✮ a c c a l i a  POV✮

For once, the sun streaming through a window is not what awakens me in the morning. I wake up encapsulated by warmth, an arm wrapped around me and holding me close to a body radiating a massive amount of heat. A sigh of contentment leaves me and I move closer to the warmth as a brush of cold air hits my back and causes me to shiver. The person mumbles something and tightens their grip on me, making me open my eyes. It's a struggle because I'm exhausted and my body doesn't want to comply to my wishes.

The first thing I see is white. I let out a small groan as I force my head out of its comfortable position, moving it back and trying to get my bearings. I make out blurry shapes, along with a vibrant ginger colour in my vision. I'm not sure why there would be a ginger colour in my bedroom. I am certain that my walls are basically stark white, and that there is either a giant window or a bookcase in my line of vision. Also, I never invite anyone over because I don't have friends that are willing to spend the night with a detective in the same house as them for who knows what reason.

Wait. Ginger... Jerome!

My eyes widen astronomically as the events from yesterday flood into my mind - the murder; the interrogation; my confession to Jerome; my almost submission to Jerome; the incident after the shower. I flush and force myself out of his grasp, causing him to groan in his sleep and roll onto his back. Staring wide-eyed down at my best friend, relief shoots through me when I realise that I am completely clothed, and so is Jerome. A let out a breath of relief I didn't know that I had been holding, and then get up off his bed.

Well, I try. A hand latches itself onto my right wrist and I freeze at the contact, looking over my shoulder to see Jerome's bright, forest green eyes staring at me with the sheen of sleep still dusted over them. He sits up and lets out a groan followed by a yawn, still not letting his eyes leave mine. I give him a small smile and he reciprocates it, but there's a hint of something hidden behind that smile.

"What's wrong, ginger?" I ask, already beginning to worry about my best friend. "Did you have another dream?"

Jerome shakes his head, his smile vanishing. "No. I just..."

"You thought I was leaving, didn't you?"

"...yeah."

"Jerome, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to leave you. I swear on my life I'd never leave you."

"Thanks, Cali."

Nodding, I stand and walk out of his room, his hand falling from my wrist. As soon as I exit the room, something flies towards me and smashes against the wall, shattering and sending glass everywhere. I hiss in pain and glare at the furious woman in front of me, both of our anger's already beginning to boil just at the sight of the other. I hear the knob turning on the door behind me and I grip it tightly, preventing Jerome from exiting the room. He starts yelling for me to open the door, and it is soon accompanied by him banging on the door. I grab the chair closest to me and jam it under the door knob as I turn back to Lila.

"What the f**k was that for, Lila?" I hiss in anger, stepping towards her. "What did I do to deserve that, you drunken w***e?"

Lila flushes in anger at my words. "Like you're one to talk, Accalia. You've been whoring around with my son ever since you were a child! He's older than you, and you keep throwing yourself at him! Like he'll touch the tainted goods you have to offer!"

"You're the one with tainted goods. I am as pure as they come in that department!"

"Liar! You think saying those lies are going to make you good enough for my son? You're more of a fool than I thought, sweetheart." She steps closer to me, her beady eyes staring down at me from her slight height above me. "All you're ever going to be to him is a warm mouth if anything."

"Now you've done it, bitch."

I grab her collar and slam her against the wall, causing her to let out a yell of surprise. Using the momentum, I throw her over to the wall on the opposite side of the trailer, making her whack her head on the small window frame. Her furious eyes turn to me and I see blood beginning to trickle down from her hairline, causing me to smirk in satisfaction. She charges at me and grabs me around the middle, shoving me up against the wall and sending pain shooting down my spine. I let out a yelp as my head smashes against the wall, disorientating me for a few seconds.

She releases me and slaps me across the face.

Really, b***h? A slap?

I roll my eyes and punch her in the face, sending her falling to the floor of the trailer. I clamber on top of her and lay into her, my knuckles grazing across her teeth and breaking anything they can. Her hands find their way to my chest and she forces me off her, sending me flying about a metre before my back crashing into the cupboards underneath the sink. I feel my shoulder pop out of place and a stifled scream escapes my lips as I bite down on my hand.

"You're a weak little b***h," Lila hisses, staggering to her feet and placing a hand on her head where she's bleeding from the window. "There's another reason you will never be good enough for him."

I glare up at her with pure rage in my blue-green eyes. "Like you have any right to say what's good for him and what's not. You beat him for no goddamn reason, Lila! What did he ever do to deserve that?!"

"He drove my son away! That bastard in that room is not the son he once was, and that thing he has become is the reason my son is gone!"

"Your son is in that room, you blind b***h! Open those filthy eyes of yours!"

Gripping the handle of my weapon, I shove myself off the floor and slam her against the wall, holding the butcher knife to her throat. Lila's brown eyes widen in fear and I feel her begin to tremble against me, her eyes staring into mine and begging me to put the knife down. She must realise that I have no intention of doing so because her eyes begin to brim with tears and fill with more fear. The b***h doesn't want to die, but I have no time for her wishes.

I add pressure to her throat and grin at the sight of her blood. "I've killed people before, Lila, and I'm not against adding another name to that growing list. Especially someone who deserves to f*****g die for all the harm that they have caused their own son!"

A thunderous sound fills my ears, but I don't look away from the monster in front of me. Her eyes flicker behind me and begin to glitter with hope. Just by that look, I know that she is hoping Jerome will save her from this death she deserves. Well, she's right. Jerome will stop me right now, but he will kill her in his own time. Just as I predicted, his hand lays on top of mine that's holding the knife and pushes it down, forcing me to lower the blade. Although my instinct is telling me to fight against his wishes, I force myself to lower the knife. It clatters to the ground as I release it, and Lila flinches.

"Cali, stop," Jerome murmurs, gently moving me away from his mother.

I hiss in pain and move out of his hold, holding my left shoulder. "I'm fine. I've got it under control. For now. Get her the hell out of here before I decide to kill her anyway."

"Cali."

"Don't test me, psycho. I mean it. Get rid of her."

Turning away from Jerome, I make my way into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I lean against it and slide to the floor, my head resting against it as I continue to hold my shoulder, pain flaring throughout my body. Outside, I hear a low murmur of voices as Jerome and his mother talk. Eventually he yells something and a door slams, Lila screaming something in return through the locked door. He groans in frustration and knocks on the bathroom door, waiting for me to answer.

"Do you need some help, Cali?"

I shuffle away from the door and he opens it. His eyes zone in on me sitting over near the shower and they turn sad as he takes in my appearance. I can only imagine how messed up I look after that fight with his mother. I must have glass all through my hair and blood splattered all over me. No matter how terrible I must look, Jerome doesn't say anything as he grabs the First Aid Kit and sits down in front of me with a small sigh. I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from yelping as I move my arm.

"Let's get your arm back into place first," he says, gently placing his hands on my left arm.

I laugh. "It's not going to be fun. How are you with bones? I can fix it myself. I've done it many times before."

"I'm fine. How do I do this?"

"It's a ball-and-socket joint. Pop the ball back into the socket. It hurts like a b***h, so don't mind me if I scream again."

Jerome nods and clenches his teeth, mentally preparing himself. He hates seeing me hurt almost as much as he hates having to hurt me. I place my hand on his leg and smile reassuringly, letting him know that I'll be fine. He lets out a deep breath and then grips my upper arm tighter, pushing it up and then in with no hesitation. I bite through the inside of my cheek and blood fills my mouth as I let out a pained whimper. My nails dig into Jerome's leg and he growls in pain, his eyes meeting mine as I release him.

"Sorry." I heave out my breaths. "Didn't mean to do that."

All he does is stare at me for another second before turning to the First Aid Kit, grabbing out a pair of tweezers and a couple pieces of gauze. He begins by wiggling the pieces of glass out of my skin on my shoulders, short spikes of pain barely registering from the throbbing of my shoulder. Grabbing two painkillers from the Kit, I swallow them dry with slight trouble and rest my head against the wall, waiting for them to take effect. Jerome makes his way from my shoulder down my arm and then back to my chest, hesitating a second before pulling out the smaller shards of glass that buried themselves into the skin there.

Pain encompasses my arm as he runs a piece of gauze with peroxide on it over the small gashes, but it quickly fades as the bacteria die within seconds. I sigh and drop my head forward onto Jerome's shoulder, wanting to be close to him right now. Pushing me off him, he grabs out the sling from the Kit. I slip it around my neck and rest my arm on the material hanging in front of my chest. Still not saying a word, he packs away all the tools from the Kit and puts it away. As soon as he does that, one of his arms go under my knees and the other around my upper back. He lifts me off the floor and carries me back to his room, sitting me on the bed before walking back out of his room and shutting the door.