WARNING:
Mature content ahead in terms of psychological aspect and violence, only suitable for mature audiences who have mastered self-control and are fully aware of the responsibility resulting from their actions.

Please excuse the explicit language too. Vaughn's thoughts are pretty wild in this chapter.

***

I reach for my clothes, which I just found earlier inside Derek's closet. That guy even hid them there, and I feel sick all over again. Does he expect me to stay undressed for him?

After wearing back my jeans and blouse, I sit on the bed and clutch my dead phone tightly in my hand, waiting for Jake. I don't know where the hell this place is, how far it is. Earlier when I sent Jake my location, I was too in a rush that I didn't remember the location in the map. But since Derek still plans to go to college from here every day, it can't be that far.

I don't even have any idea what this place is. Is this a house? Or an apartment?

While I'm waiting for Jake, half an hour feels like hours. I don't blame him if the streets are filled with traffics at this busy hour. I just hope that he's driving carefully and will arrive here safely.

The thing I fear the most is if Derek suddenly comes back. I shake my head, trying not to fill my mind with the worst scenario.

But then, I vaguely hear the sound of a car being pulled in. Not long after that, I hear loud sounds from the other side of the door. It seems that another door is being banged open and that some things fall to the ground. I instantly become alert.

"Melanie!" Jake's voice booms, and I burst into tears as a huge wave of relief washes over me.

"Jake!" I shout, pushing on the door. "I'm here!"

His footsteps are heavy as he stomps toward the door, and I automatically step back, knowing that he's going to break it. My pulse quickens as he slams his body against it, making me jump due to the loud noise and from witnessing such violence. The damage to the latch is getting worse the more he slams his body against the door. And finally, he breaks into the room with a loud bang.

He's panting, his eyes bloodshot red. "Melanie," he rasps. "God, are you okay?" he cries, grabbing my shoulder, checking my face. The look in his eyes tells me that he can hardly believe that he can finally find me.

I nod, my lips trembling. I feel like crying my eyes out now that I'm with him, but we don't have any time for that.

Then the soft look in his dark blue orbs is replaced with fury. "Where's that fucking bastard? I swear to God--"

"Jake, please," I beg. "J-just get me out of here," I stutter. I wish Derek could get the punishment he deserves, but right now, I just want to get out of this place. I can't stand being here any second longer.

Jake's jaw tightens before he grabs my hand and leads me outside the room. Now, I can finally see that we're in a house. A small one. It's dusty and feels cold, like it has been abandoned for a long time. I can feel that my brother is still shaking with rage as we're approaching his car.

The house stands alone, surrounded by trees. They aren't any neighbourhoods nearby, only a bumpy and muddy road that leads to the forest.

I shudder. I can't imagine if Derek cages me in there for the rest of my life.

Once we get inside Jake's car, I buckle up, and Jake starts the engine. The way he drives is sick, and now I'm worried about him. He grips the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turn white, his jaw tight and his eyes piercing as he looks at the road.

"Jake, calm down," I stutter. Now, I have plenty of time to tell him the whole story, but I just I don't think that this moment is the right time -- unless I want him to bulldoze everything coming into our sight with this car.

The sound of his phone ringing on the dashboard makes me startle, and I lean closer to see who it is. My heart thumps as I see Vaughn's name on the screen.

"Just leave it," Jake speaks through gritted teeth, and I figure out that he's been ignoring Vaughn. Jake lets out a soft cry, his hands shaking as he drives, and I feel a big lump in my throat again. "Look, I'm sorry about Vaughn. I hurt a girl. I can explain it, Mel. I-I can explain it all--"

"Just--" I cut him off, closing my eyes as I bury my face in my hands. "Just get me somewhere, far away from here," I whisper brokenly.

I don't mind if he brings me all the way to Texas. It's a very long hours drive. Maybe, it can take days for us to reach the destination. But in fact, that is just what I need to calm myself down.

My mind is filled with Vaughn again. His actions. His words. His lies.

And then the thought of my nude pictures that Derek has just sent to every single soul in my university makes me want to disappear from this world. I have no future anymore. The college of my dream is no longer for me. All my struggles, my hardships to achieve it are now useless. My dream has been stomped, trashed in a blink of an eye.

I need to be gone. Far away from Boston. Far away from Derek.

Far away from Vaughn.

Far away from this heartbreak.

So this is how it feels when you die. You have no more soul. I thought that I saw red, but this time, I see nothing. Nothing. It's not dark. It's not blinding white. It's just... nothing.

Shouldn't you be released from pain once you die?

But why the fuck do I feel this slicing pain inside my chest for every second passing by? It's almost equally destructive as the rage burning my insides. It feels fucking ridiculous that I'd thought I was in a rage when I witnessed Camila's and Jake's betrayal. Because if that was rage, then what is this?

I don't want to kill someone. I want to kill everyone. I want to destroy the world. I fucking want to rip their eyes out of their sockets if their gazes ever fall on those nudes pictures of Melanie.

Earlier this morning when I saw them on my phone, I felt like a bullet just pierced right through my head. My own scream almost ripped myself apart, but I couldn't even hear it. I was dead silent, shaking the entire time my eyes scanned the photos. A cry left my lips even when I didn't remember it. My vision was blurred with angry tears as I saw her skin, her body, her innocent face exposed to the world.

Melanie...

I've never wanted to kill myself for not having the power to bring her right into my arms and hide her from the rest of the world. I would have done so if it's not for the burning anger inside me that tells me to kill the fucking bastard and make him bleed to death.

And right at this moment, as I walk along the corridor of this campus, the rage consuming me makes me feel nothing like human. I hear myself roaring her name inside my heart. Over and over again. They are silent screams, but my throat hurts, and I can even feel it bleed.

Every single person who encounters me in their tracks edge away. I see the fear in their eyes as they look at the killer in me. I'm about to commit the biggest sin in my life that is to take someone's life out of their chest. And I'm fucking sure of that.

I catch sight of Stacey slumping against the wall, crying as she holds her books close to her chest. "Vaughn." She rushes to me the moment she sees me. Interesting. We have one person who is not afraid of me at the moment. "What do I do?" Her voice is filled with regrets. "I should have been with her when she--" but then she stops short, and I can sense that she starts to become scared of me as I just keep walking with a murderous glare.

I keep striding across the corridor while my insides start to feel numb with agony.

Then I see him walking up in my direction. Derek. The weird guy. The nerd who came to Melanie's house with Stacey when I helped them with their project. The moment he notices me, he looks down, and that disturbs me. He always avoids my eyes.

I'm passing him by when something catches my attention.

He moves his hand to hold the strap of his backpack slung across his shoulder, and that's when I see it. His wrist. Wrapped by a bandage.

My mind seems to stop.

I remember that I broke the bastard's hand.

Then I also remember that he was standing by her door on that day when I was looking for a book in Jake's room.

"Hey, is everything okay?" I asked Melanie. "I heard your scream just now."

"I'm okay," she said, laughing at herself. "I was just startled."

Derek excused himself and walked away.

Blood rushes to every vein in my body as I come to the sudden realization.

He was watching her.

I feel like losing my mind. Melanie's words echo in my ear.

"Derek is a friend from high school."

The bastard who tried to rape her inside the alley and broke into her house has been watching her, targeting her even though she just came here in Boston.

A friend from high school. Watching her for a long time.

Stalker.

My vision turns into a frenzied blur as extreme rage takes over me. In a second, I grip Derek's collar and smack him against the wall, his feet dangling in the air. People around me scream.

My grip on his neck tightens while my hand is shaking with fury, and as I lock eyes with him, his eyes shake with fear.

And in those, I see it. The truth. The fucking truth.

"I-I'm sorry," he stammers, his eyes begging me to spare him. "I-I didn't mean to hurt her."

And that's a fucking wrong answer. The next thing I know is that I throw him onto the grass at the side of the corridor. And before I know it, my fist makes contact with his jaw.

He touched her. He fucking touched her.

Blood splatters from his mouth as he coughs, and his screams fill the air as he begs me to stop. But I don't hear it. All I hear is Melanie screaming to get away from him. I throw my fist into his face. Again and again, I punch him. I can feel his blood spatter on my face.

He touched her when I wasn't around. He fucking dared to touch her.

People begin to rush around us, shouting, telling me to stop. Gasps and murmurs echo. Derek keeps begging me to let him go, to spare his life. His cries become weaker as I mercilessly pound my fist into his face. But all that I hear is Melanie crying, sobbing hard as she struggles to break away from him.

"Jesus, Vaughn! Are you out of your mind!? You're going to kill him!" a guy frantically shouts at me. I feel a pair of arms trying to pull me away from Derek, but the effort is to no avail. The noises around me get louder and louder as people watch me beating the hell out of this fucking piece of shit.

I hit him until I can't feel anything on my knuckles. It's stained with blood, but I don't feel any physical pain from it. It's nothing compared to what I'm feeling inside.