Chapter Three

I chew a french fry and watch my little sister eat at a different table in the lunchroom. She's a few tables over, giving me a good view of her sullen face. Her peers talk, laugh, and joke with each other while they leave Dahlia out of the conversations. All the gossiping girls at school are two-faced and full of drama.

Dahlia makes the occasional comment, but no one looks her way. She stops after that, eyes cast down at her lunch tray as she chews her pizza a little slower.

Here I thought my friends and I were the social pariahs, but Dahlia takes the cake. It appears everyone forgets about her until she gets the wrong type of attention. I hate the protective streak running through me for her, but she doesn't deserve to be treated as the school's dunce and an easy target.

I hate people—especially girls because of the bullshit my mother did—but Dahlia burrowed beneath my skin like a tick and stayed there like she'd made herself at home. She might as well drain me for all I have, like the bloodsucking bug she is.

There's a darkness inside me that craves to hurt and make girls cry. To punish them for what my deadbeat mom and her best friend did to me before my dad stepped in to play the hero he proclaims he is. My little sister isn't an exception.

She came into my space like she has every right to barge into my sanctuary and claim it as hers. The tears in her glossy eyes only fed into the darkness inside me. Her fear feeds the monster that my mom created.

But the other night . . .

I saw a different side of my little sister. The scared and desperate girl who couldn't do her homework. The girl who flinched when I lunged for her, then said she'd be a good girl. I don't know what I would've done to her, but hitting her wasn't it. Maybe pin her against the wall again and warn her that I'll keep to my threat of ruining her things.

She didn't answer my question when I asked if someone hit her. Sadness crept into her brown eyes, and her bubbly demeanor gave way to a broken girl. I wanted to pull her into my arms and protect her.

That's a problem. Unfortunately for her and others, she now has my full attention.

I've been watching her without her knowledge. I've witnessed the behavior of everyone who crosses her path. The insults, the shoves, the pranks. They even put gum in her hair, forcing her to cut it. Her mom didn't help her, even when Dahlia went to her. Evelyn barely glanced at Dahlia, then shooed her away like a fucking fly.

I grind my teeth and curl my fingers into my palms, my blunt nails biting into my flesh until a bead of blood wells to the surface. Mickey saunters down the aisle on Dahlia's side, passing behind her to head to the trash can. He smacks the back of my little sister's head. Tendrils of Dahlia's brown hair shoot forward and slap against her face.

She grabs the spot the asshole hit and turns in her seat to look at Mickey's back as he struts away with a stupid grin on his face. Everyone at her table snickers, a few of them louder than the rest.

The tight cord in me snaps, and I slowly stand up, my chair's legs groaning against the tile floor.

"Looks like they have a new target," my friend Ryder says beside me.

Aiden sighs, drops his fork onto his lunch tray, and leans back in his seat. "I feel awful for being relieved that someone else is taking our place."

Red bleeds into my vision, my heart pounding as the barely contained rage inside me surfaces. I ignore my friends calling my name as I stalk through the large cafeteria, eating up the distance between Mickey and me.

He tosses his leftovers into the trash can, then sets his plate on top for the cafeteria lady to grab when we all leave. Mickey's eyes widen when he turns and notices me.

"What the heck are you?—"

I ball my hand into a fist and throw my whole body forward, punching him in the face. The crunch of his nose beneath my knuckles brings a smile out of me. Mickey screams like a little bitch and cups his bloody nose.

"You broke it!" he wails.

Screams erupt in the room. Through the ringing in my ears, I make out the cheers of fight, fight, fight! The dark side of me demands more of his blood. It urges me to send this asshole to the hospital.

I swing again and again and again until the bully stumbles back and falls on his ass. I follow him down and strangle him, needing to make him pay for giving Dahlia a hard time. This isn't about me or my friends anymore.

Mickey's face disappears, and all I can see is Dahlia's head snapping forward, her face crumpling in anguish as she touches where Mickey slapped her.

Hands grab my shoulder and yank me away from a bloody Mickey, who sobs words I can't understand. I jerk away from the person who's holding me back. Before I can get back to Mickey, the person grabs me again. They scream in my ear, but I can't hear them over my roaring pulse and the monster in me demanding I keep hurting Mickey.

All the rage, adrenaline, and thirst for blood grow stronger.

Dahlia's crumpled face pops into my vision again. My rage flares brighter, and my body trembles from all the adrenaline rushing through my veins.

Everything goes dark.

When I come to, I'm sitting in the front office, slumped against the wall and panting. I wait for the regret to hit me like a brick falling from the tallest building. Minutes pass, and all I feel is satisfaction and the need to punish everyone who fucks with my little sister.

How did it get to this point when I've only known Dahlia for such a short time?

Because a broken soul recognizes another broken soul.

Dahlia. My sweet little sister who wouldn't harm a fly. My little flower, who wants to be accepted and noticed. To be loved. Fate cursed her with a monster like me who will kill for her.

My lips curl into a feral smile, scaring the front desk woman, who whips her terrified gaze away from me.

Cry, little sister, and I'll kill them all for you.