Free The Light of the World by Tara Brown Page A

face is devastating me, just as it's
confusing me. "Like taking meds?" He laughs bitterly, "If only it
were that simple." He points at the counter where he has jogging
pants and a t-shirt folded for me. "I brought you those."
    He leaves me alone. I look at myself in the
mirror. My hair looks almost black against my ghastly white skin.
My tan is gone. I sleep too much.
    My gray eyes glow in the light. They're the only
things about me that aren't weak and sick looking.
    I look deep into my eyes and realize how cruel I
need to be with myself. I need the cold hard truth.
    I look into my gray eyes and whisper, "We can
never be together. He's insane. It's not just regular crazy
boyfriend stuff. This is full-fledged four alarm bad."
    It's breaking my heart but he's shit-house rat
crazy.
    He's probably poisoning me to keep me with him,
weak and sickly. It's probably why I've been sleeping so much. I
saw a special on 60-Minutes once where parents did that.
    I dress quickly. I need a plan.
    His bathroom has nothing I can use to hit him
with and make a run for it. The idea of smashing him in the head
makes me feel ill again, but I need to get away. My phone isn’t
here. I stand at the bathroom door plotting nervously, but he opens
it and takes my hand. He drags me from the room. My stomach is
worse instantly. His touches and kisses make sparks.
    "I think I have stomach cancer or
something."
    He ignores me. The pain becomes too intense. My
legs buckle and he picks me up. I gag and he starts to run. His
running doesn't make my stomach feel better.
    He places me down when we get outside and walks
away from me. I bend and heave into the garden next to his house.
There is nothing in my stomach. It's burning from emptiness.
    "I need a doctor. Please, please let me go to
the hospital." I cough.
    He is pacing beside me. He looks stressed. He's
going to kill me now. I can see it in his eyes. He grabs my hand
and pulls me along the greens. I can feel anger building inside of
me.
    "Stop pulling me. I'm sick. I need a doctor." I
jerk my hand. Fire builds inside of me and he lets me go. He runs
to a guy walking on the greens and smashes him in the face. I
scream and fall to my knees. He drags the guy to me and places him
on the ground in front of me.
"GET AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY! YOU'RE FUCKING CRAZY! LEAVE ME
ALONE!"
    I swat at him, but he grabs my hands and puts
them on the bare forearm of the unconscious guy. Wyatt's stronger
than I am. I am trying to scream but I can't. My throat is hoarse
from all the throwing up.
    Wyatt backs away and watches me. I can smell the
cologne on the guy and something else. Something musty. I stop
fighting it. I feel the injured man and let my senses take over.
Something shifts inside of me. I hear a growling noise and realize
it's coming from me.
    I sniff the air around the guy's face and
breathe it in. I feel a pull in my lungs. Like they are screaming
for the air I'm breathing coming off the guy. My fingers shake and
dig in and I don’t know what's happening to me. I don’t know where
I am. I just know my fingers are kneading him like a cat. My
fingers are squeezing and twitching into the warmth of his flesh. I
bend my face over his and inhale, like it's the first time
breathing after being under water my whole life. My lungs expand
and the air that hits them is sweet. I growl on the exhale and suck
in again. My fingers are warm and sticky, but I can't stop them
from gripping him. I inhale a third time and my body convulses. I
twitch and moan and it feels like I've had an orgasm, on the grass.
Gross.
    I shiver and open my eyes. The world is
different. There is more color and the wind tickles me with
whispers and promises. I feel a power coming off of me. It's
intense and amazing. I can hear the dead instantly. No matter how
hard I try to not hear them, they are everywhere. The air sparkles
with them.
    My eyes dart to where Wyatt stands and I see
something different about him. I see the thing I saw the night I
was