I should stay in the room, or better yet, I should go back to the room I was in and wait for him to come find me. But I couldn’t. After hearing the glass break, I wanted to make sure he was okay. It was the caring bone in my body that wouldn’t let me walk away. I had to make sure everything was all right, and deep down I knew it wasn’t. I had that gut-wrenching feeling it was going to be bad…really bad.
I slowly made my way to the bathroom door and let out a slow, easy breath as I got closer. I was scared. That bellow had gone straight to my bones, causing the hairs to stand on end, and I could hear broken glass being moved around which only put me even more on edge.
Taking one final step, I was close enough to look into the room without making it obvious I was there. I peeked around the door and the sight I was met with was beyond anything I could have imagined.
I had to hold back the gasp begging to leave my lips.
He was sitting on the floor among shards of glass. The mirror that had been above the sink was completely obliterated. The larger pieces lay on the sink, but most of it was on the ground and he was sitting directly on pieces of glass…and he was nude.
But what had me cringing in pain for him were his bloodied knuckles. The top of his right hand looked like it had been through a shredder, and I knew he had to be in pain. He needed to go to the hospital, but he just sat there holding his head in his hands. I couldn’t imagine what would make him do something like that, but something had obviously happened.
Lifting his head, he wiped at his eyes as if he were crying then ran his left hand through his hair. That was when our eyes locked and for a brief moment, it was as if we were on some faraway planet trying to figure out what species the other was. Like we were seeing each other for the very first time, but then reality hit and his awed expression turned to anger.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” he yelled as he pushed up on his legs to stand up.
‘Fight or flight’ kicked in, but I pushed past my instinct to run. All I could do was stare at him. I didn’t even know what to say. My feet were frozen to the floor and my vocal cords no longer worked. He was standing there completely naked and he had blood smeared all over his chest, which I assumed was from his knuckles, but then I saw his hips. There was a huge gash with blood oozing out and I could see white, puckered scars on both sides of his hips.
Is he cutting himself?
“Get the fuck out,” he demanded.
I kept my eyes diverted as I continued to stare, watching the blood run down his leg. The thought to go forward and help him crossed my mind, but my body wouldn’t move.
“Do you like what you see?” he spat. “Get a good fucking look,” he said as he held his arms up in order for me to see all of him. “This is the man you want to get to know. Do you want to get to know this side of me, Emma?”
I looked over his body, my eyes filled with tears at the thought of him hurting himself on purpose.
“W-wh-why?” I stuttered. I had no idea what else to say and that was the only word that came out.
He laughed. “Why?” He shook his head and took a step toward me. I backed up, closer to the wall. “I told you I was bad for you. I told you there were things about me you wouldn’t like.”
I back-stepped into the bedroom as he ascended on me. I didn’t know what to do. He was freaking me out. The tears of sadness that streamed down my cheeks switched to fear as his eyes turned cold. Something in him had changed, or maybe it was there all along and I just didn’t want to see it.
I looked down at his hip again, at the blood caking on his thigh and calf as it ran down.
“You need to get to a hospital, Mason. I’m not a doctor, but that looks really bad.”
“Get the fuck out of my house,” he said through gritted teeth. I looked at him in shock because it wasn’t what I was expecting him to say. “Get the fuck out of my house!” he roared.
I gasped and fled from the room. I was in full-on panic mode as I got the rest of my stuff, and I didn’t think about anything other than getting away from him as I ran down the stairs. I stopped in his study and quickly put on my dress before I flew out of the house. I ran until I made it to the corner of the street and broke into sobs. It felt like I was stuck in some kind of dream. Did all of that really happen? I was so distraught that all I could do was sit there on the side of the road.
It was still very early in the morning, so I couldn’t call Melanie to come get me. I’ll have to call a cab, but first I need to settle down. My heart was about to pound out of my chest. I had to take a moment and let my mind register exactly what I’d seen.
He had scars all over his hip, bad ones. A lot of bad ones, from the looks of it. And they didn’t appear accidental.
I wiped under my eyes, freeing them from tears. He was right. He would ruin me in more ways than one. I didn’t know how I’d be able to show my face in class. I knew the little fling we had going on was over. I wouldn’t ever be able to look at him the same way, and it was all stupidity on my part. I should have known better.