*** Authors note: Content Warning - this story contains scenes that some people may find uncomfortable. These include sex, drug use, violence, torture, mention of rape (no actual rape scenes). This is a dark romance. ***  1. "If you could pinpoint the exact moment your mental barriers broke, would you stick a plaster over the hole... or let the crazy seep out?" Dylan whispered.

"I can't believe you gave that bitch a perfect opportunity to apologize and she just stood there staring at her feet," Dylan said, shaking his head. Since this was the third time he'd bought it up, Caleb figured he was pretty mad about it. The fact he was so enraged on Caleb's behalf was either sweet or creepy, depending on how you looked at it.  "I know right," Caleb said, rolling his eyes. "I guess you were right about her."

"Has something happened?" Alice asked Carla. As she glanced about the schoolyard at her peers, she detected a tangible buzz in the air, like the hum of static electricity before a storm. Carla looked up from her iPhone, eyebrows raised as if to ask, "really?" 

"Well… that didn't go quite as planned," Alice muttered to herself. She sat on the bench in the freezing cold, losing feeling in her legs as she gathered the courage to return home and face her brother. 

'Shit,' Alice thought, striding up Caleb's stairs. "First left," he uttered in a cold, flat voice.