pter 14
Chapter 14
ค
26
55 vouchers
Kayla’s heart pounded like a war drum. Her chest heaved, each breath ragged and desperate, like she’d just outrun death itself. That suffocating dread still clung to her, heavy and relentless.
She gulped air in big, shaky breaths, every inhale a silent battle against the darkness clawing at her.
Outside, thunder cracked and wind howled crazily. The chaos outside somehow felt like a perfect mirror of what was happening inside her. The helplessness and desperation grew clearer in the darkness.
Her hands clenched into fists so tightly that her nails dug deep into her palms. She tried to use physical pain to scare off the fear tightening its grip around her chest.
But the bone–deep chill crawled up from within her, cold and sticky like something rotten. It wouldn’t let go.
Suddenly, she pressed her hand hard against the wound on her shoulder. The bandages split, warm blood soaking through.
The pain hit her like a slap, sharp and real, snapping her thoughts into focus.
She stood there for a moment, still and clear–eyed. She soon realized that this wasn’t the same Kayla from before, who anyone could bully and who always struggled in despair.
Everything had reset. She had come back to the start to rewrite a different page of life.
She thought through gritted teeth, ‘They all wanted me dead, but screw that. I’m staying alive just to send every last one of them straight to hell.‘
She couldn’t fall asleep anymore, so she slid out of bed, padded barefoot to the window, and pulled it shut. The rain hammered against the glass, but she drew the curtains closed, locking the storm out.
Then she turned to the far corner of her room where a small whiteboard stood.
She grabbed a marker and began to write, fast and focused. When she finally stepped back, a tangled web of names and lines covered the board. And somehow, it made everything feel clearer.
She picked up a dart, held it tight, and stared at the board with cold and unblinking eyes. She looked like a predator waiting for the perfect strike.
Her gaze settled on the names, those who had turned her life into a nightmare.
“Now, who should go first?” she muttered, her voice low and laced with a wicked sort of curiosity, a spark of thrill just under the surface.
The next second, she threw the dart toward the board, and it slammed into one of the names.
She said with a smirk, “Congrats. You just won yourself a one–way ticket.”
*****
9:10 Tue, Oct 14
Chapter 14
12 55 vouchers
The next morning. Tristian came downstairs to find Kayla already at the breakfast table, calmly sipping her
coffee
When Kayla glanced up and saw his freshly shaved, bruised–up head, a faint smile tugged at her lips.
She sneered inwardly, ‘Honestly, the bald look kinda suits him.
Kayla was in a suspiciously good mood, and she greeted him sweetly. “Tris, morning.”
That syrupy tone made Tristian’s stomach twist.
If it weren’t for the sting on his head, he might’ve convinced himself that the Kayla from last night, the one with the scissors and that crazed gleam in her eyes, was just a nightmare.
Sunlight spilled through the window behind Kayla, wrapping her in soft gold. But that bright smile of hers only sent chills down his spine.
“Don’t play cute with me,” Tristian snapped. “I already told Mom and Dad what you did. Good luck talking your way outta this one.”
Kayla didn’t show the slightest fear. She just picked up her phone and tapped the screen.
On the other end, her father, Jackson Sexton’s voice came through, cold as ever. “I heard you bullied someone at school. Did I never tell you how to get along with your classmates?”
Kayla let out a short laugh, barely audible. She scoffed inwardly, ‘Like father, like son. The way they lecture me is just the same.’
But as she listened to Jackson’s voice, another thought crept in. ‘Sounds like Tristian didn’t tell him everything. Makes sense.
‘He surely didn’t want to admit his sister forced him to shave his hair and carve the word “jerk” on his head. Poor guy probably couldn’t even look in the mirror this morning.‘
At that thought, the smile vanished from Kayla’s face. Her eyes shimmered with just the right amount of hurt and fear as she began to cry out, “Dad, Tris was crazy last night.
田
