(Oof. Lol. Okay.)
Kasey stuffed her last few books into her backpack before she stood. She was the last person in the room, having been busy finishing and assignment, so now she was packing up alone.
Just a few feet past the door, she was harshly backed up against a wall. She muttered a soft curse when her head hit the wall, blinking a few times to focus on who had done it.
Before her stood a fairly tall man, maybe a few years older than herself. He smirked down at her with hazy eyes, and that combined with the stench of his breath brought her to the conclusion that he was drunk. In the middle of the day. Geez louise…
After about an hour of staring at the unused wedding band in the palm of his hand, Barry caved in to the idea gnawing at him.
Fine, he growled down at his heart, But if you get broken again, it’s not my fault.
Snatching his coat from its hook, he pushed the door open and jogged all the way to the nearest flower shop.
“Back off,” Kasey demanded, trying to push the man off of herself.
Instead of backing off, though, he just got closer, leaning down to his disgusting breath fanned across her face. “Make me, sweetheart,” he slurred.
Kasey flinched and tried to shove him off of herself again. “I said, get off,” she protested.
Barry’s coat was half-zipped, his hair a mess from the gale outside, but for the first time in a while, a faint smile was tugging at his lips. He entered the building Kasey should have been in (at least, he was 90% sure), a small bouquet of flowers in hand.
It took a while, but he finally located the classroom he faintly remembered. Pressing his back against the wall, he took a deep breath, and turned around the corner.
The man had leaned closer and closer, until his lips were barely a breath apart. He chuckled deeply, ignoring Kasey’s struggles and demands for him to just get off.
As soon as Barry turned the corner, the drunk had pressed their lips together. Kasey whimpered against him, wishing she knew how to get him off. The man took the small sound as an invitation to deepen the kiss and tried to get her to open her mouth.
The blood drained from Barry’s face.
No.
Horror, panic, desperation—those were the extent of what he was able to feel at that moment. Betrayal. His heart, shattering to pieces on the floor. His hands, shaking so violently that he almost dropped the bouquet.
Kasey, pressed against the wall. Kissing another man.
The image was burned into the front of his mind.
Without wasting another second, he turned, and fled.
Another rush of anger flowed through Kasey, and she pushed against the man’s chest to get him away. He was persistent, though, and kept their lips locked.
“I said, get off!” she shouted, both in her mind and out loud.
Immediately, the man backed away, his eyes turning blank for a moment. When he was finally away from her, Kasey wiped her mouth off, trying to get rid of the taste of alcohol. The man blinked, fear flooding his previously empty eyes.
“What did you just do to me?” he questioned shakily before turning and running away.
What had she just done? It was almost like she made him back off. Like… Like she’d forced it upon his mind. Like mind control…
“No way…” Kasey whispered, her own eyes growing wide at the thought. If that’s what it truly was, she was even more powerful than she’d thought she was…
Barry broke down the moment he got home. Tears streaming down his face, legs giving out, a bottomless void tearing his chest open.
That was why things had been so awful between him and Kasey. Why she couldn’t bear to be near him anymore. Because she was cheating on him. Kissing another man.
Another man had to opportunity to be with the love of his life.
Another man was kissing her.
Another man was whispering promises in her ear.
Making her blush.
Seeing her smile.
Making her laugh.
Was I not enough?
Kasey stepped through the door, a wide smile gracing her lips for the first time in… weeks, probably. She hung her purse up by the door, took her shoes off, and turned around to see Barry walking towards the door.
“Barry? What are you doing?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion and her smile falling as she glanced at the bag in his hand. “Where are you going?”
The fact that Kasey’s beautiful smile was showing for the first time in weeks as a result of a man she’d been seeing behind his back…. It broke Barry’s heart even more, if that was possible at this point.
“I—I need to clear my head,” he whispered, tearing his eyes away. “I’m staying with Caleb tonight. Maybe tomorrow.”
“O-oh… Okay. Um… You’ll let me know when you get there?” Kasey asked quietly, chewing on her lip. Why was he going to Caleb’s? She was just about to talk to him — for the first time in a long time! — and now he was leaving…
Barry suddenly went still. “Why—Kase, I know you want me gone. You don’t have to pretend otherwise. I know.” With each word he spoke, the void in his chest widened.
Kasey’s confused look twisted further. “What? Barry, what are you talking about? I never— I don’t want you gone,” she said, taking a step closer. Please don’t leave…
"Stop–Stop pretending." His voice cracked.
"I–I bought you flowers. I wanted to surprise you. Just now—I went to find you—and—" Tears had begun to spill down his cheeks again, disrupting the already crumbling mask of nonchalance he'd attempted to wear. "Whoever that other guy is—I just want you to be happy. You could have told me before–before sneaking around behind my back."
Before she could open her mouth to protest or make an excuse, he moved past her to the door. "If–If I'm not back in a week, the apartment's yours."
Other guy? What? What other— Oh. Oh, nonono…
“That was far from what it looked like,” Kasey choked out, spinning around to face Barry. Her eyes shone with hurt at his words. Did he really think she would cheat on him? “I promise you, I wanted no part of that.”
Barry had never wanted to believe something more in his life. But it was too good to be true. Why else could Kasey have been so distant over the past month? So he only swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to speak again. "I–I just need some space to think. See you…. tomorrow, hopefully."
He was pulling the door shut behind him before she could respond.
“Barry! Barry, no, c’mon… Just come back and listen to me! C’mon, Barr…” Kasey pleaded against the closed door, her cries becoming quieter and quieter as tears slipped down her cheeks. She turned back around and slid down the door, curling up with her back against the wood. “Barry…”
Barry broke out into a run the moment his feet touched down on asphalt. The wind whipped at his hair, stung his eyes, but he didn't care. He just let his feet carry him towards his best friend's apartment, trying and failing to withhold an ocean of tears.
He took shortcuts, crossed streets without waiting for the traffic lights to turn red. In short, he did whatever it took to get to his destination as quick as possible, tossing all regards for safety out the window. Eventually, he turned to cut through an alleyway, catching sight of Caleb's apartment building up ahead.
Then he was falling. Pain exploded through the back of his head. A loud crack split the air.
Darkness overtook him.
It took a long time for Kasey to unfurl herself from her place near the door. And hour, maybe? Thirty minutes? A few hours, even? She had no idea. Just that it felt like forever and no time at all st the same time.
She finally pushed herself to her feet and trudged toward the bedroom, but something on the table caught her eye. A black velvet box sat near the edge, one that she was sure she hadn’t seen before. After making her way over, she picked it up and turned it over in her hands, still wiping away tears from her cheeks. When she opened it, her heart stopped, and she broke down all over again.
Inside was the most beautiful ring. She gently took it out of the box and brought it closer to her face to look at it closer before slipping it on her finger. It was a perfect fit…
Barry was going to propose… He was going to propose, and she ruined it…
When the darkness abated, releasing Barry from the arms of sleep, the first thing he registered was the ache stemming from the back of his head.
Ow… Blinking hazily, he tried to lift a hand to touch the large bruise—but his arms wouldn't move. That was the second thing he realized. The third was the fact that thick, heavy chains were wrapped around the length of his body.
The fourth was that he was not alone.
After finding the ring, Kasey had sat down in a chair at the table, her legs unable to hold her up any longer. She’d cried even harder than before, burying her face in her arms. And when she eventually pulled herself out of it, she heard the sound of paper sliding across the floor.
She glanced around and saw nothing. Until she looked at the front door. In front of it was a crisp, white sheet of paper with dark letters scrawled across it.
”I have your little boyfriend, Kinesie. If you want him, come find him.”
~ Hectic
What? Who was Hectic? She’d never— Oh, no… Not her again…
The last time she’d seen Hectic was in the battle that landed her brother, Flicker, in jail. And now she probably blamed Kinesie for it…
“Ah, Barry. You’re awake. How are you liking your accommodations?” a chillingly cold voice murmured as a lithe shape stepped from the shadows. “Not too tight, are they?”
Barry's head snapped up, his eyes clashing with those of a complete stranger. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded, though his voice was hoarse. "Why am I here?"
The woman smiled, her lips twisting up harshly. “Me? Just someone who wants a bit of revenge is all… And you are part of that revenge,” she explained with a dark chuckle. “You have no idea the things your precious girlfriend has done, do you?”
Kasey,
Barry's expression shifted to one of absolute horror. "If you lay a finger on her," he growled, struggling against his unyielding bonds, "I will rip you limb from limb and make sure you never see the light of day again."
What did it matter that she had cheated on him, that she loved him no longer? He cared for her with every fibre of his being, and would continue to do so until the day he died.
“On Kinesie? Oh, no no… You misunderstand,” Hectic said, shaking her head slowly as her smile turned more menacing, if that was even possible. “I’m not going to hurt Kinesie. Not physically, anyway. I know a much better way to hurt her that will tear her apart from the inside out.”
Barry's blood turned to ice, He redoubled his efforts, but the chains only bit into his skin, tearing through skin and tattoos alike. "What did you do, you monster??"
“You really are not smart, are you?” the woman sighed, shaking her head of white hair. She took his chin in her hand and lifted it. “Cute. But not smart.”
"Don't touch me," Barry growled, wrenching his chin from her loose grip. "And if you're trying to use me to get to her, you're wasting your time. She's moved on."
Hectic raised an eyebrow, sticking her hands in her pockets. “Oh? Well, we’ll see about that… She should be here any moment.”
"No, she won't," Barry insisted, but he wasn't sure which of them he was trying to convince anymore. "And I swear, if you touch a hair on her body, you are going to regret it."
