Maelstrom (Inferno 5)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Dalton

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Tap, tap, tap.

I stand patiently outside of Kalen’s room, waiting for him to give me the go ahead to enter.

I know he’s in a mood tonight and while I don’t want to make it worse, I’m just hoping there’s something I can do to maybe make it suck less.

Sometimes he gets so far into his own damn mind that dragging him back out is like pulling him out of a deep, dark hole.

One where bad things hide, or where good things get left to die.

A place where no one should have to suffer, least of all my little brother.

“Come on, Kalen,” I call softly through the wooden barrier. “Let me in.”

I hear the muffled sound of his loud sigh followed by the creaking of his bed as he climbs off it.

A few seconds later, the door is pulled open and he’s staring out at me expectantly.

“Pretty heavy stuff tonight, huh?” I ask him with a nervous smile.

“What?”

“What Luna said... you know, about Mom.”

He shrugs, a bored look immediately taking over his expression.

“Anything else?”

I feel a hot surge of anger burn through me as my eyebrows come together in a sharp point.

I don’t get why he’s acting like I’m the fucking enemy when I’m on his side. I’ve always been on his side, and that’s exactly where I plan on staying.

“Snap out of it!” I shout at him.

Kalen shakes his head and attempts to close the door in my face, but I’m faster than he is, and I force it to stay open by putting my weight against it.

“You’re not the only one she doesn’t talk to, you know. She hates me too!”

I wipe the angry tears away from my eyes before they have a chance to fall.

It wasn’t until just now, when I finally said it out loud, did I come to terms with the fact that the only reason Mom isn’t talking us is because she probably hates us.

And while I should have been honest with myself from the very fucking beginning, it’s still a hard pill to swallow.

Kalen drops his hand from the back of the door and looks away for a moment. Almost as if he’s ashamed that he assumed he was the only one of the two of us who has been suffering.

“Sorry.”

I take a deep breath as he steps to the side and lets me enter his room.

“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have shouted at you,” I say as I use the back of my hand to wipe at my eyes again.

He shrugs as he goes to stand by his bedroom window, and I can’t help but smile.