The weight of blackmail

Chapter 5

His ex—Camela sat on his sister's bed, digging her claw like crimson coloured nails into her dark locks like she cared. Seeing his sister peacefully asleep made him relaxed for a bit, even if there was nothing caring about Camela petting her to sleep. The act was more of a reminder that his sister needed her to calm her severe anxiety, and that he needed her even if they'd broken up.

When she was certain the little girl was in Dreamland, she walked out and shut the door with that smirk that was always a big turn on for him. When they were together. He quickly averted his gaze when he caught himself staring too much, annoyed that she still had such an effect on him.

“You love her don't you?” she drawled covering the little space between them. 

“You are being a bad brother by letting her suffer when I can calm her down, forget that bitch you've been running around with and come to mama." 

He gulped as she trailed her index finger across his chest, tracing his abs through his t-shirt.

“Get out.” 

His tone was darker than he expected. Maybe it was because he hated that she still had that much effect on him, or that he loved how the heat rose between them when her soft body pressed against his.

“You need me Kael," she stubbornly ignored the darkness in his voice. She was lost in the past when the sex was hotter when his voice turned dark.

“You need me to make your unstable little sister, sane." 

That did it. His little sister was off limits, and if this jezebel spent five more minutes in his sight he'll be guilty of a crime.

“Get out!”  

He yelled, and the grip that followed was harder. He gripped her hand, tighter than he'd ever gripped any hockey twig, and pulled her out of the house. Camela winced from the impact of his iron like grip. Wriggling her arm out of his grasp was futile—he was 10 times stronger. 

He pulled her all the way through the front door and threw her out. The force of the push was harder than she expected, she fell before she could steady herself, and cried out from the impact of her body hitting the hard gravel.

She looked up in disbelief. This used to work a lot in the past. What's changed?

Was he in love with that bitch? No it can't be. She broke him. He doesn't trust women…she was still in control.

“You have 2 minutes to leave here and never return.” He muttered coldly before turning and leaving. 

“This isn't over Kael!" She yelled after him. If she can't have him then no one else could.

Using her hands as support, she pushed herself to her feet but fell back when a sharp pain shot through her ankle.

“Damnit!" She cursed. A sprained ankle was something she could not afford to have few weeks before tryouts. 

“Fuck you Kael,” she winced, proceeding to drag herself through the rough gravel to her car, using the body as support to pull herself up, then limping to the driver's side.

Driving with a sprained ankle was way harder than skating for the first time, but she still made it to a doctor. Thankfully, the injury was not as bad as she thought, she only needed enough rest to heal, and should be back in skates in about a week's time if she avoids any strenuous activity on the ankle.

SOFIA 

She walked into the living room, completely lost in thoughts. The weight of everything that had happened felt like real weights on her shoulders. She walked past her parents and brother in a complete daze, completely oblivious to her surroundings and to Sean following her upstairs to her room.

“Earth to Sofiee.” He snapped two fingers at her face, jerking her back to reality. 

“Were you out on a date?” He stared at her outfit in disbelief. 

“This is not the time to be hanging out with friends, you should focus on making me pass my drug test." He stated as a matter of fact.

“I’m supposed to let go of myself while still sacrificing myself for you? Do you even know what I’ve been through, the danger I put myself through skating your stupid morning drills?” Sofia snapped, loosing it completely.

“That’s not what I meant..I.." Sean stuttered completely surprised at his sister's outburst. He wasn't used to her reacting this way. She was always calm and obedient, always ready to bail him out without complaints. But tonight…..he stared at her closed door completely confused and at loss of what to think.

INSIDE THE ROOM 

She plopped down on the bed feeling mentally exhausted. She did a lot of thinking on her way home and realized that with the fancy clothes, expensive dates and luxurious galas—things she wasn't interested in, came the expectation of leaving her dream behind for a lie. She was already loosing practice time to practice the perfect lie to make their fake relationship look real before the public. If this continues, there's a high chance she might flop at the audition.

A hundred more negative thoughts flooded her mind almost driving her nuts.

“I need to unwind or I'll go crazy.” 

Jumping to her feet, she pulled out her skates from it's hideout and sneaked out through the open window, after securely locking her room door.

Pulling her hood over her head, she began the journey to the only space she felt safe and seen—an abandoned rink located in the forgotten corners of her hood.

She half walked and half ran all the way, arriving twenty minutes later at her destination. 

The rink was a ruin. But ruins had their own kind of beauty. The moonlight didn't care, it painted the ice in shades of silver making it shimmer like a frozen lake. She ran her hands on the worn boards that gleamed like polished bone under the brilliant moonlight, staring up at the roof that was half-gone. The walls wept with moss, and the cold air smelt of rot and something sweet—wild roses, maybe, crawling up the chain-link fence that still surrounded the ruins.

She stepped onto the ice, the ache in her heart and the pressure of her situation magically dissolve. This was where she'd learned to skate. Where she'd fallen a thousand times and gotten up a thousand and one. This was her safe place. The only place where she felt seen even with no one insight. She could come here to vent and somehow feel heard and understood.

She began to move, to her heartbeat and to the sound of the wind. She let it all go. Her parents' biases, her brother's entitlement, Kael's blackmail, everything. She danced the pain out only pausing when the moon went to rest behind dark clouds, leaving gloomy shadows in it's wake. 

Getting off the ice, taking off her skates and putting on her boots, she began her journey back home while the clouds gathered overhead darkening the skies even more.