Riley Ross-Chapter 67: A Cry for Desperation, But Not For Me

"Uh oh."

Riley Ross had never been an impulsive child. Despite the frank, filterless words that often left his mouth, his actions were always, at the very least, calculated. Only in rare instances did he ever lose control.

Lately, those moments had stemmed from the sudden awakening of his telekinetic abilities—something he had begun to rein in over the past week. But the more consistent triggers had always been because someone touched him without permission.

Riley didn’t like things touching him. Even his oversized, loose-fitting clothes were a reflection of that discomfort. Just a few years ago, he’d chosen to stand completely naked in front of a crowd rather than wear something that clung to his body.

And when someone touched him without permission, any semblance of composure or calm unraveled. He became erratic. Extremely volatile.

Only one person was ever allowed to touch him freely—his sister, Hannah. That hadn’t changed.

Touching Riley Ross... was a very serious mistake.

"Hrngh!"

"Not good, not good," Riley muttered rapidly, his eyes wide, staring at the floor as he gripped Erik’s shoulder and clamped a hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming. "Oh no, oh no... Hannah is not going to like this. Not at all. No."

Riley whispered to himself, his words hushed and panicked as he glanced in the direction where the jet was parked.

"Shh, ssh!" He hushed him, pressing his palm harder against Erik’s lips. But it wasn’t just Erik he needed to worry about.

"Erik?!"

Tomoe’s mother’s voice rang out. Riley instinctively raised his hand and flicked his fingers, sending her hurtling back through the doorway, tumbling violently into the house.

Riley then glanced at Tomoe, before turning his attention back to Erik and also throwing him inside the house before the door slammed shut on its own.

Riley was about to turn and leave just like that, but his steps suddenly became slow, returning to their usual calm cadence at the third step. And then, with a sigh, he once again turned to face Tomoe.

Tomoe also stared at her, still holding her swollen cheek. Her mouth was slightly open, and her eyes were trembling—the most emotion she had really ever shown ever since Riley met her.

No. As Riley slowly approached her, it became clear—she wasn’t looking at him at all. Her gaze was locked on something else entirely. Frozen.

It wasn’t until Riley was right in front of her and said something that she finally snapped out of her stupor and looked at him.

"I apologize, Tomoe," he sighed while shaking his head, "You said that I should lay low for a bit as the frequency and zone of the killings are getting shorter and smaller—I assure you, this was an accident. But since it has already happened...

...we need to kill them now. And we need to kill them fast before Hannah becomes suspicious."

Tomoe did not really say anything; she just blankly watched Riley as he walked past her and opened the door to her house, and there, she saw her mother about to reach for their phone.

But she also quickly noticed that she wasn’t moving at all, no. She was completely frozen in place, even her tears were stuck on her cheeks, unable to drop to the ground, unable to ripple out.

Unable to call for help. freёweɓnovel_com

"Your house is extremely messy, Tomoe," Riley sighed and shook his head as he walked deeper into the house, noticing all the random things that were scattered everywhere. Just in the hallway alone, there were several boxes and bottles lying around, "I would have never thought of this by looking at you. You seem like a very clean person."

"I..." Tomoe still didn’t know what to say. She could only follow Riley inside her own house like she wasn’t the one living there.

"We need to be fast, Tomoe." Riley then stood in front of Erik, who was still groveling on the floor in pain. "It is very convenient that your parents are very violent people. Although I do not want to frame anyone as it is against the law, I am afraid I have to—so, this will be your scenario, Tomoe:

Erik slapped and pulled your hair, and your mother could not take it anymore and had a change of heart, wanting to leave him and start a new life with her daughter somewhere. Erik crushed his hand when your mother slammed the door..."

While Riley was explaining the scenario that had played out in his head, Tomoe was in front of her mother, focusing on her desperate and pleading face. She stared at her desperation, even taking several steps back to take it all in.

She looked at her hand that was reaching for the phone, and each finger was almost bent just to call for help.

And finally, she stared at her mother’s frozen tears and whispered,

"...Why?"

There was not even a single trace of her robotic and stoic voice. Instead, her lips were trembling, and her voice was incredibly high-pitched, almost gasping for air as she stood in front of her mother and looked her in the eyes.

"I begged you. I begged you so many times to help me. I told you so many times that it hurts. I pleaded for you to stop," she whispered loudly. And although her lips were trembling, not a single vowel of her words stuttered, "But instead of doing that, you hurt me too. Why?"

Her mother’s eyes were the only things that looked at her. She wanted to speak, but only groans and muffled breaths escaped her lips.

And when Riley noticed that Tomoe wasn’t listening to her at all, he tilted his head and approached them.

"Did you want to speak with her, Tomoe?" Riley asked, "I am keeping her mouth closed so that she will not scream—but if you wish, I could remove it."

Tomoe did not answer immediately and only stared at her mother. But after a few breaths, she shook her head and said,

"No. Whatever comes out of her mouth now would only be to save herself and her boyfriend," she glared at her mother, "I...

...only want her to listen to what I have to say."

This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶